Monthly Archives: May 2012

Self Publishers Take Charge and Chart Your Own Course!

Posted on by

Are you are ready to take charge of your writing career? It is your time. The world has opened to you. Technology has changed. There has never been a better time for self publishers.

The avenues that are open to you as a writer now are new, innovative, and exciting. You don’t need a “Traditional Publisher”.

I know exactly what you are going through as a self published paperback author. I walked in your moccasins for many, many, miles. I know every inch of the road.

Here’s what I know about you:

You are passionate about writing.
You put thousands of hours into your manuscript.
You wrote it and rewrote it countless times.
Your editor tells you, you are good to go and you have a winner.
You sought out publishers and agents and followed their submission guidelines to a tee.
You waited and waited in eager anticipation for their decision.

Two years later, here’s what else I know about you after you’ve been rejected by publishers and agents:

You decided to self publish.
You paid thousands of dollars on printing costs and buying your books.
Your book is now available on Amazon.com and 20,000 bookstores worldwide.
You’ve given the first signed copies to family, friends and the kid next door.
You are ready to make it big.
You nip in and out of blogs and forums and pick up ideas on selling your books.
You signed up for weekly newsletters, webinars and sound advice.
You attend some of the book fairs and festivals to show case your book.
You built your website
You signed up on Harper Collins, authonomy.com with thousands of other hopeful writers.
You did book signings and left your books on consignment in Indie Book Stores.

Now you have pennies in your pocket and nothing in the bank!

Even published authors find themselves in that situation. Their publisher is not out their marketing their book, they are! Authors spend so much time marketing their book and working on their next novel, they can’t focus on the other side of their masterpiece – Turning it into a business!

Unless they come up with a few good best sellers, their book reaches its peak and then declines after 5 to 7 years. The Publisher is not going to keep it on the shelves. Their book becomes an out of print and special order. The Publisher has the next generation of eager unsuspecting authors knocking on their door.

And so it goes. The publisher moves on and stays in business throughout the entire process with, ‘Established since 1938,’ over the door. The author after surrendering all rights to the publisher for 10% of sales, has a bundle of unsold books and, “I once had a best seller,” rolling off his tongue. So now it’s back to obscurity and his day job.

The reality is, unless we as writers chart our own course and focus on an extremely profitable writing career, the above paragraph will ring true for us.

Do you know that you have a unique purpose in life that involves helping others? It is my belief, that you are capable of writing an extraordinary information e-book that will capture the market with that purpose.

If we wait on “Traditional Publishers” to meet the high demand for information books, this era will have passed us all by. Turn your passion for writing and your purpose in life into a lucrative Internet Marketing Business with your self-published e-books!

Learn proven success strategies for self publishing & marketing e-books in today’s fast growing world of e-businesses.

http://www.selfpublisherstakecharge.com

Annette O’Leary-Coggins is an accomplished author and has enjoyed writing for over 10 years. Annette, a savvy Internet Marketer and formally of Hilton Hotels World Headquarters, also enjoys sharing tips on generating loyal customers, referrals and repeat business and anything else you can benefit from.

Author: Annette C O’Leary-Coggins
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Captions contest

Why Your First Stab at Writing a Self-Help Book Isn’t Publishable

Posted on by

If this is your first stab at writing a self-help book, it’s unlikely that you will have the skill set to produce a manuscript that will be able to compete with books already on the market. This is not meant to offend or discourage you. I strongly encourage you to write your book! But I also want you to be realistic about the fact that writing a book requires skills that needs to be learned.

It makes sense if you step back from your situation for a moment. Was the first cake you ever cooked so great that you were ready to have your own cooking show? Was the first picture you drew so fabulous that you hoped to see it in a national art museum? Think about the first time you tried to dance. Were you ready for Dancing with the Stars?

So what are the skills you need to learn to write a competitive self-help book?

1. How to assess the market to tell if your book idea will sell

Just because you want to write a particular book doesn’t mean that anyone else wants to read it. A savvy author knows how to scope out the book market to see what the buying public wants to read next. Notice I said “next”.

