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So You Want to Be a Freelance Writer?

2007-05-22T19:11:00.000-05:00

By Sharon Hurley Hall

Making it as a freelance is not easy, especially if you haven’t been published before. However, with a bit of persistence you can be successful. Here are a few tips to get you started.

As a minimum, you should know how to structure a news story or feature article. With news, you'll need to include the who, what, where, why, when and how of the story. With features, you'll need to flesh the story out a bit and tell it in an interesting way - and in the way that's most appropriate for the readers you're trying to reach. After all, you'd write very different stories for the New York Times and the Surfing Times, wouldn't you?

Freelancing is not an excuse to have lots of snack breaks or sit in the garden. Treat it like a job. Set some time aside each day to look at newspapers and magazines, look at job sites and, most importantly, do some writing. Keep copies of your articles, of correspondence (whether email or snail mail) and of all relevant bills so you can claim any tax relief or expenses due to you.

Make sure you have the right equipment: telephone and mobile phone; PC or laptop; a dictaphone or other recorder; a printer and a scanner.

Ideas are your bread and butter: keep having them. Have you got any interests, hobbies or obsessions? Has anything unusual happened to your friends or members of your family? These are all good starting points for articles. Look for work in new magazines that don't have established links with freelancers. They are more likely to give new writers a chance.

So how do you get an editor to give you a try? Read the magazine or paper to see what kinds of articles they publish and suggest material that you think might be appropriate. Look in the archives to make sure your idea hasn't been published before and then send a query to the editor (by email or snail mail depending on his or her preference). Do a bit of legwork (by phone) and find out the editor's name so you can address your query to the right person.

Your query should lead the editor into your story. My advice is to write the lead and then say how you would develop the story. Remember to include any information about specialist sources you may have access to or areas of expertise. This will help to convince the editor that you are serious. However, don't give away so much of your material that the editor can commission someone else to do it. Think of the extras you can provide - sending photos and material for sidebars will make the editor's life easier.

Once you've got that commission, be professional and deliver on time. If you let an editor down once, you won't be hired again.\

Finally, if you want to get paid on time, find out who's responsible for paying you (it may be an accounting department rather than the editor) so you can send your invoice in as soon as the work is delivered. Try to get the details of the commission in writing. If the editor won't send you a letter, then you send one confirming the agreement you've made. That way, you'll have some comeback if there's a query later.

If you do all this, there's a good chance that an editor will give you a try. A final word of advice, though; if your article is good enough to go in the magazine, it's good enough for an editor to pay you. Don't work for nothing unless it's absolutely unavoidable.

Good luck!

Sharon Hurley Hall is a freelance writer, ghostwriter and editor who writes on freelance writing skills and writer promotion for InspiredAuthor.com. For more information or to contact Sharon, visit her site, doublehdesign.com.

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How to "Write While You Sleep"

2007-05-22T19:04:00.000-05:00

By Diane Eble

One of the things I've studied for years, simply because it fascinates me, is the creative process.

There are stages in the creative process. I will tell you what they are, then show you how to work with these stages so that you are always "writing," --i.e. working with the creative process-no matter what else you may be doing at the moment.

Stage 1: Germination. This is the beginning, when you get the idea. There is a burst of inspiration,the energy carries you through. I like to use this phase for a special brainstorming technique I use, which I'll talk about another time. Use the special energy of this stage to get as many ideas out as you can. Don't worry about order; worrying about order of any kind at this stage short-circuits the energy.

When you have a project you have to do or want to do, take the time to brainstorm. You might also want to "seed" your mind with some research, fresh input of new ideas.

Stage 2: Assimilation. This is a crucial next step, and productivity as a writer depends on how you manage this step. In the process of literal birth, conception would be the germination stage, and the nine-month gestation is the assimilation stage.

This is when your idea takes form, but often internally, in a rather subconscious and invisible fashion. You may find yourself feeling "blocked." Do not worry. Simply do something else. Take a shower, chop vegetables for a salad, go for a walk, do laundry. Even take a nap!

This is how you "write while you sleep." Once you have "seeded" your mind with ideas and research, put your project completely out of your mind. Get on with your life.

As you do, know this: You are still writing! Let this process of assimilation and your own amazing mind do its work.

By the way, when you're up against a deadline, it's crucial that you understand this stage and allow time for it. How much time? That's a tricky question. If you don't already have an intuitive feel for this process, allow yourself as much time as possible. At least a week, two is better. (More than that, you run the risk of lost momentum.)

Understand, this is not the same as procrastination. You continue to work. As ideas come to you, continue to write them down and throw them into a file called "my book" or "my project." This stage is about not forcing results prematurely, about learning to "tune in" to the project/idea as it gains momentum and takes form.

Stage 3: Completion. This stage is when you "give birth" to your book, project, idea. You give it actual form — words on paper/computer, or whatever result you are aiming for. This is the stage of manifestation. You sit down and write the book. You give form to the result you envisioned.

Another piece of this stage is receiving. You need to be able to receive the fruits of your labor. You release your work to the world, and as you do so, you yourself receive it.

To sum up, the creative process begins with an idea. At this stage of germination, you "seed" the idea by brainstorming and "feeding" it new ideas. You envision the result you want, but don't worry now about the process- how you will get there.

Then, you let the idea "go underground." When it feels like you're running a little dry, let it alone and go do other things. When an idea pops up, by all means get it down, but don't belabor the process.

When either a deadline looms or, better, an inner sense of urgency urges you to get moving, don't delay. Assimilation has done its work, and it's time to manifest, complete, actually finish your project. When it's done, release it to the world and receive it yourself.

For more on how this process worked as Janet Penley and I wrote MotherStyles, go to yourbookpublishingcoach.com and read "The Creative Power of Vision."

Diane Eble has 28 years experience in the publishing industry as an editor (magazines, fiction and nonfiction books), author (11 published books, more than 350 articles), and copywriter. She is now a book publishing coach as well. For more information on how to write a book proposal that sells, check out Jump Start Your Book: 12 Questions You Must Answer Before You Write Your First Word.

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How to Set Up a Writer's Home Office

2007-05-22T18:59:00.000-05:00

By Sharon Hurley Hall

Freelance writing is popular career choice because it allows writers to work from home and set their own hours. New freelance writers need to make sure they have everything they need to support their writing. Here's how to set up a good work from home environment for a writer.

A Writer's Office

Every writer needs a place to work and a home office is one of the best places for writers. What a writer's home office looks like will depend on the budget. Some writers will be able to set aside a room for writing. Other writers may prefer to set aside a space for their home office.

A writer's home office needs to be quiet and large enough to contain a desk and a chair. Most of the other equipment needed will fit on or under the desk. The writer's chair needs to be comfortable and should fit under the desk.

A writer's home office can be just like a normal office. Family photos on the desk will make the writing environment pleasant. Make sure the desk has room for a cup of tea or coffee - freelance writers spend a lot of time at their computers. Any drinks should be kept well away from the computer, though.

Writing Equipment

A computer is one of the most important pieces of equipment for a writer. A basic PC is not expensive and can even be bought on Ebay. The computer should have a keyboard, a mouse and a modem or networking card.

A better option for writers is a laptop. A laptop or notebook computer allows writers to write anywhere. Modern laptops also allow writers to connect to the internet from anywhere. An internet connection is essential for researching writing and receiving email from editors and publishers. Dial up is a good basic option, but if writers need to submit images with their writing, they may be better off with cable or DSL.

Writers may find it useful to have a printer for printing out articles. This allows writers to check their own writing for errors. There are also some publishers who only accept hard copy writing submissions. A laser printer gives a crisp, sharp look, but an ink jet is a good option for writers on a budget.

Writers will also need some way of taking notes if they do interviews. This could be a notebook and pen, which can be kept on the desk. A better option is a recording device of some kind to allow the writer to have a record of interviews and conversations with people. This can be a tape recorder, digital recorder or personal digital assistant (PDA) depending on the writer's budget.

Organizing the Writing Environment

Once a writer has got a desk, chair and the right equipment for typing articles and taking notes, s/he will need a way of organizing the paper that covers every writer's desk. This could be a series of file folders or filing trays to contain copies of email or snail mail letters to and from editors and publishers.

A good filing system is essential for writers. Writers need to keep track of what articles have been commissioned and when deadlines are coming up. Writers should also save copies of bills for travel and other expenses so they can claim tax relief or expenses.

Tip: Writers can print a list of their ideas for articles or stories and stick them up near the desk. These ideas may spark other ideas for writing and will help writers to have a goal when they sit down to write.

Sharon Hurley Hall is a freelance writer, ghostwriter and editor who writes on freelance writing skills and writer promotion for InspiredAuthor.com. For more information or to contact Sharon, visit her site, doublehdesign.com.

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10 Ways to Take Back Your Time

2007-05-22T18:50:00.001-05:00

By Linda Dessau

I've divided my tips into two sections - 5 ways to manage your time and 5 ways to take back your time. Both offer daily or regular practices to try out in your life right now.

The first section focuses more on easing the time pressures in your life, to deal with all of the things you've gotten yourself into ;)

The second section focuses on making overall changes to your life. When you take back your time you also take back your CHOICE. When we're feeling time pressured and stressed out it's easy to forget that we have any say in the matter. And we do!

5 Ways to Manage Your Time

1. Choose specific times to look at email during the day - seeing emails as they come in can really distract you from what you're trying to accomplish and you'll end up losing time as you go back and forth between activities.

2. The 15-minute strategy. This not only helps motivate you by breaking down large jobs into smaller pieces, it also makes good use of your time. The strategy is to spend 15-minutes on a task and then move on the next. You can come back to the first one as many times as you need to until it's done.

3. Find a system that works for you for making and meeting deadlines and appointments - a calendar or day-timer. I use a Palm Pilot and have been really happy with it.

4. Plan and cook meals ahead of time. A huge time-saver and also makes it much easier to eat healthier. It could be as simple as cooking an extra portion of dinner and having it for lunch the next day, or you could plan out seven days at a time (which is what I do).

5. Keep up with things - whether it's tidying up your papers, doing the dishes or working on a report, doing things a bit at a time (see tip #2) instead of letting them pile up to the point of taking you all day, is much more manageable.

5 Ways to Take Back Your Time

1. Set and keep your boundaries - if you work for someone else, be clear about over-time and taking work home with you. If you work for yourself, establish the times of day that are no-work zones; good places to start are breaks for meals and deciding when you will start and stop work for the day.

2. Make one day a week "timeless" – rise and shine when you feel like it, eat when you're hungry and let your inner child (or your actual child!) plan your day's activities. Warning: This may conflict with the tip below ;)

3. Cut your t.v. time - try limiting it to one hour per day. Or try cutting it out completely for one week.

4. Buddy up and find someone to take back time with. Whether it's your spouse, best friend, family member or work colleague, if you're both committed you won't let each other bow out.

5. Take your holidays! Whether you're self-employed or work for someone else it's important to take time off to rejuvenate. You will be more productive for it in the long run.

Where do you need to take back time in your life? Where do you need to manage your time better?

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, is the author of “The Everyday Self-Care Workbook”. Click here to subscribe to one of her free monthly newsletters.

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The Fastest Way to Write a Novel

2007-05-22T18:37:00.000-05:00

By David B. Silva

The fastest way to write a novel produces a wonderful side-effect: better writing. This is difficult for many writers to grasp at first, particularly those writers who have a tendency to edit as they write. However, as you'll discover in this article, writing quickly benefits not only the quantity of your output, but also the quality.

Let's consider how you might commonly approach the blank page. You write the first sentence. It looks okay, so you write a second sentence. That one looks okay as well, so you write a third sentence, but this one doesn't look okay. In fact, it's a poorly written sentence that jumps off the page.

You slam on your writing brakes and read the sentence again. Everything comes to standstill now. You're no longer a writer, you've picked up your editor's hat and completely shifted out of your writing mode. You tweak this and move that until the sentence, at last, passes your editor's approval. Then you remove your editor's hat and return to writing again.

But now the writing is more difficult. You've moved out of your writing mode, into your editing mode, and getting back is suddenly more difficult than it was when you first began writing. It's a struggle.

Does this sound familiar at all?

I tend to blame the computer for this dilemma. It's so easy to make corrections on the computer that we've come to believe stopping and fixing things as we go is a natural part of the writing process. It'll only take a second, we tell ourselves. And in that lies the danger. That second of editing destroys your train of thought and your writing momentum. It's merciless.

So, what steps can you take in search of the fastest way to write a novel?

They're simple, really.

Have a Starting and Stopping Point

Know before you put a single word on paper where your writing will begin. One trick that many writers use is to end their previous session in mid-sentence, so you have a great starting point for the next session. Next, you'll want an ending point. Now, this can be a page, a word count, or a specific place in your story.

For instance, if you're in the middle of a bar fight scene, you might determine that when your hero gets floored that will be the point where you stop. And when you arrive there, follow your own rules ... stop. Or you may prefer to stop after one page, or 250 words. Whatever works well for you.

Write in Short Bursts

Set a timer and write until it goes off. When you're first starting out, you might want to try five minute bursts. As you become more comfortable with the process, you might get up to fifteen minute or half-hour bursts. Generally, you'll want to keep these bursts shorter, with more intensity. Once the timer goes off, stop. Stretch. Get up and move around a little. Get a cup of coffee. And prepare for the next burst.

Don't Stop Writing

This is the key. During your burst writing session you never stop writing. It doesn't matter if you misspell words, get a character's name wrong, if you forget to put a period at the end of a sentence, or write the worst sentence that's ever been written in the history of mankind. Just keep writing.

Follow these three simple steps and you'll discover not only are they the fastest way to write a novel, but they will also help you produce much better writing. It sounds counter-intuitive, but it's true. Go give it a try.

Here's to your writing success.

David B. Silva runs the Newjournies.com site.

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Break into Print with Your Local Parenting Magazine

2007-05-22T18:04:00.000-05:00

By Kara Williams

Local parenting magazines are ideal outlets for write-at-home parents—especially new writers just getting their feet wet in the publishing world. These types of magazines are typically free and found your local doctors’ offices, recreation centers, supermarkets and kids’ stores. They typically carry short news items relevant to families, hard-hitting features about serious topics like post-partum depression or international adoption, humorous essays and a local calendar of events. These publications cater to one area of the country or a specific city; for example, NJ Family is for residents in the central section of the state and Chicago Parent covers the goings-on in the Windy City and its suburbs.

If you don’t already read your local parenting magazine, and you’re not sure if one is published in your neck of the woods, contact your Chamber of Commerce to find out. You can also check online at the parenting magazine I edit, Mountain Parent. Click on “U.S. Travel for Kids,” and you’ll find a list of nearly 100 magazines throughout the country, all members of the Parenting Publications of America.

Local parenting magazines love local perspectives. So, as a parent and a resident of the magazine’s market, you’ve already got a leg up on any competition from out-of-the-area freelance writers. Plus, you’ve got the pulse on what’s going on in your community. Is an acquaintance opening up a new downtown toy store? That’s news to your parenting magazine. Are you aware of a fabulous, little-known sledding hill? Suggest a round-up of fun, outdoor activities for families. Do you think the local pizza joint deserves some recognition for its kid-friendly service? Suggest a restaurant review.

Most local parenting magazines are hungry for good freelance writers. These publications have small budgets and small staffs, so they rely on outsiders to help fill their magazines with editorial. That said, you can’t assume you are a shoe-in, just because you’re pitching to a local publication. You’ll want to follow many of the same rules as querying a national magazine. Here are some hints:

Read the publication cover to cover — as many back issues as you can. If the same writer always seems to review restaurants, you may not be able to break in with that section. Suggest a story for another department instead.
Get a hold of the writers’ guidelines — either by calling the editor, sending an email or checking its website. This way you may be able to find out which departments are open to new writers or if they accept ideas for features from freelancers. Follow the magazine’s query guidelines to a T, whether they ask for e-mail submissions or entire manuscripts via snail mail.
Find out if the magazine has an editorial calendar. Typically, parenting magazines have theme issues: “Back to School” in the fall, “Holidays” for December, “Camp Guide” in the spring, “Summer Fun” when school lets out. Pitch your queries accordingly, and don’t forget to factor in about a three-month lead time.
Play up your expertise and local knowledge. If you’re a parent in the community, that practically makes you instant expert. If all other variables are equal, local parenting magazine editors will nearly always select a nearby writer to cover a subject over someone who lives out of state.
Draw from your own experiences. Having trouble getting your toddler to sleep through the night? Pitch a feature story about “bedtime battles,” explaining that you’ll detail your own family’s nighttime troubles, plus interview local pediatricians for advice. Have some funny stories about single-parent dating? The magazine might like a humorous essay for its Valentine’s Day issue.

As I mentioned above, regional magazines usually have small budgets — and that means you won’t strike it rich writing for one. (Mountain Parent pays 10 cents a word.) But if you’re new to freelance writing, trying to break into print publications, or wanting to fill in some gaps between other gigs, writing for your local parenting magazine just might be the ticket.

Kara Williams is the editor of Mountain Parent magazine, a bimonthly publication for families who reside in and visit the Aspen, Colorado, area. Learn more about her on her website.

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How You Can Find Freelance Copy Editing Jobs

2007-05-22T17:57:00.001-05:00

By Niall Cinneide

Even for those with the skills needed, finding copy editing jobs can seem next to impossible. The simple fact of the matter is, though, that through quality and building relationships, these jobs can be found and employment can lead to a career in the field. For those who are struggling to start out, finding those first copyediting positions is the most difficult part of the challenge. But, with the web’s growth and the demand for more and more at home workers, freelance editing jobs are out there!

It may seem next to impossible to put together a resume when you haven’t had that first experience in the job market. Sometimes it feels that you can’t get experience without having experience. Funny how that works, right? Not for those seeking vacancies. The most important aspect in this situation is the education you have and the skills you now possess. As a matter of fact, there is no way to get better results than to work on developing your skills in copy editing. By using your schooling or knowledgeable skills, you can put together a portfolio of examples to show. Does a client have to commission you for you to work? Of course not! So, why not take your knowledge and hone it through a few personal projects. Develop a few solid pieces of material to show case.

To find the freelance copy editing jobs that will propel your business, simply look online. If you are in an environment where bidding happens, bid slightly lower as you are newer. All it takes to get moving in the right direction is one solid lead. From this one lead, you can provide the quality product and show your worth. From there, you will have this experience and hopefully a few references to work off of. Freelance implies that you work as your own separate business, but another way to gain valuable experience is to work under other individuals who have compiled more work than they can handle. Again, you can earn the experience and gain the references and maybe even some referrals from these experiences.

Visit Niall Cinneide’s website for more articles, resources, news and advice.

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Article Marketing – On Discovering Your Niche and Doing Your Market Research When Writing Articles

2007-05-17T20:00:00.001-05:00

By Jeff Herring

Q: You made a great point when you were talking about asking your target market, you know, like you did in your email signing up for this program about getting some market research. I'm wondering if you have any quick tips on what happens when you are just starting out and you don't really have a list to ask people what it is they want? I'm even still working on what niche to have.

A: That is a fantastic question because a lot of people will find themselves in that situation. So if you don't have a client list to ask, look around you at your friends, at your colleagues, maybe people at your church or some other group you belong to that fits that profile of your ideal client and have conversations with them. One of the things you can do is even host a little pilot group and invite them, and you are going to provide a service, a pilot service for free in exchange for sort of picking their brains.

While you are searching for a niche just think of these two things -

1 - Think of the things that you do or want to do that just fire you up, you love doing it, and

2 - Things that people say you are really good at. For instance, when I first started in private practice back in the '80s people would tell me, "Hey Jeff, you are really good with teenagers, " and I would think to myself, "Well, yeah, but I breathe well too, what's the big deal?" I came to find out that a lot of people weren't good with doing it, didn't like it, were maybe even scared of them, so I built a whole practice around working with teenagers and their families.

Use these tips and tools and you will discover your niche and want they want to know. Then provide it for them.

Jeff Herring is The Article Guy. Visit his site for free access to two article writing templates. Also check out his free weekly teleseminars.

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Act Like a Best-Selling Author Part 2 - The First Step to Finding Your Market

2007-05-17T19:54:00.000-05:00

By Carmellita M. Brown

After reading his article “How to Publish on a Shoestring Budget,” writer Sid Smith said that if you are wondering about the best way to publish your book, then...

“Write an outstanding, must-read book that is unique, provocative,
controversial, a literary masterpiece, or is endorsed by someone like Oprah. No,
really. That's the best way to publish a book.”

While this may very well be true, it is not necessarily the road traveled by many first-time authors or authors who really want to self-publish his or her work. However, as I continued to read his article some particular facts jumped from the screen. One particular piece of information I was lead to ponder as a writer was...

“Even if they do ask how to publish a book, they're still thinking in terms of
publishing their best seller before they've even determined if there is a market
for the book!”

As writers, we tend to believe that if we write a book, of course there is a market for it, and as a Success Coach, I must slightly disagree with the statement...”if there is a market for the book.” The truth is we live in the information age. Even if we write a book about buying the best kind of scrap wood for birdhouses, there just may be a market for it. However, the questions that come to mind are many and this is where we tend to fall short.

How big is the Market?
How do I reach the market?
How big is the submarket?
What distribution channels will work best?

So, as I get ahead of myself, I realize some important factors that must be on the forefront of every writer’s mind if he or she wants to act like a best-selling author. That is...do the market research before you publish the book, especially if you are writing a non-fiction book.

In fact, to explore this further, I would suggest to every writer who self-publishes to develop a book proposal as if he or she were going to send it to a big name publishing company like Harper-Collins. Don’t short change yourself. Write an excellent book proposal and from that book proposal you will have answered the above question and many others.

Carmellita M. Brown is a success and wellness coach. She is the instructor for the online class Abundance Training 101 and she is the publisher of Headline Articles. Ms. Brown has developed the popular blog entitled "In the Company of Writer specifically for self-published writers or writers who wish to self publish. Her philosophy as a success coach is to help her audience live in wellness, wealth, and wisdom. Ms. Brown believes this can be accomplished by considering the whole self which includes health, relationships, finances, spirit, intellect, and purpose.

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How to Write for the Children's Market (Part 2 of 3)

2007-05-17T19:43:00.000-05:00

By Dale Mazurek

This is going to be my second article of many that I will be writing on how to break into the children’s writing market. This is going to be a considerably long series so keep checking back for updated posts.

Writing for kids can be one of the greatest ways to break into the writing field. You have such a wide range of readers from toddler to young adults. All you have to do is figure out what you want to write about and you’re on your way.

Chances are good that when you think of children’s books, picture books pop right into your mind. For the most part picture books are usually directed to kids from toddler to grade 4. One thing you have to keep in mind is that the book has to be appealing to the adults as well because they are the ones shelling out the money for them.

Picture books can range from a variety of different topics. You can have fiction, non fiction; they can be about animals, or about different people interacting with different stuff.

There is a basic format for picture books. Traditionally there 32 pages long. That includes every page from front to back. Because of the pictures your story usually has to be told in 14 pages of print. Another thing to remember is that you usually only has around 1000 words to use to write your story. So you have to get a good story in a small amount of space.

Picture books can be tough to write. So many people think that picture books are the way to go but soon find out that that’s not the case. You have to make sure that every word, picture and page has the most amount of detail that counts. You have no room for unnecessary content.

Just because you’re intended audience is youths doesn’t mean every word in your book has to be 4 letters long. Remember its going to be the parents for the most part that are reading the books to their youngsters. Also there is a misconception that all picture books must be rhyming. This is in no way true. As long as you develop a great story rhyming is nice but doesn’t really matter.

Chances are if you think about it then it has been written about already. That’s okay for you to go ahead but you have to find a fresh new way to present the idea. You have to make the publishers want to use it.

Don’t worry if you can’t draw. The editors want to first see if your book can stand on its own with out the pictures. If at that time they decide they like it they will hire an illustrator to help with the pictures. You have to remember that when you are writing a picture book it’s not only about the words. The colors and scenes have to be vibrant. They have to stand on their own.

Before you attempt to write your first picture book make sure you go to your local library or book store and read several different books by several different authors. No one wants you to plagiarize but by studying different styles you can than begin to develop your own style.

Dale is in the process of getting his first novel published. He is also a professional on line writer. You can check out 3 of his very popular blogs at Short Stories, or Relationship Tid Bits and Affiliate Marketing for Newbies.

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A Book Award Adds Value to Your Book

2007-05-15T20:22:00.001-05:00

By Sarah Bolme

Book awards bring exposure to books. Exposure generates sales. Sales mean more money in your pocket. Pursuing those book awards that allow publishers or authors to nominate their own titles can be a worthwhile activity for your book marketing efforts.

The literary community hosts a myriad of book awards. These awards differ as to who can nominate a book for an award. For some awards, publishers or authors can nominate their books and a committee or select group of people vote on the nominated titles. Other awards choose to have a nominating committee decide which titles should be considered for an award. Some awards have a select group of people (such as retailers, teachers, or students) nominate titles. There are a few book awards that are based on the number of copies a title has sold or lifetime achievements of an author.

Small and self-publishers can pursue those awards that allow publishers and authors to nominate books. Generally, these awards come with an entry fee. These entry fees can range from $40 to $200.

While entering a book award contest is not a guaranteed win for your entry fee, it certainly more than pays off if your book is picked for an award. Some book award programs publish the runners-up as well as the award winners. If your book falls into either of these categories, you receive a marketing gem.

Book awards, like book reviews, can be harnessed to promote your title in endless ways. One benefit of a book award over a book review is that an award warrants press coverage. Newspapers, magazines, and newsletters like to highlight authors and books that have won awards. Another benefit of a book award is that consumers tend to want to read books that have won an award. An award tells a consumer that a book is worth the money to purchase and time spent to read it. An award signals booksellers to purchase the book for their stores as book awards almost always guarantee sales.

When a book award is bestowed, the award should be used repeatedly in your marketing campaign. In addition to alerting the press about a book award, any book award received should be posted on your website, printed on all your marketing materials, used in advertisements, and added to your book’s cover on subsequent print runs. Also, make sure that you let your distributors know about the award and send an announcement to those publishers associations and discussion groups where you are a member.

Following is a list of a few book awards that are geared toward small and self-publishers.

Annual Writer’s Digest International Self-Published Book Awards
Sponsored by Writer’s Digest, these book awards are the only awards exclusively for self-published books.

Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award
Sponsored by Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA), this book award honors books in three categories (fiction, nonfiction, and children's) for outstanding contribution to Christian life.

Ben Franklin Awards™
Publishers must nominate titles.

Best Book Awards
Best Book Awards actively promote the winning titles through their website and through the media.

Indie Excellence National Book Awards
The Writers Marketing Association presents these awards for non-published manuscripts, POD books, and books by self-published or small press authors. Awards are presented in over 50 categories.

ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award
ForeWord’s Book of the Year Award was established to bring increased attention from librarians and booksellers to the literary achievements of independent publishers and their authors. Print-on-demand titles and ebooks are accepted for nomination.

The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award™
This award, given by The Hurston/Wright Foundation and sponsored by Borders Books, is the first national award presented to published writers of African descent by the national community of Black writers. The award is offered for four categories and nominations must be submitted by the publisher with permission from the author.

Independent Publisher Book Awards
The Independent Publisher Book Awards are sponsored by the Jenkins Group. These awards are for independent, university, small press, and self-publishers who produce books intended for the North American market. Print-on-demand titles are acceptable. The award offers 60 award categories.

The Nautilus Book Awards
These awards are sponsored jointly by Marilyn McGuire & Associates and Independent Publisher Online. Their purpose is to recognize and promote books that change people’s lives and help heal our planet. Awards are offered in 20 categories including both adult and children’s titles.

Writers Notes Annual Book Awards
These awards are sponsored by Writers Notes Magazine to recognize extraordinary books by independent publishers. Awards in 11 categories are offered.

As mentioned earlier, there are a multitude of book awards given each year. Some are specialty awards and others are more general. These are just a sampling of the more popular and well-known book awards for small and self-publishers. Go ahead and apply for some book awards. If your latest book wins an award or even if it is named a runner-up, you will have cause for celebration!

Sarah Bolme, is the author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace and the director of the Christian Small Publishers Association.

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You Are the Expert

2007-05-15T20:15:00.001-05:00

By Sarah Bolme

I recently spoke with a gentleman who had written and published a book on terrorism’s threat to our water supply. As we discussed avenues for marketing his book, this gentleman remarked that mostly academicians had purchased the book, which he found scary. Here was an individual who had the knowledge and the foresight to write a book on an important subject of concern to our country, and yet he did not recognize the position this placed him in. The first thing this gentleman needs to do in marketing his book is to accept the fact that, since he wrote the book, he is now the expert on the subject of how terrorism could affect our water supply.

The same is true for you. When you author a book on a particular subject, you become an expert on that subject. In marketing your books, you must accept this and proceed as an expert.

1. Think like an expert.

Experts don’t wonder who might want to read their books. Rather, they think, “Who needs this information?” “Who would benefit most from this information?” and “Who can help me access my book’s intended audience?” Thinking like an expert opens doors of opportunities for you. Experts seek out other experts in their field. They find others who are writing or speaking on the same subjects and network with them. Experts also think, “The world would be a better place if more people knew about this,” thus they take and make the most of every opportunity to educate and inform others about their subject of expertise.

2. Act like an expert.

Our actions flow from our thoughts. What you think influences what you do. If you are thinking like an expert, then you will begin to act like an expert. Experts approach others with confidence. Confidence engenders respect and trust. Experts make the most of every opportunity to alert others to new information without being overbearing. There is no need for arrogance or dominance when you know you possess knowledge, only a determination to help others learn the information also.

