Your name: D’vorah Lansky

Your website: http://BookMarketingMadeEasy.com

Your bibliography: Connect, Communicate, and Profit: Build Successful Business Relationships Online Book Marketing Made Easy: Simple Strategies for Selling Your Nonfiction Book Online Promote Your Book with Teleseminars: Simple and Affordable Ways to Turn Your Message Into Money

1. What is your background? I have a Master’s Degree in education and have taught in various places around the globe.  When my son was born I began marketing online, that was 1994. This led to many speaking opportunities and the publication of my books.

2. What led you to self-publishing? I like the control I have over to project so I can set the pace. With so many options available an author can accomplish a great deal while retaining the rights to their book.

3. What have you found to be the biggest challenge in self-publishing? Sifting through all the offerings and finding the best book cover designer, editor, etc. Some of the programs where you pay someone to do it all sound appealing. Since I am quite proficient in online marketing I don’t need the support with building sites and social media, so still looking for the right match.

4. What has been the biggest surprise about self-publishing? That an author can write a book and publish it. I thought publishing a book was a huge mystery and rare occurrence. I was delighted to find out that this is not the case.

5. What inspires you? Being around kind, positive, giving, successful people.

6. Describe your writing process. I use the “gatherer” style of writing. I like to outline my project in word or as a mindmap. I then plug in subtopics, idea, resources, etc. Next, I open up word and pop each page/idea onto it’s own page. I format the text so that everything is uniform and then I dig in and begin writing. I like to set a goal for number of sections I’ll work on during each writing session. Sometimes I’ll print off these pages and attach them to a clipboard as I often enjoy sitting in bed and writing first thing in the morning.

7. How do you stay disciplined? I actually am quite disciplined and have to force myself to go to sleep or go have fun, away from the office! To me,work, writing, marketing, meeting people, networking, IS fun!

8. What is your favorite self-marketing idea? Setting up and participating in an online Virtual Book Tour. I was inspired by the book tours of Dana Lynn Smith and Joanna Penn and set up what ended up being a very successful 21-day virtual book tour. If anyone is interested in gathering ideas for their own tour there are lots of tips and ideas right on my tour page and on my blog at http://BookMarketingMadeEasy.com

9. What advice do you have for burgeoning self-publishers? Set up a WordPress blog the foundation of your online platform. Begin promoting your book and developing your author platform when your book is just a glimmer in your eye. In this way you’ll have a strong foundation and solid relationships with people who will support you when it comes time to promote your book as well as a place for people to come to to find out more about you and your book.

10. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun? I enjoy going to the bookstore, playing cribbage, hiking, quilting, dancing, and reading.

11. What project are you currently working on? I actually am working on two projects.

1) The Third Annual Book Marketing Conference Online. Fifteen sessions with top book marketing experts.
http://BookMarketingConference.com

2) A course on Relationship Marketing for Authors that Shelley Hitz and I are teaching together.

http://www.greetingcardsforauthors.com/ecourse/

I’m pleased to welcome today’s guest post by author and former CBS News journalist Hardy Jones. He wanted to share with my readers the lessons he learned in promoting his book through advertising.  I generally don’t recommend that authors advertise their books – reviews and other forms of publicity are weighted far more heavily – and this post underscores that.

What Not to Do to Sell Your Indie Book

By Hardy Jones

In May of this year, I self-published my book, The Voice of the Dolphins (VOTD), through CreateSpace, an Amazon subsidiary. The book has been released in print, Kindle, and in enhanced eBook format with embedded video clips through iTunes and via the eBookStore app.

After having a horrific experience with a mainstream publisher I got the rights back and eventually wrote the book I wanted. But my sales have been paltry, roughly 300 units, virtually all from my FaceBook and Twitter reach and enewsletters of BlueVoice.org and other ocean environmental organizations.

VOTD received a very nice review from Kirkus and is five-stars on Amazon. I’ve had enough professional feedback to be confident it’s a good piece of work. So as sales dwindled from initial 60 per month to 30 to fewer, I became frustrated. The book is not only the story of nearly 35 years filming dolphins and whales in the wild, it contains important information on toxics in the ocean environment that affect the health of both dolphins and humans.

Then I saw an ad in the New York Times Book Review offering half price off ads for first time authors. I’ve made more than seventy films for television but VOTD is my first book. I thought I’d try to achieve a breakout for the book through an ad in the NYT Book Review. The sales agent said they reach 4-million readers. Even the half-off price was $5,100, a lot of money for me. But fortune favors the bold, I told myself.

I wasn’t trying to generate enough sales to cover the cost of the ad but I thought I might make a couple of hundred sales and get some media attention. I had a professional do the graphics, we had endorsements from Ted Danson, the Kirkus Review, and a nice blurb from Paul Watson. I anxiously awaited the publication date: September 18, 2011.

The results were pathetic. Sales ran less than 20 on the Amazon and Kindle sites combined. There were a few more on the eBookStore and probably some on iTunes (won’t know for a month or more). So the ad was a complete and total waste of money.

