Not too long ago, it was so difficult to become a published author.

Why?

Because the only kinds of books there used to be were printed books. And not only that – these books were produced in print runs of tens of thousands of copies at a time which meant that only the big publishing companies could afford to print them.

And with only an estimated one in every fifty thousand manuscripts submitted being published, most authors could only dream about working as a full-time writer.

Then along came POD publishing.

This was a real revolution for indie authors. Now books could be Printed On Demand. This freed up authors because they were able to publish all their own books and only print a copy when it was ordered.

At the time, many people poo-pooed the idea of self publishing this way and warned that allowing so many authors to publish their own books would lead to a flood of low-quality writing hitting the book store shelves.

They said the reading public would never embrace it.

But they did.

More and more online bookstores began to appear because now they didn’t need to stock books anymore.

With Print On Demand they could just order a book whenever a customer made a purchase.

Then self publishing became even more exciting.

Along came ebooks and the new ebook reading devices.

This meant that not only could authors publish their own books, they could do it all electronically over the internet, with no shipping fees or packing of books required.

And if you’re an author, I don’t need to tell you how much this revolutionized the whole publishing industry and lead to some publishing companies going out of business and thousands of bricks and mortar stores all across the world closing down.

Finally authors were free to write and publish all their books all the time.

Gone was the need to send out manuscripts to publishing companies or employ expensive editors to ensure your work was “worthy” of publication.

Self publishing is popular with authors because of the ease and speed at which they can publish their books, and also because of the increased profit from every sale.

Publishing companies used to pay very low royalties to authors – usually only 10% or less.

But self publishing means authors can reap all the profits themselves. And producing ebooks means 100% profit.

And it’s not just authors who are enjoying the ebook revolution.

Readers too now have access to millions more books, and with ereaders, they can travel the world and take their whole library of books with them everywhere they go.

Many authors have now become self published millionaires and the list is still growing.

Amanda Hocking published only a small number of her novels for the Amazon Kindle™ and as sales increased she soon found herself earning half a million dollars a month.

John Locke also published his novels as Kindle ebooks and in less than 9 months had sold over a million books.

He then went on to publish another book called “How I Sold 1 Million Ebooks in 5 Months.” And there have been plenty of other success stories too including H P Mallory, Lee Goldberg and J A Konrath, just to name a few.

And you don’t have to publish for the Kindle to have success with self publishing.

There are also people like Jim Edwards, Joe Vitale and others who make a success publishing their own ebooks on their own websites.

It is estimated that there are now more indie authors than those with traditional publishing contracts.

For years now there have been indie musicians successfully producing music without a big recording company behind them.

Yet for some reason it was always frowned upon for indie authors to produce a book without a big publishing company behind them.

Thankfully all that has changed and indie authors are now the heroes of the publishing world, producing more book titles on a mass scale than any publishing company has ever done.

It used to be the cost of printing thousands of books at once (plus the lack of storage space) that stopped authors publishing their own work.

But now, not only is it very cheap to publish a book, it can even be done for free.

For instance, you can publish your book on Amazon as a Kindle ebook or on Smashwords.com as an ebook and neither would cost you any money upfront. Both companies charge a fee for each book sold and pay you the rest.

And these are not the only places you can publish your ebook for free.

You could also set up a free blog with a company such as Blogger, which is owned by Google, and sell your book from there too.

On the other hand, if you have lots of money to spare, you could hire a self publishing company to do the work for you.

These companies have a range of services to help you publish your book and some will even design a book cover for you and produce a POD print edition of your book too.

But, be warned: These publishing services come at a hefty price and can cost as much as $10,000.

However, for that price you can get everything done for you so all you have to do is write your next book.

But don’t Forget to Market. Marketing is the most important part of self publishing because if people don’t know your book is there, they won’t buy it.

But marketing a book isn’t the hassle that it used to be.

Authors used to spend months traipsing round book stores to do author signings.

They also had to do radio and magazine interviews constantly.

And when they weren’t doing all this, they were sending out press releases to try and drum up more interest in their book, which means they weren’t spending much time writing.

Now, instead of book signing tours, you can do virtual book tours via the internet. So now you don’t even have to leave home.

And the best part of marketing online is that it can be done for free.

That was just a sneak peak at my newly revised and update ebook, Self Publish Worldwide. You can download the rest of the excerpt for free at Self Publish Worldwide.com.

And when you buy the full ebook you also receive 4 free PDF reports and a free MP3 podcast.

The world of self publishing is changing fast. Make sure your change with it at Self Publish Worldwide.com.