3. Talk like an expert.

Experts speak with authority. They don’t lead conversations with “I believe,” or “I feel that.” Instead, experts speak with conviction. They invite people to see and believe what they are presenting through clear reasoning. Experts say things like “Five reasons you need to know this information,” “Studies show or research indicates,” or “History reveals.” Speaking with conviction to an audience invites and encourages people to learn more on your subject.

You are an expert on your subject. Whether you are approaching a radio station to book a guest interview, speaking at a local bookstore on your book, or writing an article for a magazine, when you think, act, and talk like an expert, people will sit up and take notice. When you conduct yourself as an expert, doors of opportunity open for you to promote your book’s subject and increase your book’s sales.

Sarah Bolme, is the author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace and the director of the Christian Small Publishers Association.

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Selling Your Published Book – Writing is the Easy Part

2007-05-15T20:08:00.000-05:00

By Michael Mould

Beyond writing your book, you want it to be successful. Success is measured many ways and perhaps the most widely accepted measure is that of sales. While most writers do want to make some income from their hard work, most find the greatest satisfaction from positive customer feedback, but you cannot even get this if you do not have customers, so you need to get out there and promote your book to get sales, customers, and feedback.

There are a number of ways you can promote and sell your book, but reliance on your publisher to market or sell it is usually a sure fire way to failure. Most publishers do not take any active role in either promoting or selling books, they are for the most part only interested in collecting revenues when a book sells and promoting their publishing services so more authors will sign up with them.

Personally, I have found that promoting and marketing through my own website as well as Amazon.com, Alibris.com, Abebooks.com, and other online marketplaces to be quite effective while simultaneously securing a majority of the profits for myself rather than paying someone else with a canned marketing program and no investment in terms of either money or time. Many authors choose to participate in the Amazon.com Advantage Program and pay Amazon over half of the selling price for the privilege of selling on Amazon. To participate, they also have to pay an annual subscription fee which is not very much, but to me it seems absurd. Why should you or I put all our time and effort into writing a book, having it printed at our own expense, pay to have the books shipped to us, and then pay again to ship them to Amazon.com (when they choose to order them), pay Amazon.com to sell them, give them over half of the sales proceeds, and end up with only 10% of the sales proceeds for all our work and risk? The printer is guaranteed a profit when you order copies, Amazon is guaranteed a profit from your subscription fees and over half of the sales proceeds, they also require that you buy back any copies that do not sell. The only person at financial risk in this whole scenario is the author, i.e., you or I. It seems to me that when a financial risk is taken, the person taking the risk should be the one with the greatest potential for gain, but this is not how the publishers or marketplaces have set up the game. You do have alternatives.

Open your own bookstore on Amazon.com and sell your book through it. Amazon.com will still charge you a monthly merchant fee and 15% of the sales proceeds, but that is a whole lot better than giving up over half the proceeds. They will even add to your sales proceeds a shipping reimbursement to cover the cost of packaging and postage for most books. If you have to buy your books yourself anyway, why not sell and ship them to your customers yourself too?

Having been an online bookseller for several years before writing a book, I learned the ins and outs of online bookselling and was able to make use of this knowledge to market my own book. It is not hard to learn, heck, there are thousands of people doing it, I just hate to see the authors taken advantage of by a system they could easily master themselves.

Setting up your own bookstore on Amazon only takes a few minutes, and listing you book only takes a few more. You can also join the Amazon Connect program which allows you as the author to write relevant articles that appear when a customer is browsing the product detail pages of your book, and joining the Connect program is free.

If you are already a bestselling author and you are selling 100,000+ copies of your books already, this option is probably not of much interest to you, but if you are an independent author using a print on demand, POD, printer to make your books for you, this is a viable option for getting your work promoted. Not all books sold by third-party sellers are used books, some of us sell our own books too.

Michael E. Mould is the author of Online Bookselling: A Practical Guide with Detailed Explanations and Insightful Tips and the developer of Bookkeeping for Booksellers. You can learn more about online bookselling at his site, Online Bookselling.

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Promoting Your "How To" Book – Customer Confidence Building

2007-05-15T20:02:00.000-05:00

By Michael Mould

Once you have your book completed and out in the marketplace you cannot sit back and hope the sales will be great unless you have no desire or care to see it sell, YOU have to promote it. So, what can you offer that will boost customer confidence and promote additional sales? Of course there are the traditional promotion tools, e.g., advertising, blogging, banner cross-promotion with other websites with themes that you book can enhance, etc.

Publishing a newsletter is a great idea too, and a very popular way of supplementing the information that your book already provides, but the communication with your customers is still one-way. To really get your customers involved, you need a way for them to participate and contribute whether it be by asking questions, or by sharing their experiences and you providing validation of their efforts. With a newsletter this is difficult because customers do not want to submit a question or share an experience and then have to wait until the next publication to get a response. They also like to participate in near real-time. If you choose to set up a blog and allow customer/reader comments, you may find customers apprehensive about posting because there is no privacy to their post and their post itself is subject to public rebuttals. After trying both, I found very little willingness on the part of my customers to contribute or to supply content to share with other customers.

One of the things I found that is really appreciated is to set up a restricted access message board for customers only. This seems to be popular with customers for several reasons, including:

1) It gives them a place where they can communicate with other customers and discuss various topics of your book.

2) It allows them to share their experiences with each other as they work their way through what you have conveyed in your book.

3) It gives you a platform for sharing additional explanations or information that you may not want to share with the world by posting it on your website.

4) It gives your customers a place to ask questions that you can answer.

5) Access is restricted, so your customers get a sense of it not only being their special place, but that they are protected from the harassment and intimidation normally associated with open message boards.

6) The message board will allow you to answer common questions once rather than answering individual customer emails.

Besides being a way of establishing additional credibility, providing a message board for your customers is a great way to say "Thank You" to them and to let them know that you are not just interested in selling them a book, you are interested in making sure they are able to implement what it teaches. You will also realize, and very quickly, that your customers can teach you a few things about the very topic you wrote a book about. This is a good thing because learning a few things from your customers and accepting that you do not know everything about the subject gives your customers a feeling that you are genuinely interested in listening to them.

You might also consider inviting some other experts on the topic to join your message board. This will not only add to the content of the board, it demonstrates to your customers that the intent of the board really is to help them and that you do not feel threatened by having another expert involved.

I believe that if you opt to give this concept a try, and let your customers know before they purchase your book that the board is there for them, you will find the entire scenario to be a win-win situation.

Michael E. Mould is the author of Online Bookselling: A Practical Guide with Detailed Explanations and Insightful Tips and the developer of Bookkeeping for Booksellers. You can learn more about online bookselling at his site, Online Bookselling.

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Think Like a Best-Selling Author – Part 1 Create the Buzz

2007-05-15T19:54:00.000-05:00

By Carmellita M. Brown

In this part of “Act Like a Best-Selling Author,” we will attempt to answer the question: “When should I start marketing my book?” The answer, you should start marketing your book months before the manuscript is finish. This is why it is important to have “RELEASE DATE” for your book and stick to it. Just because you maybe a Self-published writer or author, doesn’t mean you don’t have deadlines too. So, marketing should always start at least 60 days before the book is released.

Without the backing of a big name publisher, you need to immediately implement powerful, no-holds barred, book marketing strategies which are designed to sell your books quickly. The best advice is to market your book everyday. Any original book marketing idea you have that does not take away from the integrity of your work, use it.

The truth is, you can have a really fabulous book, but if know one knows your book is about to be released, then you won’t have a buzz. If you don’t create a buzz, then there isn’t any anticipation. No anticipation means it makes it just that much harder to sell your book when it is released.

Thank goodness for the internet. The internet is one of the best ways to create a buzz about your new book. The most surefire way to create that buzz is by implementing the following pre-promotion plan:

Get a website for your book or an author’s website about you the author.
Start a Blog and add it to your website: Start blogging about your book. If your book is on a particular subject matter, then Blog about that subject matter. Tell your blogging subscribers or readers about your experiences in writing your book. A Blog is simply a weblogged journal. Journaling about your experiences writing the book is a way to create a buzz.
Write Articles. Write articles and submit them to article directories about your book. You can write articles about the subject matter or you can write articles about book marketing, writing a book, or being a self-published author. In your author’s resource box or bio box, you can include a link to your website.
Write a small ebook with the first two chapters of your book included. Give the ebook away to people who agree to join your email or mailing list. Now, you have a list of interested people to purchase your book once it has been released.

With these book marketing strategies, you are sure to create a buzz about your book and tap into your target market for more sales once your book is released.

Carmellita M. Brown is a success and wellness coach. She is the instructor for the online class Abundance Training 101 and she is the publisher of Headline Articles. Ms. Brown has developed the popular blog entitled "In the Company of Writer specifically for self-published writers or writers who wish to self publish. Her philosophy as a success coach is to help her audience live in wellness, wealth, and wisdom. Ms. Brown believes this can be accomplished by considering the whole self which includes health, relationships, finances, spirit, intellect, and purpose.

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Business Letter Etiquette

2007-05-14T10:52:00.000-05:00

By Neil Payne

Business etiquette is fundamentally concerned with building relationships founded upon courtesy and politeness between business personnel. Etiquette, and especially business etiquette, is a means of maximising your potential by presenting yourself positively.

Writing a business letter is not simply a matter of expressing your ideas clearly. The way you write a letter and the etiquette you employ may have a significant impact on your success or failure in business.

Failure to observe correct business letter etiquette can result in you adopting an inappropriate tone, causing offense or misunderstandings, lack of clarity or purpose and hostility or soured relations.

The foundation of good business letter etiquette is ‘Think before you write’. You should be considering who the letter is addressed to, how and why? This will then influence style, content and structure.

Here we cover some of the main issues relating to good business letter etiquette:

Addressing the Letter

Always make sure you have spelt the recipient’s name correctly. It may sound simple, but you would be surprised at how many people fail to do so. The recipient’s name should include titles, honours or qualifications if deemed necessary.

Many people use the ‘Dear Sir/Yours Faithfully’ formula when addressing the receiver. Although this is acceptable for routine matters it is impersonal and should not be used when dealing with those you know, queries or complaints. With these the ‘Dear Mr…./Yours Sincerely’ formula should be adopted.

Once a certain level of familiarity is reached it is not considered bad etiquette to use phrases such as ‘Kind Regards’ or ‘All the best’ at the end of the letter.

Confidentiality

If the content of the letter is sensitive, personal or confidential it must be marked appropriately. Marking the letter ‘confidential’ will suffice in highlighting this fact. If you only want the letter read by the receiver without the interception of a secretary or PA, mark it as ‘Private’, ‘Personal’ or ‘Strictly Confidential’. If you have received such a business letter it is good etiquette to reciprocate and ensure that all future correspondence is kept at that level of confidentiality.

Style

Proper business letter etiquette requires that a consistent and clear approach, combined with courtesy, be employed. As a rule of thumb, aim to keep all business letters formal in style. Even when the receiver is familiar to you, it is advisable maintain a certain level of business etiquette as the letter may be seen by others or referred to by a third party in the future.

However, this does not mean you should use long or uncommon words to express yourself. This merely looks odd and makes the letter unreadable. It is best to read a letter first and consider whether you would speak to that person face to face in the same way. If not, then re-write it.

Letters should be signed personally. It looks unprofessional, cold and somewhat lazy if a letter is left unsigned. However, having a secretary or PA sign on your behalf is not considered a breach of business etiquette.

Humor

Humor can be used in business letters but only when the writer is completely positive the recipient will understand the joke or pun. From a business etiquette perspective it may be wise to avoid humor. This is because firstly, the letter may be read during a crisis, after receiving bad news or on a somber occasion. Any other time the humor may have been appreciated but under these circumstances it may dramatically backfire. Secondly, the written word is open to misinterpretation. Your sarcastic or ironic remark may be taken the wrong way. Thirdly, it is possible that the letter may be read by a third party who may deem the humor inappropriate and pursue a complaint of some sort.

Responding

Good business letter etiquette calls for letters to be responded to promptly or within certain guidelines. This may normally be considered as 5 working days. If this is not possible then some sort of acknowledgement should be sent either by letter, fax, phone or e-mail.

Always use reference numbers or clearly state the purpose of the letter at the top, for example, ‘Re: Business Letter Etiquette Enquiry’. This allows the receiver to trace correspondence and immediately set your letter within a context.

When replying to points or questions the proper etiquette is to respond in the same order as they were asked.

Managing Conflict

Letters are often an arena for conflicts or disputes. Even in these circumstances there are rules of business letter etiquette that should be adhered to.

If you initiate the dispute then, 1) Explain and set out your case simply and clearly to the most appropriate person, 2) Offer information that may be required by the other party to help answer questions, 3) Indicate a time scale by which you expect a reply or the matter to be resolved.

If you are receiving the dispute then 1) inform senior colleagues who may be affected or who may be able to offer assistance, 2) Submit all replies in draft form for a senior colleague to check, 3) Stick to the facts and the merits of the case and do not allow emotions to become involved, 4) Be polite, patient and courteous.

Using business etiquette in all matters and especially in business letters will ensure you communicate effectively, avoid misunderstandings and maximise your business potential.

Neil Payne is Director of cross cultural communications company Kwintessential.

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Getting More Clients – Look to Your Mail for Extra Business

2007-05-14T10:48:00.001-05:00

By Robert McEvily

A great way to add new clients to your freelance writing business is by simply looking in your mailbox.

If you’re like me, you probably receive at least one or two promotional pieces of mail each day. Don’t just add favorites to your swipe file. Each piece of mail is an opportunity to gain a client.

From now on, take a careful look at each piece of promotional mail you receive. Is it a donation request from a non-profit organization? An advertisement for a new restaurant? A magazine offer? No matter the piece, it was written by a copywriter. And most of these pieces are controls. Proven winners.

You’ll immediately capture a company’s attention by offering to beat their control. All you have to do is contact them.

In many cases, the time-consuming contact research is already done for you. Most sales letters are signed by someone with a job title. Most include that person’s phone number, fax number, email address and the mailing address of the company.

In a short letter, introduce yourself as a freelance writer. Explain how you received their promotional piece in the mail. Tell them what you liked and didn’t like about the copy. (You can even include a marked-up version of their piece.) Then sell them on how you’ll improve their response rates.

If you prefer, just ask if they have other writing projects. Most companies have plenty. Sell them on why you’re the right person for the job. Sell your experience, your enthusiasm, or both.

You’ll be surprised how easily you can add a few clients to your roster just by checking your mail. Take a careful look today!

Robert McEvily is the creator and editor of Six Sentences.

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The Agenting Process Explained - Part 1

2007-05-14T10:39:00.000-05:00

By Rick Frishman

Every literary agent and agency operates somewhat differently; they may have a different emphasis, style or approach, but all follow a basically similar pattern. Some agencies may specialize in building and managing their clients' careers, while others concentrate on making individual books into giant, blockbuster hits. However, when it comes to selling books, agencies take similar paths.

Contacting An Agent: Most writers initially contact agents via e-mail. Agents like e-mail inquiries because they're easy to answer. Responding by e-mail saves them time, which is critical because most of the queries they receive are about books that the agents don't handle or are not interested in handling. A declining number of holdouts prefer to receive query letters sent via postal mail, but they're in the minority. So check each agent's Web site to see if it states how the agent prefers to be queried. Potential clients can also initially contact agents at conferences and other events. For information on writers' conferences, see Writer's Digest and ShawGuides.

Many agents won't accept unsolicited telephone queries, and if you call, their screeners generally won't put you through. So, again, before you contact agents, check their Web sites to see how they wish to be approached. If, however, you do get through, most agents will ask you to submit something in writing: a query letter, a book proposal or your entire manuscript, if it's written. Agents want written submissions so they can get a sense of the writers' ability to express themselves clearly. Written submissions also let agents see how well writers are organized and their skill in presenting themselves and their ideas. Agents get a lot of their new clients through referrals from their existing clients and their publishing contacts.

Think Like an Agent: So you're looking for an agent. Where are you going to find one? First of all, ask yourself this simple question: Where do agents go? To be more specific: What conferences do they attend? Where do they speak? What organizations do they belong to? Although we certainly aren't suggesting that you follow them around, we do want you to start thinking like agents think. If you do, it will improve your chances of being at the right place at the right time. Research the literary and publishing scene in your local area. See if, when, and where any writers' associations, publishers' groups, and literary clubs meet. Are any nearby bookstores, libraries or cafes conducting interesting programs or hosting book signings? Are local colleges or universities offering lecture series featuring writers, agents, and/or publishers? Since many writers teach, investigate whether any well-known authors are teaching courses that you could attend in your area, even if it's just to sit in. Go where book people congregate and make contacts.

Reprinted from Rick Frishman's Author 101 Newsletter. Subscribe and receive his "Million Dollar Rolodex" free, Rick Frishman, president of Planned Television Arts, since 1982 is the driving force behind PTA's exceptional growth. In 1993 PTA merged with Ruder*Finn and Rick serves as an Executive Vice President at Ruder Finn. While supervising PTA's success, he has remained one of the most powerful and energetic publicists in the media industry. Rick continues to work with many of the top editors, agents and publishers in America including Simon and Schuster, Random House, Harper Collins, Pocket Books, Penguin Putnam, and Hyperion Books. Visit his website.

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How to Get Fair Pay for Freelance Writing

2007-05-14T10:30:00.001-05:00

By Sharon Hurley Hall

New freelance writers often wonder how to charge for their writing. Writers want to make sure that they get paid fairly for the effort they have put in. In the short term, writers may work for very little while they are getting established. But in the long term, writers who don't earn a fair wage will not be able to freelance for long. There are three questions that freelance writers should ask themselves when deciding what hourly rate they should set.

What Do I Want to Earn for Writing?

Some writers write in their spare time and have full time jobs elsewhere. These writers may not need to earn as much as those who rely on writing for their income. Whatever their situation, writers should consider how much money they need to earn to eat, pay the bills and maybe have a little fun from time to time. It's nice to think that you can catch a movie or go to a gig once in a while.

Writers also need to think about the taxman. Depending on where writers live, any where from 22% to 35% or more (if you're really successful) will be gobbled up by the government. For example, in the UK, tax and National Insurance takes over 30% of your income (after allowances). So writers need to add this figure to the amount they want to earn.

How Much Writing Will I Do?

Full-time freelance writers will spend the equivalent of a working week on writing. That's more than 2,000 hours a year. However, take out all the time you spend making cups of coffee, filing, blogging as well as sick days and holidays and there will probably be about 1800 hours left.

Writers also need to think about the cost of consumables. Pens, paper and print cartridges all cost money and this should be added to what writers want to earn.

What's My Hourly Rate?

Once writers have calculated the number of hours they will work and the full amount they need to earn, working out an hourly rate is simple. Just divide the amount you need to earn by the number of hours you plan to work, and you've got a your hourly rate. Once writers have worked out what they need to earn, they have a figure to aim for.

One last thing. Even after setting an hourly rate, freelance writers need to be prepared to work for less occasionally. The freelance writing market is competitive and sometimes it is better to eat than to stand on principle. Writers always have to decide whether it is worth some short term swallowing of pride for the long term gain of having a better portfolio. Once writers have a good portfolio, they'll stand a better chance of getting the hourly rate they deserve.

Sharon Hurley Hall gives writers advice on how to get paid to write. Sharon is a freelance writer, ghostwriter and editor who writes on freelance writing skills and writer promotion for InspiredAuthor.com. For more information or to contact Sharon, visit doublehdesign.com.

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Health Insurance Advice for Freelance Writers

2007-05-14T10:21:00.000-05:00

By Amy Derby

One of the biggest concerns of any self-employed person, including freelance writers, is health insurance. Many people avoid freelancing exclusively because they are afraid of ending up without health care benefits. Some self-employed individuals go without coverage because they assume they can't afford insurance, or because they don't know how to go about obtaining a policy. However, getting insured isn't as difficult or as costly as many people anticipate. Plus, under current U.S. law, freelancers may be eligible to deduct the full cost of their monthly insurance premiums on their taxes.

Ask your employer about COBRA before you quit your day job. Before you quit your job, make sure to talk to your human resources department about continuing your current insurance coverage under COBRA. You should be allowed the option to pay out of pocket to keep your existing coverage for up to 18 months after you quit your job, or until the time you are able to obtain other insurance (under the 18 month limit). The amount you will have to pay varies greatly and will depend on your current plan and coverage. COBRA may not end up being the most affordable option for you, but until you are able to find other insurance, it may be the most practical option.

Consider your coverage needs. Taking into account how healthy you are is a good start, but you will also want to think about the future. If you are planning to have children, for example, you will want to look for a plan that will cover those related expenses. A big consideration for everyone, even healthy people, is emergencies. Being completely uninsured can cause a real financial burden if you happen to need emergency surgery or get in an accident. If you only plan to freelance for a short time, you might want to investigate short-term insurance, which is available for terms of six months or less at a lower cost than long-term plans.

Weigh premium costs and deductibles. If you rarely need medical attention and only go to the doctor once or twice each year, you may want to consider a plan with a higher deductible but lower monthly payments. This way, you will only have to pay the deductible if you need emergency care or other care that is not covered until you pay the deductible. Often, plans cover one or two doctor visits plus prescription costs without your having to pay the deductible. If you need a lot of medical attention, see many specialists, and want to keep your old doctors, a plan with a moderate deductibles and average premiums might be best for you.

Research individual plans and group plans. Individual plans, or plans purchased by you directly through an insurance company, are more costly than group plans. You can get insured through a group plan by joining a self-employment group or a writers association. Or, check with your local chamber of commerce. Many freelancers don't know that these groups exist, but they are definitely worth checking into.

Learn about tax deductions. If you are a self-employed/freelance writer, your own health insurance premiums may be tax-deductible. To be eligible for this deduction, you must have reported a net profit for the year that exceeds the cost of your health insurance, and you can't have been eligible to receive health insurance benefits under your spouse's policy or your employer's policy (if you still have an employer for that year).

Amy Derby is a freelance writer and self-publishing author. She is the owner of write-from-home.com, a free website dedicated to helping new freelance writers learn how to make money writing from home online.

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Ghostwriting: Your Questions Answered

2007-05-13T14:17:00.000-05:00

By Sharon Hurley Hall1

Many people feel they have a story to tell or an experience to share. But time is precious and not everyone can make the words sing on the page. But there are people who can make the whole experience hassle-free. A ghostwriter will do all the work while you get all the credit. Some common questions about the ghostwriting process are answered below.

What does a ghostwriter do?

A ghostwriter edits, writes, collaborates, and researches on behalf of someone else who becomes their client. Many biographies of celebrities and television personalities have been ghostwritten.

Why do I need one?

Not everyone knows how to or has the time to turn an idea into a book. A ghostwriter is a professional who has the time to turn your thoughts into a polished manuscript.

How does ghostwriting work?

You give the ghostwriter your ideas; s/he tells your story. Most people provide notes, digital recordings or audio tapes. Some may even have drafts of chapters or the whole book and ideas about characters and dialogue. The more information and material you provide, the closer the final product will be to your original idea. The ghostwriter turns your idea into something that people will enjoy reading.

Will the ghostwriter steal my idea?

No, that wouldn't be professional. Any ghostwriter who did that would soon be out of a job. A reputable ghostwriter will usually be happy to sign a non-disclosure or confidentiality agreement.

Who gets the credit for my finished book?

It’s your idea, so you take the credit. Many ghostwriters work behind the scenes. Of course, in some instances, you may want to share the credit - that's why many biographies are credited like this: Major Celebrity with Ghostwriter or Major Celebrity as told to Ghostwriter. But you call the shots and can opt to take all the credit.

How much does ghostwriting cost?

Each job is unique and that makes it hard to give more than general guidelines. The length of time the project is likely to take and the amount of research the ghostwriter will be required to do will affect the final cost. Many ghostwriters will charge a small up front fee, followed by payments at each stage of completed work. Unless you're a major celebrity with an iron-clad publishing contract already signed and sealed, a ghostwriter is unlikely to work for nothing.

What does a ghostwriter's fee cover?

It covers writing, research and any communication, but not usually travel or accommodation.

How long will it take to ghostwrite my material?

That depends on the material. Anywhere from 2 to 6 months is average depending on the type of book and how much work you've already put in. A short article may only take hours while a longer research report may take a year. You'll be able to discuss this once you've hired a ghostwriter.

What about publication?

Some ghostwriters help with publication as well, by sending query letters and so on. This will probably cost you extra. Other ghostwriters see the writing as their job and leave you to find your own publisher. Consider which option you prefer before signing the contract.

How do I know the ghostwriter is experienced?

Ghostwriters generally have to keep clients' names confidential, but you can look at other examples of their writing. If you enjoy reading these, then chances are that others will enjoy reading your material too.

See you in print!

Sharon Hurley Hall gives writers advice on how to get paid to write. Sharon is a freelance writer, ghostwriter and editor who writes on freelance writing skills and writer promotion for InspiredAuthor.com. For more information or to contact Sharon, visit doublehdesign.com.

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Custom Writing Services: Market Overview

2007-05-13T14:06:00.000-05:00

By Serge Chepurko

Market identificationCustom writing services market is a sector of the e-commerce industry. Custom writing services are fee-based.

Market size
The precise size of custom writing services market is unknown, though some rough estimate could be made. The number of competitors in the market approaches nearly 200. It is also known that around 30 percent of organizations in the industry have annual turnover amounting to $120,000 approximately, whereas other 70 percent have almost twice as low annual turnover. Total market size is estimated at $10,800,000 annually. The size of the market in relation to the economy is yet unknown.

Segmentation
Segmentation is the process of allocation of particular homogeneous sub-markets within a heterogeneous market. A market is a multitude of sub-markets that have similar motivations.

In the case with the market concerned, segmentation is interpreted as follows. Companies that operate within the market could be divided in accordance to specialization differences into such categories: (a) generally-oriented companies; (b) particularly-oriented companies. Generally-oriented companies are those that produce custom-written papers on a wide variety of topics. As a rule, such organizations hire writers representing different specialties or simply those able to perform on appropriate level in one or several fields. Companies ascribed to another organizational category usually operate within a narrower framework. In the market there are companies that offer custom-written papers exclusively on math, physics, sociology, the African-Americans, William Shakespeare, Charlotte Bronte, etc.

Other products and services offered by the industry representatives include proofreading and editing services, and pre-written papers.

It is noteworthy that there are companies in the market that offer both custom-written and pre-written papers. This, however, may have nothing to do with violation of ethics, but what about privacy of those students who previously ordered a custom-written paper, which might have been later re-sold to another student?

Growth speed
Growth rates of the market are varying over the time. Thus, in 2000 there were nearly 25-30 companies offering custom-written/pre-written essays, term papers, cases studies, and other types of research papers. Over the 5-year period the number of companies in the market grew up to nearly two hundreds.

The leap in growth rates of the market is noticed to take place in 2003-2004 when sudden change in pricing occurred. The number of companies in the market increased almost 30 percent and now estimates around 80 companies. This leap was probably caused by the tendency towards ecommerce solutions being new to hoards of entrepreneurs in a number of developing countries like India, Ukraine, Poland and other countries. Companies headquartered in these countries began offering similar services but with lower fees as compared to those located in the U.S., Canada, or Australia. More on pricing policies see in Pricing.

Today, market’s growth speed is rather low as the market is full-fledged due to a variety of services offered by market participants.

Geographical distribution of services
It is worth mentioning that the researched market is a subdivision of ecommerce industry. This gives ground to conclude that either products or services produced by industry’s parties are of intangible character rather than of tangible. This especially concerns custom writing services market, which offers its customers intangible products delivered to them mostly via email.

It should be clear that no matter where a company holds its general/backup office, it operates worldwide.

The only principle that regulates geographical distribution of custom-written papers is linguistic attachment. Among major countries using the service are: the United States of America, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and some European and Asian countries.

Seasonal character of the market
Another aspect of the market is its seasonality. Seasonal character of the examined market is sharply defined. As services offered by the market participants are oriented at student needs throughout the academic year only, the season of active sales almost coincides with the academic year. The first half of September – usually passive – is compensated with several weeks in June.

Such seasonality of the market explains its instability of prices. It was noticed that prices for services increase throughout the year with peaks in December - January and April – May; and drop dramatically during the summer season.

Customers/Clients
Customers of online services such as custom writing services are usually students of high schools, colleges, and Universities, of 16 to 25 years old. As pricing in the market is relatively low, target group of the market covers the so-called middle class and higher. A research shows that in 2005 from 14 percent to 23 percent of students (considering seasonality correction) have in due time applied to custom writing services (IAS, 2005). In other words, one-seventh to one-fourth of students has bought at least one paper during 2004-2005 academic years. The same research provides data that gives ground to conclude about the growth of the market. It is declared that in 2003 peak rate of students who applied to the service at least once was 25 percent, whereas in 2005 it is estimated to reach 36 percent (IAS, 2005).

Customer loyalty
Customer loyalty is obviously a behavior demonstrated by frequent or systematic purchases of a company’s product or service. Customer loyalty could be achieved through customer-friendly pricing policies, various discount programs, incentive plans etc. Customer loyalty is also an aspect of a company’s customer retention or loyalty programs.

Customer retention programs are usually complex systems that include two or more elements listed above. As regards the market of custom writing services, the following was noticed in the course of the research held by the author: (a) more than 80 percent of the market uses basic techniques in acquiring customer loyalty such as permanently variable prices that depend on demand for the product or service throughout the year, bonus plans (such as bonus key that allows up to 4 percent reduction), and other techniques; and (b) nearly 10 percent of companies within the market use complex customer loyalty programs such as flexible discounts (sometimes up to 30 percent!) in a combination with weekly feedback bonuses, personal selection of a writer, order status check, 24/7 customer care, and other modes of customer attraction.

