So you want to publish a book and do not know where to start?

Comments (0)

So you want to publish a book and don’t know where to start?  The good news is this isn’t a problem but means you are completely normal and just like everyone else. How can you possibly know where to start if you are doing something you have never done before and therefore don’t know what you don’t know about it.

As such I decided to write some quick tips to help you out. The key thing you need to know is you must start with the end in mind. In other words line up why you want to publish a book with how you plan to distribute your book and the rest of the process can flow from there.

Why are you publishing a book

I want to fulfil a dream – you must distribute your book yourself as there is no greater way to get satisfaction from publishing books then to be meeting your target market on a regular basis and seeing the changes you book has made in their lives.

I want to earn a passive income – you must distribute your book online as this is the quickest way to get the highest  financial returns with the least amount of ongoing work involved.

I want to gain credibility – you must distribute your book via bookstores as this method only works if media attention is involved and if the media is talking about you and your book so is everyone else.

Where to start for each process

Self Distribution – this only involves your time and you can set it up for free. Organise to speak for free anywhere you target market will be in return for being allowed to sell copies of your book afterwards. You can design and print your own order form to be completed by customers on the day and if you promote your events via social media there will be no marketing costs involved either.

Online Distribution – this has the highest set up costs but the lowest ongoing costs. Start with what you can afford eg. a template (customed designed to match the branding of your book), a content managed website (so you can edit it yourself) and a shopping cart (to automate the selling process for you). You can grow the functionalities of your store from the profits it brings in.

Bookstore Distribution –  this has no set up costs as such but a low returns on investment so it’s a numbers game. You might only get $1-$2 profit per copy of your book sold but if you move 5,000 do you care? The trick to this choice is to take it slow supplying low volumes of your book to stores so they sell out encouraging them to re-order as re-orders have higher volumes then initial purchases and also have lower return rates.

If you would like more information on the other 6 stages of the publishing process and how to create your customised publishing plan to get your from where you are now to where you want to be click here.

HOW TO MAKE SELF DISTRIBUTION AS EASY AS 1, 2, 3!

Comments (0)

Well you have all heard me talk about how to make self publishing as easy as 1, 2, 3 but what about when it comes to distributing a book. The most popular ways to distribute a book at the moment are self, online and bookstore distribution but the easiest way to manage all 3 of these areas simultaniously (as the more areas of distribution you have the quicker you get returns) is via online distribution.

Traditionally online distribution involved having a customised template branded to match you and your book with multiple pages of content telling people everything they want to know about you, your book and how to buy it or contact you about it. Would you like to know how to run all 3 distribution methods from one web porthole and apply the appropriate marketing tools for all 3 methods to get each distribution method indirectly promoting the others for you?

The best way to combine the current top 5 online marketing techniques into a 7 page website:

PAGE 1 – HOMEPAGE
* VIDEO MARKETING (1 short 1 min video with you talking about your book) – PUTS YOU AT THE TOP OF GOOGLE – update never
* EMAIL MARKETING (Registration for your regular email updates in exchange for a sample chapter of your book) – BUILDS YOUR LIST TO MARKET TO – send an email out once a month with updates
* AFFILIATE MARKETING (Registration to become an affiliate in return for a percentage of the sales from anyone who purchases a book from you because your affiliate promoted your book to them. Tracked via a unique url sent to them at time of sign up for them to use to promote your book however they choose to.) – MAKES SELLING PASSIVE – update never

PAGE 2 – ABOUT THE BOOK
Content only – do not market eg. blurb, 3 testimonials, link to store to buy the book

PAGE 3 – ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Content only – do not market eg. about the author, link to events page to meet in person

PAGE 4 – BLOG
SEO MARKETING – INCREASES YOUR GOOGLE RATING EVERYTIME YOU POST – post a blog once a week commenting on anything relevant to your book

PAGE 5 – SPECIAL OFFER
SALES LETTER MARKETING (Create a package with your book eg. physical book & ebook so people who can’t decide which version they want or who want both can get them for a discounted package price.) - OPPORTUNITY TO UPSELL – update price once book releases from pre-order special to post-release special

PAGE 6 – STORE
Purchase only – no content or marketing (other than your terms of trade) this is simply a page people are directed to when they have already decided to make a purchase based on any other page or marketing technique used

PAGE 7 – CONTACT US
Content only – do not market eg. contact details, contact form, social media links etc.

