Aug 10 2009
Tips On Writing And Publishing Your Book
Writing and publishing a book is a dream shared by a great number of people, and the harsh reality is that the vast majority of wannabe-authors will not make into any bookstores, neither Online nor brick & mortar. This harsh fact is not necessarily related to bad writing, but the misconception that books, once written, will sell themselves.
Regardless of whether you self-publish or you are lucky enough to find a publisher, you will need to promote your writings. The promotion process can be costly, and there is a great number of sharks out there who will gladly charge up to several thousands of Dollars for simple tasks you could accomplish yourself with little money and by merely using your Internet connection.
I have been through the process of writing and self-publishing technical literature through my own business, Copperhill Media Corporation. Currently I sell roughly 1,000 books per year, just enough to finance the business and a few little extras. I am also in the process of writing my first novel, The Bleeding Hills, and I did this to get a feel of the novel writing process. At this time I don’t need to find a publisher; Copperhill Media is a so-called micro-publishing company, and the printing and distribution is handled by LightningSource, an Ingram company. The arrangement with Ingram guarantees listings in Online stores such as Amazon.Com, Barnes & Nobles, Borders, and more, as well as regular brick & mortar bookstores.
During the writing of my novel (I started in March 2008 and publication is targeted for end of September 2009) I did some extensive research on all aspects of writing and publishing. I tried a few things here and there, and some of them worked, some of them were a total bust.
All in all, I would like to share my experiences in this blog, and I promise you do not need to pay for my advice in any shape or form, and this statement leads to my first advice:
Tip #1: Do NOT buy any books on self-publishing your book
Been there, done that, didn’t learn a thing. Most authors fill their books with advise you can easily find on the Internet, and they don’t miss to promote their paid web services (You bought my book and you get a free subscription for the first 3 months).
One of my favorite web sites is Lulu.com, which I initially used to publish my books. Lulu.com provides a TON of information on publishing, and, of course, they offer paid publishing/marketing services, but you can still find valuable information without paying a dime.
Tip #2: Do NOT sign up for paid publishing services
Be aware, there are a lot of sharks out there who promise easy and effective publishing services, but the reality is that you pay easily several thousands of Dollars. Just to give you on example: A company like Outskirts Press charges you a little less than $200 for the lowest level publishing package. You can get the same package through Lulu.com and it’s FREE - Well, they will take their share of any book they sold for you, but that is a fair deal. Lulu.com provides a free listing on their web site; you can even create your own web store without charges. As I mentioned before, Lulu.com also provides paid marketing services, but, after all, they are not mandatory. See also my article at http://wilfriedvoss.wordpress.com/2009/03/02/the-pain-with-outskirts-press/.
Tip #3: Do NOT sign up at writers’ Online forums
Been there, done that, wasted too much time for nothing. A writers’ Online forum is a pool for a few accomplished authors who “mentor” (I call it “look down to”) a great number of writers, literally thousands of them, with the knowledge that the vast majority will never publish a book (In my very personal opinion the forum at WritersDigest.com is the worst place to go; their magazine is not much better). Your chances for a book deal will not get better by wasting your time on forums. Some writers use forums to “develop a profile” by submitting entries that also contain a hyperlink to their web site. The reality is that nobody in the publishing industry reads these forums, and they snort at any reference you make towards forums. In addition, it is an illusion that the increased number of hyperlinks pointing to your web site will boost traffic to your web site. There are other, more important factors, and I will explain them in further entries in this blog.
More tips to follow…
Well, enough about things you shouldn’t do… I will continue posting more entries on this blog, not only on self-publishing and marketing, but especially on writing helps.
If you have questions or comments, please feel free to post them here by responding to this entry.
Wilfried Voss - http://www.frogenyozurt.com
