| Agents and publishing houses have their best interests | | | | useful information. You don't have to write a 200-page |
| at heart, not the author's. Save yourself from | | | | book to be a real author. Remember The One-Minute |
| headaches, disappointments, and money down the | | | | Manager and the One- Minute Salesperson? Around |
| drain. Become your own independent publisher and | | | | one hundred pages. People want information fast and |
| produce your book faster and cheaper. All you need is | | | | convenient. Create short information products that are |
| a little help from professionals. | | | | between 20 and 99 pages you can sell online, even if |
| | | | you don't have your own Web site. |
| Myth: You need an agent or big publishing house to | | | | |
| market your book and make big money. | | | | If you choose to print your book with Print Quantity |
| | | | Needed (PQN), your perfect bound books will look as |
| Since big publishers don't look at unknown authors, | | | | good as any book on the bookstore shelves. |
| now is the time to look at what they can do for you. | | | | |
| Dan Poynter, self-publishing guru, says that if a | | | | Myth: Authors must spend a lot of money to publish |
| publisher can't sell four times as many books as you | | | | themselves. |
| can, you're better off selling it yourself. Self-publish first | | | | |
| because it acts as a test market for your book. If it | | | | The printing costs for 1500 copies of a 160-page book |
| sells well (over 10,000 in a year), publishers may be | | | | might cost $3000, about $2 a unit. Small runs cost |
| interested in your book. | | | | even more per unit. That's a lot of cash for anyone to |
| | | | put out all at once, and it's not worth it to many of us |
| Traditional publishers and agents accept only 1-2% of | | | | to use our home equity or life savings to finance our |
| authors' submissions, and even if you are one of the | | | | book. The answer is a small run with Print on Demand |
| "chosen" you may not make much money after | | | | (POD) where you can print from 100 to 500 for around |
| printing, bookstore, distributor, wholesaler and other | | | | $2.40 for 160 pages. Without the high inventory, you |
| expenses--probably $2 on a $14 book. Yes, you get | | | | can maintain a comfortable cash flow to spend on |
| an advance, but your sales must meet that and more. | | | | promotion, the most important part of your book |
| And after the initial book tour, the trainee marketing | | | | adventure. |
| person is onto the next new author. Then, your books | | | | |
| disappear from the bookstore shelf unless you, | | | | You save even more money if you don't print your |
| personally, devote a lot of time to marketing them. | | | | book. Book publishing is going Internet. You can write |
| | | | small books in less time, market them easily and |
| Book Publishing is a new game today. Think | | | | inexpensively on the Web and reap profits sooner. Try |
| self-publishing where the profits are all yours. Thanks | | | | an e-book. It can be downloaded, it takes no printing |
| to Dan Poynter of the Self Pulsing Manual for giving us | | | | costs because your buyer prints or downloads it. You |
| permission to do part of the task ourselves. If you | | | | don't even have to have the whole book finished to |
| self-publish and decide to print, you need to print only | | | | sell it. Just include your table of contents at the end of |
| the copies you need (5-500) with the new technology | | | | each chapter and present it as an e-serial book. |
| Print on Demand (POD). Even better is Print Quantity | | | | |
| Needed (PQN) such as No more unsold cartons of | | | | As a book coach, I am an authors' advocate and want |
| books in your closets or garage. You print as you go | | | | you to make money. Going traditional doesn't work. |
| leaving enough cash flow to market your book | | | | Give ePublishing a chance.Judy Cullins, 20-year book |
| splendidly. | | | | and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks |
| | | | including "Write your eBook Fast," and "How to Market |
| Myth: To be a respected author, you must invest | | | | your Business on the Internet," she offers free help |
| thousands of hours of time on your full-length book. | | | | through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach |
| | | | Says...and Business Tip of the Month at and over 140 |
| The reality is that people today want concise and | | | | free articles. |