General

Re: Self Publishing Books

Tex2002ans — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 05:04:08 GMT

John James:
Hadn't heard that one. It's believable [both the complaining and the truth behind it], but it begs the question...where the heck is his money coming from?

I also recently listened to an office hour in which he was mentioning how his income taxes were so crazy, since he gathers income from all different businesses and not just one employer. I guess he gathers sums from writing articles, giving lectures, editing books, royalties, Liberty Classroom (this is probably doing QUITE well for him), Affiliate Links. Perhaps he also gets paid a little every time he guest hosts Peter Schiff's show?

Speaking of Liberty Classroom, that another example of digital making the cost of spreading ideas dirt cheap.

Imagine if you had to gather everyone into some room in some building somewhere and have everyone sit around for an hour, have the teacher come talk for a while, and have everyone leave to come back and do the same thing the next day.... for weeks. And then have a few week gap, and have the teacher talk about the same exact thing all over again with a whole new group of people! What a waste of resources that would be!

Re: Self Publishing Books

John James — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 04:26:43 GMT

Tex2002ans:
Also, Tom constantly complains about the cover the publisher chose for Rollback, making it seem like some "anti-Obama" book... when in reality it is a very radical discussion of the rollback of EVERYTHING in the government. (He mentions this in multiple speeches/videos/lectures). [...]Also, if I remember correctly, a few of his books were drastically cut down in size because the publisher wanted it to be a small, quick read.

Yeah I've actually seen both of those a few times myself.

Tex2002ans:
Also, in a few of the Mises University courses (Office Hours?), Tom Woods was complaining about his royalties being pathetic, and for everyone to remind him to "never write another book again". (although I believe he will give in and write more after Rollback). :P

Hadn't heard that one. It's believable [both the complaining and the truth behind it], but it begs the question...where the heck is his money coming from? Perhaps his standards are higher than most people's, but from what I have been able to gather, Woods is doing pretty darn well for himself. I can't imagine it all comes from his wife and public appearances.

Tex2002ans:
Kelvin Silva:
You can also buy your own printing press for >2.5k Just takes some saving. If you save money from now untill you finish your book, youd probably have enough money to buy a printing press.
I don't think this would be a good idea at all.... you would be able to pay someone much less to make much higher quality and much more volume printings than you would be able to (and your time would be better spent focusing on what you do best).

Total ditto.

Re: Self Publishing Books

Tex2002ans — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 04:04:50 GMT

John James:
Also see Tom Woods:

Also, in a few of the Mises University courses (Office Hours?), Tom Woods was complaining about his royalties being pathetic, and for everyone to remind him to "never write another book again". (although I believe he will give in and write more after Rollback). :P

Also, Tom constantly complains about the cover the publisher chose for Rollback, making it seem like some "anti-Obama" book... when in reality it is a very radical discussion of the rollback of EVERYTHING in the government. (He mentions this in multiple speeches/videos/lectures).

Also, if I remember correctly, a few of his books were drastically cut down in size because the publisher wanted it to be a small, quick read.

Kelvin Silva:
You can also buy your own printing press for >2.5k

Just takes some saving. If you save money from now untill you finish your book, youd probably have enough money to buy a printing press.

I don't think this would be a good idea at all.... you would be able to pay someone much less to make much higher quality and much more volume printings than you would be able to (and your time would be better spent focusing on what you do best).

Re: Self Publishing Books

Kelvin Silva — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 02:44:47 GMT

You can also buy your own printing press for >2.5k

Just takes some saving. If you save money from now untill you finish your book, youd probably have enough money to buy a printing press.

Re: Self Publishing Books

John James — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 23:40:23 GMT

Also see Tom Woods:

Should I Write a Book?

(be sure to check the link at the end too)

But Tex2002ans is right. Old school publishing is fastly becoming a dinosaur...just like old-world radio is giving way to the podcast, and print media is getting killed by online sources. Just like with all previous regimes, there will be plenty of resistance, from those who currently dominate the industry (of course), as well as those who are old and resistant to change in general.

But the fact is, authors (and creators of all kinds actually) just don't need the traditional middle men anymore. You can reach a worldwide audience literally on your own. Sure, mainstream sources still dominate, but their market share is constantly eroding. Check out the recent Peter Schiff Shows hosted by Tom Woods featuring Jeff Tucker and Tim Ferriss.

Re: Self Publishing Books

Tex2002ans — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 21:40:17 GMT

dude6935:
I doubt its viability as an alternative to the traditional route in terms of profitability. Should self-published authors expect lower returns?

IF you can get your book accepted into a big publisher (there are tons of hoops you have to go through, literary agents, professional editors, making manuscripts, query letters, etc. etc.), you will have already sunk in tons of wasted time/money, and in the end, your royalties will most likely be piddling (while at the same time, costs will be very high):

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Truth-About-Book-Royalties&id=2424907

This time could be better spent actually writing/making your work better.

On top of that, the publisher will get to control (and lock away) the copyright of your book until time immemorial. Jeff Tucker mentions quite often that many authors get in contact with him to try to publish new versions of their books, but they cannot, because they are locked away in copyright.

With Self-Publishing you get to control the prices, you get to control the covers, you get to control everything about the book, and can sell it wherever/whatever format you want until time immemorial. Want a half price sale next week promotion? Go right ahead. Want a "now I will release my first book for free to get people interested in my other works"? Go right ahead.

With self-publishing right into Amazon/B&N, you skip the massive amount of steps/time/money/headache going the traditional publisher route. Your book will most likely be $.99-$2.99, but you will be making 30-75% on royalties.

Ebook sales are only going up and up. :)

As a side note, I really should gather great articles on self-publishing/ebooks.... I always seem to lose great resources down the memory hole!

Re: Self Publishing Books

dude6935 — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:48:56 GMT

Yah, I am writing a novel (I have several hundred pages, but tying things up takes forever) and I am interested in the self-published route. I doubt its viability as an alternative to the traditional route in terms of profitability. Should self-published authors expect lower returns?

Re: Self Publishing Books

Physiocrat — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 13:28:52 GMT

Thanks for the info.

Re: Self Publishing Books

John James — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 02:39:21 GMT

I also wrote on this here.

Re: Self Publishing Books

Tex2002ans — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:32:19 GMT

Physiocrat:
This is a bit down the line from now but I'm presently researching a book on education and want to eventually self publish it.

Great to hear!

I wrote some information a while back in this topic:

https://mises.org/community/forums/p/32313/501900.aspx#501900

Physiocrat:
To complicate it though, I want to publish copyright free (essentially not giving the copyright over to the publisher).

You will never be able to release it at a traditional publisher with that... they will want to hold the copyright, and lock the book away forever. Self-publish, and release it under the CC-BY.

Physiocrat:
Has anyone got any decent information on how to do this and does anyone decent publisher who can publish in the UK and possibly the USA?

Write the book (proofread, edit, basic styling (read a few of the resources I pointed to in that topic)), get a cover, get an ISBN, get the book converted to EPUB (I wouldn't mind doing that for you), get it up in the stores (Amazon/Barnes & Noble) ($.99-$2.99).

UK ISBN Information: http://www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk/controller.php?page=158

Re: Self Publishing Books

Marko — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 22:07:35 GMT

I believe you could get that with certain print-on-demand companies, if you would go that way.

Self Publishing Books

Physiocrat — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:21:59 GMT

This is a bit down the line from now but I'm presently researching a book on education and want to eventually self publish it. To complicate it though, I want to publish copyright free (essentially not giving the copyright over to the publisher). Has anyone got any decent information on how to do this and does anyone decent publisher who can publish in the UK and possibly the USA?