Announcing a book: The Essential Guide to Mountain and Trials Unicycling

[danger_uni]

Ha Ha, yes Gradient Press is actually a brand of KHU Ltd. I was pretty surprised to find that www.gradientpress.com was available.

Here's the story on the book publishing:

I did speak with some publishers, but wasn't able to find something that was mutually beneficial.

What publishers essentially do is manage a project: they find the book designer and editor, they find the printer, they find a distributor, and if you're very lucky they might help a bit with promotion. Depending on the size of the publisher, little of this may be done in-house. In return for investing in this cost, they may ask for a lot: on a $20 book an author might get perhaps $0.30 royalty. And they likely request all control over book and cover design, and even the title and perhaps even control over future editions. Since it's purely a business transaction, they may make choose to reduce the cost of the book at the expense of quality (e.g. cheap paper, smaller book dimensions).

That can be worth it if you can't do it yourself. But in my case I already had distribution to all the specialty shops that might carry it, through KHU. And I wanted full control over the process to guarantee the book had the best paper and the best design, even if that cost more or took more time (it's not cheap and it's ridiculously time consuming!!). Lastly I was also in a position where book marketing was more feasible than it might be for some authors, and I had some very helpful friends willing to help out with editing for clarity & typos (thank you!).

John Long was an invaluable help in this: he referred me to a very good book designer (Kim Groebner) and was a great mentor along the way. The book printer was referred by a friend who authored a very good running guide. The book layout is a painstaking process; by paying for it myself I never had to convince a skeptical publisher to invest more or take longer to make it right.

So in the end I feel I got a better book, printed in larger dimensions on beautiful, glossy FSC-certified paper. It cost more but I'm quite happy with how it turned out. On the down side, I don't yet have distribution to mainstream stores (e.g. it won't yet be in Barnes & Nobel), and I'll have to sell a lot of books to get back to zero in the investment. But it was a dream to write this book so it was worth it no matter what, I think. Hopefully if the book does well it will be possible to widen the distribution in the mainstream, too.

Kris

[MuniAddict]

Hey Kris, do a book tour and sign autographs! I'll be first in line!

[timoteusmunk]

Nice! What a fantastic gift to all of us.

[uniShark]

Kris, that's truly awesome. I'll certainly be doing my part to hopefully help you come out ahead on this project - you certainly deserve to!
- James

[feel the light]

I will buy the book just for the expert advices. I was going to suggest having a chapter on uni history, maybe you do. In any event, it sounds like it is already done.

I like Kris's decision to go with a high quality coffee table glossy. I would pay more for that, it's a rather special book. Not going to be a best seller, but for the right buyer, it's a must have and we are willing to pay more for lots of nice pictures. I can't wait !

[emile]

Sweet, just in time for my birthday!

[mowcius]

I'll be in line for at least one.

[Ereksonj]

Originally Posted by johnfoss

Tonight show, hmmm. How cool would that be? Other authors do book tours & things; I wonder if this would be possible?

That would be awesome. An interview on the tonight show, Cobert report, or similar could bring some good publicity!

[uniShark]

Kris, if people ask their local independent bookstores to get them a copy of this book, is that a possibility? Not to take business away from UDC, but I'm thinking bookstores might order an extra copy or three once they have a request, which could help with distribution.

[danger_uni]

Originally Posted by uniShark

Kris, if people ask their local independent bookstores to get them a copy of this book, is that a possibility? Not to take business away from UDC, but I'm thinking bookstores might order an extra copy or three once they have a request, which could help with distribution.

Yes, absolutely. Thanks for asking. Best would be to email me to set that up, if the opportunity happened. [email]Info@krisholm.com

[feel the light]

Originally Posted by uniShark

Kris, if people ask their local independent bookstores to get them a copy of this book, is that a possibility? Not to take business away from UDC, but I'm thinking bookstores might order an extra copy or three once they have a request, which could help with distribution.

For one thing, they closed last year. My town has 2 closed book stores. For another, the book is about unicycles.

I eagerly await my chance to buy my copy of this fine coffee table glossy(yes!) . Niche market though IMHO. Hard sell to normal people. Not saying we are abnormal, just saying.

[uniShark]

Originally Posted by feel the light

Not seeing the local book store going with this
For one thing, they closed last year. My town has 2 closed book stores. For another, the book is about unicycles.

That is very sad. We've got at least three independent book stores that all seem to be doing OK, and one recently expanded to double its space.

People sometimes will buy books about extreme sports that they're not involved in, just out of interest. Not sure if the independent stores will want this one or not, but it can't hurt to ask. Besides, local promotion of the book is in each of our best interest to get more interest in the sport and ultimately more riding buddies.

[mowcius]

I'll mention it to my local (small) book store when it comes out - they might be prepared to buy a copy, put it in the window for a while and see if anyone buys it.

Might mention it to local libraries too.

[mowcius]

We had a local book store close down (which was part of a chain) and then an independent store opened which must be doing ok as they're still there despite the competition from WHSmith.

[danger_uni]

I think it's worth trying with some book stores - while many might not carry it, you never know until you try. Libraries are a good bet; as might be schools or at least those who still have a budget for books. Like unicycling in general the percentages are small in any given area and it's never easy, but if you add up the entire world I'm hoping there will be a decent readership =)