The best way to bring self and bookstore distribution online to make it quicker and easier for you to manage each method:

PAGE 8 – MEDIA
This contains to sections for the media and from the media.
* FOR – include a downloadable photo of you, your book and you with your book along with a press release about the launch of your book and a follow up release every quarter
* FROM – include copies of press clipping for all magazines/newspapers coverage + audio/video files from all radio/tv coverage
This will allow you to manage the essential media coverage for successful bookstore distribution yourself.

PAGE 9 – EVENTS
This simply contains a calendar so people can see when and where they can go to meet you the author personally. Put every event you will be at whether it is your own or someone else’s, whether you are attending as a speaker or as an attendee so people know where they can find you.
This will allow you to manage both networking and speaking opportunities required for successful self distribution.

PAGE 10 – TESTIMONIALS
I recommend you include a testimonial in your template and several in your sales letter but this is the page where additional testimonials can be added (remember to use both written and video) so people can instantly see the ongoing popularity of your book.
This will give you both increased SEO and increased credibility.

If you would like more information on getting The Publishing Queen to create your complete self distribution and marketing solution as described above click here.

SELF PUBLISHING AS EASY AS 1, 2, 3!

Comments (0)

People generally publish a book for 1 of 3 reasons; to fulfil a dream, to earn a passive income or to gain credibility. What people don’t realise is it doesn’t matter why you want to publish a book if you don’t know the 3 secrets of how to do it successfully you will never be successful. I like to describe the process of publishing a book like driving a car:

1. Learn

To drive a car you need a licence. It is a fact that to get behind the wheel without one would be pure stupidity. Some people do it, yes but we hear what happens to them on the news every day. When it comes to publishing your book do you want a journey full of potential accidents waiting to happen or do you want a safe arrival at your destination?

2. Plan & Budget

To get to your destination of choice you need both to plan and fuel your trip. A map (or these days a GPS) will show you straight away how to get from A to B and a little bit of petrol to fuel your trip will get you well on your way to a safe arrival. When it comes to publishing a book people seem to forget these steps. They jump straight on the publishing highway with no sense of direction most of the time, never even having planned where they want to end up before they start driving, little lone how they are going to get there. And the amount of times I have heard someone complain about how expensive self publishing can be, knowing every time this statement was made because they hadn’t written a budget before they started so they could see what was involved and adjust their plan to meet their budget. A good plan needs a good budget but who said you had to be the one the fuel it.

3. Create, Cruise and Repeat

So you’ve learnt where the pot holes are, have a detailed map to guide you round them and have pre-sold your book to fund your dream.  Now and only now are you ready to begin creating your book and as such the cycle starts again. You have learnt what you needed to learn in order to plan and create a budget for your publishing process but now you have been educated on what you didn’t know, you didn’t know it is time to repeat the process to learn what you need to know in order to create your book. Who once they have their licence only plans 1 route and drives it the rest of their life? No, we go out and we create new experiences as we travel new routes to new destinations throughout the whole rest of our life. The same is true of publishing a book – it is a constant learning and planning experience as you move you and your book to the next level but once you become an experienced driver and can turn on cruise control and enjoy the publishing highway you are constantly fulfilling your dreams, earning a passive income and gaining credibility at the same time.

The choice of when to start and when to stop is entirely up to you but if you

1. Learn
2. Plan
3. Create

time and time again you will never want to stop. You will become (to take the road analogy a step further) what I refer to as an up-side-down traffic light; ready to go now, radiating a bright light as you are extremely passionate about your book and never want to stop promoting it!

To learn more about how you can become an up-side-down traffic light and begin planning your book today register for my FREE 7 day ecourse ‘How to Write your First Book’ http://www.thepublishingqueen.com/7dayecourseregistration.html.

SO YOU WANT AN EBOOK - DO YOU KNOW WHAT KIND?

