Author Haytham Al Fiqi

~Guidelines for pricing
~Photos in the public domain
~Dates: publication, street, and release
~Ebooks
~Understanding self-publishing

Posted: 05 May 2022 11:54 PM PDT

Negotiate with one indexer at a time. They usually charge by the project, not the hour. This takes the form of page rates, but it can also be based on the number of entries in the index or the number of lines. Balance the expertise you need, the price you're willing to pay, and the immediacy of when you need it. If a prospect doesn't ask questions about the book's topic, then find one who does.

Type of book Entries per page Pages/Hour Page rates

Academic / Scholarly 7-10 7 $4.00 - $6.00

Textbooks 7-10 9 $3.50 - $5.50

Trade books (Light) 3-5 10 $3.00 - $4.00

Trade books (Dense) 6-19 7 $3.50 - $6.00

Technical / Business 7-12 7 $3.50 - $6.00

The greater the quantity and difficulty of the text are, the more you will pay.

When counting pages that need to be indexed, leave out those that the indexer can ignore, but include all pages that have text or illustrations, even if it's only one line of text under a picture. These easy pages balance out with the dense ones.

Sign a letter of agreement about the price and payment method. Copyright is vested in the creator of the work, and transfer of the ownership of the index isn't complete until payment is made.

Expect to pay extra if you need any special indices in addition to a general subject index. While not intellectually difficult, these are time-consuming indices to write. Bibliographies and references are often full of unresolved differences in spellings. A textbook or scholarly book cites thousands of authors, and these require a huge effort from the indexer to find and include.

Information the indexer needs

Your indexer needs to know your preferences on

· alphabetization

· format

· subentry arrangement

· number of entries

· number of sub-levels

· cross-reference format

· punctuation

· capitalization

· scope

He also needs to know

· the type size of your book

· the trim size

· the number and type of indices needed

· space constraints for the index

· the nature of the text

· if illustrations will be indexed

· if captions will be indexed

· if you want an index for authors cited

Send the indexer your copyeditor's style sheet to promote consistency.

You need an ebook index too

Ebook indexing is not the same as print book indexing. An ebook index is hyperlinked. The A-Z list of linked letters saves the reader time. Click on a letter, and the link will take you to that section of the index where the headings all start with that particular letter.

Navigation is further enhanced by an icon on each page of the index (a capital A at the top right on the iPad) that takes you back to the start, where you can click on another letter. This way of navigating is preferable to scrolling back and forth through the index's pages. All of the "See" and "See also" cross-references are linked too, so they instantly take you to other term(s) you can look at. And of course, all of the index entries and subentries are linked to passages in the text.

Place this note at the top of your Contents page:

NOTE: This ebook contains an index. To go to the index PLEASE CLICK HERE. To see a particular section of the index, use the alphabet letter links below. To access these links while reading the text, use the table of contents icon to return to this note.

BENEFITS OF AFFILIATE MARKETING
HOW TO USE MOST EFFECTIVE WAY TO MAKE MONEY ON CRAIGSLIST
FIVERR SECRETS

A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P R S T U V W X Y Z

The guide letters should be the initial letters found in your index. If there are no "J" or "Q" entries, then do not list those letters in the alphabet letter links (see the above). Ebook devices have an icon on the frame of the screen that when clicked takes the reader to the table of contents. There is no icon that takes the reader directly from the text to the index.

Because the size of screens are so small, an ebook for a 150-page print book can have over a thousand "virtual" ebook pages (or as Kindle calls them, "locations"). Whether the reader is reading the text or using the index to your ebook, the links provided in this note at the top of your table of contents will quickly take the reader to the exact section of the index where the word or phrase they want to look up is located.

Your ebook index should have only one column since ebook reading devices have small screens.

Ebooks let the reader adjust the size of the font on the pages of the book. Changing the font size, however, changes the virtual "page", the particular screen on which a topic listed in the index will be found in the text. Even if your ebook formatter specifies a default font for your index, Kindle will over-ride it. Apple will use your default font, but both Kindle and ".epub" books let the reader change fonts and font sizes at will. This means that the index you create for your ebook won't be the same one your book's readers may be seeing when they use it. You will never know where the list of subheadings will start to flow over onto the next page.

Keep headings simple and subheadings concise. Because the font size can be changed at will, and on some devices enlarged so big that only a single letter will appear on the device screen, you want to keep things as compact in the index as you can. If a heading or subheading is very long or contains a lot of big words, an ebook device may "wrap" it using a very odd-looking break in the word at the end of the line.

Don't bother with "continued" headings. When a main heading has a lot of subheadings, sometimes the subheadings run onto the next page. When this happens, indexers will repeat the heading at the top of the new page followed by Continued. This way the reader will know what topic the run-over subheadings refer to. But eBooks do not have pages nor a standard font-size.

Use cross-references in your index. Ebook formatters can make links right to a particular part of the index, e.g. main entries beginning with the letter "M". They can also make hyperlinks for a "See" cross-reference from a term not used in the index to one that is used in the index, e.g., Dogs, See Canines.

Make sure that "See also" cross-references are used whenever they are needed for the index. "See also" cross-references suggest other topics worthy of a look by way of a hyperlink. Multiple "See" or "See also" cross-references should be separated with a semicolon so that the link creator can correctly link them. For example, under this main heading,

Canines

See also Chihuahua; Great Danes; Shih Tzu; Yorkshire Terriers

Evaluating it

Once you get the index back from the indexer, check it for accuracy and completeness. Does it seem comprehensive? Are the important topics covered adequately? Ask for the statistics, such as the number of entries or locators per page. If he doesn't have this, count the number of index lines. The ratio of lines to indexable pages should range from 2 (light) to 10 (heavy).

Check the accuracy of the locators with a sampling. Look in the index for a page number under a topic. Go to that page and make sure that topic is mentioned there. You can do this in reverse as well. Notice important information in the text and go to the index to see if that information is referenced. Is it where you first looked? Is it in another location? Is it not there at all? Different people approach the text in different ways and this is what you paid the indexer to cover.

Check for spelling and grammatical errors.

Check for orphan subheadings, a single subheading in an index under a main heading. Delete these by moving the subheading up and modifying the main heading. Conversely, check for a long string of undifferentiated page references. Seven page references is the limit before it's necessary to break these down into subheadings.

Imposed space limitations can cause problems. Consider this when assessing the index.

If you don't give a length limit but later have to cut material from the index, give the indexer a call. Compensation is up to the indexer, but it's a courtesy to ask his opinion on cuts.

The book's cover and layout

Finding a designer

If you hire a designer, you may want to use the same person for both the cover and the interior layout. Or you may want to have a flashy, expensive cover done by one designer and a standard interior design done by a less expensive one. The decision comes down to talent, money and the kind of book you want.

· Ask for referrals

In your social-media accounts, ask for referrals. Also ask the authors of books with covers that you like. Most authors are happy to give referrals because the designer will then work harder on the author's next project.

· Visit local art schools

This is an inexpensive way to find a high-quality designer.

· Websites for finding a designer (cover or layout)

o www.creativehotlist.com

o http://my.aiga.org/vango/custom/directory.aspx(from the www.aiga.orgwebsite)

o www.designfirms.org

o www.theispot.com

o www.commarts.com

o www.Project4Hire.com

o www.writer.ly/home

o www.rayfowler.org/digital-services- a highly regarded designer for interior layout

o https://52novels.com- a highly regarded designer for interior layout

o www.smashwords.com/list- a list put together by Mark Coker, CEO of Smashwords

o and general freelance websites

Look at the prospects' own websites

Once you have six prospects that you like, see if they have their own websites; even students have their work online these days. See as much of each artist's work as possible to make sure his style suits you. You might spot a single illustration or photograph that looks perfect before realizing that that piece was the exception to a style.

Questions for interviewing one

· Do you do both page layout and design, or do you just specialize in one area?

· What book interiors have you done using Adobe InDesign?

· Are you willing to make multiple versions of the page design and/or cover and then make changes as I fine-tune the design?

Setting a fair price

The cost of hiring a designer can be anywhere from $500 to several thousand dollars, depending on experience and the time needed for your book's layout and/or cover. If she needs to acquire artwork, such as photographs or illustrations, be prepared to pay separately for these extras.

Ways to save money:

· Look for a designer who is interested in the ideas and aims of your project.

· Go with an individual designer as opposed to a graphic design firm.

· Negotiate a flat-rate for the project instead of an hourly rate.

· Offer a student $250. Some will even do it for free in exchange for getting published.

Information the designer needs

· your contact information

· the software format that it should be in for its transfer to the print-on-demand company

For your cover and spine

· a detailed description of the book and its audience

· the title and subtitle (if applicable)

· your name

· a rough sketch of what you want the covers to look like with as many specifics as possible

· any graphics you've acquired for it, such as photographs, illustrations, or clip art

· whether you're publishing a hardcover, trade paperback, or mass-market paperback

· existing book covers that you may want the designer to replicate

· the title's placement, size, color and overall appearance

· number of colors to be used on the book's front and back cover

· desired paper stock for the cover

· desired trim size (the dimensions of your book)

· desired binding

· a very important blurb if space allows

· the publisher's name (either your own start-up firm or the print-on-demand company)

To keep more money in your pocket, go with a trade paperback in standard trim size (5.5" by 8.5") with "perfect binding," which uses glue to attach the pages to the book's cover.

For the interior

· the book's length (the total number of pages)

· desired paper stock and color

· ink color

· how you want color used

· guidance about fonts and typestyle you want used

· details about how you want artwork, graphics, and other visual elements to be incorporated

· your preferences about the layout of the front and back matter

· your preference regarding running heads

· the type of binding desired

· whether the book contains an insert, such as a CD, DVD, or CD-ROM

· whether you've acquired your own ISBN, bar code, and copyright

· other details of how you want the interior to look

For your back cover

· sales data: the barcode, ISBN, price, and publisher information

· Book description: This must convey everything that a potential reader may want and need in order to decide whether to buy your book. In one or two paragraphs, explain the book and why it is unique. To save space, use a bulleted list when describing key features or content.

· Information about the author and a photo: An About the Author section is optional, but it can establish credibility with the reader by showing your primary qualifications, credentials, or educational background. If you have a website, mention it here. You may also want to include a small publicity photograph, a head shot. A great author photo can sell books.

· The BISAC Subject and Audience codes: The Book Industry Standards and Communications codes help booksellers and libraries categorize and display a book in the appropriate section.

· Reviews, quotes, and blurbs: Proudly display one or two excerpts of positive reviews of your book, if possible. These quotes enhance your credibility and show the potential reader that your book has already received praise from others.

Your book's cover

A cover technically includes the front cover, spine, and back cover. If you are doing a hardcover book, you'll need a dust jacket that has a front flap and a back flap. The spine width is dependent on the number of pages in your book, so you won't know how wide to make your spine until you know the length of your book.

If you make a cover with a design, make it great or not at all. If it's not fabulous, your book will look amateurish. If you know someone who can do a great job, go for it. Your main title should be big enough on the front cover so it can be seen and easily read from up to six feet away.

Produce two versions of your cover: one that is simplified to work in the postage-size context for both your ebook and your printed book's online thumbnail image, and one for your actual printed book. You want the smaller image to stick out. Standing out on a web screen full of other covers requires big type (60 points or more), simple graphics, and bright, high-contrast colors.

The spine

Technically, the spine is part of the cover. The title is the most important thing to display on the spine, in the largest possible type and font. Also display your name and the publishing company, which can be in a much smaller type size. The font color and spine color should stand out to capture the attention of a casual browser. Even thin spines can have visual pizzazz, through color and typeface.

Go to any bookstore, stand in front of the section where your book would be displayed, and examine the spines of competing titles. Which ones capture your attention and why?

See award-winning covers

See AIGA's website (www.aiga.org), the organization for graphic designers, and look up the 50 Books/50 Covers Award for the year. Also see The Book Cover Archive (http://bookcoverarchive.com), which shows great covers, discusses all things about book design, and leads you to top designers' websites. Cover designers usually have their names printed on the back of a book, on the back flap, or on the copyright page. Find some covers that you like and show these to the designers that you interview. Their style may not match the style of that cover.

Crowdsource your cover

Get others' input. Form your own focus group of 10 to 20 people. Get feedback from strangers and managers at bookstores, as well as librarians. They need to fit your book's target audience. Ask what they think about your title and cover design, what the book might be about, and who it might target. Also ask other graphic designers who can give you feedback in design-speak.

Hold a design competition

Crowdsourced design competitions are like a request for proposals, or a pitch or bidding process. Applicants perform speculative work, or work "on spec;" they work on a design to near or full completion and submit their design in response to an open call. Someone gets the job or their work gets picked, and they receive some kind of consideration for their efforts. In addition to giving you a lot of creative possibilities, the crowd gains exposure to your book and can promote it to their social media connections.

Sites for hosting your competition:

· www.crowdspring.com- (The average CrowdSpring project gets over 110 entries.)

· www.guerra-creativa.com/en

Interior layout

Having a designer do it

Ideally your designer should use Adobe InDesign to do this.

If you need to, you can leave notes within the manuscript for the designer, such as formatting instructions and where you want the placement of headings, subheads, sidebars, photos, illustrations, and other elements. For example, you can add the line <BEGIN SIDEBAR> and <END SIDEBAR> to tell the designer where a sidebar begins and ends. For a level-one heading (the biggest heading you use), you can use the code [H1] followed by the heading.

Leave time for the designer to go revise the book based on your comments and new ideas. Be specific about what you don't like. You're paying for this. Show the designer's work to others to get feedback. Your files, now called galleys, should be in an .indd file (InDesign) and a .pdf file. Each page hopefully appears exactly how you want it to be when printed.

Laying out the book yourself

To lay out your pages yourself, you will need Adobe InDesign. You can subscribe for $19.99 per month with a one-year minimum or $29.99 per month with no minimum. You can subscribe for a month, use it to create your book, and then cancel your subscription at month's end. Even with zero InDesign knowledge, you should be able to convert your book in a month. For tutorials, see www.youtube.com/results?search_query=InDesign+tutorial.

Think of InDesign as a hub, not a destination. You import your Word file and then export various formats to your print-on-demand company and ebook resellers, such as a .mobi file (Kindle), an .epub file (iBookstore, Nook, Google Play, Kobo), a print-ready .pdf (Lightning Source and CreateSpace), and an interactive .pdf for direct sale and distribution. You will need to create an InDesign file that is customized for each format since each format handles a few things differently, such as the optimal image size, bullet styles, covers, metadata, and table of contents.

For the .mobi file, you'll need this plug-in (www.amazon.com/gp/feature.HTML?ie=UTF8&docId=1000765271). Technically speaking, Amazon's new Kindle uses the .kf8 file format, and their old ones use the .azw format, but both are based on the .mobi file and have their own DRM formatting. Just upload .mobi files unless a newer Amazon plug-in offers .kf8 and .azw.

A comparison of ebook formats: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_ebook_formats

Importing from MS Word

Before you import your manuscript, accept all changes in Word and turn off "track changes."

Create a new InDesign document with the page dimensions of your print book or .pdf. This is your trim size. The traditional book size is 6 1/8" x 9 ¼." If you are only making an ebook, use the default document size of 8 ½" x 11."

Click "Place" from InDesign's File menu to import your manuscript, and click in the top left of the page margins while holding Shift. This places the Word document and automatically inserts as many pages as needed.

When you import the document, you'll see InDesign's paragraph styles panel. If the panel isn't open, go to the Window menu. Confirm that it contains all of the styles you used in Word. Some might not look exactly the same, but that's okay because you can fix that the same way you make changes to styles in Word. You can then use these styles to define your table of contents.

Before you set up your table of contents in InDesign, your document must be formatted with paragraph styles. InDesign reads your document, finds these styles, and uses them to make the table of contents. Define which styles will be used by selecting Layout > Table of Contents Styles. Section title is level one, and chapter title is level two. If you don't have sections, your chapter titles will be level one.

With InDesign, you have to do this style stuff only once. In its paragraph-style fly-out menu, you can select "Load Paragraph Styles" and select an InDesign document that has your entire style sheet pre-prepared. When you load the styles from that document, it will automatically apply them in the new document.

The Kindle plug-in will automatically make and insert the necessary pages for a .mobi file's table of contents. An .epub file requires you to manually create a hyperlinked table of contents or define a separate table of contents document in the export. Your .pdf documents will also need a manually created table of contents as well as additional front matter like a cover, which will be part of the .epub and .mobi metadata. So, create your .pdf layout, copy the document, and then delete necessary pages for the .epub file. Then copy the .epub file and delete the table of contents for the .mobi file. This will make sense once you get into InDesign.

Importing Word documents gets messy when you include tables, bulleted and numbered lists, footnotes, tables, hyperlinks, pictures, other graphics, and their captions.

· For tables, if you are making an ebook, convert them to images first.

· For images, after you import your manuscript, replace each image placed by Word with one that is linked to the export format (use the "Place" command in InDesign's File menu). Also with images, avoid special characters in the file names, such as !, @, #, &, %, and $.

· For URLs, the "#" symbol causes errors. Convert these links to bit.ly URLs or those from another link-shortening service before importing the manuscript. Or, set up redirect links that point to the target URLs so that if a website changes or you find a better source, you can change the redirect link instead of having to release a new book.

· For numbered lists, nonfiction books often have ones that are interrupted by a figure or caption. In Word, you can right-click a number and select "Continue Numbering" or "Restart Numbering." But when this is translated into .epub or HTML, the numbering restarts after each change in the style.

To fix this, unzip your .epub file and manually edit the HTML so that the <ol> HTML tags don't restart. Once you fix the numbering, you can repackage the .epub with ePub Zip. Or you can convert your numbered lists to text when you export. This will prevent your lists from restarting. However, when the list is on ebook devices, the tabs will be misaligned because the number indicating the list item is part of the paragraph text.

Sometimes Word-to-.epub conversion works better if you use HTML as an interim step. An .epub file is an HTML file compressed into a special zip file. This means you can change the extension of an .epub file to .zip, unzip the file, and then edit the HTML. When you're done, just repackage your .epub using ePub Zip. When you are in Word, save it as .htm (instead of .docx). This lets you edit the HTML and delete any junk before exporting this .htm file to .epub. The cleaner your files are before .epub conversion, the better.

Miscellaneous InDesign tips

· List page numbers in the top 0.25 inch of your page (between 0.5 - 0.75 inches from the page's side edge), aligned away from the spine, with the correct running head. Odd pages are on the right, and even pages are on the left.

· Provide ample space on all chapter-title pages. Reserve the top half of the page for the title and start the first paragraph about halfway down the page. Page numbers are either omitted or in a different location on these special pages. On the preceding blank page, remove headings and page numbers.

· Ensure that line breaks do not cause hyphenated words in headings and chapter titles.

· Leave no extra space between normal body paragraphs, and use indents where appropriate.

· For the .mobi for Amazon's Kindle: Use a 12-point body font.

· For the .epub for Barnes &Noble's Nook: InDesign often embeds fonts in the .epub file during export. When fonts are embedded, an encryption file accompanies them. If you try to upload an .epub file with an encryption to Nook Press (Nook's reseller system), the uploader will complain and reject your .epub. The fix is to unzip your .epub like you did with the numbered lists and delete the encryption.xml file. After deleting this file, rezip your .epub with ePub Zip.

· For the interactive .pdf: Format your hyperlinks so they look like links in blue and are underlined so that people know they can click on them.

· For the print-ready .pdf: For the "Normal" paragraph," use a justified serif 10-point font with 1.5 (or 15-pt) line spacing. Also, margins must be at least 0.5-inch. Depending on the number of pages and the type of binding, you might want a slightly larger margin on the spine edge. This lets pages bend and fold without the text getting too close to the gutter and being hard to read. The more pages you have, the more room you'll need on the spine edge. Lastly, format all your hyperlinks so that they are the normal font color and not underlined.

For an Apple Multi-Touch ebook

Multi-Touch ebooks let you include rich media and interactive elements far beyond the normal ebook. You can have graphics, photos, links, videos, animations, and user-interaction elements such as self-assessment quizzes. However, you can only create Multi-Touch ebooks using iBooks Author, and you can only read them on iPads and no other device.

The iBooks Author tool is available from the Apple App Store as a free download. See https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ibooks-author/id490152466?mt=12. If you've used other iWork applications, the interface of iBooks Author will be familiar. A great blog for iBooks beginners is www.tuaw.com/2012/06/29/ibook-lessons-the-absolute-beginner. iBooks Author is for McIntosh only.

You will have to create both a landscape and portrait layout for your Multi-Touch ebook. When you work in landscape orientation, you use a static layout. When you work in portrait, you use a layout where font and size change the flow of text. Media assets such as audio, video, and HTML will appear in line with the text in landscape and in the left sidebar in portrait.

iBooks Author lets you import Word and Pages documents. When you import documents from Word, you can keep the Word styles or override them with local styles. The import is not great, so do not expect to import and map styles as easily as with InDesign. After import you will need to go through and construct your table of contents since this is one style that will not carry over.

Instead of laying out your book and then defining your table of contents, iBooks Author builds your book in parallel with the table of contents. The left sidebar shows the current outline of your book. This outline automatically generates the table-of-contents pages and section headers.

In iBooks, unlike in InDesign, you can have Word Tables.

When you are finished designing the Multi-Touch file, choose "Preview" option in the toolbar to see what it will look like as an ebook. You can then export your Multi-Touch ebook as either a .pdf or .IBOOKS file for free distribution. You can also choose "Publish" from the File menu to publish the book to the iBookstore; iBooks Author will then automatically launch iTunes Producer with a new submission that will be pre-populated with your ebook.

Preview final layout (any export)

Check the final version of your file on a host of devices, such as computers, Android tablets and phones, iOS tablets and phones, Kindles, Nooks, and Kobo tablets. It won't look like your Word version, and it won't look the same on a Kindle device as it will in the Kindle app on an iPad.

For your .mobi file, download the Kindle Previewer for free from www.amazon.com/gp/feature.HTML?ie=UTF8&docId=1000765261. This is how your ebook will look on Kindle devices and in Kindle apps. For your .epub and .pdf formats, download Adobe Digital Editions for free to test your book in .epub and .pdf formats - www.adobe.com/products/digital-editions.html.

A checklist for testing your ebook:

· proper functioning of all hyperlinks

· appearance and scaling of images

· spacing

· improper substitution of fonts for weird characters

· simulation of customer use by changing the font, font size, and portrait/landscape views

Before you upload your .epub file to iBookstore, Nook, Google Play, or Kobo, you have to "validate" the file for free on http://validator.idpf.org. You don't have to do this for Amazon.

