This is the Support
Site for my program, “Publishing and Selling Your Writing in the
Digital Age” given at the North Carolina Writer's Network Fall Conference
on November 16, 2003. It includes a downloadable copy of my handout
as well as the list of resources below.
Click here for a copy of the handout
for this program.
Master Resources
The following are my pick of the folks who offer a variety of
quality resources that you can use to become more effective at
publishing and selling your writing in the Digital Age.
The
Self-Publishing Manual by Dan Poynter
This is the original and it's still the best basic book about
self-publishing. The subtitle is “How to Write, Print, and Sell
Your Own Book” and the book lives up to that. Dan has updated
each new edition so there's a lot here about ebooks and other
Digital Age options. Dan also has helpful
site and an excellent newsletter
and an excellent list
of resources.
Publishing
to Niche Markets by Gordon Burgett
This is the only book I know of that is specifically about developing
a product for a niche market and then selling it. Gordon is a
very successful writer who has been using this system for decades.
You’ll find a full listing of his books and tapes on his
site. He also provides evaluation
services to writers.
1001
Ways to Market Your Books by John Kremer
If you have no other book about marketing your products, you should
have this one. Every edition is fatter than the last as Kremer
adds more material. He has a Web
site devoted to book marketing and publishes an excellent
newsletter as
well.
Fred Gleeck's
Self-Publishing System by Fred Gleeck
The three recommendations above are excellent books. What Fred
offers is a system which integrates the publishing and the marketing.
He's also got the best perspective I’ve seen on how to sell multiple
products to the same people and keep them as customers for life.
You’ve got to buy this one online.
The Science Fiction and Fantasy
Writers of America have an excellent site with a variety
of resources for writers of all kinds. One very helpful section
is the one on writing scams and misconceptions called Writer
Beware.
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Software
The one bit of software you will almost certainly need if you
plan on producing ebooks is Adobe
Acrobat. This makes producing an ebook almost as simple
as printing out your manuscript. You can purchase Acrobat in many
software stores or direct from the Adobe Web site.
One of the hardest things for most writers to do is find that
magical article that they know is somewhere in their files. For
years I’ve used a software package called AskSam to store
and organize the articles I save for reference. AskSam will
import text, html and pdf files and render them searchable. A
year's worth of articles makes a file of about 50 megabytes. AskSam
will search four years of articles for a word or phrase in less
than ten seconds.
Another program that I’ve used for years is Inspiration.
It's a great tool for visual thinking, like mind mapping, and
outlining. Don’t let the K-12 look of this site or the promo copy
put you off. This is great software that will multiply your brain
power when you’re organizing your ideas.
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Printers
There are all kinds of book printers out there. Many claim to
be short-run printers or Print-On-Demand (POD) publishers. Not
only that, they offer a bewildering variety of services and explanations.
Here are a number of sites which meet two criteria. They have
claimed to be either short-run or POD printers. They have a Web
site that tells you about what they do and how.
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Publicity Resources
Part of the art of selling your writing involves learning the
basics of good publicity and then working on building a reputation
as an expert who gives a good interview. Here are some resources
to help you do that.
There are two services that will help you get found by media
who are looking for interviews and guests.
It used to be the Yearbook of Experts and Spokespersons but now
it's called the Yearbook
of Experts Online. This Web site and companion print directory
are used by reporters and electronic media folks who are looking
for people to interview. You will also be able to send 52 news
releases on the net over a year's time.
PR
Leads is an excellent service that will alert you to requests
of journalists to interview experts on a variety of topics.
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Shopping Cart System
If you're going to sell information online, you'll need a shopping
system that will allow you to do several specific things. Your
system must be able to handle orders and credit card authorizations
and then give your customers a way to download the products they've
purchased. The system I use is called KickStart
Cart and it will do all that and more. You'll also be able
to set up autoresponders to answer inquiries and set up newsletters,
popups, affiliate programs, ad tracking and even more. It's affordable.
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