You can start with the following self publishing tips and resources that will propel your book sales!
Self Publishing and On Demand Publishing - Choosing Your Path
by Judy Cullins, Guest Blogger - see Book Coaching
You have choices: traditional book publishing and getting a literary agent, partner publishing, and self publishing, writing a print book or an ebook or both at the same time!
1. What the Literary Agent and Traditional Publisher Want:
Before you even think a New York publisher, you have to contact an agent.That is a long journey too. You first need to find an agent who represents authors like you in certain genres or topics. You also need to find out how many clients your agent serves. You want someone with 30-40 clients to know that he's good, but not over 80-90 because that spreads him or her too thin.
To find out more about agents you can go to your local library's reference desk to find books, or Google at http://www.google.com/ {Get the Christian Writers' Market Guide too by Sally Stuart too!}
Publishers Don't Support Emerging Authors
•They only want and promote big names because they these home run authors make money for them.
•They want people who can travel and market well.
•They spend only a few months with a new author--book tours that may or may not help.
•They take up to two years to get your book out to your audience.
•You must pay back all advances for book tours and their minimal promotion from your 15% royalties.
•They do not promote the author at all. You must do the PR yourself-the flyers, the press releases, the talks, and easy online marketing techniques.
As a book coach, I advise not going this route unless the publisher can sell at least 25 times the books you can sell on your own. With the internet to help us authors, when you sell on your own website, you don't ever need those expensive ISBN numbers.
2. Partner Publishing Helps the Author with Details.
These kinds of publishers which include YowBooks can help you get your print book on Amazon and other book seller sites. They include editing help, book cover help, ISBN numbers,and get you to market fast. They want books from authors who are able to market themselves to brand their small business of speaking, coaching, consulting service, or selling a product. They offer royalties from 25% to 50% usually. Make a few contacts and see if this kind of publishing suits your needs.
3. Self-Publishing--For the Author who Wants Control and Fast Profits
Like myself, who has written, self-published, and sold 40 short books, both printed and eBook versions, you will love this publishing version because you spend little time and money and make a lot of profits. Your book makes you and your company visible. You make a difference in your audience's lives and get your book into their hands within a month because you wrote a short book around 100 pages that your target audience loves because they don't want to spend a lot of time reading. They'd rather skim to get main points.They want books that are easy to read.
You do what you do best and hire the rest. Get help from a professional book coach who knows book chapter writing with the WOW factor that keeps your readers turning pages, book writing, book marketing, especially online marketing. She can recommend reasonable and professional editors that suit your book, cover designers, other services and marketing help from reliable people. Your cost is minimal and with a little help you save expensive time and money mistakes and raise profits to an all time high.
Other Self Publishing Benefits Include:
•You keep great cash flow and all the profits.
•You have all the control, cover/title.
•You build your client base and credibility.
•You are known as the savvy expert in your field.
•You can sub out work you don't know how to do.
•You can print your books through POD--Print on Demand. Costs can be below $500 since you print fewer copies.
•You spend less money and spend less time marketing online.
•You simplify book marketing and sellingwith your own web site.
Electronic Books are Even more Profitable to Self Publish. eBooks require no packaging, no printing, no mailing, no travel and trips to the post office. Sell your ebooks from email promotions or from your web site to reach your target audience easily and fast.
Five Self Publishing Mistakes and Solutions
1. You write the wrong book first.
If you want to know how to write a business book, you know your audience is entrepreneurial and wants a problem solved. This is the audience that buys most books, so if you know a lot about a topic they want help on, write that book first. Then use that money to fund your fiction or other book. Write the book your audience wants and needs to read.This hints that knowing your target audience is a pre-hot selling point to know before you write a single chapter. Then, your book has an angle and is more likely to stand out from the crowd.
2. You write a second and third book before you market the first book.
Every author/client I know gets a lot of book ideas before their first effort is finished. STOP! Wait a year or two to create new print, ebooks, CD's or cassettes. Because you need to learn free book marketing and develop a book marketing plan that includes online book promotion before you write another book.
Just because your first book isn't selling well doesn't mean you should write another one--that if the new book doesn't get book promotion attention, it will not sell well either.
3. You don't get help on a WOW book cover.
Yes, we self publishers can't do it all well. Be sure to read informative free book coaching ezines that give top resources for this important hot-selling point. It's the number one reason people will buy your book. So, you need to know what colors, fonts and titles to use. If you want an eBook cover, as a bookcoach, I suggest maxcovers.com or if you want a quality print book cover, I suggest you check out georgefostercovers.com.
Or, visit a Barnes and Nobel bookstore and check out covers in your book section such as nonfiction, fiction and how to's. Invest some money into a four-color cover. This expense will pay off well. (hear the podcast: Author Tips Podcast)
4. You don't get editing or bookcoaching help at the front end.
If you want your book to attract long term customers, make each chapter title shine with keywords or strong verbs. Inside each chapter, use headings to compel your reader to keep reading and make your book easy to read. Long paragraphs turn your modern reader off. They are busy and want to skim nonfiction and how to books. At the end of your journey, you'll want some line editing to catch typos and simple grammar mistakes. Even professionals need editing because a pair of fresh eyes will see things you aren't aware of--those writing sins we all take with us from school or our profession.