Readers all ready have access to the current books on the market. If yours says pretty much the same thing, with minor differences, your book will unlikely be a bestseller. Your job as an author is to look beyond the current moment and write a book that, once it’s written and published, will be fresh, new and innovative.

2. How to clearly identify your readers

If you’ve read any other articles on writing, I’m sure you’ve heard over and over that defining your audience is of utmost importance. That’s what I’m going to tell you, too. First-time writers (myself included) are notorious for wanting to reach a broad audience. Picture a bookstore in your mind for a moment. Can you picture a bookshelf that is labeled “Broad Audience”? No, because it doesn’t exist.

Picture your book on one, and only one, of the shelves in the store. The person who would go to that shelf is your audience. Focus in on that person and no one else.

3. How to structure your book to best communicate your message

A well-written self-help book is not a flow of consciousness. You’ll find a lot of poor advice online these days telling people to write ebooks quickly, without editing or proper structure. I’ve recently seen a service that tells customer to download their blogs so they can be turned into books. If you have a large number of subscribers who already know who you are and are ready to buy from you, perhaps your book will sell.

But your book will not be able to compete in the traditional book market. You might think that there are a lot of poorly written self-help books on the market today. And your may be right. But it’s important to realize that books published through publishers have had the input of numerous publishing professionals such as structural editors, copy editors and proof readers and had numerous revisions before going to press. The cover design and copy were discussed by marketing, sales and promotional professionals. A lot of effort and know-how goes into every book. These books are your competition.

4. How to illustrate your message with compelling stories

One of the major differences between a manual and a self-help book are the stories used to make the message come alive to your readers. Simply saying, “First, do this. Next, do that.” is insufficient for a bestselling self-help book. In fact, the way I am writing this article is not a good example of how to write a self-help book. I’m talking to you, but I’m not illustrating my points with stories. If you’re writing like I am now, you’re not writing a high-quality book. You’re writing a short article in a particular online style. Learning how to tell a great story that emotionally engages your reader is an integral skill of self-help book writing.

Self-help books are selling by the millions, and you can become a bestselling author-if you learn the craft of writing self-help books. It’s something you can definitely learn how to do. The first step for you to become the writer you can be is by recognizing that writing is indeed a set of skills that you need to learn. Don’t become one of the disappointed masses of writers who try to publish their first draft. I want you to succeed-so learn from my mistakes. I’ve made all of the above so I speak from experience. You can do it! I know because you have a message no one else can deliver-and it’s your job to deliver it!

For a FREE copy of my newest workboook, Make Your Hook Sizzle and Sell, a $17 value go to http://www.carmenberry.com/Carmen-Berry-Free-Download.html

Are you having trouble finishing your book? Carmen Berry, MSW can help! She is a New York Times bestselling author who authored, co-authored and ghost written over 20 books with top publishers including Simon & Schuster, HarperCollins, and Penguin. She has taught aspiring authors how to get published for 10 years.

Her coaching draws, not only from her successes, but also from the many mistakes she has made during her 25-year writing career. As a result, her clients can avoid making common-sense blunders that many first-time authors make. It’s okay to be a first-time author as long as you don’t act like an amateur. She works with aspiring writers who love helping people such as mental health professionals, educators, medical professionals, pastors, fitness experts and craft enthusiasts.

What could this same kind of success mean to your career?

Author: Carmen Berry
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Electric pressure cooker generations

Internet Book Marketing-3 Tools That Practically Sell Your Book Themselves

Posted on by

Looking for internet book marketing tools that are practically hands free? Add these three tools to your arsenal and you’ll be certain to sell your book.

Internet Book Marketing Tool # 1 Website Marketing

Possibly the most critical tool for a self published author is your website. A well optimized web site, meaning that people searching for your information can find it quickly and easily via the search engines like Google or Yahoo, means targeted traffic and customers are led directly to your book.

