Blog

The Scholarly Kitchen recently ran a post and video showing how ink is made. “The post is dedicated to all craftspeople — photographers, editors, writers, designers, papermakers, typographers, videographers, and audio engineers — being asked to stretch and change by external forces beyond their control.” (Note that The Troy Book Makers is a digital printer, [...]

Many people who come to the Troy Book Makers wonder whether or not they need an editor. People frequently don’t understand the different kinds of editing services available, such as developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading. Here are some simple explanations of editing responsibilities that may help you decide if editorial services are warranted for your [...]

So, you’ve written your book, had it reviewed by friends, even paid to have it copyedited. But, as a passionate do-it-yourselfer, you’ve decided to format the text yourself and submit it to the printer as a print-ready PDF. It saves you some money, and it can’t be that hard, right? Sound like you? If so, [...]

Ah, the apostrophe. So misunderstood. Have a look at this playful video and see how many people struggle with the right way to apply it. It’s the Apostrophe Song!

Here’s a great post from The Book Designer celebrating the advent and popularity of self-publishing. It’s called Eight Reasons Self-Publishing is Entering a Golden Age. Enjoy!

With so many new writers participating in the process of making books, it’s natural that there is confusion about the roles of printers and publishers. Who does what? Many people come in to The Troy Book Makers assuming we will comment on their content, or have a vested interest in the number of books they [...]

Publishers Weekly announced earlier this week they would be providing a new review service for self-published books, PW Select. There is a fee of $149 associated with having your book registered (not necessarily reviewed). If you’d like to follow the chatter on the fee-based service, here’s a good thread: http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2010/08/pw-select-opportunity-or-exploitation.html?showComment=1282832005333#c3667469643555508700

Yesterday, incoming RPI freshmen were busy touring downtown Troy, and several groups stopped by to see how we make books. Our last group had a few hams, so we got them to pose making hand shadows. Hand shadows? Well, they’re from our historic reprint of Henry Bursill’s 1859 book, Hand Shadows to be Thrown upon [...]

Good news! Publishers Weekly has just announced they will begin reviewing self-published books in a quarterly supplement called PW Select. The first one is scheduled to appear in December. From the article: Titles submitted for our first supplement must have been published in 2010 and have a valid ISBN. We will not accept manuscripts or [...]