Factors that influence buyer’s choice
Among factors that have impact on customers’ choice in the market of custom writing services are price, quality of products and services (including exclusiveness, professionalism, and compliance with the requirements), and delivery time.

As to price and quality of a specific service, these two factors are the most important. It is vital for companies to balance between price and quality values since optimum correlation between these two categories benefits both a service provider and a customer. It is worth mentioning that there are companies that offer papers written by Ph.D.s for “as low as $8.95 per page”. Quality of a paper is directly related to its price and vice versa.

In respect of the delivery time, many companies offer urgent order accomplishment within 12 (and sometimes even 8) hours. Some of them limit the volume of an order to certain number of pages, though there are some companies that accept urgent orders without volume limitation.

Pricing
Custom writing services market has been experiencing a decline in prices lately. As it was mentioned earlier in this research, there had been fall in prices in 2003-2004 caused by sudden increase in market’s growth rates. By far, average fees are kept at the level of $15 per page for regular (5+ days) orders, $20 per page for urgent (24 to 48h) orders, and $30 a page for extremely urgent orders (within 24h).

There are companies offering custom-written papers half price as compared to average pricing. This fact may indicate that a company either hires instant workers from developing countries or is new to the market and provides such a low pricing policy in order to enter the full market and gain certain status.

Principles of operation
Principles of operation are the same throughout the industry. Intangible nature of products produced by competitors in the market implies single system of relationships between a company and a customer irrespective of an organization’s capacities.

Companies that offer custom-written papers (essays, term papers, case studies, literature reviews, executive summaries, dissertations) operate through their websites. Websites are supplied with all necessary and optional features such as credit card processing system (necessary), online customer service (optional), and auto-responder to provide existing customers with automated thank yous and newsletters, and other features. A customer places an order, which is then forwarded to a writer. This step is omitted in small companies where two or three people wear several hats, e.g. one person could perform as an administrator, a writer, and a customer service representative. If there ARE a couple of writers working for a company, one of them accomplishes an order, which is then delivered to the customer via email.

It is worth noting that major attention is paid to a company’s website. It is common for a company producing custom-written papers to have as many webmasters as writers. Hard to believe? In your opinion, what is the correlation between webmasters/programmers and book reviewers working for Amazon.com?

Competitors and leaders
As mentioned above, the number of competitors in the market estimates nearly 200. Leadership in the market where companies offer custom-written papers of any kind is defined exclusively due to a company’s website’s ranking in various search engines. The most powerful search engines are Google, MSN, Yahoo!, Altavista, and Alltheweb. Moreover, websites are ranked in accordance to their content oriented at different key words. Thus, different websites could be leaders in the same search engine, though for different keywords or phrases.

Regulations
Being a subdivision of the ecommerce industry, custom writing services market is regulated by nothing but several codes like BBB Online that refer to web entrepreneurs. In general, ecommerce industry is poorly regulated.

Current trends within the industry and market success factors
Among current trends in the market particularly three aspects are worth mentioning: (a) constant fall in price; (b) constant increase in the number of competitors; and (c) diversification of services offered by companies. Constant increase in the number of competitors is obviously caused by simplicity of operations and growing number of freelance writers who once decided to start out their own business.

Permanent fall in price is caused by growing number of competitors and similarity of services offered by companies in the market. Finally, diversification of services is a logic consequence of the same increase in the number of competitors.

Serge Chepurko is one of the best - though relatively young - writers employed by Your Personal Writer. Over a one year period that Serge's been writing for a living, he produced nearly 100 quality essays, research papers, case studies and term papers on Management, Marketing, Sociology, History, Literature, and Art.

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How to Write for the Children's Market (Part 1 of 3)

2007-05-13T13:59:00.001-05:00

By Dale Mazurek

Writing children’s literature is a great way to break into the writing market. There is an opening for a wide range of topics because the readers range from toddler to young adult. It’s up to you to figure out what best suits your writing and your ideas. You just have to figure out what you want to write about.

Magazines

Magazines can be the perfect place to break in with your short stories. When you write in magazines it’s the perfect way to build your writing credentials and it also helps to establish you as a professional writer. You don’t just have to publish short stories either. You can publish poetry, verse, puzzles, fiction or non fiction. Books can take for ever to hit the market but with magazine articles you can have your work published in months if not weeks sometimes.

Magazines are a perfect place to get specialty pieces published. As we all know most magazines limit their focuses on specific content.

Magazines aren’t only limited in their content. The intended audiences of most periodicals are limited to particular age levels and genders. Babybugs intended audience is toddlers while the Keynoter is aimed at high school students. Boys Life is geared to boys and Hopscotch is a magazine for girls.

Some magazines devote entire issues to a focused topic or theme. It’s in your best interest to read a magazine that you intend to publish to. Make sure your familiar with the magazine and what kind of content it will accept. Make sure you understand the publisher’s contents. You also want to make sure you know when the magazine publishes. This way you can plan ahead with your stories.

Many writers have gotten their start by writing in magazines. Writing for children can definitely be the easiest genre to follow if you want to follow your dreams.

Dale is in the process of getting his first novel published. He is also a professional on line writer. You can check out 3 of his very popular blogs at Short Stories, or Relationship Tid Bits and Affiliate Marketing for Newbies.

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Article Writing for Your Niche Market Web Business

2007-05-13T12:48:00.000-05:00

By Sean Mize

Article writing is one of my favorite methods of driving web traffic to my web sites, and I think it should become yours too. The thing about article writing is that it is boring and it does not always offer immediate results. This can become discouraging, but I still recommend that you set aside one hour a day to write articles. It is one of the best ways to get web traffic, in my opinion, to your niche market web site.

So what kind of articles should you write for your niche market audience?

You want to write articles that appeal to the needs of the people who might be visiting your niche web site. You see, you want the people who read your articles to click through to your web site after they read the article, so the content on your web page has to be similar to the content they reading before clicking through.

Write short (250-700) word articles on targeted topics immediately related to your web site business niche.

For example, if your niche is tennis, then you could write the following articles:

How to select tennis shoes
How to select a tennis racquet
What are the best types of tennis courts to play on?
What are the best types of tennis balls to play with?

And on and on.

You should easily be able to crank out 100 articles or more on topics immediately related to your web site topic. Just brainstorm all of the different things that someone on your web site might be looking for.

Sean Mize is a full time internet marketer who has written over 600 articles in print and 9 published ebooks. To learn more how he does it, download his free guides on traffic generation and email list building.

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Article Writing- How to Know What Your Market Wants to Read When Writing Articles

2007-05-13T12:39:00.000-05:00

By Jeff Herring

The best way to write articles is to write articles you already know your market wants to read.

Now, how do you do that?

OK, I'm going to teach you a very high-level marketing concept right now. Get your fingers and keyboards ready, or your pens and pencils ready-- and those of you that know me may know I'm being a little playful right now.

The Secret Method to Find Out What Your Readers Want to Know

OK, the way to find out what your ideal client wants is to ask. Ask them. As Mark Victor Hansen says, you have to A-S-K to G-E-T.

Several weeks ago, I think it was back in February on a Friday, I sent out an email to my Article Guy lists - everybody who signed up for this kind of stuff with The Article Guy asking, "What's your most important question about article writing and marketing?" and you sent them in, in droves you sent them in!

From those emails I took the seven most asked questions and did an entire call based on it, an entire call just based on asking. I am still responding to some of those questions, still writing articles about it, and could create a whole product just out of those things.

So, in order to meet the needs of your market, you need to know what's going on with your ideal clients, what their pain is, what they struggle with.

You know, I've got to keep in mind while I live, eat and breathe this stuff that there are some folks out there who still cannot imagine writing their first article, that are scared to death to make that first article submission because they are afraid of getting rejected. There's folk out there who could never imagine making money from their articles. Those are the things I keep in mind as I write so I can address those needs and talk to those people.

So, you want to do your market research, you want to know what is going on with your ideal client. Then use that knowledge when you are writing your articles.

Jeff Herring is The Article Guy. Visit his site for free access to two article writing templates. Also check out his free weekly teleseminars.

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Leverage Your Business Expertise through Information Products

2007-05-13T10:41:00.001-05:00

By Diane Eble

If you have a successful business, chances are you have some kind of expertise that could be packaged into at least one, often more, information product that can both position you as a leading expert in your field, and bring in added streams of income.

For instance, say you're a veteran sales consultant who has a unique approach to selling. Certainly you put this into a book or ebook and publish it.

However, the perceived value for such products is somewhere between $20 and $47. Your expertise is probably worth much more.

For instance, you can set up a monthly program featuring training that members sign up for on a continuing basis. You can deliver the training via teleclasses, Special Reports, audio and/or video training sessions delivered online, ecoaching, or any combination thereof. Such a "train the trainer" program could be marketed to any number of companies that must train a sales force, including the huge market of network marketers. Even if you only charged $39.95 per month for such a service, if you got 200 members that would mean an extra $7990 of income for you—per month.

Or, if you did not want to produce materials on a continuing basis, you could instead put together a multi-media training program selling for anywhere from $297 to thousands of dollars, depending on your market. Once the product and marketing materials are created, you would have an asset that would continue to bring in income on a nearly passive basis.

Your costs to produce such programs would be minimal. Likely you already have the training and marketing materials already on hand. They just need to be massaged into these new formats.

Do you begin to see possibilities for your business?

It doesn't stop there, either. Once you establish yourself as a leading expert in your field, that's when you consider writing a book. Now the door is open to landing a lucrative book publishing contract with one of the big-name publishers. Such publishers look for people with an established audience, and may even approach you first. This would only further establish your status as expert and open even more doors.

Jay Conrad Levinson, known as the "father of guerilla marketing," said, "Someone once asked me how much I made for my first Guerilla Marketing book. The answer I gave was $10 million. The book itself only paid me about $35,000 in royalties, but the speaking engagements, spin-off books, newsletters, columns, boot camps, consulting, and wide open doors resulted in the remaining $9,965,000.”

How can information products boost your business? Take an hour today to brainstorm what you might create, who would be interested, and what formats would be best for delivering the information. That hour could end up being worth millions to you.

Diane Eble is an author (11 books, hundreds of articles) and information products specialist who loves to help others create streams of income through books and other information products. Get a free special report, "13 Ways a Book Can Boost Your Business."

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The Pros and Cons of Print on Demand Publishing

2007-05-13T10:29:00.000-05:00

By Michael Mould

You have spent hundreds or perhaps thousands of hours writing your masterpiece and now you want the world to read it. You also want it to generate an income for you that is proportionate to the work you put into it. So, what should you do with it? You can send a manuscript of it off to dozens of publishing houses with the hopes that one of them thinks it is worthy of their label, or you can have it published yourself through a Print on Demand, POD, publisher. The pros and cons of POD are:

The negative aspects of using POD instead of a large publishing house:

It will not have the label of a large publishing house on it.
It will not be distributed by a large publishing house to nationwide book stores.
You will not receive a royalty on sales amounting to maybe 3% of the profit per copy sold by a large publishing house.
You will not make the bestseller list of a large publishing house.

The positive aspects of using POD and having your book published yourself:

You can have your own publisher's label put on your work if you like and it can still have an ISBN.
Your work can be made available to all of the online bookselling marketplaces and book stores nationwide through a POD global distribution service for about $100. They all receive regular notifications of new book put in print and in most cases, they will buy directly from a POD publisher directly and list the book on their marketplace. Since you will have established a price for them to buy it at (wholesale), you will get a known royalty per copy when they do buy from your POD publisher.
You will receive a royalty (that you decide) on the sale of every copy purchased by online marketplaces and book stores nationwide. Follows from (2) above.
You can make the bestseller list of any online marketplace that your book sells through based on your actual sales through that marketplace.
You can purchase copies of your own work through your POD publisher and become an online bookseller yourself which will yield the highest profit margins possible for you.
As an online bookseller yourself, you can set up your own website and sell your book through it.

Regardless of which sales scenario you choose, you are going to be doing the marketing and promotion of your book yourself anyway, why stop short of selling and mailing it too? Stuffing it in a padded envelope and shipping it to customers cannot be worth giving up over 90% of the profits after all the other hard work you have already done.

Michael E. Mould is the author of Online Bookselling: A Practical Guide with Detailed Explanations and Insightful Tips and the developer of Bookkeeping for Booksellers. You can learn more about online bookselling at his site, Online Bookselling.

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A Few Tips on How to Market and Sell Your Self Published Books

2007-05-13T10:20:00.001-05:00

By Helen Hecker

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. It's one thing to write a book, but an entirely different thing to write one that's saleable, viable, and marketable. In today's publishing environment, a book's success depends greatly on a strong marketing plan.

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 your press release spells out the 'who, what, where, when, and why.'

Learning to write and use powerful optimized press releases can often drive tons of traffic to your website while providing multiple back links that can lead to increased page rank and numerous top ten search engine rankings for your targeted keywords. Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool if used properly. 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. Make sure you have at least one good press release, written in AP style, which you can send out for the lifetime of your book.

Place free ads periodically for your book's website on Craigslist in different categories to drive even more traffic to your website. Make five telephone calls a day that relate to marketing your book. Make sure to promote and market your book each and every day, both online and offline.

When you get a nice write up or feature about you and/or your book, have it laminated and set it up on an easel at trade shows. Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website. Every day it's important to focus on a variety of marketing approaches.

Submit articles to online article directories that focus on your book's topic to drive customers to your website. Find a non-exclusive distributor with a good reputation to carry your book for the book store trade, as well as for other retailers. Contact non-bookstore booksellers and offer to leave books on consignment.

Offer to trade writing a monthly column in a trade publication in your books' genre, in trade for display ads on the same page. 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. If your book solves a problem, focus on this in your marketing.

If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way. 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.

Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don't assume it's already listed. Make sure your sales letter or flier is first class; this is your formal presentation of your title to the prospective buyer.

Use your book promotion and book marketing dollars wisely; go after the free and cheap resources daily. If you apply yourself every day and you promote your book like crazy, you can achieve that ultimate goal of selling thousands of copies of your book, many self publishers have. Yes you can market and promote your book on a shoestring budget, just be careful about your marketing dollars.

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

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Self-Publishing – Pros and Cons

2007-05-11T11:19:00.001-05:00

By Michael Russell

Self-publishing is not a topic that requires a definition. If you are already an experienced author and you used such tools for your writing, you know what you are dealing with. You probably have a blog or a website where you showcase your skills.

If you monetize your blog, you are even one of the self-published authors who makes money from his/her work. Many bloggers refuse to display AdSense ads or other such distracting features. They fear that displaying moneymaking widgets lowers the credibility of the blog and their own credibility. If we analyze the Web and the online self-publishing channels we find even more controversial opinions. But no matter how we look at it, self-publishing is more than a trend: it is a way of publicizing content quickly and freely.

The debate begins when the readers start doubting the quality of self-publicized content (particularly when we speak about self-publicized books). Ebooks don’t trigger so many controversies as printed books. The problems appear because of free self-publishing services where no proofreading is ensured and the books come from print without a proper quality check, hence many spelling and grammar errors.

Any professional writer knows that it is human to err, no matter how great the skills. Even academics use proofreaders prior to publishing their essays and treatises. But some young authors are not so careful. Many dream and pray for overnight success. They forget that sudden fame has the same value as a shooting star: it’s pretty as it glows, but soon forgotten. Real success is a marathon, not a sprint.

Considering these facts, should we vote against free self-publishing providers? Not really.

The ones who should care about the quality of their work are the authors. They should understand that “free” is not always the best choice.

For example, many foreign authors choose to write in English, because, let’s face it, the English speaking public segment is broader – hence the chances to make an author known are higher. Some of these authors are confident in their skills (and generally they have no reasons to doubt themselves), but they still choose to hire a proofreader prior to publishing their work.

Others are too confident and they forget that any language has subtleties mastered solely by natives. These “too confident” authors go on publishing their works without proofreading. Sometimes the results are not bad, but in most of the cases the readers will find enough reasons to complain.

The readers don’t really care where the books are coming from. They don’t really want to know who published the book (unless we talk about famous publishing houses or collectible books). But they do have the tendency to blame the printing house if they find spelling and grammar errors.

The readers don’t know that the modern authors tend to skip the proofreading process just to save a few bucks. However, even if your “name” as an author will not have too much to suffer, do you really want to deliver a poor quality book on the shelves of your readers? Do you really want the libraries to store something that later, when you are a famous writer, will come back to you like a boomerang? Think about it!

Michael Russell is an independent guide to publishing.

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How Self Publishers can Market and Sell More Books

2007-05-11T11:13:00.000-05:00

By Helen Hecker

As a self publisher you can market and promote your book on a shoestring budget, thousands of independent publishers have done it; be careful about your promotion and marketing dollars and don't plunge into unknown waters -- test, test, and test some more. Self publishers need to have a good marketing plan to sell books and it should be written prior to writing your book and in place a year prior to publishing your book. Your book selling, book marketing, and book promotion planning should begin before the manuscript is completed.

Mail a press release to at least 1000 print and broadcast contacts just prior to publishing your title and again and again after you publish; you can never send too many. Make sure your press release spells out the 'who, what, where, when, and why.' Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media.

Make sure you have at least one good press release, written in AP style, which you can send out for the lifetime of your book. Learning to write and use powerful optimized press releases can often drive tons of traffic to your website while providing multiple back links that can lead to increased page rank and numerous top ten search engine rankings for your targeted keywords. 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.

Invest in press release submitting software and set aside time every week to send out a press release online to the press directories. Don't underestimate the value of a good press release for making book sales.

Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website. Make sure your sales letter or flier is first class; this is your formal presentation of your title to the prospective buyer. Make sure not to overlook the Internet; get yourself interviewed or profiled for sites both about writing, publishing and about the topics covered in your book.

Your sales letter or flier should include an eye-grabbing headline, the benefits to the buyer, the book features, book sales information and testimonials. Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don't assume it's already listed. Submit articles to online article directories that focus on your book's topic to drive customers to your website.

Build a web site that provides another avenue for ordering, a virtual online press kit and link exchanges with sites that relate to your topic. 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. Arrange to speak at local, regional and national events that relate to your book topic; bring books along and have an associate sell them at the back of the room.

It's important to publish a website that focuses on your title; you'll be able to refer editors and customers and all interested parties to your book information with the click of a mouse. You can give away your book in a raffle at a local function to get more book recognition. If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way.

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. Women buy more books then men; see how you can fit your book into the women's market.

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.

Now promote, promote, and promote your book some more! Use your book promotion and book marketing dollars wisely; go after the free and cheap resources daily. If you apply yourself every day and you promote your book like crazy, you can achieve that ultimate goal of selling thousands of copies of your book, many self publishers have done it.

Helen Hecker publishes Twin Peak Press, which was founded in 1982, and 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.

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Tips for Promoting Your Book at Signings or Public Functions

2007-05-11T10:35:00.000-05:00

By Bhumika Ghimire

I read somewhere that to sell a book is tougher task than actually writing one. Anyone who has tried doing so will attest to this saying. Why is it so tough to sell a book? Well, there are many factors which affect this but with the way people's reading habits have changed over the years is certainly one of them.

So if you are a writer ready to sell that precious creation try to be creative and use book signings and public functions to make some sales and get public attention.

Here are some tips to make the best of book signings and public functions:

• If you are planning to promote or sell your book at the book signing or a public function, contact the organizers early and get their permission. Ask them bout the kind of crowd that is going to be there and the demographics. That way you will be able to tailor your promotion to fit the audience.

• Appear cheerful, approachable and confident. Remember if people like you and are interested in what you have say, they are more likely to buy your book.

• Answer questions with confidence and humor. Little joke helps break ice and creates a comfortable environment.

• If you are having a book signing, prepare a sign with picture of your book and hang it where maximum number of the audience members can see it. That create interest and curiosity among the audience.

• Dress appropriately, if not sure err on the side of conservative.

• Prepare leaflets with an extract from the book and distribute them.Tease the audience to know more about the book.

• And finally, thank the audience and the organizers after the event for the opportunity.

I hope you have a great time selling your book. All the best.

Bhumika Ghimire is a freelance writer. She is a content producer for Associated Content and writes for OhMyNews.com. Her works have appeared in Journal and Courier, American Chronicle, ACM Ubiquity, Nepalnews.com and Gather.com. A graduate of Schiller International University, Florida, Bhumika's interests include blogging trends, freelance writing, Middle East and Islamic relations. She has an MBA on Information Technology Management and lives with her husband in West Lafayette, Indiana.

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6 Free Book Marketing Techniques Guaranteed to Get You Book Sales

2007-05-11T09:27:00.000-05:00

By Regina Paul

As an author I spent years looking for free marketing techniques which would help me to sell my books. As a struggling beginning author, I had no idea at first how to even get started. Almost 2 years after the publication of my first book I can say with confidence I have found six techniques which have garnered me book sales, and will work for you too. I'll even let you in on a technique that I found garnered me no sales at all!

1. Offer a monthly newsletter that has useful content besides just information about your books. I have found that having a newsletter that offers something to both potential readers, and either aspiring or already published authors has increased my newsletter membership and sold more of my books.

2. Offer free reads. There is one thing that as both a reader and an author will make me stand up and pay attention; offer me something useful for free. People love getting something for free! My only piece of advice regarding this is just make certain that what you are offering is high quality. If you offer a story you wrote 10 years ago that does not reflect your current polished writing style, this is not going to get you book sales for your current books. Either write something new, or do polish up something you have already written, so it reflects your current style.

3. Have at least one of your free reads available through your publisher. Some publishers give writers the option of offering stories for free. Potential fans and readers do scan book catalogs for free reads, and sometimes publishers will advertise the free reads as well. If someone reads the free read you made available through your publisher, and they liked it, they are going to be much more likely to come back and purchase the books you have for sale.

4. As further incentive for someone to sign up for your free monthly newsletter, offer at least one free read (Or do like I did and offer two or three!), either a serial where you post a chapter a month (I've found this to be very helpful when it came to making sales!), or a novella. I started out checking my member list every day for new members and then sending them my freebies via e-mail, that is until I found the Files section in my yahoo group! Now I have all of my freebies in the Files section and all new members can just go there and download all my freebies to their computer. This saves time for you, and your new subscribers.

5. Write articles similar to this one on different aspects of being a writer, and the publication industry. Once you have done so, publish them in a few free high profile article directories. Because of the danger of duplication within the search engines I don't suggest publishing duplicate articles at more than two places at a time.

6. Get your books reviewed. I can't stress this one enough as it is one of the most important ways to get the word out about your books. There are many places online you can have your books reviewed for free. Do not pay someone to review your book! There are some very reputable organizations out there such as Coffee Time Romance (who incidentally review all different genres and even non-fiction; not just romance) and The Romance Studio to name two.

Strangely, the one technique which did not garner me many book sales that I am aware of, and which many beginning authors try is sending bookmarks with information about their books to book conferences. I've even heard some horror stories about authors who had friends that were at the conference talking about how they saw the other person's bookmarks laying on the floor, or in the trash. If you can afford to have pens, or calendars or other more original/different items that are more likely to be picked up and taken home made, then by all means do so and send these items. From what I've heard though, bookmarks aren't getting picked up anymore. If you follow the six techniques I've listed here, you will find your book sales do increase, and you will have many happy new readers as well!

Regina Paul is a full-time author. She has four books available, Getting Out Alive, a science fiction romance, Illara's First Christmas, a holiday novella which is a continuation of Getting Out Alive, The Mark of the Guardian, a free fantasy romance novella, and Destiny's Choices, a romantic suspense recently released from Amira Press. To find out more about Regina and her books you can visit her website.

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Top 10 Tips for Book Titles that Sell Well

2007-05-11T07:46:00.000-05:00

By Judy Cullins

A clever title is great if it is clear, but a clear title is always preferable. The best? A clear and clever title. A shorter title is better than a longer one. Your reader will spend only four seconds on the cover. While some long titles have succeeded, usually the shorter, the better.

A title is part of your book's front cover. Busy buyers including bookstore buyers, wholesalers, distributors and your audiences buy mainly because of the cover. Dan Poynter, author of Writing Nonfiction, says, "The package outside sells the product inside." Make your cover sizzle.

Start with a working title before you write your chapters. Include your topic, your subject and use the book's benefits in your sub title if possible. Here's your ten tips for titles that sell:

1. Create impact for your title-check out magazine print and radio ad headlines.

Check out other authors' titles on the bookstore shelves. Your title must compel the reader to buy now. Which title grabs you? Elder Rage or Caregiving for Dad?

2. Include your solution in your title.

Does your title sell your solution? Make sure it answers the question rather than asks one. For instance, Got Minerals?, or Minerals: The Essential Link to Health. Use positive language instead of negative. For instance, Without Minerals You'll Die can be Minerals: The Essential Link to Health.

3. Make it easy for readers to buy.

Readers want a magic pill. They want to follow directions and enjoy the benefits the title promises. For example, 1001 Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer gives at least 1001 ways for authors and publishers to market their books.

4. Expand your title to other books, products, seminars, and services.

Make sure that your title will work well with the title of your presentations, articles and press releases you'll need to promote the book. Such seminars and teleclasses titled "How to Write and Sell Your Book- Fast!" and "Seven Sure- Fire Ways to Publicize your Business" come under the umbrella "fast book writing, publishing and promoting."

5. Use original expressions--a way of expressing one idea for your book--yours alone.

Sam Horn, author of Tongue Fú!, puts her special twist on defusing verbal conflict.

6. Include benefits in your subtitle if your title doesn't have any.

Specific benefits invite sales. For instance, Marilyn and Tom Ross' Jump Start Your Book Sales: A Money-Making Guide for Authors, Independent Publishers and Small Presses.

7. Choose others' book covers in your field as models.

Go to your local bookstore with five-colored felt tips pens and paper. Browse the section your book would be shelved on. Choose five book titles and covers that attract you. Photo copy or sketch those, noting the colors, design, fonts, and sizes of fonts. Add other colors you like. Place the book cover you love near your workstation to inspire you. For the final copy, use professional cover designers if possible.

8. Be outrageous with your book title.

People do judge a book by its title. Your reader will spend only four seconds on the front cover and eight seconds on the back cover. It must be so outstanding and catchy that it compels the reader to either buy on the spot or look further to the back cover. Take a risk. Be a bit crazy, even outlandish.

9. Be your strongest salesperson self.

Choose the strongest words, benefits, and metaphors to move your audience to buy. Titles do sell books.

10. Include your audience in your title. This gives your book a slant.

When your title isn't targeted other famous authors' titles win out. Always make your title clear and make it easy for your audience to recognize they need your book. Your title and front cover is your book's number one sales tool. Short titles are best, say three to six words. John Gray didn't get much attention with his book "What Your Mother Couldn't Tell You and What Your Father Didn't Know." He shortened it to the now famous, Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus.

An outstanding title sells books. Make sure to give this part of your book, the number one essential "Hot-Selling Point," some time and effort.

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, author of 10 ebooks including "Write your eBook Fast," and "How to Market your Business on the Internet," she offers free help through her two monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says...and Business Tip of the Month and over 140 free articles. Visit her website, Bookcoaching.com.

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Shy Writers – Your Sales Salvation: The Soft Sell

2007-05-11T07:20:00.000-05:00

By Gloria Oliver

One of the BIG shocks after I finally got a clue and was able to get accepted by a publisher and got one of my works in print was a facet of the business I'd never imagined - I now had to push and SELL. Mind you, I was of the long standing belief that a large majority of writers were shy, reclusive people, who wrote books and then let the publisher take over as they went on and wrote more books. Something which sounded fabulous to my personality type.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Yes, once upon a time, publishers did take care of everything and writers only wrote. But in the last twenty years or so, the publishing industry has gone through a great upheaval. A lot of the old altruism is gone and the corporations have evolved to be run by accountants and marketing folks rather than nurturing editors. Publishers are now in the interest of actually making a PROFIT.

I don't blame them. We all want to make money. Unfortunately, however, this has affected the role of the writer and the expectations placed on them as to what they bring to the table, before, during, and after working on a manuscript.

So now, after going through the painstaking years to create your novel, beat it into shape, market it around, and finally (if the stars align just right) get a publisher, your work is only now truly beginning. For once your book is on the cusp of release, you must get yourself out there and sell yourself, your book, some might say your soul.

Okay, okay, so maybe that last was a tad on the melodramatic side but for those of us who do not fall into the category of "outgoing", it can sure feel that way. :P

I'll be honest, I think I am probably one of the most boring persons around. My writing is not the best thing since sliced bread, though I like to think it might actually be semi-interesting and at least tolerably written. So being a realist, the last thing I want to do is try to force people into buying things they may or may not want. Heck, I can't even talk to someone if I believe I have an agenda hidden somewhere. (Yes, I totally stink at schmoozing!) Can't push myself on people - I value my own space too much to want to invade and not respect someone else's. So for me, the Hard Sell is OUT. But I do want to sell books, I do want people to read my stuff...I just want them to want to, for them to be the ones that come to the decision of doing it and not be pushed into it. So I rely on the SOFT SELL.

My Soft Sell plan has several facets, and most of them are totally shy writer friendly.

First - The FREEBIE Table at conventions is your friend! I love these things for three reasons. 1) I can leave my stuff all over it without invading anyone's personal space. 2) Prospective book buyers will pick up freebie promo without prompting and look at it at their leisure without feeling pressured by anyone. 3) It promotes name and brand recognition as they will be seeing it over and over, year after year.

