Archive for February, 2010
How To Find A Publisher For Your Book
By Victor Epand (Streetdirectory.com)
How to search for the right publisher for your book? First, determine the category your book falls in. There are different markets for different categories of books and there are different publishers that cater to each market. Established publishers concentrate on their field of specialization, be it educational, children’s books, cookery, craft, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, anything.
Such publishers know their business and their customers. They also know how to reach the target reader population.
They have an established network. They know the specialty bookshops, the forthcoming events and the platform to promote a book. They also know when there is an increased demand for certain kinds of books.
How to find a suitable publisher for your book?
To find a publisher, it is essential to collect some data. Decide the category your book falls in. Look for other books from the same category, and check their publishers. This can be found by browsing through your own bookshelf or any big bookshop, or library. Online resources such as Amazon or BooksInPrint are also a great help.
Many small publishers who publish really good books know the market very well. Big publishers may ignore your manuscript, but small publishers might show interest in your book. They may prove very helpful. It is also likely that you will be able to meet the top person in such settings, which is almost impossible with big publishers.
Get the contact details of your potential publishers from resources. Contact them, talk to them, and discuss your book with them. Experienced publishers will be able to tell immediately whether your book fits into their category.
To make sure you go to the right publisher for your book, you can also collect information on the editors that work for the publishers you are looking for. Websites such as Literary Market Place will be helpful to get the required information. You can find out the names of acquisition editors even from the acknowledgements in the books, as usually the authors make a mention of their editors.
Contacting them, you can ask whether they would like to see your manuscript. It is important to send your manuscript to a specific person, as the unsolicited articles are sent back unopened. This happens with big publishing houses that receive hundreds of manuscripts everyday. Avoid such rejection without review of your book.
Some publishers employ the services of literary agents. They get their manuscripts reviewed by such agents. The agents also differ in the specialized genres of books they deal with. Hence, it is suggested to make a list of such agents, find out the ones that deal with your kind of books, and contact them to seek their opinion.
This much groundwork really pays, when you want to find the right publisher for your book. If you want your book to become successful, then finding the right publisher will make all the difference.
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What is Print on Demand?
Article source: wiseGEEK.com
Print on Demand. You may have heard this phrase, especially if you’re a writer or in the publishing industry. What is it and how does it benefit the author? Read on for more information about print on demand publishing.
Print on demand, or POD, is exactly what it sounds like. Being able to print up as many or as few books as needed at any given time. In fact, POD publishers can print one book at a time if they’re so inclined. This is proving to be the answer to many aspiring author’s prayers. Because there’s no major risk, as there is with traditional publishers who have to order large print runs, almost anyone can be a published author.
There are drawbacks with print on demand publishing. When an author is signed to write a book with a traditional publisher, that author will, in most cases, receive an advance check to help pay for expenses until the book is published and begins to make money. In addition, publicists and editors are provided. With print on demand, the author does most of the work herself. She may also find it’s difficult to get her book reviewed, as many reputable newspapers and magazines refuse to recognize print on demand services as a legitimate publisher. In fact, they’re more or less regarded as vanity press.
For some, the benefits of print on demand publishing far outweigh the risks. The first, of course, is that it’s relatively inexpensive. Books are printed quickly and cheaply. This savings is passed on to the author who receives a higher royalty rate than she would have if she went with a traditional publisher.
Going with a print on demand publisher means you won’t have to hire an agent to schlep your manuscript around from publisher to publisher. No schlepping means the book is on the market faster, which means a better chance at making money. The author also retains creative control over most aspects of her book. This means she won’t be surprised by overzealous editing or an unattractive cover.
Of course, this means that it’s up to the author to gather her own publicity. Book signings, speaking engagements, and reviews all become the job of an already busy writer. While this means the author won’t have to make public appearances she doesn’t want to, it also means she’ll have to promote her book herself without a highly-regarded publicist’s large Rolodex full of contacts.
If you’ve always dreamed of being published and you’re unable to go the traditional route, you might consider a print on demand publisher. To find out if it’s for you, do the research. Talk to other authors who have used print on demand. Research different companies to find out which one best suits your needs and avoid any print on demand publisher who has received negative comments or publicity.
