Zerinus Publishes A Book!

[zerinus]

Okay, it is official; I am the author of this book:

The Grammar of Isaiah: A Selective Commentary on the Writings of the Old Testament Prophets.

It can also be found on Amazon and other online retailers. Several people who have written books and articles have discussed their publications here, and I have been merciless in critiquing their publications. Now is their chance to get even!

This is the third edition of the book. The first two editions were published anonymously, under the pseudonym of Matthew. I had reasons for wanting to remain anonymous at that time. The third edition was published last month, and is published under my real name.

This book is self-published. I am the author and publisher of this book. If anybody here wants to know how to self-publish your own books, I can show you how. It is not all that expensive, and it is great fun. It also gives you complete control over your publication, instead of being beholden to your publisher, and having to do his bidding.

I would gladly send you all free copies, if the postage was not so prohibitive. I have given all my friends (including members of my ward who wanted one) free copies. Being the publisher, I can get prints done for myself quite cheaply; and I wouldn’t want my friends to have to pay for it. I consider you guys my friends. But it costs more to post it to the US than to print it. But still, I am willing to send a few free copies to those who want to proofread it for me. This book has not been independently or professionally proofread. I have done my best to proofread it myself; but other sharp eyes may detect errors which I have missed.

Anyways, now you know who is the man behind the mask. I think several people had already figured who I was, but weren’t sure. Now it is official. That is me. I am the Z-man of Alcatraz! If you get a chance to read the book, give it a review on Amazon. I also have an Amazon author page where it can be discussed.

[Rob Bowman]

z,

Congratulations on your book. Can you summarize what you set out to do in the book?

Okay, it is official; I am the author of this book:

The Grammar of Isaiah: A Selective Commentary on the Writings of the Old Testament Prophets.

It can also be found on Amazon and other online retailers. Several people who have written books and articles have discussed their publications here, and I have been merciless in critiquing their publications. Now is their chance to get even!

This is the third edition of the book. The first two editions were published anonymously, under the pseudonym of Matthew. I had reasons for wanting to remain anonymous at that time. The third edition was published last month, and is published under my real name.

This book is self-published. I am the author and publisher of this book. If anybody here wants to know how to self-publish your own books, I can show you how. It is not all that expensive, and it is great fun. It also gives you complete control over your publication, instead of being beholden to your publisher, and having to do his bidding.

I would gladly send you all free copies, if the postage was not so prohibitive. I have given all my friends (including members of my ward who wanted one) free copies. Being the publisher, I can get prints done for myself quite cheaply; and I wouldn’t want my friends to have to pay for it. I consider you guys my friends. But it costs more to post it to the US than to print it. But still, I am willing to send a few free copies to those who want to proofread it for me. This book has not been independently or professionally proofread. I have done my best to proofread it myself; but other sharp eyes may detect errors which I have missed.

Anyways, now you know who is the man behind the mask. I think several people had already figured who I was, but weren’t sure. Now it is official. That is me. I am the Z-man of Alcatraz! If you get a chance to read the book, give it a review on Amazon. I also have an Amazon author page where it can be discussed.

[zerinus]

z,

Congratulations on your book. Can you summarize what you set out to do in the book?

Thank you. The best way that I can answer that question is to let you read the writing on the back cover of the book:

Edited February 8, 2012 by zerinus

[maklelan]

Okay, it is official; I am the author of this book:

Congratulations! Being a student of the Old Testament and an editor, I'd be happy to proofread it for you.

[Stargazer]

Neat!

So, is there a reason why the book isn't available for Kindle?

I knew one could private publish books and put them on Amazon, and even that one could publish through Amazon itself, but is is really that easy? I have a book to publish (co-written with my sister-in-law), and have tried to get a "real" publisher interested, to no avail, so far. I've let it sit for some years, but perhaps I should dust it off and do what you have done! Do you have any advice to offer?

And finally, my curiosity overcomes me...

Perhaps it is that your priority anonymity had something to do with being a convert from Islam? From your name, at least, this would seem to be the case, although I am certain that not everyone with Arabic-sounding names were born into Islam. For example, a full-time missionary in my mission was named Selim Selim, but he, to the best of my knowledge, was born LDS.

Edited February 8, 2012 by Stargazer

[zerinus]

Congratulations! Being a student of the Old Testament and an editor, I'd be happy to proofread it for you.

Thank you. PM me with your mailing address and I will send you a copy. The kind of proofreading I am interested in is checking for spelling, grammatical, and typographical errors, ensuring that the cross-references all work correctly, and any other inadvertent errors of that description. Editorial recommendations would also be appreciated.

[thesometimesaint]

congrats.

[altersteve]

I look forward to reading it.

[mfbukowski]

Okay, it is official; I am the author of this book:

The Grammar of Isaiah: A Selective Commentary on the Writings of the Old Testament Prophets.

It can also be found on Amazon and other online retailers. Several people who have written books and articles have discussed their publications here, and I have been merciless in critiquing their publications. Now is their chance to get even!

