Blogging, Writing, and Publishing

Wow, New Year’s Eve is just around the corner and many of us have already set goals. It’s traditional to plan events as the calendar rolls over to a new year. It’s great to dream big and visualize these goals, it’s quite another to actually reach them. So let’s talk self-publishing goals, writing and publishing a book in 2015 is a great one to strive for. It’s one thing to dream and another to plan. The difference is what you do from the vision to make it a reality. Here are some deliberate actions you can take to help you become a self-published author in 2015. 1. This of course is possible only if you have a book in mind. It is very possible to write and publish in 2015 by following a deliberate journey. The first step is to identify a book idea, outline it and determine how much writing is necessary to be ready for publishing. See http://redbikepublishing.blogspot.com/2014/06/how-to-write-and-publish-book-in-year.html#.VJHq_ek5B9A for an idea of how to assemble

January 1 is less than a month away and so are your resolutions. If you have taken the challenge of writing a book, congratulations. Here is what you can do to ensure success. The following article has been published before, but I'm re-writing it for this resolution purpose. Follow this step by step method t0 keep motivated to publish your book or work through the writing, editing process and self-publishing  process. 1. Outline your book-Begin with a blank page or empty word document. On that page, write the book’s topic anywhere you’d like as long as you know it’s the focal point of the brainstorm. Then, write as many words as you can to support that topic. For example, in Get Rich in a Niche, I started with the topic “write, publish and market to a niche”. Then I plastered all the white space with phrases such as: marketing ideas, how to write, formatting, kindle, CreateSpace, Lightning Source, Amazon, internet marketing, social media, become an expert, spinoff,

Submitting a pre-designed cover can be tricky depending on the type of software and computer system you are using. In my present set up, I am using Adobe Acrobat CS4 to design my books and cover. I also use it to format eBooks including Kindle format versions. Though uploading books is not usually a problem, submitting a cover is. Ugh, it's all squished. With CreateSpace, I can submit my manuscript and cover in PDF format. However, for Kindle, it is best to submit the manuscript in mobi or other Kindle recommended format. However, the cover must be submitted as an image and that's where the challenges come in. When designing a book for print, I design a cover with front, back and spine components. For an eBook, all that's needed is the front cover. I used to create this by taking a PDF and saving it as a jpeg or tiff image. Then I would crop out the spine and back cover, then save. I would then upload a perfect front cover to Kindle. Lately, that hasn'

CreateSpace is an excellent self-publishing solution. I primarily use Lightning Source for most of my publishing needs, but there are some advantages of printing with CreateSpace as well. Primarily, books are listed “in stock” at Amazon.com and CreateSpace stores if printed with CreateSpace. My Lightning Source books are available on Amazon.com but usually not listed “in stock”. Thus, I often make my books available for print with both Lightning Source and CreateSpace. If you chose to use one or the other, or both, make sure your title information, ISBN and other book administrative details are accurate and listed the same in both venues. Without that level of detail, your book manuscript and cover submissions may not be approved. Additionally, if you try to link your printed book with an Amazon.com Kindle version, or your paperback with your hardback version, it may prove difficult if title information details vary too greatly. For example, my manuscript is entitled Red Bike Publis

Cover design by Jeff Bennett If you are publishing in a small niche, you might not have the budget for big time cover design. Costs for cover design can range from a few hundred to thousands. Such costs were not always an option in the early days of Red Bike Publishing. So, how do you get a world class book design? Well, you do it yourself. Here are a few ideas you can use in your book cover design: If you have In-Design or some other software meant for book design, then use my favorite choice. Do research and find out what  everyone else is doing. This means that you go online to Amazon.com and google: "Best-selling books in ____" then name Cover design by Jeff Bennett the genre. Bam, a list of books and cover pics is made available. Now all you have to do is see what catches your eye. This does not mean that you copy the cover pixel by pixel, that would just be wrong. However, it can clue you into what color schemes, fonts, art and placement are most

