Savings with Xlibris Publishing

Current Xlibris prices are good until Sept. 30, 2009.  Effective October 1, 2009, Xlibris will implement a price increase on all publishing and marketing services.

Isn’t this the best way to better get started with our book? :)

Start your publishing career here.

Stars are into Self Publishing

Hello there. I apologize for the hiatus. So much has happened but I will let you know one by one. Meanwhile, I will let you in on this nice article by Eoin Purcell about self publishing that made me sit back and read because lately I have been contemplating about self published books that have been successful in the market. My doctor is a self-published author. That makes the whole thing different. 
 

Self-Publishing Talk

This morning I had a very engaging chat with a student writing a thesis on self-publishing in Ireland and comparing it to self-publishing internationally. The discussion was wide ranging (though perhaps a bit too much of me). At one point I mentioned thatin some ways traditional publishing was getting caught in the middle with the lower tiers of publishing falling into Print on Demand and self-publishing territory (as I discuss here) and the upper tiers ripe for big stars to defect to self-publishing options. I couldn’t think off hand of an example (except for an author I worked with recently who only recently revealed a plan to self publish whose name I couldn’t reveal).
Then I came home and logged into twtetr and read this twitter comment (yes I use it compulsively: www.twitter.com/eoinpurcell) pushed me to this Wall Street Journal article about the plans of Stephen Covey: Stephen R. Covey, author of “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,” will launch a new self-published line of short books tomorrow called the Insight Series. You don’t get much bigger than Stephen Covey, frankly he is massive. Authors are brands

Really they may well be the only brands publishers have unless they manage to create a sensible strategy around their own names like Tor.com, Mills & Boon and Osprey have. If they don’t act to create better partnerships with these top level authors, I believe they will loose a lot of them to self-publishing enterprises like Stephen’s effort. It is simply too lucrative a proposition for many of them. If you ask me (and you haven’t) game is heating up. It is becoming clearer by the day that the existing models of publishing are unsustainable. Change is unavoidable. I wonder will we, as an industry, respond?

 
PS: If you’d like to think some more about that Author as Brand concept, here is a nice audio piece from New Hamphsire public radio featuring Sarah Weinman on the topic. It is well worth listening to.

 

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Free information on how to start publishing your book is here.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST SELF HELP BOOK

I’m seeing a shrink, am I? Barboo has been very lovely and wonderful and patient. She is the exact therapist everyone should be seeing if they ever did get to decide on seeing any at all. Of course, judging from our latest progress, the last time I harassed Barbara was on reading all of her self help books she stacked away in her office. Of course, she vehemently was against it because it would totally defeat the purpose of me paying her to listen to my ramblings.

I took home several of those books and found them very interesting. The thing about self help books is that because there are so many of them already floating around the publishing sphere, it took me quite a long time to decide which ones I should read first. There is always a “How to Win the Best Man”, “How to Choose the Best Man”, “The Best Guide to Choosing the Right Man” and I keep on thinking that all of them have mostly the same content!

Because of my resoucefulness, yes, thank you, I ran across this site that will help me decide which is the best self help book for me.

It says:

Among the most popular and most sought after books published, self-help books right now are very much in demand and seem to be well replacing the How To genre book of all times. When a reader chooses a self-help book, it doesn’t necessarily mean there is something wrong with her. It is based on how she relies on herself for development, improvement and healing. To actually acquire information available to the public, she can rely on these self help books to get the desired results on her self-help journey.

Self-help books are significant tools in our lives that could be used as an indirect reference guide. A tool is useful when it is suited to the task at hand and that is how self-help books should serve their purpose. If a person seeks improvement on her love life, she can perhaps bury herself with Dr. Barbara Walters, the most famous relationship fixture there is on the planet. If a person seeks practical help with the kitchen, those yellow books on a DUMMY’s GUIDE TO could actually be instrumental.

Now it may be overwhelming to choose which published self help book you might want to depend your path to development with considering the countless of books that people are publishing now. Try to narrow down which ones are your top selections then you can start from there. There are possibly a lot of things you might want to improve on yourself but let us just address them one at a time. Start with your top selections then work through the rest.

