Amazon.co.uk: How to Publish Your Own Book: Vernon Coleman: Books

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

An excellent self-publisher's companion., 23 Nov 2000

By A Customer

Many writers contemplate self-publishing following miserable experiences with an established British publisher. This disenchantment is characterised very well in the first section of "How To Publish Your Own Book." The reader will be much keener having read about the "Why's" of self-publishing but are the "How's" explained with equal gusto? Coleman provides a very clear exposition of the core costs of publishing but does not provide much nitty-gritty advice on controlling the costs that the publisher can influence such as office overheads and printing and binding. Having said this he does give some useful tips on getting discounted advertising space and lowering the cost of a Direct Mail campaign.

The details of publishing, such as book delivery and printing specifications, appear to be tedious but Coleman provides enough information to get a small publishing house up and running. The strategic aspects of publishing such as pricing the book, print run size and marketing plans are more appealing and he guides the reader through to the key decisions in these areas. Marketing is arguably the biggest challenge facing a tyro publisher and a large section is devoted to it. Coleman is a mail order based publisher and therefore concentrates on print advertising techniques and Direct Mail. He provides detailed guidance on writing advertising copy and Direct Mail letters because they are the two most powerful marketing tools available to a self-publisher. Coleman's reliance on direct contact with potential readers reflects his scathing and pessimistic analysis of mainstream publishing. He claims that self-published books rarely get reviewed. Literary editors are strongly criticised for encouraging and upholding the bias against self-publishers.

The main problem with this book, in my opinion, is its failure to consider the publishing potential of the Internet both in terms of marketing and electronic books. Some people may well regard this as a fatal flaw but in the future it is likely that printed and electronic text will complement each other or at least coexist. Furthermore, anybody who adopts Coleman's open, customer-centred style would not go far wrong if they have a good book and use well-targeted advertising and Direct Mail campaign. All in all, "How To Publish Your Own Book" is an excellent self-publisher's companion.

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