source: http://selfpublishingresources.com/11-self-publishing-strategies-for-success/

Written by: Sue Collier

As self-publishing continues to go mainstream and lose its stigma, more and more authors are taking the plunge and going indie. Success, however, is certainly not guaranteed. By following the tips below, you’ll avoid many of the pitfalls and enhance your chances of flourishing.

1. Educate yourself. Publishing is a business and needs to be treated as such. There are books, blogs, websites, and associations devoted to self-publishing. Failing to learn all you can about it can mean wasting thousands of dollars by blundering along without knowledge or a plan.

2. Study the competition. Be sure your topic hasn’t been overdone. Check the library, your local bookstore, and Amazon.com. But don’t stop there: Check Books in Print Subject Guide and Forthcoming Books in Print Subject Guide. Then make sure yours is better than what is already out there.

3. Write what other people want. Catering to one’s own personal desires often makes for a blah book nobody buys. Face the facts: Personal journals and impassioned tirades are best saved for family and friends, not foisted upon the general public.

4. Think “marketing” from the start. The time to start generating marketing ideas is before you even write the manuscript. Identify your market. How can you reach them? Start folders of ideas. What catalogs might be interested? Which associations reach your potential readers? Can you sell the book as a premium to companies that would give it away as a gift to entice new customers or use it internally for training? Think about who else reaches your potential customer and how you can partner with them. Do you have contacts who have national name recognition and might write an advance endorsement?

5. Get professional editing. You cannot edit your own work. You cannot.

6. Create a catchy title. The right title can make a book. Short is best. Clever is fine but don’t sacrifice clarity. Include a subtitle for nonfiction books as it gives you extra mileage in ensuring readers know what the book is about.

7. Include all the vital components. Depending on whether your book is paper or electronic, you may need an ISBN, LCCN, EAN scanning code, subject category on the back cover, the title displayed boldly on the spine, and so forth. Don’t know what you need? See item number 1 in this list!!

8. Have a dynamite cover. Get it designed by a professional who knows book cover design, not just someone who does nice logos or brochures. There is a lot of competition out there; this is your opportunity to stand out from the crowd.

9. Make the interior inviting. Study the insides of books that look clean and user-friendly; use these as your model. The production values of your book must meet the competition to be acceptable in the trade. It is not advisable to do your book layout in Word, so if you are not budgeting for the steep price tag and learning curve of a program such as InDesign, hire a pro.

10. Price properly. Books that are much more costly than the competition—or even sometimes a lot cheaper—can meet resistance. Figure out a per-unit cost that still offers you a margin for profit and enables you to offer booksellers a discount—and that keeps you in line with your competition.

11. Publicize, promote, publicize, promote. Eat, sleep, and talk your books. Ongoing, enthusiastic marketing is the real key to success. Never quit. Always be on the alert for new opportunities; marketing is forever and your efforts today can yield results way down the road.

(Portions of this post have been excerpted from the upcoming second edition of Jump Start Your Books Sales by Marilyn Ross and Sue Collier, scheduled for release in late 2011.)

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source: http://www.go-publish-yourself.com/archive/articles/self-publishing/poynterd.php

By Dan Poynter

Many nonfiction book writers ask how to approach an agent or publisher. Today the question is when to approach them. Traditionally, writers had to decide between selling out and self-publishing. Their considerations were Often reduced to money, time and control.

Money. If your publisher prints 5000 copies, the book sells for $19.95 and your royalty is 6% of the cover price (12-14% of the net), your earnings will be less than $6000. If the book sells and goes back to press, you may do well.
Otherwise, it is not worth the many hours at the keyboard for $6000. According to Publishing for Profit by Tom Woll, most initial print runs are 5,000 copies.

In self-publishing, you invest the money but you do not have to share the net. You get it all.

The Publisher is the person or company that invests in the book.

Speed. It takes a large publisher 18 months to move a book through its system of production and distribution. From the time you deliver the manuscript, it will take a year and a half before books are on the shelves in the stores.

You can have a book printed in 2-5 weeks. You must consider: Do you want to wait an eternity to get paid? Will your information expire in 18 months? Will someone else beat you to the market with the same information? Do you want to let a publisher delay the publication of your book?

18 months? You can make a baby faster than that!

Control. Some of the larger publishers have surrendered to their bean counters. Many of their books are on pulp paper, the margins are narrow and the type is small. Your publisher may leave out some of your illustrations to save money.

As the (self) publisher, you can design the book to convey your information to your reader in the best-possible way.

A poorly-produced book lacks credibility.
People won’t buy the book and will never be exposed to the message.

Covering your bases. Today, with the computer and digital printing, it is possible to approach publishers and publish yourself. You can print 500 copies very reasonably (144 pages, 5.25 x 8.25, soft cover for $1,500). Then you can send the (example) book to agents and publishers.

Those who circulate a proposal, query letter or manuscript
are treated like a writer.
Those with a book are treated like an author.

You will also send copies of your book to magazines for review, to book clubs for adoption and to foreign publishers for translation and publication.

Self-Published Books that were “Discovered” by Publishers

- In Search of Excellence by Tom Peters. Over 25,000 copies were sold directly to consumers in its first year. Then it was sold to Warner and the publisher sold 10 million more.

- The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield. His manuscript made the rounds of the mainstream houses and then he decided to publish himself. He started by selling copies out of the trunk of his Honda—over 100,000 of them. He subsequently sold out to Warner Books for $800,000. Over 5.5 million copies have been sold.

