Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with publish

I need some advice about publishing my story.

Salvor Hardin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 14:04:57 -0800

Hive authors: help me publish a sci-fi story! I've written a science fiction short story (hard sci-fi). I've been told that it's pretty good, so I was thinking about trying to publish it in a periodical of some kind for the fun of it. It's a little over 5000 words. I've never done this before, and I don't read sci-fi magazines very often, so I'm looking for the following:

Suggestions on where to send in the story. How many places?

Warnings, things I should know beforehand or avoid. I'm clueless about copyright, etc.

Estimates of whether or not I can get any money from this. It'd be fine if I didn't, but I'd like to know going in.

Any other advice.

Thanks!

Is Scribd a good place for new writer to publish?

suzanneo — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 11:46:29 -0800

I am trying to figure out the best way to break into freelance writing on travel, wine, culture etc. - but having difficulty because I've never been published before. Is Scribd a good way to get exposure? And possibly earnings?

Help me be heard! ( Podcast style )

thankyoumuchly — Wed, 27 May 2009 12:18:19 -0800

Is there an application that will automatically take my ready-to-publish podcasts from my local PC, and upload them to a website and publish their links to an RSS feed? I've searched Askmefi for Podcasting advice, and found many tutorials and how-to's for recording and mixing my podcasts, but nothing that specifically says "drop your finished podcast files in your "My Music" folder on your local PC and this application will upload them to a website and publish them to an RSS feed for you".

Can anyone help? I'm very technical with audio recording equipment but the publishing / RSS feeding is greek to me. Help me be heard!

Thank you in advance!

-TM

p.s. - Free applications are preferable, but I'll take what I can get so long as the world can hear my voice :)

Tips for self-publishing a simple book?

mateuslee — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 08:01:41 -0800

I know there are many Mefi references to self-publishing, but this question is a little different. Let me explain the background:

I work with indigenous communities in rural South America. I'm now working with a group with whom I have just developed an alphabet and written language. It's a very exciting time and the people, especially some of the youth, are very enthusiastic. To direct this enthusiasm, we have recorded a bunch of stories and transcribed them into this language using their (now existing!) alphabet. I thought it'd be a cool gift to publish the stories (about 100 exemplars) with some illustrations by a local artist. So far, so good. Now I'm looking at publishing options, and there are a lot.

Does anyone have any tips or suggestions on getting a good finished product? Any particular publisher reccomended for this sort of work? Trying to keep costs low (this is from my own pockets), but quality high (the eternal struggle, eh?)

Thanks a lot!

But why would anyone /want/ to read my livejournal?

Newbornstranger — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 18:12:05 -0800

Inspired by the Tweetbook I've decided to use Lulu to make a print version of my high school-era livejournal. How do I easily turn the XML file with all of of my entries, comments, and associated metadata into something I can print? I have very little knowledge of html and virtually no knowledge of XML or CSS. All I want is to automate something that will say "The date goes in bold here, the entry goes here, and the comments are indented here". What should I start learning in order to make this happen?

Publish a post and then keep it open

Solomon — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:25:48 -0800

Wordpress: After I hit Publish, a new blog posting is created, and eventually is saved as a draft. How can I change this behaviour so that the post I've just created is published, but that the post I just published is open, instead of a new post? My methodology is this:
1] Create a new post. Because I use the WP Default Post Content plugin, certain parts of the post are already there.
2] Write the rest of the post.
3] Publish the post.

What happens then is that another new post is created, with the bits from the above plugin included. After 60 seconds, this is saved as a draft, because there is some content to the post (if there is no content, the post doesn't get saved as a draft). At the end of the month, I have 30 drafts, none of which will be used, which all contain exactly the same information. I do not want this to happen.

What I want is for the Publish button to publish the current post, while keeping it open and editable (instead of creating a new post). How can I achieve this?

