[Ipg-smz] Need guidance on book publishing

Fri Oct 25 02:56:36 UTC 2019

FWIW, I’m not sure I would recommend No Starch.

1) From what I’ve seen, their copy-editing/review process leaves a lot to be desired. In addition to a plethora of typos, I have caught MAJOR technical errors that were so bad I had to alert them.

2) The books stink. Not “stink” as in poorly written. “Stink” as in “the covers are treated with chemicals/inks that give off powerful fumes that cannot possibly be good for you”. I have some No Starch books that have literally been on my shelf for over a year that I still can’t bring myself to read because they haven’t off-gassed enough to be tolerable to put anywhere near my face. Who wants to read/smell that? (Other than the crazy masochists who also like the smell of paint and gasoline?)

3) In my experience, their publicity team has greater than usual enthusiasm – but doesn’t seem entirely clear on what they are doing or the efficacy of their efforts. I’ve gotten so many review-pitches from them – failing to understand that book reviews in B2B tech are dead.

4) Their audience seems by and large far more practitioner-targeted and far less targeted to executives or decision-makers. Better for personal brand building than enterprise brand building, I tend to think.

These are just my opinions based on my experiences and observations. YMMV.

Joe

________________________________
From: Ipg-smz <ipg-smz-bounces at netpress.org> on behalf of Lynn Greiner via Ipg-smz <ipg-smz at netpress.org>
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2019 3:56:05 PM
To: ipg-smz at netpress.org <ipg-smz at netpress.org>
Cc: Lynn Greiner <lists at itwriter.com>
Subject: Re: [Ipg-smz] Need guidance on book publishing

Would you put No Starch on the list, or would this be outside their expertise?

From: Ipg-smz <ipg-smz-bounces at netpress.org> On Behalf Of Susan Nunziata via Ipg-smz
Sent: Thursday, October 24, 2019 3:48 PM
To: Tom Henderson <thenderson at extremelabs.com>
Cc: Susan Nunziata <nunziata510 at gmail.com>; ipg-smz at netpress.org
Subject: Re: [Ipg-smz] Need guidance on book publishing

Beeeeyoooootiful - thanks so much for the recommendation and guidance!

On Thu, Oct 24, 2019 at 12:43 PM Tom Henderson <thenderson at extremelabs.com<mailto:thenderson at extremelabs.com>> wrote:

Contact O'Reilley. They have experienced business plans and know the process stem to stern and can give you the entire recipe and costs. If independently published, the manual process isn't difficult but it is very tedious. A vanity publisher like Author Solutions takes a hefty fee but also knows the process stem to stern.

There are other publishers, but I'd explore O'Reilley first. They have a comprehensive set of collaterals to take to a client that describes the process. Having O'Reilley as a distribution mechanism also increases visibility as you become part of their mothership in terms of web accessibility, and so forth. TECH b2b using a specific subject (imagine things like Zero Trust and other topical matter) then becomes simpler for you/your client.

Tom

On 10/24/19 2:02 PM, Susan Nunziata wrote:

Thank you, Tom! All valid questions but I can't answer all of them yet as the idea is still being fleshed out. Here's what I know:

not expecting a profit, more intended as handouts though not purely "vanity" it's intended to be legitimately educational so potentially something schools and libraries might want, definitely not tied to any product line, definitely need it printed, would love to explore what a tech publishing house might be able to do versus us printing ourselves.

On Thu, Oct 24, 2019 at 10:09 AM Tom Henderson via Ipg-smz <ipg-smz at netpress.org<mailto:ipg-smz at netpress.org>> wrote:

Will the book be given as marketing collateral? Should it be a print book at all? How many projected copies will be distributed? Is it for profit, or for marketing collateral? Is it just a vanity book? Could it be published under the aegis of topical matter associated with a variety of tech publishing houses, like O'Reilley? Has the material already been gathered and edited? Is it tied to one product line-- and if so, what's the lifecycle of that product?

Those are my additional questions, having seen this done before by a wide variety of publishers and intended uses.

Tom

On 10/24/19 12:56 PM, Sally Wiener Grotta via Ipg-smz wrote:

Susan. Before you can make those kind of decisions, you should analyze what exactly the purpose and intended readership is for the book, and what kind of distribution would best reach them?

Please share that kind of information and whatever else you know of your client's thinking, to help us provide advice.

Best, Sally

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Sally Wiener Grotta

Sally at SallyWienerGrotta.com<mailto:Sally at SallyWienerGrotta.com>
________________________________________________________
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(570) 947-7777

* A winner of the 2019 Health Odyssey short story competition with "One Widow's Healing"

* Author of numerous books, including "The Winter Boy" (a Locus Magazine’s 2015 Recommended Read) and "Jo Joe" (a Jewish Book Council Network book)

* Recognized by X-Rite as one of “The World’s Top Professional Photographers”

On 2019/10/24 11:51, Susan Nunziata via Ipg-smz wrote:

Hi Folks - Not sure if I"m posting this to the right list - pls LMK if not. I've been asked to scope out costs for different options in publishing a b2b book for a tech vendor, ie. whether to self publish or work with a small publishing house.

Anyone have any experience/advice on where to start?

Guidance/war stories appreciated.

Thanks all!

Susan

--

Tom Henderson

ExtremeLabs, Inc.

+1 317 250 4646

Twitter: @extremelabs

Skype: extremelabsinc

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Tom Henderson

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Twitter: @extremelabs

Skype: extremelabsinc
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