- The One-Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson sold over 20,000 copies locally before they sold out to William Morrow. It has now sold over 12-million copies since 1982 and is in 25 languages.

- The Joy of Cooking by Irma Rombauer was selfpublished in 1931 as a project of the First Unitarian Women’s Alliance in St. Louis. Today Scribners sells more than 100,000 copies each year.

- What Color is Your Parachute by Episcopal clergymen Richard Nelson Bolles. It is now published by Ten Speed Press.

- Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun by Wess Roberts sold 486,000 copies before selling out to Warner Books.

Self-Publisher Overcame Rejection

He was a 34-year old advertising executive in Salt Lake City. He had two daughters, age six and four. He loved them very much—he told them so every day. But he wanted to express his love more permanently.

So, every night after he and his wife put the two girls to bed, he sat in the kitchen and wrote. After six week, he had completed 87 pages. He took them to a copy shop and reproduced 20 copies for family and friends.

They read his work and passed it on. After three weeks, 160 people had read his work. He was even contacted by a bookstore—they had customers asking for the “book”.

Encouraged, he approached some publishers—and, of course, he was turned down. Not to be discouraged, he scraped together $5,000 and printed 9,000 copies. Then 19,000 more. By the end of the year, he had sold
over 250,000 copies.

And then, the publishers came looking for him! Simon & Schuster offered him $4.2 million—and he took it.

That was Richard Paul Evans and the book was The Christmas Box. It hit the top of the Publishers Weekly bestseller list and was translated into 13 Languages.

I teased him with “Rick, you were doing so well selfpublishing and you sold out. Well, we all have our price. Your price is $4.2 million. (I suspect my price is a bit lower).”

Authors and promotion. Some authors do not want to publicly flog their books. You may be looking forward to the day when your work is recognized and you won’t have to promote it. You may wish to be a celebrity and above all this crass commercialism. Be advised that Frank McCourt (Angela’s Ashes) spends some six months each year making appearances on behalf of his books. He is a best-selling author because he promotes his books.

Whether you sell out to a (NY) publisher or publish yourself, the author must do the promotion. Publishers do not promote books. They have the books manufactured and they place them in bookstores. It is up to you to let potential buyers know your book is available.

There are four stages in the life of a book: writing, publishing, distributing and promoting. Giving birth to a book is like bringing a child into the world—you have an obligation to raise it. Fortunately, the book is not a twenty-year commitment and you do not have to send it to college. But, you do have to promote it.

You will write and promote your book and your publisher will produce and distribute it. You can deal with typesetters, printers and distributors yourself to get your finished book into the stores. You might as well self-publish.

Publishing increases the value. No one can be an expert in every book—some 100,000 titles are published each year. Everyone specializes or, at least, has a track record with certain categories of books. If you are turned down by an agent or publisher, that is not a reflection on the ability of the writer or the quality of the work. That agent or publisher just does not get it. With this New Model, if industry people fail to recognize the need and market for your book, it does not matter because your book is launched. It is out for review, it is be considered by book clubs and evaluated foreign publishers. If an agent or publisher “discovers” your book after you have proven it in the market, it is now worth more. For examples, see the sidebars.

This New Book Model is the best approach for you, your book and your writing future. Send your finished book to agents and publishers. Do not send a proposal, query letter or manuscript. Don’t let the agents and publishers hold you back.
_____________________________________________________________
Writing periodicals:

Dan Poynter does not want you to die with a book still inside you. You have the ingredients and he has your recipe. Dan has written more than 100 books since 1969 including Writing Nonfiction and The Self-Publishing Manual. For more help on book writing, see http://ParaPub.com.
© 2003

or

Book Publishing periodicals:

Dan Poynter, the Voice of Self-Publishing, has written more than 100 books since 1969 including Writing Nonfiction and The Self-Publishing Manual. Dan is a past vice-president of the Publishers Marketing Association. For more help on book publishing and promoting, see http://ParaPub.com.
© 2003

or

Professional Speaking periodicals:

Dan Poynter has written more than 100 books since 1969 including Writing Nonfiction and The Self-Publishing Manual. He is past-chair of NSA’s Writer- Publisher PEG and the founder of the PEG newsletter. For more help on book writing, publishing and promoting, see http://ParaPublishing.com.
© 2003

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source: http://selfpublishingresources.com/don%E2%80%99t-make-these-7-self-publishing-mistakes/

Written by: Sue Collier

There is a lot of information available on self-publishing today—there are blogs, books, and groups galore where authors can learn the ropes. Unfortunately, I still run in to authors who have made costly mistakes with their projects—blunders that could have been avoided.

Here are some of the most common:

1. Setting unrealistic goals. In spite of recent success stories in the news, you probably won’t become rich from your publishing venture. And you probably won’t sell a million copies of your book. Keep in mind that a book that sells 10,000 copies—whether self- or traditionally published—is generally considered to be a “success.” Another thing is that too many authors also believe that just putting their work out there is somehow going to result in sales, so they neglect putting together a marketing and promotions plan—which leads to the next item on the list.

2. Failing to think about marketing before the book is published. This is a biggie. I know that writing a book is no easy task, and authors tend to get caught up in the process before thinking of the next step, which is ensuring your book reaches your audience. I frequently speak with authors who have had their books out for months and have generated few sales. When I ask what they’ve been doing in terms of marketing, I often get a vague response. Or I have authors call me in September, asking to help them plan a promotions plan for the upcoming holiday season (which they should have started long before fall). It’s never too early to think about promoting your book and building your author platform. You’ll definitely want to have a plan in place well before the book’s publication date.

