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Post by chang on Mar 25, 2024 11:32:08 GMT
richardsok I’d be interested, when you have some time (not urgent), if you’d jot down some of your experiences and lessons learned publishing a book on Amazon. Any guidance, hints, etc. would be appreciated. I am writing a book (just started today) which will take me about three months or so to complete. (It’s a math/physics book, quite technical, so the audience will be very small. It’s really just a retirement project / labor of love, to keep my brain active.) TIA.
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Post by yogibearbull on Mar 25, 2024 12:00:29 GMT
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Post by racqueteer on Mar 25, 2024 13:16:38 GMT
I am writing a book (just started today) which will take me about three months or so to complete. How nice! Care to elaborate on some details (privately, if you prefer not scaring the children)  ? |
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Post by richardsok on Mar 25, 2024 13:16:51 GMT
A few thoughts on self publishing ---
If you think you need three months to complete your book, take four. Or six.
Do not entertain any notions that you can be your own proofreader/editor. You will need someone (or two people) competent in mathematics and the basics of grammar & punctuation. Do not depend on computerized spell checking either.
If I were writing a book investigating some area of mathematics I would first approach publishing houses that specialize in educational works. One might very well contract with you to publish your pride & joy for you.
Keep a clear idea who your reader will be as you write every page. Is this high-school level? Investment oriented? Engineering? Advanced applications?
If self-publishing, anticipate problems with formatting unless you are willing to spend top dollar. I was NEVER satisfied with formatting services I saw and tried that were advertised online. Could not find someone with common sense about line spacing, paragraph spacing and consistency. I actually had fights over formatting that would leave a chapter-ending page with just ONE word on it! Many formatters will try to mask their inability to create clarity by trying to deploy fancy typefaces and obnoxious decorative elements. Others will drag their heels or completely ignore your most carefully worded instructions and do whatever they're inclined to do. Prepare yourself for frustration here.
I get the sense I was talking on line with a "front man" who would take the formatting order and just toss it back to some miserably paid scrubs in the back room to "do something" with it. It seemed sometimes my instructions weren't being read at all.
If self-publishing, you'll need a cover creator also. You will have to FIRST decide how physically big your published paperback is to be. The cover and the interior pages will be ruled by your pre-choosing of book size. Look carefully here. Some book dimensions are far more cost-efficient to produce than others. Your formatting MUST follow book dimensions.
You will probably want Amazon + Kindle. If self-publishing. But (personal opinion here!) I would not select the “Kindle Direct” or “KDP” option. If you do, you're locked in 100% with Amazon and have no direct route for selling to bookstores.
To my mind, a good combination is Amazon + Kindle + IngramSpark, giving you a shot at on-line paperback and online tablet readers plus bookstores also.
There are independent houses that will offer to publish and market your book for, say, $5000, soup-to-nuts. (Dorrance is one of the bigger ones.) Don't walk, run away, IMO. After you ignore them for a month or so, they'll probably return with a second offer, only slightly less offensive.
Don't mean to rain on your parade, chang. I'm truly excited for you and eager to know how you progress. Keep us in the loop..
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Post by johntaylor on Mar 25, 2024 13:43:16 GMT
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Post by chang on Mar 25, 2024 14:02:36 GMT
I am writing a book (just started today) which will take me about three months or so to complete. How nice! Care to elaborate on some details (privately, if you prefer not scaring the children) ? Sure. As an educator yourself, you are doubtless aware that there are a countless number of “Student’s Guide to XXX” written to accompany various textbooks XXX. Often these include solutions to problems, more detailed explanations than provided in the text, and/or supplemental information. I happen to be very partial to a particular book on the general theory of relativity (Einstein’s theory of gravity). For various reasons I won’t go into here, I find this text to be the best one for someone looking for the most direct and rapid introduction to the theory and main equations. It’s a great book, and very concise (but no more difficult to follow than other, vastly longer books), but there are a number of spots where it’s possible to get lost because the author makes a fairly large leap. My guide will provide the detail needed to bridge these gaps and help the reader get through the entire development. It’s a difficult subject, and as I’m sure you will appreciate, the best way to truly understand something is to explain it to someone else. So I’m really doing this for myself, as a way to cement my own understanding of the subject. The number of people who might want to use this might number anywhere between zero and a few dozen, so this is obviously not a commercial enterprise. (The author of the text which my notes are designed to accompany is unfortunately long dead, so I can’t expect any thanks from him.) |
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Post by chang on Mar 25, 2024 14:10:09 GMT
johntaylor Thanks, I never saw that. I prefer concise mathematical treatments but, well, I have the necessary tools to understand that. I don’t read popular (“layman”) expositions which I find painfully verbose, but of course these kinds of books and articles are extremely popular nowadays for people who want to understand what’s going on at the forefront of science without the math. Mathematics is the language of science, so explaining science without math is like writing an Introduction to French Grammar without using any French - a difficult task.
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Post by racqueteer on Mar 25, 2024 14:58:32 GMT
Having spent time in areas in which karma is a thing, I'm sure you can appreciate that you will be compensated in some manner!  |
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Post by keppelbay on Mar 25, 2024 15:12:33 GMT
Hi chang, My wife published one of her novels using amazon/kindle. We did the typesetting using their online tools. I did the proofreading and the cover design/art for her. It was all relatively easy. We were satisfied with the resulting product. There is really no need to spend money to have someone do this for you. I can send you a link offline, if you'd like a look. She published her other books with Springer. I second yogibearbull 's the suggestion that you contact them. They were professional, competent etc. But, be aware that they will not actively market your book. You'll have to do that yourself. |
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Post by yogibearbull on Mar 25, 2024 15:25:14 GMT
As has been noted by several posters already, formatting and typesetting tools are important. Author may use some fancy software for formatting and mathematical equations, but ALL may have to be redone with publisher's typesetting software.
When I published my technical book with Springer (Springer-Verlag then), I was horrified when I got the first proofreading copy. They had redone EVERY equation with Springer's typesetting software and it had zillion errors. I called the editor to complain, but he said that's how they do it, and that I better get going with proofreading, and that they will fix almost all within their limitations. And here I thought that I was done after sending my copy, but then it was like almost starting over.
Of course, these days, one can produce PDFs online, and print & bind them, but professional publishing is a different world.
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Post by rhythmmethod on Mar 25, 2024 19:14:14 GMT
If there is a publisher that might be interested, I would start there. I had an instructional DVD/book turnkey ready and was ready to self-publish—and to my surprise, Alfred picked it up. I think some university press might be interested.
I have a musician friend who sells music PDFs off her site and was going to publish via Amazon. She ran into several formatting issues. After some hassle, she hired someone from Fiverr to do it relatively inexpensively. Good luck!
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Post by chang on Mar 25, 2024 20:08:16 GMT
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?
