Self-Devpt. Nuggets™

Following recent sales conversations, I have come to the conclusion that many aspiring authors in my part of the world, STILL fail to see the cost, time and effort saving advantages offered by web based Print On Demand Publishing services.


Let me point out the following:

1. Conventional (brick and mortar) publishers will NOT always see the GENIUS in every authors work, even if it’s there.

That’s because they are human. The owner of the work may have to fall back on his/her BELIEF to forge ahead, IN SPITE of their rejection. Historical evidence bears testimony to the accuracy of this fact.

2. Even when traditional publishers do find your work interesting, very often their fees – for the aspiring writer – can be prohibitive.

3. If you adopt web based Print On Demand publishing to get your book into the market place, you will enjoy the benefits of having potential buyers access previews of your book, towards deciding if they are going to buy. And this would happen without your having to incur anything close to what it would take to get published conventionally.

Also, you will be able to inexpensively use articles on related themes to DRAW attention and generate leads to your book’s sales page. Most importantly, since you will be using the web, it will cost you next to nothing to keep this going.

Furthermore, with the widespread availability of FREE self-promotional tools such as directories, and social media (e.g. facebook), you can successfully carry on a sustained marketing campaign, tweaked periodically based on results you get, to create more awareness about and interest in your book.

Now, wouldn’t that be better than leaving your written manuscript in your bottom drawer, waiting till you can find – and afford to pay – a conventional publisher?

The choice is yours. I certainly hope you don’t wait for ever. Indeed if you take ACTION to adopt the Print On Demand Publishing referred to above, THAT could lead to your work getting noticed by a GOOD PUBLISHER that could decide to sign you up – even if they require that you improve certain aspects.

FINAL WORDS

Use what you have to get what you want…GET YOUR BOOK OUT THERE VIA THE WEB, and promote it with the passion that made you write it. Sooner than later something GOOD will happen. You’ll be better off doing that, than sitting around and waiting for a publisher to discover you!

There’s a lot to learn…those of us in Africa need to tread softly when it comes to spending heavily to get published. If/when we have to spend, let’s do so to purchase systems and resources that stretch every unit of money we spend, so we can get maximal, sustained benefits.

And That’s why I LOVE web based book publishing and marketing methods. With Print On Demand Publishing, you get your book in a ready to print/publish state at almost zero cost. The onus then falls on you to create needed marketing buzz to get people to BUY the book from its online store. Only when they buy does the provider charge a fee. Then you get your royalty.

We are in Africa. Nigeria to be specific. Most of those who read seriously enough to want to buy from us are based OVERSEAS. Our best bet is to minimise overheads and starting costs. Print On Demand Publishing offers the needed flexibility.

All of this is of course my opinion, and you have every right to think differently.

One last point:

I recently discovered that some people do not take the pains to read up and understand what Print On Demand publishing entails, before they choose to argue against it!

There is a saying that “The mind is like a parachute. It works best when it is open”.

Please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Print_on_demand for a generic introduction to Print On Demand publishing.