Self Publishing Childrens Book

Publishing to the World Wide Web made easy
Any new endeavor can be a daunting experience. Do you remember how it was when you started a new job, not knowing anyone in the organization or the internal politics etc.?

Well, using any new software program can also be a traumatic process for many, even if you have the manual that came with the software program sitting right beside you.
And, if you are going to build and publish a web Site yourself, you will need a software program. Fortunately, most of the modern software programs for building Web Sites are very user friendly. You do not need a detailed knowledge of HTML anymore. you do not even have to know what the acronym "HTML" stands for, because modern Web Site building software programs use WYSIWYG.

Sorry if I am confusing you. "WYSIWYG" simply stands for, "what you see is what you get". In other words, you can simply type in what you want, and it will appear on the Web Site when published. Now, what can be simpler than that?

But what programs to use? The software market is a very competitive one, and there are dozens of good programs from which to choose.

Factors to consider in choosing a program are these:
1. How many Web Sites do you want to publish?
2. What is you budget?
3. How much time do you intend spending on building and publishing Web Sites.

Regarding point number 1 above. If you wish to get one only web Site published, and in a hurry, I would suggest you get some assistance from someone experienced in the field. But perhaps you want the challenge of learning something new!

Point number 2. Commercial software programs can range in price from around $50 to several hundreds of dollars. The saying, "you only get what you pay for", applies to a certain extent only. There is now a very good public domain Web Site building software program available. Being in the public domain area, means it is free. Yes you heard me correctly it is completely FREE.

There is a download link to this software on a link given in the resource box at the end of this article.

Regarding point number 3 above, if you do plan to publish several sites, there are advantages in paying for one of the better commercial products. And, the most expensive are not necessarily the best.

Well, you now have your web site built, and it is set to be published, but how do you go about this?

You will need to find a hosting service. This is not difficult, because there are thousands of them out there. But once again you will need to consider point number 2 above. What is your budget? Most web site hosting providers have fee structures ranging from economy for normal sized web sites, to much higher fees for the larger sites.

Your first web site(s) should fit into the economy range. And as a guide to fees, if you are paying more than about $5 a month for economy hosting, then I would suggest that you are being overcharged. It is a very competitive market, so shop around and get a really good price.

The first web site link I have in the resource box below is economy hosted, and this site has a total of 32 pages with text and graphics. So the economy size should more than meet your needs.

There is another alternative that you should consider, and that is free hosting.

Yeah! I know nothing is really free. And, there is a catch, but free hosting is certainly worth considering.

Free hosted sites are generally supported by advertising. Now, that advertising can be obtrusive, or more hopefully unobtrusive. Personally I find pop-up advertisements about as annoying as spam email. And that is pretty annoying! So, if your feelings about pop-ups are similar to mine, make sure you know what you are getting before you decide on a free hosting provider.

I give an example of a free hosted site in the resource box below. It has a strip of unobtrusive Google advertisements at the top of each page. Included in this strip is a Google search box, which can be handy for those accessing your web site.

Good luck with your Web site building and publishing. It can be a lot of fun!

Ian McKenzie is Director of Ian McKenzie's Domains. An example of a free hosted web site is given at http://www.ianswebsites.info. A download link to free web site building software is given at http://www.websitesonwww.com. With incredible pricing customers expect from Ian McKenzie's Domains® and a long list of FREE extras, you'll have everything you need to get started online.

Self Publishing, A Miracle Of The 21st Century.
Are you a writer with lots of talent but no one will give you the time of day let alone a contract? Would you pay a professional publisher to make your book but can't afford it? Do you need a better tool than your plain old word processor to make your work look more professional and desirable? Do you possess special knowledge that if packaged in a book could make you millions? Well fret not your answer is very available to you now in the form of self publishing software tools!

These tools are electronic publishers that produce professional grade quality at a fraction of the price that it costs a traditional publisher to produce a book. They produce the work in the form of a PDF file which can be sent with an email, saved onto any form of memory storage media, downloaded onto your website, etc. This is hundreds of times more convenient than traditional publishing efforts and again at a very small fraction of the price.

