Indie Publishing: How to Design and Publish Your Own Book

Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Graphic Design

Indie Publishing: How to Design and Publish Your Own Book Details

Review "Someday I'm going to make my own book, from start to finish. It's something that I've wanted to do for awhile, a physical parallel to building a web site from scratch. When I do, Ellen Lupton's Indie Publishing will be my guide. At 170-some pages it's not exhaustive, but the book does briefly touch all the bases: typography, cover design, binding types, and examples of several different types of books. There's also a section on handmade books with hands-on directions for making your own book -- folded books, stitched pamphlets, or stab bound -- without having to visit the printer." --Jason Kottke, Kottke.org, October 20, 2008"The do-it-yourself movement in arts and craftsaccelerated by the wide availability of sophisticated digital technology, as well as access to information, and people, through the internet is creating a boon in one very key area: Self-publishing." -- Harry Allen --Harry Allen Radio (WBAI), April 24th, 2009"So youve dreamed of creating your own novel/poetry book/portfolio/picture book/zine but havent got a clue where to start? Indie Publishing: How to Design and Produce Your Own Book, edited by Ellen Lupton and published by Princeton Architectural Press, might be a good first step. The inspiring do-it-yourself guide walks you through the bookmaking basics, demystifying the process and providing practical guidance on everything from visual design to printing to marketing." --Curled Up With A Book, February 10, 2009"Lupton, a 2007 recipient of the AIGA Gold Medal, also directs MICAs Center for Design Thinking, for which faculty and students collaborate on publications that educate the broader community about design issues and practices. The Centers newest publication, Indie Publishing: How to Design and Produce Your Own Book, will be released this month by MICA and Princeton Architectural Press. It was written and designed by GDMFA students and faculty." --Maryland Institute College of Art Newsletter, September, 2008"An insightful guide on how to design and distribute your self-published book." --How Magazine, April, 2009"Brilliantly designed and written with an encouraging tone, this also ventures into the world of handmade book arts with concise instructions on how to print and bind your own book. From font choices to binding to distribution, this leaves no question unanswered." --Buds Art Books"One of my favorite type of books are books about ...Books. This is sort of a manual in how to make and design and produce your own books. It is cleverly designed, and full of good details for the upcoming punk publisher." -- Tosh --Good Reads"If it is true what insiders claim, that public interest is shifting away from the mass media to independent and small productions, then this book is both a good start and a helpful guide for artists who are producing their own books. Developed by a team of students and professors, it gives readers both confidence and an overview of small publishing houses and artist books. It also explains necessities such as ISBNs and marketing in the book trade and describes in short steps the use of InDesign and how to create hand-crafted artist books. And since this book itself originated from a workshop on book design, every page is a pleasure to behold, and excellent visual solutions are found for all type of difficulties. In recent years, niche products, at least the trust of buyers and now command more on bookshop shelves. More and more, the independent nature of publications is inversely proportionate to the size of the publishing house." --Foam Magazine Read more Review "(Indie Publishing) has already proven to be wildly popular indeed, it's already in its second printing, the first sold out almost immediately upon release. Lupton has been the Director of the MFA Graphic Design program at Maryland Institute of College of Art since 1997 and is the author and/or editor of a multitude of books published by P.A.Press: The ABCs of Triangle Square Circle: The Bauhaus and Design Theory, D.I.Y. Design it Yourself, and Thinking with Type: A Critical Guide for Designers, Writers, Editors - Students. With these books, she's proved to be expert at crafting accessible titles about design and now, with the help of a few contributors, independent publishing." Read more Review "One of my favorite type of books are books about ...Books. This is sort of a manual in how to make and design and produce your own books. It is cleverly designed, and full of good details for the upcoming punk publisher." Read more Review "Brilliantly designed and written with an encouraging tone, this also ventures into the world of handmade book arts with concise instructions on how to print and bind your own book. From font choices to binding to distribution, this leaves no question unanswered." Read more Book Description "So youve dreamed of creating your own novel/poetry book/portfolio/picture book/zine but havent got a clue where to start? Indie Publishing: How to Design and Produce Your Own Book, edited by Ellen Lupton and published by Princeton Architectural Press, might be a good first step. The inspiring do-it-yourself guide walks you through the bookmaking basics, demystifying the process and providing practical guidance on everything from visual design to printing to marketing." Read more About the Author Ellen Lupton is director of the Graphic Design MFA program at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) and curator of contemporary design at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. She is the best-selling author of Thinking with Type, D.I.Y.: Design It Yourself, D.I.Y. Kids, and Graphic Design: The New Basics (with Jennifer Cole Phillips). Read more

Reviews

If you hold a very casual interest in self-publishing, you might enjoy the book. However, if you have a serious interest and/or need information about self-publishing for yourself, save your money and move on.I'm not sure why this book was recommended, it is superfluous at best. I am actually fairly disappointed in it thus far. It's not the writing, that's fine, it's the lack of writing. The author has crammed as many pictures in it as possible and opted for very thick pages to make the book seem more in-depth and gratuitous than it is in actuality. It's like one could have spent a week googling all the information and written this thing, I don't get a feeling this person knows more than what they are explaining in the pages, and even those explanations are more a summary of real information which is not included.

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