But hope springs eternal. VOTD is up for a literary award, I’ll be speaking to the Society of Environmental Journalists, there are two library appearances on my docket, a booth at a marine mammal conference and a whale festival. That may generate a few sales.

In the end the greatest value may be in sending signed copies of the book to donors to our nonprofit (www.bluevoice.org). One copy went to a donor who promptly sent a gift of $3,000. We’re sending copies to donors all over the world now – Japan, Qatar, Brazil, Colombia, and of course, the USA and Canada.

The bottom line is I love the book and will keep fighting to get recognition for it; but not through the NYT Book Review.

Hardy Jones has spent more than thirty years investigating and working to save dolphins. He began unique research on dolphins in the Bahamas in 1978 that has led to four internationally broadcast films and many awards. In 1979 He broke the story of the slaughter of dolphins at Iki Island, Japan which led to international outrage and helped shut down the killing of dolphins in several villages in Japan.  Since then Hardy has worked at Futo and Taiji to stop the last vestiges of slaughter on Japan’s main island. Hardy has covered the increasing levels of toxic chemicals in the oceans and their connection to disease in dolphins and human beings. Hardy is a former journalist with CBS News. He attended Tulane University and studied law at Columbia University under a CBS Foundation Fellowship. Visit his website at http://hardyjonesdolphins.com.

Here are some questions to ask yourself:

How long are you willing to wait to see your book in print?  Let’s skip right over the months and possibly years it might take you to find representation and assume you already have a finished manuscript and an agent. It may take some time for the agent to shop around and find the right place for your book. Let’s further assume the agent finds a publisher who is interested and offers a reasonable contract. You still might have to wait another 12 to 18 months to see your book in print.  Self-publishing can be done in a much shorter amount of time—usually just a couple of months if your manuscript is professionally edited and the book is professionally designed.

What are your reasons for wanting to be traditionally published?  A lot of authors today make the choice to self-publish rather than pursue a traditional deal. They believe they can better produce and market their books—and potentially make a lot more money. But in some circles there is still a certain amount of “prestige” in landing that trad contract. If it’s the so-called status of a traditional deal you crave, then self-publishing may not be right for you. If you simply want to get your work out there, then collecting rejection letters may just postpone the inevitable.

How much control are you willing to let go of? In general, when you sign a contract with a traditional publisher, you give up a certain amount of control over your project both editorially and creatively. The publisher will likely have final say over the content, the title, and the cover design. Most of the time, authors are satisfied with the results. However, having worked on the traditional side of publishing for a number of years as managing editor of a small press, I can think of a couple of different instances when authors were not happy with decisions we made regarding their books. They had no choice but to live with it. With self-publishing, you maintain full control over every aspect of the production process.

Do you have a sizeable author platform in place? You may not have a chance with a traditional publisher if you don’t have a large list of connections and potential buyers. The fact of the matter is that regardless of how good your book is, most trads expect you to have a large following before they will sign you on.  (Plus, you’ll still have to shoulder much of the marketing and promotions burden yourself.) Of course, author platform—and marketing and promotions— is equally important in terms of sales if you decide to self-publish.

Would you be self-publishing strictly out of frustration? Self-publishing is not as easy as simply uploading your Word document to CreateSpace. At least, it shouldn’t be. Care should be taken to ensure your content is top-notch (hire a good editor) and its presentation matches that of the trads (hire a book designer). There’s the also the little fact that you are now taking on the role of publisher in addition to author, which leads me to the next question.

Are you interested in becoming a publisher in addition to an author? This is a biggie because as a self-publisher, you are forced to take on that role. Even if you hire professionals to help put your project together, you’ll still have to make final editorial and design decisions. You’ll need to decide on a name for your publishing company and open up a bank account. You’ll have to obtain the appropriate numbers for your book. You’ll need to handle accounting and budgeting for the project. You’ll have to figure out distribution and fulfillment. Of course, there are companies that can help you with all that, but it’s definitely more involved than “just” being an author. It’s not for everyone. 

Do you have the budget to do it “right”? Sure, there are places where you can get your book published for “free,” but chances are your book will be immediately identifiable as “self-published” and disregarded by reviewers—or worse, trashed by them. I simply don’t believe there is any way around having your book professionally edited and designed. You don’t need to pay thousands for each, but you’ll probably have to pay something. And please make sure you have enough money to purchase your own ISBN. Never use one of the so-called “POD self-publishing” company’s ISBNS. Never. Make sure you are the publisher of record.

Do you truly have a quality manuscript with a unique message? Have you tried but failed to get a traditional deal because your manuscript is a piece of crap? Has no unique message? Is poorly written? Then self-publishing is not for you either; you’ll probably waste a lot of money and time on something that will not sell—and worse, could harm your reputation. If, however, you truly believe you’ve been rejected by the trads through no fault of your manuscript (it’s tough to land an agent, let alone a contract these days), self-publishing is probably your best bet. With a good book and a solid marketing plan, you will probably even be successful.

