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!
Printer vs Publisher
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…
PW Select for Self-Publishers: Good or Bad?
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…
RPI freshmen visit Troy, and The Troy Book Makers
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…
Publishers Weekly to Review Self-Published Books
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…
How the West was Self-Published
A Friend Writes: It was a hot, dry day in Printer’s Gulch. Slatch Greems sat on the front porch of The Painted Lady Bookstore, thumbing through a weathered copy of the Chicago Manual of Style. He was trying to figure…
Component: Paper
Selecting a paper color or weight isn’t something most authors have ever thought about. If you’ve had experience designing books, then you know how paper affects the look and feel of your book, but most self-publishers haven’t given it much…
Component: Cover
You can’t judge a book by its cover, or so the popular expression goes. But we do. We can’t help it! A good cover draws us in and makes us curious, both important elements when trying to entice a potential…
Women Printers
I always enjoy learning about the kinds of work women have done in industry and trades. Recently, I found this online exhibit at Princeton. It’s called Unseen Hands: Women Printers, Binders & Book Designers. According to one entry about the…
Wanted: Readers
So, the heavy lifting is over. You’ve found your voice, opened yourself to criticism from friends and family, found a place to print your book, and maybe even learned a little bit about paper, page layout, and cover design along…