The business of publishing is changing because the tried and true model no longer works. Writers have access to so many channels of publishing they are no longer at the mercy of the publishing machine which is fueled by profit projections instead of literary merit. Readers are also free to find new, fresh voices.
First, consider your definition of “published”. If you consider only books bound and sitting on the shelf of your neighborhood Barnes and Noble, it’s time to expand your definition. E-publishing and self publishing are legitimate alternatives to traditional publishing; however, they are not a shortcut to success. In fact, the low quality control of early e-books and vanity press books has left readers wary of unknown authors. Traditional publishing at least offers a prescreening process that weeds out the weakest submissions.
If you are considering e-publishing or self-publishing for your book, be prepared to offer free content to prove yourself to your readership. You may post short stories, essays or write articles to demonstrate your skill and develop a fan base. Do not expect to post an eBook and see sales immediately. There are hundreds of thousands of eBooks available, many by authors who have already established a name for themselves. You are an unknown entity.
Traditional publishing houses can offer marketing support, backed by years of experience. They have experts for book design, jacket copy, advertising and releases. If you decide to self publish, you will need to learn a bit about marketing.
1. Begin with an online presence, create a blog to develop a relationship with your readers and provide evidence of your competence as a writer. You may write about personal experiences, current events or add stories and book excerpts. The content should be of interest to you and related to your book. For example, I have written two books in the mystery genre so I have blog about True Crime Stories. I research true crime, police procedures and forensic techniques for my writing so it is easy to blog about these topics. I believe visitors interested in true crime will also be interested in fictional crime stories.
2. Promote your blog by writing articles. To get visitors to your site, they need to know it’s there. Search engines are the primary way visitors locate sites and there are certain strategies to optimize your ranking with search engines. One of the strategies is to have back links to your blog with key words. You can write articles and then submit them to sites such as People Fuel, Squidoo or Hub Pages. The added benefit to these three sites is they enable revenue sharing, so if you place ads on these articles, you may also generate revenue.
3. Write well. If you want people to read your book, provide evidence that you are a capable writer. I would highly recommend you offer excerpts of your work to build trust. Make sure your book is polished to near perfection. Hire a professional editor and be willing to rewrite until you get it right. You may sell a few sub par books, but you won’t develop a fan base or positive word of mouth.
This is the best time for writers because we are in control of our success with publishing and marketing opportunities at our fingertips. You should explore all your publishing options, but be prepared for the hard work to come. When opportunity comes knocking on your door, you can invite it in, offer cookies and tea or you can build a guest house and extend its visit.