Should I write this chapter for free?

ultraultraboomerang — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 11:52:20 -0800

I've been asked to contribute to a collection of op-ed/essays/creative nonfiction type stories, to be published together as a book. I have no idea how this stuff works, but I know the release form says I won't get paid. Anybody have any experience with this kind of thing? Is this a normal clause for a first-time author who barely even counts as an author? I'm okay with not getting an advance obviously, and it's cool to have my name on an actual book, etc. But what happens when/if it's actually published? What if it's on Oprah's freaking book club and sells seventy zillion copies? I'm willing to write for free, I just want to make sure that's my only option, and I'm not just being screwed over.

Is it unreasonable to expect to see any money from something like this? Is this just how you get a tiny bit of a foot in the door? What would a smarter person do in this situation?

Looking for a self publishing service provider who support storefront branding

tomwheeler — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:45:35 -0800

Is there a self publishing service kind of like lulu.com but which lets you "brand" the storefront with your own stylesheet and logo? One that lets customer buy electronic copies as well as printed versions? One that you've had good experiences with? The company I work for sells a highly technical manual with a fairly limited audience. I doubt that it's as much of a profit source as it is a service to our customers who need the documentation for reference. So it's important for goodwill which helps build brand recognition.

Until now, I think they've just had a printer create a limited run of the books and then sold these to clients who call in. It occurs to me that it would be cheaper for us and probably easier for the clients if we could do this through a service. I'm aware of lulu.com and it seems like they'd be a good choice, but it does not look like they support branding (important for brand recognition). Hopefully the hivemind can tell me who might.

Prayer notices in the local paper - what are they for?

lysistrata — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:49:29 -0800

I sometimes see announcements in the newspaper praising saints and listing prayers or novenas with instructions to publish the same ad in a future edition of the paper if the prayers work for you. Who places these ads? What purpose do they serve? What's the deal?

Where can I go to self-publish a book?

Proginoskes — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 18:53:14 -0800

What are some places online where I can go to self-publish a book. I'm aware of lulu.com, but I'm wondering if there are some alternatives out there.

Ghostwriter! Word.

Ambrosia Voyeur — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 12:49:44 -0800

I've been offered a ghostwriting gig. Help me with my expectations, please. So, I mentioned to several people in my life that, rather than continue in print production or bookkeeping (between now and the time I begin work on a Masters degree in Film in September), I wanted to get some experience with freelance writing and/or copyediting. I got a hit right away from my friend who works for a small publisher. Very small - nearly just a vanity project for the owner of the company, who is himself "not educated or experienced, but very smart" according to my friend. I actually designed the company logo a while back, too. Anyway, the owner wants to publish a novel based in truth about some conspiratorial figure I've never heard of, and that's about all I know so far. (Uh-oh... my Turner Diaries senses are tingling...) Sounds fun enough to me! We haven't met yet, but from my friend who runs his business, I have the impression that the job will be mine if I want it, in any case.

What kind of rate should I request, as someone with very little professional writing experience, writing a book that is not expected to profit enormously?

How much time should I expect to spend on a short reseach-based novel?

What complexities or stumbling blocks should I look out for in this arrangement and the adjunct relationships?

Resources for, um, how to write my first novel without personal inspiration, and on the fly?

I believe I can muddle through the copyediting and the research parts, but making the content interesting, authentic and well-structured are all problems I have no experience solving.

Any other advice, freelancers?

Thanks very much in advance!

Multiple blog accounts for Word 2007

JaySunSee — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 15:51:55 -0800

Microsoft Word 2007 allows users to publish directly from Word to their blog account. I've read you can even have multiple accounts. If so, how do I set it up? It seems to only let me set up for one account, and I can't find any way to add more. Any help would be great.

What book writing software exists for Max OSX?

Chuck Cheeze — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 10:27:34 -0800

What book writing software exists for Max OSX? I want to write a book that will be likely published at Lulu. This will be a book on how to use a specific website building CMS, so it will be a typical instructional book.

I know about Scrivener and am really tempted to give it a try.

I also might just use my copy of Pages.

What else is out there?