Identifier codes you'll need

The ISBN

The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is a 10- or 13-digit number that uniquely identifies books. You'll need an ISBN to sell your book through any online or offline bookseller, and without one, your book will not be found. The ISBN allows libraries and bookstores to find information about the author, the author's book, the book's price, ordering information, and other data. Each edition of your book, whether a paperback, hardcover, ebook, color copy, black-and-white copy, audiobook, or other such form, requires its own ISBN. All ebook platforms (Kindle, iBookstore, Nook) count as one format and thus only need one ISBN.

Eventually, the 10-digit ISBNs will be phased out, so when you get one for your book, you'll be assigned two (for now).

R.R. Bowker is the official agency for distributing ISBNs. They maintain a database of all ISBNs worldwide. While you can buy one ISBN for $125, you will likely need several, and you can buy 10 for $250. See Bowker's MyIdentifiers site: www.myidentifiers.com/isbn/main. If you're just publishing an ebook, Smashwords might sell a single ISBN for less than Bowker's.

Bowker is also the author of Books in Print, which lists nearly all books that are currently available in English and in the United States from major publishers. A resource for bookstores, libraries, and publishers, it is available in a print version but is most often accessed electronically. Books in Print listings are in the millions, a number only exceeded by Amazon. Your book can be listed for free in the Bowker database as long as you submit your title's information for free at www.bowker.com.

IBPA members get discounts on Bowker products.

ISBNs and print-on-demand companies

Print-on-demand companies can provide an ISBN for your book. However, the company thereby permanently becomes the publisher of record, and this will complicate things if you want to move your book to a different printer. Also, book reviewers and libraries may conclude that a book with a print-on-demand company as the publisher of record is a vanity-press effort and might then underestimate the book's quality. It's much better to buy your ISBN from Bowker.

LCCN (or PCN) number

The Preassigned Control Number (PCN) program assigns a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) to titles most likely to be acquired by the Library of Congress. Librarians use this for finding, ordering, numbering, and cataloging books. The LCCN includes the year of publication and a unique number for each book title. Unlike an ISBN, the LCCN is assigned to the work itself and doesn't change with each new edition or version; ebooks are ineligible for an LCCN. Strictly speaking, the LCCN is the control number for the bibliographic record, not the book.

A Preassigned Control Number (PCN) is an LCCN that has been "preassigned" to a given work before the work's publication date. The two acronyms are often used interchangeably, but they do not refer to the copyright registration that you must file with the Library of Congress nor the Dewey Decimal System number that you use to find a book on a library bookshelf.

Ask your book printer if it offers this service for free. If not, you yourself can obtain the PCN/LCCN. The first step is to get an ISBN, which you need to have before applying. Then complete the PCN/LCCN application and obtain an account number and password, which takes one to two weeks. The application is online at www.loc.gov/publish/pcn. Mail it to: Library of Congress, Cataloging in Publication Division, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C. 20540-4320. Apply three months before your publication date so that the number can be printed on your copyright page. The process is free except for the copy of the retail version of the book that you are required to send immediately upon publication to the Library of Congress.

Cataloging-in-Publication data (CIP)

On the copyright page of a book, you'll notice a list of categories filed with the Library of Congress. This is the cataloging-in-publication data, the categories that determine where libraries across the country will shelve your book. When you fill out the CIP forms, you have a chance to sway catalogers. It is their first look at your book, which may include a proof or material such as title page, table of contents, preface, and samples. The CIP website is www.loc.gov/publish/cip.

EAN and UPC barcodes

You need barcodes for only physical books. The print-on-demand company should take care of the bar code without an extra fee. On the ISBN website, they currently cost $25 each. The Bookland EAN bar code is what retailers will scan from your book at the register. If you are selling your book in drug stores, department stores and other non-bookstore retailers, you will need a UPC bar code since these retailers are not equipped to scan the Bookland EAN symbols.

Your copyright

File a copyright for your book with the U.S. Copyright Office. This establishes a public record of ownership and lets you file a copyright infringement suit in federal court. If you register your copyright prior to infringement or within 3 months of publication of the work and this holds up in a suit in federal court, you can win statutory damages and attorneys' fees without having to prove monetary harm. The Certificate of Registration form that the Copyright Office sends you names the date when your ownership of the work began. Its duration is your life plus 70 years.

Only you, the author, can file the copyright. Do so by uploading through their online system (www.copyright.gov) the appropriate copyright form, an electronic copy of your book, and a payment of $35. Your registration becomes effective the day that the Copyright Office receives your application. However, receiving the Certificate of Registration can take up to five months.

Put the copyright mark on your website as well as in your book. Under all circumstances keep the copyright registered in your name.

Don't do it too soon

Don't register your copyright too soon, such as while in the writing stage. You want the maximum amount of time to promote your book, and it is hard to get publicity for a book that was published last year. Ideally, publish your book at the beginning of the calendar year so you have plenty of time to fully promote it as a new publication.

Mention it in your will

Ownership can be passed on to your heirs just like real estate. If your book is selling well, these funds can be a meaningful part of your estate. Be sure to spell out which heir will receive it.

Important websites

· United States Copyright Office - www.copyright.gov

· Their FAQ section - www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.HTML#what

· Copyright Basics - www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf

· European Patent Office - www.european-patent-office.org

· World Intellectual Property Organization - www.wipo.org/eng

IBPA membership

Join the Independent Book Publishers Association. Membership costs $129 per year for an author, but you can then take advantage of many discounts in the publishing industry and quickly recoup the fee. For example, for publicizing your book, you may want to consider PR Newswire, which is very well-known, and membership there is $195, but with an IBPA membership, PR Newswire is free. You also get 50% off Lightning Source's setup fee, plus increased volume discounts. For more on the IBPA benefits, see www.ibpa-online.org/benefits/list-of-benefits.

Blurbs

A blurb is an endorsement or testimonial quote from a well-known person. Tracking down these blurbs should be a high priority. They are hugely important to critics and to readers who haven't heard of you but who have heard of the person giving the blurb. Keep them to six.

Location on the book

Blurbs go on either your front or back cover and answer the question, "Why should I buy this book?" You can also include them in the front matter. Put blurbs on page i or ii to ensure that people see them. This requires pushing everything else back a page. If you publish your book with Kindle Direct Publishing, you can include your blurbs in the online listing of your book.

When blurbs come in

As soon as a blurb comes in, write a thank-you note. Then include it in your future pitch letters and press kit. When you get finished copies of your book, send a personalized, signed copy to each person who only received an unfinished copy the first time.

Production of the printed book

Use a print-on-demand (POD) company

Print on demand (POD) is a printing process in which new copies of a book are only printed when a customer order has been received, even if it is just for one book. There is a fixed cost per copy, regardless of the order's size. You'll never have to figure out when to print more.

Some POD companies give you the option to buy a price package for a lot of things that you might not need. Avoid this. Freelance editors, graphic designers, and indexers usually do a much better job than an in-house POD staff. On this note, try to meet in person with the editors and designers you hire, who should all have experience in book publishing.

Besides the lousy price packages for editing and design services, rip-off areas with POD companies include bogus fees for copyright registration services, printing of promotional material, inflated printing costs, and unfair royalty rates.

Some POD companies have ink restrictions for your book cover. The result can lead to a cover that looks faded or partially bleached and thus cheaply made.

Decide whether you want the POD company to be listed on your book as your publisher of record or if you want to list your own publishing start-up, which would cost you a small fee to create. Whoever buys and holds the ISBN will be listed as the publisher.

Most POD companies provide you with the exact printing cost per copy and require that your book's retail price be at least double the printing cost. This ensures that both of you can make an ample profit on each copy sold. It also allows for a standard 15-60 % discount off the cover price to be offered to book distributors, booksellers, and libraries that order it.

Printing costs are about $.013 to $0.15 per page and $.90 per cover for each paperback ordered. A 200-page paperback costs the publisher approximately $3.90. Anyone who tells you the per-book production costs are higher is gouging you. Thus, ask to have in writing what the company includes in printing costs and their cost to print a single copy. Trim size, page count, paper type, cover stock, and binding all impact the printing costs.

The contract

Your contract should state that the print-on-demand company is not claiming an interest in any other rights other than those directly related to the publication of your book, and only those that allow them to print and distribute the book on your behalf. The goal is to always have the least number of restrictions on your rights, freeing you to search for a better publishing deal with a traditional publisher or another print-on-demand company.

Make sure you retain all rights to your book, including the copyright.

Time length

The contract terms should not lock you into a contract for a long period of time. Look for

· exclusive, but only for one year

· exclusive for X years, but you can terminate it at any time by giving Y days written notice

· nonexclusive for X years, and you can terminate it at any time

No right of first refusal on future books

Stay away from any print-on-demand company that demands an option or right of first refusal on any other books you may write. This is different than the traditional publishing world.

Getting paid

Ask to have it written into your contract that you must be paid within 30 days of each payment date. This way, if they don't pay you for months, they are in breach of contract; in a worst-case scenario, you can take your book elsewhere.

Selling the subsidiary, serial, or foreign rights

An experienced lawyer or a literary agent can best handle marketing, negotiating, and selling the subsidiary and/or serial rights to your work.

Subsidiary rights refers to licensing or selling permission for other companies to rework your book into other products, such as videos, movies, or television shows. The term can also refer to selling rights to an overseas publisher or book club interested in publishing its own version or edition of your book. Depending on the topic, subsidiary sales and licensing can become extremely lucrative. Also consider licensing your book to an established audiobook publisher.

Serial rights

Serial rights are the publishing rights that you sell to magazines, newspapers, or other publications. This sale allows them to publish large portions of your book, including excerpts, serializations, and condensations (an abridged version). When you sell the serial rights before your book is published and distributed in book form, this is referred to as selling the first serial rights. If you sell or license the rights after your book has been published, it's called selling the second serial rights. Many publications are willing to pay more for the first serial rights because these rights give them the ability to offer their readers an exclusive.

Foreign rights

Some books have sales potential not just in the United States but elsewhere too. Having your book sold overseas may require a translation. Many authors contact overseas publishers and offer them an exclusive licensing arrangement. In exchange for licensing fees (or an advance, plus royalties), the overseas publisher obtains the rights to publish, market, and distribute your book in their territories. They incur the translation cost, if applicable. This method is probably the most cost-effective and easiest way to obtain international distribution for your book.

If you list your book on Amazon.com, try to get it listed on Amazon's sites for various countries.

Termination

You should be able to terminate the contract easily and with no further obligation. The print-on-demand company shouldn't require payment from you in the event that you sign with a bigger publisher or sell your television or movie rights. Remove the language that gives the print-on-demand company nonexclusive rights after contract termination.

Understanding the royalties

A royalty is your percentage of the sale of each copy of your book that is sold. Even half a percent can make a big difference if your book sells a lot of copies. Full-color books or books with special features can have royalties half the size of normal black-and-white ones.

Your royalty might be based on the retail price or the net-sales price (retail price minus the printing cost-per-copy). If the royalty is based on the net-sales price, it should be the difference between the actual printing cost and the retail price. Don't let the print-on-demand company include "administrative costs" or "marketing costs" in the printing cost. If they mark up the printing cost and then take the profit differential after your royalty, they are wrongfully double-dipping.

Each statement might reflect sales from a few months ago, so check the end date.

Any royalties you have should be mentioned in your will. They can be passed on to heirs just like real estate. Spell out how proceeds are to be divided among the beneficiaries.

Gauging the proposed royalty:

· Do you get to purchase the book at 60% off the cover price to then sell to others?

· How does the company help you market, publicize, or sell the book other than printing it?

· How much do you get of the royalty amount? If it is less than 50%, pick someone else.

· How is the royalty calculated? Is it based on the retail price of the book or the net sales amount? If it's based on net sales, the calculation should rely on hard numbers, such as production costs and credit-card fees, and not on vague items such as administrative costs.

· Does the publisher just use the actual production cost of the book when telling you the printing cost, or do they inflate it unfairly? Production costs should fall between $.013 and $.015 per page and $.90 to $1.00 per cover.

Preferred paper and dots-per-inch

Cover

For the cover, you can add laminates or special coatings - glossy or matte finishes, but these will add to your costs. The most popular cover stocks are 10-point or a thicker 12-point, which is coated on one side in either a glossy or laminate finish. Choose some samples you like and ask your printer for a quote on creating a similar cover.

A separate full-color machine prints each book's cover (reproduced at 300 ppi). Most POD books use a perfect bind. Request book samples and discuss printing limitations before choosing a firm.

Interior

The most common interior paper weight is 20- or 24-pound bond – 20 for paperbacks and 24 for hardcovers. The higher the number, the thicker the paper is, and the thicker the paper, the more expensive your printing will be. The preferred paper color is off-white, not stark white, with black ink at 600 ppi. Off-white is easier on the eyes.

Reviewing proofs

Just before many copies of your book are made, you will be provided with a proof. This is the very first copy of your book and your final chance to make last-minute edits and to ensure that the layout is exactly as you envisioned it. If your book has multiple colors, ask to see a high-resolution full-color proof that accurately shows how the colors look.

Review the proof multiple times. After you are finished, instruct the printer on how to correct each error. This process is best done in writing to avoid miscommunication (not via email). Mark up the pages of the proof with a blue or black pen, and fax or hand-deliver these edited pages to the printer. After the corrections are made, request a revised proof, even if you're charged extra for it. You want to ensure that all corrections were indeed made.

A checklist to follow

For each item here, review your proof by looking for a mistake from just that category. Then do it again for the next item on this list.

· spelling

· grammar

· missing text or content

· missing characters at the end of headings, paragraphs, or sentences

· correct placement, labeling, and referencing of figures and graphics

· correct positioning of photos and artwork

· correct captions

· correct sequence and placement of page numbers

· correct width of margins throughout the book

· correct facts: names, phone numbers, website addresses, statistics, and figures

· correct sequence and numbering of book's front matter, chapters, and rear matter

· correct page references to other sections of the book

· correct fonts and typestyles for the body text, chapter titles, and headings

· high-quality print: uniform, clear, and professional looking

Two popular POD companies

Lightning Source

Lightning Source (www.lightningsource.com) is the print-on-demand option for its parent company, Ingram Book Company, the country's largest book distributor. When you print your book with Lightning Source, it's available to Ingram's 30,000 wholesalers, retailers, and booksellers in 100 countries.

Lightning Source does not offer editing, cover design, layout, and marketing assistance. Therefore, use it when you plan to start a small publishing company, have thoughts about your next book, know how to hire professionals to help get your book into print, and can pay the set-up fees, for which IBPA members get a big discount: http://www.ibpa-online.org/ingram.

Lightning Source offers two distribution models for individual self-publishers:

· Print-to-Publisher: You order copies of your book, and Lightning Source ships them to you, wholesalers, retailers, and warehouses. These books appear to come from you, and you pay Lightning Source for printing, handling, and shipping. You bill and collect from the recipients of the books. www.lightningsource.com/print_to_publisher.aspx

· Print-to-Order: Lightning Source sells your book and pays you the difference between the wholesale price and printing costs. www.lightningsource.com/print_to_order.aspx

Lightning Source offers both black-and-white and color printing options in all standard sizes in hardcover and paperback formats. They also offer discounts when you order copies in bulk.

To get started, go to Lightning Source and click the "Create a New Account" button. Lightning Source uses a four-day, application-approval process to weed out writers and organizations that are not likely to generate significant orders. You will have to sign a separate contract for distribution in the United States, UK, Europe, and Australia. Additionally, you must set a separate wholesale and list price for each of these distribution channels.

You must provide a print-ready .pdf and your own ISBNs.

If you want to sell your printed book through resellers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble, Lighting Source can handle this for you. Ingram will make your book available for ordering at almost every bookstore in the country and automatically list it on Amazon. You get to set both the suggested retail price and the wholesale price that resellers pay. Resellers, however, don't like small margins and may refuse to order your book, much less stock it.

Lightning Source calculates your revenues by subtracting the printing costs from the wholesale price. If you set the retail price of your book at $20.00, then your wholesale price should be approximately $10.00. Lightning Source recommends offering a 50-55% discount to attract retailers. This means that you would make $10.00 - $3.02 = $6.98 per book.

Revisions to your book that are not due to a Lightning Source error will cost you $40 per file.

For more on Lightning Source, see www.newselfpublishing.com/LightningSource.HTML.

Amazon's CreateSpace

CreateSpace (www.createspace.com), Amazon's print-on-demand service, guarantees placement on Amazon.com and its global affiliates. It can distribute your ebook and print it with full-color inserts, in paperback or hard cover, and in a wide range of trim sizes and paper stocks. If you need help, you can buy services that include design, editing, copywriting, and marketing.

CreateSpace manages the inventory and shipping of your printed books. If you go the free-services route (most authors do), CreateSpace only makes money when your book sells. Your royalty is based on the interior of your book, trim size, and number of pages. For example, a 200-page, 6" x 9" black-and-white paperback with a $20 list price yields a per-copy royalty of $8.75. CreateSpace has a free royalty calculator to help you price your book.

If Amazon sets a street price on your print book from CreateSpace, a price that is not the result of price-matching another reseller, then your royalty is still calculated on the original list price, not the street price. This means cheaper books for readers, higher royalty for you, and more volume.

Once you have an account, you can create new titles from your dashboard by clicking the "Add New Title" button. When working with a title, you either choose an advanced setup, which presents everything on one page, or the creation wizard that walks you through each step. CreateSpace can provide a free ISBN, but you should provide your own ISBN in order to control who is listed as the publisher of your book.

For print books, CreateSpace accepts .pdf, .doc, .docx, .rtf, and .txt. Black-and-white print books must be between 28 and 878 pages. Color print books must be between 28 and 480 pages.

Unlike Lightning Source, CreateSpace does not charge you for changes unless you have enabled expanded distribution for $39, which lets you reach as many resellers as you would with Ingram. These resellers won't "stock" your book, but if someone asks for your book, they can order it.

Pairing CreateSpace with AmazonAdvantage

If you are using CreateSpace to publish your book, create a title listing through Amazon Advantage (http://tinyurl.com/AmazinAdvantage) three months before the book is due to be published. This helps with pre-orders and pre-publication promotion. With Advantage, you can upload more info onto your Amazon sales page, such as reviews, and your book becomes available for sale much quicker on Amazon after you approve your proof on CreateSpace.

As the publishing date nears, Amazon will start ordering copies. Tell them that copies aren't yet available. Two days before the publication date, tell Advantage that CreateSpace will supply the orders and that copies will not be shipped to their warehouse. Amazon then sources the copies from CreateSpace. You won't pay any fees, and Amazon only gets the 40% discount through CreateSpace. You are only using Amazon Advantage to get initial exposure for the book in the form of pre-orders and other pre-publication promotion (reviews, etc.) and not for selling it.

You don't want Advantage to handle your Amazon.com sales because there is no reason to give up an extra 15% of your list price if CreateSpace is your printer. But by using Advantage just at the very beginning, before your publication date, you can get publicity exposure on Amazon that you wouldn't get if you were only using CreateSpace and weren't using Advantage too.

Only use Advantage for actual sales if you are using offset printing and need Amazon to store inventory.

Best choice: Use both CreateSpace and Lightning Source

The best solution probably is to use both CreateSpace and Lightning Source for the print versions. Let CreateSpace handle all of the print orders from Amazon.com (and affiliates), and have Lightning Source handle all print orders through wholesale and Ingram. Your profit will be the spread between the printing costs and what resellers paid. As Amazon owns CreateSpace, you get more profit per book compared to Amazon selling a Lightning Source book. However, not all stores like Amazon, so add Lightning Source and its Ingram network to make them happy.

Either way, make sure in advance that the Amazon listing will not say, "Temporarily out of stock, order on demand." That makes the book look self-published.

Eight other outstanding print-on-demand firms

These were described as "outstanding" in The Fine Print of Self-Publishing: The Contracts & Services of 45 Self-Publishing Companies - Analyzed, Ranked, & Exposed, by Mark Levine. He skipped his own firm, Mill City Press (www.millcitypress.net), for conflict-of-interest reasons. This book is updated regularly – it has at least five editions – and is a fantastic resource.

· Aventine Press, www.aventinepress.com

· BookLocker, http://publishing.booklocker.com

· BookPros, www.bookpros.com

· Cold Tree Press, www.coldtreepress.com

· Dog Ear Publishing, www.dogearpublishing.net

· Infinity Publishing, www.infinitypublishing.com

· RJ Communications, www.selfpublishing.comand www.booksjustbooks.com

· Xulon Press, www.xulonpress.com(strictly for Christian themes)

Your book's profile on resellers' websites

When submitting information about a new book, you usually have to include the following:

· title

· author's name

· the book's ISBN

· price

· publication date

· BISAC Audience

· BISAC Subject(s)

· format (ebook, hardcover, paperback, etc.)

More information you should try to include:

· book's front and back cover images

· page count

· trim size (dimensions)

· table of contents

· index

· your bio (including your website)

· your photo

· a link to your press kit

· upcoming events of yours

· your suggestions for other books

· an excerpt from your book

· additional images or graphics from the book

· a video clip of you explaining the book (or your book trailer)

· excerpts of published reviews about your book from book reviewers and journalists

· an exciting and complete description of your book

· a "Message from the Author" that lets you post info directly to potential readers

CAT BEHAVIOR TRAINING
SWIMMING POOL
A LOOK AT THE STEPS OF MAKING WINE
GREEN TEA: WHY YOU MUST DRINK IT?
COSMETIC SURGERY
SCIFI COLLECTING

Amazon's Author Central

Once your book is on Amazon, sign up for Author Central (https://authorcentral.amazon.com) to build your profile. It combines your public profile page and your sales analytics. It also lets you communicate directly with your readers and upload photos, videos, and other info about your book, yourself, and future projects. Messages from you are displayed as part of the book's listing in a blog-like format called Amazon Connect. You can also add a link back to your own website.

Add extra info about your book on its Amazon-owned Shelfari page, www.shelfari.com. Also consider creating a Listmania list to suggest other books that you like: www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.HTML?nodeId=14279651.

You must sell a certain number of books before you see the feature called "Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought."

To see the ebook sales, go to the "Reports" tab of your Kindle Direct Publishing account.

Reviews

Pitching to reviewers and bloggers

The following people are deserving of free copies along with personalized notes: national book reviewers, syndicated columnists, newsletter editors, book club editors, bloggers, tweeters, blurbers, booksellers for themselves, librarians, and other publications targeted to your audience. Avoid reviewers who wouldn't consider reviewing it but who would request a free copy.

1. If you have a publicist, have her do the following; otherwise, it's up to you.

2. Make reviewing easy. Put in one place all of your background material: your bio, picture, cover, book specifications (page count, ISBN, price), blurbs, and foreign-rights holders.