The software is easy to use, designed to be used by a person with a 2nd grade level computer IQ. So, not even close to rocket science. A person can become proficient at using the program and start writing in a matter of hours. Yes, you heard me right -- you can have the necessary tools and be writing that book that you have been waiting a long time for in a matter of a few hours. Self publishing is a beautiful thing and I am just getting started.

When I said a fraction of the price of a typical publisher I only meant for one book. But think about it, you would have to continue to pay each time your next book came out which multiplies that fee over and over and over. But you only have to pay for the self publishing software once. It is very reasonably priced, and it is with you, at your beckoned call for life. Now that's a deal.

The last benefit of self publishing that I am going to talk about (not even close to the last benefit there is) is the true freedom of speech that you retain when you buy this tool. What I am referring to really is the editing process which for those who have already been published know can be a brutal process. Basically anything that you right is at the mercy of the publishing editor when you go the traditional route. But if you publish your own work it stays as you want it which is the way it should be. That's all for now, but if you want to know more just give me a ring, or fling me an email, or whichever you prefer.

Josephine Stungger has been writing for many years and enjoys helping young writers be successful in this field. She is excited about opportunities that are available through <a href="http://www.beginselfpublishing.info.">self publishing</a>. To find out more visit www.beginselfpublishing.info.

Looking to Sell Your Book for a Good Price?
Looking to Sell Your Book for a Good Price?
Marshall Masters

Many self-publishing authors plan on eventually selling their
book to a large publisher at a good price. The fast track way to
achieve this goal is to push up the market value of a book with a
push v. pull strategy. This article shows you how to do exactly
that, using a simple Internet strategy that any self-publisher
can afford.

PUSH v. PULL EXPLAINED

Books with push like Harry Potter push customers through the
doors, and the registers go kachink, kachink. With self-
published titles, booksellers must pull customers through the
door and that costs money. Put yourself in their shoes. Giving
preference to books with built-in push makes sense.

Remember this formula: push stacks chips on your side of the
bargaining table and pull sweeps them away. With a transferable
Internet presence strategy, you can stack chips to the ceiling
just like the big boys do.

WHAT THE BIG BOYS ARE DOING

The push is on with major publishers to build market value for
their intellectual properties with the Digital Object Identifier
(DOI) system.

A DOI is a permanent Internet address for your book. No matter
how many times ownership of a book changes hands, the DOI
Internet address is permanently bound to the book, just as
tightly as the binding. This is why hundreds of big publishers
have registered over 16 million intellectual properties with the
DOI system with millions more on the way.

Who fueled the creation of the DOI system? Computer experts?
No. From a market asset valuation standpoint, that makes as much
as sense as going to a Sushi Chef for a vasectomy. (Better idea
- get the Sushi afterwards!)

Rather, it was senior publishing executives and their financial
gurus who pushed for the creation of the DOI system. When you
sit down at the bargaining table with a DOI, you'll be talking
their language.

PLAYING WITH THE BIG BOYS

The Internet is like an elephant, it remembers everything and it
can remember a lot! You can always include your email address or
your web site address but these things point to a business
identity - not the work, itself.

Use the same DOI on every web page, ezine article, review, blog
post, etc. and it becomes a 24/7 market value builder that
follows the work. If something changes, like your email or web
site address, one simple update is all it takes. No more
annoying "page not found" or "no such e-mail recipient" errors.

Use your DOI the right way, and every little stitch of web
presence marketing you've done becomes one more chip on
bargaining table. Remember, the big guys speak DOI.

DOI BENEFITS ARE IMMEDIATE

Getting good book reviews is so miserably hard these days,
especially for self-published authors. What if your book finally
gets that fabulous review you've hoped for long after
publication? Will it be orphaned from the book marketing
information you've already published on the Internet? No.

One quick update of your DOI and everything that it references on
the Internet will immediately begin broadcasting your fabulous
review to the online world.

START ADDING MARKET VALUE TODAY

Each day, try to add more market value to your book. A blog post
here, an ezine article there. These things cost nothing, and yet
they can push huge amounts of sales-generating traffic at your
book.