The type of stuff I have for freebie tables cater to pretty much any and all tastes (I hope). What you decide to use will depend on how much time and money you want to put into it. For me, I bombard them with bookmarks, Sample CD's, postcards, trifolds, and flyers with the book cover, back cover blurb, and part of the first chapter. I did pens one year, but found them too expensive overall, so have not done them again. If you can find something cheap that ties to your book that you can stick a label on with your name and url, DO IT! Statistics say that your name has to be seen 7 to 10 times before it starts percolating into people's subconscious, and the freebie table will definitely help!

Second - whenever possible, I get either a dealer's table or better yet (if the convention has it) and artist alley table. Okay, I can her you already - "But wait, you said you don't do Hard Sell. What's up with the table?" I don't do hard sell. But I do give others the opportunity to check out my stuff, touch the books, read a page or two, if they want.

I sit at this table, my castle, and I smile and smile and smile. And the watch people go past and sometimes back around. When I feel brave or have seen some of them a few times, I will smile even wider and wave or give an acknowledging nod. (Eye contact! Very important!) I load the table with the same stuff as the freebie table (helps them make mental connections and give them yet another pass at my name), I have a banner on the front of the table with my name in big letters, the books are stacked out so they can grab one to look at if they want. I now even have table toppers with a four word or less blurb to catch a passerby's attention. (These can draw someone from the other side of the room if intriguing enough!) If they stop, I leave them alone, yet keep an eye on them in case they have questions. If they do, I answer them, even if it's just asking me about panel locations, restrooms or whatever. (I have felt like an information kiosk before. :P But that too gets you brownie points.) (Oh and be prepared for your face to hurt at the end of the day. Smiling is hard work! lol!)

Third - Panels - oh yeah, doing panels! Not a big thrill for us shy types, but it does get better over time and you're not up there alone, so it's nowhere near as bad as a presentation would be. But to get on the guest list, that sometimes takes a little work. All depends on the Con. One of them, I had purchased an artist alley table for several years and as they got to know me, I was invited. Another I got in from the ground floor as they were recruiting from authors at another con. Some I've sent emails to the programming staff asking if they are looking for guests. (I can do emails so much easier than one on ones! They can't see me!)

If you get in, this does several things for you. Usually, it gets your name and url on the con site. Gets your name and short bio in the program book. Gets you to sit at a table with other writers and be seen by fans and other people in the biz.

Just with these three facets I've exposed my name/face to the con goers 5 or more times! And I never had to bug anyone directly. See how it works?

Will this have your sale numbers skyrocketing? Probably not. But you will sell. You will get your name out there. You will get recognition. And you can still be your shy old self. Even better, you'll find yourself becoming familiar with many faces and even having friendships bloom. Oh no, you might even be networking! (Run away!)

It's Soft Sell all the way, baby! :)

Check out Gloria Oliver's Author Pages.

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Cheap and Effective Ways to Promote Your Books

2007-05-10T19:59:00.000-05:00

By Lynette Rees

I thought it might be an idea to share here what I do to promote my books.

I like writing articles, so that’s an easy way for me to promote. For example, I have a romantic comedy coming out shortly, so I’ve written an article entitled, ‘Crafting the Romantic Comedy’ and started circulating it at various article banks.

One article I wrote last year, just before the release of a romantic suspense novel, was entitled, “Seven Ways to Inject Suspense Into Your Novel”. A couple of weeks later, I was amazed to see it as the lead article in The World Wide Freelance newsletter, which has a circulation of 20,000. As a knock on effect, people contacted me after seeing the article via that newsletter and asked me to take part in live chats and interviews at their websites. They also asked my permission to publish the article as well.

I try to gear the promotional article up to suit the particular book coming out at that time and include a link to it in the bio.

You can find article banks by use of a search engine. Of course, if you can go the extra step and get your article published in a relevant magazine, so much the better. Last year, I managed to get my article, “Five Reasons I Chose to E-publish My Novel”, printed in The Romantic Novelists Association magazine.

Another idea I’ve had is to have my book covers printed on postcards. A friend gave me the link to a reasonably priced online printer, who also supplies 250 free business cards, so I’ll get some of them printed the same time. Here's the link: VistaPrint.

Or how about putting out a press release, either in the local newspaper and/or online? See here: PR Web Direct.

I’ve also started including leaflets to my books that are due for release in other books I sell, so the reader, if he or she likes my style, may consider purchasing the new book when it comes out.

I also involve family and friends who are marvelous promoters. My mother, for instance, likes nothing better than telling her friends at The Salvation Army and Age Concern about her daughter, the author! Several have bought not just one book but the follow up as well!

My husband has promoted my books both at the bowls club and at work and I’ve had several orders that way.

These are just a few ideas I use to promote my books, low cost ideas that cost little more than your time to write an article or issue a press release!

Lynette Rees’s romantic comedy, A Taste of Honey, has just been published by Samhain Publishing. Her non-fiction ebook, Crafting the Romance Story, is available for beginners.

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Promoting Your Book

2007-05-02T10:43:00.001-05:00

By Robyn Whyte

Now that your book is in your hands, yipee, wowee. Congratulations. Many compete but few get to publication these days.

Some authors are quite naive when they are first published with the idea that the publishing company will take a leading role in their promotion, dumping buckets of money out on flashy advertisements in magazines. They will hire you a book promoter and pay for a six day book tour around the country. It's the beginning of a dream fulfilled. Sure, that might happen sometimes. With a book tour costing an average of between 1,000 and 10,000 dollars a day, it would be unlikely the would spend the money on you. Instead, the publishing company is most likely going to watch you instead.

The book publishing company cannot sell books without the author. So they wait to see what the sales are like before they think about investing in advertising.

So if novel A is published and it's from a first-time author without a track record, they simply ignore it and wait. They have books they've published from more established authors and still those authors are probably expected to make their own wind. Often, they do not even put out press releases. In fact, how many books can your remember reading an online press release about? Few, if any.

No track record, no money. Nothing is thrown at you to make your life easier.

So what do you do if you want a career?

You remember some of the shows where the gopher and mailroom clerk work their way up to CEO. This is the same concept with your book. If you want the book career and have your book right there, this is your entry level job. It doesn't matter who published it. It now comes down to what you do.

So if you thought the heartbreaking rejection letters were the worst, you just wait.

Now you have a sales job of getting book signings at bookstores. Even if your book company distributes themselves or doesn't have a distributor, bookstores can still host you. So if someone says 'no', then you need to find out why.

For media coverage, you're not going to get it without first setting up an event so chicken before the egg or egg before the chicken. Nobody is going to pick your story up unless you're somewhere visible.

So be somewhere visible. If bookstores aren't immediately interested, it is probably due to your approach.

Are you faxing them? Yeah, people hate that. Don't fax them unless you want to tag along on an event they are promoting. Really, don't fax. And what about email? Sure, give it a try. You might email 150 places and find two get back to you. But that might be worth it to you. But by faxing ahead of emailing, you may be consumed with the fact that you are rejected which isn't the truth.

Yes, you're a new writer and a published author. Now, it's time to realize you've just entered your job in sales.

Sales people don't get their answering machine messages returned as a general rule and if they are identified as a sales person, they don't even get to talk to the real decision maker.

If you want to set up book signings at bookstores, make a point to call eight or more bookstores a day or at least a week. These should be bookstores you can get to in a car or on a bus.

Tell them who you're with. This is Jake. I'm looking to talk to someone who sets up book signings at your store.

Don't talk to anyone else if you can help it because the element of surprise is a good one.

Introduce yourself. Tell them about your book as a secondary issue and instead focus on what successes you've already had drawing in people and selling books. So you sort of name drop in the last book signing and how many books you sold. If you don't have the track record, say nothing. Sprinkle in reviews from fans with your conversation.

Try to solve problems as they give them to you. They don't take on romance books? Start identifying your book as an inspirational book or some other more generic genre. They don't do mystery books. Describe it next time as a crime book.

Expect six rejections for every two positive calls. The two positive calls could simply be getting more information, being pointed in the direction of the Regional Sales Representative. It could be a book signing right away.

If you are finding that bookstores are not responding, it could be related to the time of year. Winter book signing events are rare when there's three feet of snow. In cottage areas, summer book signings may not be popular.

But don't think because book signings don't immediately welcome you that you're in trouble. Now's the time to instead phone up a local charity or a small business and have them put on an event for you with you donating a little money to the charity per book. It gets your name out. It's very easy to advertise this kind of event. Media outlets will pick it up.

Phone up a cafe. Ask to be hosted. Order your own books and get out there. Create your own wind and I guarantee by your third book, the advertising dollars from the publishing company will now start following you.

Robyn Whyte is the CEO of Stargazer Press. Drop by and check out our great educational programs and novels. This May first, pick up a copy of Victoria Graydale's journey story 'The Wizard's Daughter'.

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Self-Publishing, Independent Publishing, Traditional Publishing

2007-05-02T10:36:00.000-05:00

By Valerie Connelly

Each of these three forms of publishing is different and each is viable in today’s publishing world. But there is so much confusion about what they provide to aspiring authors worldwide, that I decided to address this for you today. Take what you will and leave the rest, but this perspective comes from first-hand experience in the industry.

Self-publishing

Actually, this is the murkiest water in which to swim. TRUE Self-publishing means, you create a true publishing entity, buy your own ISBNs from RR Bowker, and take all the responsibility for layout and design of your book, you find a printer, you are responsible for all marketing andyou are alone in the publishing world. To people who are skilled in graphic design and thrilled with taking risks, this is an invigorating endeavor. Companies that use the come-on “self-publish your book” to attract authors do the authors a true disservice for one reason: the author never truly owns his ISBN, and therefore, the way his book is produced, marketed and how he receives royalties is out of his control. There are many large self-publishing mills that accept anyone and exploit the innocence of writers.

Here is what one author told me this week:

I self-published 24/7 or Dead through one of the large POD firms, not an
experience I would wish on my worst enemy. 13 galleys later, I still have
uncorrected mistakes in my text but finally gave up because my publicist had
booked PR appearances and I needed the book. I’ve visited your site and it
appears to be a place where I could self-publish again, with your support. Am, I
reading this correctly?

Here is how I replied to her:

“Well, there is so much misinformation about "self-published" books, and large
POD firms are among the loudest perpetrators of misinformation. Nightengale
Press is a true publisher using print on demand technology to get the books
printed.

Independent Publishing

Nightengale Press and 55,000 others can’t be all wrong. Some independents keep a very narrow focus and publish only one or two titles a year. They reject lots of authors, looking for the one or two they want for their year’s quota. They usually function very much like a traditional publisher, in that they take on all publishing costs, but often these are supported by grants with certain guidelines, and therefore stringent limitation. Some independents publish more titles, still within a clearly defined and often limited scope for one genre only. These publishers also function very much like a traditional publisher, however, they also reject lots of authors, looking for the numbers they want for their year’s quota.

Nightengale Press does charge a modest fee for our services, yet, we take no money from the book sales until our authors have re-paid their investment. And we have many support services for marketing, not the least of which is our great affiliate program --- our most successful authors use this to great advantage. There isn't a better "deal" in the industry, and it is all because I am an author and believe with every fiber of my being that the author should get paid FIRST and FAIRLY!

The decision to self-publish poses this dilemma: ARE YOU AN AUTHOR OR A PUBLISHER? Author? Or Publisher? That is the question. Jan Nathan of Publisher’s Marketing Association said this after BEA in mid-May: “On a somewhat discouraging note, we met with many, many authors on the floor who chose to print their titles with Print on Demand houses, and were told by these houses that they were the publisher of their title, when in fact they are only an author with the POD house.”

See? Confusion Even Among Industry Experts

1. Print on Demand is a printing technology, NOT a publishing status. I find the misconception that because a publisher uses POD technology to produce books the books they produce are somehow inferior, or they are somehow scamming the authors they serve hugely problematic.

2. A publisher is a person/business which seeks good authors, produces their books, assists to some degree with the promotion of the book, and builds a reputation through the ethical management of those authors and their work.

3. An author is a person who writes and publishes his work --- one way or another. Once a writer, always a writer – but not always an author. An author can be a publisher---thanks to POD technology and the self-publishing boom. However, generally, a publisher knows good writing when he sees it, but he may not be a writer, and he may not choose the best writers to publish.

How the work is produced has NOTHING to do with the quality of the writing. It has EVERYTHING to do with the marketing of the writing, and this is where the traditional publishing community is so threatened: There is NO LIMITATION to good writers getting published. Every good writer can get published --- even if they self-publish as a first step. What good writers cannot get alone is GOOD MARKETING. There are pitfalls and scammers everywhere in the publishing industry, waiting to take advantage of the writer who is unaware, uninformed or unable to discern the value of his own writing.

THE BIG FIVE TRADITIONAL PUBLISHERS MISS THOUSANDS OF GOOD WRITERS. They have to. The must take only those they can reasonably bet on --- it is like a horse race --- there are the favorites (best-selling authors) who nearly always win the race. Then there are the yearlings, the writers who are new to the industry, and who know very little about the race, but they run like crazy in the pack. These are the writers who become self-publishers. Then there are the long-shots, and they are the ones even the big publishing houses can miss ---- the writers who have something very new to say, or a new way to say it that doesn’t quite fit the mold. SOME PUBLISHERS --- apparently the “POD houses” Jan is referring to ---are not even clear on the subject themselves.

To tell an author that he is the publisher of his own book when he is not the owner of the ISBN on that book is a clear misrepresentation. But because a publisher uses POD technology doesn’t make him a bad publisher --- in fact, most of the 55,000 or so small publishers in the USA couldn’t do what they do without it. The costs of offset / traditional publishing are too great at the outset., tens of thousands of dollars, and even the big guys don’t spend their money on the unknown author (who becomes more a number than a person in that realm, by the way).

So, what is a writer to do? Here is my motto, and it drives everything I do as a writer and as a publihsher:

Believe first in YOURSELF

You CAN achieve Excellence if you WORK harder than others think is necessary

EXPECT more of yourself than others think is possible

CARE more about your future than others think is wise

TAKE RISKS more than others think is safe

DREAM more than others think is practical

And
NEVER, EVER QUIT!

Valerie’s talk show on Global Talk Radio targets writers worldwide to provide them a place to promote their books, discuss their experiences and learn from experts. Valerie gives her listeners the publisher’s perspective on vital information they need to keep up to date on a wide spectrum of topics. She also teaches the essentials to successful book development and promotion for aspiring and published authors alike. Visit her blog.

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Sell More Books on Amazon.com

2007-05-02T10:24:00.000-05:00

By Cathy Stucker

Why Should Your Book Be on Amazon.com?

Credibility. If your book is important, it should be available at the world’s biggest book store.

Visibility. People (including members of the media) will find your book and learn about you through your appearance on Amazon. (That’s how I got into Woman’s Day magazine.)

Money. You will sell books you wouldn’t have sold otherwise. Many buyers won’t buy from your Web site or other sources, but will buy at Amazon. And, Amazon pays like clockwork.

Get Your Book Listed on Amazon.com

Your publisher or distributor will handle getting your book into the Amazon catalog. If you are self-published and don’t have a distributor, join Amazon Advantage.

To participate in Advantage, you must have distribution rights, and your book must have a scannable barcode of the ISBN.

Amazon Marketplace

Once your book is listed, you can also sell it directly to consumers through Amazon Marketplace. You will find more information about this on the Advantage information page listed above.

Amazon Associates

Once your book is listed on Amazon, join the Amazon Associates program.

As an Associate, you get a commission on book sales referred from your Web site. Why send people to Amazon from your Web site? Some people won’t buy from you. They don’t know you and they don’t trust you. But they do trust Amazon. Or, maybe they want to qualify for free shipping.

Enhance Your Book’s Detail Page

Add cover art, book description, editorial reviews, table of contents, excerpts, author information and more. Make your book’s listing just as complete and impressive as the latest from Stephen King, John Grisham and other major authors. For more information, see Bookseller Services or log in to your Advantage account. Amazon will generally not allow URLs in your content, so don't try to slip your Web site in.

Search Inside the Book

This is controversial, but many publishers say they sell more books as a result of SITB. My sales seemed to go up after my book was in. You send Amazon a copy of your book, they scan it and make the entire book searchable. It increases the chances your book will come up during searches on the Amazon.com web site. You’ll find information on the Advantage page.

Use the tools Amazon.com provides to bring book buyers to your page and sell more books.

As the IdeaLady, Cathy Stucker helps authors, entrepreneurs and professionals attract customers and make themselves famous. To learn more about publishing and get free marketing tips, visit Cathy's website.

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Know Your Author Rights – and Hang Onto Them!

2007-05-02T10:11:00.001-05:00

By Diane Eble

When a book or magazine publisher agrees to publish your work, you must sign a contract. In this contract there is a very important area concerning rights.

Be very careful about which rights you retain, and which rights you hand over. For a magazine article, you want to grant first rights only. Be careful of granting electronic rights, which almost everyone will ask for these days. If they are paying you for a piece, be clear about whether you want them to be able to distribute it on the Internet. If you do grant this right, know that the article probably can't be resold anywhere else (because it will be so available to everyone else).

It may be advantageous for you to grant electronic rights, as long as you make sure you stipulate that they must include your byline and web site address(es). This way you will get something out of it—free, targeted traffic to your site. This is a key marketing strategy which I use all the time. I write articles and distribute them for free—but only with a carefully-worded resource box that tells people where they can go for more (enticing) information.

I was recently contacted by a publisher who wanted to rework an article I'd written back in 1987 for a product they were selling. They didn't ask me, they just told me, and included a check for $25. Upon inspection of my contract, I learned that they had a right to do that, because even though they had bought "first rights," the contract also said they could use it as a reprint in an anthology or other product.

As for books—grant only print rights, if you can. I have clients whose hands are tied on creating other (more lucrative) products, because they signed away things like "audio-video recordings of any or parts of the WORK or of adaptations of the WORK."

One author recently told me that current book contracts include wording such as "the right to all forms of the WORK which currently exist or may be invented, into perpetuity"! Yikes!

If you do land any kind of publishing contract, seek out a good intellectual properties attorney, or at least send me an email about your contract. I can help you spot what may be problematic in it.

Note that agents aren't always as sensitive to these things as you should be. Though they are supposed to have your best interests in mind, they want to seal a deal, and unless they would be included on your other information product ventures, they don’t have a vested interest in making sure you retain these rights.

The words you create are your most important assets as an author. Make sure you protect them!

Diane Eble has 28 years experience in the publishing industry as an editor (magazines, fiction and nonfiction books), author (11 published books, more than 350 articles), and copywriter. She is now a book publishing coach as well. For more information on how to write a book proposal that sells, check out Jump Start Your Book: 12 Questions You Must Answer Before You Write Your First Word.

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Book Events Every Author Should Attend at Least Once

2007-05-01T09:04:00.001-05:00

By Kathryn Lively

Whether you write science fiction or mystery, poetry or romance, ultimately you will have something in common with writers of different genres: the need to promote your work. While the Internet has opened new avenues of marketing to authors, from websites and blogs to social network hubs, there is still something to be said for meeting the reading public where they can be easily found. Some of the best places to meet readers, editors, and booksellers are book conferences and conventions.

Conventions are held around the world, all year 'round. Many of the larger, more established expositions are normally scheduled around the same time each year, allowing authors who attend multiple events to plan accordingly. Some conferences may include panels and seminars on the craft or on marketing, while others are strictly venues for authors to read and sell works. Some allow writers and industry professionals to connect, and others are geared mainly for readers wishing to socialize with their favorite authors. Some are held in an afternoon at a public library, others sponsored by colleges over the course of a week, and still others held in large exhibit halls. Regardless of size and name recognition, any book event is worth attending for an author looking to promote a book.

Any author serious about learning more about the industry, learning what readers want, and reaching readers and booksellers should consider making time to attend at least one book festival, fair, or conference a year. Some may require travel and other expenses - booth rental, promotional materials, accommodations, but in the end the spending can be justified with the opportunity to expose your name and work to a new audience. You may not sell out at every event you attend, but you have at least the chance to imprint your work in the minds of interested readers. A simple bookmark handed over to a passerby may yield a future sale. Word of mouth remains on the most powerful marketing tools for writers - and you have to go where the mouths are.

That said, here is just a short list of recommended events I think every author should attend at least once. Some are expensive, yes, but worth the time to travel and stay. Many are genre specific, but the conferences and seminars offered at some may be applicable to any writer trying to make a sale. Consider planning a vacation around one of these events, and bring business cards. You never know...you just may meet your future agent in an elevator at one of these events.

Book Expo America - One of the largest publishing trade expos in the world. This 3-4 day event is usually held in late May, early June in a major US city (2006 was DC, 2007 is NYC, 2008 is LA). Here all the major book pubs (and a good number of small presses) display their forthcoming catalogs to reviewers and booksellers. Lots of big names come to this event.

Romantic Times - One of the largest book conventions dedicated to the romance genre and sub-genres, a fantastic place to meet readers and industry professionals alike. This event is usually held in the late spring, April or May, and also travels (2006 was in Daytona Beach, 2007 in Houston, 2008 in Pittsburgh). The Saturday book fair exposes authors to hundreds of readers.

Bouchercon - The oldest and perhaps most influential mystery convention, a great place to meet mystery authors, publishers, specialty booksellers, and others involved in the genre. This travel also (2006 in Madison, WI, 2007 in Anchorage).

Malice Domestic - Another, smaller mystery convention with a focus on the cozy genre. This one is always held in the Washington, DC area around the spring, April or May, and distributes the annual Agatha Awards.

DragonCon - DragonCon is not strictly a book convention, but very book friendly. DragonCon celebrates science fiction, fantasy, and horror, and everything in between. This con is held annually in Atlanta, usually around Labor Day.

RWA Annual Conference - The annual RWA conference brings in the heavy hitters of the romance industry: agents, editors and publishers. If you are a member of Romance Writers of America it is a great place to network.

EPICon - A small but growing annual convention, EPICon's focus is electronic publishing. Here you can learn about the growing industry and meet eBook publishers, and attend the annual EPPIE Awards. This con travels and is usually held in the early spring (2007 in Virginia Beach, 2008 in Portland, OR).

Remember, too, for every con you attend you can write off your promotional expenses!

Kathryn Lively is the publisher of Phaze, romance novels in ebook and paperback. She offers book promotion advice for authors through her site.

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The Future of Publishing and Reading

2007-05-01T08:58:00.000-05:00

By Anne Lebrecht

The question on many minds presently is the future for the readers of books and the authors that write them. Will the new ebooks and programs such as "The Amazon Shorts" change the reading public into on line readers of short stories, and not of the printed texts. How will this new era change the future for writers and readers?

Well the reality is that it is not really about the quality of the literature but about the money it earns. In this and past times it has always been that society measures success with money. How much is needed to be claimed a success? That is the question.

Yes it would be nice to be on the New York Times best sellers. BUT at what price? The other question is how do publishers manipulate these lists. It has been said that the New York Times list is based not on sales to readers but the sales to the stores. Publishers dictate how many copies the huge chains will carry and which books and authors they will buy. Then they accept all returns if some are not sold and give the store credit. However the returns are not deducted from the total so called sales records making the Best sellers list.

So how many readers actually read these so called "Best Sellers." Talent and quality of publication is not a factor. How many authors are passed by and talent lost because of this practice?

To have a producer read a manuscript or to even contemplate a good story to develop into a movie means the author must have some inside friend or some means to get to that producer or insider for any consideration.

So now we come to the INTERNET. This is an opportunity for many new authors to be read and heard. The Amazon Shorts program is an example of this. I am grateful a s many other newer unknown authors are for this chance. Whether this will ever truly change or compete with the more mainstream publications is a matter of some question. The future is open and I for one feel hopeful for some change.

Anne Lebrecht loves to tell a story almost as much as she loves to read them. She has published three novels, a book of poetry, six short stories and several articles. Her Memories of a Forgotten Past and Discoveries of a Hidden Past are available at all bookstores and online. Her latest novel The Daughters of Nora Crawford and her book of poetry Simply Poetry are also now available. In 1952 Anne Lebrecht left Montreal, Canada to come to California. She lives in Laguna Woods Village, in Laguna Woods, California, with her husband of 53 years. They have two daughters and two grandchildren. She wrote poetry and short stories as a hobby since childhood. When she retired from an executive position as CFO of a large corporation, she turned her hobby into a full time occupation. She has published short stories, poetry, and novels. Visit her website.

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Getting Your Book Published is Only Half the Battle

2007-05-01T07:37:00.000-05:00

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 1000’s for distribution to bookstores throughout the country. The disadvantage with PA and other Pod’s is that most bookstores deal directly with wholesalers like Ingrams to get their books. The book chains like Barnes and Noble view POD’s like the plague. That’s unfortunate and not totally fair. But I’ll 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, you’re on your own. I learned the hard way. My book came out in the early 1990’s before the Internet took off, so I couldn’t 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 weren’t 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, I’ve 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 I’m letting Amazon sell the copies directly to the public, I don’t care that they too are a POD. That’s 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 book’s text for a small fee and keep it current because it doesn’t 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 it’s published. I got calls from as far away as Australia and London when I sent out my PR’s. 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. Check out his website, Power Ad Book.

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Writing eBooks that Sell Fast

2007-04-30T20:54:00.000-05:00

By Matt Ide

Thousands of people want to be authors. They want to have written a book but don’t really want to put the work into it. Many times the mantra is that they would love to write a book but don’t have the time too. In fact, they don’t have the time to read much either, and as is often the case, writing instructors and authors themselves will tell an individual that you don’t have any business writing a book if you don’t have the time to even read.

That may be true of writing a book in the traditional sense, but not with writing ebooks. Writing an ebook can be a great way to break into the book writing business. There are differences between writing a novel for print and an ebook which will be explained shortly. Just know that if you are thinking about writing a book and want to make money from it fast, you should consider writing an ebook.

The differences between print books and ebooks are bountiful and minimal at the same time, which means that it’s more of what you want to do that dictates the final product than what any set guidelines may be.

With an ebook you don’t have to have a certain amount of pages. Quite often, in a non-fiction sense, many ebooks can be about twenty pages long and sell for twenty five to fifty dollars. The key here is that when you write a non-fiction ebook it is all about the information. If the information is in great demand you can charge more for it. No one is going to dictate to you how much you should charge for your ebook either, except for the market itself.

Next, with an ebook, all you need is a small website for people to purchase and then download your book and the transaction is over. There is no need to trudge through years of finding an agent and then a publisher, who may want you to rewrite whole slews of your work, and then have the book go to the bookstores and wait for someone to buy it. People can go directly to you for the book. It’s fast, inexpensive, and can bring in thousands of dollars with just one book. For some this is a full time job!

If you are interested in writing and selling ebooks to make a living, which is quite possible if you have the drive, you will want to learn more about how to market and how to set up a website in order to drive those sales.

Matt Ide lives and writes in northern Michigan. Visit his Ultimate Review Site to learn how to write and sell your own books and realize how easy it is to make that dream come true.

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Tips for the Traveling Author

2007-04-30T19:10:00.000-05:00

By Kathryn Lively

Your book is written, edited, published, and all of your relatives and friends have been informed. Right now you estimate everybody within your small universe is thumbing through the pages right this minute, admiring the cover art and complimenting your austere portrait on the back of the jacket. You're working to get reviews in the local papers and industry magazines, and maybe you've contacted a few local bookstores for signings. You're on the right track, but eventually you will need to consider putting in some travel time to promote and/or learn how to promote your work.

Depending upon your chosen genre, you may benefit from a number of annual writers and readers conventions held all over the country - some with static locales and others held in different cities each year. Mystery authors, for example, would do good to connect with readers and booksellers at Malice Domestic in DC and Bouchercon, the location of which varies. Romance authors should definitely attended the Romantic Times convention and select smaller conferences held by chapters of Romance Writers of America. Science fiction and fantasy writers may find new fans at the multitude of themed cons held around the United States.

Once you have decided to attend a convention, however, it is important to be prepared for whatever role you plan to play there. Whether you are attending as a featured author or panelist, a vendor of your own books, or are just going to soak up the atmosphere and take notes, applying some helpful travel tips can make your trip much more enjoyable. Here are just a few ways to reduce headaches and lighten your load as a traveling author.

Whenever possible, send material in advance

This is especially helpful if you plan to sign books at an event. If your publisher is unable to send books in your stead, or if the venue is unable to get them from their distributor (most events are done in conjunction with a bookstore in the area, so if they can't get your book through their channels you will have to bring your own), you may be stuck with extra luggage. You can relieve the burden by arranging a package to be sent to your hotel or to the venue. Make sure all labels are clearly marked, and confirm with the convention with regards to sending materials so they don't get lost or returned.

Cut costs with a roommate

While host hotels offer discount rates to convention goers, it may still prove costly for some to travel. Larger conventions may arrange for roommate options, so it may be to your advantage to go that route and save some money on lodging.

Always keep some material handy

The moment you leave the house, you have opportunity to promote yourself. Even if you pack everything, make sure to at least carry a pack of business cards with you to hand out at mixers and panels. If you're on the plane and strike up a conversation with a passenger, why not hand out a few? You never know that the person sitting next to you is an avid reader.

Choose manageable promotional materials

If you check in luggage, you do run the risk of having your promo stuff bounced around a plane. Try to avoid bringing promotional items that may damage easily. Nothing glass or filled with liquid that might leak. If you have posters, make sure they are laminated or rolled tightly in a cardboard tube to avoid wrinkling. Candy may melt or spoil, so you might want to scout your venue for a nearby store so you can buy some fresh the day of the event.

