I’ve been saying for some time now that if you don’t start to take video seriously as a major marketing/educational medium, you and your book or other business are toast.

In this article on Biznik.com, Contributor Michael Shuett (who works with a video production company in Washington State) clearly states it yet again. “Being without a professional video will soon be equivalent to not having a website; it will be as necessary as it used to be to have a listing in the Yellow Pages.”

Shuett offers statistics from the Unica State of Marketing 2010 study, which clearly demonstrates that most organizations intend to use video (especially in mobile social media content) this year as part of their marketing strategies. We have known for some time that search results always favour video content over any other content, including text, blog updates, and even audio.

The big obstacle for most of us? We freak out when someone suggests that we should be on camera. I also have a face made for radio, but I still get up there and do video regularly. Consider these options for freaked-out video creators;

• Narrate A Slide Show: This is the least threatening and easiest way to start with video. If you do any sort of speaking or teaching, a good first video exercise might be to take one of your training sessions and simply narrate it while you flip through your slides. This way, only your voice is present, and people will see your presentation, not your face. You can use a variety of tools to create this, including Jing (free) and/or Camtasia (not so free).
• Prioritize Audio Quality: Use a good quality microphone – sound quality is essential. You can get away with crappy lighting and bad photography if people can still hear your message, but if they can’t hear you, they stop watching. A headset is my preference, and seems to get the best results, partly because it’s maintained at a steady distance from my mouth at all times and doesn’t move around. However, I recognize that this can make you look like you’re trying to launch a space shuttle. If you’d prefer a handheld (and there are cases where I prefer a handheld – see a future post about that) you can get away with a surprisingly affordable one. I paid about $160 US for my headset a couple of years ago (here’s a link to something similar – very comfortable, as I wear these a lot) and about $35 for my handheld (including shipping) on eBay. Test everything before you start shooting. (Best tip: be sure the microphone switch is turned to the ‘on’ position. No joke – I’ve done it.)
• Do It Yourself: Although Shuett suggests that video should be professionally-produced or nothing, I must say that I disagree. Video created on-the-fly with a gritty home-grown quality can provoke a better response than professional quality. I mean really, who trusts a script? (You can always tell when it’s a script and someone’s reading from a cue card.) It’s so easy to just sit in front of your webcam and make a fast recording. I’ve even created video while driving. (Safely and legally, I swear.) Homegrown is better than nothing.
• Use YouTube’s Natural SEO Benefits: The overwhelming majority of video viewed on the web these days is still ultimately hosted on YouTube.com. When uploading a video there, you’ll be prompted with a variety of fields, including one specifically for keywords. (Be sure to do your keyword research up front.) Don’t neglect all these other fields – fill them out completely! People don’t necessarily have to find your very own website to discover you. Simply searching YouTube will help them find your video, and this will lead them back to your site, because of course, your URL is clearly present there for them to click on.
• Don’t Edit: After the first few years dealing with editing video, I’m now really a one-take sort of girl. If I mess up seriously, I’ll re-take it, but I hate chopping in second cameras, voiceovers, etc. What a drag, and a delay to posting. I just shoot and post. I will vaguely outline what I want to say verbally before turning on the camera, but I rarely even write it down anymore. If you know your stuff, it comes easily anyway.
• Be Funny: This is synonymous with being real, keeping it loose, etc. Boring = viewers who leave. Funny = believability. If you’re not naturally funny, don’t try to fake it, but keep it friendly at least.

Recently, for the first time, I was recognized in a crowd at a business event, because people had seen me on video. They already trusted me and my company, because they had seen me talk about their subject, and they knew my style. I’ve always said, if a fat chick in her late 30′s isn’t credible these days, who is? It’s the one thing I have going for me. (Along with good teeth.) Find out what you’ve got going for you, and use it on video.

This is the revised version, April 2012.

Keyword research is so very important that I want to highlight this tip sheet for my readers. Please download this free PDF for a fast introduction to the why and how.

I recently gave a talk for the Nanaimo Women’s Business Network here on Vancouver Island, and for the Ladies Who Launch in Vancouver, and we talked about keyword research quite at bit more than I had intended to. I suppose I really am an Uber-Geek, because I actually enjoy doing keyword research. Seriously. This is how I spend my evenings while all of you are out dancing at the local pub.