How can I make an RSS-like feed that is publishable by the public?

itchi23 — Sun, 05 Aug 2007 16:48:08 -0800

How can I make an rss-like feed that is publishable by the public? Maybe there's a better way to do this, but here's what I'd like the end result to look like Ideally, I'd like to have a subscribe-able public feed that can be published by anyone interested in a very niche topic. It would be a one-way type communication where the publisher would post tiny news items to a feed, but no dialog would occur between publishers of the "news" items... It might be similar to Twitter, where there's small one-line items, but they would include html links. No login or registration should be required, as I'd like publishers to remain anonymous if they'd like. Maybe it could be a webpage where the anonymous comments would then go out into a feed? Does this make sense, and how might I be able to do it? Thanks!

I want to be published.

Anonymous — Sun, 08 Jul 2007 19:57:44 -0800

How do you get a book published by a (semi) major publisher as a first time author? I need some advice. I've finished a funny non-fiction book of ridiculous adventures geared towards college-aged males (yeah I know its been done). I've got the book in good shape to publish on Lulu, got the cover artwork in place, and I'm getting ready to open it to the public.

My question is how do get a major publisher to consider publishing your book? Can you release it via lulu.com and then later find a major publisher to push it? What steps should I take towards getting this book the hands of as many major publishers as I can who might actually be interested in publishing it?

(anonymous because the book is written under a pen name)

Suggestions for software to publish DVD recordings to web

orlin — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 12:44:25 -0800

I'm currently making recordings to a DVD and am interested in inexpensive software to edit and compress the recording with the intent to publish it to the web. An easy system to learn and that is relatively fast would be best. Thanks in advance for your suggestions...Orlin

Getting a cookbook published.

magikker — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 18:58:17 -0800

I want to publish a cookbook and need some advice. I'm a college student studying Computer Science, my brother is a college student studying Culinary arts. We'd like to write and publish a Cook book. I think, and may be wrong, that we would have an interesting angle to write from, being students and all.
However I'm having some trouble finding good sources of information on how to write/publish a cookbook. I've found a lot of information about getting a fund raiser cookbook published, but that isn't something I'm interested in. I'd like the book to be sold in stores after we're finished.

Is it even possible for two college kids to get a cookbook published? I'm looking for an any personal experience or advice in compiling and or publishing a cook book.

Does self-publishing a book impact the potential for mass-market publication?

JWright — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 10:38:24 -0800

Once I've made my sci-fi novel available via Lulu.com, will it still be viable to shop around to agents and editors for potential mass-market publication? Are there factors that influence it? For example, if it sells a lot, is it considered a good buy by a publisher, or has it basically had its first run?

+book +find +help

xo — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 15:51:20 -0800

Where should I search in order to generate a list of all/most books published (in English, for the past 20 years or so) about a particular topic? I have a feeling that using Amazon plus my local library isn't giving me comprehensive results. Is there some kind of all-libraries database? Or all books that have been issued ISBN numbers?

Help us publish a board game

spiderskull — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 15:03:29 -0800

Help us get an original (and awesome) board game published My friend has designed a very well thought-out board game, and we are convinced it will do really well. It's a novel concept, but if I had to categorize it, I'd put it in the humorous strategy section.

So far, we've tested it with various groups of people with a high success rate (many asking us to when we can all play again), so while it still needs a little bit of polishing, it's pretty far along.

We'd like to get it published and not get screwed in a contract, and we're working on a fairly limited budget, so a few starter questions:
1. Where do we start?
2. How do we find a publisher?
3. What's the best way to pitch it to them, once we find one we like?
4. How much of the creation does the publisher actually do? Meaning, I'm sure they're the ones who contract physically making the board, but do they hire graphic designers for the final art? Do we do that?

Thanks Metafilter!

Blogspot Barf?

davidmsc — Mon, 23 Oct 2006 16:59:21 -0800

A friend asked me to create a Wordpress-powered site on her newly-acquired domain, and wanted me to import all of her Blogger entries that are hosted on Blogspot. No problem! Except... I tried a shortcut, instead of following WPs recommended method, and it apparently has backfired on me. My primary concern was to NOT lose any of my friend's entries during the import process. So I cleverly (riiiight) directed Blogspot to publish all of her entries to a NEW Blogspot URL, which I easily typed in the Settings area.

