So You Want to Publish a Book?

Book excerpt: Anne Trubek wrote several books, was a member fo the National Book Critics Circle, and was a tenured English professor before she decided try book publishing. To start and run a small press, she had to teach herself the ins and outs of a confusing, often archaic, strangely shrouded industry from yet another angle: business owner, publisher, and editor. In So You Want to Publish a Book? Trubek, who also writes the weekly newsletter Notes from a Small Press, provides insights from her journeys through all facets of writing, making, and writing about books, offering authors, authors-to-be, and the curious concrete advice and information about the publishing industry. Chapters discuss book proposals, publicity, developmental versus copy editing, how to make friends (and enemies) with independent bookstores, the differences between Big Five and independent presses, royalties, and cover design. Handy, humorous charts such as Five Things Aspiring Authors Should Never Say, Wait, Wholesalers Receive How Much of A Discount? and The Indignity of Returns, along with illustrations by Belt cover designer David Wilson, will help readers feel less confused by the process and, armed with more transparent understanding of the industry, more prepared to publish, promote, and purchase books wisely and successfully.