Are you overwhelmed by all the choices for publishing your book?
Are you intimidated by the idea of having to promote your own book?
Help is here!
I began this How To Get Published blog out of great empathy — in order to offer guidance to fellow publishing travelers. I have sat on all sides of the publishing table and have tremendous compassion for the effort of getting oneself published.
Please accept the following blog contributions as small gifts to my fellow authors who are on the road to accomplishing a dream of book publication. Let me help you avoid the classic pitfalls. Learn more about how to get published without losing time and money, expending a lot of energy, or becoming overly stressed. Understand the 5-steps to making your book publishing dream come true.
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Blog Posts & Articles
Is Your Self-Publishing Marketing Attitude Half Full or Half Empty?
I empathize with the frustration of having to knock on so many doors to effectively promote a book. Jumping into social media alone is daunting enough, and much more is usually needed. The core marketing question is this: How and where will you show up and be publicly visible to your ideal reader? Imagine this scenario. You have several novels under your belt. You've been a dedicated writer for years, and you've spent many of those years going to writers' conferences, attracted by the promise of scheduled ten-minute appointments with editors and agents.
read moreWant to Be a Published Author? 7 Reasons to Publish an E-book First
Spend less -- go the E-book route first. Production for the physical book plus the digital printing can come later, once you've tested the market, made desired revisions, and collected additional endorsements. Are you still hung up on the idea that E-book publishing isn't "real" book publishing? The answer to this is that nowadays everything is simply content, and there are many legitimate forms in which content can be offered. View your inaugural E-book as just the first published representation of your content. And remember, there is a growing number of readers out there who don't think twice about reading E-books instead of print books.
read moreAuthors: Get Past Your Facebook and Blogging Challenge With One Strategic Move
If you're new to promoting your book through social networking, the goal should be to establish yourself with fellow travelers in your niche community. For example, let's say your book is in the Irish-American historical fiction subgenre. You are a newbie, this is your first book, and you are a complete unknown outside your family and friends. Your goal is to seek other Irish-American history buffs who are really looking forward to your book—except that they don't know it yet because they haven't met you! Here's one self-contained activity that just requires a setup and not a whole lot of time.
read moreMarketing Your Self-Published Book: What’s Holding You Back?
What is it about promotion that's distasteful to you, that holds you back from moving forward? To help push past inertia, let's look at ten sample marketing initiatives, then see if you can say Yes to three of them. The good news is that YOU are the best spokesperson for your book. You have lived with, and know, the material deeply. You are your book's champion. After months of writing and rewriting, you long to get this book out into the world. So, carpe diem! Grab the chance to share your book! 1. Open up. I've said this before and I’ll say it again. Start with one change you simply must make if you plan to be successful in marketing your book: Get over being shy. 2. Join a local Toastmasters group. Set a goal to become more comfortable with public speaking. Toastmasters programs (or an equivalent) can be incredibly supportive for anyone who fears public speaking.
read moreDon’t Lose Heart for Self-Publishing Your Book
Question: Do I really need to spend so much money to independently publish my book? The answer depends on what you hope to achieve and how much work you’re willing to put into it. Technically, becoming a small publishing company—an author-publisher—is easy. You choose a publisher name and open a bank account, and if your state has a Home Occupation License requirement you file for one. In practice, however, it’s not so simple. So let’s take a closer look: What are the additional steps you need to take before bringing your book into the world?
read moreLook For 5 Key Characteristics When Hiring Your Self-Publishing Team
1. Deep experience. It's vital that you don't serve as the guinea pig for a vendor-in-training. You will already face a learning curve with every book publishing contractor you hire. And that increasingly expensive list does not include your marketing. You probably would benefit from hiring a publicist. However, unless you are currently involved in -- or at least open to -- social media, you will miss out on worldwide promotional online opportunity if that publicist is not experienced in social media. No matter who you include on your publishing team, you are looking for track-record professionals.
read moreHow fast are eBooks catching up with print book circulation at libraries?
Until now, library-lending of eBooks through eBook vendor OverDrive worked only with ePub-enabled devices (like the Nook, the Sony Reader, iPads and smartphones). Until now! Amazon and OverDrive have just announced a new service which will allow public library-lending via the Kindle and the Kindle app. This new deal will increase general demand for eBooks exponentially -- a major boon for libraries as well as for independent eBook author-publishers.
read moreAdvantages To Publishing an eBook First
What are the results of self-publishing that matter most to you? Is it the speed of getting your book out? The opportunity to have the broadest access to all distribution channels? To test the waters, for example, and spend less money at first, begin with an eBook. That will cost you far less than print book digital production. Then with a strategic online marketing approach you can attract your niche community and test the market. Not sure who your target audience is? Or if they are comfortable with e-books? There are millions of users of e-readers today, including readers using tablets and smartphones, and these readers are only increasing.
read moreSelf-Publishing: The Step-by-Step Actions To Take
The decision to self-publish is a lot about what future of publishing you want to embrace. For example, if your would-be readers seem to be migrating into digital, then you know creating a simultaneous e-book goes along with publishing a print book. I am offering a four-evening Self-Publishing Group Clinic on a telephone bridge line beginning September 27, 2011 to answer the many self-publishing questions. Step-by-step I will take you through the entire Publishing Timeline as well as through a Promotion Timeline. The group will be limited to ten people.
read moreAmazon Launches the Kindle Cloud Reader
We’ve barely caught our breath after last week’s high tech announcement of the next new gadget… now Amazon comes through with its (expected) new e-reader, the Kindle Cloud. As author-publishers we ask, what does this mean for me? Does this mean I have to not only keep track of what I need to do to have my yet-to-be-published e-book be available on Sony, on the basic Kindle, on the Nook, the iPad and Apple’s e-bookstore? I have a new Amazon device to contend with! What are the parameters? What browsers will carry this...
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