5. You fear the internet and stick to old standard book promotion.
Maybe you use press releases and book signings or applied a $2000 guru's Amazon marketing techniques or other guru approach. That money may be well spent other ways. Unknown authors of mainstream books such as health and fitness, relationships, financial security have big competition from "Big Shots" or famous authors. You need an author advocate who will point you to a more independent path--the one of marketing on the internet. The simplest and most profitable approach is writing articles and submitting them (article marketing) to high traffic websites. You are writng a book, taking excerpts and turning them into short articles work so well.
Avoid Wasting Money on Book Publishing
Now you know you don't have to do it all yourself. Choose carefully--get advice from a full service professional book coach who knows the whole picture of self publishing pros and cons and hasn't just written a book or two, but has written how to books on book writing, book publishing and book marketing, especially online because it's so much easier and cheaper. You can save a lot of time and money mistakes and get self publishing help from an inexpensive author's advocate, not a big company guarding their self interests.
Your personal belief system may have coaxed you to sign up for a big expensive training from a big guru on how to be a best selling fiction author, or best selling nonfiction author. Maybe you dreamed of being a #1 Amazon author, or maybe you dreamed of making it big on radio interviews. These trainings have super convincing sales letters that make big promises and claims.
These plans usually make only the presenters rich and most of you won't get near the success a few participants had.
The sad reality is that authors are reluctant marketers, are introverts or feel incapable. Hope springs eternal and convinces them to follow the best ad copy and sign up. What's a few thousand dollars, when they "might" make it big?
Think about using a mentor like a bookcoach or book shepherd.
Without a publishing tutor, who has no expensive program, but will guide you over time to manifest your book dream, you may make expensive mistakes in buying what you don't need to get your book out to your audience.
Remember most books do not make the Amazon best seller list. Many of you won't even sell large numbers of book, even if you are a guest on Oprah. You have to be a famous guest and be the only featured author on to make big sales like Echhart Tolle. One client who was one of many on the show called me to lament he needed to put up a sales page and it would stand only a week to gain sales. He didn't think it was worth it to change his pitfall copy, so he got almost no sales. In fact, less than 2% of published authors win at these games.
You already know that New York publishers don't promote you much. It's all up to you, and it's scary. Maybe you don't know that most Print on Demand (POD) authors do not make money on their books, being one of thousands on their Web site with only a 100 word write up..
Stop Throwing Away Your Book Promotion Money!
1. When you print books, unless you will speak to big audiences 6-8 times a month, print only a few hundred, an amount you can sell in a few months. Those bargain prices for 1500 to 2500 books will cost you thousands of dollars, not allowing you cash flow to spend on the promotional messages you need to get out, or your books will languish and sit in storage, losing value each month.
2. When you budget for book promotion, keep in mind there is no magic bullet in book promotion. It takes author commitment and a little learning curve that is doable when you get small business article marketing coaching. Don't go for hugely priced publicists who can get you noticed somewhat, but not enough for small businesss big profits.
Be cautious how you spend your money for your book project. Maybe like me, you can do it all for little time and money, and make a fabulous life time income too.
Self Publishing is Doable with Much Faster Results and Little Money Spent
1. First, get a chapter outline (perhaps mindmapping).
Include a fast writing chapter blueprint model for writing a WOW chapter--one that your reader cannot put down. Then, learn from the long-time book coaching professionals who have paved the way for you more about how to write your book fast, and self publishing books such as non fiction, memoirs, or how to books.
2. Know that the costs are far less than you think.
Self publishing over 11 books on these topics cost me between $200 and $500 for each print model.
3. Get help from Professionals. [Pam Perry, PR Coach is one & Judy Cullins, Book Coach is another]
Natually you are not good at everything in book publishing. When you turn to entrepreneurial savvy experts such as book coaches, editors, and book designers, they can guide you through to publishing success. That means you won't make espensive mistakes or spend a lot of time chasing impossible dreams with high-power Guru seminars at $2000-$4000 a program.
Choose an expert who is an author's advocate and has written books on book writing and self publishing. This person has a lot of experience, and may give inexpensive teleclasses or coaching by phone and email. Start with a good book on the topic. Find these at www.amazon.com or check the author's name in Google to see the offerings.
Pros help you get the right help right away to write the right book the first time with little editing needed. A full service bookcoach can shorten your learning curve and help you get immediate profit from book sales with proven book marketing techniques.
So, let go of the long, hard trail to traditional publishing, and keep most of the profits and invest a little for huge money results--fast!
See http://www.pamperryprcoach.com/ too and join http://www.chocolatepagesnetwork.com/!
See http://www.prbootcamponline.eventbrite.com for PR Coaching from Pam Perry