How Authors Can Benefit From Article Marketing

by D’vorah Lansky

If you are an author wishing to increase your readership, article marketing can send highly targeted traffic your way. Everyone wants free traffic, but in order to get it through article marketing, you need to write articles. What do you write about?

You want to write about your topic area, your expertise and topics of interest to your target audience. By identifying problems and pains and providing solutions, you will quickly develop your readership.

Writing articles for article marketing is very similar to writing posts for your blog. Most experts recommend articles between 400-500 words, about the length of an average blog post. There are other similarities, too. When picking topics for articles, consider the following:

• Choose topics that are of interest to your target market. If your blog audience is interior designers, your articles should be aimed at providing ideas and solutions to that same audience. Remember, your goal is to drive targeted traffic to your site. In other words, you want to attract people who will read your article, find something of interest, and click through to your blog for more of the same. Do not disappoint them by writing articles about one topic only to greet them at your blog with totally unrelated content. Readers will become annoyed and they will click away as fast as possible.
• You want to develop a loyal and thirsty readership. If you provide quality articles, people will be eager to read more of your work and find out more about you and your book. Through your articles, you will be able to connect with your readers, intrigue them with your message, have them click on the links in your resource box, and bring them to your website.

Invite Your Readers to Reprint Your Content

A fantastic way to get in front of new audiences is to provide articles on your blog and invite others to share your content. This is a common practice and a wonderful way to provide readers with great content and access to your knowledge. On the page where you have your articles listed, you can post a statement, giving permission for others to reprint your articles as long as they include the author information you have listed at the end of each article. In that section, you can include your name and website, as well as an invitation, for example, for people to receive more tips by opting in to receive a special report.

Create a Facebook Fan Page for Your Articles

When setting up your fan page, you can pull in the RSS feed from your article directory accounts as well as from your blogs. An excerpt of your articles will then be displayed on your fan page. This will provide you with exposure to more readers and, again, position you as an authority on your subject.

Become a Guest Blogger on Sites Where Your Target Audience Frequents

Share your articles on other blogs, where you are featured as a guest blogger. This is an excellent way to get in front of new audiences and increase the likelihood of your articles being read. When other blog owners share your work, they are, in essence, endorsing you as an expert in your field. They have the trust of their readership, and if they are inviting their readers to read your articles as guest blog posts, then they are giving you their endorsement. To maximize your effectiveness, become a guest blogger on sites that attract your target audience and/or the people who serve your target audience.

Find Niche Article Directories and Publish Your Articles There

In addition to article directories that welcome articles on any topic under the sun, there are also niche directories which publish articles on specific topics or written by specific types of experts. To locate niche article directories, do a search in Google (www.Google.com) for terms such as, “niche article directories” or use the term for your niche topic. An example would be “book marketing article directories.”

By establishing a regular writing and article marketing schedule, you will create an abundance of content while becoming known to new audiences you might not ever have had the opportunity to get in front of. I’d like to invite you to visit my main community blog. You’ll notice that there are lots of articles by fellow book marketing experts. I love having guest bloggers as it provides fantastic content for my readers and provides me with the opportunity to develop relationships with amazing writers and exceptional marketers.

D’vorah is the bestselling author of Book Marketing Made Easy: Simple Strategies for Selling Your Nonfiction Book Online - Visit her book blog and check out the full virtual book tour schedule at: www.BookMarketingMadeEasy.com.

D’vorah offers programs for nonfiction authors interested in growing their brand and their book sales through online book marketing practices and strategies. You can purchase her book on Amazon at: www.BookMarketingMadeEasy.com/amazon

Your website/blog: http://www.MacStartup.com

Your bibliography: How to Start a Business: Mac Version; i.Business Issue #3, #4 magazine articles:

1. What is your background? Writing a Masters thesis for my Masters degree in Administration was the largest document I have ever written up until that time, and if you had told me 10 years ago that I would write a book, let alone one about computers, I would have said, “Yeaaa, riiiight!” Ever since I bought my first Apple computer in December 1983 I’ve been fascinated about computers as tools, whether its Windows, Mac, or Linux. When I left the US Air Force in 1992 I got a job selling computers to businesses and spent over a decade helping Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, startups, Dads and Moms working from home, even high school kids cutting lawns during the summer to find the right computer solutions for their businesses. Fortunately, selling computers to businesses for a number of computer companies, including a three-year stint at Apple selling Macs to businesses, I was able to interact on a daily basis with my business customers and my future potential book audience, getting both great content and feedback. When I was a kid I had a paper route, so every once in a while in the back of my mind I thought about starting my own business. But when I decided to take the plunge writing my book, and afterwards starting my own business, I could never find any books that helped me with the business case of a computer, i.e. I have a Mac loaded with tools from iLife, but how could I use them for my business? There are plenty of books about business issues such as marketing, sales, and the like and plenty of books about computers, how to use Windows and how to use Microsoft Office for the Mac, but nothing that combines both business and computer use for the solo business owner such as my wife’s real estate business or a Mompreneur. So, as it is said in the computer programming industry, I decided to “scratch my own itch” and write the book myself.