3. Contact only people who cover your genre by researching their previous reviews.

4. Get a referral. If you haven't met the person, try to get a referral from someone who knows both of you. LinkedIn is useful to make this kind of connection if it's within one generation-that is, a friend of a friend as opposed to a friend of a friend of a friend.

5. Go to events. The best relationships start by meeting people in person, so go to networking events and work the crowd. It's much harder to turn down someone you've met in person.

6. Follow them on social media and their blog, and comment. Many people see their followers and in particular their comments. Say something that's positive, helpful, and insightful.

7. Share or retweet their words. People notice who has spread their posts and tweets, so do this for the critics and bloggers you like. Get them familiar with your name.

8. Customize your short pitch. The ideal length for an email is five sentences: who you are; what the name and subject of your book is; what the gist of the book is; what you would like them to do; how to access your online press kit; and that you are willing to send a copy of your book if they are interested. Send your email during the weekend or first thing in the morning (recipient's time). You want your email to hit their inbox when fewer emails are arriving so that they will be more likely to respond to you.

9. Then follow up after two to three days. Send an even shorter email to ask if they received your previous one and if they would consider reviewing your book. A week later, send one more email. Then give up; it wasn't meant to be.

10. If they like your book, inform them of the day when Amazon will let people post reviews of your book, and ask them to post a review then.

Book-review websites

· www.blognation.com/directories/book-review-blogs

· www.forewordreviews.com

· http://ereadernewstoday.com

· www.bookreporter.com

· www.thenewbookreview.blogspot.com

· http://indiebookreviewer.wordpress.com- a compilation of book-review blogs and websites

· www.midwestbookreview.com/get_rev.htm- gives priority to self-published authors

· http://indiereader.com/the-indiereader-discovery-awards-welcome- guarantees a review if you enter their contest

· www.indiebound.com- solicits opinions from independent booksellers. Its "Indie's Next List" monthly picks are upfront in hundreds of stores. To get on this list, ask independent booksellers to suggest your book, or have your friends and colleagues ask.

· The Indie Book Reviewer Yellow Pages: A Reference Guide for Self-Published Authors and Small Publishers, by Christine Pinheiro (2011)

For Kirkus Reviews and Publishers Weekly

If you are a self-published author, you can pay to have Kirkus objectively review your book. See www.kirkusreviews.com/author-services/indie. For Publishers Weekly, you pay to have your book considered, but you will not be assured of a review. They review about 25% of self-published submissions. See www.publishersweekly.com/pw/diy/instructions/index.HTML. Some of these authors are selected for interviews.

If sending bound galleys to reviewers

While you're checking your page proofs, the printer may be turning them into bound galleys with pages cut to size. Bound galleys do not include any of the changes you make to your proofs, but it's okay to send these bound galleys to book reviewers. They should have a prominent label instructing reviewers not to quote anything from the text without checking it against the finished book, which will contain all revisions. Reviewers are aware that bound galleys are uncorrected proofs and that they should check all quotes and facts in their reviews against the finished book.

Contact Amazon's top reviewers

1. Contact their best reviewers of books in your genre. Look for those who have "Hall of Fame," "Top 50 Reviewer," or "Vine Voice" badges. Amazon Vine is a by-invitation program by Amazon for their most trusted reviewers. Vendors submit products (including books) to Amazon for Vine members to review.

2. Reviewers are more likely to look at your work if it is not a significant time commitment.

3. Ensure that the reviewer has published multiple reviews and is still active. Reviewers with only a few reviews typically enjoyed those particular works and are not interested in reviewing more books. Also, previously active reviewers may no longer be writing reviews.

4. Correctly spell the reviewer's name in your email. Many reviewers don't list their full or real name, so address those with the Amazon handle that they use.

5. Use proper grammar and spelling in your email.

6. Offer a free copy of your book in print. This is a marketing expense. Don't be stingy.

7. Don't boast about your book's potential.

8. Mentioning specific reviews you liked by the reviewer, but don't mention one without first marking the review as "helpful." These votes are the only tangible compensation that reviewers get for their effort.

9. Never offer to pay money for the review.

10. Don't pester reviewers about when they will post the review.

11. Post a thank-you note comment on the review. Do this even if the review is negative. And if a review is negative, don't retaliate by giving it an unhelpful vote.

12. It is better to get a meaningful review from a rookie reviewer than to get a vacuous review from a top reviewer.

Book bloggers and blog tours

A blog tour starts with a description and excerpt of your book on someone else's blog. Then you'll "appear" and submit a commentary on the topic of your book, thus opening a discussion. Over the next week you then visit the blog to answer questions and comments from the audience.

Offer a review copy of your book to influential bloggers in exchange for an introduction from them on their blog or for an entry that reviews your book. Schedule the tour shortly after your book is published, with as many stops as possible. Send out news releases to 20 bloggers; be sure that their blog is a good fit. Email each one, address him by name and say in one paragraph why your book fits his blog. Include a link to your site. Do not send a form letter.

If a blogger doesn't respond, wait 10 days before emailing again and mentioning that you sent something earlier. If he responds, ask if he would prefer a hard copy, an ebook, or a .pdf, and send it out right away. Thank him after your appearance on his blog or after his review is posted. Then post the link from his blog on your website, blog, and social-media profiles.

Bloggers who interview authors

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AuEe5VV8N4ZfdERiamRhVXhwY056THduOGVOOHFyM1E#gid=0

Generating Amazon-user reviews

Have good user reviews of your book on Amazon within 48 hours of the book's availability for shipping. Make sure that the reviews are believable and not too over-the-top. Relying on strangers to do this is honorable, but most readers invest their time in writing bad reviews about how they feel ripped off. Motivating people to write about books they enjoyed is harder.

There are three ethical ways to do this:

· Ask the crowd to whom you crowdsourced your outline and editing. One of the benefits of crowdsourcing editing is that on the day your book ships on Amazon, there are dozens of people who have already read it. Keep track of the readers who liked your book and ask them to post a review on Amazon.

· Ask the people who provided you with blurbs to post their blurbs as reviews.

· Ask friends, family, and social-media followers. Offer the ebook to anyone who promises to review it. One week before your shipping date, ask your followers on social media to fill out an online form if they would like a review copy of your book. This will generate some leads.

Filter reviews through a friend

If you're worried about bad reviews, have a trusted friend, family member, or colleague read the reviews first and just pass on the nice and/or constructive bits. But know this: If you write a book, you will get bad reviews, just like every great writer before you. The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about. Be emotionally prepared for harshness.

Getting publicity

Build your platform (Networking)

Platform is marketing-speak for the sum total of people who know you, including friends, friends and followers in social media, people in your email address book, readers of your blog, readers of your previous books, bloggers, reviewers, people who have seen you speak, and others.

Answering, "What is your book about?"

"What's your book about?" You'll hear this repeatedly from reviewers, booksellers, consumers, friends, and the media. Use your 15-second pitch to elicit intrigue and appeal. Your response only needs to be 20-30 words, but it must capture the book's essence and make people think, "I want to read that!" For nonfiction books, your subtitle makes for a great response.

Your book's business card

Make one with your contact info on one side and the pertinent book info on the other side: title, author, ISBN, publisher, publication year, publisher's contact info, artwork, and your website.

A good, free book-publicity site

www.nothingbinding.com/nothing-binding-membership-benefits.HTML

Think like a publicist

It probably costs too much to hire a publicist, but you can think like one. A good publicist can

· create your entire press kit or just write your press release and author bio;

· provide intensive media training for you;

· help you define and establish your image as a published author and expert in your field;

· access her pool of media contacts for you;

· handle all media contact on your behalf, including sending out review copies of your book;

· decide on the perfect show or publication for a piece about you and your book;

· use your press kit to pitch different stories to specialized media outlets;

· line up bookstore events and print, TV, radio, and online-media interviews;

· schedule paid appearances, lectures, and appearances on your behalf; and

· assist you in planning a multiple-city book tour.

If you actually want to hire a publicist, do so about four months before your book's publication date. Make sure she has a background and expertise in your subject; ask her for the names of media contacts that are good for your book and be wary if these aren't forthcoming. Book publicists aren't always the best choice, especially for authors with nonfiction titles. General publicists specializing in particular areas may better understand your book, your audience, and the right people to slip it to.

To find a publicist, contact the Public Relations Society of America (www.prsa.org) and ask for a referral. You can also visit a freelancer website or check out publishing industry magazines, such as Publishers Weekly (www.publishersweekly.com) or Writer's Digest (www.writersdigest.com). Split the payments so you can be sure she does the job that she said she would do. Some get paid by the hour, some by the job, and some by the market. Get a lot of quotes, do some haggling, ask for references, and strike the best deal you can. Then at the end of each month, get an activity report, showing all communications up to that time. If you part ways after a couple of months, you'll know when and to whom your book was pitched.

Your publicist needs between one and three months to properly make contact with each media outlet, due to the different lead times of the outlets. Ask her for a list of possible initiatives.

No publicist can control whether or not you get reviews.

Starting local

The key to making your book a national bestseller is to first make it a local bestseller. Network in your local area. Contact the managers of local bookstores and local authors. Make it known that you'd love to speak at local book clubs, conferences, or events. Ask about any local critic or reviewer to whom you can send a book, a local journalist who might do a story about your book, a radio show that might have you on, or other bookstores that might be interested in hosting you.

Many bookstores now have blogs. If your local bookseller does, ask if you can guest-post on a semi-regular basis. Pitch the local angle!

Don't stop with book people. Tell your letter carrier, your hairdresser, and other people who know lots of other people. And definitely tell anyone who's connected to the media.

Write a publicity and sales plan

1. Perfect your pitch.

2. Summarize your strategy and goals. For example: "Connect with ___ (#) bloggers (include names and URLs); do in-person appearances at ___ bookstores, ___ universities, and ___ organizations (list names); create virtual presentations consisting of podcasts, videos or webinars (each with their own mini pitches); target mainstream media outlets (list names)."

3. Summarize your efforts to date. Include the web and social-media presence you've built; the other online communities you're in; any early media coverage; and links to workshops, presentations, readings, or other videos that could promote your book. Include numbers (site visitors, mentions, etc.) wherever possible.

4. Make a local and national TV/radio media wish list. Ensure the list balances long shots, realistic choices, and safeties. Particularly helpful are specialized media outlets, which include news programs where you're interviewed as an expert on a topic related to your book. Explain how you will approach them.

5. Explain how you will get reviews of your book in newspapers, magazines, and on websites.

6. Name the websites, online communities, and bloggers that you know will be good. How do these people launch books? Some like to serialize a chapter, some like to bundle several similarly themed books together, and some prefer interviews, editorials, or regular reviews.

7. List all public events where you'll appear leading up to and past your publication date. Then make a list of places you'd like to be booked. Which of these places can you approach on your own and for which ones do you need help?

8. List cross-promotional opportunities. What other authors speak to your audience? Suggest events and panels with like-minded authors, or guest posting on their website.

9. Explain how you will get booksellers to sell your book, how you will sell it on your website, and the options that you will be using with the online booksellers.

10. Explain how you will schedule author appearances and book signings in bookstores, libraries, and other places.

11. List products related to your book that might sell well.

12. Include your book title in the signature portion of your emails.

Your book's website

Pages to consider having

· homepage (maybe include the info in the next bullet point)

· book photo/description of the book (include price, audience & competition)

· blog page with social-media links and social bookmarks

· a list of interesting statistics or interesting facts that relate to your topic

· a .pdf excerpt, including the intro (up to 5,000 words)

· submission of contact information and embedded email (see www.mailchimp.com)

· photo and bio that describes your experience and how you gained your expertise

· videos of yourself talking about your book and the concept (or your book trailer)

· media section: press kit and electronic press kit (including a press release)

· your e-commerce store for buying the book and related items such as t-shirts

· photos and contact info of endorsers

· reviews and interviews about the book and you (and readers' comments)

· FAQ about you, your book, the topic, and other info

· a calendar of events, lectures, workshops, or appearances (only if you have a lot of events)

· a book guide in .pdf format for book groups – 10-15 questions per chapter

· a page for hosting chats (include all of your transcripts from shows thus far)

Your e-commerce page

For those who want the print copy, use Amazon's Associates program to link your website to your printed book's page on Amazon. For each sale that comes through the link on your site, you make a small percentage. They send your book out for you, and each sale counts on your royalty statement and toward bestseller lists. See https://affiliate-program.amazon.com.

For those who want the ebook, you can use either Amazon's Associates program or a direct-sales option, such as Gumroad or E-Junkie. With direct sales, the buyer downloads the ebook directly from your website, and you will earn a bigger royalty than if they used Amazon. However, the buyer might not know how to install the ebook or which format they need.

Have friends test it out

Once your site is set to sell, get some friends to go through the process. Have them note anything that was annoying, difficult or even mildly confusing.

If they don't want to buy online

List on your site your phone number, fax number, mailing address so that they can send you a money order for the cost of the book and shipping.

Opt-in mailing lists and e-newsletters

Allow your visitors to opt in or subscribe to a mailing list so you can stay in touch with them through email, perhaps on a weekly or monthly basis. You can remind them about your book's existence and give updates. The company that develops or hosts your website can help you make an online mailing list and related database. A good third-party website for this is www.mailchimp.com. However, don't do this if you don't want to regularly write newsletters.

Set up a blog

If you have a blog, you can interview people in your industry, answer FAQs about your book's subject, make a checklist, or let someone else post as a guest. Tips to remember:

· Post regularly; no less than weekly.

· Make sure your blog's categories make sense; keep these to under ten.

· Make sure each individual post is tagged accurately.

· Link to others in your posts, particularly to others who might send traffic back to you.

· Link back to prior posts of yours when they are relevant to what you're discussing.

· Respond promptly, politely and concisely.

· Quickly delete spam and abusive comments.

· Install Google Analytics (www.google.com/analytics) so you can watch your traffic.

· Promote each post through your website, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter by using shortened and trackable links.

Have a category for your book's journey

If done with style, wit, and intelligence, a chronicle of your book's journey to publication can delight your audience. Why not create a weekly post about your bookish trials, tribulations, and success? Create a buildup to your book release so that when the big day arrives, your following will joyously click their way through to purchase. Queries and updates will also help you gauge public opinion on what aspects of your book are most interesting and what needs work. Keep your followers involved by asking for feedback.

Comment on related blogs

Target the 100 most popular, influential blogs related to your book's audience and comment on these blogs. Be genuine in your post and don't just plug your book; however, put a link to it in your signature. In the year before your book comes out, see if these bloggers have books of their own coming out. If so, review them on your blog. Conduct interviews and talk up their sites. Share or retweet a particular posting. In short, send some goodwill their way.

Use a blog search engine (http://technorati.com or http://blogsearch.google.com) to find good ones. Technorati keeps track of blogs, ranks them, and collects other bloggers' reactions. Your blog may be listed there, and if not, add it.

Now call on these friends to help spread your message. This can be in the form of reviews, links to your site, tweets, mentions, and more. If you've become friends with bloggers who have large followings, ask if you can do a guest post or if they could interview you for their site. Bloggers with big audiences tend to be generous because they can be.

Host a live call-in broadcast

Connect with your blog audience on BlogTalkRadio (www.blogtalkradio.com). If you have a telephone, you can host a live, Internet talk-radio show. Some of its features include live two-way conversations, live streaming, archived podcasts, and a browser-based switchboard where you can play music and conduct interviews with multiple callers. It is integrated with Facebook, Twitter, and iTunes, and it has an RSS option.

Other blog websites

Social media

Facebook

Make a separate Facebook page for your book. This way, you can keep your profile page personal and your book page public, open to anyone who wants to join. If you've built up a following on your own page, ask fans to migrate over to your book page, where you can use the "events" tab to promote any kind of event, including those that are virtual. Facebook also allows indexing of events, which will be a search-engine optimization (SEO) advantage for you.

Facebook also lets you have video calls, like Skype or Google Hangout, but you can only do it with one other person, at least the present time. See www.facebook.com/videocalling.

Twitter

Set up your profile. Include a headshot, bio, design choice, URL, and a description. Then start following people. Find those in your industry by the search function and see who they follow.

With your messages, follow the 60/30/10 rule: 60% helpful content, 30% engagement with followers sharing insights and opinions, and 10% personal posts. Allow time for retweeting, commenting, and following others.

When new people follow you, follow back. Ask about their work. You can follow thousands of people, but mark only your favorites. If you don't know something about a topic, ask.

Use "hashtags" to add additional context and metadata (information about a particular item's content) to your tweets. Simply put a # symbol before the word: #selfpublishing, for instance. Go to www.hashtags.org for more information or to have your personal hashtags tracked.

You can also host a "tweetchat" to discuss your book: http://tweetchat.com

Write your LinkedIn summary and descriptions with your reader in mind. Use keywords that will make it easy to search for you. Add recommendations from colleagues. Make sure your profile is public if you intend to use it for networking, and use a professional photo. Consider adding your blog streams and books you are currently reading.

Use LinkedIn groups to connect with like-minded professionals. Membership in a group gives you access to the profiles of the other group members, free communication with them, and a display of your group's name on your own page. Find groups through LinkedIn's search function using keywords appropriate for your industry or book's genre. Or create your own group.

Google +

Also post on your Google+ profile. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google%2B

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Social-cataloguing book websites

Social-cataloguing websites for books include Shelfari (www.shelfari.com/authors), Goodreads (www.goodreads.com/author/program), and LibraryThing (www.librarything.com). As an author on these sites, you can do these things:

· Add your picture and bio.

· List what your favorite books are.

· Create a blog.

· Publicize events.

· Share excerpts of your writing.

· Create a quiz about your book.

· Share videos.

· Give away your book to build buzz.

· Lead a discussion group.

· Engage in discussions about your book.

· Distribute free copies of your books via lotteries for reader reviews.

NetGalley (use before book's release)

Subscribe to NetGalley before you release the book. NetGalley (www.netgalley.com/home/tour) helps you market and deliver your book to over 160,000 reviewers, bloggers, journalists, librarians, and booksellers, who can peruse titles and request books that interest them. You upload your .pdf or .epub file, and then you control access, including whether people can share and copy your book. This will lead to more sales, more website visits, and more reviews. You will also receive an embeddable widget with a link to your book for your website and emails.

NetGalley has a membership fee but you get a discount if you are an IBPA member (www.ibpa-online.org/benefits/marketing-programs/netgalley-book-review-express).

Utilize online video

50% of people who watch a video will do whatever is asked of them. 65% will watch the video to completion, whereas less than 10% will completely read a text-only site. To increase the chances of your video going viral, keep it under two minutes, and then post it to your site and social-media sites such as www.youtube.com, www.vimeo.com, or www.dailymotion.com/us. Tag it correctly. On two other sites, www.oneload.com and www.trafficgeyser.com, you can send your videos to up to thirteen video sites at once.

Screencasts

Screencasting is the capturing of what happens on a computer screen, adding a bit of audio narrative, and publishing it online as a video. This works for your book if the topic is about a complex process for which you want to make a short video overview. Without a camcorder, your computer can make a screen-shot video of sequential webpages you visit.

Prepare what you want to show and make a script outline. You might want to create a storyboard that sketches out the visual and the audio together. Then run through it a couple of times before creating the screencast. Here is an example: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5e5oO1zAPw.

Other websites:

· http://camstudio.org

· www.techsmith.com(see "Products")

· www.screencast-o-matic.com

· www.debugmode.com/wink

· www.allcapture.com/eng/index.php

· www.hyperionics.com/hc/index.asp

· www.shinywhitebox.com

· www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/snapzprox

· www.adobe.com/products/captivate.HTML (pricey but highly recommended)

Webcasts

This is the broadcast of a presentation over the Internet to many individuals. The transmission of information is one-way only, from speaker to audience. Webcasts can be live or recorded just before their broadcast. Live ones allow questions to be emailed or faxed to the presenter. However, the attendee can't orally ask a question - hence, the one way limited communication.

· www.ustream.tv

· www.ehow.com/how_5954793_do-create-webcast_.HTML

· www.ehow.com/how_2141236_do-live-webcast.HTML

· www.ehow.com/how_6546434_webcast-home.HTML

· www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpqAO4XfK2k&lr=1

Webinars

This is a multimedia conversation over the Internet between a speaker and audience. Webinars are live and are therefore time-constrained and at a specific time and date.

Google+ Hangouts and Hangouts on Air are examples of a webinar. Hangouts on Air are broadcasted live on your Google + page, YouTube channel, and anywhere else you embed the code. They can have unlimited viewers, who may not all be speaking and on camera. All can comment and watch however. With a normal Hangout, only those participating can view it.

Hangouts on Air are recorded and uploaded to your YouTube channel so anybody can watch the replay. You can even download the recording, edit it on your computer, and upload back to YouTube or anywhere else you'd like to host it.

· www.trainingauthors.com/how-to-host-a-live-webinar-for-free-using-google-hangouts

· www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSz7VC0dq2c

· www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaR4IWfxWXA

· www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts

· www.google.com/+/learnmore/hangouts/onair.HTML

· www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuE2DnxPzg4

· www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnXv2aFzNz0

A "book trailer"

You might want to make a video trailer for your book, like a movie trailer (a movie preview). If you can make a short movie showing you or your book, this can be a great selling tool. It might be a dramatic live reading, a how-to demonstration, or a highly artistic creation that has very little to do with your actual book. Keep it under 2-3 minutes. Nonfiction books easily lend themselves to book trailers. Maybe ask film students to help you make one.

You can also use www.sliderocket.com to turn a presentation into a book trailer.

Getting media publicity

Keep a list of journalists and bloggers who report on subjects similar to yours. Spin your story in such a way that it becomes an inspired editorial fit for their publication. Bulldog Reporter's Media List Builder (http://listbuilder.bulldogreporter.com) creates a targeted media list based on your needs. You can also peruse these media directories at your library:

· Literary Market Place 2012 - www.literarymarketplace.com(updated annually)

· The Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media - revised annually

· The Standard Periodical Directory lists more than 60,000 North American periodicals.

· The Radio Mall for radio stations - http://radio-mall.com/radiomal.htm

· Ulrich's International Periodical Directory - magazines of the world

· SRDS Directory has contact info for reporters, journalists, editors, producers, and talent bookers - http://next.srds.com

Or get called to appear as an expert

· www.prleads.com; they might still have this offer: www.prleads.com/tim-ferriss-offer

· www.expertclick.com/Expert/JoinAsAnExpertStep1.aspx

· www.helpareporter.com: Help a Reporter Out (HARO) helps reporters find sources. You'll get three emails a day with a list of requests. When you see one that matches your expertise, contact the journalist with a pitch. If you're selected, you might get extensive free publicity.

Even after a media outlet expresses an interest in reviewing your book, an appearance of the review can take three months. So, for example, if you know that a lead time for a magazine is three months, contact the appropriate writer four months before your book's publication. Her team needs time to discuss it before deciding. Editors like to time the publication of reviews with the publication date, so plan accordingly. If the outlet has a long lead time, send galleys.

