The Sports Bookshelf

When sports writer Dave Armitage was gathering the impressive collection of Brian Clough anecdotes that made up his book 150 BC, he had a shrewd idea there were plenty of tales of Old Big ‘Ead he hadn’t yet heard, quite apart from those he was not able to include. Sure enough, even after interviewing close to 100 people he thought might have a story or two -- in some cases several -- to tell about the legendary manager, he soon found there were plenty more where they came from. So many, in fact, that Dave is putting the finishing touches now to a second volume, due out in the early autumn. “People who’d already been kind enough to share memories with me began to get back to me with stories they’d previously forgotten,” he told The Sports Bookshelf . “And others who’d read the first book would want to tell me their tales. “I quickly realised there were enough for a second book if people liked the first one.” In fact, 150 BC was such a hit with its target audience that booksellers ...

WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO TO GO IT ALONE AND WIN Not so long ago, self-publishing would be dismissed as little better than vanity publishing, where authors would pay to see their work in print and make nothing in return. But falling print costs have made it much more possible to turn a profit even from fairly small sales.  Dave Armitage -- author, publisher and publicist for 150 BC -- reckons that in a difficult market place, being a one-man show might be the way ahead. “It’s not going to make you a millionaire but if you can sell a thousand copies, maybe even fewer, there is a worthwhile profit to be made,” Dave said. “If you can sell more, of course, the rewards will be higher.” Of course, there is no guarantee that a book will generate a thousand sales, tiny though the number might seem when you consider that The Da Vinci Code has sold more than 4.5 million. Finding even a thousand buyers requires the author to know the market and target it vigorously. But having a...