3. Not knowing your audience. Perhaps your book does have wide appeal, but not “everyone” is going to read it—even if you think they should. Also, consider your competition: Does your book offer something new and unique to potential readers?

4. Going the vanity press route and thinking you’ve self-published. If you pay a publisher to publish your book, and that publisher uses its own ISBN on your book, you have not self-published. And chances are, if you’ve got a vanity (or subsidy) publisher imprint on your book, reviewers won’t give it the time of day. Although the stigma is diminishing for true self-publishing (you purchase your own ISBN prefix under your own publishing company name and assign a number to your book), it still exists for vanity and subsidy publishing because editing is often nonexistent and interior and exterior designs are usually templates that look substandard. So if you hire a “self-publishing service,” make sure the end result is a well-done book that is truly self-published—by you.

5. Thinking you can do it all yourself. You can—but the end result will likely be an amateurish book that is riddled with errors. Even the best writers need good editors. And unless you are a book design professional, you want a pro to design your interior and exterior so they don’t scream “self-published.” Too many times I see authors in writers groups who post a book cover designed by themselves or a family member—and they almost always look it. Surround yourself with professionals who can help ensure your book reads well and looks good. (Get recommendations for professionals from other self-published authors whose books you like.)

6. Being stingy with review copies. Reviews are an essential part of any book promotions plan, so budget the cost of review copies in your original promo plan. I have worked with authors who were opposed to sending out “free” copies of their book—and the number of reviews they received suffered for it. It’s not unusual to hear some successful authors reveal they sent out a hundred or more review copies.

7. Not looking at self-publishing as a business. Once you’ve decided to self-publish, you are no longer just an author; you are also a business owner. And just as a commercial publisher looks upon any new book as an investment of its resources, so too do you.

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source: http://www.go-publish-yourself.com/archive/articles/self-publishing/nicholast.php

By Ted Nicholas

Today’s topic is about two little-known action tips that will help you succeed in the world’s most ideal business.

I know there is huge worldwide interest in what constitutes an ideal business.

How?

When I first wrote about this subject in my news-letter in the early nineties, I received more feedback on it than any other topic.

What constitutes the ideal business?

1. Enjoys low overhead.

2. Products can be sold throughout the world.

3. Is portable-can easily be moved and operated anywhere in the world.

4. Requires little capital or major investment in equipment.

5. Enjoys high profit margins.

6. Has minimal labor requirements. Can be operated with few or no employees.

7. Can be operated from home.

8. Is relatively free of government regulation and control.

9. Is highly respected in the business community.

10. Sells on a cash basis instead of offering extended credit.

11. Competitors cannot duplicate. Creation of product is legally protected.

12. Is fun for you while satisfying your intellectual needs.

13. Helps make the world a better place.

Self-publishing best meets the above criteria for the ideal business.

Tip: Publishing unique, helpful information can be an unbeatable marketing tool. Further in this issue I’ll show you how to use it successfully for any business.

Let’s briefly look at what self-publishers and conventional publishers typically do when they decide to market a book or special report.

1. The book is written, taking up to two years of effort. Little or no thought is given to the marketing process.

2. The title is decided by some editor often over lunch in less than 20 minutes.

3. The book is published. Absolutely nothing happens. This has been called “the calm before the calm.”

The book never sells out its first printing. (This is the fate of more than 96% of all books published. Is it any wonder!)

Here are the two most important actions I always take. I recommend both as an indispensable part of your action plan.

1. Write an ad to sell the book before a single word is written.

Tip: The result is the eventual book will have the best chance to do what it should–serve the readers’ self-interest. (Most books are incredibly dull and boring and are an ego trip for the author.)

Plus, of course, you can use the ad to market the book.

More than 90% of your time as a self-publisher must be spent on marketing. For my book HOW TO FORM YOUR OWN CORPORATION WITHOUT A LAWYER FOR UNDER $75, I’ve written more than 120,000 words of advertising copy. The book has just 32,000 words in it. Sales are nearly 2,000,000 copies to date. The reason for all the success is not the book itself, but all the marketing.

As Tom Watson, the late founder of IBM, said so well, “Nothing happens until a sale is made.”

2. Create a great book title. A book title is actually a headline for the book. It’s crucially important. When I create a book title, I write a huge number of potential titles. For my books HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK AND SELL A MILLION COPIES, MAGIC WORDS THAT BRING YOU RICHES, and HOW TO TURN WORDS INTO MONEY, I wrote over 120 titles for each before choosing the final one for each of these best sellers.

Best-selling authors like Harvey Mackay, author of “Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive” and “Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt,” invest about $60,000 in fees for an expert to create each title for their books. They know how important it is.

Tip: Here is a business-building blockbuster.
Regardless of the business in which you are engaged, whether you market online or offline, you can use books and special reports as free bonuses to build your sales. Here are some examples of businesses and the type of material they could publish that could dramatically boost their business.

