[EAS] DIY Publishing/Texts

[pjk]

Subject:   DIY Publishing/Texts

(from INNOVATION, 3 March 2004)

ON-DEMAND PUBLISHING PICKS UP STEAM
For would-be authors, Borders Group is pushing a new option -- in
six Philadelphia-area stores customers can send in their
manuscripts and a check for $199 and in a month or so receive back
10 copies of their novel, memoir or cookbook. For $499, customers
get the upscale "Professional Publication" option, which includes
an ISBN number and shelf space in the  Philadelphia store for five
copies. Print-on-demand ventures have made the rounds at various
publishing houses for the past few years, and several companies,
including Xlibris, 1stBooks and iUniverse, have built their 
businesses exclusively on what used to be dismissed as "vanity
press." These three companies alone have published a total of more
than 45,000 titles so far, charging customers anywhere between $459
to $1,900. "Self-publishing, previously viewed as a last resort, is
increasingly seen  as a first step," says Barnes & Noble CEO Steve
Riggio. (New York Times 1  Mar 2004)
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/01/technology/01pod.html

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So, not only can you put your thesis or course notes on a bookstore
shelf, but you should also be aware of custom aspects of text book
publishing, e.g. McGraw-Hill's Primis <http://www.mhhe.com/primis/>
program, particularly
<http://www.mhhe.com/primis/catalog/pcatalog/overviewserv.html>. All
major educational publishers are developing similar programs.  --PJK