Reply #8: here's why

[emlev]

He had a contract with Kent State University Press to publish the book. Then a newspaper in his hometown announced the book was being published, and immediately Kent State University Press -- which had been enthusiastic about the book -- said they weren't going to publish it. So he decided to self-publish. Bookstores order their books through distributors. While they may offer to special order an individual book that's self-published if you request it, they really are forced by the way the publishing industry works to order from distribution houses so that they can do one order for hundreds or thousands of different titles, rather than having to go through a separate process for each book they want to order.

If someone wants to help this book get out there and could research how to get one of the big distributors to carry it, that would be a great service.