Author: Ruth Barringham
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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When it comes to self publishing one of the first considerations has to be cost. Before you can take the leap of faith and begin publishing your book you need to know how much it’s going to cost you.

I’d like to be able to give you a nice rounded number here and now, but I can’t. Books are different and there are also several different publishing methods open to you so you need to take all this into consideration.

To start with, you firstly need to have a publishing budget. Any business investment (and your book is an investment) needs to have a budget. And it’s okay to have a budget of zero dollars, as long as you realise that without any money upfront, you’re going to have to do all of the work yourself if you want to self publish your book for free.

On the other hand, if you have $100 or more to spare you can enjoy the luxury of someone else creating a book cover for you or paying someone to format your manuscript. These services help because they not only save you time, but professionals can probably do a better job.

So take some time to sit down and work out your budget BEFORE you start looking at your publishing options. And there are plenty of options for self publishing.

Next you need to know what sort of book you’re going to publish. Is it a hard back book? A soft cover book? A PDF eBook? A Kindle eBook? All these different ways to self publish cost different amounts of money.

You also need to know how you are going to publish your book and you have 3 choices:

• vanity publishing
• self publishing
• eBook publishing

Vanity publishing is by far the easiest way to self publish. A vanity publisher can do all the work that a traditional publisher would do, but whereas a traditional publishing company would absorb the cost themselves, a vanity publishing company charges the author for its services. And some vanity publishers can charge up to $10,000 while others offer a “free” self publishing service, but they usually have high fees for every book sale.

Self Publishing, on the other hand, means you do all the work yourself, and most of it can be done for free. You can download book cover software to create your own covers or you can design your own eBook covers with free software like Gimp.

You can also format your own book interior on your own computer and add all the necessary prelim pages such as the copyright page. Then you can upload your files to free online book publishing companies such as Lulu.com who can then print and ship your books.

Or you may want to publish your book as an eBook instead. This means it can be done for free or at low cost. There are eBook companies that will format your manuscript files into eBook files and can even provide a cover image. Or you can simply create your own cover image and upload your files for free to eBook publishing sites such as Amazon’s Kindle eBook site or Smashwords.

But before you can do any of this, you need to have a good understanding of the publishing process and how it works.

You need to see your book as an investment because that is what it is and once published, you can go on selling your book for years.

So don’t be afraid of spending a little money on your book to get it published and make it great.

If you want to self publish every book you write and work at home as a self published author, then why not invest in Self Publish Worldwide.com. This is a downloadable course in one huge eBook. Go to the website now and download an extract for free.

Author: Ruth Barringham
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Self publishing is not an easy road for book authors, but it has the great advantage of being an open road instead of a closed road. Self publishing is a toll road because you will have to pay to produce your own work. Whether self publishing leads an author to disappointment or satisfaction depends on the person and the works being produced.

Like most authors, I started self publishing with grandiose dreams of success. I still have those dreams but operate within modest realities. Since I began producing my writing in 2005, I have earned between $900 to $2,000 a year from sales. Although that is hardly going to finance champagne wishes or caviar dreams, it does indicate that my writing has value, and, over the long term, I will actually enjoy a return on investment. Because my novels and nonfiction are not dependent on current events, the content will not lose value. If I sustain my modest marketing efforts, I can expect to maintain my current sales, which will add up nicely over the years. Even at this lowly level, I enjoy the satisfaction of reaching readers and earning some supplemental income from my creative pursuits.

The satisfaction from being published is what most self publishers are looking for. They just want to be recognized even on a small scale. Self publishing allows blossoming writers to achieve a final product instead of a stack of paper in a closet or a computer file hunkered in the ultimate obscurity of a single hard drive. Achieving a final form is easier to accomplish for other artists. A musician can play his or her music and be heard, even if it is on a street corner or a small local stage. An artist can paint a picture and hang it on a wall for others to see. But a writer has to find a way to bundle his or her text into a form in which it can be distributed to potential readers. This form can be paper books or ebooks. Self publishing is essentially the finishing stage for writers who feel that their work is ready to be read.

Of course getting someone to actually read your self published book or ebook is the ultimate challenge. Readers have hundreds of thousands of books to choose from, and simply getting noticed is a great hurdle. Self published authors are typically out of the book distribution loop, except on very limited circumstances that rarely translate into substantial sales.

Because distribution channels are generally closed to me or only available if I give up a large percentage of the sale, I focus on selling through my websites. This is ideal for self published authors because affordable web hosting and ecommerce services are readily available, and the writer can enjoy true independence. Actually getting people to my website is a challenge, but it happens with the aids of continual promotion and advertising. I enjoy regular sales of my ebooks and books. I even enjoy providing customer service to my readers, who often appreciate the personal attention from the actual creator of the works they are reading. Through my website, I’ve reached people all over the world and I regularly get positive feedback from readers. None of this would have been possible if I had not pursued self publishing.

