Self Publishing? Start Here
Creating a story of your own then publish it.
Write A Way: Journey to Creativity
"Set priorities for your goals. A major part of successful living lies in the ability to put first things first. Indeed, the reason most major goals are not achieved is that we spend our time doing second things first."
~ Robert J. McKain, author of Realize Your Potential
Self Publishing? Start Here
By Sandra Lee Schubert
I bet you have been steadily fulfilling all your artistic goals. You have weeded out the ones that no longer worked, made new goals, and practiced successful implementation of your goals.
You are now writing regularly
and finally hammered out the last draft of your novel. It has taken you many months of sweat and tears to get to this place. Now what?
The novel could sit in your desk drawer for many years or you could actually get it published. If the thought of approaching a publisher frightens you why not consider self-publishing? There are several options open to you. The field is wide open with the advent the Internet and resources are amazing.
"A self-publisher is an author who pays for the cost of designing, printing, and distributing his or her book. Frequently, the author invents and registers a publishing 'imprint.' Self-published books are the property of the author and usually remain in the author's possession; all sales proceeds belong to the author."
~ Moira Allen, editor of
Writing-World.com
Writers dream of being published, seeing their name on the shelf of a major bookstore or the local newsstand. There is a thrill in seeing your name in print or online, especially when you know how much work went into writing the book or article. Getting to that point may proof difficult in the competitive world of publishing.
As a self-publisher you control your content, own the rights and can design and distribute your book the way you would that best suits you. If you are a new writer or have a book that has a unique niche then self publishing can provide an audience for you. Not to worry if you don't have any thing written, there are ways to begin to develop a body of work you can later turn into a book.
Let us look at some really simple ways to get started.
- Blogs
- Newsletters
- E-books
Blogs are a cheap and easy way to get your name out there in the public domain. You can begin to develop an audience, test out your ideas, and create a market for when you want to sell your book. I have bought more then one item because I have read about in my favorite blog. Blogs can be elaborate, updated every day or several times a day! Others are in a simple format with weekly updates. Blogging at least once a week will keep you current and won't tax you if you are not prolific. Once you have begun selling your book you can link people back to your blog and keep up with an interested audience and hopefully a new audience for your next book. Reverend Laurie Sue Brockway has a wonderful blog
www.weddinggoddesswisdom.com
that dovetails nicely with her book,
Wedding Goddess: A Divine Guide to Transforming Wedding Stress into Wedding Bliss
that offers the bride to be some wonderful tips for a stress less wedding. Her blog is successful for a couple of reasons. She provides current information for the bride and groom, articles of interest and has additional resources and links not only to her books but to her services as an interfaith minister. They tie together very nicely.
Starting a blog is not that hard. There are some interesting and free sites to try such as
www.blogger.com.
And others like
www.wordpress.com
and
www.typepad.com
offer you more flexibility at a fair price. Keep it simple and write what you know. Try for a daily dose or at least once a week, keeping it to about 200 to 300 words to start out and developing your audience. Do a web search on blogs and see what kinds are out there. Find your style and start blogging.
"If you're selling your book online, you're practically guaranteed to increase sales by publishing an e-mail newsletter, or e-zine."
~ Alexandria K. Brown,
" The E-zine Queen"
Newsletters or e-zines can be delivered via the post or online and longer in content because they are posted less frequently.
Newsletters can be delivered to subscribers mailbox just once a month
or bi-monthly. The format can be a simple plain text or a well-designed html version. A newsletter allows you more space for one or two longer articles and gives you more options in terms of layout.
As with blogging start by writing what you know, but don't be afraid to write about what you are learning. Let's say you have written a book about kayaking. Provide ten simple tips to water safety, writing a tip each time you publish. You keep the readers interested and wanting to get your next edition for the additional tips. Refer to back to your book and provide a way to buy the book or to be put on the preferred customer list for when it gets published.
Develop your mailing list by first emailing to friends and family. Link to other newsletters of interest and leave comments on their sites. Do link exchanges with other sites to promote each others newsletter. Writing short articles for other newsletters is a good way to begin increasing your audience. Start small and word of mouth will spread.
An e-book is an electronic (or digital) version of a book usually downloadable using a program such as Adobe Acrobat. It is a simple way to begin the process of self-publishing. E-books could be a compilation of your most interesting blogs or newsletters, a chapbook of your poetry or prose or it can be a full scale great American novel. They can provide some flexibility to people who would rather not carry a book around but can use there electronic devices or computers. Visit
www.lulu.com
and do a search on e-books for samples. Use them as free reports and incentives off your site, blog or newsletter. You can also opt to produce your newsletter in e-book (pdf) format.
I have recently completed an e-book for Self Healing Expressions by compiling columns with a certain theme and updating them. As with a book, I tested the readability factor in my Monday night reading group. I took seriously every edit they provided. Cultivate some helpful friends or join a writing group that will support you by giving you constructive criticisms. Friends are a built in test audience. E-books have many fun applications. Do a test run and have enjoy exploring your writing in book form.
Next time we will look at expanding your publishing empire, consider the above three simple steps to becoming a self-publisher.
This Month's Creative Writing Prompts:
- Do a test blog on Blogger.com and try it for one month
- Create a sample newsletter
- Write an e-book
Sandra Schubert is the creator and instructor for the Self-Healing Expressions online writing course
Writing for Life: Creating a Story of Your Own.
This creative journal writing course features interactive Web Tools. To learn more about Sandra and her
online writing course,
click here:
Copyright © 2007 Sandra Lee Schubert. All rights reserved. If you are interested in publishing this article, please email
.
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