"Do You Have a Book Burning Inside You?"
This is from my colleague's blog: Diane Eble. She can help you get published! Her site: www.wordstoprofit.com will help you! She is a great BOOK coach! So, we're like a team. She will give you information about how to write - and I'll give you info on how to promote it and sell. If you're a Christian writer, you need this information. Yes, you hear from God - now do your homework so you will be prepared to be a success!
On her blog, She writes:
Publishing is so confusing these days! So many options … and new publishers are springing up all the time, with various kinds of new programs.
There’s a discussion on Book Marketng Ning that I started, asking people for their experiences with self-publishing. Most recently, Joanna Penn shared her experience:
“I am a huge fan of self-publishing because I love speed and control! I wrote my book and wanted it out there so I self-published on Lulu.com so the book is for sale worldwide. It is print-on-demand in the US and I am in Australia so the costs would be prohibitive any other way. I market it and it sells from there or from my website here in Australia www.HowToEnjoyYourJob.com
“The fantastic thing is that I had control and did it all myself for very little cost and people can still reach it in the same forum as traditionally published books. I had it on Amazon a month after finishing the manuscript. Traditional publishers currently cannot move that fast. So my experience is overwhelmingly positive so far, and I intend to self-publish my next book too.”
I’m glad Joanna had such a good experience. I think self-publishing can be very good for authors who want/need control, need their book out quickly, and will take responsibility for promoting and marketing their book. (Which is of course the mindset all successful authors adopt.)
I would add here that Lulu’s had mixed reviews from what others tell me. One issue I have with Lulu (and many POD publishers) is that the price structure is problematic. Joanna’s book is between $21 and $25, depending on the format. True, she has a guarantee, but she’s also competing against best-selling books (say on amazon) that are much less. POD-published authors can’t get the bookstore distribution (for a variety of reasons, one of the main ones being no returns, which bookstores insist upon). But for those who don’t care about those things, Lulu and other POD programs work well.
Again I would refer you to the Virtual Book Tour I did with Mark Levine on The Fine Print of Self-Publishing. We covered a lot of aspects to think about before self-publishing, and Mark’s book is a terrific resource.
Publishing is changing very fast! I’m seeing the traditional publishers floundering, while those with a different business model, such as Morgan James Publishing, are prospering. I suspect traditional publishers will move more toward a self-publishing model eventually. They almost have to. It will be interesting to see what happens with the retail in that case.
Diane Eble
Your Book Publishing Coach
http://www.yourbookpublishingcoach.com
See http://www.PamPerryPRCoach.com too!