Complete Guide to Self Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote, and Sell Your Own Book (Self-Publishing 4th Edition) Fourth Edition

"The Complete Guide to Self Publishing" is by no doubt valuable source of information to any self-publisher. It embraces the whole area of modern self-publishing: the today's publishing scene, start-up considerations to get you off on the right foot, creating a quality product that attracts buyers, PR issues, selling books the usual and unusual ways, nontraditional venues for generating more sales.The book gives example of properly-fillied copyright registration, ISBN application, and other essential forms, gives the self-publishing "project plan", gives the list of most valuable organizations and information sources for self-publishers in the U.S.A. and Canada. It also lists selected book manufacturers, marketing contacts and other helpful information, including structured bibliography/recommended reading and glossary and definitions of widespread publishing acronyms.When I first filled my copyright registration form, I made lot of mistakes, and the processing of this form has been delayed half a year due to these errors. I could have avoided this if I've followed the precepts given in this book.The only thing that the 4th edition of this book misses is a reference to Internet-based discussion lists, which is also a valuable resource for self-publishers.Please note that the book is big. Nevertheless, the price is surprisingly low, comparing to other self-publishing manuals. I would however recommend "How To Start And Run A Small Book Publishing Company: A Small Business Guide To Self-Publishing And Independent Publishing by" Peter I. Hupalo prior to reading "The Complete Guide to Self Publishing".

Well, "YES," but only if you intend to hire professionals to do a lot of your technical self-publishing work. But if you want really to do it ALL yourself, Tom and Marilyn's instructions do not include the step-by-step, bottom-line, technical details on how to create formatted computer files that POD presses will accept.You will not learn how to use a computer to setup and format your pages, to insert section breaks and page numbers, to insert 300 dpi photos, or to format a cover for your book. And, this book tells you nothing at all about how to convert your book block and cover files to PDF, the format required by POD presses. (Amazon offers other books that will teach you these skills.)However, if you really don't want to do all this yourself, The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing is THE book you surely should buy. This book is geared primarily to teach you how to set-up your own, full-blown publishing business, and how to sell your books, once you have published them. Virtually all aspects of these two main topics are covered in great detail. To a lesser extent (in 53 of the book's 521 pages), suggestions and instructions concerning book and cover design are helpful as far as they go. But to convert their ideas to computer files, Tom and Marilyn suggest repeatedly that you should hire professionals to do these technical tasks.Even so, because of its overall, valuable content, I have given this book a five-star rating.Edwin Scroggins is author of  HOW TO SELF-PUBLISH YOUR BOOK WITH BOOKSURGE FOR LESS $$$: A Step-by-Step Guide for Designing & Formatting Your Microsoft Word Book to POD & PDF Press Specifications

I find this book to be a good reference book for self-publishing, particularly for the non-novelist. Although I don't require it, I found the section for Canadian publishers to be a thoughtful addition for our northern neighbors. Frequent questions are not only addressed, but examples are provided in many cases. The mass of the book (520 pages) attests to the meat & thoroughness that is contained within. There's thorough discussion on start-up type questions any hopeful beginning self-publisher has, such as how to price, what's a reasonable qty to print, how to get an ISBN, helpful reminders on creating a cost & revenue forecast, etc. The one caution I have is the somewhat irresponsible list of 32 ways to generate capital, 8 of which suggest going into debt or tapping into generally untouchable future funds including 401k's, cash values of insurance policies and messing with tax withholdings to get more cash in hand. I find this advise, especially when put in print, quite irresponsible. The bottom line if you are considering self-publishing, you should only consider self-publishing an option if you can AFFORD to go it alone. If you can't, don't self-publish until you have the CASH to do it (it's a cash-forward, cash intensive proposition, with financial rewards often realized a year out or more). Other more reasonable options exist if you can't fund it yourself.Aside from the sour financial advise, the book does a fine job in preparing you every step of the way through the self-publishing path.

[...]As a first book to act as your springboard into the world of self-publishing, this book has a lot to recommend it. Its 500+ pages cover a huge amount of ground, from scoping out a subject for your book that might actually sell, to the actual mechanics of self publishing, PR campaigns, sales and distribution channels and a number of useful appendices. It is primarily aimed at non-fiction publishing and at the US and Canadian markets.My only suggestions for improvement lie in the vital areas of Print On Demand and web-based marketing since this book, which is now in its fourth edition, only devotes an all-too-brief 38 pages to "Cyber Options Beyond Your Wildest Imagination" and "Using the Web to Rally 'Buzz' and Business".In their fifth edition, which I sincerely hope will be written in due course, my only recommendation for improvement would be that the authors devote much more space to these areas. Otherwise, they run the risk of falling behind the avalanche of more up to date books on the subject.This would be a pity, since otherwise this is an excellent introduction with a lot to recommend it.