Saturday, June 11, 2005
"If you wish to be a writer, write." Epictetus
For some odd reason I've been looking at the cost of self-publishing a book. When I say "a book" I mean a book written by me. Why am I thinking about this? No idea really - it's probably a passing fancy that will be forgotten about within a week. But then again, soon enough (4 weeks) my exams will be over and I'll have more spare time. While I'll be working during the day, I'd need something to fill my evenings and weekends (other than sitting in the pub because (1) that get's expensive, and (2) I'd rather not destroy that many brain cells).
A thought that crosses my mind is: who the hell would want to read anything written by me? Do I really think I've got anything interesting to say about anything? Going by what I've written in this blog so far, the answer would appear to be a resounding "NO!", but who knows? It could be worth giving it a go. While I often slip into the "if you don't try you can't fail" school of thought (I think Homer Simpson is our most famous member), maybe it would be a challenge worth taking on?
The obvious question is: so what would it be about? You would have thought that as I'm looking at the costs of publishing I'd have some sort of idea wouldn't you? Well, I don't really. Nothing concrete and I've certainly not started putting anything down on paper. Any suggestions gratefully received!
For now though I think I'll focus on revision. Passing these exams is something much more within my reach than publishing a book that anyone would want to read.
For more info on Epictetus click here
A thought that crosses my mind is: who the hell would want to read anything written by me? Do I really think I've got anything interesting to say about anything? Going by what I've written in this blog so far, the answer would appear to be a resounding "NO!", but who knows? It could be worth giving it a go. While I often slip into the "if you don't try you can't fail" school of thought (I think Homer Simpson is our most famous member), maybe it would be a challenge worth taking on?
The obvious question is: so what would it be about? You would have thought that as I'm looking at the costs of publishing I'd have some sort of idea wouldn't you? Well, I don't really. Nothing concrete and I've certainly not started putting anything down on paper. Any suggestions gratefully received!
For now though I think I'll focus on revision. Passing these exams is something much more within my reach than publishing a book that anyone would want to read.
For more info on Epictetus click here
# posted by GrecianEd @ 1:14 am 
Comments:
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Hi Gary,
Thanks for the comments. From the small amount of research I've done into self-publishing the costs do seem quite high, and there is of course no guarantee that you can sell enough to cover those costs. It would seem, therefore, to be only worth doing if you can't get someone to publish it and either you're prepared to take the financial hit (in my current state doubtful!) or for some reason you're relatively confident of covering your costs.
Also, thanks for pointing me in the direction of that G2 arcitle. I found it on the Guardian website. Certainly was a very good article and gives a good indication of the publishing process. I'll link to it in my next post.
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Thanks for the comments. From the small amount of research I've done into self-publishing the costs do seem quite high, and there is of course no guarantee that you can sell enough to cover those costs. It would seem, therefore, to be only worth doing if you can't get someone to publish it and either you're prepared to take the financial hit (in my current state doubtful!) or for some reason you're relatively confident of covering your costs.
Also, thanks for pointing me in the direction of that G2 arcitle. I found it on the Guardian website. Certainly was a very good article and gives a good indication of the publishing process. I'll link to it in my next post.
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