The Case For Self-Publishing

nytimes.com:

Many thousands of years ago, when I was still a whelpish newspaper reporter in Chicago, I did a short profile of a retired television repairman who’d written a memoir entitled “The Perilous Life of Boris B. Gursky.”

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[Fabini]

06:54 AM on 05/29/2011

Dear Neal,

Your essay "The Case for Self-Publishing" in the NYT Book Review is refreshing. I hope "Jewball" sells well beyond the first circle of publishing – family and friends.

The number one problem with self publishing is marketing. How do I get the word out about my book? Who do I get the word out to? You mention Kickstarter in your article. I did and extensive survey of successful Kickstarter projects. What success came down to was having a fan base going in (define fan base as you wish: friends, family, business associates, email lists, etc.) and mining that group and their extended associates for all they are worth. A good idea, project, or novel is not enough. You must, as you point out in the words of Boris B. Gursky, keep doing it and doing it, day and night, until you finish, or in this case, sell 5,000 copies.

The New York Times Review of Books has a wonderful filtering mechanism for publishing reviews. This is great for readers. Now, how do we readers find out about great books when the filter is gone and only writer/publishers exist?

All the best - Fabini