As a self-published author, you've got to keep your eyes on what
the big guys are doing, and when you can emulate them on the
cheap, you do it!

WHEN TO GET YOUR DOI

The best time to register your DOI is after your books are
available for purchase on Amazon.com and other online bookseller
sites. This way, you can create menu options in your DOI that
link to online bookseller pages for immediate sales results.

Be sure to ask your publisher or vanity press if they offer a DOI
service. One that does is Your Own World Books (Yowbooks.com).
Their Author Advantage program includes a transferable DOI.

If your publisher does not offer a DOI service, that's OK. As
the copyright holder, you can register your DOI with an
independent DOI hosting service like DOIeasylink.NET. The annual
cost of a DOI is comparable to one-month web site hosting fee.
Plus, you get a 1-page Internet response page and descriptive
menus with multiple Internet links.

USE A DOI TO HIT CRITICAL MASS

If you remember only one thing from this article, let it be this.
Think like the big boys. Use this strategy to add more market
value by continually broadcasting information on the Internet
with your DOI. Eventually, you'll hit critical mass. People
will buy your book, and large publishers will see this and be
impressed!

DOIeasylink.NET: We Add Value to Your Book Learn More: http://doieasylink.net http://dx.doi.org/10.2122/doieasylink Marshall Masters, President http://dx.doi.org/10.1572/marshall.masters Marshall Masters is a publisher, self-published author, radio personality and Internet technologist. His published titles include Godschild Covenant: Return of Nibiru, Gold Fever, Indigo- E.T. Connection, and Orange Blossom. He founded DOIeasylink.NET to make the DOI system available to self-publishers and small presses. Drawing upon his decades of consulting experience with notable firms such as AT&T, Oracle, HP, Lockheed and Sun Microsystems, he created a simple, affordable DOI solution self- publishers and small presses.

Digital Poster Printing for Growing Business
With the modern complexities of life now days, it is but important to be abreast with the latest and the more effective ways of advertising and promoting your services and products to let your business grow and be wide known popular. That is why poster digital printing is recommended for a sure win advertisement for your growing business. It can be noticed that in poster digital printing the pictures, images and illustrations are clearer and sharper because of the modern way of doing it. Even the smallest detail in the poster could be understood by its viewer. Large format printing from your digital files, photo enlargement from your own slides and negatives are just some of our latest innovation to attain that effectual poster digital printing for your growing business. Poster digital printing is recommended for growing business that wants to be more known by its target customers, for their digital poster will already build good impression for their company. For the demand in continuous innovation of poster digital printing, commercial printing companies specially those that specialize in poster printing made sure that they are powered by creative team and skillful workers that conceptualizes and prints the digital posters for your growing business. Here are some of the choices in poster digital printing that you can choose from to have your goal attained for your growing business. We are offering pigment based inks for large format printing and glossy paper for heavy weight materials. Since it is not good to look at it on a matte paper for the density of black ink on it is not very high. Also, dye based inks for large printing is recommended for prints will be clearer and sharper with the use of glossy paper again. That is why if you want to have the advantages in poster printing, then it is the right time for you to try on poster digital printing afterwards access its results in your growing business. Our poster digital printing has an improved resolution that would impress your target clients and eventually would stop at your business. After all, that is the primary purpose of your poster to attract customers for your business to grow even more. It is true that poster digital printing costs a bit higher than the conventional posters that we have yet are we going to sacrifice the good quality that would ultimately draw-in customers for your growing business. More often quality really matters for it will be the first focus of the interested clients since just after the accepted invitation of the prospect clients would made their decision to go with the business or not. After all, if you will have poster digital printing it is guaranteed that your expenses will be given back to you by the customers that were hooked up and it can even be higher than that. Competitive price for your poster digital printing is what we’re offering and satisfaction guaranteed for your money spent will be regain.

With the modern complexities of life now days, it is but important to be abreast with the latest and the more effective ways of advertising and promoting your services and products to let your business grow and be wide known popular. That is why poster digital printing is recommended for a sure win advertisement for your growing business.