In the past, if an author was rejected by a publishing company, she wouldn’t be published. Now she can be — with print on demand.
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How to Read a Book without Falling Asleep
By ilivetoteach (eHow.com)
When I was younger, I would get into bed with a good book and read for five hours straight. It was better than sex.
However, now that I’m no longer a spring chicken, I fall asleep on my book in five minutes or less. This is a terrible disappointment to an avid reader. I even fall asleep if I read sitting up in a chair. I know my grandmother is looking down and laughing at me, because I used to laugh at her for doing the same thing. I’ll share a few tricks that I’ve developed to stay awake longer than five minutes.
Step 1
If at all possible, do your reading in the morning, perhaps while you’re having your cup of coffee, or after the kids are off to school if you’re a stay at home parent. I knew a lady who would read while she took her morning walk. I would rather look at nature while I’m walking, but you might like this method. Just be sure to walk on the sidewalk, and stop at the corner to look for traffic before crossing.
Step 2
Sit in a stiff back chair at the table. Sitting in your easy chair has the same effect as lying in bed. Eat something nutritious like an apple while you’re reading. Or drink an ice cold drink. Make sure it’s not too warm in the house. Open a window if it isn’t winter.
Step 3
Read on a bench at the park. The backless seat and fresh air will keep you awake. Meet a friend at Barnes & Noble or Borders. I used to do this with my friends before I moved away. We’d have coffee and talk for a while and then we’d each get a book and read sitting in the cafe.
Step 4
Buy audio books or check them out from your library. I listen to a book while running errands, cleaning house, or driving. It’s great to get through a book, and get all your work done at the same time. I find housework less detestable if I can listen to a book at the same time.
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How to Self-Publish a Book
Article source: eHow.com
Self-publishing can be a smart choice for writers. It’s cost-effective, relatively fast, pays much better than standard
royalty contracts, and lets you maintain control over the publishing process. But there are drawbacks to consider.
Decide what your goal is. Some writers want to print out just enough copies of their prized project for colleagues and friends; others think they have a book that will sell to a larger audience.
Examine competing titles to make sure you’re not covering the same ground. Find out what sales of those books have been to see if it’s really worth your while to tackle a similar topic. Call book distributor Ingram at (615) 213-6803 and punch in the ISBN of the book you want to check on; you’ll hear a voice message containing the number of copies sold in the last year.
Determine what format you’d like to publish in: hardcover, softcover, or ebook, which is essentially an electronic file and requires no paper printing.
Check out print-on-demand publishers. If all you want to do is get a book published, these vanity presses will do the job for a price. Some vanity houses will print just a few copies for a few hundred dollars. Print-on-demand is ideal for very short runs (25 to 500 copies). Instead of printing on traditional, ink-based offset printing equipment, pages are reproduced using a highend copier. A digital file from a page layout program links directly to a high-speed copier and then is machine-bound. Some shops offer perfect binding so it looks just like a printed book. Look at sources like Trafford.com, Xlibris.com and Iuniverse.com.
Print your book directly from your completed files with a directto- press printer. Instead of producing a different piece of film for each color of each page, the files are transferred directly to the printing plate. You’ll eliminate all the film costs, and save time too.
Shop aggressively if you really want your book to sell. If you’re an established writer considering self-publishing, look around. You can either choose to have a print-on-demand company, such as those mentioned above, handle all the layout, printing and production activities, or go to a local offset printer and oversee each of those steps in the process personally.
Ask potential suppliers to send you samples of their recently printed books. Don’t be shocked: The quality will vary considerably with regard to paper quality, cover design, layout, and whether it was run on a sheet-fed press or a web press. Ask questions about how individual pieces were produced.
View competitors’ books to determine what size and format you’d like your book to take. Find out if there are standard sizes you should stay with to reduce costs, or whether a different format will help your book stand out. Format sizes can affect which print-on-demand publisher you can work with.
