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 Replies: 10 / Views: 1,843 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
541 Posts |
I was wondering if we have any self published authors in the community? I am one of that breed and have published two books on Wisconsin military and civil medals. Having been employed in the publishing business for 31 years I knew that where I worked if the book was not expected to sell 5-10,000 copies there was no interest. Many people have ideas on how and what should be published and few of them liked my way of thinking. Several hobby groups offer financial aid for publishing but after one reads the fine print the "free" money doesn't sound so good. I am a control freak. If I write a book I decide what is included and how it is presented. My first book was more of a trial listing in the hope that it would result in collectors telling me of unlisted items. That proved to be not much more than a nice dream. It was also a potential conflict of interest which did not become a problem. The second book on the same subject was a complete as possible state of the art reference book. My only problem was getting professional help with lay out and a printer willing to print small numbers of books. I got lucky and found both. It still was a very expensive proposition and most married men who want to spend that kind of money would not be able to convince their wives to go along with it. Once again I got lucky. I did it my way and am still happily married. Any one else with a self publishing story?  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4409 Posts |
I don't know if these qualify as self-publishing or not (likely they don't).
There was a class everyone took in the elementary education program I went through. The instructor of this class had us write and publish a book which we then brought to class the next time we met. We arrived laid them on the table where we sat and went around and looked at each others. Mine was a collection of stories and poems I've written when I felt inspired. I printed it on printer paper, used a three hole punch and three brass fasteners. Nothing fancy, but it got the job done. I only made one copy. I loaned it to a friend over a year ago.
I also wrote a cheesy (at least when I look at it now) children's book about eating healthy. I've printed a few copies of it on my printer. I'm lacking artistic talent, so there are no pictures in it.
-MV
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Valued Member
United States
102 Posts |
Amazon CreateSpace is a fantastic platform for this - you can have eBooks and physical copies with minimal upfront cost (~$99) and no limitations/expectations on how many copies need to be sold as Amazon prints on demand.
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
541 Posts |
Thanks guys, Meadow, it's a start. I did check out Amazon as an option SmallEagle but just couldn't go along with their terms. Had I done a book of a more literary nature Amazon would have been a better way to go. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
I'm self published, small printing, and I have the equipment to do a small print run. For a self publisher today I would recommend looking at one of the "Print on demand" publishers. They can do some good work, cost is little or nothing to the author, and print runs can be as small as a single copy and they can handle the ordering and shipping as well. There are several around, one I have priced my book through is http://www.lulu.com If I ever get the second edition finished I will publish it through them, and I am probably going to set up a third printing of the first edition with them. just so I can have something to tell people who want a copy. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5839 Posts |
I self-published a book on the basics of pocket watch collecting many years ago:  I originally had it printed at a local copy sop and took care of taking orders and shipping all by myself. About 6 or 7 years ago, however, I moved the whole thing over to Cafepress and let them do all the work. The good news is that the print quality is much better and I don't have to worry about dealing with any of the actual logistics. The bad news is that I now make less per copy as I did before ($5 as compared to $8). |
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Valued Member
United States
58 Posts |
Yes, I've published a couple of E-books several years back. Made about $5,000 from sales in the first year and then it dribbled off. Still get a few bucks a month sporadically. It costs nothing to print an e-book. It's all profit except for the small commission you pay Amazon. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17896 Posts |
I agree with Conder101. I wrote a book about my favourite world railroad journeys a few years ago. I published it as a P.O.D. book as I thought I'd be unlikely to attract a mainstream publisher, and because I have connections in the rail preservation movement who could stock it and sell it - this also means they can raise a bit of money that way. I do get sales through Amazon - my royalties were about US$17 in the last quarter. I do mention coins in the book, by the way!  Edited by NumisRob
05/29/2014 4:45 pm
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Pillar of the Community
Canada
2805 Posts |
There are book-printing machines appearing in libraries in my city - $5 plus a certain low amount per page. It prints one at a time - good for really niche books, I guess!
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5839 Posts |
Hey, NumisRob -- I recognize that font! Snap ITC, right?
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Bedrock of the Community
United Kingdom
17896 Posts |
Quote:
Hey, NumisRob -- I recognize that font! Snap ITC, right? Barry - you're right! |
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Replies: 10 / Views: 1,843 |
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Posted 05/28/2014 11:56 pm
