Authors Den

At the suggestion of my distributor, Red Tuque Books, I posted my books and bio at Authors Den (www.authorsden.com). It took a little time, but was surprisingly easy. This is a user friendly website. They receive over one million hits per month, so it's worth a self-publisher's while to set it up. And it's FREE!

Make sure you have information handy such as both your 10-digit (if you have one) and 13-digit ISBN, number of pages, and a 20 word blurb about your book. You get a chance to write up more fully what your book is about, but you need the short blurb too.

You can upload your photo into the author bio section and your book cover(s) into the books section. Each section has a very clear form to fill out. In the book section, you can even post reviews you have received. That will help readers decide if they want to purchase your book. You can also set up book purchase through Amazon.com. I didn't do that because I have a distributor. Instead I posted his website and noted that he distributes my books.

You can post articles and blogs to your page. Something like this should drive more people to your website and Google likes that. It will help move you up the Google search listings.

And, like I said, it's FREE. How often do we find that?

http://www.selfpublishing.ca/

Publisher Beware!

Email has been landing in my Inbox from a Yahoo Group called Canadian Writers. They bill themselves as a discussion group for Canadian Writers and Publishers. I looked at the posts and they are all ads for one of those get rich quick schemes. They are posting three times a day trying to suck people in.

Unless you are interested in network marketing, I would advise you to stay away from this group. It has nothing to do with writing or publishing.

http://www.selfpublishing.ca/

FREE Self-Publishers Online Conference

Happy Mother's Day to all my reader's who have children, whether young or grown. Today my hubby, son-in-law and grandson are making breakfast for the Moms. What a nice treat on a warm, sunny BC day.

A reader sent me information about a FREE Self-Publishers Online Conference that I would like to share:

May 12, 13 and 14
The Self-Publishers Online Conference connects entrepreneurial authors and independent publishers with book publishing resources. The three-day virtual event features expert speakers and an online exhibit hall with book industry vendors. Fifteen publishing experts share tips and advice for both aspiring and veteran self-publishers. Basic attendance is FREE.

http://www.SelfPublishersOnlineConference.com 

I checked the site out and two speakers are Dan Poynter and John Kremer. They are two people who would be worth listening to.

http://www.selfpublishing.ca

Write an E-book also..

For a number of years I have subscribed to Quill & Quire, Canada's magazine of book news and reviews. The publication helps me stay current on what is going on in the Canadian publishing industry so I can pass this on to my readers and students.

Lately articles about e-books have been showing up regularly. Self-published authors know that an e-book version of your print book is a great addition to what you have to offer. An e-book can be used to test the market for your book. You can develop a fan base while you save up the funds to have a paper copy printed. You can make money selling e-books on your website along with print copies.

Now the trade publishers are "discovering" how valuable this format can be. They are using it to keep their back titles in print. HarperCollins announced they plan to convert them to e-books and add special features like you find on DVDs. Penguin Canada recently released e-book editions of four Canadian classics. They have "enriched" them with web links.

In order to compete with the trades, you need to think like they do. I'll be talking about e-books over the next few posts. If you have any questions, please leave a comment or email me directly through my website.


www.selfpublishing.ca

Should you quit your day job?

After months of talking about it, I finally quit my day job. I worked as an office manager and could not manage to fit all my writing and publishing into evenings and weekends. After a long day at the office, I often found my brain cells didn't want to absorb any more information. Makes is awfully hard to think. I was being torn and something had to give. For me, it could not be writing and so I gave up my day job.

Leaving a job is scary and you need to ensure you have a source of income. Fortunately, we are a two-income couple with no mortgage and we have planned for the loss of my income. You need to make a one-year budget and be prepared to live within it. We love to travel, but I can guarantee we're not going back to Europe this year. But that's okay. Now I can focus on writing and developing my publishing business.

I have already made progress. I have started to learn one of the software programs I need to know (there are three in total). I have put together a pitch for Camosun College in Victoria to put on my publishing workshops, and I applied to the local community newspaper as a casual freelance writer. I have even put together power point presentations for my workshops to jazz them up.

So where can you find me these days when I'm not in my home office?

Self Publishing in Canada workshop at Vancouver Island University Nanaimo Campus (there are still some seats available)  April 24, 9:00-4:00

You've Written a Book - Now What? workshop at Vancouver Island University Nanaimo Campus May 1, 9:00-4:00

Self Publishing in Canada workshop at Simon Fraser University
July 15, 9:00-5:00

Book signing at the Penticton Saturday Market July 17  8:00-12:30

http://www.selfpublishing.ca/

Editing can't be neglected

http://www.selfpublishing.ca/ After you have written your manuscript, it has to be edited. No one (not even Stephen King) is so good a writer that they can neglect having their work edited. There are basically two kinds of editing - content (or substantive) editing and copy editing.

Content editing is the process of finding ways to make what you have written better. The editor looks at the manuscript more as a whole and works with the writer to improve the telling of the story or the presentation of the material.

Copy editing is the line-by-line and word-by-word search for errors in the text. Grammar, punctuation and spelling are looked at critically in order to ensure there are no mistakes. In the newspaper business it's called proof reading.

Done correctly and methodically, editing will give your manuscript a polished professional look. Neglect the editing and your book will look amateurish. Professional editing will polish your book so it holds its own with other books in the field that have been published by established trade publishing houses.

There's nothing so invigorating as a workshop

On Saturday I put on a workshop at Vancouver Island University called "You've Written a Book - Now What?"  that I developed to reach a broader audience than those who were only interested in self-publishing. The workshop covers the four ways to be published - trade published, subsidy published, self-published, and e-published. It's a long and very informative workshop.

The students ages ranged from 15 up to grandmothers. Some have written a book and some haven't started yet. But they all bring a special energy to the class and are willing to talk about their writing projects. It's really invigorating.

Another writing workshop was being held the same day in another facility. I don't know how the response was, but I know that two people came into our classroom looking for it. We sent them on their way and got back to work. I think it is great that writers take workshops. That is the best way to improve your craft.

Sometimes, in the quest to publish our books, we forget that we are writers first. We become so focussed on the publishing that we don't continue to hone our craft. I can't stress enough the importance of keeping up with workshops, articles and courses to help you improve as a writer. You will appreciate that your writing will become better and your material will be more readily accepted. Writing is how you came to this point and you should not stop improving your ability just because one project is completed. You will find as a publisher that you will need to write all kinds of material and a good workshop can help you do it better. http://www.selfpublishing.ca/