A well written landing page that captures email addresses and sells your information can sell thousands of books. Add a few pages of free content that provide immediate benefit to your reader and credibility to your status as an author and you’re well on your way to becoming a ‘profitable’ self published author.

As a self published author, your website can offer a variety of pages to their visitor including:

o Ezine/newsletter subscription

o Free Articles and/or short stories

o Bio

o Sales page

o Links to stores

o Shopping cart to purchase directly from the website

o List of appearances/promotions

Internet Book Marketing Tool # 2 Ezine Marketing Magic

Ezine marketing is not only a great way to build your opt in list, it is a fantastic tool to sell your book, your information products, and any affiliate products that you choose to endorse. Additionally, it provides you with a constant means of communication to your target market and the ability to provide them with quality information that will benefit their lives. The time saving aspect of this tool is that you don’t have to struggle to come up with content. You’ve already written your book. Pull one or two useful paragraphs from your book, round it out, and you have an ezine article!

In addition to publishing your own ezine you can contribute to other relevant ezines, just make sure that you provide a link back to your own website and product line. You can also purchase inexpensive ad space in relevant ezines to market your book. For example, if your book is a small business book, you can purchase ad space in other small business newsletters and link directly to your website.

Internet Book Marketing Tool # 3 Rave Reviews

Reviews are the proof to others that your book is worth the money it costs. Reviews can be used in your publicity package, in your press release, on your book’s back cover, on your website, and even on your business card. They are a valuable and economic expert marketing tool. Visit our website or click on the following link to learn more about secrets to getting rave reviews.

Internet book marketing doesn’t have to be an all consuming struggle. It’s true that the more time you spend marketing your book, the more you’re going to sell. But why not use a few tried and true marketing tools that drive traffic and sales to your book with little or no work from you?

For Your FREE MP3 (Value $97.00)
‘How To Make A 6 Figure Income Writing & Publishing Your Own Book’
Go To: Write a Book

Bob Burnham Entrepreneur, Consultant and Author of ‘101 Reasons Why You Must Write A Book’

For Information on How to Write and Publish your own book go to Expert Author : http://www.expertauthorpublishing.com
Read More On: Internet Book Marketing

Author: Bob Burnham
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Retirement plan

A Guide to Self Publishing

Posted on by

Self publishing involves the act of an author publishing books or magazines at his or her own expense. If the author self publishes, the author has control over content, editing, printing, marketing and distribution. In traditional publishing, the publisher invests money prior to publishing for marketing, printing, binding and promotion of the publication. Because the publisher wants to recover the cost of the initial investment, the publisher researches to make an educated guess about whether the author and the book will earn enough money to recoup the initial investment after its release. The publisher will only select the author’s writings if a profit can be earned.

The author will assume all financial responsibility of the project from marketing to distribution and storage. The writer will receive all of the profit from the sales and maintain all rights to the publication. In this case, the author typically will not accept pre-prepared packages, but will submit a bid for each aspect of the publishing process. In some cases, because the author has full autonomy and receives all proceeds, the author can yield a much higher quality product.

Vanity publishers will publish the work of an author without regard to the quality of work or its potential to be marketable. The vanity publisher is only responsible for printing and binding the publication. Since, the responsibility lies solely with the author, vanity publishing is often more expensive than traditional publishing, but offers more autonomy. Vanity Publishers make their money from the fees charged to the author, rather than on sales from the publication. Therefore, it is the author’s responsibility to market and advertise to gain exposure.

Print on Demand allows authors who have a desire to self-publish to do so for a small fee and in some cases, for free. Print on demand companies typically offer to print and ship a book only when the book is purchased. Their services can also include collecting royalties, listing in online bookstores and in some instances, formatting, proof reading and editing. Because the process is digital, the initial investment required by the author is generally less than vanity publishing.

