I first wanted to write a book when I was 24-years old working in Hong Kong. I carried this passion through my 20’s and 30’s. It wasn’t until I started writing philosophy papers that I realized I could write original poems from my theories.

One day I was struck with the creative muse!

Twenty minutes later I completed six poems. I started creating websites to showcase my work. But I still felt incomplete, unworthy, and sad. My websites and my poems were not well-known, or even publicly available. Even my family and friends were quiet about my writings.

I realized that I would forever be unhappy and unsatisfied unless I could find an established authority to support my writing and help me share my work with the world. But finding an establishment was difficult. I continued to look as I continued to write.

Then in 2006 I stumbled across a website for authors who want to self-publish. That website was: Outskirts Press.

Many Authors Are Now Becoming Self-Published Authors Because…

* Traditional publishers are picky! They take your rights, require you to have a marketing platform, and take up to 2 years to publish your book.
* Self-publishing authors keep all the rights to their work
* Self-publishing authors have control over their pricing and profit
* Self-publishing authors can pursue other opportunities thanks to non-exclusive contracts

How Self-Publishing Transformed My Life

Within a few months, my first book, “The Book Of Life: Existentialism, the Will and the Truth” was published. I was ecstatic and, just like that, my life changed. For 13 years, my life was a constant struggle to be recognized and appreciated as a writer. Suddenly I had achieved a goal that had been imprinted in my mind through sorrow and pain in my wonder years.

You can imagine the relief and personal satisfaction that sets in when you overcome a life’s hurdle and the change in feelings that occur when a book you have toiled to write is finally published.

What a tremendous achievement!

My book was in my hands and available for purchase throughout the world on Amazon.com. It made me feel whole, complete, worthy, revived, excited and motivated to live my life happily, fully and more inspired.

I became more prolific, too, with a renewed zest and love for writing.

Since, I Self-Published My First Book…

* I wrote and published six more books with Outskirts Press. When something this easy makes you feel so alive, you pursue it with all your heart.
* I have book videos for all my books available on YouTube. I have audio excerpts on iTunes for some, and business cards for others. My reviews have mostly been positive and some were even exceptional.
* My first six books are in the Hong Kong public library and my first book is also for sale in a major bookshop, Swindon Book Co. Ltd. in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. The gladness in my heart grows ever stronger every day.

Without self-publishing, I would have missed one of the most delightful moments of my life — seeing my own books on the website of a bookshop, WHSmith, where I used to buy school books as a youngster.

Would I ever have imagined my own books on display?

No. But there they are, and all I can say is, it is worth it!

I am hoping to self-publish more books and I am also planning an exhibition with other artists in Hong Kong. By helping ourselves, we artists and writers can help others in society through inspiration and motivation from our words.

Publishing makes me feel like a first-class citizen. I feel self-publishers like Outskirts Press saved my life. Without them, I would still be lost. Now self-publishing has made my life’s work honorable.

I have achieved more than I could have ever expected.

Getting one’s work in print is a dream many have. Some writers go the traditional route of working in the writing industry, either freelancing or having regular columns. Others love to write, pursuing it as a hobby.

For those who do not approach writing in a traditional manner, publishing a book or novel will be near impossible. As any writer who is sending queries to agents knows, many form letters come back saying that they are receiving dozens (or more) solicitations every day.

For this reason, many people do not want to wait for traditional publishers to discover them. And there are any number of reasons that include:

• Belief in the success of a project
• Simply wanting a book published
• Having the work to pass on as an heirloom

But before authors pursue self-publishing, it’s important to research publishers according to one’s own reasons for doing so.

Upfront Costs can add up Fast

Some subsidy presses offer services individually, giving clients the option of not paying for editing, photography, and listing the product with an ISBN#.

Other publishers offer a package that is not negotiable and can be very expensive. Vantage Press, for example, which operates out of New York City, is a subsidy press with more than 60 years of experience. Authors who publish through them pay premium prices, but get the services of a publicist as well as national distribution.

For the stay-at-home mom looking to put her personal recipes into print that she intends to give out to family members, paying thousands of dollars would be outrageous. But for the aspiring novelist or poet with no contacts in the world of writing, having a publisher that is going to list the book on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, and Borders.com while contacting many newspapers upon the book’s release could be very attractive.