Publish Like a Boss-You're in charge, you own a company. You are CEO, COO, Owner, Proprietor, Publisher or whatever you want to call yourself. Isn't that what the biggest rage was in the 70's where people built their empires on publishing companies? With advanced technology, software and distribution, you can too. All you need is creativity, innovation and an entrepreneurial spirit. "How's your business going?" Selling any books lately?" "So, what are you writing?" This is what you can typically be hit with as your admiring connections begin to realize what you are up to. Now, everyone wants to know more about the niche sensation. Now, the next time you are at a party, someone will inevitably begin with, "I know a guy", or go into their own book idea, hoping you can help them make their book dreams a reality. Publishing like a boss earns new found respect from those who just had no idea of what you've been up to. It'

Self-publishing and traditional publishing are both viable publishing methods. Each has its own function and should hardly be compared. However, I am daring to make a comparison to encourage those of you who have niche ideas to go ahead and publish your books. Though a traditional publisher will not be able to sell to a select few, you can. Your audience will appreciate your efforts. You can probably think of many great reasons to self-publish. As you make your list of pros, many opportunities might come to mind. I've developed a list of reasons myself.  I love self-publishing and the do it yourself method is so far the most exiting way to get my books to those who need it. My list has included the benefits of controlling creativity and marketing your way and where it counts. The third reason I love self-publishing is that I am publisher and I receive all the money, minus expenses of course. Money, Money, Money-Self publishers earn all the profit. Set your price, pay th

Register for the contest. Maybe you can be one of five lucky winners. #selfpub #amwriting Goodreads Book Giveaway Get Rich in a Niche by Jeffrey W. Bennett Giveaway ends July 16, 2014. See the giveaway details at Goodreads. Enter to win

Publish On Your Schedule-Can't get that book done in time? Who cares, nobody's keeping count. Ahead of schedule, go ahead and print, nobody is stopping you. This is your time and place, you decide when is good. Self-publishing gives you incredible timeline flexibility. The only thing you have to do is preplan your book release for availability during book signing or other events. The control is completely in your capable hands. That also means you should work a schedule, in reverse order of when books should be available. If your plan is to have book signing event at the local book store 120 days from now, you have to plan to ensure the book is edited, formatted, designed, uploaded, printed and delivered in time for availability. Nothing is more embarrassing than to set up an event, draw a crowd and books not be available. The upside is there are no other schedules than what are self-imposed, hence no other stressors to influence your publishing decisions. No late

Market Your Way-More and more publishing companies rely on the author to market books. Just look at the latest book covers and see which is larger the author's name or the book title? It's the author who sells books. As a niche professional, you have a built in market and your efforts can easily reach them. You know what works, so go to it. Many people are put off by marketing as I was when I first began. When a niche author serving in an industry with peer-customers, the last thing you want to do is bombard them with sales. Your role is the be the expert and provide answers. Cold calling is also not necessarily the answer in niche marketing. If you've developed a blog, newsletter or social media following, then you have your customer database. Your marketing efforts flow as you provide advice and answers to those following your posts, comments and articles. Many authors teach, speak, volunteer or are otherwise active in their professions. It's hard to remain o

Stretch Rotate 30 push ups 30 air squats Go for 4.5 mile run after each mile do the following: first mile-15 burpees second mile-15 burpees, 5 pull ups with leg lifts, monkey bars, 10 box jumps  third mile-15 burpees  fourth mile (or finish the 4.5 mile run)  Walk for 2.5 minutes 15 burpees, 5 pull ups with leg lifts, monkey bars, 10 box jumps  Cool down Jeffrey W. Bennett, ISP is the owner of Red Bike Publishing . Jeff is an accomplished writer of non-fiction books, novels and periodicals. He also owns Red bike Publishing. Published books include: "Get Rich in a Niche-Insider's Guide to Self Publishing in a Specialized Industry" and "Commitment-A Novel". Jeff is an expert in security and has written many security books including: "Insider's Guide to Security Clearances" and "DoD Security Clearances and Contracts Guidebook". See Red Bike Publishing for print copies of: Army Leadership The Ranger Handbook

