Writing, Publishing & selling your own book

Some tips I came across, so I thought I would post them on here, so others could benefit and so I can access them whenever I need to refresh myself.

Source = http://www.idiopathic.com/surgicalsieve/id136.htm

Starting off with a book that details how to go about writing, publishing and selling your own book, now I haven’t read this book yet myself, but I intend to get the book soon and read through it to pick some more know how, when making (or losing) money is involved, you can never know too much.

The Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print, & Sell Your Own Book)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1568600739/idiopathiccom/

Set a deadline to have you book completed by, not the whole book, but the whole story, the body of the book, it’s text. I have done this, and I have a set a deadline for the 31st August to fully complete the story for my first book, ‘Hummingbirds’.

This will help me to work towards a deadline and be more focused, rather than thinking, hey, I have loads of time, no I don’t I have a deadline to meet.

Proof readers, it’s a good idea to have people to proof read your story, for any mistakes, grammar, spelling, mistypes etc, … I am in the process of identifying 7 proofreaders made up of close relatives and close friends, but none of them will proof read the whole story, but will be proof reading sections of the book.

I’ll split my book up into 7 sections that over lap and I will give a section to each proof reader to read, and return with highlighted mistakes (if any, lol)

Some of you may be lucky enough to know a editor in which case, once you have had your story proof read, it is wise to have it checked over by an editor, having a friend who is a editor, means you could save a few quid, if you could get them to check out your story, perhaps suggesting a favour in turn.

ISBN

Getting an ISBN No. takes a few days, upto 10 working days, also a little bit of money, the joy of getting an ISBN No. is that you can purchase them at anytime, you don’t have to wait until your book is finished, ISBN Number’s come in a minimum batch of 10 for around £110 (including VAT), you will only need 1 ISBN No. for each book you publish, regardless of how many copies of the book you print, the ISBN No. stays the same for the whole amount of books with the same title and contents.

You can purchase them from the UK ISBN Agency – Neilsen

http://www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk/controller.php?page=121



Design

The books design is very important, who many times have you picked up a book simply because the front cover caught you eye, many regretful self –publishers have over looked this area, believing the contents of the book far out weighted the importance of the cover, which although could be quite true, or hold some truth, the Cover of the book is also important, and should be given clear time and thought.

Book managers to readers will always base a large part of their buying decision on the front cover of a book,

Does yours have appeal?

What does the cover of your book say about your book?

These are two questions you can ask to get yourself thinking about your book cover and its importance.



London Book Fair

April 2009, April 2010

http://www.londonbookfair.co.uk/

This is great place to network with publishers & with printers and see what progress can be made for books you have written.

Beware as traditional printers usually ask or require you to printer 1000 copies, this could be a gamble financially, think, what would you do if you had 950 copies of your book left over?



When choosing printers to print your book, check for 3 important things…

1 – Do they accept electronic copies? So you can email your story to them rather then printing it and bringing it in.

2 – Do they generate and the ISBN No. and Bar Code for your book? This could save you money and time, and will result in your book being taken more seriously.

3 – Can they shrink wrap your book? This will give your books a more professional look and ensure that on delivery the books will be in fantastic condition.

One print company I have come across…

http://www.printondemand-worldwide.com/

I put in the details of my first book, and was quoted £225, for 50 copies of my 100 paged book, with colour front and back covers and a bar code with ISBN No. and this worked out to be just under £3.70 per book, which is useful information when it comes to pricing up your book for sell.

There is also some great information for first time book writers about self-publishing and the printing process.



Selling Your Book

Marketing your book is just about advertising, ask yourself these questions…

Who is your target audience?

How do you instead to get the word out about your book?

What can you do to draw the attention of your target audience to your book?

Perhaps leaflets or flyer's that lead to your website where your book can be purchased, but it’s important to understand your target audience, so you can tailor your marketing tools and your website content and its look or feel towards them. A free downloaded preview of your book could also be made available and even perhaps an audio snippet of your book.

Get a few reviews from high authorities within your books field, these could go of the back of the book, and also on the marketing materials and website to help push the book, it’s also a good idea to have some recognised individuals that would be known to your target audience review your book. Be Persistent!

Once the book is ready for selling, and you have your reviews, it’s time for the ‘Press Release’ a concise, detailed document explains to a member of the press why their readers would be interested to know about your book and how to contact you for more information.

http://www.press-release-writing.com/


Other helpful links…


Paypal
https://www.paypal.com/us/

Postage
http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm