How to Self Publish and Promote Your Own Book By Lorraine Kember
If you are reading this article then you have already toyed with the idea of self publishing. You may be unsure at this point and without a doubt, the decision to self publish, should not be taken lightly.
Before you go any further you should be very clear about what self publishing means. Put simply it means that instead of sending your manuscript off to a publisher with a hope and a prayer You become the publisher and as such, You and You alone are responsible for every step it takes to turn your manuscript into a book worthy of sale.
There are several things you should consider.
1. Have you absolute faith in the merit of your story?
2. Do you know to which market it is intended?
3. Can you afford the cost of printing?
4. Are you prepared to put in the hours and effort necessary to promote your book?
If you have answered yes to all of the above you are now about to launch on an amazing journey of self discovery and reward. The first thing I suggest you do is to take another long look at your manuscript. Read through it slowly and check thoroughly for spelling and grammatical errors. Eliminate or replace any words and phrases you may have used over and over again. Look to see that there is consistency and flow. Give it to your partner to read and ask them to bring any errors to your attention.
The next step is to find a proof reader who will also check your manuscript for: Spelling and grammatical errors, repeated words and phrases and consistency.You may feel that this is unnecessary however it is very easy to over look things when you check yourself I know from experience that this is true and now believe that any fees paid to a proof reader is money well spent.
Next you need to find a Graphic designer - A graphic designer is responsible for:
Book Layout Type Setting Graphic design Cover Design Scanning of photographs Book Cover Imaging.
You are now ready to take your book to the printers. Once it is in the printers hands you have only one chance to make changes. The printer will run off a trial copy for you check this carefully for any errors or changes you wish to be made any changes after this will result in charges to you.
Print runs can range from One hundred to several thousand. The more copies you have printed the cheaper each book is to produce. Be wary of having too many copies printed which can result in a garage full of books.
You book is printed what now?
Promotion, Promotion Promotion!
One of the obvious draw backs of self publishing is that you are entirely responsible for your books promotion However I have found this to be both challenging and rewarding. I used and continue to use every means available to me to bring my book to the attention of professional bodies and the general public.
Advertise yourself. Business Cards, Flyers, Posters visit your local printer and talk to them about your needs. Carry your business card with you at all times. Place your flyers and posters on free notice boards. Do a letter box flyer drop in your area.
Use the Media. I have found the media to be most supportive of my book and have been most fortunate in receiving excellent coverage. However this has only come about through my belief in my book and my relentless determination to promote it by what ever means possible.
Use the Internet. The most powerful tool available to help you promote your book is the internet. I believe it is something you simply cannot be without. I have utilized it to the max to promote my book. I now have my own website and through it I receive orders Australia wide, and also from countries all over the world Including the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Spain, Ireland, Africa and India.
Writing self publishing and promoting my book has been a life changing experience for me. My efforts have put me in contact with many organizations and their staff world wide -many of whom have become my friends. Regardless of my success thus far I am aware that I am responsible for putting my book into the hands of my readers. It is a full time job and one which now includes public speaking. As a result of my book - I am now regularly invited to speak to groups of Nurses and palliative care staff and volunteers as well as the general public and I welcome these opportunities to speak about my experience.
To fellow writers I would like to conclude with the following words.
Writing is a god given gift through which we can touch the lives of others. Promoting our own books is a means by which we can become a part of the lives of others.
I wish you well in your writing endeavors and hope that like me your writing will bring you untold rewards.
Article written by: Lorraine Kember Self Published Author of Lean on Me Cancer through a Carers Eyes. Lorraines book is written from her experience of caring for her dying husband in the hope of helping others. It includes insight and discussion on: Anticipatory Grief, Understanding and identifying pain, Pain Management and Symptom Control, Chemotherapy, Palliative Care, Quality of Life and Dying at home. It also features excerpts and poems from her personal diary. Highly recommended by the Cancer Council. Lean on Me is not available in bookstores - For detailed information, Doctors recommendations, Reviews, Book Excerpts and Ordering Facility - visit her website http://www.cancerthroughacarerseyes.jkwh.com
Getting Your Book Published is Only Half the Battle By Jeffrey Hauser
I once thought I wrote the great American novel. It had all the elements of a success. There was the sympathetic hero that had to face adversity and overcome the bad guys. It was set in rural America and then leapt from coast to coast. It had intrigue, a bit of sci-fi and adventure. It also had a terrific title, Pursuit of the Phoenix. All my friends and family loved it, so I went searching for a publisher. After failing to find a normal publisher like Doubleday and wasting a few bucks on an agent, I went with PublishAmerica for free. Well, not entirely free. I purchased a few hundred copies for myself and family, but I had a printed book. I was excited to see my name in print.
Let me describe what just happened. I actually self-published using a POD publisher. These kind of businesses print books as they are needed, or print-on-demand. They store the information like the cover and text on a computer hard drive and then use a mechanical process to make the books one at a time. This as in contrast to a major publisher that will print 1000s for distribution to bookstores throughout the country. The disadvantage with PA and other Pods is that most bookstores deal directly with wholesalers like Ingrams to get their books. The book chains like Barnes and Noble view PODs like the plague. Thats unfortunate and not totally fair. But Ill get back to that. The purpose of this article is to look at marketing. Once you have a book, how do you let people know all about it?
Unless you have someone like Random House pushing it in advertising, youre on your own. I learned the hard way. My book came out in the early 1990s before the Internet took off, so I couldnt spread the word all that easily. Placing ads in the local newspaper can be very expensive. I went to a few book stores but they werent interested. Today things are a bit different. For my second book, I went with Booksurge, the publishing division of Amazon.com, the largest bookseller on the net. They placed the book on their site and allowed a link from my site to theirs. They also connect to Barnes and Noble online. This time it was non-fiction; an account of my years as a sales consultant for the Yellow Pages. I did not have to buy any books and they supplied a nice production package for a few hundred dollars. However, I still had to do my own marketing.