Familiarize yourself with printing costs. These will vary, but you can expect to spend more than $1 per book for a minimum print run of several thousand copies. You may also be charged extra for layout help, editing, design of a book cover, and for photos. Typical fees are $3 to $6 per page for editing, $3 to $5 for production, $500 to $5,000 and more for design, plus $3 per 300- page book for printing.
Hire a designer with book experience. He or she will design the type, flow the pages, and create a spectacular jacket as well. This is more expensive, in some cases considerably so, but the difference in creating a quality product is significant.
Tally up your costs, including printing, graphic design, artwork, photography, copy editing and other expenses. A traditional publishing house that buys your book would normally absorb these costs, but then again, you lose control.
Request an International Standard Book Number (ISBN), which is the standard code for identifying your book, at isbn.org. The cost for 10 ISBNs is $150, plus a minimum $75 processing fee.
Find out how and by whom your book will be distributed. Some print-on-demand companies handle it in-house. If you do it, you’ll need to have the books shipped to you, to contact book chains about stocking your book, potentially visit each bookstore individually, and handle any mail orders on your own. Some bookstores will accept a limited number of your books on consignment, which means you leave them and if they sell, you get paid; if they don’t, you pick them up in a couple of months. Some companies have extensive bookstore distribution; others focus more on online sales, which will have bearing on the types of activities you’ll need to perform to be successful.
Be prepared to sell yourself. Any real marketing of the book will have to come from you. Self-publishing also means self-promotion, or hiring a publicist to do it for you.
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Ten Great Ways to Promote your Book
By Paul Sloane (Lifehack.org)
So you have written a book and had it published. Congratulations. Now you face the challenge of what to do next. Many authors think that marketing is a job for the publisher so they sit back and wait for the royalties to roll in. You might have a very long wait. The market for books is extremely crowded and most books do not sell well. However, there are a number of things that the author can do that will really help so make the move from writing to marketing and take these actions:
1. Send review copies to all the journals and magazines that review books in your genre. This is
something that most publishers do for you but there is no harm in sharing lists and helping out. If you have self-published you will certainly have to focus on this. Don’t forget the many online sites that review books.
2. Get friends, colleagues, clients or anyone who likes your book to place reviews on Amazon and other online book stores. Amazon is highly influential and the reviews matter so encourage anyone who says they enjoyed your book to place a review.
3. Offer yourself for interview on radio stations. Most radio stations are looking for interesting interviews and the author of a newly published book has a good chance of getting on air. You need a publicity letter which says something interesting or controversial about the book and off you go. If you have the budget you can use a professional PR company to target radio and TV programs.
4. Create a web page for the book. Ideally you should have a separate website with an address that features the book title. Now you can exchange links and drive traffic to the site with comments, blogs, quotes and extracts. Be sure to show people how they can buy the book. Encourage user feedback, comments and reviews.
5. Offer sample chapters as free downloads. Take a couple of your best chapters and turn them into pdf files. Let people download them for free. Think of this as the equivalent of letting people browse through your book at a bookstore.
6. Use material from the book in your blog. Start a blog and quote from the book. Lift sections and acknowledge the book as the source. Build a community of interest around the topics in the book.
7. Review other books in this field. Become a reviewer on Amazon. Use your own name accompanied by ‘author of the book……’. Review other books and when people read your reviews some will click through to your book.
8. Start an email newsletter. Encourage people to subscribe on the website and then send out an occasional newsletter with interesting new material in this book’s field. But you cannot just plug your book – you have to add value with new information and comment.
9. Give away copies to the right people. Use the book as your calling card. Give copies to potential and existing clients. Encourage them to read it and pass it on.
10. Offer books as prizes. Local radio shows, magazines or societies will often be interested in running competitions and will give you valuable publicity if you give them a few books to give away as prizes.
Some authors do book signings in local bookstores but, unless you are very well-known, this activity is unlikely to produce worthwhile results. Finally, you could consider using the book as a platform for launching your speaking career. You will need a different set of skills to succeed here but the book can make an excellent starting point and every talk will help sell more books.
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