Her original Blogspot site: http://example.blogspot.com
My "backup" site: http://examplebackup.blogspot.com

See how clever I was? That way I knew that her original site would remain untouched. So I carried on with the import, directing WP to import all entries from the examplebackup.blogspot.com site. The import was completely successful, and her new domain is now fully-loaded with two+ years of entries.

Now comes the weird part: she asked me to post on her Blogspot site that she had moved to a new domain and remind folks to change any bookmarks, feeds, etc. But when I went back into Blogger and tried to "write" to the original http://example.blogspot.com site, it just wouldn't work - the service just told me that THAT name was already taken! So somehow the act of publishing all of her entries to a NEW Blogspot address left me unable to write to her OLD Blogspot address. WTF?

And now comes the REALLY weird part: if someone tries to visit her original Blogspot site, they are redirected automatically to this weird page-- which yields search results for tractor parts!

I am baffled - how could a URL that ends in "blogspot.com" be redirected to a funky search? But more importantly - do any of you kind folks know if there is any way that I can make an entry to her original Blogspot address to let folks know about her new site?

Whew. Very much appreciate any tips or insight.

Blogspot, BlogTHIS!

jak68 — Tue, 23 May 2006 07:05:22 -0800

Why does Blogspot's "Blogthis" work fine when I click on the example link at blogspot.com 's help section, but not when placed as a link in my favorites folder? My pop up blocker is off. my IE Security is at Medium. I am logged into my blogspot blog. I also downloaded and tried a right-dick script for it- no luck. I don't even get the Pop up Javascript window for it. Absolutely nothing happens. Yet, when I click the link ("drag this to your links bar") at the site, it pops up immediately. Why, oh why!

Can I publish and still be a cheapskate?

gaby — Fri, 03 Mar 2006 10:38:24 -0800

I want to produce some books. I've read some previous questions in the archives but I'm after some more opinions, and have a few questions relating to ISBN numbers, publishing and other book-type things... I'd like to publish a book of puzzles, and I'd l ike to do it in an on-demand fashion (Print On Demand) as I can't really afford the up-front fees of traditional printers, to get 1000 copies that may not sell. Also, it's a bit of a waste of paper. My questions are thus:

1. Is it worth me getting an ISBN number? If I want to publish it's better to have my own than buy them off other people.

2. Do I need one ISBN per book? I plan to have puzzle books of various levels of difficulty (Easy, Medium, etc), so does each one require it's own ISBN number?

3. If I publish the book in an e-book format, as a paid download, or something that doesn't involve printing it at my end (or using DRM) does that need an ISBN? I'm thinking around £2.50 per book which you download, and can print as many times as you want.

4. Ideally I'd like to produce real-world paper copies of these books, but some POD companies charge a setup fee per book, which I can't really afford. Is there any way round this? Normally these books come out around £9, which is a crazy price for what I'm selling. Surely there must be cheaper ways?

5. Any other good suggestions for getting myself published on a tight budget? How much can I do myself?

Names changed to protect privacy?

xo — Sat, 07 Jan 2006 19:18:11 -0800

Scenario: Linda, an author, is at a party. Linda says that she is writing a book about near-death experiences. Sarah, a guest at the party, says, "Oh, I had one!" and proceeds to recount her experience to the assembled guests. Linda finishes writing her book and includes Sarah's story in it, using Sarah's real first name and some details from Sarah's life (profession, husband's first name and profession, Sarah's religious background). Is Linda legally allowed to do this without changing Sarah's name in the published book? Did Sarah waive her right to privacy by telling the story at a party? What about Sarah's personal details, which were not revealed at the party, but known to the author because of their shared social circle? Legal citations are appreciated.

How can I write a book online?

atchafalaya — Sat, 26 Nov 2005 12:20:52 -0800

How can I write a book online? I've got a couple of subjects in mind, and would like to write them or serialize them online. Has anyone else here done this already? Any tips, tricks or techniques? Most blog software I've seen isn't quite what I'm looking for.