2. What led you to self-publishing? I knew that as a new author I was going to have a difficult time finding a publisher since I am an unknown potential, so independently publishing my book was my best course of action. One of the key issues surrounding any entrepreneur or start up is being able to do things at no cost or low cost, to stretch your cash. I could not afford Adobe’s InDesign or Quark Xpress applications, let alone pay someone to use these applications. Besides, as any good entrepreneur says, “Let’s see if I can do it myself.” I have read numerous articles and blog posts that Microsoft Word is the default application to write a book in, but being a Mac fan boy Apple’s iWork office suite had a word processor and page layout application called Pages and I wanted to see if it could get the job done “low cost.” Researching book design one of the key elements is leading, the spacing in between each line of text. I researched the answer to do 12 on 14 (12 point Garamond font with 14 point spacing) leading in Pages and I gave my wife a sample single spaced and a 12 on 14 line spacing page book chapter to my wife and asked her to decide which she liked best: She liked the 12 on 14 page! Woo Hoo! This proved that Pages could get the job done creating a good book. Next was to see if any Print-On-Demand (POD) company would accept the Mac’s PDF file with no technical issues. Upon seeing the great final printed output, I knew that I was on my way to independently publishing my book, the low cost, Mac quality way.

3. What have you found to be the biggest challenge in self-publishing? Listening to a teleseminar by Jack Canfield he stated that 10% of your effort is in writing and producing the book, the other 90% is marketing. Having heard that and watched my wife with her real estate business and other entrepreneurs, this same comment applies equally across all industries and entrepreneurs. Marketing yourself and your content will be the most demanding of any writer’s time and effort.

4. What has been the biggest surprise about self-publishing? The biggest surprise about self-publishing is the fact that there are now no barriers for authors wanting to get published today, the only thing stopping a writer is themselves. It still takes the same amount of work to write and produce a good book, whether by a publisher or independently publishing it, but as long as the writer knows this and markets their work, nothing should stop a writer for making sales and a living at what they love.

5. Describe your writing process. Looking back over writing my book my process was first was to just start writing whatever I had in my head to get it on paper, or in my case, getting it into my computer. As I wrote on a daily and weekly basis I found myself growing both as a writer and becoming a project manager, my book had now become a major project. Any writing process begins with the writer’s personality, some prefer pen/pencil and paper/journal (analog), others a computer (digital). Writers who need to write long hand need to feel the pen and paper in their hands and the smell of the ink as they write and others, such as myself, get on the computer and just write. Some even do both as each writing process brings out different styles and types of writings. Even writing with a computer there are the familiar word processors, but there is also speech to text applications such as Windows Dragon Naturally Speaking or the Mac’s Dictate software that will allow you to speak and convert it into text. Personally, when I start a new project or article I use the Mac’s program Dictate in my office to get all my thoughts on my Mac and with the headset’s long cord I can walk around my office and dictate my thoughts “puking it out” without skipping a beat. I also carry a journal in my laptop’s backpack to write or draw freehand my thoughts or discussions with others. While I could use Dictate to edit my work, I mostly use my keyboard to edit and polish. In the early days of my writing I would have a thought or thoughts and would rush to write it down or type it into my Mac. But because of the program Dictate I can now create my thoughts and words without having to worry about losing a train of thought “in my zone” because I cannot get it down quick enough. Using Dictate has changed my writing process.

6. How do you stay disciplined? Staying disciplined requires three views of just about anything: Where am I, where my going, and how my going to where I am going? Without knowing these three pieces of information there is no real reason to be disciplined. And viewing “where am I going” means I can write short pieces until such time I can see farther into the future of where I’m going, much like driving from Denver to LA, you can only see so far down the road, but you do have a destination to head toward. Here is how it looks regarding my book. Where am I: I have experience with computers that businesses often ask for my opinion. Where am I going: since a lot of businesses keep asking the same questions over and over speaking to them on a daily basis, I can reach more people through writing a book and not be limited by time (eight hours a day) or space (being only one place at one time). How do I get there: I’ll start writing and as I come across different ways of getting my experience to my audience, I’ll adapt to fit their needs. Solving my customer’s problems with satisfaction with my talents is my discipline.

7. How are you financing your publishing project? I initially financed publishing my book myself from income from a job and then with book sales. One of the key concepts that changed my way of thinking regarding writing my book during my early writing days was a seminar that suggested that it’s no longer about the book, it’s about the content: The content can become a book, e-book, seminar, workshop, speaking engagements, etc. A significant life lesson learned after publishing my book is there are two major skills of a writer: There is the craft of writing and then there is the business of your writing craft, how do you make more than a living at it. The same goes for any other career or passion someone has, there is the law for a lawyer and then there is the business of law, medicine for a doctor and the business of medicine, graphic art and the business of graphic art. Each writer needs to understand both the craft of writing and the business of writing, how to make a profit and a living from your writing.