This is the third edition of the book. The first two editions were published anonymously, under the pseudonym of Matthew. I had reasons for wanting to remain anonymous at that time. The third edition was published last month, and is published under my real name.

This book is self-published. I am the author and publisher of this book. If anybody here wants to know how to self-publish your own books, I can show you how. It is not all that expensive, and it is great fun. It also gives you complete control over your publication, instead of being beholden to your publisher, and having to do his bidding.

I would gladly send you all free copies, if the postage was not so prohibitive. I have given all my friends (including members of my ward who wanted one) free copies. Being the publisher, I can get prints done for myself quite cheaply; and I wouldn’t want my friends to have to pay for it. I consider you guys my friends. But it costs more to post it to the US than to print it. But still, I am willing to send a few free copies to those who want to proofread it for me. This book has not been independently or professionally proofread. I have done my best to proofread it myself; but other sharp eyes may detect errors which I have missed.

Anyways, now you know who is the man behind the mask. I think several people had already figured who I was, but weren’t sure. Now it is official. That is me. I am the Z-man of Alcatraz! If you get a chance to read the book, give it a review on Amazon. I also have an Amazon author page where it can be discussed.

Congratulations! You might want to put it into a Kindle edition too- there is a free downloadable reader for pc's which is very easy to use- and the books are so cheap it is very tempting just to buy millions of them!

[mercyngrace]

Congrats Zerinus!

But what I really want to know is if the entire text is written in red...

[zerinus]

Neat!

So, is there a reason why the book isn't available for Kindle?

No special reason; just haven't done it. I probably won't do a Kindle edition of it though, because this is a kind of book that has to be worked through, rather than sailed through; and the Kindle is not the ideal venue for that kind of publication. The Kindle is ideal for novels and story books where you can relax in an armchair or a train journey, and read your story. This book forces you to cross-reference a lot of scriptures (and you may want to make notes in the margin), and the Kindle is not ideal for that kind of reading material.

I knew one could private publish books and put them on Amazon, and even that one could publish through Amazon itself, but is is really that easy? I have a book to publish (co-written with my sister-in-law), and have tried to get a "real" publisher interested, to no avail, so far. I've let it sit for some years, but perhaps I should dust it off and do what you have done! Do you have any advice to offer?

The hardest part of self-publishing for a beginner is the design of your book, both the cover and interior, including the page layout and typesetting of your book. Book design is a skilled job, and requires the use of specialized software. If you already have those kinds of skills, or are sufficiently computer-savvy to be able to acquire those skills quickly, the rest is a piece of cake. If you don't, and still try to do it yourself, your book will look amateurish and unprofessional. That is the commonest mistake that self-publishers make. The alternative is to hire the services of a professional book designer, and they tend to be a bit expensive, but not prohibitive if you can afford it. It would set you back approximately $1,000 to have your book designed and typeset by a professional book designer.

There are a number of companies who offer you to self-publish your book; and they make their money by offering you those kinds of services. But very often they don't do a good job, and they just want to make money out of people who turn to them because they have had no success publishing their books through normal publishing companies. Very often they offer to supply you with an ISBN, in which case you are not the publisher of your book at all, they are! You become a true self-publisher when you publish your book under your own imprint, and purchase your own ISBNs. The ISBN is associated with the imprint. In my case for example, I use the imprint "Antum Publications". The ISBNs I use to publish my books with are associated with that imprint. Another publisher could not use the same ISBN to publish that book under their own imprint. That is how it works. Anyways, once you have decided to publish your book let me know, and I will walk you through the steps you need to get it into print.

And finally, my curiosity overcomes me...

Perhaps it is that your priority anonymity had something to do with being a convert from Islam? From your name, at least, this would seem to be the case, although I am certain that not everyone with Arabic-sounding names were born into Islam. For example, a full-time missionary in my mission was named Selim Selim, but he, to the best of my knowledge, was born LDS.

Yes, I am a convert form Islam; but that is all I am going to tell you!

Edited February 8, 2012 by zerinus

[Ares]

Congratulations! - the topic of your publication should not be an excuse for a debate over its contents... just in case I am moving this to the social hall thread with a link.

[Calm]

I see you have written an article on Swedenborg as well: http://bijhan.web.of...L/WebSweden.htm

And more: For an excellent discussion of the positive features and helpful contributions of the early Christian Creeds, see Bijhan Nasser-Faili, “Early Christian Creeds and LDS Doctrine,” Journal of Latter Day Saint History 12 (2000): 12–23; this article discusses the relationship between the Arian Controversy and the Nicene Creed on pages 16–17

http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/prelude-restoration-apostasy-restored-church/14-%E2%80%9Call-their-creeds-were-abomination%E2%80%9D-brief-l

Edited February 8, 2012 by calmoriah

[zerinus]

congrats.

I look forward to reading it.

Congratulations! You might want to put it into a Kindle edition too- there is a free downloadable reader for pc's which is very easy to use- and the books are so cheap it is very tempting just to buy millions of them!