Above all, talk to other authors who regularly attending conferences and learn from their experiences. Getting there is half the fun, and the last thing that should concern you at a conference is your luggage. Take care of the travel in advance, and focus on exposing your book for a successful conference trip.

Kathryn Lively offers book promotion advice for authors through her site and writes for FlowCushion, the ergonomic car seat cushion for work and leisure travel.

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How to Get Someone Else to Pay for Publishing Your Book

2007-04-30T19:03:00.000-05:00

By Diane Eble

Are you thinking of self-publishing your book and nearly fainting at the costs involved?

Well, here's a way that you can get someone else to pay to publish your book—while you keep all the rights and royalties (unlike what happens with "traditional" publishers, who hold most of the rights and pay you a pittance of a royalty).

Have you ever noticed brand names in a movie or television? Maybe it's a cereal box of Kellogg's Cornflakes on the kitchen counter. Or the mention of a "Bluetooth" in a crime show. Remember how E.T. was lured from his hiding place with Reece's Pieces?

Why Corporations Would Pay

Guess what—corporations pay big bucks for product placement. It's much more powerful than running a commercial, because the movie, TV show or star acts as a sort of subliminal endorser of the product. (It works, too. My kids get excited when they see "that's the same phone we have!" Underlying message: If it's on TV, it must be the best.)

You can do the same thing with your published book. How?

Let's say you write a book on sales strategies. You can mention several network type marketing companies as examples of people who have adopted this approach and are doing great. Before you publish the book, you go to one of the head marketing person of each of those organizations and let them know what you're doing, how you're featuring them as one of your "stars." It won't look like advertising because it's part of the editorial content, and because you mention other companies, too, the credibility is high all around. You ask if they would like to sponsor publication of the book. You can do this for more than one.

Or let's say you're working on a murder mystery. Pharmaceuticals are involved in the crime investigation. You go to the marketing director of the pharmaceutical company and see if they would sponsor the book.

Here's another idea. Let's say you publish a romance that takes place on a tiny island in the Caribbean—say, St. Croix, in the American Virgin Islands. You could contact the director of tourism there and ask if they'd like to sponsor publication of your novel.

Structuring the Deal

You could approach the deal in two ways. You can ask them to sponsor publication of the book, or you can ask them to buy X number of copies for whatever the cost of your self-publishing (which you would have to research ahead of time). Either way, they subsidize the book. In the latter case, you already have built-in sales, and you could even work in a profit margin.

Here's an important part of the deal: You must give the sponsor or buyer one condition: They can only either give your book away free, or sell it for the full cover price. This prevents them from undercutting you, the author, on price.

This can work for major companies, government agencies, or other large organizations such as professional groups. Why would they do this? Because advertising costs so much, and compared to that, underwriting the cost of a self-published book is cheap. A single-page ad in a magazine can cost $20,000 or more. Publishing 3000 copies of your book might only run them $10,000. Plus, sponsoring a book is more effective, because of the perceived endorsement value. A published book is seen as one of the most credible forms of endorsement there is. You're giving them a promotional tool that will cost them very little of their total annual budget.

Next Steps

So how do you go about this?

First, write the book. Do not publish it; keep it in manuscript form.

Brainstorm a list (at least 20) of companies that could benefit from either your topic, your setting, your direction, your examples, the entertainment value, or whatever else your book could offer them in terms of a mention.

Make one copy of your manuscript and include the specific product mention. Send that copy to the targeted company's marketing with your proposal that they sponsor the project. Start with the most likely company first. (By most likely I mean the one that is mentioned most powerfully and naturally.)

If that company sponsors it, you win. If they refuse, you move on. If this will take too much time, do simultaneous submissions, being careful to keep good records. If you get more than one offer, you can either do more than one publication, include several companies and work out separate deals, or whatever works for you, them, and your book.

Diane Eble has 28 years experience in the publishing industry as an editor (magazines, fiction and nonfiction books), author (11 published books, more than 350 articles), and copywriter. She is now a book publishing coach as well. For more information on how to write a book proposal that sells, check out Jump Start Your Book: 12 Questions You Must Answer Before You Write Your First Word.

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An Analysis of a Literary Agent Form Letter Rejection

2007-04-26T17:48:00.001-05:00

By Joseph Malek

Like the many thousands of people who seek the services of a literary agent, I too have sent many query letters to those experts who promote the publication of some form of written communication to the public. Yes, whatever that might be, you can be sure that at least one of those literary agents specializes in the subject that you and I worked so hard to create so that the World's people can learn from and/or enjoy.

Believe it or not, I'm still waiting for some of those literary agents to respond to the letters I sent more than two months ago. Then again, maybe the delivery rate for the U.S. Postal Service is only 80%. or I wasted 20% of my time because what I sent was simply discarded. I wish that I could have hand delivered each and every letter so at least I'd know that 20% of my literary agent search work wasn't wasted.

Well, it seems that I'll have to wait awhile longer. So far, I've kept myself busy by writing short stories, house cleaning and analyzing the rejection form letters that I did receive. Most of them are exactly the same except for the name of the person who signed each one. As it happens, I also made one mistake in regard to selecting the proper agent for the kind of novel I wrote, and those replies I fully understand.

You see, those literary agents told me that my story isn't the kind of story that they promote. The truth is, they never said exactly what they promote, so I took a chance and sent them a letter. Keep in mind that each one of those people receives hundreds of query letters each week and maybe they just like to receive huge amounts of paper. There must be big money in the scrap paper business.

Some agents said that their client list was full. Is that actually what they mean, or are they saying: "I don't like money," or, "I have an office in the high rent section of the city because I like the view from the window," or, "I'm looking for ideas for my next novel."

Your guess is as good as mine, but this waiting has caused me to think of reasons that probably aren't true. One gentleman was kind enough to tell me that I did good work and he also wished me the best of luck. Thank you so much for that, but it's too bad for me that he didn't know any publishers who would publish my novel.

There you have it. They know people in the publishing business, so they also know just about what to send to those people so that they can both profit from the written works of art that every writer created in which to also earn a living.

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7 Ways to Promote Your Nonfiction Book

2007-04-26T17:43:00.001-05:00

By Bobbi Linkemer

There are two things every author must know about promoting your nonfiction book. First, it is your responsibility, no matter what publishing method you use - conventional, print on demand (POD), or do-it-yourself. Second, promotion should begin long before your book is finished. In fact, you should be thinking about it from the very beginning of the planning process.

One of the first questions you probably asked yourself was who are my readers? Once you have identified them, your next step is to find ways to tell them what the book is about; what problem it will solve; why it is funny, informative, or moving; who wrote it and why; and, most important, why they want to spend money to own it. What follows are seven proven ways to reach your readers with this information:

1. Create a website.

You must have a presence on the Internet. A Website showcases your book, highlights the cover, introduces you as an expert author, delineates the main points, tells where the book may be purchased, and provides a place for testimonials. A Website doesn't have to be expensive or elaborate, but it should be professionally designed and constructed. Unless you are a Web guru, invest in a professional Website designer.

2. Brainstorm ideas.

Gather a group of your most creative friends to generate as many ideas as you can (It's a good idea to feed them). Break your reading audience into subgroups, and list all the places to find them. Where do they hang out? What organizations do they belong to? Where do they shop? What are their passions, hobbies, and vocations? The spreadsheet you create is the beginning of your promotional plan.

3. Send advance readers' copies (ARCs).

When the book is finished but not yet published, send bound copies of galley proofs to book reviewers at print and electronic media. Be sure to stamp them "Reader's Copy" or "Galley Proof." You want to time the reviews to coincide with the publication and availability of your book. Reviewers want to read it before it hits the shelves. Timing is everything.

4. Submit articles.

Your book is a goldmine of article ideas. Every major point is an article ready to be excerpted or paraphrased. Once you know what your target audience is reading, you have a list of potential publications, print and electronic. Write a 25- and 50-word author's blurb to be printed at the end of every article. When you submit to an online article Website, indicate that the article may be reprinted at no charge, as long as it includes the author's blurb.

5. Take part in book fairs.

Share a table or booth with other writers or with members of an association of which you are a member, if it is relevant to your topic. Book fairs can mean long hours on your feet if you go it alone; but, when you share the workload, the experience can be fun and rewarding. You'll meet new people, reach readers directly, and become personally involved in selling your book.

6. Share what you know.

Offer to give free presentations at bookstores and other venues that carry your book. This is a great way to build your reputation as an expert in your field, provide value to the bookseller and the book buyer, and connect directly with your readers. It's good for your ego to be asked to sign your own book. One caveat: if you don't feel comfortable speaking in front of a group, join Toastmasters or hire a speaking coach. Don't muddle through your presentation.

7. Assemble a sales package.

Put together a press kit to send to local radio and TV stations. Include a news release with pertinent information about the book and future scheduled appearances, an author's bio, talking points to use in an on-air interview, a sample book cover, background information, and favorable reviews and testimonials. A press kit is like a resume; it gets you in the door. Once you get there, the rest is up to you.

Promoting your book is an ongoing project. It isn't something you do once and then move on. As long as your book is available and there are potential readers who could enjoy it and benefit from reading it, you have a job to do. This is, after all, why you wrote it.

Bobbi Linkemer is a ghostwriter, editor, and the author of 12 books under her own name. She has been a professional writer for 40 years, a magazine editor and journalist, and a book-writing teacher. Her clients range from Fortune 100 companies to entrepreneurs who want to write books in order to enhance their credibility and build their businesses. Visit her website.

Wordpreneur.com — How to Make Money Writing!

Pricing Information Products

2007-04-26T17:36:00.001-05:00

By Cathy Stucker

Pricing your products and services involves much more art than science. There are so many variables to pricing that there can't be a magic formula telling you exactly how much to charge in every given situation. However, you can rely on some guidelines to help you set your prices.

One rule of thumb to keep in mind when pricing information products is that you should charge at least 8 to 10 times your cost of production. If a book costs you $1.50 to produce, can you price it at least $11.95? Better yet, can you charge $14.95 or more?

Use that rule of thumb as a minimum. It is important to remember that you are not selling paper, CDs or other materials--you are selling the information contained in your book, report, ebook, audio program, etc. What is the information worth to your customers, and how much will they be willing to pay for it? An item may cost you $15 to produce, yet be worth every penny of $495.

What are your competitors charging for similar products? You can charge more if your product has a higher perceived value, but not if your products are seen as the same as something available at a lower price.

Consider your marketing costs. Will you have to give discounts of 25%, 40%, 60% or more to affiliates, retailers or distributors? Make sure you can do so and still be profitable. If you plan to sell books through direct mail or two-step classified ads, your marketing cost may be $10 - $20 for each book you sell. Obviously, you won't be profitable selling a book for $11.95 this way.

You also have to consider the value of your time in creating and marketing the materials. If you have invested 500 hours in creating something, make sure your pricing leaves room to recover payment for your time. How many items do you expect to sell? If you think you can sell 500, then every dollar you build into the price for your time pays you $1 an hour. If you can sell 5,000, then $1 per book pays you $10 an hour.

Set your prices high enough to recover your costs, get paid for your time, and to reflect the value of the information.

As the Idea Lady, Cathy Stucker can help you attract customers and make yourself famous with inexpensive and free marketing ideas. Get free tips, articles and more from her Idea Lady website.

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Self-Publishing Made Simple

2007-04-25T18:53:00.000-05:00

By Butch Hamilton

Have you been straining and struggling, trying to find a way to get your favorite manuscript, articles, poems or other classic writings out to the world? Ok, you can blog them of course, but what if you had a way to actually publish your cherished works in an iPod book form? Would that be of great value to you? I can only speak for myself in this regard as I am an author. The subject of my material is usually about search engine optimization and search engine marketing. This is my passion and my drive. Therefore, I write articles, press releases, blogs and forum posts all the time.

I have just recently met an amazing individual online. His name is Steve Cox and he is a well known software designer for some major corporations and educational institutions. He has introduced me to what I believe is the most efficient way to get your manuscripts, both in media and written format. This ingenious software is called PocketBook. With PocketBook, famous authors like yourself can trial download the software and place up to 10 works for absolutely no money. Its a simple program to use as you will already have your media uploaded and you will simply transfer this into the PocketBook and bingo! You now have your published work to display to the world.

But wait just a moment. I have not told you the best part yet. What if Steve Cox gave you the opportunity to place your new novel, poems, articles or whatever for sale into his high traffic ebay store? Would that be a great value for you as well? Well, guess what? That is exactly what his software program can do as well. Yes, you produce the work, publish it, send it to his ebay store and when someone wants to purchase it, you make money! This is nothing short of an incredible opportunity people. Could it be any better than this?

As a matter of fact it can be. What if Steve Cox were to do all the technical work for you at absolutely no charge? Would that be an even better value? That is exactly what this man is offering, for a very limited time. He will place your media files, your written copy and even produce a pocket book cover for your book at no charge! Let me ask you Mr. or Mrs. author. What could you possibly think of that would hold you back from doing this?

If you have been following my articles at all, you know that I love marketing online. I love meeting like minded people that are striving for internet notoriety in some manner. Most are having no luck at all, but that is ok. It is called a consistent building process. I have just published my new first edition iPod book called "Internet Marketing for the Average Guy." For me, this tells it all as I am a believer that absolutely anyone breathing today can learn to become an effective online businessman or businesswoman. We have a choice. We have to make the decision.

Seriously, Steve Cox has the best system for quickly producing your iPod books. He even offers to place them in his ebay store. He does this as he knows that building a great business online requires visualization and hard work. I sincerely hope to see your iPod book along side mine very soon!

Butch Hamilton is an SEOSEM Specialist. His talents for obtaining top positions on the search engines have led him to the point in his life where he has always wanted to be. He says: "Writing has always been my passion. Gone are the days when I placed blatant ads on the Internet for exposure. I have found my life's work in writing articles." Check out his websites, pocketbookmaker.com, butchhamiltonsbestdomains.com, and butchhamiltons-internet-newsletter.com.

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Online Marketing for Authors

2007-04-25T18:34:00.000-05:00

By Stephanie Chandler

There is a tremendous opportunity for authors to reach millions of potential readers by marketing books online. Even better, you don’t have to be a technology guru or spend a lot of money to launch your online marketing campaign.

First and foremost, every author should have a website. You can use your website to not only market to readers, but to communicate with editors, agents and publishers. Your website is essentially an online brochure that can include as much or as little information as you’re willing to share.

Website hosting is also surprisingly affordable with rates ranging from $5-$20 per month depending on the provider you choose and the services you need. Some providers to consider are Yahoo and GoDaddy.

Once your website is up and running, there is plenty you can do to get the word out. Following are strategies you can use to market your books around the globe with your own online marketing campaign.

Host a Newsletter
Sending an electronic newsletter, also known as an ezine, is one of the most effective and affordable marketing tools available. This is your opportunity to communicate with your readers, announce events, tell them about new books and products and build loyalty.

Make sure to send your newsletter on or around the same time each month or week. Ideally it should be loaded with interesting information so that your subscribers are eager to read each edition. Check out www.constantcontact.com for email management solutions.

Form Strategic Alliances
Contact authors and business owners in your field and inquire about partnership opportunities. You can swap links to each other’s websites, promote each other in your ezines, refer each other to media opportunities and speaking engagements, and find other mutually beneficial partnership opportunities.

Maximize Exposure on Amazon
There are a variety of programs on Amazon that can boost an author’s book sales. Check out Amazon Connect, where you can post messages to readers and on your book’s main page. You can also create Listmania lists, post reviews for other people’s books, and submit search terms relevant to your book. Also, make sure your book’s description on Amazon is accurate. If not, contact Amazon and request appropriate changes.

Participate in Forums and Message Boards
Online forums are a place where visitors can exchange information. Whenever you post a message, you can include a brief signature line with details about your book and your website address. Locate forums related to your book’s topic and become a regular visitor. You might be surprised by how many new readers you will find here. One great resource is Yahoo! Groups. Also search the internet for industry-appropriate forums. If you’re really ambitious, you might consider hosting your own forum.

Host a Blog
A blog, also known as a web log, is essentially an online diary where you can post brief bits of information for your readers. Most bloggers post messages two or three times per week. Well-read blogs provide information on controversial topics or offer how-to advice and useful statistics. You can start a free blog by visiting www.blogger.com. Make sure you promote your blog everywhere by including a link from your website, in your email signature and mentioning it in your author bio. You might also want to read some existing blogs to get some ideas on how to format yours.

Publish Articles
Many of the millions of websites on the internet are in need of quality content and articles. You can write articles related to the topic of your book and submit them for consideration to industry-related websites. Make sure to include an author bio with a link to your website.

You can also post articles to content sites such as www.ezinearticles.com and www.ideamarketers.com. Visitors to these sites look for articles to publish on their websites and in their ezines. When your article is selected for publication, the publisher must include your author bio. This is one of my favorite book marketing strategies. Even if you publish just one article per month, over time you should see your website traffic grow dramatically. Don’t forget to run an internet search periodically on your article’s title so you can see where it is featured.

The more time you spend online looking for opportunities to market your book, the more chances you will find to increase sales. Commit to spending an hour every day to marketing online and you will surely see your sales improve.

Stephanie Chandler is the author of several business books and the founder of Business Info Guide, a directory of resources for entrepreneurs. She also recently released a workbook and ebook, Online Marketing for Authors.

Wordpreneur.com — How to Make Money Writing!

How to Test if There's a Market for Your Book Idea

2007-04-25T18:19:00.000-05:00

By Diane Eble

One of the biggest mistakes authors make is writing their book before they have any idea whether it will sell. They may spend years writing a book, only to find out that nobody is interested in buying it. What a waste of time and energy!

It's not true that "if you write it, they will read it." If you want to make sure people will want to read your book—and boost your chances of attracting a traditional publisher—you need to find out if there's a market for your book.

How?

One way is to write an article on your book's topic, and publish it in the various ezines/newsletters on the Internet.

Let's say you want to write a book on getting organized. Now, this is a big topic, and it's been done many times before. So your first task is to determine your particular slant. Perhaps you are someone who has ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and you've always had a problem with organization. But you've developed or discovered some cool tools that work for not only you, but others you know who also struggle with ADD.

Write an article between 500 and 800 words on the subject matter. In this case, perhaps it would be "10 Tips for Getting Organized Even If You Have ADD." You send it out to the various article directories, such as www.ezinearticles.com. These directories publish your articles, and allow you to include with your byline something about you and what you do.

So you call yourself someone who "helps people who have ADD to overcome their problems with organization," and include a note to the effect of "If you would like to be notified when the book, Getting Organized Even If You Have ADD is released, send a blank e-mail to ."
You collect these names and add them to your database. You can then send these people other tips (get their permission first), and presto, you both build a list of people you know are interested in your topic who may well buy your book.

Besides articles, you could use a blog to do the same thing. You can invite readers to comment. Readers may suggest angles you have never thought of. You can also ask them to either go to a special web page to sign up for notification of your book, or send you an email.

Finally, if you already have a list of some kind, you can send your article as an email and ask people to reply if they want to get on your notification list.

With these tactics, you can quickly gauge interest in your topic. Now you have several options:

• You can create an e-book and sell it to these people, creating profits quickly.

• You can self-publish a book and sell it to these people.

• You can use the response as leverage to get a publisher to publish your book. One author I know received more than 950 reservations for her book long before she got a literary agent. The number of reservations she received from this approach convinced a New York publisher to publish her book.
Don't waste your time writing a book that no one will read. Get reader input! Your book will be better—and much more salable—when you take these simple steps.

Diane Eble has 28 years experience in the publishing industry as an editor (magazines, fiction and nonfiction books), author (11 published books, more than 350 articles), and copywriter. She is now a book publishing coach as well. For more information on how to write a book proposal that sells, check out Jump Start Your Book: 12 Questions You Must Answer Before You Write Your First Word.

Wordpreneur.com — How to Make Money Writing!

Why a Writer Needs People Skills (and How to Develop Them)

2007-04-24T12:21:00.000-05:00

By Bobbi Linkemer

For me, the heart of research has always been the ability to elicit information from others. For years, it never occurred to me to go to the library or rummage through magazines or official documents. If I wanted to know about something, I found experts on that subject and tried to crawl inside their minds, to cram everything they would tell me into whatever time they would give me, and to understand things about which I knew absolutely nothing. Sometimes, I knew so little I couldn’t even frame a decent question.

In those cases, the first interview was always critical because it was the one that provided me with the big picture, key contacts, and politically correct language. This person had to be someone who wouldn’t mind that I knew nothing, someone who would be willing to explain the subject from the ground up. I was always amazed at the number of people who met those criteria. After the first interview, I went from one expert to another, asking each of them to refer me to the next, until all of these fragments began to make sense. The whole process was like putting together a giant jigsaw puzzle without a picture of what it would look like when it was completed. Every assignment was a mystery to be solved, often with very few clues.

I would ask myself: What is the point of this story? What do I need to know to make that point? Who should I talk to, and how can I get to that person? What are the right questions to ask? How will I know when I have enough information? Answering those questions was always an adventure in starting with nothing and watching bits and pieces grow and take shape until they became an article.

Little by little, I was learning the art of interviewing; and, over the years, the ability to do it well has proved to be one of my most valuable strengths. The more I sought and gathered information in this way, the greater my respect for the interviewing process became.

1. First, I believe interviewing requires the courage to take risks. It is risky to be in the presence of an expert when you can barely pronounce the name of his or her subject, let alone discuss it intelligently. It is risky to admit how little you know and still get this person to talk to you, to teach you everything you need to know, and often to do it in the simplest language possible. It is risky to believe you can then write about such a topic credibly, accurately, and understandably, so that people who know less than you do will understand it and find it interesting.

2. Second, it takes the ability to get your ego out of the way so that you become virtually invisible, and the spotlight is on your expert, not on you. By that I mean that if you are conscious of yourself, of the questions you are asking, of how you are coming across, of whether the other person thinks you are smart or clever, or of needing to prove how much you know, you have missed the point completely. An interview isn’t about you; it’s about the other person. It’s about what that person knows or has experienced or can share with you that will add to your understanding of your topic.

3. Third, you have to be able to take in and process information on the spot. You do not have the luxury of pouring over your notes or listening to your tape at a later time and framing the questions you would ask after you have had a chance to review them. You must assume that this is your only chance to ask, and that each question or comment will expand your grasp of the subject matter. That presupposes that, when the other person is talking, you are listening -- fully engaged in the content, the nuances, the direction in which he or she is going. You have to be able to capture the message, read between the lines for nonverbal cues, check the accuracy of your understanding, integrate the new information into what you already know, and be prepared to build on that with your next question.

4. Finally, it takes the rare trait of empathy -- the ability to feel what the other person is feeling; to capture her enthusiasm for the subject; to view it as she does; and, beyond that, to transmit those feelings through the words you write to the printed page, so that they are still alive when the reader finally sees them. Empathy is more art than skill, but even art improves with practice.

As a writer, you will encounter many subjects in which you have little interest and more than a few that will bore you to tears. How do you bring such subjects to life? The answer is that you find a resource who is very interested in it, who knows a great deal or cares a great deal about it, and who is eager to share what he knows with you.

You purposely set out to capture the other person’s excitement, to understand what makes this topic so fascinating. The more questions you ask, the more you learn and, consequently, the better your grasp of the inherent richness of this topic becomes. Enthusiasm is contagious; and, if you are open and receptive, you can catch it.

The test of your interviewing skills is in the finished product. Does it do what it is intended to do: inform, educate, clarify, persuade, amuse, or create a particular impression or feeling? Is it accurate in fact, as well as in tone? Is it honest? Is it alive? If you do submit it to the interviewee for approval, is it likely to pass muster? This is the tough test to which you must submit every interview.

Bobbi Linkemer is a ghostwriter, editor, and the author of 12 books under her own name. She has been a professional writer for 40 years, a magazine editor and journalist, and a book-writing teacher. Her clients range from Fortune 100 companies to entrepreneurs who want to write books in order to enhance their credibility and build their businesses. Visit her website, WriteANonfictionBook.com.

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Make Big Profits from Small Booklets

2007-04-23T13:01:00.000-05:00

By Cathy Stucker

What is your excuse for not being published? "I don't know enough to fill a book." "I don't have time to write a whole book." "It's too hard to get an agent or publisher, and I don't want to self publish." None of these excuses apply to booklets. Anyone can write and publish an 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" booklet of 16 to 48 pages. Publishing a booklet is a good way to create an information product which will give you both credibility as an author and almost instant profits.

A few years ago, I was looking for a way to create a new income stream as well as to promote sales of my book, The Mystery Shopper’s Manual. I decided to create a 16-page booklet that would explain the basics of mystery shopping, and promoted it by sending copies of the booklet along with press releases to newspapers and magazines.

You can’t tell everything you know in a short booklet, so keep the topic narrowly focused. My booklet explained the basics of what mystery shopping is and how to get started. It had to give enough information that readers could become mystery shoppers with only what was in the booklet; however, people who wanted to know even more would be encouraged to buy the book.

Within a few months, with no advertising at all, I had sold thousands of dollars worth of booklets (at $5 each), and increased sales of The Mystery Shopper’s Manual. You can use a booklet to promote your products and services, as a way to create new streams of income, as a publicity generator, as a credibility builder and more.

Even if you don’t think of yourself as a writer, writing a booklet is simple. One format which works well is to answer frequently asked questions. Write down a list of the questions your customers ask (or should ask). You could write the answer to one question, couldn't you? Then answer another and another--before you know it, you've got a booklet! Use one of the questions as your title, with a subtitle such as "The 47 things you must know about (subject)."

Booklets can be produced in small quantities at your local copy or print shop, usually for less than $1. Have covers printed on glossy paper or card stock. The copy shop can "bookletize" (fold, staple and trim) for you.

Your booklets can be sold at the back of the room when you speak, you can promote them on your web site, they can be an add-on item to your catalog, etc. You may even be able to place them in retail outlets and bookstores. Send them to media to get free publicity. Consultants can use them as a "leave behind" with potential clients—while you won't profit directly from the booklet, they can help you attract clients.

Booklets make good premium items. Sell them in quantity to companies or other professionals in your field to give or sell to their clients. Use booklets as a premium when your customers place an order of $50 or more. Make your booklet something that is only available as a bonus with purchase. Customers who want it will buy other items to get it.

And don't forget to include in your bio sheet and press materials that you are "the author of (booklet title)." That gives you credibility and enhances your reputation and visibility.

Take the first step: Choose your topic. Then, write the booklet and take it to your local copy shop. You can be published in just days. Try it!

Cathy Stucker made thousands of dollars from one 16-page booklet without paying for advertising. Visit her website, Idea Lady, to find out how to get started.

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Best Selling Book Cover Design

2007-04-23T12:55:00.001-05:00

By Thomson Chemmanoor

To get a book cover design may be expensive and painstaking one. Book cover and the layout of the inside pages should catch the eye of the readers in today’s market. Book cover the marketing tool for any writers or publishers if you got that one right then you work is half done. Find a Designer who user the state of art software to which is preferred by most printers.

An interior of a book is also important a well placed layout of a book makes the readers easy to read and sends a message to the reader. The formatting of the interiors should be done before the cover design is completed. A well laid out book page layout is the one most reader preferred. Create a original design that gives an edge over other publishers. Pictures and photos should be given utmost importance and blends with the subject of the book. A wrong design sends wrong signals for the readers and it will remain in the shelf than in the reader’s room.

Work with an experienced graphic designer who offers the services like book cover design, case wrap design, book jacket design, text layout, barcode and image scanning. You book is judged by its cover right from the distributors, dealers, book store and finally the readers. Try to get maximum potential out of your book cover and its interior pages.

There are two major parts to be looked at for a best selling book

Part one: - Design PartThat includes the book cover design, book layout and its interior pages.

Part two: - Publishing partEditing, Copywriting, typesetting, illustration and graphics

Once all these above things are done then it is time for printing. Before doing that you have to observe few things like the spine width of the book cover it is determined by the number of pages in the book. The next process is the book type hardbound or softbound once that is decided submit your manuscript preferably in MS word format with titles sub titles and headings, etc.

Thomson Chemmanoor is a freelance website designer and website promotion expert. Visit his website, website-promotion-expert.com and digitallabz.com.

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How to Make Money with Your Short Stories, Poems, Essays and Novels

2007-04-23T12:32:00.000-05:00

By Jeremy Hoover

Recently, someone rated my “Online Book Marketing” article a 2 out of 5. That person apparently didn’t like the article. My guess is that he or she was turned off by the marketing angle. Writers write; they don’t sell. Some writers even view the concept of selling or marketing their work as somehow inherently wrong.

That’s fine. But unless you get a lucky break from a huge publishing house you will probably not go far with book sales unless you are willing to roll up your sleeves and do some serious marketing.

There are many ways you can market your writing and build a readership online. But you should also start thinking about your writing differently. For example, instead of trying to write and sell one book of short stories or one novel, why not break it into separate small books (each one a short story or two) or sell your novel as a serialized version—a new chapter or two every month? (Eventually you can sell this material in a physical book.)

The logic of my suggestion is this: Suppose you have a newsletter group of 7000 readers who love your writing. Each month you write a new short story set (including four stories), group of poems, or collection of essays that you sell as a PDF ebook. You publicize this to your newsletter group, including a free sample with your newsletter, and sell the set for $4 as an instant download.

Now, suppose only 10% of your readership buys your new ebook each month. 700 readers x $4 = $2800 each month! And don’t forget—you are constantly adding new readers to your group.

The secret to success here is to build a readership group through a free e-newsletter, and sell your writing to that group (your fan base) month after month. This is how you grow a strong, solid readership that will buy your books when you publish them in physical form, because they have bought your books when you sold them in digital form. And you made a decent living in the meantime.

