Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual, 16th Edition: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (Self Publishing Manual)

In a previous review of the former edition this book, Isaid:

This is a very good guide, especially for the author (orwannabe author) who is thinking about writing and publishing their own work.

These days, the writing of the book, contrary to the belief of many, is not the end of the work. Perhaps the largest hurdle remains: getting the book published and out on the market where people may buy it.

This book looks at those problems, and contains a great deal of very good advice.

Even the biggest publishers take a loss, or just break even, on most of the titles they publish. They are supported by the handful that achieve the most attention, and become big sellers. Like the movie industry, only a few become stars. And, of course, the giant's share of their promotion budget goes to the books which show the most promise, leaving the ones who really need it out in the cold.

It is a humbling experience for a would-be author to go into a large bookstore, see all of the shelves full of books, and realize that his book will just be one more of the hundreds of thousands of new titles that show up each year.

So, this book fills a need. How about publishing? The primary functions of the traditional publisher are selecting books that will sell in the first place, editing, proofreading, design, production and--most important--marketing. In most cases, the new author is the primary marketing agent for his book, anyway. Why should he give up 90% of the sales price when he must shoulder the main responsibility of the publisher?

The author, who created the book, must usually be satisfied with 10% royalties, with the publisher retaining 90% for their production and marketing efforts.

So, more and more writers, faced with aloof publishers who will not even read their book, let alone buy it, are taking the self-publishing route. They need Dan Poynter's book. It tells them what they need to know.

First, this manual contains some basic rules on how to write a marketable book. Then, the problems they will face in producing it, and finally--certainly not least--promoting it in a crowded marketplace.

He does a very good job. I only noted one neglected area, and, unfortunately it was the very area in which I was most interested: Print-on-demand.

Well, I must tell you that Dan Poynter has corrected that deficiency. In this, the latest edition of the Self-Publishing Manual, released in April of 2000, the entire area of Print-on-Demand (POD), as well as Print-Quantity-Needed (PQN)is amply covered with the latest available information. I have certainly learned things of which I was not formerly aware from the book.

There is a new force in the marketplace, called print-on-demand. Some of the publishers who are utilizing it are simply vanity houses, but many others are not. The era of one-off book publishing is here (POD), along with printing only the quantity actually required (PQN). No more need to warehouse long press runs until they sell, or necessity to pay inventory taxes on warehoused books waiting to be sold. The POD printer will print a single volume, as needed, and mail it to the customer for you, and send the publisher a monthly check, less the cost of printing. It is a force that is changing the face of the publishing industry.

The new technology is particularly good news for those books that sell only a few copies a month, or a year. No longer must they be dropped from the publisher's catalog and go out-of-print. They can simply be digitally archived and printed as needed for the occasional sale.

There are problems unique to the "New Book Model," which Dan Poynter addresses in detail. For the new author contemplating self-publishing, or the author whose work has gone out-of-print, but for which there is still a residual market, this book is one which you should read. There is information here that you are not likely to find addressed anywhere else.

I cannot recommend it too highly.

Joseph Pierre.
Author of THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS: Our Journey Through Eternity

Disappointing   April 4, 2001
 23 out of 25 found this review helpful

Perhaps it's all the rave reviews that led to my disappointment... but disappointed I was. This book had lots of good stuff, to be sure. But it was repetitive in many places, and basically full of lists of things that, if you were to write to the people/places listed, as a responsible author you would want to double-check names and addresses before sending (thus what use to list these specifics in the book?)--so I felt the author was basically padding pages.

It also needed a good edit. The author advises that one can write a book starting anywhere, and then throw the topics together to make a book. This book is a good example of the result of such a process. Several chapters contain identical sentences... and the flow is often, well, non-flowing.

I was also very irritated by the many, many references to "go to my Web site to buy the detailed report on how to actually do this." Geez, for the price of the book, I thought I'd actually *get* the details--not a reference for where to go to buy them.

And the typos! Early in the book, I recall a statement by the author that the time to go to print is when the book seems 99% correct. I'll admit that I'm a perfectionist, and typos bother me a lot. Even so, I find it hard to imagine how error-filled the first 11 editions must have been.

I've been self-publishing with good success for 6 years now... and this book was a huge disappointment. Way too much self-promotion and details that might well be out-of-date the minute they were published... and too little actually helpful info. This one was no better than any of a number of books on the same topic I picked off the library shelf.