The greatest enjoyment I derive from self publishing is the fact that it gives me a public outlet for my creative endeavors. I can pursue my craft of writing and slowly gain a reputation as a writer. Because I have been writing novels for years, I originally pursued traditional routes to publishing in which I queried agents and publishers. As a fantasy writer, I had written a four-part epic, but I soon learned that this is a tremendously difficult concept to market. Although the majority of commercial fantasy is built around the series format, it does not mean that a publisher is the least bit interested in signing a four-book contract with an unknown author. No matter how cleverly I wrote a query letter, the business person reading it would have to see: “Hi, I’m nobody who has published nothing and would like you to publish four of my novels.” That is never going to happen. After numerous inevitable rejections, I at least had the spiteful vindication of knowing that no one rejected me based on my novels. I was rejected based on query letters. So, who needs the rejection squad? Self publishing to the rescue.

Admittedly self publishing is an imperfect solution for authors. I have to invest in myself and suffer the consequences of obscurity and limited channels of distribution. But at least I’m out there. People do read my novels. Maybe the day will come when I have significant sales and can enjoy greater financial rewards from my writing. I would certainly enjoy that too.

I do not hesitate to recommend self publishing to writers. My advice is to be realistic, understand the significant barriers to actual success, watch your budget because self publishing investments vary wildly, and tell yourself that you have every right to put your creations in the public arena.

Tracy Falbe is the author of The Rys Chronicles epic fantasy series available at http://www.braveluck.com where the first novel Union of Renegades is a free fantasy ebook. Download it today and see what the publishers missed out on.

Author: Tracy Falbe
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Whether you’ve just published a book or have a book that isn’t selling, now is the time to get to it; start marketing today! Ensuring the success of any book is something even the biggest publishers have never been able to guarantee, but with a good book, a little or a lot of money, and just plain hard work the odds are in your favor; many have done it. Self publishers need to have a good marketing plan to sell books and should be written prior to writing your book and in place a year prior to publishing your book.

Your book press release should not be written as you would a sales letter or flier, it should be written for the editor and tell about your book in a factual way, no opinion or glowing remarks. Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool if used properly. Make sure you have at least one good press release, written in AP style, that you can send out for the lifetime of your book.

Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media. Using press releases for marketing or promoting your book or book’s website has become increasingly popular as publishers discover the powerful benefits of using press releases. Send out at least 10 press releases to the print and broadcast media in your area every month.

Mail a press release to all the trade journals in your field over and over again; you can use the same release. Invest in press release submitting software and set aside time every week to send out a press release online to the press directories.

Make sure to promote and market your book each and every day, both online and offline. You can give away your book in a raffle at a local function to get more book recognition. I’ve seen publishers lose a lot of money paying for expensive display ads, so beware if you do this; I don’t advise it in the beginning — get your feet wet first so you know what you’re doing.

Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don’t assume it’s already listed. Women buy more books then men; see how you can fit your book into the women’s’ market. Contact any companies, corporations or organizations that might use your book for promotions; offer significant discounts for volume orders or for thousands of copies offer a specified amount above book production costs.

Place free ads periodically for your book’s website on Craigslist in different categories to drive even more traffic to your website. Contact non-bookstore booksellers and offer to leave books on consignment. Find a non-exclusive distributor with a good reputation to carry your book for the book store trade, as well as for other retailers.

Every day it’s important to focus on a variety of marketing approaches. Local radio shows and television appearances are good but are often forgotten within hours of the broadcast; make sure to make or get a copy of any television broadcast for future promotions. If your book solves a problem, focus on this in your marketing.

Your sales letter or flier should include an eye-grabbing headline, the benefits to the buyer, the book features, book sales information and testimonials. Be your own publicist and send a press release along with a review copy of your book to publications in your book’s genre and to book review magazines.

Market your book to your number one market first, and then go after the secondary markets. Get as many testimonials about your book, as possible, from experts in the field relating to your title, not customers; use on your fliers and back of books.

Make sure do some serious marketing and promotion every single day, no excuses. One of the biggest problems self publishers and book publishers tell me about is the hundreds of books they have in inventory they haven’t set up a marketing plan for; don’t let this happen to you — get prepared now. Use your book promotion and book marketing dollars wisely; go after the free and cheap resources daily.

