How to Publish a Book in Canada … and Sell Enough Copies to Make a Profit!

Name: How to Publish a Book in Canada … and Sell Enough Copies to Make a Profit!
Author: Kim Staflund
ISBN: 978-0986486968

by Kim Staflund ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 2013

A good source for writers of all experience levels seeking to publish quality books in Canada.

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Self-publishing advice for Canadian writers.

Staflund has spent a number of years as an author and a publishing employee, so she has firsthand experience with the exasperating limitations of the various Canadian publishing systems. It’s nearly impossible, she writes, to be accepted by traditional trade publishers, who often rely heavily on government grants and may not have the finances to provide certain kinds of marketing support. This creates a difficult environment for would-be authors, leaving them little choice but to publish themselves. However, Staflund points out, the quality of so-called “vanity presses” are dismal, since they are little more than overzealous printing services. After one disappointment too many, she decided to start her own publishing company, Polished Publishing Group. Drawing on her past experiences, she was able to home in on providing services that would guide authors through the overwhelming process of writing and publishing a book and also produce a more professional product. She uses 10 qualifying questions to help authors determine which type of publishing is right for them (including “Who is my target audience?” and “Do I value recognition?”). For those looking to commercially sell and earn profits from their books, she says supported self-publishing is the answer—which also happens to be Polished Publishing Group’s business model. Although this how-to book quickly turns into a marketing pitch, it does effectively outline the nuts and bolts of publishing, offer helpful writing tips and advice, and provide sales and marketing ideas, such as selling online and having bookstore readings. Overall, the book manages to provide solid, useful information and guidance on its subject.

A good source for writers of all experience levels seeking to publish quality books in Canada.

Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2013

ISBN: 978-0986486968

Page Count: 178

Publisher: Polished Publishing Group

Review Posted Online: March 25, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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I AM OZZY

by Ozzy Osbourne with Chris Ayres ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 25, 2010

An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.

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The legendary booze-addled metal rocker turned reality-TV star comes clean in his tell-all autobiography.

Although brought up in the bleak British factory town of Aston, John “Ozzy” Osbourne’s tragicomic rags-to-riches tale is somehow quintessentially American. It’s an epic dream/nightmare that takes him from Winson Green prison in 1966 to a presidential dinner with George W. Bush in 2004. Tracing his adult life from petty thief and slaughterhouse worker to rock star, Osbourne’s first-person slang-and-expletive-driven style comes off like he’s casually relating his story while knocking back pints at the pub. “What you read here,” he writes, “is what dribbled out of the jelly I call my brain when I asked it for my life story.” During the late 1960s his transformation from inept shoplifter to notorious Black Sabbath frontman was unlikely enough. In fact, the band got its first paying gigs by waiting outside concert venues hoping the regularly scheduled act wouldn’t show. After a few years, Osbourne and his bandmates were touring America and becoming millionaires from their riff-heavy doom music. As expected, with success came personal excess and inevitable alienation from the other members of the group. But as a solo performer, Osbourne’s predilection for guns, drink, drugs, near-death experiences, cruelty to animals and relieving himself in public soon became the stuff of legend. His most infamous exploits—biting the head off a bat and accidentally urinating on the Alamo—are addressed, but they seem tame compared to other dark moments of his checkered past: nearly killing his wife Sharon during an alcohol-induced blackout, waking up after a bender in the middle of a busy highway, burning down his backyard, etc. Osbourne is confessional to a fault, jeopardizing his demonic-rocker reputation with glib remarks about his love for Paul McCartney and Robin Williams. The most distinguishing feature of the book is the staggering chapter-by-chapter accumulation of drunken mishaps, bodily dysfunctions and drug-induced mayhem over a 40-plus-year career—a résumé of anti-social atrocities comparable to any of rock ’n’ roll’s most reckless outlaws.

An autobiography as toxic and addictive as any drug its author has ever ingested.

Pub Date: Jan. 25, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-446-56989-7

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION | BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | ENTERTAINMENT, SPORTS & CELEBRITY

- BOOK REVIEW
LAST RITES
by Ozzy Osbourne with Chris Ayres

- IN THE NEWS
Ozzy Osbourne Dies at 76

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)