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From: koopman@a.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Philip Koopman)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.forth
Subject: Re: Forth in print
Summary: why bother with vanity presses?
Message-ID: <12404@pt.cs.cmu.edu>
Date: 19 Mar 91 03:29:24 GMT
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, CS/RI
Lines: 33

There has been recent discussion about using a "vanity press"
for publishing Forth books.  The usual situation is that a
vanity press publishes a small run of books for a fee,
and is in effect a publisher-for-hire.

My reaction is: if you're going to use a vanity press, why
bother at all??  If your book project is of so limited appeal
as to not be salable to a publisher, why not just go to the
local copying center and do a few yourself (the way Ting does)?
With desktop publishing there is no longer much incentive to
hire out typesetting.

If you are hoping that a vanity press will really help you
market your book, you may be in for a rude awakening.  While
there may be some exceptions (please enlighten me if you
know of any personally) the usual case from what I hear is
that vanity presses do a half-hearted marketing attempt
that very rarely accomplishes anything worthwhile.

If you really want to get Forth information out into circulation,
it is better to use a "real" publisher with established distribution
channels than a vanity press.  If you can't sell your work to
a publisher, you should think three times before paying to
have it printed up.  Publishers I know of are still eager for
an intermediate-level book on Forth.  Topics of interest are:
college-level texts, Forth for embedded real time control
(especially with lab experiments), and other intermediate-level topics.
Introductory Forth books are *not* desired.

  Phil Koopman                koopman@greyhound.ece.cmu.edu   Internet
  2525A Wexford Run Rd.       (412) 935-6697
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