Just being annoying and bumping this up. Nobody's done anything like this book?

No, except when I was a kid and some when I was a teenager. Just fictional stories of dogs mostly. Later, typical teenage angst. I would write in long hand, and when a kid have someone type it up, then I'd bind the "book" between two pieces of cardboard and paste a picture on the front. ha

So, to answer your question. No I have not written a proper book. Lavender Lass who used to frequent KT began writing and has published online somehow. I forget how and where.

I never have but I think the idea is great. I'd love to see an excerpt.

No but I knew someone who did and had it published by Amazon. It was non-fiction iirc and he did make some sales as it was a very specific historical subject. He also wrote a novel that was based on factual events and it was published by Amazon.

We used to have a poster at GW/THS who was a well known author and had written many books. She was also good at decor and loved animals. Don't remember her name at the top of my head, would need to go searching.

A friend's son did. He had it self published. I think you could research how to self publish.

I recently saw an old acquaintance and as we were catching up on our families she mentioned that she wrote a book last year and that it's available on Amazon - the paperback is $15.95 and the Kindle version is $3.99, I ordered it but haven't had the chance to read it yet. She had 5 reviews on Amazon rating her 4's and 5's.

Chispa, was that Rococo Girl?

Have had two friends self publish. One sci-fi and the other was poetry. I believe the sci-fi was on sale at Amazon for some time, but it is not currently listed. Two other friends have privately published cookbooks, while that is not really writing in a traditional sense, both wrote family stories to accompany the recipes. Thinking that I would love to do a cookbook myself, fun project once I retire.

Look at Blurb, IdaClaire. A photographer friend self-published a book using that site.

Deanne Fortnam is an author of an art book. Perhaps that is who you are thinking of.

I've written SF fiction books but never published. I probably still write about a story a month. Haven't written a book in a few years though. Most of my writing was done when I was unable to do much else. Now that I can do other things the writing isn't top most in mind but it is still a hard habit to break. Not that I want to. :-)

I'm writing an online textbook for our freshmen intro class. We've done a few of these in our department for several courses. We couldn't find what we liked that met our needs, so we designed them ourselves, working with an academic publisher. We get small amounts of royalties that go back to the department that we can use for various activities.

Yes. I wrote one a few years ago and even had beta readers give me feedback. I stalled out when I went back to work full time but I’m often thinking about it and tweaking things.
I hope to someday send a query to some agents.

Eld, I don't think so, unless she had more than one user name over the years.

The key phrase is this: I have no intent on actually publishing for sale.

If that is the case, then I don't think you can get much cheaper that Shutterfly and its ilk.

I think her username might've been Breakfast at Tiffany's. I read one or two of her books before I came to this site, but I can't remember her name or the books right now. I think her first name might have been Michael. She was a successful writer, ugh, now I'm going to drive myself crazy trying to remember it.

Just searched my bookshelves, it was Michael Lee West.

Thanks so much for all of the helpful information! I think perhaps it was Lavender Lass that I was remembering having written and published. Very interesting to hear from others among us who have written and published as well! I have read a bit online about self-publishing, but there seems to be a world of options out there and I wanted to see if any who frequent this place had knowledge of the subject. I have read that you cannot expect to "get rich" unless you're already a famous, established author - and I understand that. That's really not what I have in mind, anyway. I think for now I will continue to gather and organize my stories and pictures and just see where I manage to go from there. Thanks again for the helpful input.

Rococo Girl was previously known as FatLester, and she was anything but fat. She visited me on my birthday in Venice in 2001, I think, and I have photos of us having lunch together at Joe's Restaurant (now closed). Her husband was an author. I've not been in touch with her lately, however.

I have many friends who have published books, and my sister writes books also, but hers are on Texas banking laws and are extremely boring, but all the bankers in Texas have to buy them, as my sister is considered the authority on Texas banking law (her specialty), and she goes to DC every year to give advice regarding new laws. One of my friends wrote the official biography of Greta Garbo, and I went to the book signing in Hollywood, which was attended by the Swedish ambassador.

I've started writing a book, but I haven't gotten very far yet. I did write a play that I produced in college, and I've also written several skits for language classes. I'm thinking of collecting my short stories for a book, but they don't seem to fit together well.

Friends who have done self-publishing only did paperback books, and so I have no information for how to publish a hardback book, but I do want to offer my encouragement to you in this endeavor.

Thank you, Lars. I know you had mentioned in another thread writing down you stories / memoirs, perhaps, and I wish you well too in your endeavor! It's so satisfying to write ... it seems to really nourish my soul to get something down "on paper" that well conveys my thoughts. It's a real challenge too, as I often suffer from writer's block and find inspiration strikes at the oddest times.

IdaClaire I would love to hear more about your cat novel ideas. I enjoyed, "My Name Is Red" parts of that book were written from a cat and a dog's perspective. I enjoyed that very much and laughed audibly at the cat and dog's funny commentary.

Even if you don't plan on attempting to have it published, get a current copy of "Writer's Market" and check for any publishers who might be interested in your concept. There's a chance someone will accept it for publication, especially if you're not concerned about making money on it. "Writer's Market" will tell you how to write an inquiry, which normally accompanies the first three chapters or pages of your book for the publisher's review. I've had three murder mysteries published, but you're correct--It's not a big moneymaker for unknown and un-agented authors like myself. It's very fun to see it in print, though. Good luck!

I have written a book and had it published by a publisher. It was a nonfiction business book that I wrote with a colleague of mine. We thought we had a good idea for a book, but did not have an agent, so we doubted that we would have much chance of getting published. We did use the Writer's Market as Jay06 above suggested, and prepared a proposal that included sample chapters, an outline and the other things recommended in Writer's Market. We made a list of publishers that, based on their descriptions, might be interested in the book. We sent our proposal out to the top three, figuring that we would work our way down the list as we got our rejections from those publishers. To our surprise (and delight!), two of the first three publishers were interested. Each of them had very different ideas on how to price and market the book, and we chose the one that we thought could get more copies sold. Anyway, it has sold pretty well over the years and in any event, it's fun to see one's name in print. We have by no means gotten rich from sales, but the royalties have provided some consistent "extra money" twice a year.

If you are trying to sell a book, definitely getting a publisher is much easier than self publishing unless you have the energy and talent to market it yourself. However, if you have no intent on publishing for sale and just want to have the book for fun, Shutterfly seems the perfect option.

I used to post a very long time ago, before Our Humble Home, posted there until maybe 2003

real life got in the way, now I'm going to write about it, 2 books my husband is Warped by War,

2nd book is Betty and Donald behind closed doors..

about our child abuse, Fathers euthanasia, my mothers elder abuse, paybacks for her child abuse, and more...mom died Feb. 18, 2019, these are fresh and changing as police are looking into the crimes, my mission is that crimes against elder are being committed,and hidden behind HIPPA laws

Warped by War book, struggles getting care from VA, and how to survive a war, the veteran can never forget.

I as well need a publisher, readers digest have reached out to me, still talking to them

Chispa, you are thinking of Michael Lee West.

Rococogurl has two published cookbooks, years ago.

One of our previous members, Rosemary (don’t recall her last name) I believe had written a book on Sears Homes. I also think she wrote romantic fiction, but I could be confusing her with someone else.

I think I remember her from long ago, craftsman homes, some near me

Ida, did you post something about New Year's that disappeared? Just checking since things glitch so much. I don't mean to annoy in case you deleted it.