You should do a basic keyword research exercise (30 mins to 2 hours) before you do any of the following;

• write a book
• even think about writing a book
• decide on the final title for your book
• design the cover for your book
• create a company logo
• setup your website
• create business cards or brochures or advertising
• write a business plan (especially this!)
• create a blog post
• put anything on social media sites
• create a podcast
• revise any of the above

I’m not trying to freak you out – I’m just trying to make it clear how important this is. The document is free, so please feel free to re-distribute it to friends.

Today was the release of “A River in the Sky“*, the 19th book in the Amelia Peabody novels by Elizabeth Peters. There’s a reason readers keep coming back.

The multiple NY Times bestselling Author Barbara Mertz (aka Elizabeth Peters, and aka Barbara Michaels) was a housewife and mother when she wrote her first novel, The Master of Blacktower, (now available on your Kindle in under a minute) in 1966. Mertz’ numerous pseudonymns make it easy to miss what a prolific writer she really is, with a total of 69 books to her solo credit. She holds a Ph. D in Egyptology from the University of Chicago’s famed Oriental Institute, and many of her books have something to do with archeology or Egypt. The Amelia Peabody series of novels focus almost exclusively in this area, and so far are all set between the years of 1884 and 1923.

Mertz’ character of Amelia Peabody is so involving, so enticing, and so electric that I’ve re-read all 18 of the previously-published books in that series* up to 14 times. They are murder mysteries, with a feel that might resemble the bastard child of Agatha Christie and Indiana Jones. (Having not yet read today’s release, I can still say that “The Last Camel Died At Noon” is her best from the series.) There are no other books that I’ve read with that much enthusiasm since I practically lived in the school library’s Nancy Drew section at age 10.

While many could comment on the literary devices and other romantic reasons that Amelia keeps me coming back, I can reduce it to a few simple points that one might also try to include in a non-fiction work.

1. Higher Purpose

Amelia always has something bigger than herself happening, and while it’s not always life or death, Amelia interacts with a wide variety of famous characters in history, plays a part in incidents of the first world war, and is even present when the tomb of King Tut is first opened. While I’m not talking about creating a grand mythology around non-fiction content, Readers want to know that they’re part of something bigger than themselves. Everyone’s work has a higher purpose of some sort, so it’s important to tap into that and involve Readers in that same sense of purpose. Amelia’s missions are much like many that we all have in our own real lives.

2. Constant Movement

Amelia is in many ways typical of the ladies of her class and era, and yet in many more ways, extremely atypical. She is of course self-disciplined, and extremely British in her general outlook, but she constantly bucks trends and acts very modern. She is an adventurer and discoverer, and she needs little sleep. Her mind is so quick that it blindsides not just other characters in the books, but occasionally, the books include various bits of narration to piece together certain puzzles for the Reader as well. She climbs mountains, both literally and figuratively, and she does so on a daily basis. It is not just important to maintain pace of story, but also to maintain pace of information, and that it is dished out in bite-sized pieces that the Reader is ready for, right when they need it. When creating non-fiction materials, the voice of the Author is often that of a Teacher, and the pace of that teaching is extremely important.

3. Level of Detail

Mertz’ descriptions of tombs, methods, how archeological finds are treated or cared for, and descriptions of tools, Victorian clothing, medicine and medical treatment, and even buildings and transportation are rich and full of detail. Her details of locations paint a clear image of what the area must have looked like, and make the reader feel as though they are walking on the same street. She describes the people of her era in Egypt with respect and deference to their glorious heritage, and the racial prejudice of many of the British people present as loathsome and narrow-minded. Her crime scene descriptions rival that of any modern homicide detective. Readers want to hear about the guts and the glory, and to put themselves in the position of the problem, and then of course, in the solution. And importantly, the content that augments the books adds additional enrichment, including maps and timelines to further clarify things like excavation areas and pre-historic locations. Things like tip sheets, checklists and web links augment any type of non-fiction material.