Jeremy M. Hoover helps you market your books online. Contact him at jeremyhoover AT gmail.com or at his website.

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Navigating the Amazon Sales Ranking

2007-04-22T09:51:00.000-05:00

By Brent Sampson

First, the disclaimers: Since the algorithm Amazon uses to generate its sales ranking is proprietary, the details contained herein are extrapolated from research and field tests. The resulting consensus finds Amazon’s system to provide marginal sales data at best.

To whit, read Amazon’s own definition of its system, slightly paraphrased from their FAQ: “The Sales Ranking system exhibits how books are selling. The lower the number, the higher the sales. The calculation is based on sales and is updated each hour to reflect recent and historical sales of every item sold. We hope you find the Amazon.com Sales Rank interesting!” This last sentence seems to indicate Amazon’s own perspective on the importance with which the sales rankings should be viewed.

You’re not supposed to find the sales rankings informative or helpful. You’re supposed to find them interesting.

In actuality, the process is somewhat more convoluted than they let on. Only the top 10,000 books are updated every hour and the ranking does not depend upon the actual number of books sold, but rather, on a comparison against the sales figures of the other 9,999 books within that same hour. Simultaneously, a trending calculation is applied to arrive at a computerized sales trajectory. So, hypothetically, a book that held a ranking of 2,000 at 2pm and 3,000 at 3pm, might hold a 4,000 ranking at 4pm, even if it actually sold MORE books between 3-4 than it did between 2-3.

Books with rankings between 10,000 and 100,000 are recalculated once a day, rather than once an hour. Current projections, as well as historic sales information play a key role in these calculations. In fact, the predictive nature of the Amazon ranking system is what makes it possible for a newly-released book to outrank an older established title, even though the actual sales figures for the latter far exceed the former.

Books with rankings over 100,000 are also recalculated every day and applied with historic sales information and projections, although in the case of these books, history takes a back seat. Sales projections and trending take an active role here, which is why a book’s ranking can leap from 900,000 to 200,000 in the span of 24 hours or less. Does this mean the book has sold 700,000 copies in 24 hours? Absolutely not! What it does mean is that recent activity (i.e. purchases) for that book is trending higher than those 700,000 books it just surpassed. But, don’t get excited just yet; since the activity of those 700,000 other books range from slow to stagnant, one or two orders are sufficient to catapult a ranking.

If a book’s ranking breaks into the top 100,000, the sales history calculation starts to rear its head, which is why a “phenomenon” book has a hard time maintaining a high, legitimate ranking. A phenomenon is defined by a book that leaps from the high hundred-thousands into the lower thousands (or better) in the span of 24 hours or less, usually due to some concentrated marketing initiatives. Since Amazon’s sales history for that title doesn’t support the leap, the spike occurs and then quickly drops again.

How Does All This Translate to Actual Sales Figures?

Since the data is recalculated every hour and/or every day (depending upon a book’s current ranking), it’s impossible to get cumulative sales figures, although those figures are applied to the algorithm during the calculation. No, to get a very rough idea of the actual number of books being sold, the sales ranking has to be dissected dynamically, with the same immediacy as the ranking being calculated, (hourly for top 10,000 books or daily for top 100,000 books). Chart the ranking of a top 10,000 book every hour for 24 hours and divide by 24 to arrive at its average daily ranking. In the case of a top 100,000 book, take its ranking every day for 7 days and divide by 7 to arrive at its average weekly ranking.

Bear in mind that this next piece of information is extremely arbitrary, based upon sales ranking/sales figure comparisons and data received from third party sources. In other words, it's probably completely wrong. But rather than disclaiming this chart until the cows come home, I'll just say this: It is difficult to make sense of something that doesn’t make sense. But it sure is interesting, and now, perhaps, even slightly helpful.

If the book’s average ranking is: 2,000,000-plus, then perhaps a single inventory/consignment copy has been ordered.
1,000,000-plus, the current trends indicate total sales will most likely be under 40.
100,00-plus, then current trends indicate total sales will most likely be under 200.
10,000-plus, you can estimate between 1 – 10 copies are being sold per week.
1,000-plus, you can estimate between 10 – 100 copies are being sold per week.
100-plus, you can estimate between 100 – 200 copies are being sold per week.
10-plus, you can estimate between 200 – 1000 copies are being sold per week.
In the top 10, you can estimate over 1,000 copies are sold per week

Brent Sampson is the President & CEO of Outskirts Press Publishing and author of Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer.

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How Fiction Authors Can Get Publicity

2007-04-22T09:42:00.000-05:00

By Diane Eble

Traditionally, fiction authors have found it very difficult to get publicity outside of media that reviews books. That's because they've been focusing on their book, rather than the topic. The way novelists can get publicity is to highlight their expertise on a topic related to their book that will interest the media.

For instance, one novelist I know wrote a book about a young woman who was raped and faced the dilemma of should she abort, even though it went against her beliefs? The author had done a lot of research on post-traumatic stress syndrome as it relates to abortion. One of the things she discovered is that abortion affects not just the woman who chooses it, but everyone else involved: the father of the child, the woman's family, even the doctor and nurses who might be involved in the abortion. While her novel graphically portrayed how all this plays out, the publicity angle is based on her expertise as someone who not only had an abortion, but did extensive research on it.

Another novelist I know wrote a fast-paced adventure story concerning, among other things, world hunger. Publicity angles could include how organizations do or do not hinder relief efforts, how corporations fit into the picture (something her novel portrayed), what one person can do to fight world hunger, etc.

Publicity offers some of the best exposure for your book, as I've said over and over again. If you're a novelist, don't overlook this outlet. Brainstorm all the issues that relate to whatever goes on in your book. Keep abreast of news and trends and how you can fit in. See yourself not just as a novelist, but as an expert in some area related to your novel.

When you get publicity for your expertise on your topic, of course your book will get mentioned. You can talk about how your research played into the formation of your characters, etc., but remember to keep the focus on the angle that interests the media.

Diane Eble has 28 years experience in the publishing industry as an editor (magazines, fiction and nonfiction books), author (11 published books, more than 350 articles), and copywriter. She is now a book publishing coach as well. For more information on how to write a book proposal that sells, check out Jump Start Your Book: 12 Questions You Must Answer Before You Write Your First Word.

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7 Strategies for Successful Blogging

2007-04-22T09:38:00.000-05:00

By Sharon Hurley Hall

What makes some blogs more successful than others? Here are seven strategies that will contribute to every blog's success.

What's Your Niche?

When people start to blog, they often have little idea what they're going to say today and less idea what they'll be talking about in five years' time. That doesn't matter much at the beginning, but if you're going to stick to blogging, you need to find something you enjoy writing about and can stay current on. Something that's a big part of your life will make a good blogging niche. For me, that's writing; for you, it could be something else.

Keep Your Focus

Once you've found your niche, stick to it, most of the time at least. When your readers get used to the content you provide, your readership will dip if you go off-topic for too long. You need to find a way to make your content relevant to your readers. Sometimes all you need to do that is a good title. Choosing a title that relates to the theme of your blog or post will help readers realize what your topic is and how this post relates to it.

Read or Dead?

If you want people to read your blog, you've got to give them something to read - and you've got to make it regular. For some people, this means posting at least once or several times a day. For others, it means posting a couple of times a week. If you're a WAHM or part-time blogger, you may not have a lot of time to sit down and think of posts, let alone write them. But as long as there's activity on the blog, there'll be people reading it. Stay away too long and people are likely to abandon your blog for one that's got fresh content. Since people have lives that are offline (as well as online) getting a guest blogger is a good way to make sure your blog is updated if you have to be away. And with some blogging platforms like Wordpress, you can submit blog posts by email.

Tell the World

Sitting around waiting for people to find your content can take a long time. Instead, take the content to them with headline animators from Feedburner, email alerts from Feedblitz, RSS feeds from whoever you choose. Submit your blog to directories and try to think of a description that will make people want to visit. This is especially important if your blog is just one of many in a crowded field. What is the unique selling point of your blog? What makes it stand out from the rest? That's what you need to put in the description. Use pinging services like Pingoat to let people know you've updated your content. Also use the social bookmarking services to take your blog posts to a wider audience.

Read All About It

Read other people's blogs, not just on your own blogging platform, but everywhere. This will let you know what people are thinking and talking about and may give you inspiration for blog posts of your own. This article was inspired by a post on Problogger, for example.

Talk to Others

When you read other blogs, be sure to comment if you've found the post interesting or useful. If you have something to add to the discussion, that's even more useful. The best blogging has a community feel and you have to keep talking to maintain that community. That also means that you should respond to all comments on your blog. If you get a lot of visitors, you don't have to respond individually, but it's nice for people to know their voices have been heard.

Work Those Links

Use blogrolls and bookmarks to keep track of the bloggers you read. You can also link to interesting posts in your own posts and use the trackbacks feature to let those people know about the link. If you're lucky, those people will also link back to you and you'll get new readers for your blog. But that's only one part of the story. The best way to keep getting readers for your posts is to link to them in other posts. After all, you're the person who's most likely to know if one of your blog posts is related to another.

These strategies are a good way of building a blog readership and a sense of community with your readers. Once you've done that, your readers will come to you with questions and comments that will lead to other blog posts - and you'll be sure that someone wants to read them.

Sharon Hurley Hall gives writers advice on how to get paid to write. Sharon is a freelance writer, ghostwriter and editor who writes on freelance writing skills and writer promotion for InspiredAuthor.com. For more information or to contact Sharon, visit her site, Double H Design.

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How Publishers Decide to Publish a Book (or Not)

2007-04-20T08:07:00.001-05:00

By Diane Eble

Have you ever wondered how publishers go about deciding whether to publish a manuscript?

I recently talked to Andrea Mullins, the publisher of New Hope Publishers (who just happen to be the publisher of my book, Abundant Gifts). Andrea outlined the process in great detail. Though this process might differ slightly from publisher to publisher, most follow the same basic process. (I know, because I have worked with at least a dozen of them, as an author, editor, and/or book coach.)

Note that many publishers do not accept unsolicited manuscripts or book proposals. That means that you usually have to have an agent, or some prior contact with an editor who has given you the go-ahead to send in your proposal. If you do not have an agent or the go-ahead from an editor, the book proposal is routinely returned with a form letter.

It will be returned only if you included a self-addressed, stamped mailer for the package to be returned, by the way. Otherwise, you can guess where it's dumped.

If a publisher does accept unsolicited proposals, they usually have guidelines, posted on their web site. Make sure you follow these guidelines to the letter, or you'll waste your time and your chance with that publisher.

Here's what happens to your book proposal, once it arrives at a publishing house:

1. The proposal gets added to the pile along with a lot of other book proposals. Depending on the publisher's submission guidelines (check these ahead), the proposal may be screened first by someone. If an agent has contacted an editor, the proposal will end up on that editor's desk. He or she will look it over, and make an initial decision whether to bring it before others in the publishing house.

2. If the editor deems the proposal worthy of pitching, he or she will take it to the next "pub board" meeting. Usually the "pub board" consists of the publisher, an acquisitions editor (usually the one who first sees your proposal), a marketing person, a sales manager, and a "numbers cruncher." The acquisitions editor champions your book, persuading the others as to why this book is worthy of being published. The editor will have nothing to go on but your proposal, so that's why it has to answer any question a publisher might have about what the book is about, who the audience is, why the author is qualified to write the book, what the competition is, what kind of marketing the author will put into it.

It's important to know that there are any number of reasons why a publisher might reject a book, even if they love the idea. They may already be publishing a book like it, or know that another publisher is going to publish a similar book. They may have done research already, and they know that "those kinds of books" don't sell. I recently pitched a book to a publisher. They loved the idea, but their research on prior books like it told them that this particular book doesn't sell enough to warrant publishing.

3. If the pub board thinks the book has possibilities, usually they will crunch some numbers. Often this means going to special services they have access to, that tell them exactly how many books of a similar title sold. (Regular folk don't have access to such numbers from services like Bookscan, which tracks how many books sell per week in retail outlets including bookstores and other outlets such as Target or Wal-Mart stores.)

Publishers don't only look at the bookstore sales, thankfully. In fact, more than half of all books sold are sold through channels other than bookstores, such as mail order, warehouse clubs, special sales to a variety of outlets such as corporations, nonprofit organizations, or associations that might buy bulk orders. If a publisher knows a book will do well in these channels, and the publisher already has inroads into these special markets, they may publish the book even though they know it won't do well on the retail level.

This is where it pays to do your homework, both about potential non-traditional outlets you may have contacts with, and about which publishers might have such contacts so you can target them knowledgeably. For instance, one of my clients has a book with a potential market for college students. We sent the proposal to a publisher that is associated with a college campus ministry.

4. If all lights are green—the publisher loves the idea, the author has a solid platform, the numbers work out to indicate the book will sell well—the publisher tries to determine how many books will be sold in the first year. Typically, they will figure a royalty advance based on this number. Of course, they will probably shoot lower at first, figuring there will be some negotiating on the part of the agent and/or author. They will then offer the author a contract.

If the publisher decides the book won't be profitable enough for them—for whatever reason—they reject the proposal or manuscript.

If you get a rejection from a publisher, it's good to determine, if you can, why the book was rejected. Sometimes they'll tell you; usually they'll just say "it's not right for us at this time." If you have an agent, the agent can often find out what was wrong.

If it's something you can fix—such as adding ballast to your platform—go ahead and take some time to lay some more ground work before moving on to another publisher. This is where an agent or book publishing coach can help you.

If the book just isn't right for that particular publisher, you move on and submit to another. Agents usually submit to several publishers on their "A list" first, and only move on to the "B list" once they hear back from everyone on the first round.

It's worth noting that you usually don't get a second chance with a publisher, so make sure your proposal is as strong as it can be from the outset. Study a publisher's list; see if you can determine what their unique stance is, and figure out how your book fits into what they're doing. Articulate that in your cover letter.

Look at the publisher's guidelines as posted on their site. However, I have always gone above and beyond what they request—and I have sold every one of the books I have ever proposed (11 in all, plus one book reprinted when three agents told me nobody is buying reprints).

Remember, even if you are rejected by one publisher, don’t take it personally. Even books that end up being best sellers were rejected by publishers. Hang onto your vision, make sure your book proposal and writing are as strong as they can possibly be, and never, never, never, never give up!

Diane Eble has 28 years experience in the publishing industry as an editor (magazines, fiction and nonfiction books), author (11 published books, more than 350 articles), and copywriter. She is now a book publishing coach as well. For more information on how to write a book proposal that sells, check out Jump Start Your Book: 12 Questions You Must Answer Before You Write Your First Word.

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Book Marketing Plan Basics

2007-04-20T07:52:00.000-05:00

By Tara Coyt

I can’t help but quote the late, great James Brown…“Please, please, please… (Please, please don’t go.)”

I beg you please don't take your book to market if you haven't developed a marketing plan. That includes:

defining your target audience (visualize specific individuals you foresee purchasing the book)
making a list of specific organizations that might
hosting a book signing or speaking engagement
developing promotional materials - sales sheet, web page, post cards and book marks
writing an enticing book description
determining ideal outlets for selling your book (internet retailers, your web site, independent book stores, speaking engagements, etc.)

What’s the worst that could happen? You could be one of those authors who never sells more than 99 books!

Marketing should not begin after the book is produced; it must begin before the book goes to press. Why not wait until the book has been printed? First of all, you’ll miss several crucial marketing opportunities. Secondly, if you wait until the book is in your hands you’ll feel under the gun to sell it and planning probably won’t be a priority for you.

Another good reason to think of marketing before your book is printed or published is the book cover. After all, you can’t expect your readers to judge a book without its cover!

Marketing Plan

In regards to your book cover, the marketing plan will help you determine the appropriate design, key words, and the content for the back cover. By developing a marketing plan, you’ll be forced to consider:

specific target markets
their interests and desires
their trusted and frequent information resources

Armed with this information you’ll be able to write a back cover description that entices prospective readers to open and purchase the book.

Target Market

Once you understand your target market, where they purchase books and whose opinions they trust and admire you’ll have enough information to identify the appropriate sales venues (internet retailers, book stores, conferences, etc.). I’ve included a sample target market analysis at the end of the book.

Here’s an example: I mentioned the client who’s writing a young adult fiction novel. She told me her target market was teens and young women aged 15 – 35. That’s a great start, but it’s not enough. With my help she was able to expand this description…

Primary target: black single women and single mothers ages 23- 30;
Secondary target: black young adult women & college students age 18 – 22
Tertiary target: black high school teens 15-18

Notice that we didn’t just say readers, but that we were specific about their sex, age, marital status and education - single women, single mothers, college students and high school students.

We also considered geography. The author lives in Atlanta, GA therefore this is her primary geographic target. We expanded this to include the Southeast region of the U.S. since it’s easy for her to travel to neighboring states for book signings and speaking engagements. She also has extensive contacts in New York so we included the Northeast as a secondary geographic market. Segmented the market this way does not mean preclude the author from pursuing national sales, it just helps her focus on specific regions.

Don’t worry if the thought of writing a formal marketing plan, causes some apprehension. Instead consider using a tool that my clients and I have found extremely helpful – the book proposal. Traditionally, book proposals are only necessary for authors in search of an agent or a traditional publisher, however I’ve found the proposal to be an immense help to all authors.

In the process of writing a book proposal you will:

Clarify the subject hook (short, compelling book description)
Present the book hook (title, selling handle and length)
Identify specific benefits and features
Identify competitive titles
Address marketing strategies and tactics

While writing God is My Consultant I found myself a bit confused about how to position the book, how to make it different and better than other spiritual/self-help books and the book’s major selling points. After two re-writes I still like it wasn’t quite right. So I stopped working on the manuscript and turned to writing the proposal. By the time I finished writing the proposal I was able to delete a lot of extraneous information from my manuscript, I had a full-fledged marketing and promotions plan and I knew exactly what to put in query letters to agents and publishers.

I also used the book proposal format to help a client edit her novel and write a book description to use on the back cover and in promotional material. To solve this problem we wrote the subject hook and the target market sections of the book proposal. In doing so, she was compelled to focus on the book’s main theme and why it appealed to her target readers.

Tara Coyt believes in the power of the written word. Known as The Write Author Coach, she has been writing and speaking professionally for over 20 years. Tara helps aspiring and existing authors by sharing her best talents - writing, strategic development, marketing and creativity. In 2005 Tara founded the GET IT WRITE Author's Circle to connect writers and authors with industry professionals and resources. Her first book, DOWNlo MARKETING: Uncover Your Business, Discover More Profits is an example of Tara’s straightforward, personable and humorous approach to writing. When she isn’t coaching authors or writing (a column for Catalyst Magazine, a memoir and a book on spirituality) Tara can be heard discussing the GET IT WRITE Approach. Her audiences include writers, business professionals, elected officials, speakers, educators and college students striving to transform their ideas, goals, experience and passions into successful ventures.

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Consider a Career in Proofreading

2007-04-19T20:00:00.001-05:00

By Joe Bensam

Do you have excellent language skills and enjoy reading? Then why not consider a career in proofreading? Many writers are looking for people who are offering freelance proofreading services. But what exactly is proofreading and how do you go about finding these freelance proofreading jobs?

Trevor Horwood on his website, copyediting.co.uk describes proofreading as follows: "Once a manuscript has been copy-edited …it is sent to a typesetter, who produced a loose-leaf proof copy of the book (or article, or brochure, or whatever) prior to publication. These proofs, together with the copy-edited manuscript, are then sent to a proofreader who checks a.) that the setter has not made any errors while typesetting the manuscript and b.) that the copy-editor has not missed any errors in the original copy. Again, the proofreader’s task consists of rather more than simply ‘checking the spelling’"

Most people who provide freelance proofreading services work from home and enjoy the benefits of home-based employment such as setting their own hours, being their own boss, determining what projects they take on and when. The disadvantages of home-based employment however also apply to those who offer freelance proofreading services – they do not have a set income each month, they don’t get paid holidays or other company benefits. These disadvantages however are easily overlooked when you are enjoying the benefits of freelance proofreading jobs.

The first place to start your search for freelance proofreading jobs is at freelance jobs boards such as GoFreelance, elance.com and guru.com. These freelance jobs boards offer many opportunities for those who are offering freelance proofreading services. All that is necessary is to register with one or two of them and then start tendering or bidding on the proofreading jobs that they are advertising.

As you discover what freelance proofreading jobs are available out there you may wish to focus on different kinds of freelance proofreading. Apart from your traditional proofreading of print books the world of the internet has opened up even more variety in the area of proofreading including proofreading for websites, proofreading ebooks, ezines or really any kind of document that can be produced. As a freelance proofreader you are free to choose what work you take on so you may want to specialize in one type of freelance proofreading or take on a variety of work from the above categories – the choice is yours.

If you have excellent language skills, enjoy reading and want the benefits provided by freelance employment then you should consider offering freelance proofreading services. As a freelance proofreader you will be able to work from the comfort of your own home, set your own hours and take on as much or as little work as you like and can comfortably live on. In order to find freelance proofreading jobs we suggest looking on freelance jobs boards such as GoFreelance, elance.com and guru.com.

Joe Bensam is the Editor of GoFreelance, the leading jobs site for freelance professionals worldwide. Join GoFreelance and get access to thousands of freelance jobs and work-at-home projects.

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How to Find a Literary Agent

2007-04-19T07:29:00.000-05:00

By Diane Eble

If you want to paid to publish your book (through a traditional publisher, as opposed to self-publishing and paying all the costs yourself), it helps a lot to get a literary agent. The Big Six New York publishers won't even consider a manuscript unless it comes from a reputable literary agent.

Trouble is, it can be as difficult to find a reputable agent to represent your work as it is to get a publisher.

Not to fear, however. You do have a chance! I just talked with an editor who affirmed she is looking for new writers who have a "hook" that will offer fresh talent to their book line. Editors are always open to finding new talent, and so are agents.

Here's where to start:

1. Look online at The Literary Agents web site. There you'll find free resources and tips for finding agents, a template you can use to write a cover letter to an agent, and links to literary agency listings. Some agencies require you to fill out an online submission form, and others ask you to e-mail your submission.

One author I know sent out 10 identical submissions via e-mail to 10 literary agents. In the e-mail, she wrote that she had just written a book and gave a bulleted list of topics covered in the book, and said she was looking for a literary agent. Less than two hours later, she received an e-mail from a literary agent who represented top authors such as Jack Canfield of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" series. The agent took on my friend's project, and sold it to a New York publisher only a few months later.

2. Visit a bookstore and look at books similar to yours. Read the acknowledgements page; usually authors mention their literary agents there. Make note of the agents and look up the agency online or from Literary Marketplace or Writer's Market. (If you don't own these books, you can find them in the reference section of your public library.) Write these agents a query letter about your book, highlighting your credentials, and bullet points about what your book is about.

Why do I suggest this? Because agents have their favorite kinds of books to sell, and you obviously want an agent that is enthusiastic about your book. In addition, if your agent is listed in a published book, you can be sure he or she has actually sold at least one book to a publisher.

Another way to find an agent is to use your network. Ask other authors whom they use and if they're happy with their agent.

You'll want to investigate more about the agents you're interested in, as well. Google search their names and look at their web sites. Do they seem well-established? Do they have any best-selling authors on their client lists?

Is your potential agent a member of the Association of Authors' Representatives (AAR)? This would be ideal. There may be a good reason why an agent isn't a member, but I'd steer clear of someone who's not unless you have a personal recommendation of the agent from someone you trust. Search for agents and view the AAR code of ethics.

3. Contact your potential agents. Try to get a list of at least 3 people. Send them your query. If they respond positively, set up a time to talk, if you can. Agents are very busy people, but if they're too busy to answer a few of your questions, they may be too busy to do a good job selling your book. Just use common courtesy and respect their time, but make sure you get a chance to know whether you "click" with the person.

As with any working relationship, you want to choose the person carefully. A bad agent is a nightmare. A good agent is a great asset—someone who could open doors you could never enter on your own.

Diane Eble has 28 years experience in the publishing industry as an editor (magazines, fiction and nonfiction books), author (11 published books, more than 400 articles), and copywriter. She is now a book publishing coach as well, helping people to write, publish, and make money with books and other information products. This article was excerpted from her free "Your Book Publishing Coach" newsletter. Diane's latest book is the downloadable coaching session, Jump Start Your Book: 12 Questions You Must Answer Before You Write Your First Word.

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10 Tips on How to Write a Good Review

2007-04-19T07:21:00.001-05:00

By Carrie White

You see them everywhere: on the back of books or magazines, listed on websites, on posters if they’re films and sometimes whole sites on the internet are geared to listing them for every possible product. So, what are they and, why are they so important?

They are reviews and they’re important because they help consumers decide whether or not they want to purchase that particular product or service. They are also an excellent marketing tactic for the companies or authors who request them. The trouble is, anyone can write a review but not everyone can write a good review. Quality will be the key factor in encouraging the consumer, to buy or not to buy the product, so the review must grab them almost straightaway.

So, how do you write a good review? To help you, here are my Top 10 Tips to becoming a good and respected reviewer whatever the product. Please note: these tips can apply to anything that you need to review. Some of the suggestions might even be obvious but you’ll be surprised at how often they are omitted:

• The most important tip is to enjoy what you do. You must be an avid reader and enjoy discovering new talent and products. If you don’t, it will show in your review.

• As you read or browse, make a mental note or write it down if you think you’ll forget, of specific areas of the product that spark something in you. This, also, could be an act or situation in a novel that you can personally relate to. For example, I could relate to the title of one novel that I reviewed recently. I was interested to see if the title mirrored my own personal experiences. Whether it did or did not, in the end, is immaterial but what I felt on a personal level was then added to the final review.

• Think about what the product says to you as a reviewer. Do you hate it? Are there particular facts or information that you feel are incorrect e.g. historical dates or myths? Does it excite or anger you? What other emotions does it rouse in you? As an example, I read and reviewed a novel some time ago, that stated, what I saw as, two incorrect historical facts. It did not mean that I hated the novel, far from it, but it did spoil my enjoyment of it. I stated my opinions in the final review, but unfortunately I received no acknowledgment that the author had received the completed piece. So, be warned. It does not automatically mean your opinions will be liked or accepted. You will, however, gain respect and a good and fair reputation as a reviewer. If you’re not honest with yourself and/or your clients, then what’s the point of the review?

• One of my bad habits in writing is using the same word over and over again. Make use of a thesaurus to find another way of saying a similar thing.

• Make sure you have all relevant information correct in your review. Sometimes, it can be easy to forget the name of a specific character in a novel, product name or even contact information for the author/webmaster. Check the facts again. Try not to make any errors in that respect otherwise it looks like you have not even looked at the product or that you care about what you’re reviewing.

• If you’re reviewing a novel or book, don’t just write what the novel is about in your own words and have, at worst, one line of your own thoughts. Believe me I have seen reviews out there like this. This is an example of a very poor review. A review is your opinion. The reader wants to know what you thought of the novel not just what the book or product is about even if it is written in your own words. Remember: That is what the synopsis is for!

• Unless you are working for a review site that asks for this way of writing a review, don’t mark separate areas of the novel or product with ratings or points. This method is extremely hard and boring to read. Reviews for books should be short and to the point. They are designed to attract the buyer in a limited time. Reviews are not always the most exciting things to read unless you’re looking for a specific item. Using this way of reviewing guarantees the loss of interest or sale for your client.

• Develop your own style of writing. When I started reviewing I had to follow a set standard review format because that was what was required at the site I worked for. Over the years, I have stuck to this basic format but have developed my own style and pattern. Personalise your work.

• Communicate with your clients. Have a happy, cheerful, friendly outlook and they will submit to you again in the future.

• And, finally, have fun!

So, there you go. If you follow the tips above I can promise you will be well on your way to becoming an expert reviewer.

Happy Reviewing!

Carrie White has written a number of erotic short stories, self published a few of her own ebooks and has been published both in print and online. Her story 'Casino' features in The Right Words Anthologized (Stevie Burns, 2005). More of her writing can be viewed at Hentracks. After reviewing ebooks for more than 7 years with Eva Almeida, she now runs her own reviewing service reviewing ebook, blogs and websites.

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How Book Design and Book Marketing Will Keep Your Book Alive

2007-04-19T05:39:00.000-05:00

By Sidney Smith

Too many authors spend all their time on writing, then scrimp on book design and book marketing. They hope that their publisher will handle all the details of book design and book marketing, so that they can just sit back and rake in the millions year after year.

Then, if these same authors decide to self-publish, they'll quickly get lost in the morass of print on demand publishers and the time and money sink hole of self-publishing. In fact, most authors would rather die than think about book marketing, or spend money on book design.

Facing your book marketing competition

In 2005, around 172,000 books were published with an ISBN number, according to Bowker, which compiles publishing statistics. An ISBN number will get you into Books in Print, and allows your book to be distributed to bookstores and online sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. According to some sources, nearly one quarter of these books were printed by Print on Demand (POD) companies.

I'd estimate that number to be much higher, as many small publishers are having their books printed by Lightning Source, which also provides printing for many of the larger POD companies.

Additionally, Lulu Press, who publishes over 1500 books per week, says that only about 5% of their books get an ISBN number. That's another 80,000 or so books circulating in the market each year, although most of Lulu's books are only sold through Lulu Press on their web site.

The definition of "Best Seller" has changed

It only takes 300 book sales to get on Lulu's all-time top 100 bestsellers list. 300 books! For some people, that can be attained simply by selling books to their extended family. While AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Xlibris, and other big players in the POD market might print more books with ISBN numbers, their sales records aren't much better.