Stretch Rotate 30 push ups 30 air squats Run 4.5 miles 6 pull ups with leg lifts 6 chin ups with leg lifts 6 alternate grip pull ups with leg lifts 50 sit ups 15 v-ups 15 bent knee v-ups 30 crunches Swim 1/4 mile Jeffrey W. Bennett, ISP is the owner of Red Bike Publishing . Jeff is an accomplished writer of non-fiction books, novels and periodicals. He also owns Red bike Publishing. Published books include: "Get Rich in a Niche-Insider's Guide to Self Publishing in a Specialized Industry" and "Commitment-A Novel". Jeff is an expert in security and has written many security books including: "Insider's Guide to Security Clearances" and "DoD Security Clearances and Contracts Guidebook". See Red Bike Publishing for print copies of: Army Leadership The Ranger Handbook The Army Physical Readiness Manual Drill and Ceremonies The ITAR The NISPOM

Here is an expansion of the reasons you should self-publish. The first reason: You own all the creative decisions. The boss makes the rules. So, if you self-publish, you get to decide. You decide book format, writing and publishing timeline, book and cover design, type of book, colors, page count, page type and on and on.  Many decisions are pretty mundane such as interior design and format. If people like your material, they'll buy it in whatever format it is available in. However, the cover and content are very important aspects to your book that you have to get right. For the cover, choosing the right colors, images and fonts is critical. The book has to look attractive to its audience and must be legible as a thumbnail while displayed in on line book stores. This decision is made easier if you study your niche and look for books that relate to your topic. What colors are favored, what types of images are popular, and what type font matches the competing books? Get this r

This step by step method helps me keep my sanity during the writing, editing process and self-publishing  process. It might help you too. Just give it a year and see what you can come up with. 1. Outline your book-I like to start with a blank page out of a journal or notebook. On that page, I write the book’s topic anywhere you’d like as long as you know it’s the focal point of the brainstorm. Then, write as many words as you can to support that topic. For example, in Get Rich in a Niche, I started with the topic “write, publish and market to a niche”. Then I plastered all the white space with phrases such as: marketing ideas, how to write, formatting, kindle, CreateSpace, Lightning Source, Amazon, internet marketing, social media, become an expert, spinoff, perpetuate, time management, etc. 2. Prioritize and categorize words and phrases. Some of the words and phrases may be related, have similar meanings or support different categories. These categories will become you

Publishing like a boss is an excellent experience. My company, Red Bike Publishing , provides technical books to small niches. We are small and we love it. No other publisher touches our material because the market is tiny. That leaves us meeting new expectations in a forgotten industry. The results, a reliable pay check and some new earned respect. Here's what I've learned about self-publishing during the last few years: Control Creativity-The publishing house owns the rules. You might have a story to tell, but it must fit within the editorial guidelines of the publisher. When you self-publish , you control the cover design, book content, price and distribution. You also own all the rights to reprints, print media and spin off items. Market Your Way-More and more publishing companies rely on the author to market books. Just look at the latest book covers and see which is larger the author's name or the book title? It's the author who sells books. As a nic

Writing a book isn’t easy and shouldn’t be something an author rushes through, no matter what pop publishing culture tells us. What goes on paper is a result of tireless effort. Depending on your motivation and personality, it may seem easier to put together a course or write an article or two for a newsletter, blog, or other publication. Here are four proven ways to help you write and publish in a specialized market and establish yourself as a niche expert. 1.  Writing takes time Writing a book-length manuscript is difficult, but we make it look easy. Despite advice given in self-publishing books, writing is a commitment. It takes time, devotion, and some solitude, much of which a full time professional does not have in abundance. This endeavor is not a sprint, but an endurance race. The difficulty of formatting a book may not be as tough as setting aside time and committing to writing words on paper. 1.  As an author/publisher, you have already identified niches that aren'

I apologize. I am sorry for wasting your resources and time with my own selfish ambition. I don’t apologize for making my voice heard when mistreated by employees or when products don’t work as advertised, those are pretty realistic responses. What I do apologize for is taking advantage of “free” or “complimentary” items. This apology covers my former practice of taking too many napkins, straws, free refills, ketchup packets and food I wasn’t really hungry for at the buffet. Though I paid for my meal and possibly some of the costs of more than the average human needs of “complimentary” items, the sunken costs are still yours to bear. I also apologize for herding my travel weary family through your bathrooms even though we didn’t make any purchases in your stores, gas stations or restaurants. I’ve wrongly considered these items and services to be entitlements. I am now in your shoes, running a grass roots company with very few resources and employees. As the a sole provider of