The importance of writing articles
If you want inbound links to your site one way to do this without paying is writing articles and post them in different sites that allow you to submit articles. Writing articles is one of the best ways to promote your web site. It is one of the best ways to build the relations, credibility and to help get people to know more about you and your area of expertise is to write articles. One advantage that you can get with writing articles is that if your article get submitted it is an automatic inbound link to your site without having to add a link on your site to them. People are always looking for good articles for their websites, blogs and newsletters. By submitting your articles and allowing others to publish them free of charge you begin to develop credentials in your field and essentially "brand" yourself through your name. Make sure you submit your article on the right category and also make sure you write the articles according to their terms. If you don't follow the terms then you won't have your article publish. It is through well written articles and keeping your visitor wanting to learn more that you will see more traffic on your Web site. More traffic means more profit for you. By having lots of articles on lots of web sites around the world, you automatically rank above average on search engines because of your link popularity. All those links in the resource box back to your site can make a big difference in search engine ranking. Need traffic? Write an article. Need sales? Write an article. Need Your Name branded? Write an article. Writing newsletter articles can do all of these and more. So start writing articles Now!

Ngullen Rivera ownes an <a href="http://thearticleoutlet.com">Article Directory</a> where you can submit articles and find more than 25,000 articles for your content site: http://www.thearticleoutlet.com

Can You Afford To Publish Your Book?
Money blinds. It's as simple as that. Aspiring authors ask about the money issue all the time, in varying forms, (How much does it cost to publish? How much will I get paid in royalties?, etc.) but they can't see beyond that issue to think about the thing that will truly decide the money question. And here it is:

What Do You Want From Your Book?

That is the real question! Once you are clear about what you want out of the publishing process, you can decide what route would be the most satisfying--and profitable--for you. When it comes right down it it, you can spend as much or as little as you want on your book. But how much are you willing to spend to get what you want?

When you aren't clear, you can make poor decisions that won't line up with your goals. For instance, many authors have a goal of making a lot of money, but they won't consider self publishing. The fact is that unless you can immediately sell on the level of an Oprah's Book Club selection or a James Patterson or a Dan Brown, it's going to take a very long time before your royalties add up to much. When you self publish you take on risk, but you stand to gain much more because you get to keep all the profits (unless your agreement with the publishing company you use is a royalties-based one).

Another strong reason to self publish: you can use your first book to build your platform for a bigger deal with a traditional publishing house in the future. Again, you can choose the self publishing deal that's right for you. A print on demand company such as Xlibris charges just $500 for a basic package where you can get your book produced and copies made as they are ordered--so no inventory. Of course, when you pay more, you get more: better design, distribution services, maybe even some marketing help.

The Traditional Road

If your dreams of authorship include larger audiences and the literary status that comes of being published by one of the many arms of Random House, Warner or Simon & Schuster, that's fine--just know that this route isn't exactly free either. No, you don't have to pay a traditional publishing house and yes, they do everything for you (design, distribution, some advertising and marketing), but these days a writer is expected to spend a little too on promoting the book. Many writers are even putting the amount they've set aside in their book proposals. If you're serious about marketing your book, you'll need to set aside at least $10,000. That amount can go as high as $30,000 depending on the amount of travel and other advertising you intend to use.

Smart Money, Dumb Money

Once you understand what you want out of your book, you'll not only know how much you're willing to spend, you'll also know better how to spend it. You can spend it smart or you can spend it dumb. Many writers spend it dumbly because they don't know what they want. If you're spending money on educating yourself about publishing, improving your writing skills, hiring a good editor or book consultant, and marketing that will help you reach your specific, targeted reader, that's all smart money. You will get more out of those dollars than if you had never spent it at all. You are investing in your writing career.

But if you spend money because someone told you this is "the only way you'll ever get this book published" (and you haven't researched any other ways), or buy advertising simply because it's where other books are advertised, or go to writer's conferences with no clear plan of what you want out of them, or pay agents "reader fees", or pay editors whose work you don't know or whose references you haven't checked, that's dumb money. You'll put those dollars out there and see little or no return.

