Thursday
Aug232007
Hardbound All Sold Out, Paperback edition on the way! (Plus some hints on self publishing)
Thursday, August 23, 2007 at 12:33PM
Every copy of the book Business Process Management with a Business Rules Approach has been sold. I remember the day that the books arrived in my office in one immense shipment!
Thanks to the many folks who purchased the book on Amazon, also thanks to Amazon for providing such good support to the independent author.
I have ordered a paperback version from booksurge.com. The graphic on my blog depicts the new cover design. My friend and associate, Larry Goldberg of KPI evaluated both booksurge.com and lulu.com and, while they both have their qualities, booksurge.com seemed to offer the best pricing and services. (As an update, I find the folks at BookSurge and the rest of Amazon, very helpfull. Despite being a small publisher, they were able to to the reviews from the hardbound edition onto the paperbound edition, thanks to Amanda Mustin and Bethany Snow for helping me get the listing updated.)
While I am at it, here are my hard-learned lessons of self publishing:
Lesson Zero: save your money for editors and graphics designers. You may want to hire a writing coach. The days of the self-publishing consultants like arborbooks are over. These guys are all a waste of money and time. Remember there are two types of editors: copy editing and progress or copy editing. You will need both.
Lesson One: Learn to write, and write every day for at least an hour when you are not writing the book. Seek out criticism of your writing: the harsher the better. Read style books very deeply and slowly. My two favorites are: Strunct and White and Zinsser. Writing is not easy and it takes time to find your voice. Someone once said publishing a book is like standing in public under florescent lamps, in your underwear. Exactly.
Lesson two: Don’t waste time outlining until you have completed the concepts of your book. Design is always important, outlines come next.
Lesson three: Get a good layout and copy editor. If you do not need one, then you are probably writing a book on grammar, usage or punctuation. Folks who write books about broad, sweeping concepts don’t have time to worry about the exact use of semicolons, colons, gerunds, and the proper use of the past pluperfect. Folks who read books about broad sweeping concepts do not have time to read books that are filled with typographical errors.
Unless you have a Pulitzer-winning ghost writer, no amount of money is going to save you from the challenges of book writing. The cost of a real ghost writer is multiples of 100K.
I have loved working on the two books I have written. It is at once one of the most joyfull and difficult endevors I have experienced. On the other hand, if you are serious about writing your own book, you should consider what Woody Allen said about exercise: 'Lay down and rest until the feeling goes away ...'
If the feeling does not go away, drop me an email, I love talking to the authors out there...
Thanks to the many folks who purchased the book on Amazon, also thanks to Amazon for providing such good support to the independent author.
I have ordered a paperback version from booksurge.com. The graphic on my blog depicts the new cover design. My friend and associate, Larry Goldberg of KPI evaluated both booksurge.com and lulu.com and, while they both have their qualities, booksurge.com seemed to offer the best pricing and services. (As an update, I find the folks at BookSurge and the rest of Amazon, very helpfull. Despite being a small publisher, they were able to to the reviews from the hardbound edition onto the paperbound edition, thanks to Amanda Mustin and Bethany Snow for helping me get the listing updated.)
While I am at it, here are my hard-learned lessons of self publishing:
Lesson Zero: save your money for editors and graphics designers. You may want to hire a writing coach. The days of the self-publishing consultants like arborbooks are over. These guys are all a waste of money and time. Remember there are two types of editors: copy editing and progress or copy editing. You will need both.
Lesson One: Learn to write, and write every day for at least an hour when you are not writing the book. Seek out criticism of your writing: the harsher the better. Read style books very deeply and slowly. My two favorites are: Strunct and White and Zinsser. Writing is not easy and it takes time to find your voice. Someone once said publishing a book is like standing in public under florescent lamps, in your underwear. Exactly.
Lesson two: Don’t waste time outlining until you have completed the concepts of your book. Design is always important, outlines come next.
Lesson three: Get a good layout and copy editor. If you do not need one, then you are probably writing a book on grammar, usage or punctuation. Folks who write books about broad, sweeping concepts don’t have time to worry about the exact use of semicolons, colons, gerunds, and the proper use of the past pluperfect. Folks who read books about broad sweeping concepts do not have time to read books that are filled with typographical errors.
Unless you have a Pulitzer-winning ghost writer, no amount of money is going to save you from the challenges of book writing. The cost of a real ghost writer is multiples of 100K.
I have loved working on the two books I have written. It is at once one of the most joyfull and difficult endevors I have experienced. On the other hand, if you are serious about writing your own book, you should consider what Woody Allen said about exercise: 'Lay down and rest until the feeling goes away ...'
If the feeling does not go away, drop me an email, I love talking to the authors out there...
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