4. Heroes and Archetypes

I’ve talked (at least, verbally, if not here on this blog) about this concept many times in relationship to the Archetype (versus Stereotype) concept as described by screenwriting trainer Robert McKee*. Mertz does an excellent job of creating heroes and villains, and uses a variety of archetypal-characters, including a number of cats, which form an additional family of personas that many of us can relate to. She has masterfully used many elements of the classic archetype in creating her Sethos character, who is my favourite literary villain of all time. Sethos is Amelia’s dark-ish nemesis, and even though he waits until the third book in the series to appear, he plays a strong role from that point onward. Again, pacing is important here, as more and more details about Sethos are revealed so very very slowly, keeping the reader in suspense. (While the objective in non-fiction is not typically to create a sense of suspense, the importance of deciding on an appropriate pace is the same.) Sethos eventually becomes a hero in his own fashion, and anchors the story in a classic way that cannot be accomplished through any other method. The hero in non-fiction might be a concept rather than a character in that same sense, but the effect is the same.

5. Letting the Reader Think For Themselves

I admit that I have rarely been able to anticipate who the murderer is in any mystery novel, but Mertz doesn’t force the Reader into any sort of conclusions – false or real – too early. She merely presents all the (fictional) facts of the case, and the Reader is encouraged to try to figure it out. Not too coincidentally, this is an essential component in adult education. Since most non-fiction is about educating your Reader (in some way), letting the Reader/Student take ownership of the story or problem/solution combination is essential to getting them on-side, and making them loyal to your point of view. Just look at how I’m evangelizing about Amelia here – I’m one of her peeps because I’ve “helped” her with so many adventures.

As you can see, fiction and non-fiction both rely on classic tools and devices, and in surprisingly similar ways.

*Affiliate link.

Here’s a checklist to help you create a project timeline for your self-published book or ebook, and understand how long to allocate for each stage of the process.

There are two philosophies about when to release your book. One dictates that you should pre-determine a particular event or time of year with which to coincide the release of the book for best effect. This means picking a release date well in advance, and then counting backwards on your calendar in order to determine when you need to have certain milestones completed.

The second philosophy suggests that if your book is “timeless”, you can simply release the book on your own self-determined timeline, and take a more long-term, big-picture approach, because you’re in this for the long haul.

I suggest a compromise between the two: rather than just working along as in the second philosophy, pick a date that is practical for you to achieve, because otherwise, the book won’t ever happen. After all, every book project is for the long haul. Then follow this checklist to get the book ready in time. Rushing it rarely offers a concrete advantage, but dawdling doesn’t make you any money, either.

For a print book, the timeline must include printing, which frighteningly, relies heavily on someone other than you and your core team: Your Printer. Your printer will be your best friend on this project, so be certain that you call them as early in the project as possible (see #3 below for the best time to call them) and see what their press schedule is like. Press time can be booked over a year in advance for some large companies, but for small jobs, many companies adopt a “we’ll fit you in” sort of attitude. The print timeline is also determined by the style of book you choose, including options like hardcover vs. perfect-bound, paper choices, and so on. Your printer should prepare a clearly laid out quote with all of these options and discuss them with you in detail.

I love my printer so much that I feel I should tell you about Friesens, based in Manitoba, Canada. They have grown to become one of the largest book printers in North America, (the world?) and frequently print for the big publishing houses and many other American companies as well as their native Canadian market. My rep is an amazing guy named Gerhard Aichelberger, on Vancouver Island. (Reps are determined by where you live.) He’d love to talk to you about your print needs, and no, I’m not being compensated in any way for saying that. He’s just an extraordinarily nice guy who has repeatedly bent over backwards to make my Authors happy. All of the Friesens reps are great, and the company is made up of people that are more like a huge family than employees. There is no style of book that they cannot print, stock, and ship, and their quality controls are ISO certified.

Here are the basic timeline elements, with a sample time frame below in [brackets], based on an imaginary project where; there is only one Author, the subject is one with which they are already familiar, there is a marginal amount of additional research to be done, a simple design will be chosen, the book will be simultaneously paper and ebook published, and the Author intends to perform a combination of self-marketing and traditional print book marketing through retail channels.

1. Market Research

The most important thing in the entire project. This might take minutes, or it might take months. Don’t over-do it, but you should have a clear idea as to the size and viability of the market, how they are currently receiving information in this topic area (ebook vs. book, styles of either…) and what niches are still available for you in the market. Be sure to include keyword research in this section, and purchasing of appropriate domain names. (See my earlier post for choosing a domain name, which tightly steers your book titling process.) Secure your social media outlets, like your Twitter account and YouTube channel, along with your Facebook fan page. Brainstorm about more stuff like this day and night.
[2 weeks, including time to bounce the idea off a few people in your network. Future posts will tell you a bit about how I do this with my clients.]