Some sources estimate that the average book sells no more than 150 copies, and other sources put that number at below fifty copies. In many cases, authors end up losing money on their books, which is why Lulu Press is so popular. At Lulu, you can upload your book interior and cover (you do all the design work), and have a book on your doorstep within days - all for the "cost of printing" (which is highly inflated, by the way).

The services and prices of POD companies vary widely, which is why we're in the final stages of creating a comprehensive guide on self-publishing. It can be a confusing morass of information and data, with many unsubstantiated claims. The truth shall be revealed.

Will you be one of the winners, or part of the majority?

Will your book be dead before it hits the streets? If you have any intention of selling more than 50 books, then you'll have to invest time - and money - into the production and marketing of your book. Here are the basic steps you'll have to consider:

1. Write a great book that's got an audience.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to assume that people will read their book just because it's "good." People will read a book if it is either applicable to their lives (non-fiction), or if it really is a damned good book (fiction). Even then, you'll have to market your book. "How to sell a book" or "How to market a book" are two of the top questions we get, and search engine analysis shows that these are frequent search terms. If you haven't written your book with an audience in mind, then you're down to three legs on your four-legged marketing stool.

2. Spend some money on book cover design and book editing.

The second leg of book marketing is the interior and exterior design of the book. People do judge a book by its cover, so if you're not spending some money on getting an outstanding cover, you're losing sales. Then, people will open the book and read the intro or first few pages. Is it well-written? Easy to read? Is the interior book design clean, consistent, and well-implemented. I've seen many POD books in which the margins were too small, the fonts poorly chosen, and the images fuzzy. Who's going to buy a book like that?

There are many great book cover designers. Then for editing, contact Charity at The Mighty Pen for your editing needs. Don't scrimp on the editing because you WILL make mistakes (trust me on this - there are probably a few in this article).

3. Choose a good quality publisher.

Lulu Press is great if you just want to print a few books for your friends, or create a low-cost galley to send to editors, agents, or distributors. You'll often be asked to send a "galley" of your book, which is simply a printed copy of your book with a blank cover. Lulu Press is great for creating galleys at minimal cost.

As we'll show you in our upcoming comprehensive guide to self-publishing, which POD company you choose depends on your intentions and desires. If you want to have your book professionally edited and the cover professionally designed by your publisher (instead of outsourcing to some unknown person), then companies like Cold Tree Press might be a good choice. Other companies offer a varied level of marketing packages. Personally, I'd rather stay away from having these publishers market my book, and instead go to a good book marketing expert or media specialist.

But, there are a few small publishers (like Cold Tree Press or Arbor Books) who have excellent book marketing packages, ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars (you get what you pay for!).

4. Take a "no holds barred" approach to book marketing.

If your book is your life, or is a major part of your business marketing plan, then spend some money on publicity and book marketing. Too many people, especially business people, write a book, put a page up on their web site (and on Amazon), and hope that they'll get some sales. Your book is like a 250 page business card, and it should be used accordingly.

If your book is your life story or a novel, you still need to spend some money on marketing, although your approach will be different. Definitely check out a media relations specialist (Marika Flatt at PR By the Book) or book marketing specialist (Penny Sansevieri at Author Marketing Experts, Inc.).

5. Use the Internet to market your book.

The old ways of marketing books, such as book tours, are dead and gone. Sure, you can still do them, but if you really want to sell books, you'll have to go online - and not quietly.

Use techniques such as blogs (blogging), Podcasting, and Videocasting (something like online infomercials). Be sure to check out our advanced book marketing teleseminar series. You should also learn how to do a Virtual Book tour (a class Penny Sansevieri will be teaching through Write and Publish Your Book).

So, write a great book, find a good book cover designer and book editor, work with a quality publisher, market the heck out of your book, and use the Internet to market your book with podcasts, blogging (an author blog), videocasts, and virtual book tours.

Good luck. Good writing. Good selling.

Sidney Smith publishes the Write and Publish Your Book site where you can check out advanced marketing teleseminars on podcasting, self-publishing, publishing and marketing for writers and solo entrepreneurs.

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The Blog Challenge: Using the Creativity Tool SCAMPER to Improve Your Blog

2007-04-16T18:40:00.000-05:00

By Vernon Myers

I really enjoy using creativity tools so I decided to use a tool called SCAMPER to create some new ideas for my blog. The acronym SCAMPER stands for substitute, combine, adapt, modify, put to another use, and rearrange. Basically, this tool is a checklist of idea-spurring questions. SCAMPER was made popular in the book Thinkertoys by Michael Michalko.

Here is how I used it: I started out by asking myself the following question:

“In what ways might I improve my blog?”

Using this question as the start point I set off to use SCAMPER to generate new ideas.

Substitute

What content or style can I substitute on my blog?

Start an online diary
Convert it to a news site
Make it a gossip site
Convert it to a video blogging site
Convert it to an audio blogging site
Provide video news casts
Provide opinions on topics of the day
Promote the latest headlines in the news
Start an online magazine
Convert it into a social networking site
Provide provocative content

Combine

What ideas can I combine with blogging to improve the blog?

Combine current news with future predictions
Make the blog a combined free/membership site
Focus the blog on helping to improve the plight of people around the world
Discuss current events
Discuss political and business leaders from around the world

Adapt

What ideas can I adapt to improve my blog?

Add RSS feeds
Find out how to put a feed out through Google
Add lots of pictures
Get others involved in promoting my blog
Get others involved in providing content for my blog
Utilize Google advertising tools to make money

Modify

What can I modify to improve my blog?

Change the color scheme
Add lots of pictures
Add lots of links
Ask other website owners to link to my blog
Sell information products from my blog

Put to another use

How can I put my blog to another use?

Use blog to help me write my book
Use blog to tell stories
Use blog to present my ideas
Use blog to display my work
Use blog to outline my goals, dreams, and progress towards my goals

Eliminate

How can I improve my blog by eliminating something?

Eliminate bland color scheme
Eliminate unnecessary updates

Rearrange

How can I improve my blog by rearranging it?

3 columns

Links on left
Content/updates in center
Links on right

2 columns

Pictures on left
Content/updates on right

I hope this helps you to see how you can use creativity tools to help you improve anything you can think of. You may also see an idea or two that you can use on your own blog - have at it!

Vernon Myers is the founder of Student of Ideas, a website dedicated to exploring ideas and creativity. Visit and receive the Idea Tips newsletter, a weekly email that helps you to become a better idea generator.

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How to Self-Publish a Book on a Shoestring Budget

2007-04-16T18:09:00.000-05:00

By Sidney Smith

Let's say you want to know how to self-publish a book, and you want to do it in the least expensive and best way possible. Is this contradictory?

In fact, on my web site at Write and Publish Your Book, the two questions I'm asked the most are how to self-publish a book and how to do it on a shoestring budget. They also, coincidentally, want to know the BEST way to do this.

But for now, let's focus on this question of the best and cheapest way to publish a book. In fact, these are two entirely separate questions. The first question is, "What is the best way to publish my book?" Then, the second question should be, "What is the cheapest way to publish my book?"

See, most people who ask me this question are really just new to the business. It's a perfectly legitimate question, especially if you've slaved over writing your book for two or three months (again, the timeline for writing a quality book is the subject of another essay). So let's take these two questions apart.

What is the best way to publish a book?

Write an outstanding, must-read book that is unique, provocative, controversial, a literary masterpiece, or is endorsed by someone like Oprah. No, really. That's the best way to publish a book.

Take for example Joseph Finder, author of the best selling corporate espionage book, Paranoia. He'd had moderate success with his previous well-written CIA suspense novels, but didn't hit it big until he inadvertently created an entirely new genre with Paranoia. In his words, "All I was doing was trying something new - a thriller with a fresh setting, a fresh cast of characters."

Or, how about Nora Raleigh Baskin, popular author of middle-grade novels such as In the Company of Crazies (HarperCollins). She'd had a knee-high stack of rejection letters until she wrote the book she'd always wanted to write - not because she wanted to be published, but because she wanted to write this particular book. That one book, which she wrote from her heart, got her on the road to a successful writing career.

Many people have a great idea for a book, and many of these books are from their life experiences. They have no experience as a writer, but the strange thing is that they almost always ask first about publishing the book before it's even written.

Even if they do ask how to self-publish a book, they're still thinking in terms of publishing their best seller before they've even determined if there is a market for the book!

For example, remember the story about the guy who had to saw his own arm off with a dull knife in order to save his life? Aron Ralston didn't just come up with the idea to write his book Between a Rock and a Hard Place. His story was popularized well before the book was ever written.

Contrast that with the woman who wants to write about her experiences with domestic violence. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual story. As much as I'd like to see an end to this horrible sickness, the story won't necessarily sell books.

And selling books is what it comes down to. Will your book sell? That's the ultimate question you need to answer if you want your book published. The question of the salability of your book applies whether you're self-publishing or attempting to sell your book to a publisher. Either way, it's got to sell or it just won't go anywhere.

That said, let's get back to the original question: What's the best way to publish my book?

Self-Publish or Traditional Publisher?

There's no easy answer to this question, and the answer you get will depend on who you ask. I think a lot of it depends on you, the genre of your book, your experience as a writer and in sales, and your intentions for the book.

Self-publishing is ideal for a business person who wants to use the book as part of his or her overall business strategy. It's a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field (assuming the book is well-written and informative). The book can be "repurposed" into E-books, teleclasses (telephone conference-call classes), Webinars (seminars held on the phone and Internet), and eventually advanced courses sold for thousands of dollars. Thus, the book itself is printed at a loss and is generally given away to seminar attendees.

Self-publishing is also an option for novelists who really believe in their books, but because they're new can't find a publisher for the book. The key here is that you've at least tried to sell your book to a traditional publisher.

Self-publishing with an aim toward eventual publishing with a major publishing house will require a tremendous amount of energy and perseverance to market and sell your book. If you can show that the book sells, you'll find a publisher. Just putting it on Amazon won't do a thing. You absolutely must work at marketing your book.

There are many self-publishing options, ranging from "free" (Lulu) to several thousand dollars. Perhaps the worst option is to go with what's called "Vanity" press. These are companies who will publish your book for two to ten thousand dollars, print 2500 or more copies, and do a minimal amount of marketing. You're stuck with a garage full of books and an empty wallet. Beware those companies who want to print your book in bulk.

Lulu is the most popular, but has its own costs. Most of the books published on Lulu sell no more than 10 copies - total. The books are amateurish, with home-made covers that look like something the dog chewed. The book print quality is good, but the printing prices are steep. For a fee you can have an ISBN number assigned and the book listed on Amazon.

On the other hand, for just a little more money you can buy your own ISBN number and have your book printed at Lightning Source for far less money per book. You'll make your investment back with less than 100 books printed.

Then, there's everything in-between, including "Print on Demand" book publishers who will create the cover, edit your book, and format the interior of the book so that it looks professional. Some POD publishers simply publish your book as-is. You provide the cover and the interior formatting.

Just consider that you generally get what you pay for, although some POD publishers will charge you high fees for what loosely resembles a marketing plan. Make sure you compare the options closely.

Traditional Publishing

Expect rejection. Seriously, the vast majority of books submitted to both big and small traditional publishers (publishers who either pay you up front or don't ask for any up-front money from you) are rejected. It's a fact of life simply because they're in it to make money. If they don't think the book will sell, they'll reject it.

The best way to ensure success is to write a beautiful, clever, provocative, inspiring, brilliant book. No, let me take that back. The best way to ensure success is to already be someone popular, well-known, famous, or influential. Think Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, or Paris Hilton (dread the thought).

If you're writing a nonfiction book, it's best to be someone important, have a track record in sales, or have excellent credentials. If you're not any of these, then consider co-authoring your book with someone who fits the above criteria.

Also, for nonfiction or a memoir, do your marketing research beforehand. If you can go into your book proposal or query letter armed with documented proof that people are buying your type of book AND that yours has a interesting and unique twist on a highly relevant topic, then you'll get their attention.

You'll need to write an excellent proposal. I've charged thousands to write nonfiction book proposals (and I have a good track record of success). It takes time to write a compelling lead that draws them into the benefits of publishing your book, and following that with a comprehensive plan for marketing your book. For nonfiction, you should have two solid sample chapters written.

But what about writing fiction?

The first thing you'll need is a good, well-written, and interesting book. We recently had a novel writing contest at the site, and you'd be amazed at how many books had basic grammatical errors and were poorly written.

What are people thinking? Obviously, this isn't you. So, take your great book and write an even better query letter. You'll need to have your book written. Don't say that "it's almost done," or that "I'm thinking about writing..." Ideally you will have gone through about a dozen drafts of your book before you send it to anyone.

It's far easier to get your book published if you've already been published. But if you're new, don't worry. There are ways... and there are certainly ways to do it on a shoestring budget. You can have cheapest, and you can have best, but you're going to have to work at it to have both!

Good luck and good writing!

Sidney Smith publishes the Write and Publish Your Book site where you can learn how to write, publish and market your book on a shoestring budget.

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5 Questions to Help Writers Get Paid

2007-04-16T17:44:00.000-05:00

By Sharon Hurley Hall

As a freelance writer, it's your job to keep editors and publishers happy. Aside from the issue of professional integrity, it's a good way to make sure you are asked to write for a publication again. One of the best ways of doing this is to be clear on exactly what a commission entails. To do this there are five questions that writers should get the answers to before starting work.

1. What Should I Write?

It is important to get a brief from an editor about the piece of writing you are being commissioned to write. At the very least, the brief should cover how long the article should be and what the article needs to cover. If the commission has resulted from a query, then you may already know these things. However, it is always best to make sure both you and the editor are on the same page. Writers should also find out whether editors will require additional material (such as photos and sidebars) to illustrate the article.

2. When Do You Want It?

Establishing a deadline is essential for keeping the professional relationship running smoothly. Having a deadline means that writers can plan their writing time well. Meeting a deadline will make an editor love you and is likely to result in repeat commissions.

3. What Credit Will I Get?

Writers usually get a byline for their writing and some publications even allow a brief bio. If you find out which the editor prefers, you can include this when submitting you article instead of having to write a bio in a panic at the last minute. Make sure you ask for a copy of the magazine, too. This will help to build your portfolio.

4. What Rights am I Selling?

When an article is commissioned, the magazine is buying the right to use it. However, you still own the copyright. It is important to decide what rights are being offered. It is normal to offer the right to be the first to publish a piece of writing in a magazine in a particular country. This is known as 'first serial rights'. Online rights are often requested, but writers should make sure that any exclusive period is for a limited time so they can republish the article elsewhere after the rights have expired.

5. What About Payment?

Payment for writing varies widely from country to country and publication to publication. There are several organizations that give price guides, such as the National Writers' Union in the US (members only) and the National Union of Journalists in the UK. Other resources for setting prices include Writers' Market, which has free information available online, and is also available in print. However, small or startup magazines may not be able to pay even the minimum price. The best thing to do is to negotiate a price you are happy with.

Once you have established the details of the commission, deadline, rights and payment, it's time to get to work. Happy writing!

Sharon Hurley Hall is a freelance writer, ghostwriter and editor who writes on freelance writing skills and writer promotion for InspiredAuthor.com. For more information or to contact Sharon, visit her site, doublehdesign.com.

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Success: 10 Universal Laws for Career Success

2007-04-14T15:24:00.000-05:00

By Jeff Herring

The Law of Passion - In terms of work, the happiest people I know are the ones who not only love what they do, they have a strong passion for what they do. Their passion can get them up early in the morning and keep them up late at night, enjoying every moment.

The Law of Do What You Love - Doing what you love is a great way to spend you working hours. If you are not sure what it might be that you would love doing, ask yourself these questions: What is my life's purpose? How would I have to think, speak and act in order to fulfill that purpose? What activities would I pursue? What would get me up early and keep me up late, looking forward to every minute? What would I do for a living if a I new I couldn't fail?

The Law of Love What You Do - While those are good questions to ask on the way to doing what you love, what do you do in the meantime, if you are not doing something you love? How do you learn to love what you do? Find something within the job that you can love, even if it's simply something that prepares you to do something you love later on.

The Law of Your Personal Signature - One way to learn to love what you do is to put your own personal signature on what you do. Barbara Glanz, author of "care Packages for the Workplace" writes about a bagboy with Downs Syndrome who had attended one of her workshops. He had taken to heart her suggestions about putting your own signature on your work. His signature was to slip a "thought for the day" into customers' grocery bags. The idea was so successful that customers would wait in line just to get one of his slips of paper. What personal signature could you put on the work you do?

The Law of Contribution - To realize what you contribute through the work that you do, you may have to "redefine" your job title. For example, a teacher shapes the future, a real estate or car salesperson provides people's dreams, etc.

The Law of Learning- The days of the 30 year career in the same job with a gold watch at the end, are, for the most part, a thing of the past. Most people change jobs several times in a career. The important thing on each job is to learn the things that you will use to your advantage later on in the next job, and then the next, and then the next.

The Law of Initiative - Whatever you do, wherever you do it, few things are as powerful as taking initiative in your job. Don't wait for someone to tell you what to do. If you see something that needs doing, do it.

The Law of Leadership - Whether you are a boss or an employee, you are a leader. People are watching you, and will imitate what you do.

The Law of Self-Employment - No matter what your pay stub or tax return may say, we are all self-employed. Even if you work for someone else, you are still working for the betterment of yourself and your family.

The Law of Your Most Important Job - While applying and using these universal laws for our working lives, here’s something that is so very important to remember: no matter how much you like or don’t like what you do for a living, it’s not your most important job. Our most important job is at our home address, with our families.

Jeff Herring is a relationship coach and expert. Visit his site, Secrets of Great Relationships, for tips and tools to create and grow a great relationship. Subscribe to his free 10-day e-program to enrich your relationship today.

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Free Book Publicity: It's Out There, But You Have to Work for It

2007-04-14T15:09:00.000-05:00

By Harriet Hodgson

Publicity is crucial to book sales. Unfortunately, many publishers are cutting back on marketing. Your book may be the best thing since sliced bread, but I guarantee that sliced bread will get more publicity. What can you do if you don't have the money to hire a marking firm? Here are some ideas to get your book and name noticed.

GO THE COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY ROUTE. Colleges and universities are always looking for speakers. It there is a college or university in your town contact the Library Director and offer to speak. Follow-up by delivering an information packet about your book to the library.

CONTACT THE PUBLIC LIBRARY. Public libraries offer free presentations and seminars to the public. Call the Program Director and offer to speak about your book. Be precise. "I will speak for a half hour, answer questions, and provide handouts." The library schedule may already be full and, if this is the case, ask the library to put your name on next year's list.

TAP SERVICE CLUBS. Every community has service groups and you should find a list of them in the phone book. Select a few groups, contact them, and offer to speak at early morning, noon time, and evening meetings. Before you call, make sure your presentation has a snappy title and broad appeal.

THINK SEASONAL. Most communities have seasonal events, starting with Thanksgiving and continuing through Christmas. Ask around and you may be able to get early information about these events. There may be a Calendar of Events in your phone book. Contact the event chairperson and ask if you can speak at the event and autograph books.

CONTACT LOCAL CHURCHES. You will find a list of churches in the phone book. Large churches tend to have their own educators/speakers, but smaller churches may welcome a free speaker. Offer to speak at book clubs, luncheon meetings, and study groups.

SEND OUT A MEDIA RELEASE. Write a concise release and send it to the Book Editor and Lifestyle Editor of your local newspaper. Enclose a copy of your book and any favorable reviews your book has received.

WRITE SMALL NEWSPAPERS. Small town newspapers are always looking for stories. Look on the internet for a list of newspapers in your state. This list contains the names of the newspapers, the towns they serve, and the circulation. Choose selected newspapers, such as those with a circulation of 5,000-20,000, and send them a letter. Enclose a media release with your letter.

PARTICIPATE IN BLOGS. Surf the internet and you will find a variety of blogs. Choose a few blogs and email a few short paragraphs about your book to them. Blog postings will get your name and book circulating on the internet.

Keep track of your marketing and publicity efforts, especially the dates. Six months from now recontact these organizations and groups. One well-received talk can spark sales and lead to word-of-mouth publicity - the best publicity for any author. Good luck!

Harriet Hodgson has been a freelance nonfiction writer for 28 years. She is a member of the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Association for Death Education and Counseling. Her 24th book is Smiling Through Your Tears: Anticipating Grief, written with Lois Krahn, MD. Visit her website and blog.

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Writing for Local Businesses

2007-04-14T11:59:00.000-05:00

By Nick Daws

Many writers concentrate all their efforts on trying to sell their work to national publishers and magazines. And yet, by doing so they are overlooking a huge potential market which is literally on their own doorstep.

There are many small and medium-sized businesses who at times would appreciate the help of a writer, yet have no idea how to go about finding one. Among the many items they might need assistance with are:

Newspaper advertisements
Brochures and leaflets
Sales letters
Website content
Press/news releases
Important letters

Bear in mind that the average small business owner may be very good at auto repairs, plumbing, interior design or whatever, but have limited writing skills. If there is someone local he (or she) can turn to, who is not going to charge a fortune, chances are he will be delighted to hire that person to take the work off his hands.

At this point you might ask why such a businessman would not simply go to an advertising agency for help. The answer is they could, but agencies are expensive, and because they make their money from commission on the advertising they place, most are not really interested in doing occasional work for small businesses.

This is the market niche which you, with your writing skills, can fill. I would suggest charging by the hour – maybe starting at around $25 an hour initially, perhaps increasing to $50 to $100 an hour or more as you become established. This will give you a reasonable rate of return for your efforts, but will still be a lot less than most agencies will charge (or professionals such as accountants and lawyers).

Here's just one example. A few months ago I was contacted by a man who runs a local second-hand car business (we met when I bought my current vehicle from him). His landlords wanted him to vacate the land he was using, which he had sub-contracted from a local garage. He felt this was unfair, and had drafted a letter explaining his objections and offering to pay an increased rent. In view of the letter’s importance he wanted a ‘professional’ to check it before he sent it. I edited the letter, correcting several spelling and grammatical mistakes, and re-typed it on good quality paper.

I charged him $50 for this, which he was happy to pay. I am pleased to report that the letter had the desired effect, and he is still successfully trading from the site in question!

Work can be obtained by advertising in local papers and via mail shots. You could also spend a day leafleting local businesses. Word-of-mouth is also a powerful sales medium, so if this type of writing appeals to you I recommend getting some business cards printed and handing them out to everyone you meet – the car mechanic, the gardener, the builder, even the dentist! It’s also worth trying local charities, schools, and so on. After all, if they don’t hire you, they might end up spending an awful lot more on an advertising agency.

On the other hand, advertising agencies (as well as marketing and PR agencies) can be markets for freelance writers as well. At one time I did a lot of work for a local one-man-and-his-dog advertising agency. The main in question was a talented graphic designer but did not really have a way with words (neither did his dog), so he used freelance writers when required.

You should be able to find information about local agencies in 'Yellow Pages' or whatever local business directories circulate in your country. Drop them a line introducing yourself (preferably with one or two examples of your work) and ask if they would be interested in using your services. If you're brave enough, follow up the letter with a phone call a few days later.

Another tip is to make friends with your local printer. Printers regularly deal with small businessmen and women, and will often be willing to refer requests for writing help your way (especially if you bring them work in exchange). Ask if you can leave a supply of your business cards on their counter.

And finally, don't forget to try your local newspaper. Often nowadays they have only a skeleton staff of reporters, and many rely on freelances to supply news and gossip to help fill their pages. You won't get paid a fortune for this work — though you should certainly be paid something - but it can be good fun, and a way of raising your profile in your local community.

This article is based on a section from Module 11 of Quick Cash Writing, the brand new course by UK freelance writer Nick Daws on making money from shorter writing projects.

Nick Daws is a best-selling author living in Staffordshire, England and the author of the exciting course, How to Write Any Book in 28 Days – OR LESS!

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10 Keys to Copy that Sells!

2007-04-14T11:13:00.000-05:00

By Alexandria K. Brown

Whether you’re selling a product or service, the 10 tips below are your keys to writing great copy that communicates and persuades ... to get results! These guidelines can apply to most any form of consumer marketing communications: sales letters, brochures, web copy, or direct mail. As long as your goal is to elicit a reaction from your reader, you’ve come to the right place.

Be reader-centered, not writer-centered. Many ads, brochures, and Web sites we see talk endlessly on and on about how great their products and companies are. Hello? Customer, anyone? Think of your reader thinking, “What’s in it for me?” If you can, talk with some of your current customers and ask them 1) why they chose you, and 2) what they get out of your product or service. TIP: To instantly make your copy more reader-focused, insert the word “you” often.
Focus on the benefits — not just the features. The fact that your product or service offers a lot of neat features is great, but what do they DO for your customer? Do they save her time or money? Give her peace of mind? Raise her image to a certain status? Here’s an example: If you go buy a pair of Gucci sunglasses, you’re not just looking for good UV protection. You’re buying the sleek, stylish Gucci look. So that’s what Gucci sells. You don’t see their ads talk about how well made their sunglasses are. Think end results. Now, what does an insurance broker sell? Policies? No — peace of mind. (See? You’ve got it.)
Draw them in with a killer headline. The first thing your reader sees can mean the difference between success and failure. Today’s ads are chock full of clever headlines that play on words. They’re cute, but most of them aren’t effective. There are many ways to get attention in a headline, but it’s safest to appeal to your reader’s interests and concerns. And again, remember to make it reader centered — no one gives a hoot about your company.
Bad: “SuccessCorp Creates Amazing New Financial Program”
Better: “Turn Your Finances Around in 30 Days!”
Use engaging subheads. Like mini-headlines, subheads help readers quickly understand your main points by making the copy “skimmable.” Because subheads catch readers” eyes, you should use them to your benefit! Read through your copy for your main promotional points, then summarize the ideas as subheads. To make your subheads engaging, it’s important to include action or selling elements.
Bad: “Our Department’s Successes.”
Better: “Meet Five Clients Who Saved $10K With Us.”
Be conversational. Write to your customers like you’d talk to them. Don’t be afraid of using conversational phrases such as “So what’s next?” or “Here’s how do we do this.” Avoid formality and use short, easy words. Why? Even if you think it can’t possibly be misunderstood, a few people still won’t get it.
Nix the jargon. Avoid industry jargon and buzzwords — stick to the facts and the benefits. An easy way to weed out jargon is to think of dear old Mom reading your copy. Would she get it? If not, clarify and simplify. (This rule, of course, varies, depending on who your target audience is. For a business audience, you should upscale your words to what they’re used to. In these cases buzzwords are often crucial. Just make sure your points don’t get muddled in them!)
Keep it brief and digestible. No one has time to weed through lengthy prose these days. The faster you convey your product or service’s benefits to the reader, the more likely you’ll keep her reading. Fire your “biggest gun” first by beginning with your biggest benefit — if you put it toward the end of your copy, you risk losing the reader before she gets to it. Aim for sentence lengths of less than 20 words. When possible, break up copy with subheads (see no. 4), bullets, numbers, or em dashes (like the one following this phrase) — these make your points easy to digest.
Use testimonials when possible. Let your prospects know they won’t be the first to try you. Give results-oriented testimonials from customers who have benefited immensely from your product or service. Oh, and never give people’s initials only — it reminds me of those ads in the back of magazines with headlines like “Lose 50 Pounds in Three Days!” Give people’s full names with their titles and companies (or towns and states of residence) — and be sure to get their permission first.
Ask for the order! Tell your reader what you want her to do — don’t leave her hanging. Do you want her to call you or e-mail you for more information? Order now? Call to schedule a free consultation? Complete a brief survey? Think about what you’d most like her to do, and then ask her. It’s amazing how many marketing materials I come across every day that don’t make it clear what the reader should do. If you wrote interesting copy, your reader may forget you’re trying to sell something. Tell her what to do, and she’ll be more likely to do it.
Have your copy proofread! Good. Now have it proofread again. Don’t risk printing any typos, misspellings, or grammatical mistakes that will represent your company as amateurish. Hire a professional editor/proofreader to clean up your work and double-check your grammar. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impession! Oops — impression.

Alexandria K. Brown, “The E-zine Queen,” is author of the award-winning manual, Boost Business With Your Own E-zine. To learn more about her book and sign up for more FREE tips like these, visit her site.

Wordpreneur.com — How to Make Money Writing!

6 Reasons Why I’m a Fan of Literary Agents

2007-04-14T10:58:00.000-05:00

By Rita Emmett

Do you need a literary agent? Not necessarily, but I’m a big fan of them and here’s why.

An agent:

...would probably negotiate a much better deal than either you or I ever could, so that even after paying them their 15% (the going rate is 15% of everything our books earn) we’d still be making lots more money that we would have on our own.
...would eliminate the need to search for and hire a literary lawyer to check the publisher’s contract. The lawyers fee would likely be as much as the agent’s 15% anyway.
...has “connections” with publishers. Most publishers will not even look at unsolicited manuscripts. They just toss them into what they call "the slush pile” to be read sometime by an intern. So even if you have a publisher interested in your manuscript, a good agent will probably show it to other publishers and have them bid against each other. The result of this kind of bidding is usually a higher advance and a better “deal.”
...might place chapters of your book in magazines before it is released.
...might include special considerations in your contract that you would not have thought to do. For example, because I’m a speaker and sell books in the back of the room, I can buy my books from the publisher at a 70% discount. (It started at a 50% discount, then when they saw how successful I was at promoting my books, my agent spoke to the publisher about it and obtained a “deeper discount” for me).
...offers advice, guidance, and coaching that is priceless.

I am convinced that even if you have a publisher asking you to write a book, you are better off with an agent.

