Blogging, Writing, and Publishing

Recently I shared with you that I have provided my book as an audio product. This seems like a great opportunity for authors to provide more opportunities for their readers.  Having multiple book formats gives you, the author, more flexibility and sources of potential income. Audiobooks seem to be a very good way to meet a growing market demand as well as provide a revenue source for authors. Before I began my audible journey, I was very reluctant. I wasn't really sure anyone wanted to listen to boring security books. I figured that they wanted hardcover and paperback products. So, for many years I published most of my books in print only. Here's where I talk about what I learned at a recent conference again. Yep, it was there they convinced me to put my books out on Amazon Kindle. I decided to put them to the test. It was tough formatting my books for Kindle, but I stuck with it and for the last few months I have put my books into Kindle, rewrote book descriptions...

www.cafepress.com/redbikepublishing Amazon Kindle provides another way for customers to read your book. Sometimes the more options the better. I've personally been surprised to find that sales increased when I added the Kindle book alternative to customers. The great news is publishing with Kindle Direct Publishing doesn't cost anything other than the time to create the book in the proper format. Additionally, Amazon's Kindle has a new feature that will allow customers to pre-order and pay for books before the release date. You can now upload your book with a projected sales date of up to 90 days in advance.  Customers can pre-order their copies before the book is even published. However, use this only if you have a complete manuscript ready to go. You just need to provide a working manuscript and a final manuscript within a month of the publishing date. As publisher, you can upload your manuscript to Amazon.com as a Kindle readable book. To do so, first...

The goal is to have all versions of your book listed on all amazon book pages. This may automatically occur when publishing book versions simultaneously through Amazon's Createspace and Kindle Editions. However, what about publishing a print book with Lightning Source? Unless the description details the author / publisher of the book are exactly the same on both accounts (Lightning Source and Kindle setup pages), the books won't necessarily link. In fact, I published Get Rich in a Niche with Kindle first to test the market. When I was satisfied the Kindle book was selling well, I decided to publish with Create Space. Unfortunately the books did not link and I spent too much time not really concerned about it. Then I realized I was loosing a good marketing opportunity.  When books are not linked and each version stands alone, the author / publishers looses sales; period. Each version holds it's own reviews, buyers loose Kindle purchasing options ( for example,...

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 ...

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...

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 ...

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 t...

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...

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...