2. Outlining

This feels like a grade school nightmare, but it is essential. Don’t skip it. It is almost as important as #1, because this is how you will know how many pages your book will be, how you can modularize it, how you will format/design it, what associated products you will create, how large a team you will need to help you, how much research help you will need, and much more. I can often complete an outline in a day-long marathon session, with the Author’s core team involved if necessary. This is also the time to secure things like your ISBN number, your UPC code, and so on. Get the technical and legal crap out of the way so you can get to the fun stuff. Set up your initial website, and start blogging. Make a video for YouTube – you’ll make more specific ones later, but start to build your audience.
[3 days, including adjustments to the marathon plan.]

3. Specification

This is the stage where you determine how long your book / ebook will be , how it will be printed (if at all), how it will be graphically designed (work with the designer to get a quote at this stage), how it will be marketed, how it will be sold (that is, the technical or real-world logistics), and many other items. Now that you know how long it’s going to be, you can calculate how many pages it will take up, based on a calculation involving page size, number of words designated or estimated per section, and how many words / illustrations / diagrams fit on the chosen page size. This means that you can now get a quote from your printer, and book your press time well in advance.
[1 day to 2 weeks, including a small amount of additional sales research. Our sample will be 2 weeks.]

4. Initial Content Development

Here’s where you start actually writing. Most clients who work through my process are extremely frustrated by the fact that they don’t get to start writing until now. My answer is: do you want to write, or do you want to make money?
[Time varies widely based on the working speed of the Author. Some people can write an entire book in a long weekend - I once wrote a 30-page ebook overnight, but I don't recommend that! For some, it can take months, but let's hope for something in-between. For our sample project, let's call it 6 weeks.]

5. Editorial Stage

There’s a lot of back-and-forth at this stage. Do not let this frustrate you. Your Editor’s job is to preserve your voice, but to make the data as saleable as possible. They should remain objective and be representative of your designated market. Usually, the book will be shorter when you get it back from your Editor, and you may have up to about 6 revisions on some areas, though more than 3 is not typically efficient. Do not indulge in dangerous emotional attachment to your content – it is only a product.
[7-10 days is often enough for a medium-length book that is essentially well-written to start with.]

6. Design

Once the content has been completely, 1000% revised, there are no more changes or spelling errors, no bits that you forgot, and your diagrams or tables have been laid out for the designer to re-create, you hand the manuscript over to your typesetter/designer. See other posts for tips for working with designers, but just be sure that there are no more changes to the content before you hand it to them, as changes after the design has started can be costly both in terms of money and lost time. Be sure to include time to design an appropriate website, hopefully in tune with your book’s design, to create wholistic and congruent communication with your reader base.
[1 to 3 weeks and up, depending on the length of the book and how clear you were in stage 3 with your design choices. Our example project will be 2 weeks.]

Tip: If you feel qualified to perform your own typesetting and design, it is often a good idea to actually write the book in the design template. Adobe InDesign and InCopy is especially good for this, but I have also successfully used open-source applications like OpenOffice.org. Writing in the design template allows you to see how words flow, gives insight into subtle things like aligning style and content, allows you to create flyouts and featured content more easily, and may help you spot trouble before you’ve gone too far.

7. Pre-Press

Some might say that this stage is not really worthy of a numbered point by itself, except that if there are any problems with the file that is uploaded to your printer, it can mess up a lot of other time frames. Ideally, this should be an invisible part of the process that takes minutes, but I’m adding this in as part of my “hope for the best, but plan for the worst” philosophy.
[Ideally, minutes. Possibly, a couple of days to figure it out and correct the problem. Keep in good contact with your printer during this time to ensure that you don't lose your press booking and that they are still on schedule. Our example project will not include any time for this.]

