New book on Middle-earth

Well, a friend who used to teach marketing advised me I'd better start talking this up. I've done so a little bit on Xenite.Org's Middle-earth mailing list, but haven't said anything beyond that.

So Entmoot gets the honor of being the first message board to hear this.

I'm self-publishing a book on Middle-earth. The title is VISUALIZING MIDDLE-EARTH. This book brings together essays I've published on various Web sites. I've revised them somewhat.

The book will be published through Xlibris.Com, a self-publishing service that provides print-on-demand books. They will publish the book as both an ebook and a trade (oversized) paperback.

I should be able to list the book on Amazon.Com, Borders.Com, and BarnesandNoble.com. So people will not only be able to order the book through major online booksellers, Webmasters (if they like the book) will be able to sell it through the associate/affiliate programs these online sellers offer.

I've got other projects I'm working on and hope to announce a few more later this year. One of them is a new PARMA ENDORION, which I will publish as an ebook. It will be free, and it should be translated into several languages. PARMA ENDORION is my oldest collection of Tolkien/Middle-earth essays, and the Web site has been pretty popular through the years, especially with students. When the ebook is published, however, I'll take down the PARMA ENDORION Web site (the new edition will be more up-to-date).

I don't know when exactly VISUALIZING MIDDLE-EARTH will be ready for sale. I'm waiting on the galleys, which are supposed to come in another week or two. Once I get them I'll have to proof the book and send them back. Sometime after that Xlibris will publish the book.

The neat thing about this print-on-demand service is that I don't have to buy an inventory of books or arrange distribution through bookstores. Self-publishing has been a hard way of getting published because you have to really market the books to distributors AND to the public. Now self-published authors can focus on marketing their books to the public.

I'll let people know more information here and elsewhere when I have it, and I'll certainly announce when the book(s) become available.