Excerpt From "Most Challenged aspect as a Self-Publisher"

[P. M. Morris]

This is one of the best discussions I have followed in a long time. My biggest hurdle has been learning the publishing game through the school of "Hard Knocks". It has definitely been On-The-Job-Training. One of the best lessons learned has been, not to put your eggs or shall I say trust in one person or entity. Publishing is a business and you have to treat it as such. Which means wearing many hats. In my efforts, I try and gain as much knowledge on my own when conferring with the so-called experts in the field.

It has been proven oftentimes you are given selective information versus the whole picture. The publishing houses ultimate goal is to sell as many products and services as possible. As a marketer, I understand the concept marketing is one of the single most important task for any artist. With or without a publishing house backing you, no one is going to promote your work like you would or as their own unless you are raking in the big dollars. Every encounter is an opportunity to infuse my work into the conversations without beating the potentials over the head with it. Its just a matter or picking and choosing your battles or should I say chance encounters.

My "First Time Out" (title of upcoming guide), I self-published with Authorhouse. The experience was good in respect to self-publishers offer complete packages. In which I used as a gage to create my own "How To Do List". Now that I am somewhat familiar with the process and a whole lot wiser (I stilll have a long way to go before I consider myself an expert) I have elected to launch my own publishing company. Plans include re-editing my first novel (by the way, was the single worst mistake I made in my early career, relying on a company person) to be re-released to coincide with the release of the sequel under my own publishing company. In a way, the process in no more challenging than going with a self-publisher. The main hurdles are to research and contract the individual services, i.e. editors, distributors. graphic artists, printers, etc. I have learned that some of the services you can negotiate better rates individually rather than with a group package. It also affords you an opportunity to maintain more control over your work. Secondly, you retain ownership over your copyrights and you're not force to stay with a vendor, such as a printer because they retain the rights. You can bargain for more short-term agreements. Allowing you to opt out of situations which are no longer in your best interest. Not to mention, your cost to purchase your books can be greatly reduced. The list goes on and on. Just never loose sight, that you are the publisher now and the only person looking out for your best interest is you. Similarily, in order to avoid alot of pitfalls, you have to stay abreast of the publishing game and the many changes and challenges which could occur at the spare of a moment. You can accomplish this by joining as many industry mailing list (of interest) as possible. But be selective so you are not bombarded with alot of junk mail.

I will be releasing "First Time Out" a How To book in Spring 2008 (on my new label of course) on how to easily navagate this process.

Don't forget to log on to the Author Book Bag Club (ABBC) to help enhance the overall marketing strategies for your work. We firmly believe in our tag which reads...Every where you want to be and more. Just another way to stretch your promotional legs. Log on the wwwmgroupmanagement.ning.com for more details.

I look forward to the continual dialouge.

Happy Reading!

[Jane Jordan]

I've finally found someone who shares the same struggles that I do as an author slash publisher. It seems like people treat you bogus sometimes when you tell them you self published your book and it is difficult to get the information that you need to successfully do this. I have brought books on the publishing game and have read them. Some have been helpful but only to a certain extent and they leave you with more unanswered questions than you started out with. I sit at this computer daily, trying to figure out what to do next. I have established my website and I now have a distributor which I fought against because I wanted to do everything myself instead of going that route but I found out that most retail stores won't even review your book unless you have a distributor. So I tried looking up and researching how to become a distributor and I came to a decision after having no success with the how to's and decided to get a distributor anyway. This thing is not easy and the reason I chose self publishing is because I wanted to have total control of my literary work. It took me six years to birth out my first novel and yes you're right that nobody can market your baby better than you can, its just taking me a little longer but before e its all over they will remember my name.

[Tracie E. Christian]

Speak the truth Jane. I just self published my first novel with the exact same ambitions in mind. With me it took so long to admit to myself that my heart was with writing and that I was a writer at heart. I didn't have the confidence to cold call publishing companies and come back with a ton of rejections or no responses at all. I'm here to learn and share the knowledge I receive. Just keep speaking on it, here, there & everywhere and I know doors will open. Through writing this you just opened a door with me and I'm going to check out your sites and books. Much Success my sister. Check me out at the Poetry Jam Forum here. My poem is Verbal Penetration. Let me know what you think. My book's premise sheds light on and celebrates the black college experience. So check out my book's site at www.trafford.com/07-0988. Tell me your thoughts. PEACE & BLESSINGS.

[Brent Mason]

And don't mess with Coach Fuller!!! I like that Tracie. Very vivid and descriptive.

-Brent

[jawar]

Greetings,
Thank you for sharing your experience. I will be sharing mind in June details below.

Make Money Self-Publishing -How to publish your first ebook?

How to Self-Publish for Profit Seminar
Free and Open to the Public -Seating is Limited
Monday, June 16, 2008
West End Library
525 Peeples St.
Atlanta, GA 30317
Doors Open 5:45PM

For directions call
404-752-8740


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