Build A Website To Promote Your Book

A website is an effective way for book marketing. You can locate and share your book from any computer in the world, and even sell your book online from your website. Building a website to promote your book is relatively easy and simple.

Building a website. You can start with one of the free web-hosting providers, like Geocities, which will give you a step by step process to get your website up and running.

Hosting site and domain name. Once you are familiar with web design basics, you may want to use a paid hosting site, and purchase your own domain name. You may hire a professional to set up your website.

Research. Once you have your website, using it to promote your book will take craft, and some research. Take time to research content that are interesting and related to your book's topic.

Feature your book prominently! First, make sure your book is easy to find on your website. You can't promote your book if your visitors can't find it! It is important to tell people too where they can buy your book aside from your website.

Post book excerpts. Uploading a picture of the book's cover will help, and perhaps excerpts that will make them want to view the entire manuscript. Do not forget to publish samples from your book!

Add a blog page. You must also consider what will bring people to view your site, when it isn't specifically what they're looking for. You can have a page dedicated in providing informative materials or tips that your visitors may benefit. You can post recent news and upcoming events. Share photos and links related to your book.

Check out other websites. To promote your book, try to pretend you are looking for exactly the information contained in your book. Run web searches, trying to find answers, and see what keywords guide you to sites like the one you are building. Examining these sites will help you generate content for your own website that will bring you increased traffic and promote your book more effectively.

Contact us page. Visibility is one goal; feedback is the other. You can also add a message board. Make sure your website has a comment page, and/or an email link so your visitors can contact you with questions.

FAQ page for your visitors. You can even generate a FAQ page on your website, to increase traffic and involvement in your material. Publishers appreciate attentive writers who are in dialogue with their readers.

About the author page. Tell your potential readers a bit about yourself. The more interesting your life story, the higher is the chances of getting a buzz about your book. Put yourself on your potential reader's shoes and ask yourself what's with a person's story that would make you buy his book.

Add mailing list. Why is it essential? This will help you reach your readers anytime for news, updates and even promote your next published book!

2011 Bookpal Australia Pty Ltd - All Rights Reserved Worldwide

BookPal is helping self publishers all around the world to successfully self publish and market their books with cost effective solutions to create bestsellers. The website offers a free book for budding self publishers, and many other free resources.

Terence Tam is the founder of BookPal, he previously spent 6 years as an academic and was a contributing author for several academic books. Frustrated with the level of service he was getting with traditional publishers, he set up his own self publishing company to help other authors publish and market books with cost effective yet efficient solutions.

Getting Your Children's Book Published

Once you've written your first children's book, the next step would be having it published. Just like mainstream book publishing, there is a lot of competition with publishing a children's book so you need to be able to offer something creative and unique to publishing companies that other authors haven't been able to bring to the table.

In getting your children's book ready for publishing, you need to consider the following:

Proofreading Your Manuscript

Be certain that there are no errors on your final manuscript, and have someone proofread your final work aside from yourself. In fact, having several people proofread it may be more beneficial.

Page Layout

Make sure your pages are double spaced with a one inch margin all the way around. Each page should not only have the page number, but also the title of the book and your name.

Print Copies

Once you have your manuscript perfected, you need to print out several copies that will ultimately be sent to publishers.

Research Available Publishers

Spend some time researching the available publishers, and plan to contact only the ones who publish children's books. Find a publisher willing to take a chance on a new writer. This can prove to be frustrating as the publishing market is inundated with children's book authors. The best thing is to do your homework first. Know about the publishers you are sending your work to. What do they typically look for when selecting a children's book to publish? Familiarize yourself as well with the company's submission requirements.

Write a Cover Letter

Write a compelling cover letter as to why they should consider your book and what sets it apart from others. Remember this will be the first impression, so make it good.

Send Out Your Manuscript

Once you have done your homework, start sending out your book to potential publishers. For first time authors, it is probably best to stick to smaller publishing houses or local companies. With each manuscript that you send, make sure you follow each publisher's requirements to the letter. Send your manuscript to each publisher, making sure that you address the envelope according to the guidelines.

Keeping Track

Keep a record as to which publishers you've written, the date, and other pertinent information. Once several months have passed since you sent the original manuscript, you can write a brief, polite letter informing them you sent a manuscript and you hope they'd received it. In order to make correspondence easier, include a self addressed stamped envelope.