8. Printing

The day you send the book to the printer, you will not sleep that night, and will instead spend the night staring at the ceiling, wondering what you forgot, misspelled, left out, etc. I advise you to have a glass of wine or go to a movie and just try to get through it.
But remember, this is *not* the time to sit on your hands! If you have an ebook that was created at the same time as your print book, get that sucker out there are start hawking it – hard. Call the book distributors and retailers that you’ve been talking up and give them an update. Plan events. Create downloads for your website. Blog till your fingers bleed. Start doing interviews. Tweet like a songbird. Just keep building the momentum until it comes back from the printer and lands on your doorstep.
[2-3 weeks including freight, but this depends heavily on your printer's press schedule. The earlier you book, the less time you need to budget. Our example project will be 3 weeks.]

9. Safety Margin

It’s rare, but print errors happen. Freight gets lost, snowstorms tie up deliveries, and sometimes people just catch the flu. This time is your margin for error that ensures if you have promised delivery of the books to someone, you can deliver them early and look like a genius, or you have time to fix the mistake / wait for the snow to melt. Planning this time into your calendar at the outset will reduce a lot of stress, but if you end up with the books without delay, consider it bonus marketing time. Send out more review copies, get more last-minute interviews, do a few more talks or lectures, and just work it baby, work it.
[2 weeks in summer, 3 weeks if in winter, not because of weather, but because if you are printing at a busy time of year, you will need more time to get back on track. Our example project will be 2 weeks.]

10. Book Release Date

This date is not the end of your book journey, but the beginning. A well-designed book should have an active life span of 2-5 years, and perhaps a great deal more for an ebook, as it is a living document and can be revised to a new version any time, replacing the previous version on your website. You now have a full-time job of being an Author, and should continue to perform all of the marketing activities that you’ve been ramping up before this time, adjusting for market fluctuations and actively marketing your personal services alongside the book.

All of these time blocks, including the Safety Margin add up to: 19 weeks, or about 5 months. That sounds like a lot of time, and it is. I’ve seen Authors who work solo do it in less than 3 weeks plus press time, and it is of course possible to produce an elemental ebook overnight. 2-3 months is still practical for a paper book all in, assuming that there are no problems, and that the Author is decisive and well-prepared.

It’s up to you to process each of these stages and design a timeline of your own, but just be sure that you give yourself enough time to include proper market research up front, and a margin for error. The market research will guide you for the length of the project and steer every decision from content to design to printing to marketing. It’s first on the list because it is most important.

This was a long article, but I hope it’s encouraged you to think of your project in terms of the big picture – the picture where you are a successful, independent, and slightly wacky Self-Published Author.

Take this advice from William M. Akers, of YourScreenPlaySucks.com. Mr. Akers has been a professional writer for television, film and elsewhere for over 20 years, and he now teaches screenwriting at Vanderbilt University.

Here’s a link to an article by Mr. Akers, mainly about:

- how to get back into writing if you’ve taken the summer off,(“If you do not write every day, you are not a writer.”)

- not self-editing as you write (“If you write something and instantly hate it and erase it and feel worthless… hell, you’re never going to get anything done!”)

- how to avoid interruptions from your children (“They’re in therapy now, but I got my work done.”)

- what to do when you can’t think of anything good to write. (“Write crap.”)

He also reminded me of one of my favourite movie lines, from Finding Forrester: “JAMAL: Women will sleep with you if you write a book? FORRESTER: Women will sleep with you if you write a bad book.”

Enjoy!

You’ll notice that I’m no longer primarily referring to myself as Humanus Publishing, but now by my nickname, the Wizard of eBooks.

In practical terms, this does mean some changes. Our mission is now more closely focused on creating, editing, and marketing what we call “next generation” books and eBooks. I’m also going to indulge myself in more professional podcasting in the form of interviews and corporate messaging, and coaching for WordPress (the blogging platform on which this site is built), both of which have been particular passions of mine for some time now. You’ll notice that both of these will be featured shortly on my Services page, which is the next thing on my long list to be re-vamped.

We still hold a special place on our bookshelves for the Self-Published Author: a symbol of independence, and the new wave that is sweeping the publishing industry. If you were worried that we had forgotten about you, please don’t! But perhaps we should change the term to be “self-empowered” – if you’d like to know what that feels like, give us a call toll-free at 1-866-907-4084.

May I say Thanks to my wonderful clients, friends, and mentors for all of your assistance as I make this shift. I’m extremely grateful for your honesty, your knowledge, and your faith in our alliance.

