Blogging, Writing, and Publishing

     “Hmm?” Steve answered groggily. He wore a stupid smile. It’s not over. I need you to take the controls so I can prop the plane. Those guys drained the battery.”      “Ok, fly to get more batteries,” Steve said in his delirium.      “No! no! no!” John yelled. “I have to hand prop the plane. Listen; just hold your feet on the brakes.”      John climbed out and turned the propeller a couple of times and prepared for a starting kick. Then he saw a commotion in the jungle. Some of the natives were holding up the ponchos where he and Steve had been. So far they hadn’t seen him.      “Please, God, let this start,” John prayed before throwing the propeller downward.      It went around sputtering but not catching. The alerted natives looked and moved slowly toward the plane, taking cover as they advanced.      “Great, an audience.”      A hastily fired...

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...

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...

Let's try something to discover the impact of your website. It's just a small exercise to capture a snapshot in time of your website's performance. To demonstrate this, perform a keyword search for words related to your books and information? Does your website show up in the results? The goal is to have your website featured on the first page of results. If it doesn't, you may need to do more work. Once you created your website, be sure to keep the content engaging. After a few months in business, you can discover new information about your book's impact and appeal. While learning about your book's status, put what you've learned on your website to draw even more customers. For example, you may have only received book reviews by a few friends, family and local book reviewers. Now, after being on the market for a while, new reviews are posted at the online book store pages. Include those reviews on your website and in your marketing plans. Also, ke...

I received a phone call recently  asking if Red Bike Publishing could help her get her group's book printed. After a few minutes I understood that the potential customer wanted to print a specialty book for her small history club. She wanted the books, but did not want to make it available online. I quickly realized that the printing and distribution resource my company currently uses would not be a good match for her needs. This was a clue for me to check on other options. In this scenario, bar codes, ISBNs, PCNs and other numbers associated with cataloging and publishing were not needed. She wanted a do it yourself book printed whenever she needed it. Maybe your book project is not necessarily made to attract the masses more than just a short term need to train your small groups. Some specific uses include:       Very few copies for micro use-Members of exclusive clubs and organizations may only require a few copies and are not for the use by o...

Writing off expenses is incredibly helpful way to decrease your tax burden. However, it's not a license to defraud the government. As a rule of thumb, you should claim all of your income and pay what you owe on taxes. The challenge of collecting and reporting taxes is difficult at first, but it is part of doing business, and is a must for maintaining that business. Fail to do so could result in fines or worse. Doing the right thing will help you better sleep at night, and increase your business savvy. Author situations differ. Some authors make a lot of money and writing is their only source of income. Some have full time jobs and writing provides some of the household income. Either way, the income made from writing must be claimed during tax time. The only difference is if you have a side from writing, your employer is withholding taxes. In your writing business, you should be paying estimated quarterly taxes based on your total income (just writing or income from writing ...

A word about taxes. When working on your business, make sure that you are prepared to conduct a lot of administrative tasks to include paying taxes. For federal taxes, this means filing quarterly estimated taxes. This quarterly estimated tax depends on your total income all your sources of income including full time jobs and businesses. This tax is also figuring FICA, Medicare and any profits your business earns (total sales minus expenses). Managing taxes is sometimes and easier endeavor when filing as a sole proprietary entity, especially where state jurisdictions are concerned. In these cases, tasks will pull you from your primary business roles to handle mundane but important administration. So, before you decide to form an LLC or other incorporated entity, do your research up front. For example, I just recently converted my business into an LLC. Red Bike Publishing, LLC has a new structure and is expected to maintain that structure according to the Alabama's State D...

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 a lot of to begin with. 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. As an author/publisher, you have already identified niches...

Which works better, paid advertising or free internet opportunities? I still think (and have the numbers to back it up) that informative and attractive blogs provide the best marketing for your book. After all, you are the expert on your book and who else better to talk about your book than you. I recently ran an experiment with LinkedIn and Facebook. If you’ve read Get Rich in a Niche , you might remember that I loathe advertising. Against my better judgment I reluctantly decided to once again pay to advertise my books and publishing company. Using Facebook, I created four ads; three for books and one for Red Bike Publishing. Each ad is a pay per click ad and I set my limit to $10.00 a day. I gave each ad a max of a $100 limit before pausing it. I also limited my ads’ exposure to demographics likely to buy my book. For example, for my security clearance books, I set the ads to be visible for 22-55 years old and/or small business owners and/or professionals with technical backg...

Can your books get you noticed at work? My boss recently called me into his office. "Shut the door," he said. "I need to have a quiet discussion." I quickly shut the door with anticipation. "Congratulations, you've been assigned the supervisor position you applied for. We boarded your resume and out of all the candidates, you were best qualified. The leadership trait you excelled in was writing communication; especially your impressive publications. Your resume and books really set you above the others." No kidding, there I was getting kudos at work for the publishing company I ran at home. Unfortunately, I hear to many comments from authors who claim not to be motivated by money or any other gain other than the pride of publishing. Personally, I find payment as a reward for good writing to be very motivating. I also find the prestige of being recognized by readers and invited to speak on niche topics rejuvenating.  Why else d...

World class marketing can be easily executed by self publishers and authors. It is one thing to be good at writing, know the self publishing industry and capable of getting books to market. It’s quite another to become recognized as a leader in your niche industry, recruit assistance within industry and become recognized for the good work. In the second example, your efforts perpetuate themselves as you earn trust; others become force multipliers and quickly engage and support your vision. One way to ensure such success is to cross product market. One way to do that is through professional branding. Of itself branding is not the answer to instant success, but does complete the picture. For example, there are many authors who are very influential and well respected; their work stands alone. Cross product marketing for them would continue to demonstrate their dedication to their industry, technical competence and leadership. When you achieve a recognizable brand, such that your...