So I guess the bad news is publishing isn't free. The good news is you have a choice as to how much you spend and where you spend it. Be an educated consumer as well as an educated--and talented--writer. You'll find that to have a book published in the way you want it published is still in the end--priceless.


? 2005 Sophfronia Scott

Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is "The Book Sistah" TM. Get her FREE REPORT, "The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published" and her FREE online writing and publishing tips at <a href="http://www.TheBookSistah.com">http://www.TheBookSistah.com</a>

Casino Blogging â€" A Fast Free Way To Promote Casino Affiliate Programs
Open yourself up to the profitable world of casino affiliate programs with a blog account. Start to experience income just for writing messages. Anyone can do it, why not you? You do not need a lot of internet or computer experience to sign up as a casino affiliate or start a blog account. Both are free. It will cost you absolutely no money to try it. Why wait? Free casino affiliate and blog accounts are all over the internet. For casino affiliate programs you can click over to http://biglistofcasinos.com/webmasters.htm and for a free casino oriented blog click to http://www.biglistofcasinos.com/wp-login.php to begin. Other blogs may not allow links like this, but that casino blog certainly does. Just do not clog it up with a bunch of standard text. You are more likely to get results with messages in your own words. In a blog format, an informal conversational tone is best. Avoid the usual advertising hype and you will be much more likely to attract players. Do not think that you can just dump in a bunch of copied text. Your messages must be original. Otherwise, no one is going to read them and no search engine will likely bother with them. Be sure you include your casino text links in your message. If you are new to html, the blog format is a good place to start because it has that icon that looks like a “link of a chain�. Merely type in your text, highlight the text and then click the link icon. In the popup window you enter the casino code that you were given at the casino affiliate site. You need the http portion with your code, not the image portion with the banner. It is best to write about something that you are familiar with and enjoy. Besides giving you a good source of things to write about, you tone and enthusiasm will show through in your writing. That is the key to effective blogging. You do not need any special skills or talent to write a blog. Your writing does not have to perfectly grammatically correct. Of course, words like “dese� and “dem� will not suffice either. If you have never liked writing before, you may never have had the opportunity to write about something you enjoy. There is big difference between writing a book report and writing about casino gambling. The allure of gambling and the excitement it invokes, may be just the incentive you have needed. If you have ever been to a casino, or even want to visit one, you can write about that. Write anything you want about any casino, gambling, lottery or game that you want. You are the boss, so do what you want to do! There are bloggers out there that earn enough money to do it full time. There is no reason you can not be one of them. All you have to do is start.