Thank you all.

[zerinus]

Congrats Zerinus!

But what I really want to know is if the entire text is written in red...

LOL! The text is in beautiful black.

[zerinus]

Congratulations! - the topic of your publication should not be an excuse for a debate over its contents... just in case I am moving this to the social hall thread with a link.

I find that puzzling. Lots of people have discussed their publications in that forum, and it was never moved to the social hall. Nobody has even read the book yet, let alone discussing its contents.

[Calm]

The fact that no one has read the book yet is probably why it was moved, at this point there should be no debate about it since no one knows what it contains. I suspect that if you put an excerpt up to be discussed that would be different. You might query the mods on that....I'd contact them rather than wait to see if one reads this thread.

[zerinus]

I see you have written an article on Swedenborg as well: http://bijhan.web.of...L/WebSweden.htm

And more: For an excellent discussion of the positive features and helpful contributions of the early Christian Creeds, see Bijhan Nasser-Faili, “Early Christian Creeds and LDS Doctrine,” Journal of Latter Day Saint History 12 (2000): 12–23; this article discusses the relationship between the Arian Controversy and the Nicene Creed on pages 16–17

http://rsc.byu.edu/a...2%80%9D-brief-l

Yes, I have. A couple of my articles were published in that journal, and a few more were published on my website on the internet. For various reasons I decided to close my website, but I retained a link to the Swedenborg article because it was linked to on their website by the Swedenborg Church, and I didn't want their link to be broken.

[zerinus]

The fact that no one has read the book yet is probably why it was moved, at this point there should be no debate about it since no one knows what it contains. I suspect that if you put an excerpt up to be discussed that would be different. You might query the mods on that....I'd contact them rather than wait to see if one reads this thread.

Thank you, I will try. But I have never had much success contacting the mods on this forum for some reason.

[zerinus]

The fact that no one has read the book yet is probably why it was moved, at this point there should be no debate about it since no one knows what it contains. I suspect that if you put an excerpt up to be discussed that would be different. You might query the mods on that....I'd contact them rather than wait to see if one reads this thread.

Okay, I tried, and it didn't work, as expected. There is a field on the form which says: LDS Church Main HQ? (City)*. It is a required field, and I haven't a clue what I am suppose to put in there. If I leave it empty, it will not send the form, and says that you have to select a department! What "department" is that? It looks like they have deliberately made it impossible for people to contact them. The CAPTCHA is also made very hard to read. I can manage the CAPTCHA, but the rest is definitely designed not to work!

Edited February 8, 2012 by zerinus

[Mike Reed]

Congrats Z!

[Stargazer]

Thank you, I will try. But I have never had much success contacting the mods on this forum for some reason.

Well, FWIW I have PMed mods and gotten responses before, and I'm nobody special. On the other hand, maybe you are special and have to say "pretty please".

And BTW I have just placed an order for you book. I will be interested to see what you have done!

And with regards to Kindle, I understand what you mean about actually studying as opposed to just reading, but I would urge you to consider doing it anyway. Perhaps you intend the book to be studied seriously, as opposed to merely being read, but I can say without equivocation that my first read will be a "mere" reading. Others may seriously study first, but may wish to re-read casually later. My advice (from a business standpoint) would be to not assume (or force) your readers to conform to your pathways or how you work. Parenthetically I would also note that there are people out there who would buy the book for Kindle, but not for print.

[Stargazer]

Okay, I tried, and it didn't work, as expected. There is a field on the form which says: LDS Church Main HQ? (City)*. It is a required field, and I haven't a clue what I am suppose to put in there. If I leave it empty, it will not send the form, and says that you have to select a department! What "department" is that? It looks like they have deliberately made it impossible for people to contact them. The CAPTCHA is also made very hard to read. I can manage the CAPTCHA, but the rest is definitely designed not to work!

Z, that question is a test to let you prove that your are a human being and not some 'bot. The answer is clearly "Salt Lake City", and no automated script is going to be able to understand the question, let alone answer it, These things are necessary because there are spammers out there. I operate a forum for a series of Science Fiction novels, and believe me 'bots are a big problem. For that forum I have a similar thing to prevent automated registrations -- which has saved me TONS of problems.

So, try again and answer the question as I have described. I know what you mean by CAPTCHAs being annoying -- but another unfortunate fact of life on the spammer-infested internet.

[Calm]

Worse comes to worse, use the "report" function and ask for forgiveness.

[mfbukowski]

No special reason; just haven't done it. I probably won't do a Kindle edition of it though, because this is a kind of book that has to be worked through, rather than sailed through; and the Kindle is not the ideal venue for that kind of publication.

I make notes on kindle publications all the time. Just a suggestion, but I would not want to limit the distribution of my book by thinking I understand all the possible ways my audience might want to use it.

If they would want to buy my book to use it as a door stop (highly likely in my case for example) I would be glad to make it available to them.