Self Publish, Be Happy: A DIY Photobook Manual and Manifesto Paperback – Illustrated, November 24, 2015

Better than I expected from the "look inside this book" and mixed reviews on Amazon. Overall look of book, with pages from featured photo books photographed against a wood grain, provided an attractive continuity. I liked the one-page book commentaries/facts (on a white page with black fonts). The publishing info for each featured book was short and to the point, easy to grasp. Knowing print run size, printing and paper info, retail pricing, etc. was invaluable. Left me with the impression that indeed you could do small print runs and have fun. Glad I bought the book. Intend to keep it as an inspirational reference.

A compendium of some of the best independently published books in recent years, with advice interspersed. A nice lighthearted volume

This book isn't a "how to" so if you're looking for that you should look elsewhere. This is a great resource for ideas and inspiration on self-publishing, full of many various examples of different types of self-published zines and whatnot, with info on materials and costs. You basically have a free Alec Soth zine right in the middle of the book so that's worth the price alone.

This book is a disaster. The book consists of 20 or 30 one page summaries of self-published photo books. The remaining. pages are low quality photos of pages in the books. Most of the books are weird and don't come close to the quality of books printed by shutterfly, blurb, or MyPublisher. I spent five minutes looking at it and sent it back. You will learn nothing by reading/looking at this book.It is not even motivational.

Really not very helpful. interesting but not helpful

Such a cool resource for self publishing and discovering great self published work from around the world.

What a waste. Overly designed and very few worthy examples. There are some great self published books out there and this book does not cover them. Look elsewhere, like actually buying artist self published books and not this doorstop of a book. Sad.

This book is not only beautifully designed and printed and engagingly written, it is an invaluable resource, and will be an important historical snap-shot of artist-made photographic books from a transformative moment when such works became central to the world of contemporary photography. Unlike most such resources, Ceschel is not simply trying to establish a market hierarchy of “important” or “collectible” titles, but to expose the reader to a truly diverse and seductive range of styles, formats, content and intention in independent photographic artists’ books. The large reproductions, and the devotion of several spreads to each title, allows viewers to get a very physical sense of how the book-object operates, and to really take in the layouts and sequences as they would be experienced holding the books in one’s hands.As a university teacher, I look forward to assigning this book to any class I teach focused on photo-books, or even in any advanced creative image-making course. But like the best teaching books, it is also a book for enthusiasts, collectors and other artists. Though celebrated and well-recognized books are represented here, many of the works included here – some hand-made in very small runs, or by young artists otherwise not very well known, – could easily slip from the record of photographic history. It is deeply important for anthologies like this to exist: ones that curate based on interest, experiential power and originality rather than name recognition and canonical expectations.Some viewers might be thrown off by the title, as it is not primarily structured as a technical, step-by-step, how-to book. But this is a guide for aspiring book artists of the best kind – one that encourages independence and experimentation and inspires by examples and possibilities, rather than a rote set of skills or a checklist of do’s and don’ts. It is not attempting to walk readers through generic conventions, but to expose them to the most provocative, rich and daring examples of contemporary photo-book making.