Government holidays are the slowest news days, so use this to your advantage. If you pitch on a day when the media is starving for news, you're much more likely to get coverage.

Lead times for each outlet type

Newspapers

· daily: between a few hours and two weeks, depending on the section

· weekly: two to four weeks

Magazines

· weekly: two to four weeks, unless the topic is extremely timely and newsworthy

· monthly: three months

· quarterly: four to six months

Radio shows

Most shows book guests between a day and several weeks in advance, depending on the topic. It helps if you can fill in on a last-minute basis in case another guest cancels at the last minute.

Television shows

Depending on the show's type, guests are booked from a few hours to a month before airtime. News shows, like the local nightly news, may book guests a few hours before the broadcast while a national show may book several weeks in advance unless the topic is very newsworthy.

Blogs and other websites

Website operators can add a posting about your book within minutes of receiving your press kit.

Sending a pitch letter

A pitch letter is a cover letter for your press kit and is targeted to a specific person. It introduces you and states why you're sending the press kit and what it contains. Either you or your publicist can write and sign it, preferably your publicist. Thus, if you do it, it's okay to refer to yourself in the 3^rd person. You need a good journalistic lead for your letter, preferably about current events.

After you gather your list of outlets to target, call and verify the name of the person at each outlet who is responsible for covering the topic you're pitching. Ideally have an intermediary make the pitch. If you have a publicist, have her sign your pitch letter and then record a voicemail message for your business phone line.

For shows, pinpoint the exact ones that interest you. Call their production office and ask for the name of the segment producer or talent booker who is responsible for booking guests. Don't pitch directly to the executive producer or host. At smaller shows, especially at local stations, you may discover that the right person is the show's executive producer or host; first contact a segment producer or talent booker unless you know that this is true.

If you're pitching a print journalist directly because you saw something that she wrote, let her know what you liked about it and then show how your book is appropriate for her readers.

As for newspapers, a number of them, including The New York Times, don't review self-published books. They will, however, mention self-published books in the body of an article. So don't send books to the book review sections at major papers, but do try to spin a news angle or hook for an article in which your book can be cited.

Format

Keep the length to a page. If you write it yourself, use the 1^st person. If your publicist writes it, she refers to you in the 3^rdperson. In the first paragraph, introduce your book; in the second, talk about why you are credible; in the third, explain why that outlet's audience would be interested in your book and what you have to say; and in the final paragraph, invite the journalist, editor, or producer to visit your website to review your press kit, to request a review copy of your book, and to contact you if she's interested in booking an interview or receiving more information.

Email your pitch letter.

Sample media pitch letter by a publicist

[Company or personal letterhead]

[Date]

[Recipient's name]

[Title]

[Media outlet]

[Address]

[City, state, zip]

Dear [Mr./Mrs./Ms.]:

I am pleased to inform you about [book title], an exciting, new book targeted to [brief description of the book's target audience]. [Publishing company] is publishing this title on [publication date]. Priced at $[price], [book title] will be available starting [publication date] through Amazon.com, BN.com, and bookstores nationwide. This [number of pages]-page book's timely approach to [topic] will definitely be of interest to your demanding audience [readers, listeners, or viewers, as appropriate]. For the downloadable press kit, please visit [Web site URL].

[Book title] was written by [author's name], a leading expert in [his/her] field, with [number] years of experience. He's/she's currently a [job title] with [employer]. In this book, [he/she] shares [his/her] unique perspective and advice, plus offers detailed and easy- to-understand strategies relating to [topic].

[Author's name] is currently available for interviews. [Reasons why author is an excellent person to interview for media outlet's audience]

Review copies are now available on request. If you have any questions about the press kit, wish to receive a review copy, or would like to set up an interview, please call [author's name] at [phone number] or email your request to [email address].

Thank you in advance for your interest.

Respectfully,

(Publicist's name)

A good website for pitch letters

http://pitchengine.com/Home/HowItWorks

Your press kit

Put as much of your press kit on your website as possible. Then include a link to it when you email your pitch letter and customized press release to each media contact. If you have a publicist, show her your kit to get feedback. Put the following in it:

· a table of contents

· one- or two-page general press release about your book

· your bio (2-3 paragraphs)

· Q&A with one-paragraph answers for each

· your publicity photo

· reviews/blurbs: cleanly reproduced, with the publication name and the date visible

· articles about you: cleanly reproduced, with the publication name and the date visible

· topics for discussion, articles, shows, workshops, and lectures

· a list of the media shows and publications in which your book has been featured

· a copy of the book's front cover

· the list of audio and visual clips in which you discuss the book

· your contact information and an offer to send a review copy of your book

The press release

The release must convince the journalist that you are newsworthy. You might have to write many of these while publicizing your book, customizing it for different publications or events. For example, the release for bookstores should emphasize sales potential while the release for book reviewers should emphasize the article-worthiness of the book or author. Visit www.PRNewswire.comto see what you want in your message; also see http://communitymediaworkshop.org/resources. Then keep it updated with new reviews and media appearances.

PRNewswire gives IBPA members a free one-year membership.

If someone requests material directly from you and if you have a publicist, follow up to make sure your publicist sent it to them.

A free distribution service

www.prlog.org

Using releases to monitor your publicist

If you gave your publicist a list of media contacts you don't know and who don't know you, add the name of a good friend to your list and see how long it takes for him to receive something.

Format

Print on 8 ½"-by-11" white paper. Have 1" top and bottom margins and 1- ½" side margins. Use Times New Roman, Helvetica, or Arial font. Double-space the body with justified text; use 1-½ line spacing to fit the text on one page. If you go to a second page, put More. . .at the bottom-right corner of the first page and at the top center of the second page, and display a phrase like "Page 2 of 2."

Ideally the contact person is not the author.

See the next page for more on the format.

Letterhead: The name and address (and perhaps the logo) of your print-on-demand company, or if you're self-publishing, your "doing business as (DBA)" name

The catchy headline: Use one or two lines (no more than ten words) to attract the reader's attention. Format the headline in bold 14-16 point size.

Contact: PR person's name (10 pt., no bold)

Phone number: align right

Email: align right

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (12 point)

City, State -- Date with year - First paragraph includes author's name, book title, price, publisher, audience, ISBN, page count, one sentence theme, and where it is available (justified). Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Assume that people won't read beyond the first paragraph of your press release unless you've titillated their interest.

Second and third paragraph (justified): The next 1-2 paragraphs have details about the new book - what sets it apart, who it targets, and why people may be interested in it. If your first paragraph doesn't fully answer the "w" questions, then convey that information here. If you have a great blurb from a well-known person who can really speak to your subject, include it here and edit it down if necessary. The same goes for great reviews; include excerpts from them, a few short quotes that show you off to your best advantage and make the reader excited about your book. Also include relevant information about upcoming events of yours, such as speaking engagements, workshops, or lectures.

(third paragraph…)

About (Your Name):

Here is your bio. Describe your credentials, establish yourself as an expert, include reasons why you make for an interesting guest, and list your website address. The final sentence of this paragraph states, "For more information, or to schedule an interview with [insert author's name], please call [publicist's phone number], visit [website], or send an email to [publicist's email address]. Review copies are available to the media by request." Even if contact information is already on the letterhead, repeat it here – full name, title, address, phone #, fax #, email address, and website.

# # # (three of the numerical symbol are centered at bottom of page)

Author bio (for the press kit)

If you want to be on a radio or television program, the bio is the best way to persuade producers and talent bookers that you'd be an ideal guest. Describe yourself and your experience, and position yourself as an expert. Showcase your personality. After reading your bio, the media contact will hopefully want to meet, interview, and feature you in her coverage.

Include a list at the end of the bio of five to ten sample questions for the host to ask. By offering these questions, along with background info about you and your book, you'll be providing the information interviewers need without making them do too much pre-interview preparation.

Optional photo

Some authors have a small, black-and-white photo in the upper-right corner of their bio page. It helps readers see who they're reading about and helps them to better relate to that person. For radio and TV appearances, press kits with an author photo generate more requests for interviews.

Format of bio

One, 8 ½" by 11"-inch page; 1 ½ or double-spacing, justified text, and 12-point font

The heading

Write your full name in centered, bold, and 16- to l8-point lettering. Underneath, type your title or main credential - "Author, [Book Title]" or "President and CEO of [Company]" – in bold and l4-point font. Then skip a line, and add your contact info, including your mailing address, phone number(s), fax number, email address, and website, in a normal font and 12-point size.

The body

Have 3-4 paragraphs that describe you, your credentials, your background, and your story.

· What makes you the ideal person to write the book?

· Why should the media outlet you're pitching interview you?

· Address topics such as

o your professional background

o your educational background

o information about your book

o why you wrote it

o how and why you became an expert in your field

o interesting, newsworthy, or unusual info about yourself

o 1-2 sentences of personal info about your family, interests, and/or where you live

Keep in mind your book topic and target audience. The first paragraph needs to grab the reader's attention, summarize who you are and why you're an expert, and mention your book.

After the body, skip 2-3 lines and type # # #. This means that no text follows.

Q&A sectionfor the press kit

This is a terrific place for the media to pull out ideas for an interview or article. They are looking for someone who will say something important. Create a list of 10 to 20 questions you think they will ask you, write out your answers, and include both in the Q&A section. Sample questions:

· Tell me about your book. What's it about?

· What inspired you to write your book?

· What initially got you interested in this topic?

· Who would be interested in reading your book?

· When is it being released, and how can someone obtain a copy?

· What was the most interesting or unusual thing you learned when researching it?

· How much research went into the writing of your book? What type of research did you do?

· What sets it apart from others?

· What are three things that someone can learn from reading it?

Your publicity photo

Good photos are important. Reviewers ask about this on the sly. Have a photographer with a studio and lights take many headshots and full-body shots in which you show a variety of facial expressions and poses. Go from serious to goofy, sexy to thoughtful. This way, you have a number of choices for the media. Your tone will convey a message about your personality and the tone of the book itself. If you get nervous in front of cameras, bring a friend to loosen you up or have a glass of wine to relax. Try to engage in a conversation while being photographed.

Ask that your photos be either a 5"x7" by7" or 8"x10"-inch, and shoot both black-and-whites and full-color ones; newspapers prefer the former and magazines the latter.

Allow a week for them to be developed. Make sure you and/or your publicist get digital copies so you can email them along with your press release. Put your full name, title (Author, [book title]), and contact info (at least your phone number and email address) at the bottom of the photos you like. Then load the best ones onto your website with high-resolution. That way journalists or fans can download them to help promote you and your book.

If you're super photogenic, send your picture out with all promotional materials. If you have several different and fun shots, go ahead and include more than one.

The electronic press kit (EPK)

This is a compilation of various clips of you discussing your book on radio or television programs. The footage allows others to see whether you'd be a good guest on their show. They want to see exactly who you are, what you look like, and how well you speak. You don't need an EPK right away. Wait until you have several great interviews on file, ones that portray you and your book in the best possible way, highlight your PR message, and show how scintillating, deep, funny, and/or brilliant you are. Keep the length under five minutes.

Begin the clip with you and not a long lead-in from the show you were on. However, if you were on a national show, it's good to start with its logo or a few seconds of the host saying, "In the next half-hour, we'll be talking to (your name) about his fabulous new book." At the end of the clip, include a still shot of your book cover with your website's URL.

If you need help with editing or producing an EPK, call a local video or audio production company. The production costs can be anywhere from $200-$3000, depending on its complexity, length and what's involved in the actual filming. Then post the compilation on your website.

The interview itself

You must convey a lot of info while speaking slowly and clearly. Do this in 15-second sound bites (less than 50 words). Create a list of 20 questions you think they will ask, and write out your answers. Focus on what's funny, special, and interesting about your book, and establish yourself as an expert. Add anecdotes about the writing process. Include both your questions and answers in your press kit's Q&A section.

Record the sound bites in advance and play them back. Keep doing this until you sound as if it's the first time you've ever been asked that question. Take a second to think about your response even though you know exactly what it is. Then videotape a mock interview with a friend. Have her ask you questions that you fear the most or do other things to unnerve you.

Research the specific show or publication and demonstrate that you know it. Past interviews are available online. Study the guests and find out what the interviewer likes or dislikes.

On the big day, breathe deeply. Know that you look great and that you're prepared. Pause for a silent breath before answering each question. Keep good posture, make eye contact, and keep your hands at your sides.

For radio interviews, speak in simple sentences. Listeners can't see you speaking.

For the phone, be physically and vocally warmed up. Use a land line and suspend call-waiting.

For print interviews, have it be someplace quiet where you're comfortable. Look good even if there won't be a camera. Ask for your website to be in the article and for either a link to it or a hard copy. If you are misquoted, only contact the editor if what was written will cause physical harm. Be prepared to be misquoted and accept that there's nothing you can do about it. Don't trust him when he says it's "off the record."

Finally, for television interviews, watch the show for several days before your appearance. See what everyone is wearing and dress accordingly. Try out your outfit the day before the interview. Then get ready several hours early in case you have last-minute adjustments. Confidently enter the studio. If it is a low-budget show that doesn't have a makeup artist, at the very least apply a thin layer of powder to get rid of the shine.

Ask in advance where the producers want you to look, probably directly at the host and not at the camera. Also ask how long the interview will be and what the signal is for wrapping it up.

If you are in front of a live studio audience, include them from time to time with eye contact and gestures. If it's a show that has a Q&A, refer back to a previous question that an audience member asked. This helps gain their support.

During the interview

Your passion will sell your book. Just focus on talking to that one person, the interviewer. If you can, chat beforehand and ask for a mention of your book, where it is available, your website, and upcoming events. Have a sentence that he can use to introduce you and your book. You yourself should plug your book title at least three times if you can do so naturally. One easy way to do so is to begin your answers with it. Examples:

- "In [insert title], I wrote about ..."

- "That's a great question. In chapter [#] of [insert title], I discussed that exact topic ..."

- "To answer that question, I'll share a story from [insert title]..."

If you have any events lined up, slip them in as well.

Beware the interviewer's friendliness. Even if he is friendly beforehand, he may not be during the interview. Assume that he is just trying to get you to say something you'll regret. It will go all over the Internet against your will.

Afterwards, get business cards for sending thank-you notes and stay in touch. If the moment feels right, ask if you may add their name to your email list. You never know when one of them might need a story and be reminded to call you after seeing your update. Once you leave, write up the events while they're fresh in your mind and post them on your site.

Tasks to do on the publication date

· Tell everyone you know about the book's publication and encourage them to write reviews on Amazon, the Barnes & Noble website, Facebook, Twitter, and elsewhere.

· Put a special post on your blog.

· Arrange for interviews to be posted on this date on bookstores' and fellow bloggers' websites.

· Send messages over Twitter and on your book's Facebook page.

· Host a Tweetchat

· Conduct a live eight-hour webcast where you can answer questions all day. For this you could combine sessions on Google Hangout on Air and Tweetchat.

Hosting a book eventin person

Events might not lead to a ton of money, and sometimes no one will come, but you can use them to get local publicity. Newspapers might run articles announcing them, and each article will help you get more readers than the event itself.

Don't schedule events that occur before your release date. Most people have short attention spans and want to buy on the spot. If your book's not there, it's out of sight, out of mind. Schedule the events for the first three months after the book is available to readers.

Before contacting each place, visit its website to see what events it has hosted. Have your pitch down cold so that you can tell the person on the phone in a minute who you are, what your book is, and why he should have you. Then follow up by emailing your press release and also your cover letter if you didn't get through on the phone.

If you have a publicist, check with her before you set up any events. She will also be setting up events for you, and you don't want to overlap locales. As you book new events, keep her updated.

Work with the event coordinator. Supply him with fliers to promote the event, and ask him these questions:

· What successful events have other authors done?

· Should I write and send out the press releases and flyers, or do you do that?

· Will you be sending information to others' calendars? If not, can you suggest some for me?

· Which local media members should I contact?

· Any other organizations that I should include in my mailing?

· How do you want me to get books to the event?

· Are there any local book groups?

· Do I need to bring my own table for signing books?

· Is there anything else that I need to bring?

· Will I be selling the books myself, or does someone else do that?

Publicize the event

Get on the venue's events calendar and send your press release to local media to get on their calendars. Do this a month before the event. Send out another release two weeks later and then a final notice three days beforehand. If you can, get the local media on the phone to pitch to them.

Use social media to spread the word. Mention it in your online communities, and afterwards, share pictures or video, which should also be put on your website and on your author profile page on the online bookseller sites. Slice long videos into five-minute clips.

Have enough books for sale

There are four ways to do this.

· If you can get a local bookseller to come to your event and provide your books, do so. However, bookstores rarely stock self-published books. You will have to give them plenty of advance notice so that they can order the book from a distributor such as Ingram, and more crucially, you will also have to persuade them that there will be enough sales at the event to make it worth their while.

· You can order books from your print-on-demand company, but you may not be able to get them at a discounted rate so that you can then profit on each sale. These sales will not count towards sales on bestseller lists.

· You can bring a computer with an online connection to the event, and have attendees purchase the book online from Amazon. They might still want something signed from you, so you may want to bring copies of a black-and-white photo that you can personalize for them so that they can later tape this to part of their book.

· Use Enthrill gift cards for ebooks. Enthrill (www.enthrill.com/endpaper/author-cards) lets you buy preactivated gift cards that you can then sell or give away, after signing them. Recipients then download the ebook in .epub or .mobi format for their devices. The cards cost authors approximately $1 to $1.50 in quantities of 500 or more. Having a physical card may enable you to close twice as many sales.

You will also need a cashbox, change, blank receipts, and a credit-card processor.

Have someone introduce you

Make plans in advance for someone to introduce you to the audience, and have her mention that you'll be signing books afterwards. Also ask her to come on afterwards to thank everyone and to remind them that you'll be signing books. Here is a generic introduction to use:

"(Your name)" has been a (relevant work info) for many years and has written (your writing credits if you have any). This is his/her first/second/whatever book. (Title of book) has been called (short, pithy quote from a review or blurb). She/he has also (any additional interesting info-awards, colorful jobs, etc.). There will be a brief question-and-answer period, and the author will sign books afterwards. And now ladies and gentlemen, please welcome (your name)."

During the event (usually 30 minutes)

Your event is a show, and you are the passionate entertainer. Dress well and arrive early.

Start five minutes late. Lots of people show up late, and by waiting, you give the audience time to bond in their admiration for you. Sometimes you will be asked to start right away; ask nicely if you can wait a couple of minutes.

Connect with your audience by beginning with a story. It could be about how you came to write your book and got it published, about the subject, or something completely different. But it must be entertaining, inspirational, honest, or deep. Have a couple stories prepared, written, and rehearsed. Write them out longhand on index cards; this will help you remember each word.

Then share a spontaneous anecdote, such as what happened to you on the way to the event or what you read in the paper that day. Or perhaps show a short five-minute video clip, perhaps something from YouTube related to your topic.

Next, read a little from the beginning, unless you have a compelling reason not to. This provides a context. Also read a couple of passages that do not need a lot of setting up. Read for only 10 minutes unless you're doing a workshop. Memorize in advance as much of these excerpts as you can. This will let you make periodic eye contact with the audience when reading to them.

If you have a book that can't be read, arrange a debate with someone whose views oppose yours. Ask a local luminary or journalist to interview you, which is another way to get journalists interested in your book. Or give a charming, well-rehearsed, informative, and passionate lecture.

End with a big finish, a bang. It should be you at your best.

To avoid the awkward silence after you ask, "Does anyone have any questions?" ask the audience what they'd like to hear about. If silence reigns, pass out a handout of 20 frequently asked questions. Some will be aspiring authors; therefore include the question of how you wrote your book and got published. Then stop after five questions to sign books and let people escape.

The event, including Q&A, should last about half an hour even if people are having fun. After a certain point, they will drift away and won't buy books. You can always hang around afterward and chat. If you do, get suggestions from these audience members for additional venues.

Afterwards, thank the employees at the event and get business cards so you can send a note.

When signing books for buyers

Have a pad of Post-it notes and ask people in line to write a) the name they'd like you to use, b) if they want it on the cover or the title page, and c) if they want a short message (two-sentence maximum), a dedication to that person or to someone else, or just your signature. If a dedication is requested, be sure to spell the name right. This makes autographing go faster, especially in a noisy environment when others are waiting and may change their mind in buying the book.

Also have a sign-up sheet for your mailing list by your side. Ask people if they want to sign your list while you sign the book. On the list ask how they found out about the event and your book.

Multi-author events / panels

You've probably already amassed a list of authors who have written books complementary to yours. Hopefully you have read these books, are signed up to their blogs, and are e-friends with some of them. If you approach an author as a fan and now a colleague about teaming up for an event, you could end up with not only an advocate but a real friend as well. Each of you can speak on your own at the event or as parts of a panel.

Multi-author events are more exciting than readings. They let you connect with well-known authors and raise your profile as a result. These events also mean bigger crowds because each author brings her own friends. The media likes them, especially when the issue is newsworthy. Booksellers like them because they sell more books than events with just one author.

Venues for events

Bookstores

Many bookstores book a minimum of six months ahead. The more popular the store, allow for a longer lead time to give yourself plenty of time to promote the event, which stores will not do for you. There are strict but unwritten rules about how many venues you can do in one city, as well as how to set up events with the chains. If you do events at two different stores in the same city in the same month, you'll likely make both of them unhappy.

Explain why your event will sell books. Is a book group coming? Do you have local media contacts? Assert that you will actively promote it, will get press, and will get people to come.

After the bookstore event, when you're finished signing books for attendees, sign as much stock as you can. Signed books on shelves often get a little sticker that says "autographed copy." It raises the value of the book and draws people's attention. There's a good chance the booksellers will display your signed books in some nice spot and will be less likely to return your books.

While at the shelf for your book, rearrange the copies so that your cover is facing out. Also politely ask the bookseller if your book can be placed in a more prominent position and if they can confirm that the number of copies on the shelves matches the number in the store's computer. They will not reorder your book if they think they have copies on hand. If they are low on copies, ask if they can order more.

Living room tours

If strapped for dollars, consider a living-room tour. Call on friends and family around the country to host you for a night and an event in their home to which they invite other friends and family. You're guaranteed both a captive audience and people who want to see you succeed. It is so much more intimate than a bookstore event because it is in someone's living room, with all their friends. You might sell a lot more books here than you ever will in stores. Three stipulations:

· The hosts try to get 15-20 friends to show up, each of whom bring a snack to share.

· The hosts get a free signed copy of your book.

· The hosts agree to let you sleep on a spare bed or couch if your home is in another city.

