tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post3407874089137335264..comments2024-03-26T03:46:04.937-07:00Comments on Books in Northport: One Bookseller's Take on the Self-Publishing GameP. J. Grathhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-31400666269476156872008-09-09T07:51:00.000-07:002008-09-09T07:51:00.000-07:00I think we would all agree that there are exceptio...I think we would all agree that there are exceptions to the do-not-self-publish rule. LOOK ABOUT YOU: A MAGICAL CHILDHOOD IN MICHIGAN'S WILD PLACES, the beautiful picture book by Erin Anderson and Mary Fuscaldo, is one I'm glad its creators put out there for the rest of us. Another that I've been handling this year is LAKE EFFECT: A DECKHAND'S JOURNEY ON THE GREAT LAKES FREIGHTERS, by Richard Hill.<BR/><BR/>As for the therapeutic effect of writing one's memoirs (the same could be said of some songs people write at crucial junctures of their lives), I thoroughly understand the moving effect of some raw, unpolished stories. My wariness has to do with general economic principles. I may need to "get my story out," but can I expect anyone outside my family to care about it enough to plunk down a $20 bill? Booksellers can't afford to ignore this general question.P. J. Grathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-63992987345133129782008-09-08T19:48:00.000-07:002008-09-08T19:48:00.000-07:00In general I have to agree with Anonymous, but sti...In general I have to agree with Anonymous, but still . . . On a hiking trip in the U.P., while the other Wild Women were buying Fat Quarters in Munising (it's a long story) I was flipping through oddments at the front of the store. I found a self-published book by a local Vietnam vet. I bought it. I read it. For all its flaws - a good editor could have done a lot - it was a wonderful book. Real, from the heart and the belly, funny and mind-bending. I expect it did him a lot of good to write it. I know it did me a lot of good to read it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-6872292007929775642008-09-08T16:27:00.000-07:002008-09-08T16:27:00.000-07:00David's daughter did a lovely book, hardcover with...David's daughter did a lovely book, hardcover with photos of their family's 2007 adventures, for all us lucky relatives, but we're hoping her story of traveling, solo, the Mississippi River by road finds a trade publisher.P. J. Grathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-67487814800327343262008-09-08T07:25:00.000-07:002008-09-08T07:25:00.000-07:00As a former newsroom denizen who had to deal with ...As a former newsroom denizen who had to deal with countless self-publishers seeking publicity, I say: Forget about it. Write your story, photocopy enough for your relatives and kids, and let it be.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-57667606553394802022008-09-05T18:46:00.000-07:002008-09-05T18:46:00.000-07:00You are so right about all the competition, Gerry....You are so right about all the competition, Gerry. Especially with fiction and poetry, it's terribly hard for an unknown author to find an audience. I would never tell anyone not to write. If it's in you, it's in you, and it wants to come out. Self-publishing, on the other hand, I would more often than not try to discourage. Very few writers are marketers. They don't want to be marketers. But self-publishers have to be self-marketers, too, and there's the rub.P. J. Grathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12693462910472164289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4130421352415377273.post-31388217921938334142008-09-05T16:50:00.000-07:002008-09-05T16:50:00.000-07:00I heard this morning's IPR story, too, and thought...I heard this morning's IPR story, too, and thought it was bang on. All of us think no one else can do what we do half as well as we can do it - and secretly we all believe we can handle professional chores like editing and print layouts and photo reproduction just about as well as the people who do it for a living . . . <BR/><BR/>Ha. And again Ha. Might as well remove our own tonsils. <BR/><BR/>Of course self-publishing can work - I've watched Betty Beeby and Glenn Ruggles and a whole raft of historical societies do it. They work hard at it, know their markets, and make good use of professional advice. Writing's a business. It's an art, too, but the minute the writer decides to try to make a living at it, it becomes first and foremost a business. All writers need to keep in mind that we're competing not just with movies and TV and the latest kid on the block, but with every ink-stained wretch who's put quill to parchment since the time of Gutenberg. Alas and hurrah, writers come and go, but books moulder on . . .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com