8. What is your favorite self-marketing idea? I have two. First, offline I help others with what they are doing, so I always ask first, “How can I help you with your writing/business/life?” By being a “Go-Giver” and finding solutions for others and actually helps create a mini Mastermind session between us. Second, online I like to leave marketing “crumb” answers and solutions on various websites that relate to my target audience and drive traffic to my website, especially though social media. This entails finding subjects, ideas and comments about things that relate to my book content on the internet and leaving comments and answers and my website URL for them to follow up with my thoughts.
9. What advice do you have for burgeoning self-publishers?  First, just start writing, because you can’t steer a parked car. This means anything and everything to get your writing muscle, your brain, tuned into the writing process. My good friend Bob stated that over time during the writing of your book you’re writing style will change and improve. My first writing coach, a retired ER doctor, said the first draft of your book should be “puked out” as quickly as possible. Most writers write the first chapter and then go back and edit it over and over, rather than finishing the book and then polishing it. Second, learn how to make a profit and a living writing. It means finding a hungry crowd and feeding them what they are hungry for. With technologies allowing you to independently publish your book, there is no better time than now to get your book into the hands of your audience. So get out of your own way and just do it and make a profit.

10. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun? One of the telltale signs of a writer is that they are voracious readers, so I love to read at least a book a month, or more if I can. But to get my head out of these words, I go running, go to various Meetup.com meetings, and hang out with other like-minded individuals around our Colorado and entrepreneurial lifestyle.

11. What project are you currently working on? I am creating a PC version of my book and a seminar/workshop surrounding my content and will be connecting with other individuals such as a lawyer, a CPA, a social media expert, a copywriter, and others to produce a one-day seminar for people interested in starting their own business. My plan is to have this done by midsummer for people to attend.

I was stuck in Professor Uptight’s class against my will. It was a mandatory class I needed to obtain my degree, I was in my second to the last semester before graduating, and the time it was going to be offered the following semester just didn’t work. So I couldn’t drop it like my instincts told me to after the first day of class when I suspected our personalities were not going to mesh well.

The class was a literary criticism class, which, as an English lit major, came pretty easy to me at this point in my college career. But regardless of what I wrote, Professor Uptight hated it and graded accordingly. When I made an appointment to discuss this with him–after all, this was my major and I could not afford a C or a (gasp!) D in the class–I will never forget the way he looked with disdain at my outfit (early glam rock circa 1985) and my Walkman (the cassette version, for those of you who even remember those) upon learning I was listening to Billy Idol (he asked!). I kind of knew right then and there that I didn’t have a chance in his class.

My point after this long-winded narrative? As the old adage says, you just can’t please all of the people all of the time. As an author now, I am learning that there are people who will criticize my work—some of them like to do it over and over again. They will have a list of reasons–some of them valid, I admit–why my book sucks. So what to do when they tell the world about it?

You have two basic choices: You can ignore it. Or you can pay attention to it. (Well, I guess the third choice is to freak out about it, but I definitely don’t recommend that!)

I like to pay attention to it. My book is nonfiction, so I tend to respond (literally) to critical reviews when I can because I have real hard time keeping my mouth (keyboard?) quiet. I often agree with some of the criticism (my book was traditionally published, so some of the points of contention are about things that were out of my hands–a testament to one of the reasons why self-publishing can be a good idea), and I will generally mention that. Other points I will adamantly disagree with, and I like to say so. But I keep my tone professional, and I don’t bear a grudge against the reviewer. If you are going to put a book out there, you need to put on your big girl panties (er, big boy boxers?) and suck it up when someone doesn’t like it.

Another reason to listen to harsh criticism is because you can learn from it. Try to see your book from the reviewer’s point of view. There are probably areas you can work on in your next book. Essentially, a reviewer might be providing a valuable service in helping you improve your writing and your next book.

It’s tough not to take bad reviews personally. But it’s helpful to remember that the review is (usually) about the work not the person. You can’t be all things to all people, and neither can your book. Plus, reviews (like grades for literary criticism papers) are subjective. Repeat. Reviews are subjective. Just because one person doesn’t like your work doesn’t mean it’s bad or that everyone will dislike it.

Incidentally, I got a C in Professor Uptight’s class; it was the only C I got in any class in my major and brought down my entire college GPA. I got an A in Professor Flannel’s class. But I also learned a valuable life lesson beyond the course work: You cannot control a person’s perception of you, but you can control how you react to it.

Upon further discussion, I learned that she had printed 3,000 copies of the book at a cost of about $10,000. Add this to the expensive menu of other production and marketing services she purchased from AuthorHouse, and it turns out her investment totaled about $20,000. It was with a sinking heart that I told her she had more or less wasted a large amount of money on books that would probably never reach readers let alone the library market. I explained the difference between true self-publishing and vanity/subsidy publishing; I told her she could have published books under her own imprint with her own ISBN for a fraction of that $20,000—and she would have had saleable, reviewable, marketable books.

So where did she—and countless other authors who fully intended to self-publish—go wrong?

Her primary mistake was in not understanding the definition of vanity and subsidy publishing.