Real Estate Developer:
“Seven Easy, Low-Cost Tips Which Will Increase The Value of Your Property”

Plumber:
“How to Stop Leaking Faucets Yourself in Less Than 60 Seconds”

Architect:
“How to Build The Beautiful Home of Your Dreams Below Budget”

Restaurant:
“How to Prepare Ten Terrific Gourmet Meals in Less Than 20 Minutes”

Vitamin Distributor:
“Maximum Health Secrets On a Minimum Budget”

Tip: Your information should be written in such a way that it is (A) immediately useful to the reader, and (B) you do not directly benefit in any way.

What you are seeking is a special feeling of reciprocation on the part of the reader: “I got so much out of this special report, when I think about possibly availing myself of your type of product or service, I will think about you first.”

The result in increased sales will delight and astonish you.

Stay tuned for more tips on self-publishing success.

Warm regards,

Ted Nicholas
www.tednicholas.com

P.S. To get information or obtain a copy of my best-selling book HOW TO PUBLISH A BOOK AND SELL A MILLION COPIES, click here.

P.P.S. “The secret to success, in life and in business, is to work hard at the margin. Relentlessly. It’s as powerful as compound interest, the eighth wonder of the world. Those little marginal extra efforts will inevitably grow into something big.”
–Bill Bonner

Little things mean a lot.

“God is in the details.”

Copyright 2003 Nicholas Direct, Inc.

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Why self-publishing in e-book format is better today

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Today, more than ever before authors are presented with publishing opportunities that have never existed before. This is not to understate the hard work that authors have to go through to get recognition, write great books, and make a full time living from their passion of expression. However, it is to say that today, due to advances in communications technology, authors can now get their books distributed much easier than they could a decade ago. One very popular way that authors are distributing their work is digitally through ebooks. Digital books are gaining so much popularity that even some of the most popular authors in the world have used it to distribute their books. Stephen King for example published “Riding the Bullet” exclusively in ebook format. When this ebook began distribution over Barns and Nobel and A om there was so much demand for the download that the servers of these two book giants slowed down almost to a halt. People that wanted to download the ebook were put in a large queue with the hundreds of thousands of other who downloaded the ebook as well.

It’s not only big name authors that are finding success in ebooks. Many of these people are first time authors and are often amazed with the success of their ebook sales. Below are some of their ebook writing tips.

Don’t underestimate the power of the Ebook

Ebooks are still looked upon as unpopular by many authors who have not yet taken the time to learn about the success within this industry. For example, while the traditional publishing industry growing at the sluggish rate of 5% a year the digital publishing industry is growing at rates between 30% -50%. This means that the opportunities within the publishing industry are growing at a fraction of the rate that opportunities within the digital publishing industry are growing.

To set up an ebook you don’t need to be a tech wizard

Setting up your ebook from the idea conceptualization stage to the selling stage can’t be completed overnight but it is definitely something that can be done by anyone regardless of your technological background. If you can use a word processor then you can create and sell an ebook online. While it is recommended you set up your own website, it is not necessary. There are outlets such as om, EBay and L om to name only a few sites that allow you to post your ebook on their servers.

Setting up an Ebook site is virtually costless and you keep 100% of the profits

With traditional publishers you’ll be lucky to see 10% of the profits from your book. With ebooks however, you keep 100% of the profits minus the fees required to set up the site which are minimal. Here is the fee breakdown for ebooks vs traditional books:

Ebook vs Book cost
Ebook = Free to create an unlimited number of copies
Book = approximately $1500 for 200 copies of a 200 page soft cover book
Rights and profit
Ebook = You keep 100% of the profits and rights to your ebooks
Book = You get 10-40% royalty (usually about $2-$5/ book)

With the above examples it is easy to see that for first time authors ebooks make a lot of sense. The risk associated with publishing an ebook is much lower than it is with distributing a soft or hard cover book. Likewise, as an ebook author you’ll keep virtually all of your own profits.

If nothing else, it is something worth consideration. Ebooks may not replace traditional paperback books, but they certainly are gaining popularity at a rate that should make all authors stop to think about how they could use ebooks to their advantage.

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source: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/103363/publishing/useful_web_sites_for_self_published_writers.html

Written by: Kev Woodward

It is amazing what you can find on the internet nowadays; instructions on how to download music to an ipod, on-line cookery lessons and mouth-watering recipes, broad-sheet newspapers and the history of European art, everything you have ever wanted to know about Elvis Presley , Cat Stevens or S Club 7 – the list is endless – literally. So when you are thinking about self-publishing and are looking for advice, resource or guidance, the Internet should really be your first port of call. But where do you start looking for information? And how can it help you?

There are four principle ways that the Internet can help ease the self publishing process;

1-Getting your text right in the first place and generating ideas
2-Providing you with a forum to learn from and talk to other writers
3-Listing literary agents, editors and designers who can help you improve your manuscript prior to publication
4-Walking you through the entire self publishing process

Let’s look at each of these in turn.

Getting your text right in the first place and generating ideas

Nowadays there really is no need to purchase a multitude of text books on “How to use Words”, “Grammar”, “Generating creative ideas” or “Using Language”. Whilst one or two reference guides are always handy to keep on the bookshelf, the Internet can now supply you with all the information and practical guidance you should need on these subject matters. For help and assistance with spelling, word meanings and pronunciation, take a look at Dictionary.com (http://dictionary.reference.com) or Your Dictionary (www.yourdictionary.com http://www.yourdictionary.com). If its language usage or grammar that you are interested in, try www.usingenglish.com http://www.usingenglish.com and www.englishforums.com http://www.englishforums.com, where you can find answers to almost all of your word usage and grammar queries. You will also find a wide variety of grammar and spell checker software programmes and packages that you can purchase and load onto your computer – ‘White Smoke’ is one of the more popular software packages recommended.