Libraries

Libraries host author events and are great buyers of regional books. Look for your local Friends of Libraries group and visit your library's website as well as www.ala.org, the site for the American Library Association (ALA).

Book clubs

Find book groups on the web, in chat rooms, through bookstores, and elsewhere. Note that they prefer paperbacks. To help them say yes to you, put a reading guide in the back of your book, post discussion questions on your website, and offer video chats so they can meet you.

Trade conferences

Many trade associations, special interest groups, and trade-show conference planners sell books and educational materials to their members. Contact those associations who may be interested in selling your book; offer a discount to members. Allow them to publish excerpts from your book for free on their website in order to generate interest and sales. In particular, try to attend the Book Expo of America, a.k.a. BEA, so you can collect catalogs from publishers to see what books will be released in the upcoming year. See www.biztradeshows.comand www.bookexpoamerica.com.

THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF DENTISTRY
PUSH YOURSELF, BECAUSE NO ONE ELSE IS GOING TO DO IT FOR YOU.
IT'S GOING TO BE HARD, BUT HARD DOES NOT MEAN IMPOSSIBLE.
DO SOMETHING TODAY THAT YOUR FUTURE SELF WILL THANK YOU FOR.
DREAM IT. WISH IT. DO IT.

Other ways of getting publicity

Online groups

Participate in chat groups, also called forums, newsgroups, LISTSERV email lists, and bulletin boards. There are Internet groups that care about your subject, and you should be part of them. By answering relevant questions and showing your expertise, you build a real presence. To see what is available, go to http://groups.yahoo.comor https://groups.google.com/forum. While overt advertising is unwelcomed, you should have the title of your book as part of your signature.

Be a reviewer yourself

Within your reviews for other books, position yourself as an expert in your field and as an author, and mention the title of your book. For example, say, "As the author of [insert book title], I've read and reviewed many books on this topic. This one offers..."

Mention signed copies at stores

When you visit bookstores, ask their permission to autograph your book, and then use Google+, Facebook, or Twitter to tell people which stores have it.

Speeches and consulting

An informative book can lead to speaking and consulting opportunities, a natural outcome of a book that adds value to people's lives. Once you have spoken at several places, approach a public-speaking agent. If you speak or hold workshops regularly, include in your proposals and press kits a list of select speaking engagements for previous and upcoming years. If you speak in front of large audiences (500 or more), include those numbers. If you go out on a book tour, offer to speak at schools, universities, or other organizations, even for free.

Book award contests

Enter your book for as many awards as you can afford. For some awards, you can be nominated in more than one category. Awards typically have "reading fees," application costs from $10 to $50. Poets & Writers Magazine is a great place for prize listings.

If your book is related to your job

Go to as many conferences and trade meetings as you can in the months before the publication date. Ask colleagues to talk up your book. Trade-industry newsletters are a great way to reach a targeted audience. Can you get one to do a Q&A?

Turn your book into some other cool thing

Make it into something else to expand your audience and earn more profits. Examples include one-person shows and a line of t-shirts. An unknown play by an unknown writer, put on at a small but respected theater, is more likely to get reviewed than an unknown book by an unknown writer from the biggest publisher. It could also help raise your book's profile as a possible movie or TV project.

Look for licensees, manufacturers or whoever else makes the stuff you'd like to sell. Use the same sales methods as you have all along to approach these companies. If you succeed, you may be able to develop a whole line of products, each of which will raise your visibility another notch and hopefully put some gold in your pot.

Selling

Pricing strategies

1. To spread your ideas and to establish yourself as a sector expert, charge less.

2. For your ebook, start at a low price - for example, $0.99 or even free - to achieve critical mass, and then raise the price to $2.99 or more, up to $5.99. Don't go above that.

3. Give away the ebook with hopes that people will then pay for the print copy for the better reading experience.

4. Occasionally run discounts. The high price conveys high value, so a deal feels valuable.

5. Your price for the print version depends on your printing cost per book, the print-on-demand company's extra cut for each book, ongoing marketing expenses you have, and the profit margin you want.

Importance of preorders

You can accumulate massive preorders that will count as part of the first week of sales, regardless of when, prior to publication, they were placed. Preorders get everyone excited and prompt the booksellers to double their initial orders. When preorders occur all at once, on that first day your book goes on sale, they can mean the difference between success and oblivion. You can do this to launch yourself onto bestseller lists or Amazon's Top 100 list. Start a few months out. If once a month, for the three months prior to publication, you can sell 50 to 100 books in a single day, you can get the online booksellers' attention.

If you sell your book directly to customers from your website, work out a promotion strategy. Readers get, say, 20% off any orders placed on your site during the first day or week of publication. Discounts are great incentives.

Digital Rights Management (DRM)

Amazon, Apple, and others offer the choice of adding DRM security for your book, but you may want to decline these services because:

· DRM inconveniences honest people.

· DRM doesn't stop dishonest people.

· Even if you could stop the dishonest people, they won't buy your book.

· Even dishonest people, if they like your book, may tell others to buy and read your book.

· You should focus on writing a book that's worth stealing and marketing it so that the world knows about it.

Use a free ebook to sell the printed book

Ebooks make lousy gifts, but you could use them to seed the market and then sell the printed version for people to give as gifts. Arrange it so that people get the ebook for free when buying the printed book.

Selling through Amazon

Their sales ranks

A sales rank of 100,000 or less is fantastic. If your book has a sales rank of 50,000 that means that it is the 50,000th best-selling item on Amazon on that day.

Their one downside

You will make considerably less in royalties per book than you would from sales otherwise. This is because of the large trade discount that they take off your book's cover price for their profit.

Help their customers find your book

Use categories, keywords, and tags to help them. Consider what best describes your book.

Keywords

These are really key phrases since they can be more than one word. These keywords are used by Amazon in its own search engine — along with words in your title, subtitle, and product description. You can usually choose up to seven keywords, along with the two categories. The keywords are searchable in Kindle Store as well as in the main search box on Amazon's website.

Selling your printed book via Amazon

CreateSpace

Amazon's CreateSpace will automatically make your printed book available on Amazon.

Send buyers to Amazon from your site

The Amazon Associates program lets you link your website to your book's page on Amazon. For each sale that comes through that link, you make an extra percentage. Each sale counts on your royalty statement and toward bestseller lists. See https://affiliate-program.amazon.com.

Selling your ebook through Amazon

Kindle Direct Publishing (https://kdp.amazon.com/signin) is Amazon's self-publishing service for selling your ebook. It will account for most of your sales. Upload your book to reach people who use Kindle devices as well as those who use tablets, smart phones, and computers with Kindle applications. Here you can also manage your author account, adjust prices, and track your earnings.

1. Enter basic information such as your book's title, description, and ISBN. Many people refer to this information as the "metadata" of a book. The form says that an ISBN is optional because Amazon will assign a number ("Amazon Standard Identification Number") if you aren't selling your book through other resellers.

The book description is one of the most important pieces of writing you'll do for your book. Be clear; people are going to skim it. Be compelling; explain how your book adds value to their lives. Be clever; use popular keywords for your book's genre to help people find it.

2. Confirm that you own the publishing rights.

3. Choose up to two keyword categories for your book.

4. Upload your book cover. The recommended size is 2,500 pixels by 1,563 pixels. Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) accepts .jpeg and .tiff files.

5. Choose whether to add digital rights management (DRM) to your book. This is not advised because it inconveniences readers and still doesn't stop pirates. Upload your file in .doc, .htm, .mobi, .epub, .txt, .rtf, or .pdf format, or ideally, upload a .mobi file.

6. Preview your book to ensure that it looks the way you want.

7. Select the regions of the world where you own the rights to your book. Since you're self-publishing, you own the worldwide rights.

8. Select your royalty rate and set prices. The 70% royalty rate incurs delivery charges and the 35% rate doesn't. You can set prices for each country or peg your price to the US price. For more on this, see https://kdp.amazon.com/help?topicId=A29FL26OKE7R7B

9. Decide whether people can lend their books.

10. Confirm that you have the right to publish the book and agree to the terms.

11. Announce your ebook to the Kindle fans at www.kindleboards.com in their Book Bazaar section: www.kboards.com/index.php?board=42.0.

Specifics:

· Royalty: 35%, or 70% ($2.99-$9.99 less delivery charges)

· Time until available for sales: One day

· Price limits: [35% (Less than 3MB, $0.99-$200; 3MB-10MB, $1.99-$200; Greater than 10MB, $2.99-$200)], 70% ($2.99-$9.99)

· File size limits: 200 MB (additional restrictions for .epub)

· Input formats: .doc, .htm, .mobi, .epub, .txt, .rtf, .pdf

· Output format: .mobi

· Cover design size and format: .jpeg or .tiff; minimum 1000px on longest side; ideal height/width ratio is 1.6; for best quality, use 2500px on longest side

· Multiple admin: No

· Countries: 246 countries and territories

· Pricing for individual countries: All countries pegged to U.S. pricing, but you can override a country's price

KDP Select

If you enroll your book in KDP Select, you're making your ebook available only through KDP. During a 90-day period of exclusivity, you cannot distribute your book digitally anywhere else, including on your website, blogs, etc. However, you can continue to sell paper copies.

In exchange for a 90-day Amazon exclusive, your book goes into the Kindle Owners' Lending Library and you can offer the ebook for free for up to five days. People who own Kindle devices (not Kindle apps running on other devices) and who are Amazon Prime members can participate in this program. Participants can borrow books from a collection of 180,000 titles to read on their Kindle devices. There is a limit of one book per month, with no due date. Authors in the program also receive a portion of the Kindle Owners' Lending Library fund based on how often people borrowed their book. See https://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/KDPSelect .

Your book will still be available for anyone to buy in the Kindle Store, and you'll continue to earn royalties from those sales.

If you opt in for KDP Select, you will also earn 70% royalty for sales to customers in Japan, India, Brazil and Mexico and get to choose between two promotions: Kindle Countdown Deals (time-sensitive discount promotions for your book) or Free Book Promotion, where readers worldwide can get your book for free for a limited time.

Reading the Kindle version without a Kindle

Tell your readers that they can read the Kindle version of your book without buying a Kindle device. They can use the free Kindle reading apps on computers, phones, and tablets as well as the Firefox, Chrome, and Safari browsers to read a Kindle book stored in the cloud. Send them to www.amazon.com/gp/feature.HTML?ie=UTF8&docId=1000493771.

Wait 90 days and then sell elsewhere too

If you sign up for KDP Select, list your ebook with other online distributors and resellers after the 90-day exclusive period has expired. Set up an account at Apple (iBookstore), Barnes & Noble, Google (Google Play), and Kobo. Use Smashwords with any other resellers.

Selling your ebook elsewhere

Apple's iBookstore

Apple iBookstore is Apple's platform for selling ebooks, and it is the second biggest player. It carries two types of ebooks: the traditional ebook and the Multi-Touch ebook for iPads only.

Register for an account on the iBookstore website as an iTunes Content Provider, which is managed through a service called iTunes Connect (https://itunesconnect.apple.com/WebObjects/iTunesConnect.woa/wa/bookSignup). iTunes Connect is a portal for sales tracking, banking information, contracts, and support.

You manage and upload books with a desktop app called iTunes Producer; it is a free download for registered iBookstore content providers on iTunes. iTunes Producer is Macintosh-only software and currently requires that you are running at least OSX 10.6. Then upload your book to iBookstore in either the .epub or Multi-Touch format.

You must sell Multi-Touch ebooks through the iBookstore, and they only work on iPads. However, you can give away your book, or sample chapters, outside of iBookstore. You also can sell a .pdf exported from iBooks Author outside of iBookstore.

Specifics:

· Royalty: 70%

· Time until available for sales: One week

· Price limits: .epub: $39.99; Textbooks: $14.99

· File size limits: Multi-Touch: 2GB (1 GB Max recommended)

· Input formats: .epub, iBOOKS (Multi-Touch)

· Output format: .epub

· Cover design size and format: .jpeg or .png; minimum 1400px on short side

· Multiple admin: Yes

· Countries: 32 countries and territories

· Pricing for individual countries: Set one country at a time

Barnes & Noble's Nook Press

To make your book available to Nook owners, you upload an .epub file to Nook Press (www.nookpress.com). When you upload it, remove any encryption that may have been added by your application (for example, by Adobe InDesign). Encryption sometimes occurs automatically by these programs when embedding fonts and other assets.

· Royalty: 40%: $0.01-$2.98; 65%: $2.99-$9.99; 40%: $9.99+

· Time until available for sales: One to three days

· Price limits: None

· File size limits: 20 MB

· Input formats: .doc, .htm, .epub, .txt, and .rtf

· Output format: .epub

· Cover design size and format: .jpeg, Less than 2MB; Sides must be between 750px and 2000px.

· Multiple admin: No

· Countries: NA

· Pricing for individual countries: Percentage of list price

Google Play

Google Play (https://play.google.com/store) is Google's content store that sells the same stuff as the iTunes stores does. It is worthwhile because of the success of Android phones and tablets as well as Google's ability to direct the river of web traffic.

On Google Play you set a suggested retail price, and there's a 52 to 48 percent split between you and Google play, respectively. You can either manually set a price for each territory, or you can configure Google Play to automatically set the price based on a percentage (which you define) of the lowest list price found in other channels.

You have two choices when providing your book to Google Play. The first is like other ebook resellers: Upload your .epub or .pdf file. If it is less than 10 MB, you can upload it via the standard HTML website. If it is larger than 10 MB, you need to use the Google Uploader Java application. The second way is to send Google a physical copy, and they will scan it.

To stay up to date, go to books.google.com and click on "Information for publishers" at the bottom. Also see https://support.google.com/books/partner/?hl=en#topic=3424344. You control how much of your book people can browse for free on Google Books, with a minimum of 20%.

· Royalty: 52%

· Time until available for sales: Two days

· Price limits: None

· File size limits: 10 MB via website, 1.2 GB via Google Uploader

· Input formats: .epub and .pdf

· Output format: .epub

· Cover design size and format: .jpeg, .pdf, and .tiff (No requirements listed, but assume at least 1000px on longest side)

· Multiple admin: No

· Countries: 229 countries and territories

· Pricing for individual countries: US and UK only

Kobo

Kobo (http://store.kobobooks.com/en-us) accepts .doc, .mobi, and .epub files. Their royalty rate is 70% for the author, and you must price your book between $1.99 and $12.99; otherwise Kobo uses a 45% royalty. They have a program for authors called Kobo Writing Life and a program for publishers called Kobo Publisher Operations. You sign up for an account if you're an author, and you fill out a questionnaire if you're a publisher.

· Royalty: 70%

· Time until available for sales: One to three days

· Price limits: $1.99-$12.99

· File size limits: 10MB

· Input formats: .epub, .doc, .docx, .mobi, and .odt

· Output format: .epub

· Cover design size and format: .jpeg or .png, less than 2MB

· Multiple admin: No

· Countries: 200 countries

· Pricing for individual countries: Set one region at a time

Smashwords

Smashwords (www.smashwords.com) is the largest indie ebook distributor. For free you can upload your manuscript as a Microsoft Word file to the Smashwords service, which converts the files into multiple ebook formats for reading on various ebook reading devices.

Once published, the books are made available for sale online at a price set by the author, either on the Smashwords site or on other ebook sales platforms such as Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony, and others but not with Amazon. You earn 60% of the list price on these other sites and 85% for sales on the Smashwords website. You can also publish your book as a preorder on these sites, which will let you accumulate sales and rise in the bestseller lists.

Since you will earn more if you list directly with each ebook sales platform, you should try doing this before you work with Smashwords. The advantage of Smashwords is that they will list you on all of these different platforms, saving you some hassle.

Smashwords also distributes your ebook to libraries and offers free ISBNs.

Selling your ebook via your website (direct sales)

With direct sales, you upload your ebook to the service, decide on a price, and add the link to your website. People can click on the link, pay for the file, and then download it. You then pay a transaction and hosting fee to the direct-sales intermediary. This method offers the highest profit per ebook. However, you will have to drive people to your website, unlike with online resellers who already have traffic. You'll also need hosting, payment, and customer-service functionality.

After the website is set up and your ebook is ready for downloading, simply promote the site to potential readers. Visitors to your website can then learn more about your ebook, perhaps read an excerpt, purchase the ebook using a major credit card or PayPal, and download it to start reading.

Direct sales has some downsides. Ebook resellers such as Amazon and Apple pay less per copy, but they sell more copies. Also, direct sales do not count toward sales rankings for bestseller lists, and books on these widely known lists sell more. Also, selling direct is best suited for selling only the .pdf version of your ebook. These sites can sell any file format you upload, but your readers might not know what format to buy for their device or how to install your ebook.

Before you start selling your ebook directly to individuals, contact your state's department of revenue or a tax attorney and ask whether digital sales are subject to sales tax.

Gumroad (https://gumroad.com) charges $0.25 per download plus 5% of the sale for hosting and selling your file. For example, if you sell a .pdf for $3, Gumroad gets $0.40 ($0.25 + (5%*$3)), and you'd get $2.60. This is more than you would get from Kindle Direct Publishing. Gumroad also offers a " $0.00 + " option, where people can pay whatever they want, including nothing.

They only accept credit cards and unfortunately cannot tell you where your customers live, something you may need to know someday in order to charge sales tax.

E-Junkie (www.e-junkie.com) charges according to the number of files and storage space you use. The number of downloads is unlimited, unlike Gumroad's per-copy flat fee and percentage. A collection of ten files totaling less than 50 MB costs $5 per month. Therefore, if you have one book smaller than 50 MB, a huge size, you would only pay $5 per month, could sell an unlimited number, and keep the differential. Unlike Gumroad, customers can use PayPal. Also unlike Gumroad, E-Junkie can calculate sales tax because it knows where your customers live.

ClickBank (www.clickbank.com/monetize-your-knowledge) lets you create an account, upload your file, price it, and sell it. There is a $49.95 activation fee to get started. Customers can use credit cards or PayPal. You set a wholesale price, the price at which ClickBank and other affiliates buy the book from you, and a retail price, the price customers see and pay. Unlike Gumroad and E-Junkie, ClickBank has an affiliate program, where its members can get an affiliate link to their favorite books and promote the link on their blog and through social media.

Ganxy (http://get.ganxy.com) enables you to sell your ebook in .epub, .mobi, and .pdf format. It provides payment functionality, file hosting, and customer service. The charge is 10% of the net sales, which is the selling price of the ebook minus a payment-processing fee.

Selling your printed book elsewhere

Barnes & Noble

B&N's rules are complex for listing on their site, www.bn.com, and their stores. See these links:

- www.barnesandnoble.com/help/cds2.asp?PID=8153

- www.barnesandnobleinc.com/for_publishers/How_to_Submit_a_Book/How_to_Submit_a_Book.HTML

- www.barnesandnobleinc.com/for_authors/how_to_work_with_bn/how_to_work_with_bn.HTML.

If you need help, email PublisherAuthorInquiry@BN.comor call their Publisher Services Information line at (732) 656-7285.

Barnes & Noble has a series of author profiles called "Meet the Writers." See www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writer.asp?cid=1145572

Other stores

As a self-publisher, don't expect to have a lot of success here. Bookstores are reluctant to carry self-published books from print-on-demand companies because the stores cannot return the books nor get credit terms. It's also very hard to get good shelf placement so it's likely that no one will see the copies the store has anyway. Furthermore, your royalty drops on in-store sales.

Booksellers may purchase your book but insist on doing so at a discount of 40-60% off the cover price. First get listed with a distributor such as Ingram. When you call with your pitch, mention that they can download your sales tip sheet and press kit from your website. The tip sheet explains why your book is worth selling. If they are interested, follow up a week later and suggest an event if it seems doable.

Strategies for any store:

· If you have a friend who is a successful author, have her introduce your book.

· Call and set up an appointment.

· Make sure you're talking to the right employee.

· Be sensitive to what's going on in the store when you come in.

· Soft sell a pitch that's content-oriented. The more articulate you are, the better.

· Get to the point.

· Offer to sell your books on a consignment basis where you're paid only when a book is sold.

For chains, including both bookstores and other places, you will have to go through the head office to reach the person in charge of buying. Call and be prepared to send to the inventory buyer a printed copy, your marketing plan, and links to your press kit and sales tip sheet.

Independent booksellers

Compared to chains, independent bookstores are easier to approach, more likely to stock your book, and more likely to ask for a lower discount, around 40%. Unfortunately, unless you have a distributor, you'll have to call each bookstore individually. This could take over a thousand calls.

Start local. Most independents want to help local authors and are willing to take at least one copy of your book if it fits with what they sell. Local authors are great PR because they bring in many people from the community. If you are a local author, say, "I'm a local author and have written a book; I'd love for you to sell it here. What is the best way for me to follow up?"

Encourage them to read your book. At many independent stores, employees are encouraged to write reviews of books they like and to make picks of their favorite new releases. This means that individual opinion, and, by proxy, your connections with individual booksellers, can lead to a quantifiable result: prominent placement in their stores.

Don't overlook college towns. Bookstores here can put on great events and sell lots of books.

Independent booksellers' associations

· American Booksellers Association - www.bookweb.org(sellers listed by state)

· Indiebound - www.indiebound.org– for independent booksellers

· Mountains & Plains Independent BA - www.mountainsplains.org

· Pacific Northwest BA - www.pnba.org

· New Atlantic Independent BA - www.naiba.com

· New England Independent BA - www.newenglandbooks.org

· Southeast BA - www.sibaweb.com

· Southern California BA - www.scibabooks.org

· Northern California Independent BA - www.nciba.com

· Upper Midwest BA - http://midwestbooksellers.org

Sales tip-sheet template

· your name:

· publisher/imprint (how the name appears on the spine of the book):

· book title:

· subtitle:

· series:

· co-author if there is one:

· illustrator(s):

· if non-fiction, your credentials:

· publication month:

· publication year:

· ships from:

· distributor/wholesaler:

· Does this tip sheet replace an earlier submission?

· keynote (one-sentence description of book):

· description (your pitch) (limit to 75 words):

· ISBN 10 or 13 with or w/o dashes:

· ISBN 10:

· ISBN 13:

· subject shelving category:

· BISAC 1:

· BISAC 2:

· BISAC 3:

· children's book (yes/no):

· price (US$):

· discount:

· format (hardcover/trade paperback/mass-market paperback/ebook):

· foreign rights:

· trim size (in inches, width by height—not metric):

· page count:

· # B&W photos:

· # B&W illustrations:

· # color photos:

· # color illustrations:

· other: (include number and description) (Example: 17 recipes):

· carton quantity:

· brief author bio (include city and state):

· your previous books (Title & ISBN) separated by semicolon; list up to 3 with sales figures:

· illustrator bio (include city and state):

· illustrator's previous books (title & ISBN) separated by semicolon; up to 3 with sales figures:

· ISBN of previous edition (with dashes):

· date of first printing:

· sales talking points (features and benefits):

· endorsements/blurbs:

· reviews:

· audience/positioning:

· competition/comparisons (up to three other books) - title of book, publisher, price, ISBN, publication date, in-print quantity (if possible); separated by semicolon; sales figures

· extra sales materials to support the book:

· How will people know about the book?

