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Steps to Publishing Success
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By Karen Martin
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Even if your best friend owns a top publishing company, givingyou an immediate "in," this does not guarantee publishingsuccess.
First, you have to write a quality book that has a clear targetaudience. And your book must answer a common problem or needthat audience shares. Then you have to develop a marketing plan,and stick to it for at least two years.
Let's begin with the process that should commence before youwrite your first word. Begin by reading A LOT. Read both booksyou passionately love and books you can't seem to make it pastpage five. Then figure out what the author did in the book youloved, and what was wrong with in the book you couldn't finish.Write down these points so they are crystal clear to you. Readother people's books for inspiration and to discover what youshould avoid as a writer.
The next step is to plan out your book. Narrow down yoursubject, and then divide it into chapters. Each chapter shouldaddress a specific aspect of the problem your book is going tosolve. In each chapter, break the specific aspect down intoseveral parts. This will help your readers take in yourinformation a bit at a time instead of overwhelming them withevery bit of information clogging up the pages until they feellike they're about to go blind. It's not quite spoon-feeding theinformation to your readers, but it's close.
The next two steps are obvious. Write your book and then reviseit. And then revise it again. And perhaps again. Of course,writing is extremely hard, and writing a book can seem like animpossible task. There are many books out there that give youguidelines to help you become familiar - and even love - theprocess of writing and revision. Find a number of books aboutwriting. Better yet, find a number of books about writing thespecific type of book you aspire to write. These can serve asroadmaps on your writing journey.
Once you've written your ebook and revised it at least twice,show it to someone else whose opinion you respect. If you'relucky enough to know a good editor, see if you have something tobarter for him or her to go through your manuscript. Or join awriting group and let the other members critique your work.
Then take all these ideas from other people, and revise yourmanuscript one last time. And then stop! Put down that pen! Getyour hands off the keyboard!
One of the most important steps to actually producing a book isto know when to stop writing and tinkering with it.
You've finally written your ebook! Pop open the bubbly! Giveyourself a night out on the town!
Okay, now that this necessary celebration is out of your system,what do you do next?
How to turn your ebook into Profits
Ebooks are a revolutionary way to publish your book withoutincurring the costs of print production. All you need is arelevant and targeted subject and some inexpensive software, andyou can transform your manuscript into a book.
The problem, in terms of actually seeing any profits from yourebook, is that the market is overwhelmed with ebooks, and manyof them are not worth the time it takes to download them. Justbecause the ability exists to easily produce an ebook, doesn'tmake it good writing.
Make sure your book does not simply rehash old material. Youwill injure your credibility as an author by claiming to offervaluable new insights and disappointing your audience withmaterial they've read a zillion times before. So spend enoughtime writing and revising your book to make sure it's of thehighest quality and presents the most current information. Agood book will eventually sell itself; false claims about yourbook will make it extremely difficult to sell any future booksyou may write.
Assuming you have determined that you do indeed have a qualityproduct that answers some question or need of your targetaudience with NEW information, how do you know how much tocharge for it? Rule number 1: Set a price for your book equal toits value. An under-priced book will only give the impressionthat your book isn't worth very much.
To figure out a fair price, estimate how much time you put intocreating it and how difficult it was to transform the necessaryinformation into understandable and engaging writing. Figure outhow much your time and effort is worth, and then price itaccordingly. The goal is for you to be adequately compensatedfor your talent, your time, and your effort.
Once you've figured out a price that is high enough to conveythe value of the book, but not so high as to be out of the reachof your target audience's mean budget, then it's time to offerit for sale on your website. To attract sales, you will need todevelop a promotional campaign, particularly if you are anunknown author.
There are multitudes of books about self-promotion that willguide you in your efforts. Choose a plan that is both creativeand professional. Learn how to write a catchy yet informativepress release, and send copies of your ebook to sites thatspecialize in ebook reviews.
Learn how to write powerful sales copy, or hire someone to writeit for you. This is an essential. You absolutely need excellentsales copy to sell your book. Make sure the copy includes allthe reasons your target audience needs your book, and thebenefits they will derive from buying it.
Use graphics in your promotional materials. Beautiful graphicshave the power to instantly convey the quality and value of yourebook. Graphics can also convey the amount of valuableinformation the book contains, and your careful attention todetail. Professional graphics sell professional books. Theyreassure the customer that the product is what it claims to be.
Consider excerpting chapters for articles. You can offer thesetidbits for free on your website as a sort of demo of your book.Include an order form for your ebook at the end of the excerptedarticles.
Finally, when you set-up your download link, make sure tosimplify the process. It's a good idea to offer a few bonusesthat make your book even more enticing to purchase, but makesure the bonuses are valuable and high quality. Too many bonusesthat are basically a load of useless stuff will compromise theimpression your audience has of your ebook. The goal is toconvey to your audience that they are getting a quality productfor a good deal. That means applying restraint, especially whenit comes to adding bonus items. Too much free stuff offereddiminishes your credibility.
Make sure your book is a quality product. Make sure it isrelevant and current. Develop an effective marketing plan thatincludes excellent sales copy and excerpted articles. Then offeryour book for sale, and wait for your audience to discover you!
P.S.
If you've enjoyed this article, please be sure to forward it toa friend.
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