Both fiction and non-fiction writers find that they need to research their subject matter and look up various dates, facts, places and names when writing their manuscript. The internet is fantastic in its ability to support this “fact-finding” process! Google’s answer to scholarly research is a search engine called Google Scholar (http://scholar.google.co.uk) which searches through a wide range of scholarly literature to answer the question or subject matter you pose in its search tool bar. If it’s an easier, straight forward encyclopaedia search you need, navigate your way to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org), which is the most comprehensive on-line encyclopaedia I’ve ever come across. And most importantly, it is very easy to use.

Two websites that are particularly handy for generating poetry or story ideas are ‘Instant Muse: Poetry Generator and Story Starter’ (www.thestorystarter.com http://www.thestorystarter.com) and ‘Story A Day Writer’s Kit’ (http://westwood.fortunecity.com/smith/406/StoryaDay), both of which help you get your creative juices flowing with free, fun exercises or writing prompts.

Providing you with a forum to learn from and talk to other writers

Learning from other writers, self publishing or commercial publishing, is an invaluable tool. Other writers can empathise with your experiences and frustrations, they can offer advice and enable you to learn from their successes and mistakes, and they can provide you with a safe haven to bounce ideas around and request constructive feedback from those within the industry. The internet has revolutionised the way that we interact with others, and has significantly broadened our capacity to communicate with other likeminded individuals across the world. Through the introduction of user forums, online communities and networks, self publishing writers can now talk to other writers, editors and publishers across the world. A fantastic resource of knowledge and information can now be accessed, and accessed for free, from the comfort of your own home.

Good examples of forums and networking communities to take a look at are www.writing.com, www.publicityhound.com http://www.publicityhound.com, http://wordsworthreading.blogspot.com, www.writewords.org.uk http://www.writewords.org.uk, www.absolutewrite.com http://www.absolutewrite.com and www.writerswrite.com http://www.writerswrite.com. The last two sites mentioned have specific forums dedicated to Self Publishing authors.

When it comes to on-line forums and networking communities, it is important to remember that each forum is generally created with a specific purpose or discussion topic in mind – be that self publishing, marketing your book, or generating ideas. So you may find that you need to try out a few different forums before you find the one that best suits your needs.

Listing literary agencies and editors who can help you improve your manuscript prior to publication

As a self publishing writer, you can sometimes feel that you’d like a second, informed opinion on the manuscript you have produced or the poetry that you have written. You may want an editorial critique of your use of characterisation, language, structure, style and storyline. Or you may simply require a second pair of eyes to check your use of spelling, punctuation or grammar. There are several editorial agencies that provide these services for self publishing authors. Words Worth Reading (www.wordsworthreading.co.uk http://www.wordsworthreading.co.uk) provides comprehensive editorial packages for manuscripts of all genres and sizes – providing tailor-made services where necessary to cater for all our clients’ needs. As with most contemporary literary agencies or editors, Words Worth Reading can be found on the Internet, via online search engine tools or by typing in the website index into your tool bar.

The internet is also a very useful tool for researching and locating self publishing companies, printers, illustrators and designers – all of which are crucial contacts for a Self Publishing author. Most self publishing companies and printers offer a design service, giving you the opportunity to work with professionals when choosing your book cover design, typesetting style and paper type. However, you may want to work with an independent illustrator or designer, or at least investigate a range of designers and illustrators to compare cost and quality. www.contactacreative.com http://www.contactacreative.com can put you in touch with various illustrators and designers and provide examples of their work through on-line portfolios. Similarly, www.ukchildrensbooks.co.uk http://www.ukchildrensbooks.co.uk lists a vast number of children’s books’ illustrators, and www.writersservices.com http://www.writersservices.com has a particularly strong book cover service.

Website search engines such as Google and Yahoo have made the searching process for literary agencies, editors or designers extremely easy. All you need to do is type in your requirements, and a list of suitable companies or websites will appear!

Walking you through the entire self publishing process

So, you’ve got the idea, you’ve spoken to others in the writing community to glean their advice, you’ve written the manuscript and you’ve submitted it to an editorial agency to ensure its squeaky clean. You’re now ready for publication, which for many self publishers is perhaps the scariest stage! Where do you start? Who do you approach? How much should it cost? What about printing? Distribution? Marketing and selling? It can be a minefield. Fortunately there are some excellent websites that can provide you with the advice and guidance you need to make the self publishing process as pain-free as possible.

Take a look at Parapublishing (www.parapublishing.com), a website which contains numerous articles, resources and signposts to books and links that will get you started. The website is built up of comprehensive, informative articles that really dive into the detail. For example, in the ‘Book Design’ section of this website, everything from book covers, printers, audio publication and the benefits of Hard Copies are discussed. Furthermore, each information page includes additional downloadable resources that can be saved onto your computer, or printed.

Another great website to browse through is www.bookmarket.com which covers everything you’d ever want to know about marketing your own, self published book. Whilst it is an American website, it is still very relevant to the English reader, providing downloadable seminar sessions on marketing that you can watch or listen to. This website also contains free marketing reports on both bookstore and internet marketing, and a free online magazine (an “Ezine”) that you can subscribe to.

