remember to thank all the books you haven't read over the past three years by ailatan

Less than ten years ago, the entire book publishing industry could be summed up in one famous quotation by journalist A.J. Liebling, "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." However, in the last several years, digital print-on-demand self-publishing has grown from an obscure, expensive and low-quality hassle into an accessible, beautiful and worthy pursuit for anybody with a creative edge.

With the rise of digital printing, thousands upon thousands of new print-on-demand books have popped up for sale all over the internet. Maybe it shows just how young I am, but I was shocked to read in an essay by HHS! panelist Darius Himes that, "up until the early 1990s it was easy to purchase every photography book because there were only a handful that were published in any given year." Browsing the thousands of titles in the online bookstore at Blurb.com is a sign of the times that this is certainly not the case today.

Within this absolute saturation of photography books are many worth a look and certainly some worth having on your shelf. In the next few weeks, we'll be publishing a few posts featuring interviews and advice from some of our favorite self-publishing Hot Shots, artists and bookmakers. Stay tuned!

If you've got stories, links or advice about self-publishing that you want to share, don't hesitate to leave a comment or send a reply to @heyhotshot on Twitter.