There are a lot of benefits self-publishing offers authors. Aside from full control of your work, you can easily make your book available to the public. It’s no wonder why more and more authors now prefer the self-publishing route.
Self-publishing is becoming an increasingly popular option for independent authors who want to promote their books without having to rely upon a traditional publishing house. Not only are traditional publishing contracts hard to land, but you also give up a large portion of control to the publisher in terms of ownership rights. Self-publishing allows you to retain full control over the rights to your work, and you can make your book available to the public in a comparatively short period of time versus going the traditional publishing route. With all of the benefits that indie publishing offers, it's easy to see why many authors are circumventing traditional routes altogether and bootstrapping their way to publishing glory. If you are ready to venture into the world of indie publishing, below are some simple steps you can take to position yourself for success.
1. Undertaking a self-publishing project means that you will wear many hats; in addition to writing your book, you will need to proofread, edit and design your book cover as well (or hire someone to do it for you). Double-check your title to make sure that it will grab your readers' attention; this small but very significant step can mean the difference between someone buying your book or passing it by.
2. Get an ISBN number. This 10 or 13-digit code is commonly used to identify your book. There are several self-publishing sites that can provide this number for you, but if you're going to go it alone, you can buy one directly from ISBN at this link: [http://www.isbn.org/buy_ISBNs]. Be aware that one ISBN number will cost you $125, but if you want to acquire multiple ISBNs for other works, you can buy 10 for $295. Having an ISBN number will put your work into the Bowker database, a primary source of information for bookstores looking to pick up new titles for retailing.
2. Choose what type of publishing method you want to use. If you're on a shoestring budget, keeping your book in a strictly electronic format will obviously be the most cost-effective way to publish your work, but if you're able to invest in printing physical copies of your book, you need to have a good feel for how many copies of your book you're expecting to sell so that you won't end up with excess inventory. A more economical way to go is to choose some type of print-on-demand (POD) service, which allows you to print your books as the orders come in. There are several POD providers out there to choose from, such as Xlibris [http://www.xlibris.com/], Lulu [http://www.lulu.com/] and CreateSpace [http://www.createspace.com/].
3. Now comes the fun part. The rest of your time should be spent on advertising and marketing your book through as many different promotional channels as possible. You can publish press releases, promote the book to various distributors, purchase online advertising space on popular reading community websites, develop a website around your book, submit your book to influential reviewers, join online forums for indie publishing authors, etc. Open up as many promotional avenues as possible to give your book the type of exposure it deserves.
Although self-published authors live in an era of unprecedented opportunity, you still must be willing to hustle and work hard in order to make your book stand out from the crowd. Apply diligence to the above steps, and you will be well on your way to self-publishing success.
Creative Writing: Finding Your Inspiration
Every writer needs to find inspiration in order to produce inspired writing - whether it is in the form of a novel, short story, poetry, song or even a simple blog post or journal entry. You don’t have to live an extraordinary life to find sources of inspiration for creative writing. They are all around you. Below are some of the most common sources of inspiration that can be used to produce a masterpiece.
Co-Author: Writing a Book in Collaboration
These days, authors often collaborate with each other to produce the best work possible. By collaborating with another author of the same mind, the two of you may be able to produce a successful masterpiece that is esteemed by millions. The goal of producing a top-selling book may feel more reachable if you have the support of a co-author. Consider the following tips and you’re well on your way to the bestselling list!
A Discussion of the Self-Publishing Model
With the rise of self-publishing, a new niche of independent or indie authors has emerged. There are pros and cons to everything, and self-publishing is not exempt from this unwritten concept. Without the assistance of service companies, one might wonder if self-publishing has a broad scope. It’s up to you to decide whether the pros outweigh the cons. Once you decide which path to take, go for it and give it all you’ve got!