How to Choose the Best Self-help book:

1. Whether it could be spiritual, financial, health, medical or mental, identify what are the specific things that you are looking for to improve in your life and address it first.
2. Look for books that have experts in the area you are interested in. Read reviews of the books first submitted by readers. Feedback like that helps with your book choice in the future.
3. After deciding on the book, do a background check on the author to find out how credible they are. Author is qualified by training and experience about the topic.
4. Ask around for recommendations from friends. You would know the efficacy of the book from people who declared that the books are helping them.
5. Book should acknowledge the complexity of real life issues that you are facing.
6. Book should be focused on the addressed issue.
7. Book should offer a detailed description and explanation of all the facets of the topic with step-by-step guidance on how to proceed. It should point out potential problems, with suggested solutions or responses.
8. Self help books should not CLAIM to help you SOLVE everything. They should offer a solidly researched program that is related to the work that has already been done in the field. They should be encouraging without promising overnight magic or development.

The first step to deciding on the kind of assistance that you are seeking is a sign of your determination to live the kind of life you wanted with a little help on the side. Think of it as a side dish on all your meals - they help appetize it. Luckily, there are more resources now that ever before and that actually makes us fortunate enough that we can seek guidance without hitting any crux.

Remember that you have taken the first step to seeking assistance and guidance. Doing the research on the right self help book for you may help you find solutions faster and quicker.

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Free information on how to publish a self help book is here.

How to Self Publish | An Overview

I'm so glad I ran into this site. It talks about the steps on how to publish your book from scratch.

Writer’s scour around for the perfect ending to their story and sometimes beat around the bush because they are in dire need of a bottom line. The truth is writers are just waiting for the best solution to their finished project – which is of course, to publish what they have slaved over for years.

Writing a book is the easiest part of the process and getting them published may impugn one’s patience and bank account. When authors give up hopes of ever being picked by a traditional publisher, they turn to self-publishing.

Authors who have made it big in the industry have chosen to self-publish at some point in their careers: Rudyard Kipling, Ernest Hemmingway, Margaret Atwood, Stephen King, Carl Sandburg, and James Redfield just to name a few, and one can see how they all fared in the industry.

If a writer is looking for self-publishing companies to publish a book, there are a few companies that practically hold court to everything a book needs from book cover design customization, layout consultation, copyediting and even marketing. This brings the writer then to the process of going through production and seeing the actual product in book form already.

Primarily, as the writer, you would need to assess your book’s publishing plan. Ask yourself if you need editing, marketing, book cover layout consultation, interior design customization and all that jazz. After mapping out your book’s requirement, find a self-publishing company that will cater to all of your needs. Xlibris is one self-publishing company who practically has everything an author requires. The company has been in business for over a decade and they already to know what they are doing. They have programs that have all the inclusions that will turn your manuscript into a book.

Second, is to edit and polish your book before submitting them to the publisher. The editing part is crucial considering that you might need to go back to your book a couple of times to reassure yourself that you did not miss anything.

Third, is to come up with a final book cover. If editing is crucial, your book cover is pivotal to your book’s success. Book cover sets the tone, the impact and the force that will make a librarian, reviewer, bookseller, distributor, and customer to pick up the book long enough to read a few sentences in it. It takes about two seconds for a customer to glance at your book’s cover. Make certain that those two seconds is all worth it.

Fourth, is to check for quality control. Self-publishing companies print on demand and seeing that your book is going to be priced by the publisher’s own printers, you might need to request for a sample copy of how they print their books. Binding, text, and paper quality is key and if it misses out on of any of those, then it is not qualified at all to produce the kind of book you have in mind.

Average publishing timeline is within two to three months and by that time, your book will already be available in market for sale. Self-publishing gives you full control of the publishing process and no one will tell you what to do.

Now, publishing is one thing – selling a book is another. The main crux is to publish the book and translate it into book format.

Perhaps any writer needs to ask himself: have I investigated the industry thoroughly before launching?

Producing and marketing may instill unforeseen investments that he might not be able to handle. If all authors believe that the book will succeed by adding their own effort, then self-publish. They’ll even have fun.

Now let’s get that book published first, shall we?

This is a repost from this ex-editor's website on publishing services.

