ADVICE TO OTHER
DESK-TOP PUBLISHERS
Existential Books published its first book in 1970.
So it has some claim to being a long-lasting small-press publisher.
Three of its books are now in their fifth editions,
which is another sign of reader acceptance.
Many people believe that they have at least one book
in them.
And do-it-yourself publishing might be a way to see if this is true.
The advent of the Internet in the middle 1990s
made a big difference in the success of at least some of my books.
My advice is to put substantial parts of any writing
you do
on the Internet so that potential readers
will be able to see what you really have to offer.
This creates a direct connection between author and reader.
And it has the advantage over any forms of advertising
of being available world-wide,
wherever there are readers of the English language.
A surprising number of my readers live outside of the United States.
Most conventional books are sold
not because they have good content
but because they have good-looking covers,
large publicity budgets, or well-known authors.
I have been able to communicate with my special
readers
without fancy covers, advertising, or being a well-known author.
DON'T OVER-ESTIMATE YOUR READERSHIP
Most first-time writers believe that they have a
best-seller in their heads.
But let the readers be the judge of that.
Some of the books I have written for the popular market
have not sold well.
For example, I thought lots of people would want to read
The Romantic
Love Test:
How Do We Know if We Are in Love?
But it has not sold as well
as books that cost 30 or 40 times as much.
When you produce your own books using a computer,
you should restrain yourself from printing too many copies.
If you sell out your first printing,
you can always go back to make more copies.
And in the process you can probably find
a few things that you want to improve.
This has always been my experience,
even tho I am a very careful writer.
With each successive edition of my two largest books,
I have made at least minor changes.
DON'T GIVE YOUR MONEY AWAY
TO VANITY OR SUBSIDY PUBLISHERS
There are companies that will publish your book
for a few hundred dollars---no matter what the content.
But usually this is money down the drain.
Wise readers know the names of these companies.
And they know that anyone
can hire them publish anything---for a price.
Using the Internet to let readers find you,
you can publish any size book that you write.
Even if it is a very specialized book,
there are hundreds of millions of readers on the Internet.
A few of these will probably be interested
in what you have to offer.
Just make sure that your book is properly classified.
Here is more advice about using the
Library of
Congress classification system
.
BE READY TO FAIL
---AND TO RECOGNIZE THAT YOUR EXPERIMENT DID NOT WORK
Some people will keep pouring good money after bad.
If the people are not buying your book,
mark that one up to experience
and go on to something else,
perhaps writing another book,
this time something that really does find an audience.
If it is costing you more to advertise each book
than you make on its sales,
this is a sign that the experiment did not work.
If you just want to give your ideas away,
you can do this with a website on the Internet
---without charging anything for your ideas.
This advice is still in the process of
formulation.
If any readers have additional ideas,
send them to:
James Park: e-mail: PARKx032@TC.UMN.EDU