Don’t forget to take a look at the broadsheet paper’s online book supplements too, as they can help you understand bookseller trends. Most popular are The Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk/books http://www.guardian.co.uk/books), The Times (http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk) and The Mail (www.dailymail.co.uk).

Two further important websites to look at as a Self Publishing writer are www.isbn.nielsenbookdata.co.uk http://www.isbn.nielsenbookdata.co.uk and www.booksellers.org.uk http://www.booksellers.org.uk. The ISBN website explains how to use ISBN numbers, and their importance if you want to sell your book through book stores. It also provides the pricing list for purchasing ISBN numbers, allowing you to purchase your required numbers directly through the website. The Booksellers Association is a wonderful website for anyone interested or involved in the book publishing and sales process. As well as being a great forum for obtaining an insight into the book trade, this website also allows you to search for local book stores in a given town or postcode area, which is very useful when it comes to drawing up your marketing contact list! The website also provides the names and contact details of all the librarians in your area, so that you can address them personally when writing to encourage stocks of your latest book in their library environments.

There is a wealth of online information, support and guidance available to self publishing writers, so don’t forget to tap into the internet when you need some help or advice. You’ll be amazed at what you can find.

About The Author, Kev Woodward

Need your work appraising or proofreading? Words Worth Reading, an editorialservice for writers. Words Worth Reading provides comprehensive editorial services to writers, as well as running informativewriter’s workshops. It is predominately run by expert volunteers and donates part of all submission fees to Oxfam.

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source of article: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/140975/publishing/self_publishing_the_hard_way_the_art_of_giving_birth.html

By: Dodie Cross

You know? When you publish a book and send it out into the world, it’s like giving birth to a baby. Everyone checks out your baby. Is it breath-taking? Does it have ten toes and ten fingers? Is it pink and sweet or does it look like an extra from “Alien?” We writers are baring our souls, our deepest thoughts, and our feelings lay open like a cavernous wound. We can’t hide anymore. They know us inside and out. Now they see our baby, and they get to pick it to pieces, bit by bit, until the only thing left is a fuzzy blanket.

Oh, hell, we know that and go right on writing, don’t we? It’s in our DNA. We can’t help ourselves, we’re masochists.

When I started this whole book-writing process, I had full intentions of finding an agent and/or a traditional publisher; they’d do all the work while I sat back and listened to “Ca-ching, Ca-ching.” However my journey to that end has been long and stress-filled and I ended up doing just the opposite…I’d kept a daily journal while living in Thailand in the 90s. When I returned to the States, I copied my journal onto a floppy and had it printed, spiral-bound, and mailed it out to friends and family so they could read about all my trials and tribs while abroad. One of the friends who read it insisted that I make a book out of it.

“You know,” she said, “like the book ‘A Year in Provence.’” I immediately ran out and bought the book and was amazed at the problems that the author had endured in a short year. I just knew that if his book sold, then mine would also, however, life got in the way of living and I put it aside.

I joined some creative writing classes a few years later, and with encouragement from my peers I began the long road of putting the journal into book form. In 2003, when I finally thought I’d finished it, I entered it into the Southern California Writers Conference in San Diego. While there, I read chapters from my story in the Read and Critique groups and the attendees laughed in all the right places and even clapped, (I’d hoped it wasn’t because they were happy I’d finished). At the end of the conference I was notified that I’d won the Best Nonfiction award for my story and an agent asked for my manuscript. Wow! That just doesn’t happen unless they love it! I knew I was ready for the Pulitzer.

Then I began to panic. What if it isn’t perfect? I had talked to a “book doctor” at the conference who advised me that my story “…needed some conflict. Who really cares about a housewife who’s having a good time in Thailand? Give them a reason to turn the page.” Okay, that’s what I’ll do. There certainly was plenty of conflict in my life in Thailand, but I’d left it out; it was painful to relive and I wanted it to be a humorous book. I emailed the agent and told her I wasn’t ready. Take your time, she’d said. It’s not time sensitive.

So began the journey of “weaving” the conflict into my story. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done. It was three years before I felt it was good enough to be a real book. But, those three years were not only spent rewriting. I took online writing classes and signed up at the local college for creative writing classes, I attended a critique group every week, putting my chapters up to their scrutiny as they tore it apart and helped put it back together. The rest of the time I was editing my life away. But as Stephen King says in his book On Writing: edit, edit and edit. And when you think it’s perfect, edit some more. My husband had a name for my constant editing: “Paralysis by analysis.”

When I felt I had everything in place, I looked for professional editing. I first paid the book doctor $500 to tell me that it needed help. He didn’t give me any, just told me it needed it. I found a line-editor in Canada, who did a great job, and then I hired a freelance editor; total for both $600; quite inexpensive in today’s editing market.

During those three years, I also did a lot of reading on the publishing world; agents, print-on-demand (PODs) and off-set printing companies. I attended conferences specifically on “How to get published.” The more I heard and read, the more I thought: From all the conferences I’d attended, the agent panels were the most disillusioning. I learned that agents don’t want you if you’ve not been published, and publishers don’t want you if you’ve not been published, or don’t have an agent, who doesn’t want you either. Who needs ‘em?

