I’ve Written a Book, What Do I Do Now?

Since my first novel was published in 2001, many people have asked me that question. Once, many years ago, an author read a news story about one of my books, talked the newspaper into giving him my street address, then came to my home and banged on my door until I answered...begging me to tell him how to get a publishing contract. That was creepy.

Today, of course, times have changed and you no longer need to rely on a publisher to get your book out there. But it is a big ocean full of decisions and it can be daunting and confusing. There are scammers out there filling first-time authors' heads full of fake dollar signs, and then stealing real dollars right out from under them.

And, there is the stigma that indie authors and/or self-published books are awful. This is not true, and the only way to overcome this blemish is to educate new authors in the RIGHT way to produce a quality book: one that's free of grammatical errors, typos, formatting errors, and poor presentation. Anyone who truly wants to be a writer wants that anyway.

At Indies Unlimited, my blog partner, Stephen Hise, and I work hard to get the information out there in a way that will be helpful to authors at all stages of their careers. We've just published a resource page for "newbie" authors in hopes of guiding them through the process to putting out a quality first book.

Please feel free share this resource with anyone asking you for advice on where to go or what to do. It'll be a lot easier on you, and they'll have one convenient place to find everything they need.

I’ve Written a Book, How Do I Publish It?

Who Knew: Creating a Book’s Sell Sheet Headed for Internet Stardom

Sounds good, right? I had no idea when I wrote this article that so many people would go nuts over it. That's put a smile on this curmudgeonly face for certain. Since it has had such a great response, I wanted to post it here right away so everyone on my list would have timely access to it as well. So, without further ado, here is...

Creating a Book’s Sell Sheet

Many, many years ago, back when we were still using stone tablets and chisels to write, my first novel was published. The year was 2001. That was also when I created my first “sell sheet.”

A book sell sheet (or book one-sheet, as some people call it) is designed to provide the necessary information to people who would buy your book. This is not for consumers, however, it targets buyers at book stores, libraries, other retailers, and wholesalers. These people want quick facts about your book, without schmaltz. Save that dazzling salesy stuff for consumers.
The main things these buyers want to know are:

• What the book is about
• Who the book’s audience is
• How/where to buy the book
• Why the book is appropriate for them
• Who the author is
• How you will be marketing the book (libraries don’t care so much about this)
• What your book looks like

Use whatever program you’d like to create this sheet – MS Word, Publisher, whatever you happen to use. You don’t need fancy software to do it.

To read the rest of this article, please go here: http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2013/10/01/creating-a-books-sell-sheet/

 

 

The Blog Nobody Wanted to Publish (Except Indies Unlimited)

Today, Indies Unlimited ran an article by best-selling author Martin Crosbie that made me want to jump up and shout "Give me liberty, or give me death!" Martin takes on the fear-mongers and doesn't pull any punches. The only gatekeeper now - is fear. EVERY author should read this.

http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2013/04/02/the-blog-nobody-wanted-to-publish-except-indies-unlimited/