Speakeasy

…to an old article someone recommended to me. Just dug it up out of my inbox. Discusses the self-publishing boom from a business perspective, and looks at booksellers’ interaction with self-published stuff.

At The Guardian.

A self-published cookery book by two Queensland women has been the surprise No. 2 to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in the 2007 Bestsellers.

4 Ingredients by Kim McCosker and Rachael Bermingham tipped 350,000+ sales and has been a national bestseller since June last year. Plans are currently in place to launch the book in the UK and there are also discussions about a possible television series.

Initially ignored by publishers, McCosker and Bermingham opted to self-publish: producing, distributing and marketing the book themselves. It features 340 simple recipes made using no more than 4 ingredients. Recipes cover the whole spectrum of foody-fare from roasts, to cakes, casseroles and desserts.

Other titles on the bestseller list include Rhonda Bryne’s The Secret (267,000) and Bryce Courtney’s The Persimmon Tree (166,000 since its November launch).

See The Sydney Morning Herald for more…