The electronic book publishing industry brings potential for writers, but it also raises the hackles of some in the traditional book publishing industry. Can one author stand against an entire industry? Maybe. Maybe not. But author J.A. Konrath is giving it a go. And truly, he’s not alone.

Until a couple of years ago, I had been a newspaper journalist. Then in a matter of a year or two, I watched my career vanish before my eyes. The newspaper industry as a whole has been in decline for decades, but the ball has definitely been rolling downhill the last few years.

Now, over the last year or so, I’m hearing many of the same grumblings in the book publishing industry that I used to hear in the newspaper industry. No one is reading anymore. None of the publishers are making any money. Technology, mainly through the Internet and e-book readers, is destroying the publishing industry.

There’s probably some truth to all that, but I don’t think the major traditional book publishers are going to keel over and die anytime soon. Maybe in the next 20 years, but time will tell. Meanwhile, someone somewhere is making money from print books; there’s just too many book stores and online purchases to deny this. Still, books in electronic form have made and are continuing to make major headway into the publishing industry.

So much so that lately there’s another front in the conflict between traditional book publishing and electronic publishing. Some writers, even some known writers, are turning away from the traditional publishers and going it on their own. The biggest brouhaha has been brought about by author J.A. Konrath, probably best known for his Jack Daniels police procedural series of novels and his horror fiction. Konrath has been in the public eye for at least a half dozen years now as an author, his first traditionally published novel having been Whiskey Sour in 2004. Since then Konrath has gone on to have about a half dozen novels published in print.

He has also become known for his blog about publishing, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing, and the extremes he has gone to to promote his work, including mailing 7,000 letters to libraries and personally visiting more than 600 book stores in 28 states in one year. Konrath has also become known for being outspoken of his opinions concerning the publishing industry. On his blog he has stated “I love print publishers. But the traditional publishing industry is flawed, and I don’t see any signs it will be fixed anytime soon.” Those flaws seem to have driven him away entirely from traditional book publishers. Konrath has announced, after years of working with traditional publishers, he will now go it alone without the industry. Barring a handful of books he is contractually obligated to provide publishers, his future in publishing is now turning toward Amazon’s Kindle. Konrath has announced his upcoming novels will be published electronically first on the Kindle and at Smashwords for other ebook readers, then will be made available in print through Amazon’s CreateSpace program.

Why would an author do this? The more important question might be, Why not? Konrath claims to have sold 46,000 ebooks through Amazon over the last five years, the best-selling of the lot being his novel The List, which was never excepted for print publication by a traditional book publisher. In other words, a professional author is making money without a print publisher. Will this lead to a trend of more authors dumping print publishers for electronic publication? It just might. If an author is able to bring in readers without taking a cut in potential earnings from publishers (and possibly even literary agents), it’s possible more authors will go this route. Konrath’s outspokenness on his own publishing venture, and his recent announcement of dropping traditional print publishers, has drawn attention.

An article recently in Publishers Weekly sought opinions from literary agents concerning Konrath’s actions and wrods; some responses were negative while others not so much, but Konrath himself on his blog took exception to the article’s tone, calling it an “epic fail” and then going on to outline the article’s possible failings.� And readers and writers are paying attention. Hundreds have commented on Konrath’s blog, some urging on his success, some not. On a related note, Garrison Keillor recently wrote an article for The Baltimore Sun titled “When everyone’s a writer, no one is.” The headline isn’t completely accurate to the article’s subject matter, but Keillor is not likely to blame as columnists don’t always have a say in the title to their articles.

Keillor does go on about some of the positive aspects of self-publishing, but more than anything he laments the days when writers used a typewriter, mailed off their manuscripts and got paid for them. He calls it “the Old Era.” For good or ill, it seems the Old Era has passed. Electronic publishing seems here to stay, and it’s changing the face of the publishing industry one book at a time.

When is the best time to sell your book? The idea of pre-selling books is definitely a clever move, especially for self-published authors. Although pre-selling will also involve money, there are a lot of ways to promote your book in advance even on a shoestring budget. Pre-selling books is a marketing strategy that’s a must.

While you wait for your books to be printed, it is ideal to maximize time for marketing and promotion. Other authors have sustained the anticipation of their readers by maintaining author websites, blogs, online journals and the like. They pre-sell by keeping their blogs or websites updated with the latest information and details about their upcoming book. This actually works since readers can conveniently keep track. It is always advisable to give a full month or two to market your book before it is printed. Keep the waiting part as productive as possible.