Print on Demand companies such as Lulu, xLibris, and Trafford Publishing all require a small initial investment for each of their packages. Companies such as Yudu.com, Amazon’s Booksurge and CreateSpace offer self publishing services for free. When publishing a work with these companies, the responsibility of getting a work to submission ready status generally lies with the author. These companies allow the author to design book covers, as well as, choose whether the publication will be an eBook, hardback or paper back.

These low cost services give amateurs, as well as, seasoned authors independence from publisher demands, editorial control and more profits or royalties than with traditional publishing.

With subsidy publishing, the author pays for the printing and binding of the book, but the publisher will contribute a certain amount to the author to cover expenses such as editing, distribution, marketing and storage. Because of the publisher’s contribution, the publisher possesses, owns the book and also has a portion of the rights, while the author only receives royalties on the copies that are sold. In this scenario, the author will possess little or no autonomy in certain production decisions.

Martin Alan enjoys writing on subjects such as literature, online publishing, digital magazine, publisher software, file sharing sites and how to self publish. He also enjoys keeping up-to-date with the latest developments and innovations in technology and online marketing. For more information on online publishing click here; http://www.yudu.com.

Author: Martin Alan
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Pension

How To Publish Books Using Online Sites

Posted on by

Let me ask you a simple question: How you ever thought about publishing your own book using online sites? Whether you have or have not, just take minute to read this short article to educate yourself on the process of online publishing.

A recent research study shows that many different factors determine how a book will be received and what impact it will have on society. What the study shows is that how the book is written, slanted or selected can have a direct impact on the number of sales it achieves. This means that how you write, edit, format and market the book will have a serious effect on how readers will perceive it.

Various publishing methods exist and there is much discussion about which is the best. All agree that writers must carefully choose competent publishers who will help the author achieve their publishing goals. Otherwise the entire process is a waste of time and money. Online websites can now help you publish your book successfully without the pitfalls of traditional publishing.

Lulu.com – Benefits And Advantages

Lulu.com is a website that allows authors to publish books themselves. One of the main advantages is that it allows you to publish as many titles as you’d like in a short period of time. You can also develop digital media and publish eBooks. The benefits to using Lulu are many.

In addition to publishing your works, you can also scan old books and photo albums in order to preserve them.

Once you publish your book on Lulu, you can choose among publishing options to either have it publicly available or only available to those you choose to access it. You also have the option of releasing the book in digital format, print format, or both. If you choose both, your readers can also pick which format they prefer to receive your content in.

Marketing And Selling Your Book

Publishing is about more than just writing, editing, and formatting. There is also marketing to consider, and this step can be quite demanding. If you don’t know how to handle your own book marketing, you could take a major loss on your titles. First time authors who fail at marketing their books often feel discouraged and many give up writing and publishing.

Lulu makes it easier for you to market and sell your book. After your book is published, you can choose groups to market it to. These niche groups have already been established on Lulu, so they give you a built-in audience. This is a great way to collaborate with other authors so that everyone benefits.

More Benefits To Publishing Online

Online sites really help when it comes to self-publishing your books. You can come up with absolutely any kind of book you want and it can be published. The only limit you have is your imagination. You can turn your old recipes or photo albums into published titles available to anyone.

As far as design and layout, they offer their own pre-made templates so that you don’t have to start from scratch. This is another task that most authors find difficult to handle themselves. There are also platforms where you can automatically sell your book once it’s published, such as Amazon.com.

When people are browsing books and they come across yours, they may find it hard to decide whether or not to buy. After all, you’re not an established author. To make the decision easier for them, you can offer the first few pages of your book for them to browse just like in any bookstore. They get a chance to read a little and if your writing pulls them in, they’ll buy.

For authors interested in self-publishing, publishing through online websites is easy and profitable. It’s more than worthwhile!

Want to become a published author?  Discover how one man went from ebook publisher to NY Times Best Seller by scoring $5.8 million in free advertising from the media… visit: How Do I Get Published?. Why are you still reading this?  Click Here Now:  http://www.optpages.com/howdoigetpublished/

Author: Marcus Blalock
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Coffee and Cancer