My Adventures in Self-Publishing
When my book The Great A&P was published back in 2011, a major commercial publisher handled the copy editing, the design, the printing, and the distribution. My main jobs were the parts I’m good at, the research and the writing. It was a piece of cake.
When I decided to put out a revised edition, I had to figure out how to handle all those other tasks I’m not so good at — or find others to do them. It wasn’t a piece of cake. Now that the book is out, I’ve written an article about my experience for the American Historical Association’s Perspectives on History. It’s called “Self-Publishing a Second Edition: A Historian’s Adventures in Going It Alone.” I hope you enjoy it.
I was drawn to this book after re-reading “Good to Great” and seeing the comparison between A&P and Kroger. Prior to your book and “Good to Great”, my knowledge of A&P consisted of the John Updike story and occasional pop culture references. My excitement increased significantly when I saw that you had also written “The Box”, which is one of my favorite books (sadly, the responses I get when eagerly telling others about it is similar to those you described receiving from others while writing it).
I am about halfway through the audiobook and am fascinated by what you describe. You do an excellent job of weaving together A&P’s history with the often overlooked and forgotten history of small business in America. Despite a business degree and MBA, I barely had surface level knowledge of all the laws and acts that came in the wake of the Great Depression and am pleased to have discovered your work. Please keep it up!