Resources for Writers, from WYBWM

Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject ourselves or

we know where we can find  information on it.

Samuel Johnson

INTERNET, LIBRARIES, SOCIETIES, ENCYCLOPEDIAS, THESAURUS, DICTIONARY

In the blog by Carol Tice, makealivingwriting.com, guest writer Samantha Drake gave the following source tips so “writers can find facts fast---and make sure they’re true”:

·      Governments: For the U.S. see Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health, USA.gov, Data.gov, and Government Information Online, which lets you mail questions to librarians. The individual states have many agencies willing to provide reliable data.

·      Major national organizations: Such as the American Cancer Society, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the American Institute of Certified Professional Accountants, etc.

·      Trade organizations: Her example of such a publication was Nation’s Restaurant News.

·      Name-brand studies and surveys:  Examples given were Pew Research Center and Gallup.

·      Beware: Wikipedia can be a useful start, but is not authoritative. Use its references yourself to trace the item to its source. “Studies” by organizations with strong views are also to be treated with suspicion.

A truly mammoth source of information on self-publishing is appropriately titled The Complete Guide to Self-publishing, subtitled Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote, and Sell Your Own Book. The fifth edition is copyrighted in 2010 by its authors Marilyn Ross and Susan Collier. It is published by Writers Digest Books, Cincinnati Ohio. These authors suggest you also visit the website writersdigest.com/books.

An abridged version of their Table of Contents follows:

Part I. TODAY’S PUBLISHING SCENE

·      Your Portal to Self-Publishing: Enter Here

·      Alternatives for Getting Into Print: From POD to Subsidy Publishing --- and Everything In Between

·      Cyberoptions ---Reading between the Lines of Ebooks

PART II: START-UP

·      Scoping Out a Marketable Subject

·      Product Development: Writing Your Own Book or Booklet

·      Establishing Your Publishing Company and Generating Capital

·      Mastering Operating Procedures

·      Must-Do Important Early Activities

PART III: CREATING A QUALITY PRODUCT THAT ATTRACTS BUYERS

·      Wow! Design and Typesetting

·      Affordable Book Manufacturing --- the Printing Process

PART IV: KILLER PR --- THE GREAT EQUALIZER

·      Initiating a Nationwide Marketing Plan with Publicity Pizzazz

·      Using the Web to Rally “Buzz” and Business

·      Provocative Promotional Strategies

·      Turning Book Signings into Stellar Events

PART V: SELLING BOOKS THE USUAL WAYS

·      Milking the Standard Channels of Distribution

·      Creating Ads that Reel in Results

·      Direct Marketing Smarts

·      Tapping into Lucrative Subsidiary Rights

PART VI: NONTRADITIONAL VENUES FOR GENERATING MORE SALES

·      Social Media

·      Originating Extraordinary “Out-of-the-Box” Opportunities

·      Seminars, Classes, and Trade Shows Can Multiply Your Profits

PART VII: PROPELLING YOUR BUSINESS THROUGH THE STRATOSPHERE

·      Bagging the Big Game: Selling Your Self-Published Book to a Goliath

·      Enlarge Your Kingdom; Move up to “Small Press” Status

This approximately 200,000-word guide goes far beyond what we can cover here. It is available through Amazon for $17 for the paperback and $11 for the Kindle ebook version, the one I bought for myself.

Another excellent resource for new authors is the book by J. Steve Miller and Cherie K. Miller, Sell More Books! Book Marketing and Publishing for Low-Profile and Debut Authors: Rethinking Book Publicity after the Digital Revolution. Wisdom Creek Press, LLC. 2011.

Their Table of Contents is as follows:    

               

Part I

Rethink Book Marketing in Light of the Revolutions

Chapter 1: Four Digital Revolutions that Can Make Nobodies Awesome

Part II

From Nobody to Somebody

Build Platforms with a Marketable Book and a Cool Online Presence

Chapter 2: Why Market Your Book?

Chapter 3: Write a Marketable Book

Chapter 4: Write a Title and Subtitle That Attract Audiences

Chapter 5: Attract People with Your Cover

Chapter 6: Publish through the Most Marketable Channel

Chapter 7: Get Lots of Blurbs from All Kinds of People

Chapter 8: Optimize Your Amazon and Barnes & Noble Pages

Chapter 9: Build a Professional Online Presence

Chapter 10: Submit Your Book to Contests

Part III

Let the World Know about Your Book

Chapter 11: Check Your Attitudes toward Marketing

Chapter 12: Use Guiding Principles to Prioritize Initiatives

Chapter 13: Seek Early Reviews from Respected Book Review Sources

Chapter 14: Seek Reviews and Endorsements from Busy Blogs

Chapter 15: Seek Reviews and Endorsements from Other Publications

Chapter 16: Attract Attention through Social Media

Chapter 17: Optimize Digital Sales

Chapter 18: Sell Your Book in Brick and Mortar Stores (Not Just Bookstores)

Chapter 19: Help Reporters and Journalists with Their Articles

Chapter 20: Consider Radio (Even If You’re Shy!)

Chapter 21: Consider Speaking (Even If You’re Shy!)

Chapter 22: John Kremer’s Twelve Tips for Low-Profile Authors

Chapter 23: Bulk Sales Beyond the Bookstore: An Interview with Brian Jud

Chapter 24: Consider Press (News) Releases

Chapter 25: Sell Even More Books!

Appendix 1: Never Stop Learning! (Further Reading and Resources)

Appendix 2: 200+ Ways that Low-Profile Authors Can Market Their Books

Endnotes

Clearly, this 344-page compendium of useful book marketing information in this new age of publishing is a bargain at $10 for the paperback and $4 for the Kindle ebook through amazon.com.

            Get Slightly Famous: Become a Celebrity in Your Field and Attract More Business with Less Effort by Steven Van Yoder (2012) tells how to become known among your potential customers, and is very favorably reviewed at amazon.com, where it is available for $10 as a Kindle ebook and $18 for the paperback version.

Book Yourself Solid: The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients Than You Can Handle Even If You Hate Marketing and Selling, by Michael Port (2010), is also widely heralded at amazon.com, where it is available as a Kindle ebook for $10 and as a paperback for $11. Techniques for those selling their services are readily adaptable to those selling their books. Many who sell books hope to use them to increase demand for their services, linking the two.

Finally, don’t forget those old standbys: encyclopedias, a thesaurus, and a dictionary.

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Excerpted from my book for would-be authors,  Write Your Book with Me.

See also my coaching web site, http://WriteYourBookwithMe.com