Here’s how Writer Beware describes them:

A vanity publisher prints and binds a book at the author’s sole expense. Costs include the publisher’s profit and overhead, so vanity publishing is usually a good deal more expensive than self-publishing. All rights and completed books are the property of the author, and the author retains all proceeds from sales. Vanity publishers may exclude objectionable content such as pornography, but otherwise do not screen for quality.

A subsidy publisher also takes payment from the author to print and bind a book, but contributes a portion of the cost and/or provides adjunct services such as editing, distribution, warehousing, and marketing. Theoretically, subsidy publishers are selective. A subsidy publisher claims at least some rights, though the claim may be limited and non-exclusive. The completed books are the property of the publisher, which owns the ISBN, and remain in the publisher’s possession until sold. Income to the writer comes in the form of a royalty.

However, the lines have blurred over the past few years. What you’ll most often find nowadays is neither a vanity publisher nor a subsidy publisher in the classic sense, but a hybrid of the two–following the vanity model in terms of pricing and selection (building a fat profit into its fees and publishing anyone who will pay), and the subsidy model in terms of book ownership and income to the author (the publisher owns the finished books, and the author earns royalties on sales).

Writer Beware goes on to explain about a new player in the publishing arena that has joined the game in recent years: POD self-publishing services. These companies are similar to vanity publishers—upfront fees are charged, they will publish almost anything, and marketing services offered are minimal. The main difference is that it is less of an investment on the part of the author since books are printed only when orders come in, saving authors from printing thousands of books up front. (As an aside, let’s go over the definition of print-on-demand [POD]: It refers to a digital printing technology that makes it cheap and effective to produce books in small numbers, such as one or two at a time.)

POD “self-publishing services” use digital printing to provide publishing services to authors for free or for a very low cost. Most offer free templates that enable authors to upload and format their books. Most also offer fancier packages that include editing, design, and marketing, which can cost several thousand dollars. These services tend to be poorly done and not worth a fraction of what they cost.

It’s also important for authors to realize that the average book from a POD service sells fewer than 200 copies, mostly to the author. Companies like Author House, iUniverse, and Xlibris—all of whom are owned by Author Solutions, Inc.—lay claim to selling millions of books each year. What they don’t tell you is that given the sheer volume of books released, it averages out to only around 40 books sold per title. Lulu.com founder Bob Young admits that the average Lulu author sells fewer than 1,000 books (and I have read in various places that it’s really more like two copies). (Find additional stats here.)

POD services call what they offer “self-publishing” or even “indie publishing,” but it is not. With these types of services, authors are bound to the package deals these outfits offer in terms of production. The bulk of any money made off of sales is kept by the company to offset their costs; authors are likely only entitled to a small royalty. (What this means it that authors pay twice—once at the beginning and again with every book sold.) Most of these services own the ISBN assigned to the authors book, giving them at least some claim on publishing rights.

All that said, what exactly constitutes true self-publishing? It’s incredibly simple.

In true self-publishing:

The author controls all aspects of the publishing process, from manuscript editing to interior and cover design to pricing and promoting. There are many services, including my own company Self-Publishing Resources, that cater to authors in need of help with these services.

The author keeps all profits from sales of the book.

The author starts his or her own publishing company (very easy to do!), purchases his or her own ISBNs, and maintains all rights to the book.

The author works directly with a POD printer, such as Lightning Source, or an offset printer—or both. (Or neither—and simply goes the ebook route.)

The author has mainstream review, distribution, and sales opportunities that are not there with a POD self-publishing service or vanity/subsidy press imprint on his or her books.  

According to Writer Beware, whose mission is to track, expose, and raise awareness of the prevalence of fraud and other questionable activities in and around the publishing industry (the site also includes a much more in-depth explanation of the various publishing options), “POD services often portray themselves as a revolutionary new publishing model that’s opening up a world of opportunity for writers locked out of the market by the narrow standards of the monopolistic commercial publishing industry.” Don’t believe what these services say. The only way you can truly self-publish is to do it under your own imprint and your own ISBN. It’s that simple.

A lot of authors get stuck on their book projects. Some writers start strong, but flail over time as they encounter a few of the realities of book publishing. Others have trouble getting started at all. So their dream of writing a book stays just that: a dream.

When you’re stuck, sometimes it helps to ask questions. Whether you call it playing “devil’s advocate” or give it a more highbrow term like the “Socratic Method,” simply asking questions can be a great way to get a book project back on track. Here are 5 questions to get you started.

1. Why are you writing the book?

People write books for many different reasons. Do you want the book to further your career? To help you attract new clients? Do you want the book to be some type of lasting legacy? Do you want a book so you have something to sell at conferences? Are you writing a book to create a passive income stream? Is the book for artistic gratification or a story you feel compelled to share?

It’s a lot of work to write and publish a book, so you should make sure you really want to do it. A lot. Be brutally honest with yourself. If it’s not the right time to write and publish the book now, that’s okay.

2. How do you plan to get it published and why?

Every author has three primary ways to publish: by going through a traditional publishing company, by self-publishing, or by opting for a subsidy (vanity) press. With traditional publishing, you submit book proposals through an agent, get an advance, and then a royalty. When you self-publish, you buy ISBNs, set yourself up as an independent press, hire freelance help, and publish the book yourself. With a vanity press, you pay a provider to produce the book, but you are not the publisher.

