On Saturday I attended the fourth annual Self-Publishing Book Expo in Manhattan. I boycotted the first one in a feeble effort to protest what I viewed as a misuse of the term “self-publishing.” By the time of the second expo, I stopped fighting a losing battle, and went over to the dark side. In reality, I was not … Read more
I previously declared that the world’s worst index was in Best in Self-Publishing & Print-On-Demand by David Rising, a charter member of the Self-Publishing Hall of Shame. The index was apparently assembled by a robot and never checked by a homo sapiens. A smart orangutan or lemur might have made a better index. (above) In the index, before the … Read more
There are millions of blogs on the web. I write this one because: (a) I like to write, (b) I think I am providing a useful service, (c) I hope that some readers will buy my books. I write other blogs that have absolutely no commercial aspect or intent. On the other hand, there are … Read more
Pronoun is a strangely named company that formats and distributes ebooks. Its technology is very impressive and so is its price: ZERO. The company is a few years old and now belongs to giant publisher Macmillan. It’s based in Manhattan—home to many publishers. Pronoun tells prospective customers: “Pronoun is a free publishing platform where authors can … Read more
The optical center is a concept that demonstrates that it can be better if you use what looks right rather than what measures right. Because the true vertical center often looks too low, if you want something to appear equidistant from the bottom and top, position it a little bit above the true center. (The dot on the right is probably a … Read more