(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted here illegally.)

I've said here many times already what I think one of the greatest strengths of the print-on-demand, self-publishing format is -- namely, the chance for part-time writers to pen a story specific to their family and situation, so to make the book easily available to the several hundred other relatives and historians who would be interested in such a book. Take for a good example the recent There Never Was a Better Time by Doug Taylor, a slightly fictionalized narrative account of his own family's migration from a small fishing village in Canada to the bustling city of Toronto in the early 20th century; because the simple fact is that this is destined to just never be a big seller, between the extremely narrow subject matter and Taylor's only so-so skills as a writer. But it's also a lively and very readable account of one family's struggles to adapt to the modern age, penned with the kind of eye for historical detail that you would expect from a retired professor like Taylor; and that makes this perfect for people like Canadian history buffs and friends of the family, even if that's admittedly a small crowd. Such manuscripts used to have to be distributed via grimy, expensive stacks of xeroxes handed out at family get-togethers; so how nice, I always think, that we live in an age where it can instead be purchased in a good-looking bound form and sent straight to your home whenever you want. As always, I urge you to take this mindset yourself when it comes to most print-on-demand volumes, instead of comparing them directly to someone like Malcolm Gladwell and always being disappointed.

Out of 10: 7.6 ( )