Each option has pros and cons. You should understand the benefits and pitfalls of each one before you sign on the dotted line. Some traditionally published authors have moved to self-publishing and self-published authors have had their books picked up by big publishers. Only rarely is signing with a vanity press a good idea. However, if you’re writing a memoir that only your family will buy, it’s a reasonable option. Think about your goals and reasons for writing the book before deciding.

3. Who is going to read the book?

This question is probably the most important question of all. And yet, countless authors never ask it. If you are struggling to write, it may be because you simply haven’t figured out who is actually going to read your book.

Here’s a hint. The answer is never: everyone. I’m sorry to say that everyone is not going to read your book. The more specifically and narrowly you can define your reader, the better.

I encourage writers to visualize one specific reader. Decide whether your target reader is male or female. (Yes, men and women both might read your book; just pick one so you can visualize an individual person.) What are his or her likes and dislikes? Does he already know something about your topic? What does he look like? What frustrates him? What gives him joy? What is the story of his life? Where does he live? Where does he work?

The more you can narrow down your target reader, the more you can “walk a mile” in their shoes. Your book will be better and easier to write.

4. What other books exist and why is yours different?

Too many authors fail to do even the most basic level of market research before they embark on a book project, which is silly because it’s so easy to do online. Go to Amazon.com and do a search on your book’s topic. Open up a document and type in all the titles. See if you can tell from the description what the author’s slant or “take” on a topic is. Once you’re done, look for “holes” in the coverage. Can you target your book to a specific niche? Offer a different viewpoint?

Differentiation is the key to a book that sells. After you’ve published the book, you’ll need to market it, so having a keen understanding of what makes your book special is vital.

5. What do you still need to learn?

Book publishing is a big topic. One thing that separates successful publishers from the not-so-successful is their willingness to learn about the book industry. I always say that you wouldn’t open a restaurant without learning a little about the food business; why do people think publishing is different? Get some books about book publishing like The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing and start educating yourself.

Here’s another thing you can do right now to further your education. The third annual Self-Publishers Online Conference (SPOC) is May 10-12, 2011. You can learn the ins and outs of the publishing business from 16 expert speakers — including Sue Collier — right from the comfort of your own computer, wherever you happen to be located.

All you need is an Internet connection. With our unique online conference software, you can attend seminars live or via recording, learn about useful publishing resources in the Exhibit Hall, and interact with speakers and other attendees through the live discussion areas. Visit Self-Publishers Online Conference for more info.

Take advantage of Early Bird pricing now and get an additional 10% off by using the special SueCollier11 coupon when you register.

Susan Daffron, aka The Book Consultant, owns a book and software publishing company. She spends most of her time writing, laying out books in InDesign, or taking her dogs out for romps in the forest. She also teaches people how to write and publish profitable client-attracting books and puts on the Self-Publishers Online Conference every May.

Before the Internet, there were essentially two ways to garner attention for your product or service:  advertisements and the media. But in recent years, a new arena has opened up vast opportunity for authors—particularly those who are self-published.  Terms like “Twitter,” “friending,” “hashtags,” “Facebook,” and “tweeting” have become part of our everyday vocabulary. Publish interesting content in the social media marketing format, and you can potentially have thousands—millions—of people read it and take action. Take yourself on a “virtual author book tour” and you can put yourself in front of an endless number of potential book buyers. Put an interesting video on YouTube and it has the possibility to “go viral” and reach the masses.

Sure, the Internet has been around for a while, but unlike the old days when you simply had to put up a website and wait for people to find you, you now need to maximize your site’s value through interactivity, sharing, and building relationships. Although some people are intimidated by the newness of viral marketing or turned off because they believe it is a time waster, they needn’t be. Leveraging social media marketing to build your platform and to make yourself stand out from the crowd is not that difficult. And it does not have to take hours each day.

Unlike traditional media, which more or less is a one-way form of communication, social media promotes discussion, feedback, voting, and other sharing of information. It also enables participants to stay connected with other people and resources. It is often described as the online practice wherein people use technology to talk, participate, network, and bookmark. Social media sites blogs, microblogs, podcasts, videocasts, forums, wikis—all are included under this umbrella.

New social media channels are cropping up on a seemingly daily basis, but don’t think you have to do anything and everything in terms of social media. Pick two or three things that seem most applicable for you (my number one favorite is Twitter, followed by LinkedIn and Facebook), and work at them consistently.

If you’re still not convinced, consider these statistics I quoted in my book, The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing, 5^th Edition: Nearly half of all adult Internet users have created content online. And some studies show that 67 percent of businesses say their best source of advice for products and services are their consumers (who communicate with them via social media). Can you afford not to ride this technological wave of the future?

