I have just been looking at my stats and noticed I have been around A4A for nearly five years now, and have posted over 4000 articles.
Now I would think of these 4000 articles I would guess that there are really only around 1000 topics!
That is; each year I seem to answer the same old perennial questions (as do others) time and time again!
Now being a bit of a lazy begger I thought I might accumulate all this info / knowledge into a book or books to save me doing it year on year.
So for the past year I have been dabbling in 'book writing' and have now written about half a dozen of which three are now in print!
One on working an allotment from scratch and the other on how to grow around fifty of the more common vegetables people tend to grow and the third which is a printed copy of the almanac part of my website!
Now I am aware I am not allowed to advertise on this website but thats not to say I can't advertise on my own website (nuff said)
Being a bit of a thrifty person or as those sitting in the cheap seats would say: 'he's a bit of a tight bu**er ::) I strived to do this on the cheap!
What I have found is; book publishing ' is quite expensive if you are only having one or two book published whereas bookshop chains who buy thousand can affect the publishing price meaning the buyer pays less.
I am now with my third publisher and now I think I have found one who publishes books that are better value for money for the individual buyer.
For those who are unaware to have a book published in colour is around 2 to3 times more expensive than a black and white edition!
My first attempt in colour was going to cost over twenty pounds whereas publishing the same book in black and white has worked out a little under half of that.
On looking again at what I had published;
I found the book was mainly black & white text and it was the few pictures that I used that upped the price.
So I re-wrote the books in black & white and made them 'pocket sized' and this has brought the price down quite dramatically.
In fact I have a couple of orders from people on my alloment site who looked at the previews on my website and are now buying them as Xmas presents.
My point is; I have enjoyed gardening for over forty years, and I think I still have a few years in front of me yet and I wanted to put it all down in black and white to form my legacy to the future of allotment & vegetable gardening!
I am certainly not going to get rich from the books but I feel very happy now that I have related my experiences and those of others who have helped me over the years (including the A4A lot) by putting them into print!
I hope the 'powers that be' indulge me and allow this article to remain on the forum at least for a week or so in order that the A4A members can follow it up and decide for themselves if it is worth buying or not!
Who knows it might make me redundant and allow the others to advise / assist the newbies in my place! ::) ;)
But that is up to them and their will be no hard feelings if they do remove it as I know the rules
Thanks!
Tg
I am pleased to see this and hope it stays. I refere to your site many times .
I would like to get 2 of your books but can't find my way to them! Help, please ???.
Good news, Tee Gee.
QuoteI would like to get 2 of your books but can't find my way to them! Help, please
My Website>Top tool bar>Bookshop
Congratulations Tee Gee!!
Duke :)
The books look great-well done!
I would suggest using http://www.lulu.com/uk/index.php (http://www.lulu.com/uk/index.php) for any publishing of your own material
Thanks Dave I have tried these with my first book but I am finding Blurb cheaper.
My plan is with any future books I may write is to write it first, see its size and composition, then compare notes with a few publishers.
Some are cheaper up to one size and more expensive for others so my loyalty is with 'the price' similarly with colour or b&w.
But thanks for taking the trouble to advise me
Tg