· other aspects of your marketing plan:

· if audio, # of minutes (total):

· if audio, # of CD's in set:

· if audio, read by / performed by:

· if audio, abridged / unabridged:

Selling in person

Wherever you may be selling, bring a generous supply of books, Enthrill gift cards, and a small table from which to sell the books. Be ready to accept cash or credit-card payment, to issue a receipt with a copy for yourself, and to collect sales tax if your state demands it.

If you're going to accept cash, especially at busy events, have a register or cash box that remains safe, especially if you get distracted. If you're interacting with readers, signing books, and answering questions, have a friend handle the money and sell your books for you.

For accepting credit cards

Establish a merchant account through a financial institution or a specialized provider. It entails a one-time set-up fee, an ongoing monthly fee, and sometimes a transaction fee (2%-5%). It should let you accept orders on your website and in person with a handheld device. Non-swiped transactions, where you don't see the card, cost extra. After customers' payments are authorized, the funds are transferred into your account within three business days.

Read all the contracts and agreements carefully. Know the terms, including how long the contract is in effect and what the fees are. Ask about rate-review policies. After you establish a working relationship with a merchant bank, request a reduction in your discount rate after several months. Even a small reduction saves you money in the long run.

Companies worth considering as of 02/02/2014:

· www.paypal.com

· www.merchantexpress.com

· www.shopify.com

· www.merchant-accounts.ca(works for USA)

· http://gopayment.intuit.ca/credit-card-processing/mobile-payment-faq.jsp(works for USA)

· https://squareup.com: You can use this small card reader with a smartphone.

· http://payments.intuit.com: If you need inventory-management or bookkeeping software and decide to go with QuickBooks, they have an integrated credit-card processing service.

Steps later on

Making an audio version

You can produce an audiobook version using a service from Amazon Audible called the Audiobook Creation Exchange.

1. Confirm that you own the audio rights to your book.

2. Create a profile with a short description of your book, your thoughts on the best kind of narrator, and a short excerpt.

3. Post your book. Producers and narrators will see your post and hopefully express interest. You can also listen to sample narrations and hold a "casting call."

4. Audition producers and narrators, and then pick one. You can also narrate the book yourself. Reading your own book helps you form a close personal bond with your readers. However, this requires a good reading voice.

5. Cut a deal. The service provides the paperwork and mechanism. You can choose to pay on a per-hour basis or share royalties.

6. You will need to get an ISBN for your audiobook.

7. Amazon will link the audio version of your book to the details page for your ebook or printed book so that customers are aware of your available formats.

Releasing a new edition

Perhaps the world changes and makes your book more relevant than ever but in need of a new chapter or two. Perhaps your book is popular with book groups, and a reader's guide would be a great addition. Perhaps a movie is being made of your book, necessitating a new cover featuring movie stars. These scenarios give your book fresh legs; use this chance to do some more editing.

Upgrading to AmazonEncore

If enough people clamor for your printed book, try to cut a deal with AmazonEncore, the flagship imprint of Amazon Publishing (www.apub.com/imprint-detail?imprint=4). It uses sales results and customer reviews to identify high, potential self-published books. AmazonEncore then acquires these books and republishes them with Amazon's marketing support and sales distribution clout.

Think of AmazonEncore as a traditional publisher such as Penguin, HarperCollins, or Random House. It signs authors, pays advances, and provides editing, copyediting, cover design, interior design, layout, and marketing, as well as providing distribution to bookstores as well as to Amazon itself. AmazonEncore books can come in ebook, paperback, and hardcover formats.

Bibliography

Coker, M. (2011). Smashwords Style Guide - How to Format Your Ebook (Smashwords Guides).

Eckstut, A., & Sterry, D. H. (2010). The Essential Guide to Getting Your Book Published.

Kawasaki, G., & Welch, S. (2012). APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur - How to Publish a Book.

Levine, M. (2011). The Fine Print of Self-Publishing, Fourth Edition - Everything You Need to Know About the Costs, Contracts, and Process of Self-Publishing.

Rich, J. (2006). Self-publishing for Dummies.

Ross, M. H., Ross, T., & Collier, S. (2010). The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Own Book.

Shepard, A. (2010). POD for Profit: More on the NEW Business of Self Publishing, or How to Publish Your Books

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~Photos in the public domain

Posted: 05 May 2022 11:39 PM PDT

A photograph may be in the public domain if it was published between January 1, 1923 and March 1, 1989 and does not have a copyright notice. However, don't assume that you can use public domain photographs for free. You may have to pay a fee to obtain a copy.

Charts, diagrams, and other geometric drawings

If your book needs these, you can create them right in your word processor or page layout program. If not, your best choice is a "draw program" like Microsoft Visio or Adobe Illustrator.

Resolution issues

Avoid using gifs or jpegs, which tend to have degraded graphics and low resolution. Instead, work with .tiff or .eps files and a lossless compression method like lzw or zip.

Image sizing and resizing

The recommended size for Kindle is at least 600 by 800 pixels in size. iPad and Android tablets have bigger screens, many of which are high-density. Use images that are 768 pixels by 768 at a resolution of at least 300 ppi. This will ensure images fit the minimum width of the iPad screen and that the images will be sharp.

Scan and adjust the size of your art before you put it in your page-layout program. If you adjust the size later, you will distort the pixels. A 300-ppi photo scanned at 2 inches wide, then enlarged to 4 inches wide, will end up being 150 ppi. If you are scanning your own photos or graphics, you'll need a good-quality scanner.

If you have any borders

Increase the frame of the object so that it is slightly larger than the image object itself. This will prevent ebook reading devices from cutting off any borders you might have. These devices usually crop images by one or two pixels when rendering on-screen.

Legality of resizing another's photo

Unless your agreement prohibits it, you can make minor modifications to the photograph, such as changing its size or resolution. However, major modifications—for example, colorizing a black-and-white image or digitally removing elements of a photo—require permission under copyright law and usually under the license agreement. If the image bank or photographer discovers that you have made a major change without permission, you might be sued for copyright infringement. To avoid this, notify the rights holder of your intent to modify the photo when you seek permission.

ppi / dpi issues

Supply artwork to the printer in a format of at least 300 pixels per inch (ppi). 600 ppi is ideal however. A low-resolution photo (72 ppi) is usually suitable only for use on websites or for non-professional uses. DPI stands for "dots per inch" and is synonymous with ppi.

Fees may be affected by the resolution. The denser the dots are, the higher the ppi, the better the resolution, and the more expensive the photo. In some cases, the quality of the reproduction is expressed as a combination of the ppi and the size of the image. For example, a 4"x5" image with 72 ppi will be of lower quality than the same image at 8"x10" and 72 ppi. Some stock houses will furnish bundles of low-resolution images as royalty-free or copyright-free. Other image banks may charge on a sliding scale.

Layout / placement

Depending on your book's trim size, you may want to allocate at least a half-page per photograph, chart, or graphic. Give charts or graphs a full page if they have a lot of detailed information. Don't cluster too much artwork together or else the text will look messy.

Indexing

Before you worry about an index, are you sure your book or ebook needs one? If the book will not be judged quickly by scholarly readers searching for an index, you may want to skip it. For reference, see the indexing chapter of the latest Chicago Manual of Style and that book's index.

Software vs. the human indexer

A good index directs you to important information and excludes irrelevant references containing the keyword or phrase. While indexing software aids the human indexer, it by no means creates indices automatically, any more than spell-checking software can edit a text on its own. Only a person can see if a passage has useful information worthy of being extracted and referenced.

An indexer must analyze the information that he is referencing and determine the precise wording to most rapidly point the user towards. He must consider the synonyms (double-posting) and think of the other entries each one relates to and make cross-references to them.

Finding an indexer

Does your book cover a very esoteric subject? Do you feel that your indexer must know your field? These are important questions. If you're looking for an indexer in a special field, go to www.asindexing.org, the website for the American Society of Indexers. You can search by type of material indexed, location, or field of expertise. It's comprehensive and free.

You might also know of a book that has a great index. Maybe it is one in your field. Look in the book for the indexer's name. If he's not listed, contact the press and ask who wrote the index.

Most print-on-demand companies provide an indexer for an extra fee.

Scheduling

The best time to schedule an indexer is when you have finished substantive changes to the text. Then allow three to four weeks before the assignment. That's soon enough that slippage will be unlikely and far away enough to let the indexer re-schedule some of his other commitments. The amount of time he will need with your manuscript depends on your book type.

Type of book Pages Business days

Academic/Scholarly < 300 10-15

Academic/Scholarly 300+ 15-20

Trade books (Light) < 300 5-7

Trade books (Light) 300+ 7-10

Trade books (Dense) < 300 7-10

Trade books (Dense) 300+ 10-15

Technical/Business < 300 10-15

Technical/Business 300+ 15-20

Expect to pay a premium for requests that deviate substantially from this outline. Rush rates vary between 25 and 50 percent more than standard rates.

Deliver your manuscript to the indexer via email as a .pdf file, whose "search" and "find" features allow the indexer to find all sorts of information. This includes bibliographic information for an "authors cited" index. The indexer will return the index via email attachment as an .rtf (rich text format) document, which maintains the structural integrity of the index's style, keeping typographic specs and indents in the appropriate places.

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~Dates: publication, street, and release

Posted: 05 May 2022 11:30 PM PDT

Dates: publication, street, and release

Publication date is when a book is available for retailer acquisition. Release date is the projected publication date. Street date is when customers can buy it. Pick these dates carefully.

The media considers your book publicity-worthy for just the first three months after its publication date. After that, it's old. So, six months to a year before publication, devote 15 minutes per day to promoting your book and coordinating with appropriate media lead times. At the six-month date, up the ante to a half-hour. At the three-month date, go up to an hour.

If possible, avoid a publication date after October 1; booksellers like to focus on books with holiday themes in the final three months. Use Publishers Lunch (www.publishersmarketplace.com/lunch/free/) and Publishers Weekly (www.publishersweekly.com/pw/home/index.HTML) to see when rival books come out. PWreviews books one to three months before their publication.

Researching

Save your work twice

Frequently back up your files on a USB disk, on Dropbox (www.dropbox.com), or elsewhere.

Note-clipping and bookmarking websites

· www.evernote.com

· www.delicious.com

· www.stumbleupon.com

· www.diigo.com

If you have to interview people

· Record the interviews digitally if this is okay with the interviewee.

· Test your equipment beforehand.

· Let there be silent pauses. Silence brings extra insight as your subject fills up the space.

· For group interviews, six or seven is an optimum size. Over-recruit by as much as 20%.

Gather the following information:

· the interviewee's name spelled correctly

· the source of statistics or research data that the interviewee provides during the interview

· how the interviewee wants to be credited in your book, including their organization's name

· a signed release stating that you have the interviewee's permission to record the interview and to include excerpts within your book

Get an interview release

Obtain a signed release if the interview is lengthy, will be reprinted verbatim (for example, in a question and answer format), or if the subject matter of the interview is controversial. If the interview subject is willing to proceed but does not want to sign a release, ask if you can record their oral consent on audio or video.

It's likely that a court will consider an interview to be of two separate works: one created by the interviewer's questions and the other by the subject's responses. These works may be protected under traditional copyright principles, or they may be protected under what's referred to as common law copyright. Under the "two-separate works" approach, you would need permission to reproduce the subject's answers.

Some argue that a better approach is that the interviewer and subject jointly create one work where the two are joint authors. Either author can use the interview for any purpose provided that the party using the interview accounts to the other for any profits.

An interview release is a hybrid agreement, part release and part license.

Template

Grant

For consideration that I acknowledge, I consent to the recording of my statements and grant to _______________ (your name) and (your name)'s assigns, licensees, and successors the right to copy, reproduce, and use all or a portion of the statements (the "Interview") for incorporation in the following work __________________ (the "Work").

I permit the use of all or a portion of the Interview in the Work in all forms and media including advertising and related promotion throughout the world and in perpetuity. I grant the right to use my image and name in connection with all uses of the Interview.

Release

I release (your name) and (your name)'s assigns, licensees, and successors from any claims that may arise regarding the use of the Interview including any claims of defamation, invasion of privacy, or infringement of moral rights, rights of publicity, or copyright. I acknowledge that I have no ownership rights in the Work.

(Your name) is not obligated to utilize the rights granted in this Agreement.

I have read and understood this agreement and I am over the age of 18. This Agreement expresses the complete understanding of the parties.

Name: Date:

Signature: Address:

Witness signature:

Parent/guardian consent [Include if the person is under 18.]

I am the parent or guardian of the minor named above. I have the legal right to consent to and do consent to the terms and conditions of this release.

Parent/guardian name: Date:

Parent/guardian signature: Address:

Witness signature:

Referencing

Guard against a tendency towards over-referencing.

Do not use the automatic footnote function in Microsoft Word; that creates problems for your page-layout designer and book printer. Instead, label the footnote as such and type it in directly below the referring paragraph.

Endnotes versus in-text

Endnotes have a superscript number in your main text that links to a corresponding citation in a list at the end of the chapter. The numbers restart at 1 with each new chapter. On the second or subsequent citation of the same source in that chapter, just use the author's surname, a shortened form of the book title, and the page number.

In-text referencing, also known as Harvard referencing, is when you spell out in your main text the author's surname, publication date, and the page number with the supporting information, all enclosed in brackets. It might look like this in one of your paragraphs (Jones, 1999, p. 17). The rest of the in-text citation is in a single bibliography in the back of the book.

For either type of citation, place the information at the end of the corresponding sentence and not in its middle.

The advantage of endnotes is that it creates a clean-looking main text with only relatively unobtrusive in-text numbers. In-text referencing, however, lets you economize on space, something to keep in mind if you are self-publishing and your printing costs depend on the page total.

Reference style websites

University of Chicago style

· www.chicagomanualofstyle.org

· www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq

APA style

· www.apastyle.org

· www.docstyles.com/apacrib.htm

· https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

MLA style

· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_MLA_Style_Manual

· http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/01

A referencing software program

www.endnote.com

Outlining

The more detailed your outline, the easier it will be to visualize and thus write your book.

Write each idea, topic, or subtopic on a separate index card, in MS Word's outlining format, or on MS PowerPoint slides.

Outline in plain phrases with a maximum of ten words per numbered item. Use only words and phrases that would be suitable for a general newspaper readership. Eventually, your full written product may have to contain a few technical phrases, but in making the outline, you will have given every topic an ordinary, clear name. This makes you creatively simplify difficult concepts.

Lastly, find people who know your topic and have them review your outline.

If reviewing scholarly research

Categorize individual authors' views by sub-themes. Doing so lets you avoid the awkwardness of starting sentences with an author's name.

Crowdsourcing your outline

Once you have taken your best shot at an outline and a few contacts have reviewed it, place a copy on Google Docs and invite a few million friends to read it and send feedback. This is called crowdsourcing feedback. Do not allow comments in the Google Docs document because there will be too many. Instead, let people write in the comments area of the post.

This works for four reasons: (1) you're not paranoid; (2) if seeing your outline enables someone else to write a better book, you're doomed anyway; (3) total strangers often provide the best ideas; and (4) this is a great way to build buzz for the book. Also, the people who participate have "invested" in it, so they want it to succeed. This is key when you have to market your book.

Permissions

If you wish to use excerpts from others' works, including their artworks, you must receive permission from their publisher in writing. Aim to get this written permission whenever you have someone else's excerpt in your work. A publisher will likely refrain from publishing your book until they have all your permission forms.

Obtaining copyright permissions takes a long time, so do this early on. It can take anywhere from one to three months, and repeated follow-up will probably be necessary. It is more difficult and more expensive to obtain permission after a book is complete. If the copyright owner becomes aware that you have a vested interest in obtaining permission (for example, your book is already in production), the price may rise. In addition, if you can't obtain permission, you'll have to redo the work, which is expensive and time consuming.

If you have a lot of permissions, sort them by criticality. For the top-priority ones, get all sourcing, contact information, prices, and necessary forms as early as possible. This lets you estimate total costs and see how much you'll have left for the others.

Your agreement may give you the right to use the work without actually buying it (a "license"), or it may be a promise that the owner will not sue you for an unauthorized use (a "release"). You may find that a license or permission agreement is referred to as a "clearance agreement." "Clearance" describes the process by which permission is granted. In contrast, buying the copyrights to a creative work (known in legal terms as a copyright assignment) gives you all the rights to the work as if you were the original copyright owner.

Steps for obtaining permission

1. Clearly and specifically identify what material you want to use and how you want to use it.

2. Determine if permission is needed or if it is fair use.

3. If permission is needed, identify the owner and the rights needed.

4. Send a permission request letter to the publisher or rights holder. Be as specific as possible. Have issue dates or page numbers.

5. You and the publisher or rights holder negotiate a permission fee, if any.

6. Finally, get a signed permission agreement in writing. Your permission request letter may do, or you may need to draft a separate permission agreement.

No permission needed

Facts and fact-based theories

You don't need to ask for permission if you are using facts or fact-based theories themselves. However, you cannot copy the unique words by which a writer expresses these facts.

Works in the Creative Commons

Creative Commons (www.creativecommons.org), a nonprofit, supports the free exchange of copyrighted materials, which eliminates the need for permissions for many uses. If you see text, photos, or artwork marked with the Creative Commons logo (two "c's" in a circle), you can reproduce and modify the material in multiple ways, provided you abide by the license requirements. These artists have decided that they will enforce their copyrights only in certain situations. To see how Creative Commons works, go to http://mirrors.creativecommons.org.

Start at the Creative Commons Search page (http://search.creativecommons.org). Although Creative Commons does not operate a search engine, it links to other search engines. Before searching, you can say how the material will be used, which affects the quantity of your results.

Do not assume that materials labeled "copyright-free" can be distributed or copied without authorization. Read carefully the terms in any "Click to Accept" agreements (often called click-wrap agreements) or "Read Me" files ordinarily accompanying such materials.

Works in the public domain

No permission is required if the work is in the public domain. Works arrive in the public domain through four ways:

• the copyright has expired

• the copyright owner failed to follow copyright renewal rules

• the copyright owner deliberately places it in the public domain, known as "dedication," or

• copyright law does not protect this type of work.

A work is not in the public domain simply because it has been posted on the Internet (a popular fallacy) or because it lacks a copyright notice (another myth).

No one can ever acquire copyright ownership for a work in the public domain.

Excerpts that qualify for "fair use"

Fair use allows the reproduction of copyrighted material for certain purposes without obtaining permission and without paying a fee or royalty. Purposes permitting the application of fair use include review, news reporting, teaching, or scholarly research. The limits are not always clear. Factors include the size or extent of the passage or material reproduced, the length of time for which the material will be used, the number of copies of the reproduced work that will be distributed, and the effect of the use on the market value of the original copyrighted work.

Unpublished or out-of-print: permission still needed

The copyright rules for unpublished works depend on if and when the author died, and, in the event the work was ultimately published, the date of publication. Publication occurs for copyright purposes when the copyright owner, or someone acting with their authority, distributes one or more copies of the work to the general public or offers the work for distribution, public display, or public performance. Copies do not need to be sold for publication to occur—they can be leased, rented, loaned, or even given away, so long as the work has been made available to the general public. Publication does not occur when copies of the work are made but not distributed.

As for out-of-print works, the copyright may still be enforceable. Authors often own the rights to their out-of-print works because contracts often return the rights to them if the publisher stops selling the book.

Contacting the owner for permission

Knowing the name of the author will help you find the owner in the Copyright Office records. Often the author retains copyright ownership but grants exclusive rights to a publisher. So even though the book's title page says Copyright 2009 (author's name), the publisher still controls all rights and can even file an application for copyright registration as the owner of these rights. To see who owns what, ask the publisher. If the publisher doesn't own the rights you need, they may be able to put you in contact with the author by forwarding your request to either the author or, if the author is deceased, the author's estate.

Start with online permission services

The Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) (www.copyright.com) has simplified the process of obtaining permissions, at least for text. By using them, you might avoid having to contact or search for the copyright owner. You only need to identify the textual work and complete a form. If the work is part of the service's online database, you can usually obtain permission within one or two days (sometimes immediately) and pay for the rights you need by credit card. Acting as the agent and broker for publishers and authors, these permission services allow you to pick and click your way through millions of works, including books and journal and magazine articles.

To use the CCC's service, visit the website and create an account. Most likely you'll want a pay-per-go account and not an annual subscription. When you find the material you're seeking, CCC will provide you with the terms for licensing or, if necessary, a direct contact to the rights holder to negotiate terms, which occurs when CCC handles some, but not all rights for a publisher.

Other ways to find the owner

Contact information for book publishers can be found in publications such as Books in Print, Literary Market Place, and International Literary Market Place, all published by R.R. Bowker (www.bowker.com). To find periodical publishers, see The National Directory of Magazines and The Standard Periodical Directory, both published by Oxbridge Communications (www.mediafinder.com). For academic publishers, see The Association of American University Presses Directory, published by the University of Chicago Press (www.press.uchicago.edu). You might find an author using the Author's Registry (www.authorsregistry.org), which has a directory of authors and will search for one or two names, usually for free. Also, the University of Texas (http://tyler.hrc.utexas.edu) maintains a searchable database entitled WATCH (Writers, Artists, and Their Copyright Holders).

If more than one author or publisher

You will need to get permission from only author—provided that your use is non-exclusive and for U.S. or North American rights. You will need permission from all of the coauthors if you want to use the text on a worldwide basis since some countries require consent of all co-owners.

If there is more than one publisher, find out who controls the right to reprint the work in another publication, known as reprint rights. The one who has these rights is known as the primary rights holder. Often, the first publisher is the primary rights holder. For a book, this is usually the hardcover publisher.

When you can't find the owner

Document your efforts and consider using the material without permission in a fair-use fashion. If the rights holder finds out about your use, you may receive a letter demanding that you stop using the material (known as a "cease and desist letter").

Before you use any material without permission, answer two questions:

1. How likely is it that the rights holder will see your work?

2. What is your potential legal liability if you are subject to a claim of copyright infringement?

Consider the following risk factors when proceeding without permission:

· The investment in the project using the copyrighted work: The more money spent on your project, the greater the risk is that you must halt publication. It may not be worth risking a $100,000 project for the sake of using one unauthorized illustration.

· The diligence of your copyright search: The more diligently you searched and documented it, the less risk. A thorough search shows that you acted in good faith and may demonstrate that it wasn't possible to locate the copyright owner.