Publishers don’t want you if you don’t have a “platform!” A what? To my dismay I learned that I needed to have my own buying public. There was no publisher that was going to run out and sell my book for me, pay for my cross-country book signings and hotel rooms, unless of course I was a King or a Grisham or a Joyce Carol Oates. Then of course, there’s the eighteen month wait for the book to appear on the shelves after the publisher accepts it (if the publisher doesn’t decide to pull the plug at the last minute), and don’t forget the two years that it takes the agent to shop around for a publisher who might decide to pull the plug at the last minute. Who has that long? I don’t even buy green bananas anymore.

Wow! I remember my table mates and I frowning as we listened to the dire answers of this panel of agents and publishers. So how do we get published? Well, we have two options so it seemed: 1) have an agent living next door who loves your home cooked brownies or has a crush on your husband, or 2) know a publisher whose kid mows your lawn or has a crush on you. Not living in New York was going to be a definite drawback. Should I move? Okay, how about a POD? I was fortunate to have a friend who is a small press publisher of railroad books. He offered to put my manuscript into a Quark Express PDF file (which is the format printers prefer). He did an incredible job putting it together for me. He felt that if I had the print setup taken care of, I could approach a POD and save some money.

I signed up for the POD classes at the conferences I attended, where they explained everything I needed to know about their business ─ except how they kept most of the author’s money while they got big and rich and the author got $3.09 per book. Okay, well, $3.09 a book is not that bad. Maybe I could make it. But, wait, I had to pay them to print my book, and then pay them to buy my book back from them; too many “thems” going on here. Something didn’t compute. Maybe I should chuck the book and go into the POD business.

Well, I succumbed. I bought a book called The Fine Print of Self Publishing by Mark Levine, an attorney, then sat down to do some homework. After going over all the PODs he listed with a fine-tooth calculator, I realized that I could pay as much as $30,000 to one such POD group, but hey, my books would be free. How generous of them. Or, I could choose a POD group charging as low as $299, but I’d still have to buy my own books back at about $8.00 each.

I finally settled on a firm I’ll call “Dewey Cheatem & Howe” (name changed to protect the guilty), and thought I’d finally get on with this damn book printing. They sent me a sample of their work that was done beautifully. I signed on the dotted line, waited three more weeks and then my author’s copy was delivered. And there it sat. On my desk. Opened to the first page, which I couldn’t read. I started bawling. Where is my baby? The font was so garbled that it was illegible. There was a space after every capital letter and the other letters were so piled on each other you couldn’t make out the words.

When I’d used all the Kleenex in my desk drawer, I called them. Of course, no one was on the other end, save for the automated voice of their mailboxes. But at least I got rid of my postpartum anger. I cried and said very imperiously, “HOLD THE PRESSES! I will not accept this book. I will call Visa (of course they already had my money) and stop payment and …” I felt like an inner tube impaled on a sharp rock. Then I called my friend, the publisher. “Of course you can do this on your own. You have the file, just find a good printing company.”

I inquired around and found out that I could get my book printed overseas at half the cost of stateside. I began to get phone numbers and surfed websites. There were some good deals to be made overseas; however, the problem was I needed a broker. So after the broker took his cut, and the shipping charges were added, a stateside printer looked better. Plus, the thought of having a problem and not being able to connect at once with your printer was worrisome.

I searched the Internet and found many websites where you could input the details of your book, number of pages, size of book, print run, etc., and within a week I got a bid from ten printing companies. After picking one printer (not the cheapest), I felt we had a fit. I spoke to the owner, who offered to throw in a hundred free books, which might have had something to do with my decision. He checked out my website while we were speaking, loved the site and the look of my book and of course, he had me. He also offered storage and order fulfillment. Now, all I had to do was put our house on the market and clear out our 401K.

I know what you’re thinking. Sure, maybe she has it, but not everyone can come up with that much money. Yes, you can if you want to. We took an equity line on our home and as the money comes rolling in, I’ll be making payments on the equity line. We authors must be optimists. Really! If you don’t believe in your book, who will?

I ran off my own bookmarks and saved a few hundred dollars. I used the cover of the book, wrote a short synopsis on the back, and had 500 printed. I have handed out those bookmarks on airplanes and in airports; Seattle, Palm Desert, San Diego, Portugal, New York, Australia, New England… well maybe not personally, but I’ve given them to people who live in those places and they were happy to have them and said they’d pass them on. I’ve handed them out in restaurants to women sitting around me; two of them bought my book right on the spot. My friends call me “A self-promoting slut.”

I have to leave you now, as that’s where I am in this wonderful world of the written word, where the writing was easy… now comes the hard part ─ marketing!

About The Author, Dodie Cross
Dodie Cross is a freelance writer who has received numerous awards for her writing and poetry. Dodie has traveled the world, writing about her life in foreign countries. Learn more at: A Broad in Thailand.

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A contribution by: Liberal Arts Colleges

Source: http://www.liberalartscolleges.org/blog/2010/10-things-to-consider-before-self-publishing/

Self-publishing enables the writer to control every aspect of the creation and promotion of their book. It’s an appealing option for creative people who have the confidence and time to undertake such a large task. But most writers enter the process not knowing what to expect, relying on their well-honed research skills to learn the ins and outs of the publishing biz. Before you dig too deep, read through the list of 10 things to consider before self-publishing and determine if you’re up for the challenge.

1. The success rate is tiny
Very few self-publishers experience success because they simply don’t know what they’re doing. In many cases, they lack the foresight and perseverance required of a self-proprietor. Some of the common problems encountered by first-time self-publishers include the refusal to seek the help they need, the use of unprofessional covers and weak titles, overprinting and lazy marketing. It takes a lot of time and effort to write, print and market a book, so plan accordingly.