Marketing Costs Should be Budgeted

Even authors who use larger subsidy publishers will have to have a marketing budget of their own. This can be cut down by emailing newspapers and other media outlets about the book’s release, but when it comes to selling a book, getting into stores to sign copies will be a must.

Authors should be prepared to call bookstores while having copies on hand to send to the stores for their review. For more on this read: How to Produce a Book Tour.

Having said all this, none of it can happen if a manuscript is not ready to be submitted.

Manuscript Readiness for Publisher Submissions

Some authors find out the hard way that subsidy presses are not in the business of releasing the highest quality of content for the reading public, but, rather, they are there to serve their client, the author.

For this reason, some will accept typos, lacking continuity, and writing that is just plain bad. Writers who are going to put their work on the open market need to do so with a critical eye and maybe the assistance of other people to make suggestions as well.

For those who wish to skip this step, it might be at the sacrifice of much quality. But for many, self-publishing is not about producing the best work; it can be about simply having a compilation of one’s work in a more permanent form. Remember, it is all about the work’s purpose.

Have you had an opportunity to evaluate the new iPad? If so, then you probably realize that it’s one of the nicer platforms out there today on which to read and enjoy an e-book. If you’re an e-book publisher, or someone trying to make money with e-books, this is something you need to be aware of! The reason why has a lot to do with the fact that the screen size is sufficiently large enough to be able to allow somebody to comfortably read the text that is on it. Are you telling your e-book customers that they can read your publications on this device?

One of the problems that a lot of e-book readers in the past had revolves around the fact that the makers of these devices tried to make the device itself a little bit too compact. Granted, these problems have largely gone away and the new generation of e-book reader that is out there is a perfect fit for most people. Ironically, the iPad was not originally designed to serve specifically as an e-book reader. Instead, it’s designed to be a general use computer system. Nevertheless, it can be used to read e-books.

Keep in mind, even though you can use the iPad to read an e-book, you may ultimately decide to have a separate e-book reader that is specifically designed for this task. There are a variety of technical reasons why this makes sense. However, one of the biggest factors has to do with durability. Many e-book readers are specifically designed to withstand a great deal of punishment. That cannot necessarily be said for the new iPad.

Here’s the bottom line: if you happen to own an iPad, feel free to use it as an e-book reader. You’ll find it to be a fantastic device to use for this purpose. Also, if you haven’t been e-book publisher, you may want to point out the fact that your e-book can be read on this particular platform.

For more FREE information about how to shortcut your way to financial success with your own home based eBook publishing business, visit the eBook Secrets website by clicking here.

You’ll discover a fantastic resource that I’ve put together for you that will help you launch and grow a profitable home based eBook publishing business WITHOUT having to spend a lot of money and waste a bunch of time. You can literally get started today by visiting my eBook Secrets website.

Yours For eBook Profits,
Ethan Evans

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http://EzineArticles.com/?Ebooks—Perfect-to-Read-on-the-New-iPad&id=4234094

If you’re trying to establish your expertise in your niche or on your favorite topic, I’m sure you’ve been told to create an information product. It’s a very quick way to get started with your own online business and building your reputation. Information products are easy to create and a very low cost to produce. But one thing that worries a lot of people is “How will I get people to my website to buy my new ebook?” Well, you want to start marketing as soon as you have an idea for your product. Let’s talk about how you can do this using your favorite social networking sites.

If you ask almost any marketer, they will tell you that you need a mailing list of “prospects” to sell to. And this is very true. But we don’t all have a mailing list of prospects, now do we? That’s where Facebook and Twitter come in. It’s so easy to find new friends and followers on Facebook and Twitter. As you add friends, you are also building a list. So why not start with what you have?

Here are some tips for using Facebook to jumpstart marketing your ebook:

1. Search Facebook for pages (fan pages) to “like” that are related to your topic. Make comments on the wall of the page and become friends of those who are also fans of the page.

2. Start your own page on the topic and put a link on your blog. Provide a lot of good information to encourage others to like your page.

3. Search Facebook for groups to join on your topic. Answer questions and make quality suggestions. Be a good contributor and people will begin to see your expertise.

