From: avatar (avatar@renegadeclothing.com.au)
Date: Tue Jan 14 2003 - 00:42:38 MST
I don't know about Natasha, but I do some work for a small publishing company and have worked in the field part-time for a few years.
Unless you're a professional and tour talking and selling your book you won't do too well regardless. A dud poet might sell 50 copies of their book over time, a zippy one with connections 500 (in Australia or Ireland, for example).
Print on demand is cheap considering. A few hundred with lighning source for example gets you set up and they list your book. You can then advertise it on the web including through a site with teasers etc... It's dead easy to do the cover and pdf file from word with Acrobat PDF writer for word (note remember to embed fonts and un-default the dpi for images to a high resolution). I'm not an expert on web sales.
The big question is when e-ink is going to launch book format digital paper and what associated programming interactions occur. At this stage I can only note that one of the founders of eink is now working on printable chips and circuitry. Cheap flexible circuitry and already-designed flat paper batteries are obviously going to be part of the next generation, but the first generation still awaits. Eink's website is pretty coy. They're really building up to go whammo all at once, papers and books, if you ask me. Optimistically it's this year, possibly soon. Hard to call. I think it's made, it's just the manufacturing finalities and distribution. They're obviously going gung-ho at these by farming out functions, based on the coca-cola model (they say).
If this goes ahead, having a sexy book on a website will allow you downloadable (to digital paper book) possibilities. If so, having sexy design, credit card facilities, a willingness to offer the book cheaper and a willingness to advertise by whatever means available is going to help, including links etc.. Ideally for all WTA/extropian books, cheap versions should be available on the net, but it's all complicated. I'm super glad Drexler is available for free on the net. Links to all these books on all websites are one aspect of things. This means having a strong, coherent, well laid out connection to texts near or on home pages, if you ask me (along with links to our peak bodies).
Being realistic, at the moment, I'd recommend you submit your book to every single mainstream publisher first. Dune got 15 or so rejections, don't forget. They have the ability currently to get at least a thousand and probably closer to 10 or 15 thousand of your book into libraries and bookstores.
However, it does also depend on how much money and time you're willing to commit. $1,000 will get you a great book launch with 300 or 350 people. Radio ads on student radio, etc. etc.. This is the sort of thing only a motivated professional with some leave time can do and is not a money-making venture (if self-publishing is involved). You can also maybe swing a deal with a small press and fund it but have it done through them: this is not something that is necessarily easy or practical.
Towards Ascension
Avatar Polymorph
34 After Armstrong
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ramez Naam" <mez@apexnano.com>
To: <extropians@extropy.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 14, 2003 1:36 PM
Subject: books and publishing
> From: natashavita@earthlink.net [mailto:natashavita@earthlink.net]
> > I'd like to suggest my self-published book _Create/Recreate: The 3rd
>
> > Millennial Culture_ because it is the only book available to
> > date that explains the history of transhumanism. It also focuses
> > on our culture and the earliest films, videos and writings of
> > transhumanists.
>
> Natasha, I'm interested to hear more about your experience with
> self-publishing. As I've posted to the list, I'm working on my own
> book, _More Than Human_, which is an overview of several transhumanist
> technologies and an argument that fundamentally we ought to pursue
> these technologies as a way to improve ourselves and our world.
>
> Right now I'm considering both traditional publishing (I'm about to
> start my search for an agent) and self-publishing.
>
> Any words of wisdom about self-publishing? Would you do it again?
>
> mez
>
>
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