Lingua Translations

Self-publishing is the hottest trend in books, as it provides creative thinkers turned authors with a fast and easy way to get their work on the market. With the added option of “print on demand”, and desktop publishing and design software, the initial cost to get your book out can be very minimal.

Self-publishing is also the most profitable since you get to keep all the profits for yourself. IF you are committed to the work it is going to take to sell your books that is.

One of the most difficult challenges a self-published author faces is getting their book into the hands of people that will appreciate it enough to pay their hard earned money. I recall reading an article on the self-publishing industry that reported the average number of self-published books sold per author is about 100 copies!

With that horrifying number in mind, you need to roll up your sleeves and prepare to launch a focused marketing and promotion program that will have you doing at least 3 things per day every day for the next 6 months to promote your book. Remember, no one can dream your dream but you, and ultimately, you are the only one responsible for the success or failure of your book.

Start by arming yourself with as much knowledge on the subject as possible. Check out these books and websites on marketing and promoting for self-published authors:

It is difficult to break into the publishing industry as a new author, and even more difficult to get an acceptance letter from an editor at a large publishing house. As an author you will work hard to finish your book, and work even harder to find the right book publisher. The good news is you can tap into several types of publishers to publish your book. Here is a look at some common types of book publishing.

GROUP PUBLISHING: Group publishing is the process by which a large company publishes your work in the name of a larger company. For example, large publishing companies often operate smaller publishing companies. The larger publishing company serves as an umbrella over the smaller group publishing companies. Sometimes these companies operate several smaller companies and book imprints that produce different genres of writing and books. Sometimes this is referred to trade publishing. For example, a large publishing group may produce best-selling adult novels, but may also operate under a smaller name to produce certain non-fiction books, cookbooks, children’s books, or niche titles. Group publishing is a popular way to publish a book.

EDUCATIONAL PUBLISHING: Educational publishing shares some likeness to trade publishing. These companies deal specifically with educational material. They may deal with only college textbooks, or they might deal with textbooks and materials for grades K-12. Besides textbooks, these companies might also produce other forms of educational material, which include posters, workbooks, CD-ROMS, software, testing material and maps. There are several big name educational publishing companies.

Time and time again we’ve seen articles that give tips to helping self-published authors gain exposure after their book is completed. But by this time it’s way too late. Traditionally published authors have a leg up. They receive help from publishers and in-house publicists to promote their books. Self-published authors do not have this luxury. Waiting too late to promote a self-published book could lead the author to defeat before the book is even available for purchase.

Being a traditionally published author, I still do most of my own promotion. This has helped me learn a lot. Self-published authors look to me for advice and I go out of my way not to offer the generic tips for promotion. The old fashioned tips of yesterday barely work for traditional authors and they do nothing for self-published authors. Self-published authors have to put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into promotion. Not only did they write the book, but also they published it. They should begin to think of themselves as true publishers and no longer as authors. It doesn’t matter if a book is good, if no one knows it’s out there, it will not sell.

I’d like to share some tips that should give self-published authors more understanding about how crucial the right amount of promotion is for a self-published book.

It’s Never Too Early