I’ve just updated my website with a new tab labeled “Speaking”, and there you’ll find my revised speaking topics for the rest of 2009.

Short Talks:

1) Using Online Marketing to Get Attention for Your Brick-and-Mortar Business

2) What is “Social Media Marketing” and How to Use it for Greatest Effectiveness

3) Tapping the Potential of Digital and Paper-Based Publishing for Small Business

Long Talks (1.5 hours or less)

1) eBooks – The Next Generation

2) You’ve Written an eBook – Now What?

I’ll be traveling quite a bit this summer, and offering these talks to various organizations in Canada and the USA. If you’d like to book me for a lecture or talk, please call me toll-free at 1-866-907-4084, please drop me a line at info@humanuspublishing.com.

I also really enjoy creating fresh material tailored to the needs of your organization. If you don’t see a topic listed that you’re interested in, just ask. I may already have it in my archives. Some of my additional topics include;

- PodCasting (What It Is, and How Anyone Can Do It)
- Affiliate Marketing for Authors
- Building Your (e)Book Business
- Market Research for Your Book in 1 Hour or Less
- How to Create Your (e)Book From Scratch
- Using You Tube to Market Your (e)Book with Video
- … and more

Indexing a book is often ignored because it seems like an “extra step”. But it could be a fast and easy way to add incredible value for book buyers.

Think about the last time you were in a bookstore, either browsing aimlessly, or looking for something specific. How many books did you pick up to give a second glance? Did you flip to the back cover? The flaps? Did you check the index to see what topics the book covered? I’d bet you did, just like I do each and every time.

A well-created index makes the book “a keeper”. Users only want to buy and keep books that do something for them, such as give them fast answers. Think about the books you consider your “regulars”, the ones you keep close at hand. An index allows the reader to maximize their investment in your book by increasing the book’s usability factor. Libraries, reviewers and distributors will all demerit you if no index is present in a book that should clearly have one.

For all the things you do as part of your publishing project, an index has a very low cost in terms of additional overhead. There is typically no additional print cost, or if so, it is virtually nil. Flagging items for indexing as you write takes no calculable time. Planning items for indexing can actually help you during your outlining process, before you write a word, making your book more organized.

In regards to the technicalities of typesetting, there is (like many things in publishing) no “right” or “wrong” way to do it, and it is up to the typesetter to create their own formatting, unless a template is being used that they can rely on. Unlike the rest of your book, here is not the place to get creative. Follow current conventions, and perhaps use a handful of other books you like as a format reference. Give the Searcher what they are already used to.

I always prefer two columns per page, in a simple serif-style typeface, regardless of the formatting elsewhere in your book. Readers have been trained to look for those trademark double columns as they thumb through in a hurry, such as when they are making a decision whether or not to purchase. A serif typeface increases readability, especially at high speed and in smaller font sizes. Your book should have one serif typeface anyway, so re-using it here will ensure continuity. Use italics to bring attention to alternate forms of the word, even if you are duplicating a reference. Readers of a topic rarely think the way the writer does – ask your sample readers for feedback about other terms they feel should be indexed, or alternate ways of saying the same thing, perhaps in “layman’s terms”.

These days, automated indexing tools such as those in Adobe InDesign or even Open Office are remarkably easy to use and accurate. They allow you to ensure accurate referencing to page numbers, even if whole sections of your book are dramatically altered. Searches will guarantee that all flagged words are referenced to the same root word, or to related words and references if you prefer. Even so, be sure to proof all entries, or if that’s not practical, check a broad sampling, to ensure that page references are all accurate before going to press.

As a teaching tool, an index is invaluable. If you plan to use your book as a guide or text, or as a pre-requisite for any sort of coursework or other material, an index is simply a must. Doing some competitive research on other books in your category can also help you to highlight terms that should be flagged for your own index, or bring to light terms that have been ignored elsewhere and deserve greater attention.

I find this blog post from the Society of Authors in France interesting because it’s what many of us perceive as the main points of debate on self-publishing.

