January 10, 2025 at 11:00 AM at Yocum Institute
John Symborski on Self-Publishing, the Old-Time Way
Many people have at least one book in them, or so it seems with nearly 1 million new titles released through traditional publishers (<1% odds for new authors), and over 2 million on-line self-published titles (averaging <250 total copies - skewed by many with zero). Since a vanity press is a losing proposition, is there another avenue to publish? The familiar book - or codex - has been around since the first century AD, and was a manual process until the mid 19th century. The presenter will review a step-by-step method (with examples) for producing a bound hardback book with a minimum of tools. Did you know that one can get a U.S. copyright without bothering with an ISBN number, sell handmade physical copies of the book through an on-line store (e.g. ETSY), and still retain unpublished status for the work? This leaves all other options still open, and an author can self-promote through craft honing, audience building, networking and research.
John Symborski earned a Bachelor of Sciences in Industrial Technology at the University of Maryland in 1976, and worked 29 years as an Industrial Engineer for a several manufacturers until outsourced. Trained as a Certified Hospital Pharmacy Technician in 2005 (CPhT, Lincoln Tech), he has served Pottstown Hospital for 20 years and continues at the Pharmacy part-time in semi-retirement.
Bookbinding is a relatively recent interest, and rather than make books of blank pages it was necessary to write a book worth binding - and then produce it from scratch based on traditional techniques (with a few modern conveniences). John's Copyrighted book is titled "Old Dobbin", and presents two historic novellas under one cover (50,000 words in all) set in 1909 and 1910 from Spring City/Royersford through Pottstown to Reading PA and back.
With a passion for traditional crafts, John learned and demonstrated rope making, candle dipping, woodworking, gunsmithing, and harpsichord performances on self-made instruments for many Historic Sites in southeastern Pennsylvania. John assembles Colonial Soldiers' hats on commission for a retailer of military supplies for re-enactors.
Other interesting facts about John: He is the past president of the Delaware Valley Amateur Astronomers, he designed and built 3 Newtonian telescopes, 2 prize winning parabolic mirrors and lectured on the Antikythera Mechanism. John and his wife Lynn have taught historic dancing since 1976, and continue to appear with their dance troupe - the Tapestry Historic Dancers - at historic venues and special events. John is also a Monday night "Sunday school" teacher at his parish in Limerick, PA.