4. Start your own group on your topic and begin intriguing discussions about your topic. Try to build an interactive community within your group.

5. Post interesting information about your topic in the Notes of your profile.

6. Build your friends list daily.

Here are some tips for using Twitter to help market your ebook:

1. Search Twitter to find people who are interested in your topic and follow them.

2. Tweet daily about your topic. Try to tweet regularly and provide some interesting information from your website or ebook.

3. Link your Twitter profile to your sales page and use plenty of keywords in your profile description.

4. Build your followers list daily.

The key to using Facebook and Twitter to market your ebook is to make sure you do it consistently. You can’t post once or tweet once because your messages will be lost in the thousands that are posted daily. So stay on top of your messages to make sure they are seen.

If you are ready to learn about the different types of products that you can create, claim your free report on information product ideas you can create. In this report you will get some great ideas for 9 information products that you can start working on immediately: http://newideasforproducts.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gwen_Tanner
http://EzineArticles.com/?Product-Creation-Tips—Use-Your-Favorite-Sites-to-Market-Your-Ebook&id=4457872

Knowing Your Market – First and foremost, are you writing about a topic that is important and of value to your market?  If you are trying to sell an Ebook about knitting to a market of hard core sports fans I can guarantee the failure of your efforts.  But if you are addressing a common sports fan dilemma like “How to Get Your Spouse To Let Me Watch The Game In Peace”.  Then you will be flying to the top of the charts in no time.

Pre-Release Hype – Second, did you prime your market and let them know that you were even writing an Ebook? Did you acknowledge their need for answer to a problem? Does your market even know you exist? All of these are questions that should have driven some pre-game action.  If for some reason you skipped pre-game, don’t give up.  The game can still be won, just means you might have to go into overtime!

Marketing – Next, examine how it is you are presenting your Ebook for sale.  Does your landing page or website inspire the potential buyer to realize their need for the answer?  Or, have you just said “Here it is now give me $19.95″.  Take a look at your sales page as if you were the buyer…if you wouldn’t buy it, don’t expect your market to either!

Pricing – Have you over priced your Ebook in such a way that the solution you are providing isn’t as important as the market thought it was?  In other words, can they live without the solution?  How much would you pay for the solution?

Don’t give up! If you failed on one or more of the items listed above, you can still recover!  Ball is in your court so make it count!

In this article, we are going to talk about the right and a wrong way to promote your e-book. We could be here all day talking about different things, so they keep things simple, let’s just focus on the top thing that somebody can do the right way, and the top thing somebody to do the wrong way if they’re interested in promoting your e-book.

The first thing that we need to point out is the fact that you can never really get around to promoting an e-book if you have never made one. The reason why this needs to be pointed out is because the overwhelming majority of people who fail to make money with e-books have simply never gotten around to actually creating their first title.

1) Spamming People’s E-Mail, Blog, or Forum — THE WRONG WAY TO PROMOTE YOUR E-BOOK

Needless to say, spamming people’s e-mail, blog, or forum is definitely a bad way to promote your e-book. The reason why this needs to be pointed out is because some individuals do not necessarily understand that this type of digital vandalism will not earn the many sales and will incur the wrath of a lot of people.

2) Sending Out Press Releases, Attracting Affiliates — THE RIGHT WAY TO PROMOTE YOUR E-BOOK

Sending out a press release and attracting affiliates is the right way to promote your e-book. Not only will you have an army of individuals working night and day to generate sales of your e-book, but by sending out press releases you will also be creating some noteworthy buzz on search engines.

As you can see, most people have a viable alternative to doing something that the later regret insofar as the promotional techniques they choose to use to promote their e-book.

If you are interested in making money with e-books, you really owe it to yourself to invest in a step-by-step blueprint that will show you exactly what you need to do and that will also help you avoid a lot of needless trial and error.

WARNING: Don’t even think of going to sleep tonight until you discover the eBook Secrets that can set you free. click here now!
Yours For eBook Profits,
Ethan Evans

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ethan_Evans
http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Right-and-Wrong-Way-to-Promote-Your-E-Book&id=4219801

Think about how a virus spreads from one person to another. One person gets sick and just by sneezing they can give the virus to many more people… those people get sick and share their germs with everyone they know and the next thing you know there is an epidemic. That is the very concept of viral marketing. The idea is to get everyone to spread your marketing message around because they want to.