· The nature of your work and how easy it would be to remove the offending portion

· The nature of the copyrighted portion and how easy it is to replace

Determining the fees for usage

· The number of copies to be printed: Pricing is often calculated at print runs of 5,000, 10,000, and 100,000 copies.

· The price of the book

· Territorial and language rights: World rights may cost double or triple the cost of U.S. rights alone. A rights holder may charge 25% more for permission to reprint in a second language.

· Whether the use is for a nonprofit purpose

· Placement of the text within the book: For example, a half-column quote placed at the beginning of a chapter or book may result in a higher fee.

How to minimize or negate them

Sometimes, the owner of the work will not require payment if the amount you wish to use is small or if the owner wishes to contribute to an educational or nonprofit effort.

Don't assume you will have to pay. Some will give you the piece of material for free. However, even if you get someone's permission for free, you still need his signature on the agreement form. If you are asked to pay, don't do so until you're sure what's going in your book. This way, you won't pay for a definite inclusion that turns out to be an unlikely one.

Seek a one-time nonexclusive use as long as you are not planning to write future editions or different versions of your work. Also, narrow your permission request. For example, don't ask for "worldwide rights, all languages" if you only need "United States rights, English."

Be sure to acquire multiple items from one publisher as opposed to one item from many. You can reduce your per-item fee by licensing more than one work from the same publisher.

Lastly, pay up front. Try to lower the fee by offering to pay now instead of in 30 or 60 days.

The agreement letter

Common variables of the agreement

Your permissions agreement will need to deal with three common variables: exclusivity, term, and territory.

Exclusive or nonexclusive

All permission agreements are either exclusive or nonexclusive. It is exclusive if you are the only person who has the right to use the work as described in the agreement. For example, if you enter into an agreement with the owner of a photograph for the exclusive use of the photograph in a cookbook, no one else could use the photograph in another cookbook. Most permission requests are nonexclusive, meaning others can use the material in the same way as you.

Term of use

The length of time for which you are allowed to use a work is often referred to as the "term." Your rights under a permission agreement will often be limited in duration. In reality, the copyright owner can only grant permission for as long as the owner's copyright protection lasts. After that, anyone can use the material without permission.

Territory

Your rights under a permission agreement may be limited to a geographic region, referred to as the "territory." For example, the copyright owner of a book may grant you permission to reprint a chapter only in the U.S. and Canada.

When dealing with U.S. publishers, unless you specifically ask for reprint rights in a foreign language, you will only be given the right to reprint the work in English in the territory specified. This means, for example, that acquiring "world" rights is not the same as acquiring rights in all languages. It just means you have the right to publish the work in English throughout the world.

The primary rights holder may only control rights in one country. If you intend to reproduce a work outside that country, you may need to seek additional permission. For example, one rights holder may have the right to publish a work in the U.S., another in Great Britain, and yet another in Canada. If the work for which you're seeking permission will be distributed in the U.S., Britain, and Canada, you will need permission from all three rights holders. The primary rights holder can often lead you to foreign rights holders.

Other important sections:

· Acknowledgements: Your agreement may require that you include certain credit information along with the photo, text, or artwork. Make sure that your credits conform to the requirements of your agreement.

· Warranty: This is a contractual promise made by the licensor. Some licensors don't want to make promises, particularly promises that the work does not infringe any third parties' copyright or other rights. You may have to modify the Warranty section or strike it entirely if the licensor objects.

Cover-letter template for text permission agreement

Date:

Dear (their name):

I am writing a book titled ________, which _________ (your publisher) plans to publish in _______ (the season and year of publication). The book will retail for about _____ (price). I request your permission to include an excerpt/excerpts of your book, (book title), and I am enclosing a form for it with all of the specifics. I can also send you a copy of the page of my text to show you the context of how I plan to use your material.

I look forward to receiving your permission and giving your material greater exposure. Please indicate the acknowledgement you wish printed in the book.

I've enclosed two copies of the permission agreement itself, and a stamped, self-addressed envelope. Please sign one copy and return it in the stamped envelope, and keep the other copy for your records. I thank you in advance for your cooperation and prompt response.

Sincerely,

(your signature)

(your name printed)

Enc.

Text permission agreement template

______________ ("Licensor") is the owner of rights for certain textual material defined below (the "Selection"). _________ ("Licensee") wants to acquire the right to use the Selection as specified in this agreement (the "Agreement").

Licensor Information

Title of Text (the "Selection"):

Author:

Source publication (or product from which it came):

If from a periodical, the ISSN, volume, issue, and date:

If from a book, the ISBN:

If from the Internet, the entire URL:

Number of pages or actual page numbers to be used:

If you are not the copyright holder or if worldwide rights must be obtained elsewhere, please indicate that information:

Licensee Publication Information

The Selection will appear in the following publication(s) (the "Work"):

(Check if applicable and fill in blanks.)

[ ] book--title: [ ] periodical--title:

[ ] event handout--title of event: [ ] website--URL:

[ ] diskette--title:

Name of publisher or sponsor:

Author(s):

Estimated date(s) of publication or posting:

Estimated number of copies to be printed or produced (if a book, estimated first print run):

If for sale, the price: $

If copies are free to attendees of a program, the cost of program:

If website, the URL: Estimated monthly hits:

Posting date: Rights needed:

Grant of Rights

Licensor grants to Licensee and Licensee's successors and assigns, the:

(Select one)

[ ] nonexclusive [ ] exclusive

right to reproduce and distribute the Selection in:

(Select all that apply)

[ ] the current edition of the Work [ ] all editions of the Work

[ ] all foreign language versions of the Work [ ] all derivative versions of the Work

[ ] all media now known or later devised

[ ] promotional materials published and distributed in conjunction with the Work

[ ] other rights

Territory

The rights granted under this Agreement shall be for ________________ (the "Territory").

Fees

Licensee shall pay Licensor as follows: (select one and fill in appropriate blanks)

[ ] Flat Fee

Licensee shall pay Licensor a flat fee of $__________ as full payment for all rights granted.

Payment shall be made:

[ ] upon execution of this Agreement [ ] upon publication

[ ] Royalties and Advance

Licensee agrees to pay Licensor a royalty of _____ per ebook sold and ___ per printed book sold.

Licensee shall pay Licensor within 30 days after the end of each quarter. Licensee shall furnish an accurate statement of sales during that quarter.

Credit & Samples

(Check if applicable and fill in blanks)

[ ] Credit

All versions of the Work that include the Selection shall contain the following statement:

[ ] Samples

Upon publication, Licensee shall furnish ____________ copies of the Work to Licensor.

Warranty

Licensor warrants that it has the right to grant permission for the uses of the Selection as specified above and that the Selection does not infringe the rights of any third parties.

Miscellaneous

This Agreement may not be amended except in a written document signed by both parties. If a court finds any provision of this Agreement invalid or unenforceable, the remainder of this Agreement shall be interpreted so as best to affect the intent of the parties. This Agreement shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of _______________.

This Agreement expresses the complete understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter and supersedes all prior representations and understandings.

Licensor's Approval of Request

I warrant that I am the owner of rights for the Selection and have the right to grant the permission to republish the materials as specified above.

Licensor

Signature: By:

Title: Address:

Date:

Licensee

By: Name:

Title: Address:

Date: Tax ID #:

Photo permission agreement template

___________________ ("Licensor") is the owner of rights for the photograph described below (the "Selection"). _________ ("Licensee") wants to acquire the right to use the Selection as specified in this agreement (the "Agreement").

Licensor information

Title of work (the "Selection"):

Catalogue number (if applicable):

Photographer:

Licensee publication information

The Selection will appear in the following publication(s) (the "Work"):

(Check if applicable and fill in blanks)

[ ] book--title: [ ] periodical--title:

[ ] event handout--title of event: [ ] diskette--title:

[ ] website--URL:

If to be used on a website, the Selection will appear on: (check if applicable)

[ ] home page [ ] internal page

Name of publisher or sponsor (if different from Licensee):

Estimated date(s) of publication or posting:

If applicable, the estimated number of copies to be printed or produced (if a book, the estimated first print run):

If for sale, the price:

If copies are free to attendees of a program, the cost of program:

If a website, the average number of visitors per month:

Grant of rights

Licensor grants to Licensee and Licensee's successors and assigns, the:

(Select one)

[ ] nonexclusive [ ] exclusive

Right to reproduce and distribute the Selection in

(Select all that apply)

[ ] the current edition of the Work [ ] all editions of the Work

[ ] all foreign language versions of the Work [ ] all derivative versions of the Work

[ ] all media now known or later devised

[ ] promotional materials published and distributed in conjunction with the Work

[ ] other rights __________________________________

Territory

The rights granted under this Agreement shall be for ___________________ (the "Territory").

Fees

Licensee shall pay Licensor as follows:

(Select payment option and fill in blanks)

[ ] Flat fee

As full payment for all rights granted, Licensee shall pay Licensor a flat fee of:

Payment shall be made:

[ ] upon execution of this Agreement [ ] upon publication

[ ] Royalties and advance

Licensee agrees to pay Licensor a royalty of _____ per ebook sold and ___ per printed book sold.

Licensee shall pay Licensor within 30 days after the end of each quarter. Licensee shall furnish an accurate statement of sales during that quarter.

Credit & Samples

(Check if applicable and fill in blanks)

[ ] Credit:All versions of the Work that include the Selection shall contain the following statement:

[ ] Samples:Upon publication, Licensee shall furnish __ copies of the Work to Licensor.

Warranty

Licensor warrants that it has the right to grant permission for the uses of the Selection as specified above and that the Selection does not infringe the rights of any third parties.

(Check if applicable)

[ ] Licensor warrants that a model release is on file for the Selection.

Miscellaneous

This Agreement expresses the complete understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter and supersedes all prior representations and understandings.

Licensor

By: Name:

Title: Address:

Date:

Licensee

By: Name:

Title: Address:

Date: Tax ID #:

Artwork permission agreement template

________________________ ("Licensor") is the owner of rights for the artwork described below (the "Selection"). ________________________ ("Licensee") wants to acquire the right to use the Selection as specified in this agreement (the "Agreement").

Licensor information

Title of work (the "Selection"):

Catalogue number (if applicable):

Artist:

Licensee publication information

The Selection will appear in the following publication(s) (the "Work"):

(Check if applicable and fill in blanks.)

[ ] book--title:

[ ] periodical--title:

[ ] event handout--title of event:

[ ] diskette--title

[ ] website--URL:

If to be used on a website, the Selection will appear on:

(Check if applicable.)

[ ] home page [ ] internal page

Name of publisher or sponsor (if different from Licensee):

Estimated date(s) of publication or posting:

If applicable, the estimated number of copies to be printed or produced (if a book, the estimated first print run):

If for sale, the price:

If copies are free to attendees of a program, the cost of program:

If a website, the average number of visitors per month:

Grant of rights

Licensor grants to Licensee and Licensee's successors and assigns, the

(Select one)

[ ] nonexclusive [ ] exclusive

right to reproduce and distribute the Selection in:

(Select all that apply)

[ ] the current edition of the Work [ ] all editions of the Work

[ ] all foreign language versions of the Work [ ] all derivative versions of the Work

[ ] all media now known or later devised

[ ] promotional materials published and distributed in conjunction with the Work

[ ] other rights _________________________________

Territory

The rights granted under this Agreement shall be for _____________________ (the "Territory").

Fees

Licensee shall pay Licensor as follows:

(Select payment option and fill in blanks.)

[ ] Flat fee:

As full payment for all rights granted, Licensee shall pay Licensor a flat fee of:

Payment shall be made:

[ ] upon execution of this Agreement [ ] upon publication

[ ] Royalties and advance: Licensee agrees to pay Licensor a royalty of ______% of net sales.

Licensee agrees to pay Licensor a royalty of _____ per ebook sold and ___ per printed book sold.

Licensee shall pay Licensor within 30 days after the end of each quarter. Licensee shall furnish an accurate statement of sales during that quarter.

Credit & Samples

(Check if applicable and fill in blanks)

[ ] Credit:All versions of the Work that include the Selection shall contain the following statement: ___________________________________________________

[ ] Samples: Upon publication, Licensee shall furnish _______________ copies of the Work to Licensor.

Licensor's Approval of Request

Licensor warrants that it has the right to grant permission for the uses of the Selection as specified above and that the Selection does not infringe the rights of any third parties.

(Check if applicable)

[ ] Licensor warrants that a model release is on file for the Selection.

Miscellaneous

This Agreement expresses the complete understanding of the parties with respect to the subject matter and supersedes all prior representations and understandings.

Licensor

By: Name:

Title: Address:

Date:

Licensee

By: Name:

Title: Address:

Date: Tax ID #:

Permissions tracking sheet

If you are requesting a lot of permissions, use a calendar to track renewals, payments, or samples that must be furnished for approval.

PTN (Permission Tracking Number)

Create a number for each permission use, adopting a coding system that reflects the project name. The numbers do not have to be in the order in which the works are used or acquired. What is important is that each permission use has its own PTN.

Type of work

Insert the type of work for which you have gotten permission—for example, photograph or text.

Title

Insert the title of the work.

Source

If you're using a work originally printed in another work—for example, a photograph within a book—insert the title of the source work. For works from serial publications, such as a magazine or journal, list the title and volume or issue number. If the work is from a website, list the URL.

Identifying numbers

Many works are identified by code numbers such as the ISBN, ISSN, LCCN, or Dewey Decimal numbers for textual works.

Author(s)

Insert the name of the author (the person who created the work).

Owner and contact information

Insert all contact information for the copyright owner, including the right person to contact (such as a manager or agent, if the owner has one), address, phone number, and email.

Payments due

If a payment is required, insert the terms of payment here—for example, "$50 per year"—and list when payment is due.

Payments made

When payment is made, insert the date and the method of payment, such as check or credit card. If paid by check, include the check number.

Credit required

If the copyright owner requires that a credit line be included, insert the type of credit here—for example, "Photograph copyright Prudence O'Neal."

Sample approval / complimentary copies

In some cases, the owner has a right to approve samples prior to production or the owner is entitled to complimentary copies. If either samples or complimentary copies are required per your agreement, insert that information and the name of the recipient.

Rights acquired

List the rights you acquired under the permission agreement. Your primary concerns are exclusivity, territory, language, and term (or length of use). For example, the rights acquired might be stated as: "Nonexclusive English language rights for four years."

WAKE UP WITH DETERMINATION. GO TO BED WITH SATISFACTION.
SOMETIMES LATER BECOMES NEVER. DO IT NOW.
THE KEY TO SUCCESS IS TO FOCUS ON GOALS, NOT OBSTACLES.
GREAT THINGS NEVER COME FROM COMFORT ZONES.
DON'T STOP WHEN YOU'RE TIRED. STOP WHEN YOU'RE DONE.

Storage

Keep the signed permission forms that you receive in a safe place. If anyone wants to see them, make and send copies.

Drafting

Put "AWFUL FIRST DRAFT" in big letters at the beginning of everything you start. This will encourage you to write without worrying about perfection.

Never sit with a sentence longer than five minutes. Accept that you're stuck and come back later. You'll be amazed at how often the fix seems obvious. Along this line, once you've completed your first draft, let it sit for a week to a month. When you return, many of the remaining problems will be easy to solve, and you will have a fresh perspective for the editing stage.

Vomit it out. Once your outline and research is complete, you're ready for "vomiting." Write as much as possible as quickly as possible before you forget anything or lose trains of thought. Most of the writing will change, and you'll throw away a lot of it, but this is OK for now.

In your darkest, most frustrated hours, remember the value you are trying to add to peoples' lives, the satisfaction you'll feel, or the cause that you'll further. The path to a finished book is not a smooth or a straight line, but the end result will make you forget the pain. Finishing a book is similar to giving birth: You need to keep pushing.

Tell the world you're writing a book, not that you're thinking of writing a book. People will start asking how it's progressing and when it will hit shelves and websites. If you don't finish it, you'll have to admit defeat in a public manner. Peer accountability is a powerful tool when you feel like giving up; there will be days you'll feel this way.

Write every day. The habit of writing every day controls doubt and prevents quitting. Maybe it's only writing a paragraph, massaging your outline, or refining your vomit. Come hell or high water, write every day, even if it's only for five minutes.

Have a spectacular first page

The very first sentence, paragraph, and page of your manuscript need to be spectacular. Count on having one minute to capture someone's attention. Start with a story, a quotation, a paradox, or a problem in clear terms. What is the "story" of your book? What's compelling you to write it?

Opening and ending non-fiction chapters

Open with lead-in material to frame and situate the analysis to come. Then briefly mention the sequence of topics in the chapter. For each chapter's ending, draw out the conclusions of your analysis and the implications. Then link back from this chapter to the opening one, and possibly to other preceding chapters, before connecting this chapter to the next one.

Supplying supplemental info

Sidebars

A sidebar is a chapter's subsection that lets you go off on a tangent or highlight content that deserves more attention, such as an example, short anecdote, short interview, or other information that doesn't flow with the body but is still relevant. Keep it to a page.

Lists

Lists are a kind of sidebar and can summarize or build on the chapter's main points in a concise and memorable way. Some classic ones are dos and don'ts. Keep your points to nine, either for body text or for items in a table. Otherwise, create sub-groups.

Resource boxes

Resource boxes often appear at the end of a chapter and point readers to where they can find more information on a topic. They can contain website addresses, books and other publications on the topic, or lists of organizations.

Helpful graphic icons

If you are explaining a process, you may want to use graphic icons, such as those in the popular self-help books. Here are some examples:

· flying automobiles – something that could conceivably happen in the future

· guns drawn – a contentious point between different groups of people

· tassel - scholarly research from scientists or academics that supports the point

· light bulb - an idea possibility

Formatting

· Between sentences, type one space only, never two.

· Make your text justified with even edges at the left and right margins.

· Avoid widows and orphans - isolated lines at the top or bottom of the page.

· Indent all paragraphs half an inch except the one below a heading or a list of items, which should be flush left.

Margins

Most printers want 1/4" of white space inside your trim lines. If you go closer, it's called a bleed. This can get expensive on your interior pages. On your cover, you'll usually have a color or image bleed, but many printers require any text to be 1/4" away from the trim line there as well.

Capitalizing titles and headings

Use headline-style capitalization for titles and subtitles. This means capitalizing the first word, last word, and every noun, pronoun, verb, adjective, and adverb. Do not capitalize articles, prepositions shorter than five letters, and conjunctions. Follow these rules for your title page, book listing, and cover.

Metric forms

Use the metric form with American equivalents in parentheses.

Tables

For tables, order data numerically when possible and use three or four "effective digits" for each entry. For example, with three effective numbers, 1,346,899 would become 1,350,000 or 1.35 million.

Fonts and size for the body and headings

Serifs and sans serifs are the two major font types. Serifs are easier to read for the body of your text because the little hooks on them hold the eye on the line. Garamond is a good font for body text. Sans serif fonts use less curves and embellishments and are great for headings. Georgia is a good choice. Many printers don't accept manuscripts in Times New Roman or Arial.

Your fonts must be compatible with the technology of your book printer.

As for size, use 10 or 12 point for the body text. Chapter titles and headings should be larger and bolded or italicized. A good style hierarchy for headings: Level 1: bold, italics, 17 point; Level 2: bold, 15-point; Level 3: bold, 10-point.

Running heads

For non-fiction, put the book's title on the left side and the chapter title on the right. For fiction, put your name on the left side and the book title on the right side. Running heads are not on the first page of a chapter, which is usually odd-numbered and on the right-hand side of the book.

First letters of a chapter

You may want to alter the font and/or size of the first words or letters at the beginning of the first paragraph of each chapter. For non-fiction you can also include a graphic and/or a short paragraph that says what that chapter is about.

Proper ordering of sections

Front matter (in order)

Refer to "The Chicago Manual of Style" to ensure that your front matter is correct.

1. The half-title page consists only of the main title; omit the subtitle and your name. (Page i)

2. The back (verso) of the half-title page is blank unless the book is part of a series, in which case you would list the title, volume, name of general editor, and titles of previous works in the series.

3. The second page on the right (recto) is the title page. Include the title, subtitle if any, your full name, the publishing house name, and its address. Also include the names of the illustrator, editor, photographer, and foreword writer if any of these people are well-known or otherwise important to the book. (Page iii)

4. Copyright page (recto verso): The copyright page is on the back of the title page. See the sample copyright page below. You must list the name and address of the publisher. If you are self-publishing, get a post office box or use the address of your book printer. Do not mention your home address.

Unless otherwise required under your permission agreement, you can group credits together on the copyright page. For example: "Elvis's Toothbrush" originally appeared in Meet the Stars © 1985, by Missy Laws. Reprinted by permission of Ross Books.

The copyright page is page iv.

5. Dedication (optional)

6. Epigraph (optional) – An epigraph is a quotation that is pertinent but not integral to the text. It appears facing the Table of Contents, or facing the first page of text. Epigraphs can also be used at the beginning of each chapter.

7. Table of Contents (begins on the next right page)

8. List of Figures (illustrations): Include a list of all figures, their titles, and their page numbers.

9. List of Tables (including checklists): Ditto.

10. Foreword (optional): Keep the left page blank, and put this on the right page. Someone else writes the foreword as an introduction to your book. It describes some of the reasons why the book may be of interest to the reader, and it is usually between one to five pages. The foreword is always signed, usually with that writer's name, place and date.

Obtain written permission from the foreword writer.

11. Preface (optional): Keep the left page blank, and put this on the right page. The preface is similar to a foreword except that you write it. Your book can have both a preface and a foreword, but this is not common. The preface sets the tone of the book and tells the reader what to expect. It is often signed with the author's name, place, and date, but this is not always the case.

12. Acknowledgements (if not part of the preface): Keep the left page blank, and put this on the right page. One to two paragraphs is standard. Be nice in your acknowledgements, and acknowledge all permissions here.

13. Introduction (if not part of the text) (optional): The introduction you can write in the first person. Provide the reader with the book's purpose, your goals, your intended audience, an overview, and a summary of core knowledge that readers need before continuing.

14. Prologue (for fiction): The prologue sets the scene for the story and is told in the voice of a character from the book, not the author's voice.

15. List of Acronyms: Only use acronyms for specialized concepts that recur a lot (at least three or four times) and choose the simplest form possible.

16. Second Half Title: If the front matter is extensive, a second half title, identical to the first, can be added before the beginning of the text. The page following is usually blank but may contain an illustration or an epigraph.

Sample copyright page (recto verso)

(Copyright symbol) (Year) (Your name). All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system - except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine, newspaper, or on the Web - without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, please contact (Publishing company's name and address).

