First, let me offer you my sincere congratulations for writing a book and taking the initiative to self-publish and self-market your work.
I wish you all the best, and please let us know if you plan to hold a local book signing so that we can help you get the word out.
However, please do not send it to me to review. It’s a waste of a book that you spent good money on. Do not call me three times asking for me to review it, because it won’t happen.
As Globe features editor, I instituted this policy several years ago for a number of reasons:
1.) These books trickle in on a regular basis. I have a stack of 11 books that we have received in less than two months. If we review one, then that means in all fairness we have to review all of them. Not going to happen.
2.) Some of these books appear to be quite good. Others … well, simply aren’t. While I’m sure your childhood in Choctaw, Okla., was very memorable, was it so memorable that you had to spend a thousand dollars to share it with the world? And while writing a 150-page poem satirizing Matt Lauer seemed hilarious to you when you wrote it, I’m afraid to say that it just isn’t. Plus, I’m sparing you the trauma of me giving an open and honest assessment of your godawful rhyme scheme in the pages of your local newspaper.
3.) Some (though not all) of these print-on-demand companies are scams, milking writers for large sums of money and delivering an inferior product. And by giving some of these companies legitimacy by reviewing the books, it could potentially steer other budding writers into the same trap.
4.) What you’re asking for is a free advertisement to help you recoup the money you’ve invested. I’d suggest starting a Web site to market your book, checking with local book stores to see if they’ll carry it for you and, again, let us know if you’re having a signing or other event so we can help get the word out.
I hope that your self-published book becomes a success and starts you off on the path of literary success.
Just don’t ask me to review your book.
(Watch for my latest book from PublishMyBookForCash Press, “Growing Up with Chron’s Disease: Haikus and Memories of a Lifetime in the John.” The review will appear in next Sunday’s paper.)
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