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Powerful Book Pricing Tips for Authors
First let's provide definitions for the 4 terms covered in this article: Retail margin is the difference between your book’s wholesale price and your book’s retail price. For example, a book with a cover price of $10 and a wholesale price of $5 has a 50% retail margin. This is the profit enjoyed by the retailer. Wholesale price is the cost of your book to a retailer. To use the same rudimentary example, a book with a cover price of $10 and a retail margin of 50% will be sold to a retailer for $5 wholesale price. Retail price is the same as cover price or selling price or list price. This is the cost of the book to the end consumer (the reader). The retail price is typically printed on the cover of the book and also “embedded� within the barcode on the back. For example, a book with a wholesale price of $5 and a retail margin of 50% will have a retail price of $10. Trade discount is the percentage off the retail price that a wholesaler (not a retailer) pays for your book. Since the retail margin is always a portion of the trade discount, the trade discount always exceeds the retail margin. Distributors typically expect between 50% - 70% in order to provide an acceptable margin to the retailer. A book with a retail price of $10 and a retail margin of 50% might have a trade discount of 60%, and therefore the wholesale price is $5 and the trade discounted price is $4. Confused yet? Don't be. Understanding book math is what separates successful authors from unsuccessful ones. As you can see, retail margin, wholesale price, the trade discount, and retail price are interconnected. MAKING DISTRIBUTION WORK FOR YOU The higher your trade discount, the greater your level of distribution. Think about it - distributors want to make money, too. While your book's trade discount is but a piece of your pie (albeit a big piece), it is the entire cake for distributors and retailers, who together must split the take. The greater the trade discount, the larger their piece of the pie, and the greater incentive they have to distribute your book, sell your book, and market your book, etc. The proper trade discount depends upon the author's goals, and can vary from author to author just as readily as from book to book. Typically, the higher the retail margin, the higher the cover price, so authors interested in maintaining the lowest cover price possible will often opt for a lower retail margin. This may be okay, and even preferred, if the book's largest market is through on-line sales. Conversely, those authors who long for the best distribution possible will elect a higher trade discount, even though their cover price will increase accordingly (or their profit will decrease accordingly). Non-fiction or niche-markets are less affected by higher retail prices. Additionally, greater distribution is often advantageous in finding those niche markets. Suffice it to say, a non-fiction book can almost always sustain a higher trade discount than a fiction book. Trade discounts can be as low as 20% to successfully get listed on Internet retailers like Amazon.com, who manage to make a profit with such low margins through EDI (electronic data interface) with distributors like Ingram and on-demand publishers like Outskirts Press. By comparison, trade discounts can be as high as 75% - 80% when dealing with a niche wholesaler, or when attempting distribution for a book that does not have a proven market. In these cases, the distributor may be padding the coffers a bit in anticipation for a "harder sell" and perhaps, also, in preparation for offering an increased retail margin to close the deal. INDUSTRY STANDARDS Industry standards for retail margins are difficult to define because, ultimately, it comes down to negotiation between all parties involved. Publishers have the power to negotiate with distributors, who have the power to negotiate with retailers, who have the ability to negotiate with the reader, but the typical trade discount is around 55%, which allows for a typical retail margin of 40%. Publishing-on-demand is removing some of the participants in this little dance, and as a result, the same piece of pie is being divided among fewer people, resulting in more money for the remaining players (especially the author). This is particularly true if the author is going after online sales exclusively, which allows the author to set a much lower trade discount with little to no repercussions when publishing via a flexible on-demand publisher such as Outskirts Press, who lets authors set their own pricing. Now you have the flexibility to do it and the knowledge to do it right.

Brent Sampson is the President & CEO of Outskirts Press at <a href="http://www.outskirtspress.com">www.outskirtspress.com</a>, where the future of publishing is here, today. He is the award-winning author of "Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer" and "Self-Publishing Simplified" which is available on Amazon for an unbelievably low $5.95 or for free in e-book form at <a href="http://outskirtspress.com/publishing">outskirtspress.com/publishing</a>

Self-Publish Your Book With National Distribution
Many writers struggle with constant rejection from the publishing world. A rejection, though a part of the industry, is difficult for writers at any stage in their career. You pour your heart and soul into a book, along with hours of work, only to hear a publisher indicate that it isn?t what they are looking for at this particular time. Many books that were otherwise snubbed by traditional publishing houses have gone on to be very popular. How? It?s simple. Self-publishing is an avenue that many new, or rejected, writers pursue.

When you hear self-publishing, perhaps you think about writing a book and taking it to a printer, paying for copies and doing all of the footwork to get your new work listed with major bookstores. But, thanks to the internet and an innovative new approach to publishing, that?s no longer the case. Sure, you still have to pen the book yourself but leave the printing up to someone else. A growing number of POD (print on demand) publishers are stepping up in search of the next bestseller. Print on demand is a term used to describe a publisher who handles all of the printing aspects, but on an as-needed basis.

The best self-publishing companies offer a variety of programs with the majority of them handling the issuance of an ISBN number and getting your book cataloged with all of the major online bookstores, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, etc. In addition, when a book is issued an ISBN number, it can be ordered at any bookstore. Your book may or may not be physically stocked at your local shopping mall, but the bookstore inside will have the capability to order it as requested. As your new title is listed nationally with every major bookstore?s catalog, it will steadily surface globally as well. A year after your book is released; don?t be surprised if search engine results show that it is listed with major online bookstores across the world, including Japan, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Germany, etc.