But now I had a few options, as do you. I contacted other Yellow Page sites on the web seeing if they would link to my book on Amazon and some did. I then began to write articles about tips regarding the Yellow Pages with links to the book. I go on forums and blogs doing the same thing. Using that method, Ive had more sales in a few months than 10 years with my other fiction book. Now I understand that a novel is much harder to sell and accept that eventuality. But the Internet opens up a plethora of opportunities unknown a few years ago. Because Im letting Amazon sell the copies directly to the public, I dont care that they too are a POD. Thats right, Booksurge is a print-on-demand publisher that only prints them as requested. There are no miles of bookshelves in the Amazon where-house.
But do I really care? I bypass the bookstore which adds a hefty markup and so I am able to price the book lower and still make a few bucks per order. They do all the work as far as taking the credit card, shipping and the paperwork. I just get a royalty check every month. And another thought here. One big advantage to the POD process is that I can update my books text for a small fee and keep it current because it doesnt sit on the shelf. The printing quality is always excellent and I can also change the cover as well, if desired. My final advice is to issue a press release to all the media when its published. I got calls from as far away as Australia and London when I sent out my PRs. Good luck and good selling.
Jeffrey Hauser was a sales consultant for the Bell System Yellow Pages for nearly 25 years. He graduated from Pratt Institute with a BFA in Advertising and has a Master's Degree in teaching. He had his own advertising agency in Scottsdale, Arizona and ran a consulting and design firm, ABC Advertising. He has authored 6 books and a novel, "Pursuit of the Phoenix." His latest book is, "Inside the Yellow Pages" which can be seen at his website, http://www.poweradbook.com Currently, he is the Marketing Director for http://www.thenurseschoice.com a Health Information and Doctor Referral site.
6 Article Marketing Smarts: How To Get More Reprints And Exposure By Priya Shah
Article marketing is the latest buzzword for marketers looking to promote their sites and products online. But how do you measure the success of your article marketing campaign?
It probably depends on what you expect your article to achieve for you - better branding, more sales, or more publicity.
One way to measure article performance is to check how many times your article has been picked up and reproduced on various sites.
To do that, just copy and paste the article title in quotes into a search engine like Google, and you'll see how many sites it's been reprinted on.
My article "How To Get To The Top Of The Marketing Food Chain" shows 1061 links in Google. http://ebizwhiz-publishing.com/articles/priyashah16.htm
That means Google has indexed 1061 sites on which this article appears. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22How+To+Get+To+The+Top+Of+The+Marketing+Food+Chain%22&btnG=Google+Search
This gives me about 1061 quality links to each of the sites I included in my resource box.
As you can see, this makes article marketing a very powerful way of building quality links.
So how do you ensure that your article gets picked up and reprinted by as many publishers as possible?
1. Pick A Topic That's Hot Or Always Fresh
For instance, my article on Neuromarketing got picked up pretty quickly because it was a hot topic. http://marketingslave.com/2005/06/01/neuromarketing-smart-marketing-or-jedi-mind-control-trick/
The problem with hot topics is that they also tend to cool off quickly. So while they may get a lot of reprints over a short time, they may get very few reprints once the craze is over.
There are some articles that are slow starters but eternally fresh, like the one I wrote here.
To Be A Champion, Become A Child http://www.growmymind.com/positive-attitudes/be-a-champion.htm (591 links in Google)
These are the ones that will give you reprints over a longer period of time. I think in the long run, these are more valuable.
2. Target A Large Audience
Another way to get a lot of coverage is write an article for a large target audience or one that is very active online - like bloggers.
This article gave me 164 links back, mostly from other blogs, even some for which I had to use a translation service :-) http://www.blog-maniac.com/blog-burnout.htm
This shows 248 links back http://www.blog-maniac.com/questions-business-blog.htm 316 links for this one http://www.blog-maniac.com/spam-blogging.htm
But again, its the quality of links back that matters - not the quantity.
Another large target audience is the health market. I get a lot of links back from my health articles.
3. Craft A Catchy, Relevant Title
A catchy title ensures that your article gets the attention of publishers - the first step to getting your article published.
Follow the basic rules of copywriting to make your article interesting and readable.
Publishers are more likely to pick up an article if its title includes the keywords that they (and you) want to target.
Use your main keywords in your title, preferable in the first half (like I did in the title of this article), to ensure better rankings for those who reprint it.
4. Offer Publishers A Monetary Incentive
Give people an incentive to publish your article. I have an affiliate program and I allow publishers to use their affiliate link for my ezine in the resource box.
Allow publishers to earn by publishing your article and they will gladly reprint it.
5. Write An Article Series
Break up a long article or report into a series of articles like I did with my "Marketing With Blogs" series here.
Marketing With Blogs - Part 1, 2, 3 and 4 http://www.blog-maniac.com/marketing-with-blogs1.htm http://www.blog-maniac.com/marketing-with-blogs2.htm http://www.blog-maniac.com/marketing-with-blogs3.htm http://www.blog-maniac.com/marketing-with-blogs4.htm
These gave me 5270 links back in all. As you can see, a series of articles can be a very powerful link-building technique.
6. Distribute Your Article Widely
Ensure that your article is distributed to the best and most appropriate article directories and announcement lists online.
_______________________________________________ Priya Shah is the CEO of eBrand360 and writes the Marketing Slave blog. This article may be reprinted as long as the resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked. _______________________________________________
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