For your marketing to be successful, you will need to seriously consider how to effectively pre-sell your books. How do you persuade readers to purchase your book even before when it’s out in the market? How do we make books sell even prior to its launch date?

The art of pre-selling involves getting the public interested even before a product is out. An example of this is Apple’s iPad. Even before the product was out, the public was already anticipating and the list of reservations was already quite long. How did Apple do the iPad hype? It’s simple. Apple has done extensive pre-marketing and promotional campaigns for iPad. From product reviews, forums, blogs, to viral websites, they totally covered all pre-selling online venues. They made the public start talking about their product before it even came out.

Here are tips for effective pre-selling:

1.Eye-Catching Print Materials. These materials can be bookmarks, flyers, posters, stickers, and tarpaulins. The production of these materials need not be expensive. If you have the designing skills then you can make your own promotional art and print them at your nearest printing press. It is also advisable for your promotional materials to be consistent with colors and fonts. Make sure that your content will be able to attract and stir interest for readers. Enumerate venues where they can read more details about your book. (i.e. websites, social networking sites, etc.)

2.Utilize Your Website for Pre-Marketing and Promotion. Since it’s your website, you can freely post advance information about your upcoming book. Moreover, you can conduct online contests in line with your upcoming book. Contests and other activities generate attention and interest for the public. You can promote and pre-sell your book while gaining high traffic for your website.

3.Offer A Special Pre-Sale Price. Customers love discounts. If you have already decided on your book’s price, you can offer a special pre-sale price to customers who will purchase your book prior to its release. You can offer special rate discounts to your first 100 customers for example.

4.Blog About Your Upcoming Book. Frequently post entries about your book on your blog. Cover any kind of topic that can keep current potential customers interested and to keep attract new ones. Write helpful articles. Remember that attention is gained when you share helpful information. Read other blog sites. It’s also equally important for you to learn from others. When you do read other blog sites, remember to post a comment of appreciation or a courteous opinion. Don’t forget to post a link to your author website or blog page when you leave comments.

5.Trigger Book Reviews from the National and International Media. Posting a press release about your book online or sending it to reputable media targets via fax increases the chances of a critical review on the substantial merits of your book, and a critical praise will bring you national—even international—acclaim.

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Should you decide to venture into publishing a book, download your free publishing guide here.

For some self published authors, the marketing process is the hardest part in book publishing. For which is true given that you have no knowledge on the ways to market your book. So without further adieu, here are some simple yet effective book marketing tips and tools that you can use:

1. Create promotional copies for your book – promotional copies are mainly summaries of your book. Promotional copies must be brief yet descriptive and appealing.
2. Have your book reviewed – reviews are great book marketing tools. However, having your book reviewed is not as easy as it may seem. Sure you can have your friend review your book but in order for the review to be credible, you must have your book reviewed by a renowned individual or entity in the industry. The best way to secure a credible book review is by sending a Press Release (use your promotional copy) to renowned individuals or entities. Don’t forget to include information about yourself and where you can be contacted.
3. Flyers and posters – not only are they great marketing tools, they are also easy to make. It is best that you create the content for the flyers and posters yourself. Or you could seek the services of a self publishing company. Pass the flyers to your friends, colleagues, family and acquaintances. Ask your local bookstore to put up a poster of your book or post one at your workplace (ask permission first). Be sure to include the ordering information, where to buy the book and the price on your posters and flyers.
4. Advertise on the Internet – The Internet is considered as the best marketing platforms of today. If you advertise on the Internet, you get to reach out to a much wider readership. Marketing on the Internet is like promoting your book on a global scale.

There are lots of ways for you to promote your book. The most important aspects book marketing is hard work, determination, and basic knowledge on how marketing works.

Get to know more on how book marketing works. Get your Free Book Marketing Guide here.

For a self published author, getting your book out is not enough if you want to share to the world your story. If you want your book to be noticed by readers, you must create awareness (and of course interest) for your target readers. Unlike the traditional way (wherein after the book publishing process is done, the publishing house does all the marketing campaign to get the book picked up by readers), self published authors must do the marketing campaign by themselves if they want to get the most out of their writing efforts.

Self published authors consider the marketing process as the hardest part in self publishing. There are even some experienced authors who are daunted by the idea of having to promote their books. Not only does book marketing require significant amount of your time, dedication and hard work; knowing the ways on how to effectively promote your book is also required.

For those who have little (or none) book marketing 101 “know-how”, the Internet is a great source of information. However, for those who have little time to spare or those who want less hassle, there are some self publishing companies that offer book marketing promotions. In hiring the services of a self publishing company, always make sure that the book marketing deal that you’ll subscribe hits your target readers (not just the mass market).