With print on demand publishing, or self-publishing, you will have to pay a fee to get your book in print. Longtime publisher iUniverse (http://www.iUniverse.com) offers publishing packages starting at $499.00 and up. In exchange for the startup fee, the company issues a printed version of the book while the author retains all electronic rights to the work and a 3-year contract with a 1-year automatic renewal. A generous 20% royalty is offered on the sale of every book with quarterly statements mailed to the author.

If you have been turned away by traditional publishers, or simply want to retain full control over your book, it?s cover design and content, self-publishing may be the way to go. If you have never been published, it is difficult to find a traditional publisher. With self-publishing, you will have documentation of your previously published work and royalty statements to show its success. Once your book is published, get out there and promote your work. It?s the best way to take your career from new to permanent status.

Daphne is a Writer, Business Owner, Motivator and Self-Starter and full-time Mom. She started Passion Parties by Daphne in the Summer of 2005 as a hobby while working full time. It has since become a full time passion for her and hope to quit her full time job soon. She enjoys writing articles about small businesses and family and tries to motivate other women with the same desire. She can be reached at 1-877-TOY-DIVA <a href="http://www.daphnespassion.com" title="http://www.daphnespassion.com" target="_blank">http://www.daphnespassion.com</a>

Top 5 Shenanigans of 5 Print-on-Demand Publishers
5) Cosmetic corporate connections

Publisher B has a new corporate overlord in Amazon, but offers no carriage with Ingram, which means no order availability through many bookstores nor major website listings with competitors Barnes & Noble.com, Powells.com, Bamm.com, etc.

Hint: Find a publisher that offers wholesale distribution through Ingram (which includes listings on Amazon, too). Publishing is already competitive enough; your distribution channels shouldn't be.

4) Disavowing any knowledge

Publisher P calls itself a traditional publisher, even though it uses the same on-demand technology as other PODs. They require an exclusive 7 year contract (twice as long as most traditional agreements) and absorb all your rights before you discover the truth.

Publisher L doesn't call itself a publisher at all, but rather a conduit toward publication. It even features a picture of a machine "publishing" your book for you. Do you want a hot-water heater handling your pride and joy?

Hint: Sign a non-exclusive contract that you can cancel in 30 days written notice and pick a publisher that uses real live human beings to format your book.

3) “Free� on-demand publication

Free things require no commitment, which is a harsh finale for a book you labored to write. We have heard of authors who "published for free" and then the author forgot who published their book! As Vince Lombardi says, “The quality of a person's life is in direct proportion to their commitment to excellence, regardless of their chosen field of endeavor.� Getting what you pay for was never more appropriate, as authors of free services can attest.

Hint: You get out of something what you put into it; choose your publisher accordingly.

2.5) "Free" publishing that isn't actually free

I have to slip in this bonus shenanigan. Publisher T claims they will publish your book for free, yet require a $3,985 investment from the author. Last time I checked, that wasn't free. Their justification? They reimburse the payment to you once your book sells its 5000th copy.

Hint: Ask them the percentage of times they actually reimburse their authors. Ask for the titles of the books and author's names. Then get the contact informaton for every one of those authors and confirm it.

2) Traditional publisher affiliations

Traditional publishers make the lions share of profits because they take a gamble on every author. Publisher U has executives from the traditional publishing industry; which means they know how to take an author's money up-front AND in the long run on the back-end.

Hint: If you pay to be published, make sure you make a higher royalty than a traditional publisher pays. And make sure you don't confuse "20% net profit" with a "20% retail royalty".

1) Charging to be profitable

In this competitive publishing environment, publishing is hard enough without having your publisher charging you for things that should be free. Publisher X recently introduced an option for $249 that lets you set your own retail price. And when you see this bar graph comparison, you will understand why: http://outskirtspress.com/marketing/case-owp.gif

Hint: Having pricing flexibility is certainly better than not having it, but you shouldn't have to pay for it.

Learn more about publishing your own book with a free e-book at <a href="http://outskirtspress.com">www.outskirtspress.com</a>. Brent Sampson is the President & CEO of Outskirts Press and the award-winning author of "Self-Publishing Simplified". A free ebook edition is available at <a href="http://outskirtspress.com/publishing">http://outskirtspress.com/publishing</a>.