Comments (0)

So you have decided you want to create an ebook maybe because it is the most economical way to begin publishing, maybe because you want your book available in more than 1 format or maybe because plain and simple you think it is time you caught up with this increasingly popular trend.

The reason really doesn’t matter but what does is how you are going to go about it. Firstly how do you plan to sell it – from your webstore or from someone else’s? If you webstore what format do you want it in? If someone else’s which store will get you the best sales and what format do they need it in? The questions could be endless but the last one on any list is always ‘but how do I get my book into that format?’. Let me try and answer all of these for you in the quickest and most succinct manner possible.

1. For your webstore:

Currently the 2 most popular formats are the pdf (static acrobat based ebook) and the swf (animated flash based ebook). The pdf is print friendly - good for when people want to be able to print it out to read later but the swf is screen friendly - looks great on screen with its animated turning pages. What you want to think about is what is right for your target market but at the end of the day the decision is up to you whether you want to supply your customers with a pdf, a swf of both versions so they can pick and choose.

1. For someone else’s webstore:

There are lots of places to choose from these days but the only one I recommend is Amazon.com. There is 2 reasons for this 1) because it has the monopoly of traffic and therefore the highest volume of sales and 2) because it is a registered store which gives it (and therefore your book) higher credibility then just being available on any old webstore.

How Amazon differs from your own webstore is the manner in which your ebook is provided to the customer. From your webstore the customer downloads their ebook assumedly to read on their computer whether that be PC or MAC (as this is all most web solutions support) but when it comes to a registered store the download process (and therefore the way your book needs to be set-up and/or coded) is completely different.

A book purchased from Amazon is not an ‘ebook’ as such even though it is an electronic book but it referred to as a ‘kindle’ as it is sold through their ‘kindle store’. This opens a whole new world of opportunities up to authors wanting to publish an ebook. Suddenly your ebook is not just being read on a PC or MAC but on an ebook reader (such as a kindle or one of the numerous varieties available online or in any good bookstore) or an ipad, an android/blackberry phone or an iphone... the list is endless. Suddenly it is not about what you want your ebook to be but the market is dictating to you how they want to receive your book which means you either need to learn how to use this new technology (or pay someone to do this for you) or you and your book may get left behind.

Everything is continuously changing and changing rapidly - I can only wonder what the future of ebooks will hold.

For more details on our ebook services click here

For more details on our Amazon service click here

THE SELF PUBLISHING DECISION - SELF PUBLISHING OR TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING?

Comments (0)

THE ULIMATE QUESTION

How do you want to publish your book; via traditional methods or via self publishing? This is the first question every budding author must answer before they begin their publishing journey. It is important to not only know why you want to publish (to ensure your distribution methods will allow you to achieve these goals) but it is also equally important to ensure your choice of publishing method will allow you to also achieve these outcomes.

PROS AND CONS OF TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING

• Your book (more often than not) gets rejected and will never be published
• Your publisher takes the financial risk
• Your publisher reaps all the rewards and you a left with a small commission of $1-$2 per book sold
• You give away the rights to your book
• Ideal if you don’t want to be involved in the process and just get your book out there
• Profit per 1000 books sold approximately - $2000 (paid in commission)

PROS AND CONS OF SELF PUBLISHING

• Your book will defiantly be published
• You take the financial risk
• You reap all the rewards and are left with 100% profit from books sold
• You own your own book
• Ideal if you want to be involved in the process, see the results and enjoy the impact your book makes
• Profit per 1000 books sold approximately - $20,000 (after cost of producing the books, freight etc.)

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN MAKING THE DECISION

So now you know the pros and cons of each style of publishing it comes time for you to make a choice - which way do you want to go?

Would you rather give your book away to someone else to take the financial risk and do all the work for you so you don't need to be involved in the process but receive a small royalty each time a copy of your book is sold?

OR

Would you rather keep the rights to your own book, take the financial risk and have control over every step of your publishing process to allow you to receive approimately 10 times more profit for every book sold?

At the end of the day it comes down to your own personal choice. Which form of publishing is right for you and your book?