My exposure to the For Dummies books has mostly involved visual gags. Maybe you can remember at least one TV or film character from the 1990s or 2000s with a pensive look, their nose deep in a copy of Blade Running for Dummies or perhaps Killing Batman for Dummies. The joke is “Oh, this character is desperate to know something, and they’re resorting to this absurdly specific book.” At this point it’s played out: if I saw that gag in a movie or TV show today, I’d roll my eyes, maybe send the screenwriter a copy of Original Gags for Dummies.
The For Dummies books have become a pretty substantial part of the culture. I see someone reading a For Dummies book, my first instinct is to laugh a little, but then I think, “Oh, there’s someone willing to put aside ego for the sake of self-improvement. I daren’t make fun of them.”
I suppose this is all to justify my own reading of Self-Publishing for Dummies (2nd Edition) by Jason R. Rich. (Unfortunately, Self-Publishing for Stupid, Smelly, Poopy-Pants Babies is out of print.) I read this book even though I have a master’s degree in book publishing and have built a career helping authors self-publish. I’m a dummy when it comes to remembering which day is trash day, but I’m not exactly a dummy on the subject of self-publishing. In any case, I like to learn, and I’m not too proud to go all the way back to basics and see if there are any gaps in my publishing knowledge or updates to catch up on (spoiler: of course there are).
The first edition was published in 2006: pretty close to the infancy of online self-publishing. This second edition was published September 2023, so it’s super up to date. And I have nothing but good things to say about: it’s a fine book for anyone seriously considering self-publishing. I say seriously considering because I don’t know how any casual self-publish-curious person will get past the first chapter without gently setting the book down on the coffee table and having a good cry.
An implicit thread throughout the book is that self-publishing takes a lot of time, money, or both. Rich points out that you have to actually be a decent writer (which takes years of practice and study), or you have to hire a ghostwriter (which costs thousands of dollars); then you have to hire an editor (which costs thousands more); then you lay out your book, but first you need to learn to use special software (takes time), or maybe just hire a graphic designer (hundreds more). So either you can learn how to do all these things (and take up a huge amount of time), or you can hire vendors to help (which will cost a great deal of money). Realistically, though, you’ll probably need to spend a lot of time and money to have your best shot at self-publishing a profitable book.
There’s a reason why publishing has been in the hands of gatekeepery publishing companies for so long. They got the people, the talent, and the efficiency to crank out successful books that will turn them a profit. And though self-publishing has never been easier, successful and profitable self-publishing is still incredibly hard.
That said, the gung-ho among us will benefit from internalizing the lessons of Self-Publishing for Dummies. This is a comprehensive, soup-to-nuts guide to self-publishing, covering everything from coming up with an idea for a book to how to conduct yourself during a television interview once you’re a famous author (actually a super fascinating section). The sections and chapters are laid out logically from the beginning to the end of the process. And if you break down the various steps and tackle them one at a time, you’ll find that self-publishing really ain’t that scary.
The thing I found the most useful were the lists. I love lists so much, I’m going to make a list of lists found in this book:
Tools to help you write
Software to help you draft and design your book
Self-publishing organizations
Print-on-demand providers
Online ebook platforms
Directories of media contacts
And so much more.
This book will seem overwhelming to anyone new to publishing. But it’s a good kind of overwhelming. Self-publishing is a huge topic. There are a million subcategories that all require slightly different approaches: Do you want to self-publish a novel? A children’s book? A guide to catching razor clams off the coast of British Columbia? Since this book has chosen to approach such a massive topic, it’s necessarily going to be a bit broad with its advice. If anything, I’d say the advice skews a bit toward folks looking to self-publish nonfiction. Still, there’s plenty for fiction writers.
Long post short, this is a great book, and I’m glad I got it for Christmas. I can see myself pulling it off the shelf and flipping to various sections as I help clients on their self-publishing journeys (and as I continue my own self-publishing journey). I would definitely recommend it, especially if you’re looking to self-publish a nonfiction book. But again, fiction writers will find plenty of great tips within these pages.
And as always, I’m here to answer your self-publishing questions, or better yet, help you publish something.
By the way, I happened upon this list of every time the For Dummies gag has been used in media for anyone interested. It’s a fun read.