Cover design by (name):

Interior design by (name):

Author photo (copyright symbol) name:

Permissions and other credits:

Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure the accuracy and completeness of information contained in this book, we assume no responsibility for errors, inaccuracies, omissions, or any inconsistency herein. Any slights of people, places, or organizations are unintentional.

Printed and bound in (country):

(# of printing - First, Second, Third, etc.) printing (year):

ISBN:

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) (if applicable):

LCCN:

ATTENTION CORPORATIONS, UNIVERSITIES, COLLEGES, AND PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: Discounts are available on bulk purchases of this book for educational, gift purposes, or as premiums for increasing magazine subscriptions or renewals. Special books or book excerpts can also be created to fit specific needs. For information please contact (Publishing company's address and phone).

(If there are a lot of trademarked names in the book, list them here alphabetically rather than have the symbol intrude on the reader's flow.)

Front matter for ebooks

With ebooks, there is a tradeoff between the credibility of traditional front matter and the marketing benefits of facilitating readers' ability to "look inside" books before buying them on a website such as Amazon. A good order for ebook front matter is:

1. Cover

2. Blurbs

3. Table of Contents

4. Foreword or preface (but not both, and neither for fiction)

5. Begin Chapter 1.

You can stick everything else in the back because most of it doesn't matter to most people.

Prospective readers can now garner more information in less time to make a buying decision, which is the goal.

Body of the book

Part Opening page: Both fiction and nonfiction books are often divided into parts when there is a large conceptual, historical, or structural logic that suggests these divisions, and the belief that the reader will benefit from a meta-organization.

Chapter Opening page: Most fiction and almost all nonfiction books are divided into chapters for the sake of organizing the material to be covered. Chapter Opening pages and Part Opening pages may be a single right-hand page, or in some cases a spread consisting of a left- and right-hand page (a verso and a recto). If a spread opening is used, half the chapters (or parts) will generate a blank right hand page, and the author or publisher will have to work with the book designer to decide how to resolve these right-hand page blanks.

Epilogue: An epilogue is an ending piece, either in the voice of the author or as a continuation of the main narrative, meant to bring closure of some kind to the work.

Afterword: This may be written by the author or another, and might deal with the origin of the book or seek to situate the work in some wider context.

Conclusion: A brief summary of the salient arguments of the main work that tries to give a sense of completeness to the work.

Rear matter

1. Appendix: This might include source documents cited in the text, material that arose too late to be included in the main body of the work, or any other insertions. Keep each appendix short (no longer than two or three pages) and title them Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, etc., although each can also have a short title.

2. Notes: Endnotes come after any appendices and before the bibliography or list of references. The notes are typically divided by chapter to make them easier to find.

3. Glossary

4. Bibliography

5. List of Contributors: Contributor's names should be listed alphabetically by last name, but appear in the form "First Name Last Name." Information about each contributor may include brief biographical notes, academic affiliations, or previous publications.

6. Index

7. About the Author: This section provides more detail than the short paragraph that you include about yourself on your book's back cover. If you're publishing a hardcover book, the About the Author section can be placed on the book's jacket. Include detailed information about yourself, such as your picture, background, education, employer, credentials, or other personal details. You might want to mention your website or disclose a mailing or email address for readers to contact you.

Editing

The best editing manual

Look for The Chicago Manual of Style (University of Chicago Press); see www.chicagomanualofstyle.org or www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/cmosfaq. The Chicago Manual of Style is an essential reference guide for copy editors. It covers grammar, punctuation, common misspellings, numbers and money, and many other things.

Some grammar specifics

Good writing should sound like the remarks of a clear, congenial speaker. Envision one typical reader—preferably a friend—and write as if you were sending her a letter. If your friend wouldn't understand a term or phrase, don't use it. Better still, ask yourself how your non-specialist friend would describe the same idea, and borrow from her the language, in a sense.

Customize Word's grammar checker to help you avoid issues such as two spaces between sentences. Select "Preferences" from the menu and click on the "Spelling and Grammar" icon.

Gender pronoun issue

State your intentions (and apologies) at the outset of your writing. Then alternate the use of "he" and "she." To avoid awkwardness, make the subject and verb plural where possible.

Use past tense for current events

Use the past tense so that you don't have to correct the text when these events are in the past.

Avoid the -zation suffix

Avoid words ending in -zation. Use the verb form instead.

When editing on the computer

Change the font to white and the background color of the page itself to black. This will make it easier on your eyes and easier to spot errors.

1. Proofread alouddryly

Read your book to yourself or, even better, read it to someone who cares about your writing. If you find a passage is hard to speak, people will find it hard to read. By reading aloud, you'll discover sentences or passages that sound awkward, verbose, or unclear. Your voice will naturally find the points of emphasis. Hearing text, rather than just reading it, gives you a chance to ask, "Would anyone really say that?"

Print your book in a format that approximates the final appearance. This will make errors more obvious. Also, read with a ruler because it forces you to look at only one line at a time.

After proofreading, if you make any changes to your document at all, use the spell checker again. It will save you untold moments of embarrassment.

Self-editing checklist

When editing your manuscript, read through it once for each of the following categories, ideally aloud. Create a double-spaced printout of each chapter and have a red pen available. After making your changes, create a new printout and review it again, this time reading upwards and from right to left. It is easier to find errors this way.

· appropriate length of sentences and paragraphs

· chapter titles and headings

· consistency in abbreviations

· consistency of verb tenses and subject number

· consistency in terminology

· correctness of facts

· grammar

· inclusion of necessary content

· interesting openings

· minimal use of the passive voice

· organization of arguments

· page numbers

· placement of figures

· proper usage of em dashes, en dashes, and hyphens

· punctuation

· references to specific page numbers, figures, or chapters

· smooth transitions and flow

· spelling

· styles, especially of headings (keep a printout list next to your computer)

· thorough conclusions

· vocabulary

· your voice, tone, and soul in the writing

· worthiness of artwork and figures

Have a good printer for this. You don't want to wait forever when printing chapters at home or the entire manuscript. Look for one that has a wide-color option and that can handle 11-x-17-inch sheets of paper; this way if you're creating and reviewing your final page layout, you can view double-page spreads and view each page in its actual size. Go for a printer that includes a scanner, fax machine, and photocopier.

2. Proofread as a duo

Have two people read the text aloud to each other. While one reads, the other follows along on paper. Look for misspellings, grammatical errors, and inconsistencies. Both readers should stop at each mistake or inconsistency and mark the correction. You can be one of the people proofreading, but find a partner who has never seen the document before.

After the two of you have finished reading to each other, go back and make the changes in your draft. Then print out a new copy and compare the new against the old in every place where you made a change. Make sure you didn't accidentally delete a word, put one line of a paragraph at the bottom or top of a page, or make a noun change that now requires a plural verb. Also make sure you did indeed make all the corrections you were supposed to make.

3. Ask friends, family, and volunteers to edit

Send the first complete draft to an inner sanctum of five to ten people, folks you've known for years and whose judgment you trust. You want them to be "book murderers." They may be excited to review it because they've never been asked to do this before. The best ones are those who fit your audience profile, would actually buy your book, and have read others like it. The more specific your audience is, the more knowledgeable your volunteer editors should be.

Also look for other writers as readers, people with whom you can reciprocate. Check out literary events listed in the Events section of your local newspaper, at readings in bookstores, local writing groups, and cool websites and blogs for writers.

Give instructions and questions in advance. Let them know that you want the honest truth in their opinions. Ask that they underline any misspelled or questionable words, circle unclear passages, and note rough transitions with a question mark. Also encourage them to jot any suggestions in the margins. Good questions to ask:

· What did you like best?

· What did you like least?

· Did the book deliver on its promise?

· Was anything confusing or awkward?

· Was any information missing?

· Did the arguments make sense?

· Where is it choppy?

Taking criticism from them

Get comfortable now with harsh feedback from familiar faces so that you can more easily handle crippling criticism later on. Listen instead of defending yourself or your work. If you still have questions about their criticism, ask civilly for clarification after you have calmed down emotionally. Criticism is never meaningful if it doesn't hit home.

4. Writer and niche communities

Post your work, get reviews, and connect with other writers. See www.reviewfuse.com, www.writerscafe.org, www.critiquecircle.com, www.absolutewrite.com/forums, www.kboards.com/index.php?board=60.0, and http://forums.nathanbransford.com/index.php.

Find other people who share your passions, start commenting on their posts, and mention them in your posts. When you see a way to help them, seize the chance to create a relationship. You cannot expect strangers to jump at the opportunity to help you, but you can expect people to reciprocate because of what you've done for them.

When you've done something for someone, and the person thanks you, the optimal response is "I know you would do the same for me." In other words, let them know that they owe you. When people then owe you, give them a way to pay you back so that they can clear their debt. The constant exchange of favor and reciprocation builds very strong relationships.

5. Crowdsource the editing

Ask your followers on Google+, Facebook, and Twitter to give feedback from the beginning to end of the publishing process. All these people should have to do is provide some information via an online form as well as to agree not to send the manuscript to others. Send them the Word file after turning on "Highlight Changes" so that it will be easy to find their comments.

6. Only now hire freelance editors

If you spend money on only one thing, spend it on an editor. An objective professional can really help your book. If you don't hire an editor, get at least several friends to read the manuscript before it goes to press. Show potential editors a chapter or two. See what comments you get back. Are they thorough, interesting, thoughtful, and knowledgeable?

Hire your editor in advance. It will be difficult to find one who can work on your manuscript right away. However, if you are confident in your writing ability and have friends as free editors, wait in hiring a professional until your manuscript is complete. If an editor tells you that he can edit your entire manuscript in a few days, find someone else.

After the manuscript is finished, allow several weeks for your editor to properly complete the editing process. Don't be surprised if he comes back with many changes. You're probably extremely attached to your work, but you need to trust him enough to improve your text. The editor is simply transforming your manuscript into the most professionally written book possible.

That being said, remember that it's your book. You have final say on all suggested edits and revisions. Good editors subsume their egos and enter the writer's mind. They never try to take over a book, conform or contort it to their ideas, or make any changes unilaterally, without your approval.

Finding them

If you don't know any editors, consider these options:

· the editor of your local newspaper

· members of a local writers' group

· a co-author: www.asja.org

· general freelance websites

· www.writer.ly/home

· www.manuscriptediting.com

· www.freelancewritersearch.com

· www.the-efa.org

· www.bookdocs.com

· http://edit911.com

· www.alanrinzler.com/home.HTML

· www.kirkusreviews.com/author-services/editorial- Kirkus Reviews Book Editing Services offers three editorial services:

o Collaborative Editing: This focuses on content editing and examines tone, organization, voice, characterization, dialogue, and clarity.

o Copyediting: Kirkus copyeditors go through your manuscript line by line to fix typical copyediting issues such as grammar, spelling, and punctuation.

o Professional Editing. This package includes a consulting session and three rounds of editing that includes both collaborative editing and copyediting. At the end of the process your manuscript should be ready to publish.

· classified ads in publications about writing (www.writermag.com/wrt, www.writersdigest.com, or www.publishersweekly.com)

Questions when interviewing them

In general:

· What is your approach to editing?

· Do you review galleys too?

· What manual do you use as a guide? (It should be The Chicago Manual of Style.)

Their background

· What type of experience do you have with editing full-length manuscripts?

· What are some of these titles?

· Do you have a relevant degree? (Editing is a specialized field. As such the editor should have a degree in journalism, English, literature or some variation of those.)

· Do you have experience in the publishing industry? (Freelance editors should pay their dues and get real world experience before soliciting writers.)

· Do you have references? (You should be able to talk to past clients to see how their working relationship was and what effect the editor's guidance had on their project.)

What they think of your book:

· Does the concept of my book make sense?

· What changes do you foresee in the content or direction of my book?

· What are the weak points, and how would you fix them?

· What are the strong points?

· What kind of publicity/marketing plan do you envision for my book?

Their preferred style of working:

· How do you like to work? Do you want a complete manuscript or several chapters at a time?

· Do you review and edit the work multiple times?

· Do you edit the manuscript sentence by sentence?

· Do you prefer working with a printout or a Word document?

· How soon would you be able to return the manuscript?

· If we can't meet in person, can we communicate through Skype or Google Hangout?

Price

Plan on spending anywhere from $1,500 to $5,000 to have your book-length manuscript professionally edited. This is one of the dumbest places to try to save money because poor copyediting destroys the quality of your book.

The final price depends on many factors:

· your manuscript's length

· the complexity of the material

· how long the editor thinks it will take

· how closely you work with the editor

· the editor's current workload

· how quickly you need the work done

· the type of editing needed

The types of editing rounds and their costs

Content editing ensures the accuracy and consistency of content and focuses on extensive restructuring of sentences, themes, and characters. A fair price is $.034 to $.044 per word, or above $75/hour. Watch out for prices in the $25/hour range, since they are more in line with copyediting, not content editing.

Line editing is copyediting on steroids, a detailed line-by-line process to correct errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The editor will also make suggestions to improve syntax and word choice. A fair price is between $.015 and $.020 per word or around $35 per hour. Copyeditors can work their magic at the rate of roughly ten pages per hour.

Technical editing checks facts, including

· phone numbers

· addresses

· website URLs

· names

· facts

· figures

· statistics

· research materials

· cited works

When interviewing a potential technical editor, focus on their knowledge of the topic and their willingness to fact check and research the accuracy of the book's information. The cost is considerably less than what it costs to hire a copy editor. Plan on spending anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $2,500, depending on your manuscript's length and the type of work involved.

Design and layout

A helpful website

www.helppublish.com/layout.HTML

Sharing of large files

· Google Drive (www.google.com/drive/about.HTML) (free for up to 15 GB)

· FilesDIRECT (www.filesdirect.com)

· SendThisFile (www.sendthisfile.com)

· SendYourFiles (www.sendyourfiles.com)

· YouSendIt (www.hightail.com)

· Dropbox (www.dropbox.com)

Interior photos and artwork

Permission needed for copyrighted artwork

You will need permission to use any type of copyrighted artwork. This includes drawings, photos, graphics, logos, charts, illustrations, or icons created by someone else.

Other types of permission needed

You also need permission from anyone in the photo. If the photo contains trademarks or copyrighted artwork, you need those permissions too. Lastly, if the photo shows someone's private property, get permission from that owner, even if it was you who took the picture.

Stick to black and white

Many books use just black ink and black-and-white photos in the book's interior. Having other colors for photos or utilizing full-color printing throughout your book increases costs dramatically. Most ebook reading devices can't even handle colors.

Adding figure numbers and captions

Add a caption and a figure number under each artwork item. Refer to the figure number within the text to connect the text and the image. Figure numbers begin with the chapter number, followed by a dash or period and are in chronological order. The first image in Chapter 3, for example, is labeled Figure 3-l or Figure 3.1. The second is Figure 3-2 or Figure 3.2 and so on.

Hiring a photographer

When you need a certain picture to be shot, you hire a photographer. This is called assignment photography. The photographer sells all rights in an assignment photograph so that the person who pays the photographer is free to use the photograph for any purpose.

Acquiring an existing photo

If you have to pay for an existing photo, your best bet is to pay a flat fee for a royalty-free stock photo from an image library. Unlike rights-protected photos, royalty-free means you don't need to make ongoing payments for continued use of the photo, and thus you will spend much less money, often under $20 per image. To know the maximum to pay, look at comparable photos on www.corbis.com, an expensive library, and then aim to pay a much lower price.

A great option is iStockphoto.com, which pioneered a new approach to stock photography known as "microstock," a system for very inexpensive licensing. The prices are based on a micropayment model and can be as low as $2 per image. Veer (www.veer.com) is another good one. If you use these photos, you don't have to worry about permissions or copyright infringements. However, you cannot use the images on merchandise.

Always ask whether the image library possesses all rights for the stock photo. It may seem odd, but there are occasions when an image library has a stock photo but not its licensing rights. In such cases, contact the rights holder to obtain permission to reproduce the photo.

Stock-photo aggregator services

Stock-photo aggregators enable you, via subscription or other payment system, to access a variety of the images on the stock-photo sites.

· Thinkstock - www.thinkstock.com

· Fotosearch - www.fotosearch.com

· Punchstock - www.punchstock.com

Stock websites for photos and illustrations

· Flickr - www.flickr.com (you likely won't have to pay anything at all)

· istockphoto - www.istockphoto.com

· Veer - www.veer.com (similar to istockphoto)

· Jupiter Images - www.jupiterimages.com

· PhotoObjects.net - www.photoobjects.net

· Photos.com - www.photos.com

· ShutterStock - www.shutterstock.com

· Theispot.com (for illustrations) - www.theispot.com

· Corbis - www.corbis.com

· AP Images - www.apimages.com

· Getty Images - www.gettyimages.com

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~Ebooks

Posted: 05 May 2022 11:08 PM PDT

Ebooks

Have an ebook option when your first edition comes out. Ebooks can be unlimited in length and contain any type of text, photographs, or graphics. They can also be modified quickly and cheaply. If you have an ebook version, your book will never go out of print. You may want to launch with an ebook only and move to paper later. The ebook, however, still needs an ISBN.

Bestseller lists for the New York Times and Wall Street Journalmight not combine the sales figures of your ebook and printed book. Sales of paperback and hardcover are counted in different lists too.

To cover all the ebook delivery options, you need three file types: .epub, .mobi, and .pdf. Most online resellers sell your book in the .epub format, but Kindle Direct Publishing sells it as a .mobi file, which means that even though more ebook reading devices use .epub, your largest market uses .mobi.

Aims and audience

Aims

· Why are you writing the book and what do you hope to accomplish with it?

· Do you want to establish yourself as an expert in your field, make money, or both?

· Are you looking to communicate specific knowledge to a group of interested readers?

· What do you hope to gain from the investment of your time, effort, and money?

· What new information do you offer?

· How can you convey this new information?

· Can you explain key concepts in a way that lay readers can understand?

Audience

· Who are your readers?

· Why would the reader be interested?

· How much does the reader already know about this topic?

· What do you hope the reader does or thinks afterwards?

Optimize and maximize your title

Your book's title and subtitle must contain the keywords people search for. Optimize them with the Google Keyword Planner. Enter possible keywords, and Google will tell you how often people search for them. Amazon will accept a total of 200 characters for the main title and subtitle combined. The longer your title is, the more keywords you can put in it, and as a result, the more frequently your book will be found.

Ask friends for their opinions by typing out the possible titles on a page for them to read. You might also want to "crowdsource" opinions by way of a crowdsourcing website.

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~Understanding self-publishing

Posted: 05 May 2022 10:52 PM PDT

Self-publishing vs. traditional publishing

Advantages of self-publishing

· Publication is faster; it takes days or weeks, not months or years.

· You will have your choice of trim size and paper stock.

· Print books on demand, even just for one copy.

· You can be 100% certain of publishing and getting it up on Amazon.com.

· Royalties will be much greater, from 20% to 80%. A few even offer 100%.

· You will control the foreign rights.

· Self-publishing lets you have global distribution of your ebook on day one.

· You have final say on the overall project, the content of the book, its interior layout and design, its cover, its price, its marketing, and the amount of resources spent on it.

· With print-on-demand and ebooks, you can keep your book in print forever, revise it immediately, and change the price of your book whenever you want.

· Most ebook resellers provide real-time or near real-time sales results, and many print-on-demand printers can provide similar information.

Advantages of traditional publishing houses

· More credibility in the eyes of bookstore owners and readers

· A sales team with multiple titles of other authors to sell to bookstores, who usually do not want to work with someone who is just selling one title.

· Less of a time commitment: You do not have to worry about responsibilities that would otherwise be yours if you went the self-publishing route (editing, layout and design, printing, marketing, advertising, promoting, selling, and distributing the book).

· Less of a financial commitment: When you self-publish, all the costs are your responsibility. You must be equipped to handle each major task as both the author and the financial backer.

· Acceptance of book returns from stores: Companies that help with self-publishing usually do not accept returns from booksellers, retailers, and distributors.

· Offers of credit terms for your book to distributors, booksellers, libraries, and other retailers: These stores buy on credit, and won't carry your book if you or the printer of your books do not offer credit terms. Most printers that help with self-publishing do not offer credit terms.

· Money up front for you: You can get an advance for your book.

Self-publishing's sequential steps

1. Define your target audience.

2. Research the content.

3. Create a detailed outline.

4. Write the manuscript.

5. Have the manuscript edited.

6. Apply for an ISBN, LCCN, copyright, and other book-specific codes, if necessary.

7. Set the cover price for your book.

8. Select a publication date.

9. Create an index if it is a non-fiction book, or hire a professional indexer.

10. Have the manuscript's interior pages designed and laid out.

11. Hire a graphic designer and create your book's front and back covers.

12. If making a printed book and not just an ebook, choose a print-on-demand (POD) firm.

13. Develop press materials for your book.

14. Plan and implement a comprehensive marketing, public relations, and advertising campaign.

15. Develop a website to promote your book.

16. Begin pre-selling your book by sending out press materials, promoting the book, lining up booksellers to sell it to, being active in social media, and so on.

17. Have your book listed with online retailers.

18. Establish your publishing company (if applicable).

19. Arrange for book events, whether they are in bookstores or people's homes.

20. Publish the book and ship it to consumers, retailers, and distributors, as appropriate.

21. Continue promoting and marketing your book while filling orders from customers.

The types of costs

· the opportunity cost of the time you're taking to write something.

· a flat fee for using a POD company (such as Lightning Source) on top of the per-book cost

· permission fees for using excerpts of others' works

· content editor / developmental editor

· technical editor / fact checker

· copy editor / proofreader

· indexer

· cover designer

· interior book designer for layout

· stock photography/artwork/illustrator

· copyright registration fee

· ISBN code and other identifier codes

· membership fee for the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA)

· book copies for reviewers and blurbers

· author photo

· marketing (business cards and keyword research)

· publicity (hiring a publicist and paying for book tours or events)

· NetGalley membership

· website (architecture, design, and upkeep)

· bookstore touring

· merchant account fees for credit cards

· printing (print books only)

· business-filing expenses for having your own publishing firm (optional)

Crowdfunding your book

You can use a service such as Unbound (http://unbound.co.uk), Pubslush (www.pubslush.com), Indiegogo (www.indiegogo.com/projects?filter_category=Writing), GoFundMe (www.gofundme.com), or Kickstarter (www.kickstarter.com) to generate sales revenue before you ship your book. Create an online campaign for your book and then use social media to spread the word to your friends, family, and the public. Include a description of your book, your background, and a video. You could offer different benefits depending on the size of the commitment (each higher level includes the perks of the previous level):

· $10: public thank-you on Facebook

· $25: copy of the finished ebook

· $50: signed paperback

· $100: Skype call with the author

· $500: your name in the acknowledgment section

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Wednesday, June 8, 2022