T206 Book?

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Posted By: Hankron

Adam has the correct idea.

Biggest mistakes for self-publishers: overestimating how many books they will sell (too big a print run), producing a book that neccesitates too high of a sale price, and feeling they must emulate the big New York City publishers (have book stores stock them, have them at amazon.com, etc). As most big New York publishers are losing money and are the first to admit that their book distribution systems suck, they are the last people you want to emulate not the first.

Self publishers who have a reasonable print run, or print on demand, have reasonable cost per book and aren't so tied up in the largely irrelevant stuff like color pictures and color over cover or style of binding, can make a profit. This is, of course, assuming they have a great book that meets a demand in the market (A bad book with no demand is a band book with no demand no matter what you do).

There are lots of people in this world who judge a book because of it's cover, but that's because they're shallow. I'm not shy enough to admit that I wrote not only the best book but the only book in the world on the authentication of prints. When someone would complain complain about the book because, of all things, the binding wasn't like the kind you find in Barnes & Noble, I would think, "You don't deserve the book."

Personally, I would rather have a great guide to boxing cards that is written on toilet paper, than an useless book that is bound like the latest Harry Potter. So, as a self-publisher, if someone complains about lack of color or a ring binding, realize that this person is shallow and doesn't deserve the vital information inside.