2. Do it for the right reasons
Because of the amount of risk involved, it’s wise to go into the process not expecting to make money. In other words, don’t expect self-publishing to become your primary source of income – if it generates any income. Also, don’t self-publish because you don’t feel that you need any help. If your book has been rejected by multiple publishers, then it could likely use a change or two.

3. It helps to have a niche
Most successful self-publishers are experts in a field with a narrow target audience. If you’ve already made a name for yourself in that niche – perhaps through lectures or previously published articles and papers and you have at least a modest audience, then you could market the book to those same people. Professors often utilize this strategy because they don’t immediately intend to mass market their books.

4. You’ll be running a business
That means a business license is required. You’ll need to know the cost of the operation – as you’ll see below – and you’ll need to devise a marketing strategy if you intend to reach an audience beyond the modest one that may already be established. As a publisher, you’ll need to create a name that include -books, press or publishing- so that people will know what it represents.

5. You’ll need money
Self-publishing is a big investment. In addition to the cost of printing, money must be set aside for marketing and hiring an editor, illustrator and/or graphic designer. A traditional publishing house is normally responsible for those costs, but since you’ll be doing it on your own, they’ll be your responsibility. Be sure to research and establish a budget beforehand so that you won’t encounter any unforeseen financial problems.

6. You’ll still need an editor
Because you won’t be dealing with a publishing house, you’ll need to find an editor to look over your work and offer his or her sage advice. Self-publishers hire freelance developmental editors to perform those tasks – they ensure you have an interesting and readable book. The final say on all matters is still yours, but their expertise will be needed if you have little or no previous publishing experience.

7. Know the details
Before your book hits the shelves, it’ll need an International Standard Book Number (ISBN) and a Library of Congress catalog number. The ISBN enables book retailers to identify the title amid their vast collections of books. You can obtain one from the RR Bowker Company. The Library of Congress catalog number enables you to get your book into libraries.

8. Sales will be your job
As previously mentioned, self-publishers must know how to run a business. In order for a business to be successful, it must have an efficient sales team – in this case, it’s you. You’ll need to convince brick-and-mortar bookstores, online bookstores, distributors and wholesalers that your book will be profitable. It’s important to know that different buyers require a different cut of the sales, so don’t demand for every buyer to take the same amount. And remember, patience is a virtue – your books won’t fly off the shelves all at once.

9. Respect will be hard-earned
If you’re fortunate enough to earn respect, it will be hard-earned. Reviewers tend to ignore self-published books because self-publishers tend to be amateurs who, honestly, produce unappealing work. It’ll be entirely your responsibility to get your work noticed by reviewers, retailers and readers. The process by which you compose your book will help determine how much success you’ll have.

10. It’ll never be too late to sell your book to a commercial publisher
If you successfully reach your intended market and have shown there’s potential to reach an even larger audience, then a commercial publisher will likely express interest in taking over the title. But this doesn’t always mean they’ll push it into the next stratosphere of sales. Make sure the people with whom you work will have as much interest in promoting the books as you have – otherwise, the transaction will be pointless.

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By: Steve Manning

Source: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/141466/publishing/zero_cost_self_publishing_and_how_to_get_it.html

Ever heard of product placement in movies? The star walks into the kitchen, opens the refrigerator door and pulls out a can of Coke. The concept had it’s modern beginnings when E.T. was lured from his hiding place with Reece’s Pieces. And it reached its zenith in the movie Castaway (the whole film could have been seen as a subtle infomercial for FedEx). Corporations pay money for that sort of stuff. And you can understand why. It’s the equivalent of an endorsement of the product by the star or the movie itself.

How can you do that with your self-published book? It’s not difficult. I know one author who wrote a book on business etiquette and mentioned several specific business machines. Before she self published the book, she went to the manufacturer, let the director of marketing know about the product placement and asked if they’d like to sponsor the publication of the book. They did.

Another author wrote a romance that took place on a wonderful Caribbean island nation. She sent the manuscript to the director of tourism and asked if they’d like to either sponsor the publication of the book, or buy 3,000 copies for $10,000. They chose the later, but $10,000 underwrote the entire press run of 6,000 copies. The author got 3,000 copies of her book for free!

In each case, the author asked the sponsor or buyer for only one condition. The self-published books the sponsors received for their financial involvement could only be either given away free, or sold for the full cover price. That way, the author was never undercut on price.

Would major companies, government agencies and other large entities really want to be involved with your self-published book? Hey, if you take a look at the cost of advertising, the cost of self-publishing a book is cheap! $20,000 for a single page in a national magazine. And then you come along and give them a promotional tool that has the legitimacy and the integrity of a published book, at a price that’s almost insignificant when compared to their total annual budget.

These steps will make it easy for you.

Make sure your book is complete, but in manuscript form.

Make a list of 20 companies that could benefit from the topic, direction, setting, entertainment value, or information your book has. Make one copy of your manuscript and insert specific product placement throughout the book. By product placement, I mean specific products, or specific strategies that some companies use, or locations, or whatever you think puts the idea of the product before the reader.

About The Author, Steve Manning

Steve Manning is a master writer showing thousands of people how they can write their book faster than they ever thought possible. Here’s your free Special Report, http://www.WriteABookNow.com/main.html

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source: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/141467/publishing/how_to_be_a_successful_self_publisher.html
By: John Abate

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