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So You Want to Get Published

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There are a few ways that you can get your book published. I’ll list and explain them as follows: Self-publish POD You can publish your book yourself quite easily these days. There are many print-on-demand (POD) companies online that you can use. When you self-publish you are basically doing all the writing, layout, cover design, and getting an ISBN number. You then submit your book to a printer by uploading it to their system. Each system is different. When you self-publish using an online POD you pay nothing up front but the company will take a percentage of each sale. A few POD companies that will work nicely are LuLu and CafePress. There are probably others but these stand out because I have looked into them before. Quick Printer Another option it is to us a quick print company to print your book. There is usually a small set-up fee and you have to pay for your books up front. The cost per book varies depending on the number of books you want printed. The more you have printed the lower the cost. I’ve used Instant Publisher to print my book. The process wasn’t hard and the owner is quite friendly. You have to follow the same procedure outline above for setting up your book to print. The time from upload to receiving your books is relatively short. The longest time for me to receive my books was two weeks.

The good thing about using a quick printer is that the minimum number of books you can print is small. Some printers require that you have a minimum order of 500 or 1,000 books. With many quick printers you minimum can be as low as 25 books. This is great for testing the market or using the books as gifts for family and friends. eBook The last way is to create an ebook. You basically save your manuscript as a PDF file and sell it online. You can take payments through PayPal so you’ll be able to get instant payment. You will have to either send the file as soon as you get the order or set up an automatic payment/send system through a company like eJunkie or Paydotcom. Traditional Publisher If you want to go through a traditional publisher you can expect to have to send a query. You are essentially trying to sell your idea to the publisher. They get thousands of queries a month so it could be months before you hear anything. You could hire a literary agent to pitch your book to publishers but be prepared to pay them up front and a percentage of your book sales. There are a few publishing companies that regularly call for submissions. You will have to research those companies, join mailing lists, and forums where authors hang out to find out more. Some are also PODs and require a large fee upfront. They don’t guarantee that your book will be picked up and you will have to market it yourself. With a traditional publisher you will get some marketing assistance but at with all other forms of publishing you will have to do the bulk of the work yourself. Marketing is a requirement for the success of any book. You have to promote, sell, promote, advertise, and sell. It is an ongoing project after your book is printed/ published. If you don’t promote your book no one will ever know about it. There are several books about promoting your book. I personally have John Kremer’s Book Marketing Handbook. It is a comprehensive book about all the ways to promote your book. He started a social network on Ning that is frequented by thousands of authors both famous and not so famous. Networking Networking is a great way to get your book known among the people who know people. Look for author and book marketing groups on Ning, Yahoo Groups, Facebook, Myspace, and numerous others online. Also look for local writer’s groups in you city. It is great for support, critique, and connections. A writer who has been published can tell you the pitfalls and successes they’ve had. They can also connect you with a publisher, graphic designer, publicist, or agent. Cost Be prepared to spend some money to make money. You may have to save up your pennies and dollars to get your book marketed to the masses or niche. If you are marketing to a niche you will probably have better success. With a specialized group of people to target you have a better chance of hitting the mark.

If you want to be a published author there are many ways to accomplish this goal. You have more options now than you ever had before. Just do your research, know that you will have to spend a little money no matter what option you choose, and know that you have to market and promote your book so people will know that you’re Great American Novel exists.

© 2008 Samantha Gregory
About the Author

Samantha Gregory is a writer and motivational speaker. Visit http://richsinglemomma.com to learn more about effective ways to manage your financial life as a single mom. She is also the author of 100 Secrets of Successful Single Motherhood: An Inspirational Guide for Single Moms.

If you want articles like the ones I’ve written contact me about writing for your website, business, articles, and promotional materials. Visit samanthagregory.com for more details today!

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