Here’s what I agree with in this post:

- Every Author needs help. It’s real work – you can’t do it all yourself.
- Every Author is afraid of selling. We all get over it, and the faster you do, the more you’ll sell.
- Hire an Editor. I don’t care if it’s me or not, but almost nobody can edit their own work. (I should know – I’ve tried for years and it always sucks when I edit my own stuff.)
- It’s true that more people are reading eBooks, and for some, that’s definitely the way to go. (BUT: see note below.)
- Write because you have something new, groundbreaking or truly useful to say, not because you think you can make money writing about a particular topic. It is twisted but true that writing just to make money will make you poor.
- Finding alternative or unusual markets for your self-published material can be your greatest success. In fact, any truly great self-publishing success that I’ve personally experienced or witnessed has happened in this way. Don’t think bookstores – they are rarely profitable.
- A new breed of professional is definitely developing (ahem – such as Yours Truly) who is all about helping self-published Authors get their stuff out there.
- All self-published Authors need to get serious about selling from a quality website which includes an affiliate marketing plan.

Here’s what I don’t agree with:

- You don’t lose out on anything such as editing, graphic design, or quality printing if you self-publish. Anything is available to anybody these days.
- eBooks are not a direct alternative to printed book publishing. They are a different market altogether, and anyone considering the eBook route should perform market research to see if an eBook is appropriate for their market and materials. (See a future post for details.)
- You do not lose out on marketing, publicity, distribution, or reviews in the press if you self-publish. (Who ever said a traditional publisher got you all that stuff, anyway? All Authors end up doing tons of work in this area whether self-published or not. You may need help, but it’s no harder than for a traditionally-published Author.)
- Being self-published does not mean that you are not going to be of interest to agents. It means that you are going to have to approach them differently, but they will probably be just as interested if not more, because they know they’re working with an Author who is committed and hungry.
- Shipping your own books is rarely practical. There are plenty of fulfillment providers that will do this for you, and I can recommend a great guy who ships for me worldwide if you need one.
- Self-publishing does not rule out any opportunities to sell foreign rights. I don’t know where anybody got that idea, actually.
- I don’t know why an Author would want to sell their eBook to a publisher. The bulk of the cost of self-publishing is in the printing, so once that is out of the picture, why wouldn’t you self-publish?
- Here I go again, but print-on-demand is not usually the way for most Authors to publish their books. (For my reasons, just read some of my old posts.)

Every Author wants to produce the best book that they can. For some of us, self-publishing seems difficult to navigate, and we’re worried about being forced to accept sub-standard results. We worry about things like learning to sell and how we can afford to launch a national marketing campaign. The reality is that if we are treating our books as a business, we won’t have any trouble selling it. This means doing proper market research, writing very well (ie. saying something really valuable), and performing due diligence on things like quality graphic design and product creation.

In conversations with plenty of authors, self-published or otherwise, I have heard many of the same concerns over and over again. But with help, anything is possible. Always remember that another Author has been there before you, and if they did it, so can you.

Looking for ways to make your writing resolutions stick? I’ve compiled my list of the most influential books I’ve ever read, both as a writer and as a human being.

I found it impossible to sort these according to importance, with the possible exception of the first title, as all of them have had such great impact at different times of my life.

1. The Elements of Style, by Strunk & White

Reason it made the list: Satisfies the geekiest of urges to look up errors in grammar and punctuation. I get ridiculously emotional about this book.
Number of times read: I carry it in my purse at all times. No kidding.
What it will do for you: Hands-down easiest and best reference for grammar, punctuation, and language usage. Respected by everybody. It’s lighter than the Chicago Manual of Style, and faster to use. I cannot live without it, and read it like a novel.

2. How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie

Reason it made the list: Makes you think of your writing and yourself as part of a larger whole.
Number of times read: About 10, from age 12 on.
What it will do for you: Gives you the tools you need to communicate better with just about anyone, in any situation. Great gift for young adults, and a healthy reminder of valuable writing and speaking skills for a lifetime.

3. Nancy Drew and the Case of the Hidden Staircase, by Carolyn Keene

Reason it made the list: Reminds you to keep a level head, even when you’re chasing a ghost and your father has been kidnapped.
Number of times read: About 500 between the ages of 6 and 10. About 200 between the ages of 10 and 35. I used to own the entire series, but the bindings eventually collapsed.
What it will do for you: A great series of books for a curious little (or big) girl, teaching us to avoid letting emotions clog our rational processes. Includes many important useful tips, such as to always keep a flashlight in your purse, and how to use a bobby pin to pick a lock.

