Self Publishing Success Story

from the getting-easier-every-day dept

Earlier today, I wrote about someone who was about to show the movie they made for $200 on a Mac at Sundance, and talked about how technology is changing our ability to create content ourselves. As if to add to that point, Andy Kessler has written a piece up for OpinionJournal about how he wrote and published his own book about his experiences on Wall Street called Wall Street Meat - which has turned into quite a success, despite the naysayers. Book agents gave him the runaround, and told him that regular publishing houses wouldn't get his book out until late in 2004 (despite its timely topic). He got it out himself in March of 2003 and with an awful lot of legwork, has received plenty of publicity and the book is selling well. This isn't to say, of course, that everyone can sell a successful book this way. There are reasons for publishers and agents - but this does open up the process to many more people who wouldn't have the chance otherwise. Also, now, with companies like Cafe Press and Lulu offering the ability to do book printing on demand for just about anyone, the world of content production really is changing.