Now let’s look at using an E-book to start your viral marketing campaign. First you create an E-book… a really good one that has links to your website, to your sales page and affiliate links to products and services that you recommend… and you give it to three people. In the book you encourage those three people to give it to their friends and family.

Before you know it the E-book (if it provides value) is spreading across the Internet like wild fire. Digital information duplicates easily and quickly so before you know it, thousands of people could be reading your free E-book.

Make certain that you let people know that they have permission to forward the E-book around the Internet. When you create the E-book, you have the right to give people certain rights. One of those rights could be that you allow them to give the book to other people. Make it clear that this book is free to give away.

You can write the E-book yourself, use private label content or you can hire a ghostwriter to prepare the content. There are a lot of ways to create an E-book but the one thing that will make your E-book go viral is VALUE, VALUE,VALUE!

Selecting the right price for your ebook is extremely vital to the success of your marketing campaign. Any marketer will tell you that underpricing is worse than overpricing your ebook. When an ebook is under-priced, potential buyers will often question it’s value. In fact, most consumers do not mind paying for valuable, life-changing information.

After an ebook has been on the market for a while, many marketers will reduce the price if the ebook isn’t selling well. Of course, in order to accurately determine whether or not an ebook is priced properly, your ebook needs to be promoted very well. Price is just one of several factors consumers use to judge the quality of your ebook, but it is a very important factor which will require serious thought.

On the contrary, many so-called gurus launch an ebook marketing campaign using an introductory price then raise the price after few days. These marketers state clearly in their advertisements when the price will increase and what the new price will be. This strategy is designed to produce many sales in a short time. These marketers know that even after they increase the price, their products will continue to sell.

This method is usually only implemented by well-known marketers with a long history of producing quality products and who have established themselves as authorities in their niche. There are a few authors who promise a price increase after so many days or weeks. They are actually using this strategy to increase sales, but never really intend to raise the price. Unfortunately, these marketers are tarnishing their online reputation and will probably not realize continued success due to their lack of integrity.

Here are a few important questions to consider when pricing your ebook:

1. Does your ebook contain unique ideas? If your ebook is unique and is filled with information your audience considers valuable or life-changing, then you should price your ebook on the high side in order to match the quality of its content.

2. How long is your ebook? Your ebook’s length isn’t the most important factor when choosing a price, however it is something your must consider. If your ebook only has 15 pages and you’re charging $97, if it doesn’t contain a cure for cancer, don’t expect much success.

3. Have your asked a trusted friend, preferably another author, to read your ebook and include him or her in the price selection process?

4. How long did it take you to produce your ebook – research and writing? Time is money and although this certainly should not be the primary factor in determining your ebook’s price, it’s something you should evaluate.

Answering these basic questions should ensure your ebook is priced right for success.

Need a profitable blueprint for your online business? Grab your free internet marketing blueprint here: Selling Internet Products

Scott Brooks is a successful internet marketer who has been helping people create and sell info products since 2004.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?How-Much-Should-I-Charge-For-My-Ebook?&id=663186

If you have been struggling to find a subject to write about that would be of interest to a specific audience, but you’re drawing a blank, here’s the best and fastest way to find a topic: ask your target market what they want.

Think about it! It beats doing research on popular keywords, analyzing trends or guessing! If you go directly to the people you want to help and inquire about their needs and problems, they will tell you what they want. (And people buy what they want, not necessarily what they need.) If you take it a step further and ask them what kinds of solutions would best serve them, they’ll tell you that too. And voila! You’ve got yourself lots of ideas to work with.

If you have a list it’s really easy! Survey them via email. It doesn’t take long and the rewards are well worth it. But be sure to ask questions in a way that will get you specific answers that you can use to create ebooks, and other products-as well as teleseminars.

In fact, you could create a teleseminar and turn it into an ebook by recording and transcribing it.

Then you just need a nice cover for your transcript and an mp3 download and you’re in business!

If you are just starting out and you don’t have a list, you can go to forums, chat rooms and discussion boards and observe what people are talking about. Are they complaining about poor service, inferior products, inadequate information?