To learn more, be sure to sign up for the Self-Publishers Online Conference (May 10–12, 2011).  You can learn the ins and outs of the publishing business—including social media marketing—from 16 experts right from the comfort of your own computer. With the SPOC’s special online conference software, you can attend seminars live or via recording, learn about useful publishing resources in the Exhibit Hall, and interact with speakers and other attendees through the live discussion areas. Visit http://www.SelfPublishersOnlineConference.com for more info. Take advantage of Early Bird pricing now and get an additional 10% off by using the special discount code SueCollier11 when you register.

Before you write it

1. Have a unique approach to a relevant topic. There are a lot of books published every year. Make sure yours stands out from the crowd for the right reasons.

2. Decide why you are writing a book. To make money? To establish expertise? To see yourself in print? All are valid reasons that may impact how you publish as well as market the book.

3. Make sure you have an audience for the book. And make sure you know how to reach them. If you plan to market strictly online and your audience is made up of non–Internet savvy readers, you may have a problem.

4. Build a following via social media sites. It’s never too early to start making connections with potential readers and relevant professionals via social media. There are many sites out there, but Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn are the most common. You may also want to check out sites such as book marketing expert John Kremer’s Book Marketing Network.

Before you launch it

5. Create a website that features your (forthcoming) book. This one is a no-brainer.

6. Start building your email list. Publish an ezine and offer a free report, free chapter, or some other bonus for people to opt-in with. When you attend events, collect business cards and email addresses. Send them an email or a copy of your ezine, and invite them to opt-in. 

7. Start blogging. This is the best way to keep your website content fresh. It’s also a great way to stay in touch with potential readers and professionals within your industry. You can also use it to establish your credibility well before your book is published.

8.  Use your blog to ask for feedback on your book’s content. Then promise to acknowledge everyone who comments in your book. These people will feel an “ownership” in your book and will help spread the word after it launches.

9. Create a list of important bloggers in your field. Start interacting with them by commenting on their blogs.

10. Get testimonials and endorsements from pertinent people in your field. These are great promotional tools that can then go on the book cover and/or inside the book. Post them on your website and use them in news releases.

11. Approach associations relevant to your book’s content. Suggest ways you can work together. Perhaps you can put on a workshop or seminar, speak at an event, or write an article for their newsletter or blog.

12. Set up Google alerts. Stay abreast of industry news by setting up an alert in your name, your competitors’ names, and other key terms. This will enable you to jump into the online conversation in a timely manner.

13. Have your manuscript edited by a professional. Ensuring that your content is top-notch will go a long way in making your reputation is top-notch.

14. Have your book cover designed by a professional. Don’t skimp on this very important sales tool. A professional book cover designer will ensure your book stands proudly next to any other book on the shelf.

15. Create your own competition. Create a competition on your website or on Twitter (Tony Eldridge has written an excellent book on Twitter contests) with copies of the book as prizes. Follow up with those who entered but didn’t win and offer them a discount to purchase your book.

16. Offer the book as a prize on other websites and blogs. You should have already put together a list of blogs and websites where your book could potentially be promoted. Offer the blogger or website owner free copies of your book to be used as competition prizes.

17. Send out free copies of the book. Don’t skimp on this important aspect of promotions. It’s a great way to garner reviews and endorsements. Send out copies to influential bloggers and journalists. 

18. Pull out excerpts of the book to use as articles. Post them on free article sites that are available all over the Internet.

19. Create and post videos. Keep videos short and sweet (under 10 minutes) and publish on YouTube and your own website, as well as other sites. 

20. Schedule a launch day. Pick one specific day and make sure plenty of activity is planned around this day. Notify your email list, post some videos to YouTube, hold a webinar, plan some guest blog posts. All that activity should go a long way in creating momentum.

After you publish it

21. Offer a chapter as a downloadable PDF. Post one of your book’s chapters on your website as a free, downloadable file. Encourage readers to share it with others. Include a summary of the rest of book to encourage people to buy it.

22. Publish the book’s table of contents on your website. Include a brief overview about each chapter. Optimize the page for search engines.

23. Organize an online virtual book tour. Touring the country to physically visit bookstores is cost prohibitive for most authors—and not all that effective unless you are a celebrity.  Arrange a tour online with virtual stops at websites and blogs. You’ll gain maximum exposure for minimum costs.

24. Encourage people to write a review of your book on Amazon.com. Ask everyone who gets a copy of your book to publish a five-star review of your book on Amazon.

25. Publish reviews and testimonials of the book on your website. Include reviews from Amazon.com and other sites where your book has been reviewed, as well as any testimonials you’ve received.

26. Arrange interviews with bloggers in your genre and radio hosts interested in your subject matter. This is a win-win since it provides them with valuable content and you with valuable publicity. Include these as part of your virtual author book tour initially, but you can continue to schedule interviews even after your initial publication. As long as your book is for sale, the promotion push should be ongoing.

27. Makes sure you always have copies of your book with you. I’ve had clients sell 20 or more copies out of their trunk or waiting in line at the post office. One author I know gave away a copy of his book to an executive, who ended up ordering dozens of copies for his company.

And don’t stop with this list. There are dozens more things you can do to promote your book. Get creative, be persistent, and watch your book sales go up.