RESOURCE GUIDE ON SELF-HELP by A SELF-PUBLISHED BOOK

Barboo insisted that I see her twice a week. I HARDLY had any commitments that require THAT much time so I told her, “You are pretty lucky that I’m seeing you this much.” Whatever is the case, everytime that I leave her office I always take home a book with me.

This time I had 101 Ways Black Women Can Learn To Love Themselves.

I actually had a hard time trying to point out the difference with what it is like to learn how to love yourself when you are white compared to how it is to black people. Nonetheless, the book by the self-published author Jamie Walker is fun and insightful.

While I was going through it, it made me understand why it is hard to be a black woman in any setting whether it is at the workplace, a recreation center, or even at home. Black women have their own niche but people seldom recognize that. We can perhaps learn a thing or two on this book considering that just because we happen to be not black doesn’t mean that we do not have insecurity issues on our color, race and identity.

101 Ways Black Women Can Learn To Love Themselves is more of a HOW-TO book rather than a self-help one that gives not just BLACK women but ALL women a resource guide on how to be self-giving and conscious about their self-worth.

The self-published book is available at all online bookstores and the XLIBRIS bookstore as well. My turn to be insightful.

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To learn more about how to self-publish a book, your free information is here.

About Our Men

Now what did I say about my last post? I was so engrossed in reading and writing and completely forgot about updating my online life.
Yes, lately I have been seeing the shrink and, yes, we are now in first name basis. I call her Barboo and she calls me Bratinella – well, nicknames do sound cute.
Barboo has been less complacent with me and more tolerant. Everything that I disclosed to her she listens in rapt open-mindedness and even comments once or twice on my sense of adventure. How juvenile! How sexy!
She asked me what I thought of the book, About Your Man, and I just shrugged and went, Oh, well, its plain generic.
The self-published book was basically about categorizing and enumerating the qualities a woman should be looking for in a man and making it seem that we know any better. If a woman has figured all that out, the next thing to do would be to keep HIM.

Isn’t that somehow twisted?
If a man has everything a woman thinks that she needs to qualify as what she should be looking for in a man, then he is definitely a keeper and someone who a woman shouldn’t be afraid of losing. He wouldn’t be the kind who will stray away and cheat on you. Well, the book has exercises so might as well find out and have fun.
About Your Man is a she said, he said kind of approach where both the authors’ Michael and Veronica try to bring equilibrium to the sexes.
Did it?
Fortunately, the play between the sexes provoked fun ideas for the reader to think about but in the end, it still boils down to one thing: not everything works for everyone.
I told Barboo that and she grimaced. “You are right,” she said. “But hey, the book could be a start. A guideline. A cheat list.”
A cheatlist. Kudos to this wonderful couple Michael and Veronica Taylor for coming up with that in their self-published book. I asked Barboo if I could keep the book with me.
“So you could just read away and stop seeing me altogether? I don’t think so.”

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if you want to know how to publish a book, click on link here.

Meet My Shrink

All of my 26 years was spent in the entirety of figuring out men and relationships and until now I am stil verrry clueless. Even people who got married still are – what makes me any different? My bestfriend Andrea suggested I go see someone who is an expert in that field.
What, a love doctor?
Come on, T. Its fun. She might be insightful.
Or spiteful. Who knows? I scheduled for one and immediately liked her after the first meeting.
“It’s Barbara.” She’s tall, statuesque and black. “I understand this is your first time.”
I have this intense desire to roll my eyes but instead I batted my eyelashes. “Yes, Barbara. I know of a Dr. Barbara who also writes all these self-help books on relationships.”
“Honey, she’s white.”
I clammed up. Was that too racist of me?
“Okay, let’s get started.”
With what?
“Tell me why are you here.”
I caved.
“Come, on. If you think you didn’t need help, I would just have offered you all of my self-help books here. With that, she gestured at the bookshelves all over the room and goodness! Every self-help book there is present is in this room!
“That’s a mighty collection you have there.” I cleared my throat when I said that.
Barbara stood up, took out one book, and handed it to me. “Here. Skim through this and get back to me tomorrow. Today won’t be charged.”
Wow. A shrink with homework. “Seriously?”
Long, black curls followed every nod she made. “2:30 pm, tomorrow.”
Guess what she handed me?

Michael and Veronica Taylor's ABOUT YOUR MAN.
I'll be right back.