Want to write a book? Go to Rita’s web site and click on "The Writer’s Room." Take a look at Rita's "The Procrastinator's Guide To Authorship: Stop Putting Off Your Success". Don’t procrastinate; go there now.

Rita Emmett, author of The Procrastinator’s Handbook and The Clutter-Busting Handbook, is a professional speaker who presents keynotes and seminars nationwide. Visit her website to subscribe to her free monthly Anticrastination Tip sheet with quick short tips & ideas to help break the procrastination and clutter habit.

Wordpreneur.com — How to Make Money Writing!

Interview with Rita Emmett, Author of The Procrastinator's Handbook

2007-04-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

Interview by Jenna Glatzer

I first read about Rita Emmett on a site about book promotion. She’d written a little book called The Procrastinator’s Handbook: Mastering the Art of Doing It Now (Walker & Company, 2000), and had sold more than 100,000 copies. It piqued my interest so much that I bought a copy, even though I’m not generally a procrastinator.

I enjoyed and identified with Rita’s voice as a writer. She’s upbeat, full of memorable phrases and concepts, and not too full of "rules." So when I heard that her third book, The Clutter-Busting Handbook, was coming out, I decided it was a good excuse to get her on the phone and chat about her interesting path to writing success.

First, just tell me how you got started as a writer.

I was teaching "Blast Away Procrastination" seminars, and people would ask, "Are there any good books on this subject?" I started 22 years ago when I was three years old... just kidding, but I started 22 years ago, and at the time, the only books on procrastination were by psychologists for psychologists. So for 15 years, Jenna, I said, "I wish somebody would write a book." Then I had one of those smack-yourself-in-the-head moments and I said, "Well, Rita, they say we should write what we know about. Write the book!"

Now, the other thing about it was that first, I was teaching time management, and many times people would say, "Oh, time management? That doesn't work for me." So I started asking a lot of questions and I found that procrastinators don't respond to time management. Most of the time management things back then were Franklin Planners. They get out these Franklin Planners, and procrastinators would go home and add them to their stack of other Franklin Planners and dust them off every few months. They were shrink-wrapped — they never even broke the seal.

I decided I was going to develop some stuff on procrastination. I'm a professional speaker and even now, there are no professional speakers who just speak on procrastination. So I had the luxury of teaching six-week classes, and I could say, "We’re going to try this," and they would come back and say, "That did work" or "That didn't work." So after several series of six-week classes, I had some very valuable stuff that did work, and that's when I was saying, "Somebody should write a book," and it hit me that I should be the one to write the book. I got with Walker & Co., and it was just going to be a little paperback, $11, just for the people who take my seminars. So you had to know that once that book sold 100,000 copies so fast, I was surprised, my husband was surprised, and so was the publisher at the time.

You wrote the whole book and then submitted to Walker?

I did it backwards, yes. You are supposed to do a proposal and then the book. I had the book done and then I did the proposal next. I used a short magazine article that I followed step by step like a recipe to write my proposal and it was accepted, The article is in The Writer’s Room on my web site.

I joined a writers’ group in the Chicago area very far from my home, never realizing that writer’s groups are everywhere. Maybe at the time they weren't, but right now I know I could join a writers’ group in my town. Two bookstores and our library all have writers’ groups. But I joined one an hour and 15 minutes away.

I was very cranky that I had to drive that far, but an agent spoke. Her name was Jane Jordan Browne. I went up to her, described what I wanted to do: I wanted to write a book on blasting away procrastination in everyday language for the everyday person, not just the Ph.D.s. She said she would be interested and I should show her what I had, and she took me on. So there wasn't a strategy.

That’s neat — you just happened to go to the meeting and she happened to be there and she happened to be interested.

Now, I thought she took me on because I had such brilliant ideas and I was so very, very charismatic. That's not why she took me. She took me because — and I think this happens to a lot of people — she took me because her husband was the world's greatest procrastinator and she thought just by osmosis, she'd show him a chapter here and a chapter there and it might help him. That's why she took me.

So then she said, "You have to write a proposal," and I said, "But... but..." She said, "You have to write a proposal." So I did. I wrote the proposal.

Then I wrote a second book called The Procrastinating Child: A Handbook for Adults to help Children Stop Putting Things Off.

When I went to write that book proposal, I saw it was the only book out there to help kids stop procrastinating. You have to do a "competition" part of the proposal where you list all the other books published that deal with that subject. When I did the competition section, I called the publisher and said, "There are parenting books that touch on procrastination, and time management books that have perhaps a chapter on kids, but that’s it. There are no other books out that help children stop procrastinating."

My editor, Jackie Johnson, at Walker was surprised and offered to search also. By the way, if a writer can get a great editor like I have with Jackie, it will improve the book beyond anything you can imagine. Anyway, we were all astonished to find out nobody had touched the subject, yet every family has that kid who drives the parents crazy. So that was the second book.

Many schools have used that book as a fund-raiser, so it has had great sales — definitely beyond our expectations.

This year, my third book comes out and it's The Clutter-Busting Handbook.

So I wrote the first book and then there was a need for the second one, and at the back of the book I put my e-mail address and my phone number and everything — the publisher really didn’t recommend that, but I did and I've never regretted it. I get tons of e-mails and people are saying things like, "Wow, I really have curbed my procrastination, but what am I going to do about the clutter?" So that was the logical next step.

You actually went with what the readers were telling you, what they wanted. That’s the absolute right way to do things. But you put your own personal information — there’s something I would love to hear about. Did you ever have any kind of bad experiences from that or was it all just good feedback?

Well, I got a phone call from Japan one time at four in the morning and I couldn't understand a word she said. I didn't realize my contact information including my phone number would also go in the foreign market. I’ve received wonderful calls from Pakistan, Guatemala (they flew me down to give a presentation. It was wonderful), Ireland, Puerto Rico, all over... my books are in 32 countries now. And I receive emails every single week from all over the world. My husband cleared a bookshelf on the bookcase for the foreign copies of our books and now we started a second shelf. We have it in Japanese, Hebrew, Chinese, Czechoslovakian, French, German, Italian... many languages. It’s so thrilling.

I am lucky that my editor and publisher agreed to the subjects I wanted to write about.

Do you get a flat rate when they sell foreign rights or royalties?

I get an advance and royalties. There are big bucks there and I would never have been able to do this on my own. A woman named Eileen Pagan at Walker & Co. does this, and she is just fantastic. We're constantly getting these crazy amazing wonderful foreign books in the mail.

When I’m dealing with the negotiation of contracts, some publishers are wonderful with selling foreign rights, and some keep those rights and they don't do anything with them, so it’s always a challenge for me to decide whether to keep the rights myself or whether to have the publisher handle the foreign rights.

I left that up to the publisher because I knew if I kept the foreign rights, I wouldn’t know how to sell them. And if I tried to learn and sell them on my own, there would never be any time to write or do anything else. Plus, the agent said, "I think we’re better off giving them the foreign rights." If the publisher did nothing with those rights, that's what I would've done anyway. Eileen is magnificent at that. She sold the clutter book to five countries two months before it even came out. Canada, France, Korea, Turkey, and Greece.

You still have the same agent?

Sadly, Jane Jordan Browne passed away in February a year ago. Her assistant, Danielle Egan-Miller, was being prepared so Jane could take a semi-early retirement, so Danielle just stepped into it and took over. I stayed with Danielle. I originally thought I was staying with her out of loyalty, but she's done a great job.

What kind of communication did you have with either one of the agents — did they contact you often? A weekly phone call?

No, not weekly. I can’t imagine any agent having time to call her authors weekly. I would call with questions and that would be enough and we were happy with it. To be honest with you, I was very terrified of Jane for probably the first three months. I would call her, and I really was nervous about even calling her... she just terrified me. You know what it was like?

Did you ever have that teacher in school who was really, really strict in the beginning and she turned out to be your favorite teacher? That's what Jane was doing. She didn't want any nonsense or any fooling around. One morning, I called her up and said, "Good morning, Jane! How are you today?" and she said, "Fine, but there's no time for humor." I felt I got the only agent in the world with no sense of humor, which turned out not to be true. She had a wonderful sense of humor, but in the beginning, that's how she was training me, apparently.

She was very hard-working, as is Danielle. With Jane, I would call and it would be a quick phone call. I'll tell you this — after the first book was published, I had so little contact with Jane that when I finished the second one, I called and said, "I'd like to just bring it down and hand it to her in person," and her assistant said, "She's only going to be able to see you for two minutes. She's really busy at this time, unless you want to wait."

I didn't want to wait. I had to deliver it at a certain time — she wanted it at a certain time. I said, "I would just like to see her." She said, "Okay, come on down, but don't expect anything." Well, I woke up that morning and there was a terrible snowstorm in Chicago and the first thing I heard on the radio was, "Avoid going to the Chicago Loop if you can. It's just terrible out there." My husband said, "Do you have to go?" I said, "I have to go." He said, "Tell you what — I'm off today. I'll go with you." We took the El down — like a subway but it’s high up above the ground — because driving was terrible. It should've taken us 45 minutes and it took more than two hours. We walked over there and I saw her for two minutes and it took us three hours to get home, but that's okay. After that, I really grew to know her and got close to her and was just nuts about her. I feel the same way about Danielle, and my editor Jackie and our publisher. Love ‘em all.

How did you seek out endorsements?

I practically stalked Pulitzer Prize-winner Frank McCourt, the fellow who wrote Angela's Ashes, to get his endorsement. I finally got it and I was a little star struck by him — he's my favorite author — and then my agent, Jane, told me I had to go back to him and ask for three changes. Can you imagine? You’re terrified of your agent and you’re a little star struck and you have to go to a Pulitzer Prize winner—I had never been published in my life — and say, "This isn’t good enough." I got sick for three days over this.

How did you get in touch with him in the first place?

We wound up on a cruise together. It was an amazing coincidence, so I took advantage of it, and talked to him about it, and after the cruise, we sent the manuscript back and forth. Once I got that done, I was able to get a whole bunch of others, because then I got the courage to write to all of my heroes. I never met Harvey Mackay and Brian Tracy, but I got their endorsements, which would appeal to businesspeople. My book is not strictly in the business section, but when people see Brian Tracy and Harvey Mackay, it makes some of them take a look at it again.

What kinds of things did you do or did your publisher do for publicity once it was coming out?
The publisher hired a publicist — an outside publicist — and they got me on the Today Show with Katie Couric, so that's very big. They arranged tons of interviews with newspapers, radio and TV. Plus I do everything I can to promote my book. I write articles and say yes to every request I can... this interview... I never say no. Never, never say no. Even get up at 3am to do radio interviews in the middle of the night or with another country. I just want everybody in the world to hear about my book. I follow up a lot and I respond really quickly.

I was just on an Irish music cruise with my husband and we met a couple. They never mentioned that their daughter worked for Reader’s Digest, but they took my workshop on the cruise. When they came home, they told their daughter about me. She called and she's doing a thing called "The Best Of." It's the best of this and that, and she wanted "the best of clutter tips," so I gave them to her. So I might be mentioned in that — it would be in the May issue, which comes out in April, and that's when my clutter book will be released.

Costco has a magazine called the Costco Connection and in the back, readers write in and they say, "Here's a picture of a Costco member at the top of the Himalayas, and a Costco member who races sled dogs," so I wrote in for me and they called and did a little interview with me. That's going to be in there in April, again, when the book comes out. That's 3 1/2 million readers.

My agent, before the procrastination book came out, got a chapter in the National Enquirer and Family Circle. I wasn't impressed with National Enquirer's journalism, but that's 13 and a half million readers! When that book came out, it really did take a nice jump. People had heard of it and it jumped.

Sounds like you had a lot of people believing in you.

I had a real hard-working agent — ethical, honest, and that's the big thing. My agent now, Danielle, is the same way And the super people at Walker & Co. — they’re all hard workers, and good people. I like the people and I love working with them.

Do you have any tips for procrastinating writers?

I think writers get overwhelmed. "I have so much do — I can't do it all. I don't know where to start." My tip is: "Take the STING out of feeling overwhelmed." STING is five different steps. Together, they form a very powerful strategy that really works.

S is select one thing to do. You can’t write all those articles at once. If you're writing a book, just outline it or go to work on one chapter. Don't try to work on it all.

T is time yourself. Get an ordinary kitchen timer and set it for an hour. Sometimes people say, "I can time myself with my brain." That's fine, but I have to tell you the ticking of the timer really creates urgency.

I is ignore everything else. I know you can't ignore everything all day, but ignore it for an hour. A lot of time, procrastinators feel they just don't have time to do anything, or they say, "I'll start writing when I have whole afternoon free of interruptions" or "I'll sit down and write when I have a whole evening free." Well, that’s never going to happen. But everybody can find an hour — maybe not an hour a day, but you can find an hour in a week. That's how I started writing my book, one hour a week. I set the timer for one hour and ignored everything else. People say, "Today, I’m going to write. But first I’m going to check my e-mail... that'll only take two minutes. And I think I’ll make two phone calls... it'll only take a few minutes each. Then I will reward myself and play just one computer game..." Then they look at the clock; the whole day is gone! So they say, "Well, it's too late to get started now, so I'll start tomorrow."

N is for no breaks allowed. Ignore everything else just for that one hour, and don’t take breaks. If you've been to my website, you know I'm a recovering procrastinator. As a recovering procrastinator, I used to take a two-hour job and have it last 14 months. I was tremendous at taking breaks. "Oh, somebody needs help? I’d better take a break from my work and go help them … whether they need help or not."

G is for give yourself a reward. Don't expect somebody to give you a reward for writing. Accept that and give yourself a reward. It could be anything from having that soda that you love (that you wouldn't allow yourself to have until your time is up) to watching a television show.

It sounds very simple and simplistic, but it works. I set a timer for myself for one hour for four weeks in a row, and let me tell you, really, when we're procrastinating, nine times out of ten we’re not putting off writing the book — we’re just putting off getting started. I thought my whole book would be written one hour at a time, but after I had put in four hours, I was so excited about it that I was willing to give up sleep, television... I was willing to give up anything. Then I really got going and I never had to set the timer after that fourth hour; I just wrote and wrote every chance I got.

I think that procrastination often has to do with perfectionism, too. We put off doing things if we don’t believe we know how to do them perfectly.

Yes. To strive for excellence is wonderful because excellence is achievable. Perfection is hardly ever achievable. Realizing that changed my life. It really was the beginning of me blasting away my procrastination.

Do you think you’ve been lucky with the way opportunities have come your way?

I think when we're out really doing it, when we're working towards our goals and doing our homework, stuff falls in our lap. My husband and I have been offered a deal with a cruise line to go on free trips in return for my doing two talks. We get a cruise and airfare. This is just like heaven. We are delighted.

We went to Bermuda twice and then they said, "You know you can go anyplace you want?" I said, "Really? I thought we were just going to go to Bermuda twice a year." So, last year we went to Alaska and we cruised the Mexican Riviera, which is the West Coast of Mexico. Next month we’re going from Florida down to Central America, across the Panama Canal; and later in the year, we cruise to Hawaii...

I said to my husband, "You know, we have our own business. Taking this much time off for cruises kind of scares me. That's a lot of time to take away from your business, although I have to tell you, I believe writing for one hour on a cruise to me equals four hours at home. There are no phone calls, no e-mails, you don’t have to worry about grocery shopping, laundry, washing dishes... So you not only have total uninterrupted concentration, but you have so few responsibilities. I just give a couple of talks.

I do get a lot done while I'm on the cruise. I really love writing on a cruises. I wrote my whole proposal while cruising the Riviera and never missed anything — never missed a chance to snorkel or go dancing with Bruce or any of the activities we wanted to do, because there are spare hours here and there.

Jenna, both you and I have had lucky things happen, but we're out there working our butts off. That's something you need to get across to writers — that you were writing and writing when things "fell into your lap." I was just listening yesterday to an audio thing by Robert Kiyosaki, the guy who wrote Rich Dad, Poor Dad; and he says luck (L.U.C.K.) means "Laboring Under Correct Knowledge."

What he means is that you went out and did your homework. You learned and practiced, got all the knowledge and worked hard, and then you had your good luck. I believe that. I believe you’re a perfect example of that. Everyone will say "You are so lucky," but they don't know how much you worked.

I think you're exactly right that these things don’t usually happen by chance. The same kind of thing with you and the cruises — even if you're saying that you shouldn't take off so many weeks, well, not only can you work during those five weeks, but you're also making connections, and you have no idea where each of those connections is going to lead.

Tons of connections and lots of real quality time with my husband. A lot of speakers criticized me because you can't pay the bills with a free cruise. I'm a professional speaker and I'm not out there earning any money while I’m cruising, but that's what we decided. We prayed about it for a while and decided if I was earning money, after we pay our bills, we would want to travel. So why not take the free travel?

One of the secrets of my promoting my book is that I take these opportunities. I'm not going to say yes to something that's immoral or against my values, but that hasn’t really come up. I just say yes to everything.

Jenna Glatzer is the editor-in-chief of Absolute Write and the author of 14 books, including Make a Real Living as a Freelance Writer, which you can find at her website. Find out how to get a FREE editors' cheat sheet with this book!

Wordpreneur.com — How to Make Money Writing!

13 Easy Tips for Promoting Your Book

2007-04-14T07:03:00.000-05:00

By Rita Emmett

This is an excerpt from the proposal Rita Emmett sent to publishers when she was trying to get her book The Procrastinator's Handbook published. These marketing ideas that Rita proposed to the publishers can be used or adapted by other authors to market their books.

So - How Will I Work to Market This Book?

Sell books at the back of the room for the thousands of people I speak to each year.
Schedule any radio, TV and newspaper interview that I (or anyone else) can arrange.
Promote book signings and mini-seminars at bookstores that I (or anyone else) can arrange.
Write articles for newspapers, trade and association magazines to mention the book. Through my clients, I have access to hundreds of trade magazines.
Request endorsements from authors. I have already received several including Mark Victor Hansen of Chicken Soup for the Soul, and Frank McCourt who wrote Angela's Ashes.
Attend a seminar in California in March with Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen on "How to Build Your Writing Empire." This commitment of time (not to mention the cost) will generate a wealth of ideas for marketing this book.
Propose a series of books based on the variety of topics I have developed in my seminars.
Include flyers about the book in the hundreds of information packets I mail each month.
Mail out flyers promoting the book to the thousands of names I have on my data base.
Call my former clients and offer them an opportunity to buy advance copies for their sales force once the publication date is announced.
Arrange for a booth from which I can sell this book, whenever presenting a Keynote to kick off a conference.
Offer workshops on "Conquering Procrastination" to employees of publisher.
Generate "spin-off" products using illustrations, quotes and concepts from the book.

• Procrastination quote of the week for computers, small book of quotes, CD's, Screen Savers, tapes, calendars and much more

• How about "The Procrastination Doll"? Wind it up and it sits there and does nothing :)

• How about "The Procrastination Game"? You buy it, put it on a closet shelf, and never get around to playing it :)

• How about "The Procrastination-exercise Machine"? You buy it, drape your clothes all over it. It doesn't do anything because nobody will ever use it anyway. Comes in decorator colors :)

Want to write a book? Go to Rita’s web site and click on "The Writer’s Room." Take a look at Rita's "The Procrastinator's Guide To Authorship: Stop Putting Off Your Success". Don’t procrastinate; go there now.

Rita Emmett, author of The Procrastinator’s Handbook and The Clutter-Busting Handbook, is a professional speaker who presents keynotes and seminars nationwide. Visit her website to subscribe to her free monthly Anticrastination Tip sheet with quick short tips & ideas to help break the procrastination and clutter habit.

Wordpreneur.com — How to Make Money Writing!

How to Prove You Can Write When You Have No Clips

2007-04-06T23:41:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Wordpreneur.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Sharon Hurley Hall

The other day someone asked me a question. It was: 'How do you apply for a writing job when you have no writing credits?'. I knew the answer because when I relaunched my writing career last year all my writing credits were old. They proved that I used to be able to write, but there wasn't any recent history to show that someone had thought my writing was worth publishing. The advice I gave is based on what I did. Here it is:

1. Use your blog as an example of your writing. Point editors towards it and they'll be able to see your writing and people's responses to it. That will give them an idea of how popular you might be with their readers.

2. Turn some blog posts into articles, sign up with EzineArticles and upload them. The next time a job comes around, you will have clips you can show. Also, find a few places in your genre that are looking for free content and offer it to them, provided they link to your blog or site. This is a short term strategy (I don't advocate writing for free long term) designed to get you some clips. This worked extremely well for me, and it's great for promotion too.

3. If you know the publication you are approaching for a job or writing commission, write a short piece of the type they publish and send it as an example of what you can do. If you haven't got a lot of publication credits, this at least shows you've read the mag and thought about what they might want to publish.

4. Practice, practice, practice. While I was doing the EzineArticles thing, I also wrote reviews for three sites. I didn't get paid directly, but I learned a lot about what people found useful and what type of writing they responded to best. It's a good way to start to find your writing voice.

These strategies worked well for me. At the moment I have more writing work than I know what to do with, and it's only taken a year. I'm sure you can do it too.

Sharon Hurley Hall gives writers advice on how to get paid to write. Sharon is a freelance writer, ghostwriter and editor who writes on freelance writing skills and writer promotion for InspiredAuthor.com. For more information or to contact Sharon, visit doublehdesign.com.

Wordpreneur.com: How to Make Money Writing!

12 Reasons to Use an Idea Journal

2007-03-14T17:20:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Wordpreneur.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Vernon Myers

1. Using an idea journal is fast, easy, and convenient.

It will take you less than 15 minutes each day to record your ideas, goals, and dreams into your idea journal.

2. Motivates you to take action on your most valuable and promising ideas.

Use the idea journal to track your ideas. These ideas may be the launch pad to your desired future; you must have a system to record each idea in order to capitalize on it in the future.

3. Maintain laser-focus on your goals, dreams, and ideas – you must stay disciplined and persistent.

The idea journal helps you to keep your goals, dreams, and ideas in front of you on a daily basis. The more you review your goals, dreams and ideas the quicker they will manifest into reality.

4. Use the idea journal as a tool to express your creativity.

The idea journal is your tool to be who you have always dreamed of being. Think of your idea journal as a tool that will help you to unleash your urge to create. The words and pictures in your journal are uniquely yours. Do not be afraid to express yourself.

5. Capture your brilliant ideas in one location.

Having a central location to store your ideas is efficient as well as good common sense. When you want to find an idea from one day ago or one month ago, you can find it.

6. Compare and combine your current ideas with your past ideas.

Use your past ideas to help you develop new ideas by combining elements of past ideas with your new ideas.

7. The idea journal is a planning tool that moves you toward your goals at a faster rate.

Use the idea journal as a planning tool – conduct brainstorming, develop mind maps and create word associations in your idea journal.

8. The idea journal helps you to stimulate new ideas when you review your past ideas.

Develop your creative abilities by reviewing your past creative endeavors and learning something new each and every time you engage in a creative project.

9. You gain greater self awareness into your passions, interests, and desires.

The more you write and review your goals, dreams and ideas, the more you will understand what it is you desire out of this life.

10. The idea journal serves as a valuable resource for future projects.

Refer back to your idea journal to help you get started on new projects.

11. The idea journal serves as your recorded time of invention, if notarized.

If ever there is a dispute related to when an idea originated, a notarized page in your journal may be the difference between you receiving credit for being first to conceive an idea or receiving no recognition at all.

12. A valuable tool to help you grow and develop in your desired direction

The idea journal is not just a place to record ideas, it is a tool that will help you grow every time that you use it.

Vernon Myers is the founder of IdeaMERGE.NET – Where Ideas and People Unite! - An online networking site devoted to connecting people who have ideas to people who have experience and advice to share. Vernon is the author of The Idea Journal – visit http://www.ideamerge.net/products to find out how to unleash your urge to create. Visit Vernon’s blog, The Idea Pipeline, at http://www.ideapipeline.blogspot.com to discuss your ideas, dreams, and goals or to leave your comments.

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How to Find Time to Write a Book

2007-03-14T17:12:00.000-05:00

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By Diane Eble

Let’s face a couple of facts: 1. Writing a book will take a chunk of time and energy. 2. Your life is already full, and you have no extra time.

Given these two facts, how can you make the time to write the book you have inside your head, the book that’s been calling to you to write for months or even years?

1. First, get in touch with that deep desire within you to write and publish a book. Envision as clearly as you can what it will be like to have a finished, published book in your hands. The title encapsulates just what you want the world to know. You name is on that book. It is bound, with a beautiful cover, and a publisher’s name on the spine, along with your own.

You’re a published author. What is this going to do for you? Win you the respect and admiration of friends, colleagues, and family? Increase your business by your new position as expert? Allow you to approach people you never could before, by sending them your book? Enable you to name a much higher fee the next time you’re asked to speak, and to have something to sell in the back of the room?

Whatever you want from your book, imagine it vividly. Then write it down. This is a most important pre-writing exercise. This desire is what will fuel your ability to keep on going even when the going gets tough. Review this document any time you feel your motivation sagging. Or, better yet, review it every day.

2. Prune and prioritize. You may have to make some tough decisions. If your life is already full, what will you cut out in order to harvest the time and energy to write your book?

Look at the chores you already do that take up chunks of time. Can you hire someone to clean your house or do your yard work so you can spend that time writing instead? How much television do you watch? Can you forego that time to write your book? Or can you go to bed earlier and get up earlier and write before you go off to work?

There are lots of great resources for managing time better, from books to audios such as The Time Commandments by "GoalGuru" Jill Koenig.

3. Start out with little blocks of time — and make sure you schedule it. Even 20-30 minutes spent jotting down ideas for your book, or researching, or writing can add up.

Here’s another insider’s tip. The little exercise I’m about to share was key in making me a very productive writer. Set a time to write for 10 minutes, say at 4 p.m. Let nothing stop you from dropping whatever you are doing to sit down and write from 4-4:10. It doesn’t matter what you write; for this exercise, the point is merely to train yourself to write whenever you need to. “Write on demand” as it were. You won’t believe the power of this simple exercise until you try it.

4. Get a handle on what your book is about, and then break it down into bite-sized pieces. Begin by brainstorming everything you want to have in your book. Then arrange these into chapters in some kind of logical order.

For each chapter, brainstorm everything you want to be in that chapter. Highlight any topics that you don’t currently know enough about. These areas will comprise your research.

When it’s time to write, choose one little thing to do that will move you ahead one step. Again, it might just be jotting down more ideas for a particular chapter. Or doing one bit of research. Or writing a page.

This is what professional writers do: They set aside time to work, and then set a quota (so many pages written, or X items researched, etc.). You will do the same, only perhaps on a smaller scale. The key here is discipline. Once you begin to structure your writing into your day or week, you will see your book materialize, step by step. That will build the momentum you need to keep going.

If you need help in implementing these suggestions, Diane Eble is a book publishing coach with 28 years experience in the publishing industry as an editor (magazines, fiction and nonfiction books), author (11 published books, more than 400 articles), and copywriter. She helps people to write, publish, and make money with books and other information products. This article was excerpted from her free "Your Book Publishing Coach" newsletter. If you feel you have a book inside you, check out her resource, Jump Start Your Book: 12 Questions You Must Answer Before You Write Your First Word.

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A Bad Literary Agent can be Worse than No Agent at All

2007-03-14T17:09:00.000-05:00

NOTE: Wordpreneur.com did not write nor edit this article (except maybe for some minor proofing). It's here as a service to you. Go to the site for categorized summaries and other unique content not available here.

By Dee Power and Brian Hill

Types of things to watch out for with agents:

• Charging the author a fee up front, to be accepted as a client. Can be called a reading fee, or a monthly "office expenses" charge. The best agents, and most successful ones, only charge a percentage fee of royalties the author earns, typically 15%. Suppose a realtor charged you a fee to come over and tour your house before getting the listing? How quickly would you show that realtor the door. . .

• Charging back unusually large "postage and copying fees" to send out an authors' work. One crooked agency accepts almost every client that contacts them, but in the fine print of the contract they charge "postage and handling" of up to $10 per submission they send out on your behalf. It doesn't cost $10 to send a letter and a sample chapter of a book to a publisher. This company makes a fortune from these fees whether or not they actually successfully market any of their clients work.

• Directing authors toward specific editing services or giving authors' names to these services. Sometimes they even own the editing service. Some agents make a significant portion of their income from referral fees from these services.

• Terms in Agency contracts with writers vary widely. Must be read carefully. Not standard at all.

• The agent contacts publishers pretty much at random. The agent's value to you is in the relationships they have with publishers, so that if the publisher hears from them, they know the book is worth taking a look at. Ask to see copies of rejection letters that come back from publishers. If it looks like just a form letter response, rather than a letter you would send to an acquaintance, you can bet the agent may be just picking names out of a directory of publishers.

• Puts forth a weak effort or gives up on the client's project after a few months. You have a right to ask how active the agent is going to be. How many publishers are they going to contact, how will they follow up? You also have a right to periodic reports as to whom they have contacted and the results. You must determine how much time and attention they are really going to give you.

Another reason it is imperative to have a reputable agent is that the publishing house typically pays the agent, who deducts their "cut" and sends the remainder it to the author. It's a frightening thought that a less than honest person gets their hands on the money you've earned from sweat, blood, and even tears.

Brian Hill and Dee Power have written several nonfiction books including Your Ebook: From Cyberspace to the Bookstore Shelves, and The Making of a Bestseller: Success Stories from Authors and the Editors, Agents and Booksellers Behind Them,. They are also the authors of a novel, Over Time - Love, Money and Football: All the Important things in life.

Wordpreneur.com: How to Make Money Writing!