Published in 1998
279 pages
5.25x8.5"
Date of birth? What was the quantity of your print run(s) + how much did it work out per book? If it doesn't say on the book, what did you sell your book for? How can people get your book now? Why aren't there any women self-publishing books? What inspired you to make a book? What did you do to promote it? What would you do differently, and why?
I was born May 18, 1970
I printed 1000 books, and, including printing, shipping them to my door, paying
for ISBN numbers, paying someone to design the cover, selling my first born to
Kinkos for a laser printed draft of the book to send to the printer, and all
the other little things, it comes out to about three bucks per book.
If you buy the book in a store, it's $12.00. If you buy it directly from me,
it's $10.00. If you buy it off Amazon, it's $15.95 (Amazon takes such a huge
chunk that I'd lose money if I didn't bump the price up). All prices are in US
currency.
The best way to get my book is to send $10.00 cash, check payable to Sean
Carswell, or money order to PO Box 320504, Cocoa Beach, FL 32932. It's also
available through all the mainstream American channels like Barnes and Noble, Amazon,
etc.
I don't know why more women aren't self-publishing books. I know one woman
friend of mine was working on an oral history of the Hardback Cafe (a punk club) in
Gainesville and she planned to self-publish it, but the last time we spoke,
she'd just had a baby and the baby was taking up all her time. I know a lot of
women who put out zines and magazines on their own. It seems like it should just
be a matter of time before one puts out a book, if it hasn't happened already.
My partner in Gorsky Press, Felizon Vidad, is a woman. Hopefully, she'll
self-publish her novel as soon as she finishes writing it.
A million things inspired me to make a book. The simplest formula to it,
though, comes down to this: when major corporations monopolized music, it all
started to suck, so musicians took it into their own hands to start labels and put
out music outside the radio and MTV. Now, independent music is everywhere and
it's almost all better than anything that gets played on commercial radio
stations. When major corporations monopolized magazine publishing, zines took over,
and now zines are everywhere and they are almost all better than anything that
is put out by Time Warner. Now, major corporations have pretty much monopolized
book publishing, so the natural progression is for writers with a genuine
passion for writing to take book publishing in their own hands. Hopefully, these
independent books will be as successful as the zines and music. From what I've
seen, independent book publishing is starting out pretty strongly.
I didn't do nearly enough to promote it. I didn't advertise it, I didn't send
out enough copies for review, I didn't put together a press release until the
book had been out for almost a year. I basically fucked up on the promotional
end. Lately, I've done some readings, spoken at a couple of universities about
writing and publishing, and kind of put together a very basic web site. From a
promotional standpoint, it's too little too late. Luckily, though, I write for
a bunch of different magazines and zines, so my name is out there enough, and
my book caught has caught on and sold pretty well.
That brings us into what I'll do next time. Basically, all my mistakes have
taught me how to put out a book the right way. I know now to promote it while
the printer is printing it instead of whenever I get a chance a year after it's
out. I know better where to send review copies. I know to run ads in the zines
that review it. I know to have my distribution channels open before the book
is out rather than waiting until a hundred people tell me that they can't get a
hold of my book. The last step is to work out the web a little better. But my
second novel is shaping up well and should be ready in the next six months to a
year, and I'm optimistic about putting it out. I'm not even considering
letting someone else publish it.
