Self Published Authors

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Review of Mark Levine's THE FINE PRINT OF SELF-PUBLISHING
By Dan Shaurette

Genre: Non-fiction/Reference - Publishing
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Bridgeway Books
ISBN: 1-933538-56-2
Price: $16.95 USD

Ever wish you had a buddy who was a lawyer who could take a look at that publisher's contract for you? Even better, do you wish you knew a lawyer who would critique about 50 contracts for you -- for less than $20? Mark Levine has done just that in his book, "THE FINE PRINT OF SELF-PUBLISHING: The Contracts & Services of 48 Self-Publishing Companies -- Analyzed, Ranked & Exposed". Moreover, he's done it well, with tips and advice that every self-published author -- prospective or published alike -- should read.

The title of the book tells you what the meat of this book is about. Not only has Levine listed the most prominent POD publishers, he's ranked them into categories. These categories make up the second half of the book and have the same style of self-explanatory chapter titles, which are: Outstanding Self-Publishing Companies, Some Pretty Good Self-Publishing Companies, Publishers Who Are Just Okay, and the most important, Publishers To Avoid. Within each category, the publishers are listed alphabetically. In turn, among other details, each publisher is listed with the genres they accept, a breakdown of their fees, royalties and notable contract provisions, and an "author-friendly rating".

I found this rating to be the most valuable, because it isn't a numerical scale; it's Levine's commentary about that publisher. Some publishers gained more coverage than others, but in all cases I found it worth reading. Especially the ones in the last category because he explains why these publishers are nefarious. Myself, I have done business with Xlibris, BookSurge, and Lulu, and I agree with his conclusions on all three of them.

The rest of the book, which is the first half of the book, is full of Levine's advice and tips for authors. Even though the second half has "the goods", the first half should not be missed. The star of the book is his list of the nine qualities of a good self-publishing company. He spends a good deal of time explaining each quality and why it's important. He also delves into the fine print of publishing contracts in general and helps the reader to understand them.

The whole book is written by an author and lawyer who has obviously worked hard to make this material accessible to the rest of us who have not gone to law school as a prerequisite for becoming a writer. He does this without dumbing down the material nor in leaving anything out.

If I have one request of Mark Levine for future books, I'd like the publishers to be listed in an expanded table of contents, or better yet in a comparison chart. While I definitely found it extremely useful to jump into a category like "Outstanding" or "Pretty Good" publishers, I also naturally wanted to know how publishers I was familiar with ranked. I think that some kind of index would benefit the book. Having said that, I personally did not mind going through all four sections. All ratings were worth reading and have given me food for thought for the future. In the end, I highly recommend this book, and would consider it to be a vital part of an author's arsenal when choosing a publisher.

To find out more about Mark Levine and his books, visit http://www.book-publishers-compared.com/.
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Copyright © 2006 Dan Shaurette.
Besides being the editor of the newsletter for http://SelfPublishedAuthors.com/, Dan is the author of LILITH'S LOVE, a modern vampire romance novel, which you can learn more about at http://Liliths-Love.com/. He also hosts The Out Of The Coffin Podcast featuring reviews, interviews, and independent music amidst discussions of vampires at http://OutOfTheCoffin.com/. You can find out more on his blog at http://DanShaurette.com/.