Step by step guide on how to publish a book (how we made xkcd: volume 0) | Hacker News Reader

Step by step guide on how to publish a book (how we made xkcd: volume 0)

breadpig.com

47 pointskn0thing21 comments

Please steal this model. And even if you don't go the 'dead tree inventory route' consider selfpublishing via Lulu.com or the like once you've got a blog/website with a solid userbase (OnStartups, I'm looking at you).

Totally been planning on "The OnStartups Book". Good news is now that my first book (Inbound Marketing) has been a runaway success, I have some leverage with the publishers too.

Also, I want to donate all profits from the book to an organization that promotes entrepreneurship. Looking into who the lucky organization will be.

And, I'm looking right back at you Alexis. I'm going to need help promoting the book and you're an internet rockstar.

Love it! You should threaten your publisher with talk of self-publishing. I'll answer any questions that may come up (as long as you promise to write your own tutorial when it's done). It'd mean more money for that nonprofit, too.

I've always wondered about an entrepreneurship-focused org, but haven't found one that blew me away yet. Loved your RtR fundraising, btw :) My process of selection involves a lot of stalking and research, followed by pestering until I can find someone there who really gets breadpig. I'd be happy to help be a set of eyes for you as you look.

edit: Oh, and I'll gladly help promote!

I greatly enjoyed my experience of self-publishing on Lulu.com. It is truly satisfying to hold a physical copy of your own book, in my case it was my National Novel Writing Month book.

...once you've got a blog/website with a solid userbase...

Do hacker news posts count?

I just determined via searchyc.com that I've posted over 3300 comments here. I imagine there must be some value for someone in there. I'd love to share "the best of edw519" via hardcopy (with pg's permission, of course).

I wouldn't be interested in making money with this. Just sharing my favorite thoughts about programming / business with people who don't normally come here (clients, prospects, colleagues, friends, family, etc.) Any thoughts?

This seems like a no-brainer, especially going to Lulu (or like) route, especially if you don't want to make money on it and you're more hesitant about the initial capital cost to paying a printer for a few thousand copies. I'd give you more encouragement for self-publishing the 'dead tree in apartment' route if you had a proven audience of people already buying your merch (tho, if you're selling edw519 shirts, you're doing something very right).

Why would you need pg's permission to publish your own work?

You don't, of course.

$150 for an ISBN? Really?

I'm pretty sure you can get them for free or less from government (or at least could 20 years ago. More recently my friend got an ISSN (magazine version of ISBN) for cost of filling out form.

Yes, if you buy one they are about the price. However, if you buy 10, they are about $250, so buying in bulk makes a lot of sense if you're planning to publish more than one book.

Please share the link and I'll gladly update the entry (with citation)! I wish I'd known.

I might be totally misremembering, but I sure thought it was from government and not Bowker. Seems like something that has been privatized and of course prices jacked up tremendously.

IRRC I wasn't getting an individual ISBN either I was getting a publisher code, and could issue thousands of ISBNs under it.

What a scam/racket, esp the barcodes. (like https certs, domain registration and other government mandated monopolies) It doesn't flippin cost $150 to track a number in a database.

Yes, Bowker is definitely baking a lot of unnecessary 'features' and thus justifying extra costs. Looking for better options and will definitely update.

Find any better options?

Also Adobe's InDesign is £699.12 (as of 2010-02-24 in UK), $1080 USD.

I'm sure you could use Scribus (http://www.scribus.net/; http://www.scribus.net/?q=node/186).

This really surprised me too. I just got one in the Netherlands, and it only cost me €10.

Out of curiosity, where did you get it?

directly from isbn.nl

Bowker is the official issuer in the US. Different countries have different issuers. The cost-per-ISBN goes down as you buy larger blocks.

It's missing step 7 about getting distribution for the book.

Ah, this is unfortunately something I know little about, because it was handled by xkcd's distribution center. I'd love to update the entry with suggestions, but this was operating under an assumption that the book would be an extension of an existing merch system (shirts, etc). The best recommendation I can make atm is Amazon, but unfortunately, it's without experience: http://aws.amazon.com/fws/

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