Topsight > How to cite Topsight

I'm behind on my blogging due to a big project I'm trying to wrap up this week (unrelated to Topsight). But I thought I'd address a question: How do you cite a self-published book?

It turns out that others have also wrestled with this question. It's complicated, because the book is self-published, but printed by CreateSpace. According to one thread from the Amazon CreateSpace message board, one cannot put down CreateSpace in the publisher spot, like this:

Hocking, Amanda. Fate: My Blood Approves. Charleston: CreateSpace, 2010.

At least, you can't in the book itself.

The citation above turns out to be the proper MLA format for citing a self-published book, more or less, so someone who wants to cite this book could actually use this format in their Works Cited page. In this version, the printer goes where the publisher would normally go. Chicago handles things similarly. (A quick Google search turns up no analogue for APA.)

But if you use it in the book itself, CreateSpace will insist that you turn it into one of these possible forms:

Hocking, Amanda. Fate: My Blood Approves. Charleston: Amanda Hocking, 2010.
Hocking, Amanda. Fate: My Blood Approves. n.p. Amanda Hocking, 2010.
Hocking, Amanda. Fate: My Blood Approves. n.p: n.p, 2010.
Hocking, Amanda. Fate: My Blood Approves. n.p: n.p., printed by CreateSpace,  2010.

So: How will you cite Topsight when it comes out? You might consider something like this:

Spinuzzi, C. (2012). Topsight: A guide to studying, diagnosing, and fixing information flow in organizations. Austin: CreateSpace.

Check your style guide for details.