4. The Greatest Salesman in the World, by Og Mandino

Reason it made the list: Stop thinking this is a book about sales: it’s a story about a salesman who understood people.
Number of times read: Several.
What it will do for you: Falls into the category of classic motivational / professional development literature, whether you are in sales or not. A simple yet profound understanding of what motivates people. (This is sometimes found in the Christian section of your local independent bookstore, though the style is not overtly pastoral.) Note: Mandino wrote about something called “The Greatest Secret in the World” in 1975 – 31 years before Rhonda Byrne shared her “discovery” with anybody.

5. Think and Grow Rich, by Napoleon Hill

Reason it made the list: Before Tony Robbins, before Stephen Covey, and before Wayne Dyer, there was Mr. Hill and his 17 Laws of Success. This was the first of HIll’s books that I ever read. Given to me by my future husband on our second date, in lieu of flowers or candy. I knew then that he was the one for me.
Number of times read: I typically read it about once every 18 months or so.
What it will do for you: If you think it’s about being financially rich, you’re missing plenty. Hill was so far ahead of his time, which was the dirty 30′s, when we were recovering from that other depression. Don’t forget that Hill was a friend and protege of the wealthiest entrepreneur in the world at the time: Andrew Carnegie, an entirely self-made man. Fear of success? Fear no more.

6. Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte

Reason it made the list: Had I not been obsessed with this book when I was in my formative writing years – about age 12 – I would be less of a writer today.
Number of times read: Many, and I should probably read it again.
What it will do for you: In my less-than-humble opinion, despite the best efforts of Oprah, we do not read enough classics anymore, and we’re not passing them on to the next generation of writers. This book is an excellent example of the Second Rule of Writing, Write What You Know. Nobody knew romance, heartbreak and misery better than the Bronte sisters.

7. Eat Right 4 Your Type, by Peter J. D’Adamo and Catherine Whitney

Reason it made the list: It’s hard to write well when you feel awful, and the plan in this book drastically improved my overall well-being.
Number of times read: I refer to it all the time.
What it will do for you: Gives you a much better understanding of how your body works and what it needs to work well, including your brain. It also happens to be a great example of a well-written, non-fiction book with fun anecdotes and excellent typesetting. Includes an interesting section about anthropology, and personality profiles associated with your blood type. (Turns out, I’m a writer by blood – literally and figuratively.)

8. Crocodile on the Sandbank (Amelia Peabody Mystery #1), by Elizabeth Peters

Reason it made the list: If there is a past life, I lived it in turn-of-the century Egypt, as an Englishwoman Archaeologist and amateur Detective.
Number of times read: I own at least one edition of each in the series – 18 in all, plus a companion book – including autographed copies. I usually have one of these on the go.
What it will do for you: The language used in these books reflects the vocabulary and spoken English of roughly the 1890′s to 1920′s, which is refreshingly complex. Why doesn’t anyone use grammar and sentence structure like this today? Rich sweeping vistas and stories that suck you in and make you read until 3am.

9. STORY: Substance, Structure, Style and The Principles of Screenwriting, by Robert McKee

Reason it made the list: All the world’s a stage, and Robert McKee teaches the writer how to tell a story, fiction or not, that will engage your readers.
Number of times read: About 3 from front-to-back, and refer to it regularly.
What it will do for you: Understanding how a classic story works is a key part of one’s basic writing skillset. The fiction formula taught by McKee is really based on ancient story-telling techniques of classic literature, and has numerous modern applications, far beyond that of writing a film script. Read it with this in mind, and you won’t be able to put it down. Spurs your imagination to great heights.

10. Feel the Fear… And Do It Anyway, by Susan Jeffers

Reason it made the list: Another great communication reference, which talks very specifically about the one emotion that motivates just about everyone to do just about everything.
Number of times read: I’m afraid to say.
What it will do for you: Get past that writer’s block by understanding where it really comes from. Develop a sense of confidence about your writing that you’ve never had before, and if you need to make changes, this book will definitely help you do that. Don’t limit this book’s potential for you by calling it a “self-help” title, as it is a very basic approach to a universal obstacle for all healthy people.

Enjoy!