For more information on book marketing tips and selling more books go to http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com founded in 1982, specializing in help for authors, self publishers, ebook and book publishers with tips, advice and resources, including information on media, library and other mailing lists, and press releases – online, wire service and offline distribution

Author: Helen Hecker
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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As an indie author, you are engaging in marketing every time you send a tweet, whether through direct marketing (i.e. pushing product) or indirect marketing (i.e. building your brand as an author). On Twitter, direct marketing should be minimal. The bulk of your marketing efforts should be indirect and focused on getting your name out there and providing valuable content for your followers. As part of that, you’ll want tangible followers who, because you’ve built relationships with them, will help you market your books and enhance your brand.

With that in mind, it’s not the size of your Twitter following but the quality. You’ve undoubtedly seen many Twitter users (whether indie authors or otherwise) with massive followings. You’re probably even a bit jealous of some of them. In my experience, most of those impressive follower numbers are hollow and don’t actually add much value. Twenty thousand followers won’t help you much if you don’t interact with them and you’ve added people simply to pad your numbers.

Here are a few suggested marketing dos and don’ts for Twitter that will help any indie author maximize their use of Twitter and improve the quality of their Twitter experience. These tips apply equally to authors selling hard copy books or ebooks.

1. DO follow quality people. Find established and successful authors in your particular genre(s) and review their followers on Twitter. Follow those people that seem the most interested in reading and your genre. They are your market and the people most likely to purchase your books. Follow a dozen or so twice a week and see how it goes.

2. DO NOT over-follow indie or self-published authors, particularly those who don’t have a broad following. You’ll see many indie authors make the mistake of heavily following fellow authors. There are certainly benefits to following fellow authors, but for the most part, it’s a lot of noise, self-promotion and ‘attaboys. Broaden your network and make authors a small portion of the people you follow.

3. DO interact with your followers and those you’re following. Comment on their tweets. Have conversations. Get to know them. Re-tweet interesting tweets. This is networking 101 and is a must to enhance your brand as an author via Twitter.

4. DO NOT directly market your book more than a couple times a week. We’ve all seen the indie authors whose tweets are nothing but direct, in-your-face marketing. This gets old quickly. At the very least, make the marketing tweets interesting to your followers, such as using quotes from your novel or posting questions about themes in your book. Also consider sharing timely articles that discuss or touch upon themes in your book. If you have followers interested in these issues, then it’s a natural way to generate additional interest in your book.

5. DO provide quality tweets and information that your followers will value. This can be links to news articles, interesting quotes or random facts. Focus on things that will make your followers laugh, think, question a belief or best of all, interact with you.

6. DO NOT use auto-responders when somebody follows you. Your interactions on Twitter should be personal, not manufactured. This is especially true if the auto-responder is of a promotional nature. Resist the hard sale or risk making a bad first impression on your new follower (and possibly damaging your brand).

7. DO unfollow people who do not follow you back within a reasonable time (two weeks or so). There are certain Twitter users who are well known enough to only follow a few people. Most do not fall into this category. By all means, if there’s a particular person who you feel provides beneficial content and they don’t follow you back, keep following them. In general though, it’s perfectly reasonable to unfollow anyone who’s not following you back. This will help make your Twitter feed more manageable.

There’s also a practical reason for doing this. Twitter has implemented a strict ratio of followers to those who are following you. If your ratio becomes too unbalanced, Twitter may restrict your ability to follow other people. ManageFilter is a great tool to determine who you are following that is not following you ( http://manageflitter.com/ ).

8) DO NOT over follow people who send excessive tweets. When somebody has sent 20K+ tweets, it will clog up your main feed with noise. Similarly, think twice about following people who follow an excessive number of people. In both cases, these people are likely more interested in quantity rather than quality. They are unlikely to be good allies in your marketing endeavours. The same applies to you – resist the urge to pad your followers or inundate your followers.

9) DO use a quality Twitter application like TweetDeck or HootSuite. Apps like these allow you to schedule tweets, manage your lists, and build feeds for particular key terms, people you’re following and hashtags (such as “#amwriting,” “political thriller,” etc.). These apps will save you time and increase efficiencies in your marketing efforts and brand development.

10) DO NOT follow people who do not retweet or interact with their followers. Twitter should be a symbiotic relationship. It’s about people helping other people, either directly or indirectly. Some people view Twitter solely as a direct, in-your-face promotional tool. Maybe that works for them, but by and large, it won’t for you. People who only promote themselves are unlikely to be of value to you as an indie author.

With Twitter, quality trumps quantity. Let me know if you can think of any others that I overlooked. Thanks, and good luck!

Allen Mitchum
Author of 28 Pages – A Political Thriller
http://www.allenmitchum.com
Free Sample or purchase 28 Pages: http://amzn.to/sovNfV

Author: Allen Mitchum
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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