Now the hardest part is the waiting. Publishers get thousands of manuscripts every day from known authors as well as unknown authors. Be patient if you don't hear anything at first. If you have a good story, you will eventually get a reply.

If it takes a while, don't become discouraged. The publishers have many manuscripts to read, but in the meantime you can continue to send out manuscripts to other publishing companies in hopes of one of them finding interest in your book.


2010 Bookpal Australia Pty Ltd - All Rights Reserved Worldwide

http://www.Bookpal.com.au is helping self publishers all around the world to successfully self publish and market their books with cost effective solutions to create bestsellers. The website offers a free book for budding self publishers, and many other free resources.

Terence Tam is the founder of Bookpal, he previously spent 6 years as an academic and was a contributing author for several academic books. Frustrated with the level of service he was getting with traditional publishers, he set up his own self publishing company to help other authors publish and market books with cost effective yet efficient solutions.

Print On Demand Publishing Is It For You?

When it comes to publishing your book, there are many options available. For several reasons, Print On Demand publishing is gaining popularity as a publishing medium.

Print On Demand publishing is a technology by which copies of a book can be printed on an as-needed basis. This avoids the need to mass-produce books, leaving crates of surplus copies in storage. Print On Demand publishing was made possible with the development of digital printing.

The largest advantage to Print On Demand publishing is that items such as books and magazines can be printed at a fixed cost per copy, no matter how many copies are being printed. With smaller print runs, this makes Print On Demand much more economical than traditional offset printing. For larger jobs, offset printing can still be the money-saving method, but for many new writers there is not the demand for the number of copies that will make offset printing the wiser choice.

In addition, Print On Demand publishing has a quicker technical setup time, making it more convenient. Since the print run can be as small as a single copy, there is also little or no waste from copies that are not sold or used, and there is little to no need to store a large inventory of printed copies. This reduces storage and accounting costs, and eases the strain of tracking large amounts of stock.

Print On Demand is an excellent resource for new authors. They will print and ship copies directly to an author, with small fees for the service, as well as for managing royalties and, in many cases, listings in online bookstores. Some companies will even offer proofreading and editing services.

Though many authors crave the "big publisher's" stamp of approval on his book, and the credibility that comes with having a professional publishing relationship, there is more than one road to success. There also many success stories with Print On Demand companies.

David Lee Thompson is a 65 year old man living in West Virginia. He was tired of fighting to get his book published, and he felt he was too old to weather the storm of rejection letters that would come his way from the huge publishing houses. He chose to self-publish using a Print On Demand publisher, and he has massively overreached his expectations in selling his book. He was so encouraged that he's now writing a second book.

An ex-police officer in Boston, Frank DeSario, wanted to tell the story of his time in the police force. He had seen some of the most famous and infamous events in Boston's long history, and saw a story worth telling. Because of the specific market he was targeting, he chose to self-publish his book using Print On Demand. His book has not just been successful among his friends and police colleagues. He has sold copies of his book online, to people who saw it and took an interest based on his cover art and synopsis. He continues to draw royalties from his book. Mr. DeSario is a true Print On Demand success story.

Print On Demand publishing is an ideal resource for an author just getting started in the publishing world. A number of authors consider it a great cost-effective way to have their book published without having to invest major cash that can better be utilized on marketing ideas.

It is really up to you to decide whether a print on demand option will work for you and your book. Before making up your mind, it is necessary to educate yourself on all options and make an informed decision based on what you've learned. Also remember that all print on demand companies aren't created equal, so if you decide this is the best option for you, research the companies and choose one which best suits your needs.

© 2010 Bookpal Australia Pty Ltd - All Rights Reserved Worldwide

http://www.bookpal.com.au is helping self publishers all around the world to successfully self publish and market their books with cost effective solutions to create bestsellers. The website offers a free book for budding self publishers, and many other free resources. To find out more about how the Bookpal team can help you get your ideas into print, click here for your obligation free self-publishing consultation.

Terence Tam is the founder of Bookpal, he previously spent 6 years as an academic and was a contributing author for several academic books. Frustrated with the level of service he was getting with traditional publishers, he set up his own self publishing company to help other authors publish and market books with cost effective yet efficient solutions.