Dan Poynter (September 17, 1938–November 3, 2015) was an American author, consultant, publisher, professional speaker and parachute designer. Starting in 1969, he wrote more than 130 books, many reports, and more than 800 magazine articles, most of them on book publishing. The writing and publishing of The Self-Publishing Manual in 1979 propelled him to notoriety in the publishing industry. Each year he addressed scores of groups on the subject of publishing.