Well, it sounds like Alan Binder's book may be less interesting (or interesting in a different way) than I originally thought.

On page 722 he describes one NASA manager as an "incompetent jerk engineer". On page 710 Binder refers to another NASA manager as a "arrogant, fat little bastard" and after repeating this compliment dozens of times, adds "pompous" to his tirade on page 728. On page 421 he refers to someone else as a "back stabbing SOB". And so on. If I spent 5 more minutes I am sure I'd find more examples of gratuitous name calling.

Sounds like an editor was in order--in fact, badly needed. This is a shame, as I'd previously had a pretty high opinion of Dr. Binder.

Reading on-line content and vanity press output has made the importance of good editors increasingly clear to me. This is one thing traditional publishers bring to the table -- a brand representing a promise to the reader that editors have filtered out the slush -- and is one reason why e-book publushing is languishing in a ghetto.

Blogs represent a model of distributed filtering. I wonder if it could be applied to longer works?

Yeah, he needs an editor to improve his insults, the fat little pompous arrogant back-stabbing bastard SOB.

Dang I forgot jerk.

Here's a description of this book from the publisher, KenPress:

Lunar Prospector

An author who had had a very negative experience with a vanity/subsidy press was introduced to us after deciding to self-publish his highly personal account of a NASA mission. After we talked with each other several times, we chose to publish this book under the Ken Press imprint because it is astronomy-related. Based on our established market, we felt we could assist in some promotion for him. The author had a cover image ready, which we were able to incorporate into the cover design. We provided copyediting services as well as interior design and layout. Several hundred color scans were formatted for printing in black and white as appendices to the book. We arranged to have 1,000 copies printed as short-run offset and shipped to us. The book is copyrighted in the author's name and has full CIP registration. In addition, we have made it available through amazon.com. The author owns this book and all proceeds outright.

This isn't the sort of enthusiastic response you'd expect. My guess is that Alan Binder paid to have his book published as is. Note the last line. KenPress printed it but they aren't getting any profits (aside from whatever they get as a retailer). Other books mentioned on the page fit the same MO.

I find your "vanity press" remark on target, Rand. BTW, do you have experience with the breed? Might make an interesting story.

In a book of this nature, there shouldn't have been a page 722. It's obviously way too long (almost 1100 p4ges [sic] of text!). Oh yes, this definitely shows signs that an editor was needed. First order would be to reduce the page count to 200-400.

If you look at the link for Ken Press, it is blatantly obvious that this is a vanity press. Look at what they say under "services offered":

"Marketing and promotion is the most difficult aspect of book publishing. Not a service we are able to offer."

If Binder did pay to have 1000 copies produced, that probably cost him a LOT of money, especially if he has to sell them all himself.