One Self-Publisher
on Self-Publishing

Edward Tufte is one of the people who succeeded mightily in self-publishing. His "Visual Display of Quantitative Data" was a breakthrough in thinking about graphics, was extremely well reviewed by both the scientific and graphic design communities, and is now in its second edition. But even Tufte is not an unqualified supporter of self-publishing.

At his Web site, Tufte runs a forum and fields questions from readers. Asked about self-publishing, here's what he had to say in one response. Not quite "Don't try this at home." More like, think carefully. :

The history and details of my self-publishing are described at length in the new introduction to the second edition of The Visual Display of Quantitative Information.

My general advice about self-publishing is do it only (1) if the content of your work clearly demands self-publishing and (2) after you have published some books with real publishers. As a designer you can provide Quark files to a commercial publisher and thereby control the design.

Very very few books make significant money for the authors. Most self-publishers and indeed most authors wind up with a basement filled with mildewing books.

I did no market analysis in deciding to self-publish; such an analysis could only distort and corrupt the heart of the work, which is to make the best and most wonderful books possible. Make a wonderful book and the market will take care of itself.

Control of the design and production of my books is part of my self-expression.

 -- Edward Tufte,
August 27, 2001

Self-Publishing


Self-publishing can look good attractive, especially for the rejection-weary writer. It has worked for others and It can work for you, but it's a very big decision. Think of it as you would taking a job or, say, making an investment. Because that's what you'll be doing: Investing money and lots of effort and time. This, on top of whatever time you've spent writing your book.

There are scads of links to self-publishing resources. And lots more from vanity presses, which is in some ways a variation on the self-publishing theme.

Your very best bet is to find authors who have self-published, buy them a cup of coffee and and get their full, unvarnished accounts. Make sure to talk to more than one. That takes effort, too, but remember, it's an investment.

Also, here are some resources specific to self-publishing:

Go Publish Yourself

This for-profit site is unabashedly upbeat about self-publishing print and e-books. Bear that in mind, but don't hesitate to explore--there are useful articles and other resources.

An Incomplete Guide to Print-on-Demand Publishers

Print-on-Demand (POD) publishers are a relatively new phenomenon. It used to be that it was impractical from a unit cost point of view to print much fewer than 3,000 to 5,000 copies on an offset price. New technologies have changed things. But you still need to be careful.

This article, at an eclectic little site called Books & Tales, does some comparison shopping, and provides sound general advice about taking the plunge.

Self-Publishing: Is it For You?

Green Tentacles bills itself as the site for "speculative fiction business resources and services." It's as much a marketing-focused site as anything, but marketing is a big part of the decision to self-publish this article focuses on that decision, but there are lots of other items of interest, including using Amazon and other online stores to market your book.

Writer's Weekly: Articles on Self-Publishing

This e-zine is sort of a netizen's version of the popular newsstand writer's magazines. It includes listings of publications that are buying free-lance work, discussion forums and advice articles. This particular page catalogs the many articles that have been written about self-publishing.