Each of these is a problem area they have identified, and that’s a signal to any astute marketer that there’s an opportunity to provide a solution that can put a lot of cash in their pockets. The solution could then be packaged in the form of a report, an ebook or a multi-part email course and sold to the same people who gave you the idea.

By finding out what people want and then selling it to them, you can tap into one of the most successful methods of product creation – the market-driven approach. It comes with a ready-made market that’s eager to purchase your solution. By using smart-marketing techniques such as this you remove the risk and guarantee your success!

For “7 Sure-fire Tips To Sell More eBooks Click=> http://www.sellmoreebooks.com

You are also invited to visit http://www.theebookcoach.com for more tips and tools on ebook writing and marketing. and a subscription to The eBook Profit Secrets Newsletter ($147) And check out http://www.ebookprofitsecrets.com for more information on creating an a hugely profitable ebook/information business from the ground up in record time!

Ellen Violette, The eBook Coach, is the creator of the Quick-Start 3-Day eBook Authoring Workshop which teaches people how to author an ebook in 72 hours or less..guaranteed! She is also the creator of eBook Profit Marketing Secrets a step-by-step guide to building a profitable ebook/information business. Ellen is the co-author of Sell More eBooks with Jim Edwards, a syndicated newspaper columnist and Internet Expert. And she is also an ebook author in her own right and a Grammy-nominated songwriter.

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http://EzineArticles.com/?eBook-Writing—How-to-Find-A-Best-Selling-eBook-Topic-for-a-Targeted-Audience-Fast!&id=718807

Here are 5 tips to make eBook writing easier and improve their quality:

1. Schedule your writing in minimum 2 hour blocks. Okay so this is really two tips in one. The first is that you must schedule your time. Let’s face it, eBook writing isn’t a lot of fun. If you don’t actually pick a specific time and fix that as your writing time you will never finish. You’ll just find that you delay writing and instead of being productive you’ll waste the time you could have been writing. Maybe you’ll check email or maybe you’ll play with spider solitaire (bad, bad, bad). The one thing you won’t do is write your eBook. The second part of the tip is to schedule writing time in blocks big enough to edit and write one full chapter. You may not need a full 2 hours. Fine, it’s the one full chapter of writing that’s important. Block out that amount of time.

2. Write first, fix later. One of the worst habits you can get in to is to fix as you go. Turn off the spell checker. Turn off the grammar checker. Just sit down and write. Just like you talk. Get the words out on paper. Going back while you write breaks your train of thought. You write much slower than you think. Any chance your mind has of going off into something other than the words on the paper; it’s going to do it. And getting it back on track wastes valuable time. Don’t give it the excuse. Leave the editing until the next scheduled writing time. This has the advantage of getting you back on track and keeping your voice consistent. It’s also a great way to avoid writer’s block.

3 Write your main chapters first. One after another. If you’ve really got your act together you should be able to write each chapter from beginning to end. But if not leave your introduction, conclusion and bridge until after the main part of the chapter has been written. Then write a great hook as your introduction. Then write your conclusion and finally your bridge. When you’ve finished all the chapters, go back and write the introductory and the concluding chapters.

4. Organize your thoughts before writing. This is really related to the next tip. If you have to sit down and think about what you are going to write it’s ten times more difficult. So sit down and list out each of your chapters and then each of the topics. Each topic will become one paragraph of about 100 words. (Of course, when you write your eBook you’ll break those paragraphs up so some topics end up as two or even three real paragraphs). When your eBook is long enough stop. Think of the result as a PowerPoint slide. All you need to do to write your eBook is to talk about the topic for 1 – 2 minutes. Knowing what each paragraph is about will make your writing much easier.

5. Have a proper writing system. Even though an eBook is short by book standards, it’s still a complex piece of writing. And the systems, tools and techniques that work for an article or essay just won’t work for a long, complex piece like an eBook or book. So get yourself a system that helps you to organize your thoughts and minimize rewriting.

Do you want to learn how to write a book in 24 hours? Take my brand new free course here: http://www.learningcreators.com

Do you want to read more free information like this? Go to my blog: http://www.learningcreators.com/blog/

Glen Ford is an accomplished consultant, trainer and writer. He has far too many years experience as a trainer and facilitator to willingly admit.

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