| |
| |
|
Writing Information |
|
|
|
How Three Publishing Myths Kill the Author
Agents and publishing houses have their best interests at heart, not the author's. Save yourself from headaches, disappointments, and money down the drain. Become your own independent publisher and produce your book faster and cheaper. All you need is a little help from professionals. Myth: You need an agent or big publishing house to market your book and make big money. Since big publishers don't look at unknown authors, now is the time to look at what they can do for you. Dan Poynter, self-publishing guru, says that if a publisher can't sell four times as many books as you can, you're better off selling it yourself. Self-publish first because it acts as a test market for your book. If it sells well (over 10,000 in a year), publishers may be interested in your book. Traditional publishers and agents accept only 1-2% of authors' submissions, and even if you are one of the "chosen" you may not make much money after printing, bookstore, distributor, wholesaler and other expenses--probably $2 on a $14 book. Yes, you get an advance, but your sales must meet that and more. And after the initial book tour, the trainee marketing person is onto the next new author. Then, your books disappear from the bookstore shelf unless you, personally, devote a lot of time to marketing them. Book Publishing is a new game today. Think self-publishing where the profits are all yours. Thanks to Dan Poynter of the Self Pulsing Manual for giving us permission to do part of the task ourselves. If you self-publish and decide to print, you need to print only the copies you need (5-500) with the new technology Print on Demand (POD). Even better is Print Quantity Needed (PQN) such as Deharts.com. No more unsold cartons of books in your closets or garage. You print as you go leaving enough cash flow to market your book splendidly. Myth: To be a respected author, you must invest thousands of hours of time on your full-length book. The reality is that people today want concise and useful information. You don't have to write a 200-page book to be a real author. Remember The One-Minute Manager and the One- Minute Salesperson? Around one hundred pages. People want information fast and convenient. Create short information products that are between 20 and 99 pages you can sell online, even if you don't have your own Web site. If you choose to print your book with Print Quantity Needed (PQN), your perfect bound books will look as good as any book on the bookstore shelves. Myth: Authors must spend a lot of money to publish themselves. The printing costs for 1500 copies of a 160-page book might cost $3000, about $2 a unit. Small runs cost even more per unit. That's a lot of cash for anyone to put out all at once, and it's not worth it to many of us to use our home equity or life savings to finance our book. The answer is a small run with Print on Demand (POD) where you can print from 100 to 500 for around $2.40 for 160 pages. Without the high inventory, you can maintain a comfortable cash flow to spend on promotion, the most important part of your book adventure. You save even more money if you don't print your book. Book publishing is going Internet. You can write small books in less time, market them easily and inexpensively on the Web and reap profits sooner. Try an e-book. It can be downloaded, it takes no printing costs because your buyer prints or downloads it. You don't even have to have the whole book finished to sell it. Just include your table of contents at the end of each chapter and present it as an e-serial book. As a book coach, I am an authors' advocate and want you to make money. Going traditional doesn't work. Give ePublishing a chance. 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 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says...and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Writing - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
How To Be A Published (Non-Fiction) Author 1. Turning your idea into a bookWith non-fiction books the question of whether or not to write one has to be a business decision, rather as you would take over any new product or service. Five Keys To A Successful Query Letter Do you know what a query letter is? If so, you are of a rare breed-a writer. Most people don't. Celebrating Writing and Life Every morning I excitedly get out of bed. Just a few minutes of goals and visions for the day swirl in my head. How To Cut the Clutter and Win Readers Most of us hate housework.Nevertheless, even the most hopeless slobs amongst us would agree that we love having a clean, organised house. Interviewing an Author: Dont Be Left Speechless Joyce Carol Oates. Langston Hughes. Effective Collaboration - Working With Your Ghostwriter Using a ghostwriter to craft your free reprint articles and marketing materials is an excellent way to maximize your time and profit. The fastest and most effective way to find a freelance ghostwriter or editor is to post your writing projects on an on-line service like Freelance Work Exchange at http://tinyurl. How To Write Your Way To A Fortune We've all seen those ads that grab our attention and makes us want to pull out our credit cards and buy. Don't you wish you had that same power to persuade? but contrary to what you may have been told these skills can be learned So you're not a natural born writer so what! The first thing you need to ask yourself is who is my target audience and how many marketers are doing what i want to do? Competition is fine it shows you have a market for your products or services. A Book Note Vs a Book Report IntroductionSince our early days of elementary education we have been familiar with what a book report entails. But do you know what a book note is? Good question you say? Great! Read on and together we can explore the relationship between the two. Are Writing Exercises Effective? It was reported that the great American author Sinclair Lewis was once asked to give a lecture on writing to a group of college students: "Looking out at this gathering," he said to the assembled students, "makes me want to know how many of you really and truly wish to become writers?" Every hand in the room went up. Lewis looked at them for a moment and then folded his notes and put them away. Is Horror Dead? I've noticed a big shift away from traditional horror recently, in books, shorts and in subs to E2M.What's happened to the werewolves, devils, demons, ghosts, vamps and other nasties?Some claim that the above has been done to death. Writing Secrets You Must Know Writing better is critical for students. But it's even more important for business communicators. How to Come Up with Fresh Story Ideas How to Come Up with Fresh Story Ideas When Your Well has Been Tapped DryWhen I face the desolate impossibility of writing 500 pages, a sick sense of failure falls on me, and I know I can never do it. Then gradually, I write one page and then another. 6 Ways to Leverage Technical Articles Technology vendors often contribute bylined articles to trade journals. The articles are great exposure for these companies but they don't come cheap - the trades rarely pay for these articles but the vendors spend time and resources to assign pieces, write them, approve them and submit them. Writers Block - Melting the Ice What does one do as a writer who loves writing and feels empty of creativity?When the writing process stops, there is the experience of fear. There is a sense that something precious has been lost. Top Seven Mistakes Writers Make and What to Do About Them Writers often get stuck because they make assumptions about writing, finishing, publishing, and promoting their books. A recent client confessed that he thought a book was just too big a project. Platform Development Tip #1: Switch Writing Hats! Around eighty percent of nonfiction books today are written by "experts," that is people who have a) earned credentials in the field they're writing about, b) germinated information via articles, live presentations or other media, or c) had extraordinary, unique or memorably told life experiences relevant to their topic.For an autobiographical work, such as a memoir, an author needn't have any special expertise-she is the foremost authority on her own life. Making Better Word Choices - 4 Examples Choosing the wrong words can have a poor effect on your writing and on you. Whether you are writing a cover letter for a job, a business proposal, or an application essay for graduate school, using words poorly can result in negative feedback. How Are You Plotting? Creative Writing Tips -Writing is a creative process and how every writer chooses to create, is individual to them. Likewise, with plotting, every writer plots at a level they are comfortable with. COULD YOU (not) REPEAT THAT PLEASE? I recently read a book where everything was akimbo. Arms were akimbo, legs were akimbo. Plotting Problems - Episodic Writing The rejection letter says: "Your story, on the surface, appears to be well-told and has appealing characters. However, the writing is episodic; the story lacks direction.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