For self published author, book marketing campaign is an uphill climb. Hard work, dedication and basic “know-how” of book marketing can make the climb easier. And hiring the marketing services of a self publishing company can make the job much easier.

To know more on how you can effectively promote your book, click here to claim your free publishing guide.

p.s.

On my next post, I’ll be posting some book marketing tips and tools that you can use in promoting your self published book. Tune in for more.

Independent publishing has a lot of advantages.  One remains in control of the finished product because one decides on the text, images, illustrations, fonts, layout, etc.  Time frame from start to finish is faster than with a traditional publisher.  And, unlike a traditional publisher, the author retains full rights to his manuscript.  So, if someone wants to get the rights to the book for a film, or for television, they only deal with the author.

The author controls set price of the book and how much royalty they can earn per copy sold.  They do not need an agent in order for their manuscript to get noticed, read and published.  Unlike traditional publishers who only market their most promising titles, independent publishing allows the author to create their own marketing plan via different marketing materials and promotional services.  Everything is within reach of the author.  All the necessary tools to make their book successful are within their reach.  Book publishing is no longer just a pipe dream.

Independent publishing or self-publishing is now a better option.  It has simplified the publishing process.  Gone were the days of peddling your manuscript to different agents and publishing houses.  Gone were the days of waiting for at least 2 years to see a copy of your book in print.

“It is great that you have this publishing service for authors because if you’re not a well known or established author and you send your book to a big time book company, it will probably get no further than the trash can…” read more

Tim Bramlett, author of Sharkey and the Space Pirates 

There is in each one of us, a voice wanting to speak out, a voice needing to be heard. We go through notebooks and paper filled with scribbles and rhyme. Have you ever thought of putting everything together and publishing your own book of poetry? Or prose perhaps?

Let not stories of traditional publishing stop you from getting heard. You no longer have to go through that long and arduous process. Now, you can go through self-publishing. Self-publishing allows you to publish a book the way you want it, when you want it. It gives you the luxury of free reign in the design and layout of your book and total ownership of rights to your book.

There are a host of book publishing companies out there.  All one has to do is go through them and find what fits their needs, what satisfies their vision.  The options available are endless.  Everything is all a matter of choosing the right one.

Let the voice inside you be heard.  Let it be free.  Publish the inner you.  Let your voice be heard by people who need to hear it.

Do you look at the world through child’s eyes? Have you always made up stories for children before they go to sleep? Do you enjoy being the storyteller to a roomful of kids? The child in you is waiting to be unleashed. Why not put everything in writing and let the world see the child wanting to break free? Publish the child in you.

There are so many options out there for you. There are a lot of book publishing companies. The key really is to look for the best option for you. With traditional publishing companies, you submit your manuscript, they cover the cost of production, give you royalties for every book sold. But the moment you sign over your book to them, you lose rights to your book, you lose control.

With self publishing, you publish a book on your own terms. You give your manuscript to a self publishing company and cover the cost of printing, then they turn that manuscript into a professionally done children’s book. And the greater thing about it is: you maintain full control over your book. From how you want it to come out, the illustrations, the lay-out to the way you want it available for sale.

Self-publishing allows you to unleash the child in you.   Are you ready to break free and let the child in you out? Get your free publishing guide now!

Publishing a book is difficult. You have to go through that process of looking for an agent, looking for a publisher, looking at months and even years of waiting. And when you get a rejection letter, you go through the process again. Are you really willing to wait and go through all that before you get that masterpiece out there?

Print-on-Demand (POD) publishing is the alternative. Though you do have to pay to get your book published, its rewards are great. You get full control of how you want your book, of how you envisioned it. From layout, cover design, how many you want printed, all the way to how you want it marketed and sold. When you purchase a publishing package, you can tailor fit everything to meet the goals you have for your book. Self-publishing allows you to do what you have to do, write. After you prepare your manuscript, they do the rest.

The long wait to get published is now over. All you need to do is decide on which path to take.

A friend of mine stumbled across them and told me I should publish them. Publishing my book was a dream I put at the back of my mind. I did not think it was possible to make it happen. I have browsed through the web and discovered self-publishing. Self-publishing frees us up to do what we have to do – write. They take care of the rest for us. We worry about the manuscripts and they take care of how to get us out there.

Discover the joys of self-publishing with me. Let us take this journey together.

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Do you want to follow that dream? Get a free publishing guide now!