The following material is an excerpt from my eBook titled: Instant Book Writing Kit – How To Write, Publish and Market Your Own Money-Making Book (or eBook) Online.
http://www.InstantBookWritingKit.com
Believe me, there are thousands of people out there that believe that they have a book or two inside of them, and they are yearning to get it out. In fact, on a regular basis, I get e-mails from folks asking for help or information on how to write and publish a book or ebook.
These folks aren’t planning to be the next Hemingway or anything like that – they’re just regular people who have a story to tell or some information to share. A few of the optimists are hoping to write the next block-buster novel, but the majority have much more humble writing/publishing ambitions. They want to write about such subjects as: their family, their kids, their job, their hobby, their invention, their pet, their travels, their personal experiences, etc.
If you’ve surfed around the Net looking for help getting your book/ebook published you’ve probably run across one or more of the so-called “vanity” publishers. Since you’re reading this, there’s a chance that you haven’t yet signed up with one of those outfits – and that’s good news for you!
BEWARE: If you are a new or aspiring writer and/or self-publisher you are being targeted by scores of “vanity” publishers which populate the Internet. These outfits want you to sign up with them so that they can pocket 90% or more of the proceeds from sales of YOUR book. Sorry, but that’s the sad truth!
VANITY PUBLISHERS DEFINED
So, “What exactly is a vanity publisher…” you ask? Keep on reading…
The word “vanity” is defined in the dictionary as “…conceit and desire for admiration because of one’s personal achievements…”. Accordingly, these publishers are known as “vanity” publishers because they focus on this “desire” and offer anyone who has written a book, the ability to get it printed and published, and out into the public domain.
The vanity publishers are well aware that anyone who has labored hard to write a book will do almost anything to get it published. They are also aware that the chance of one’s book/ebook being picked-up by one of the established publishing houses is slim, at best. This knowledge gives them a lot of leverage.
That’s why they tend to target first time authors, and focus on their often desperate need to get published.
How to identify a “vanity publisher” at first glance:
They are so-called “publishing houses” that focus on first-time amateur authors and tell them that they will accept ANY manuscript and get it published, no matter what.
They promise to publish your book for free or at very low cost. (and they will – but with a few little catches).
They offer many supposedly low cost ancillary services such as proofing, editing, graphics, marketing, etc., “should you ever need them…”
Each one claims that it is somehow “different” from all of those “other” vanity publishers. Essentially, these operators use a type of “loss-leader” approach, offering you all kinds of benefits up-front so you’ll sign a contract with them. Once you’ve signed on the dotted-line they have achieved their goal because they will then have a “lock” on 90% or more of your book sales revenues for the foreseeable future.
THE TRUTH ABOUT VANITY PUBLISHERS
Here’s the little-known truth about “vanity publishers”:
They often require “exclusive rights” to your book/ebook so only they will be able to sell/distribute it – normally for a period of years.
They pay you very low royalties, usually about 7% to 10% of the cover price, and they keep the rest.
They sometimes charge the author incrementally for various support services such as editing, proof-reading, design, graphics, marketing support, etc.
Many of them make their money by charging the author substantial printing costs whenever the author needs additional copies of their own book to distribute to their buyers. (e.g. only 10% to 30% off of cover price).
Most have little or no distribution network, and are counting on you, the author, to find your own buyers. So, whatever you do, DO NOT sign up with one of these outfits WITHOUT at least requesting a copy of the contract, and then reading it in careful detail!
BOTTOM LINE:
Here’s the Bottom Line on “vanity publishers”:
Vanity publishers will indeed get your book “published”, and eventually you will hold a copy in your hands.
BUT, and this is a big but…
From sign-up, until your book is ready, there’s a good chance it will cost you many months and many hundreds of dollars.
You will make very little money from book sales, if any, due to a combination of: “unforeseen” publishing/printing expenses, lack of a significant publisher distribution network, and paltry royalty payments.
In the end, what a vanity publisher really wants is the exclusive rights to print and/or distribute the hard-earned fruits of your writing labors… YOUR BOOK. After all, it costs them next to nothing to print your book because they already have the resources and technology in-place, in any case. In exchange, they get as much as 90% of the proceeds from each sale of YOUR book!
So, if you are serious about selling more than a few dozen copies of your book to friends, family and acquaintances, I strongly advise you to avoid these outfits like the plague.
It was when I realized exactly what vanity publishers are all about, and how they operate, that I decided to write Instant Book Writing Kit. That book tells people how they can easily take charge of their own book. In fact, it will show you exactly how to publish, distribute and market your book/ebook online so that YOU will be in control, and NOT at the mercy of the exploitive “vanity publishers”.
If you’re looking for a successful publishing experience, you might want to give this independent approach to self-publishing some serious consideration. Here’s a link where you can check that out for yourself:
http://InstantBookWritingKit.com
Online Book Publishing Model: The Benefits
The following article is an excerpt from my eBook titled: Instant Book Writing Kit – How To Write, Publish and Market Your Own Money-Making Book (or eBook) Online.
http://www.InstantBookWritingKit.com
Frankly, after my frustrating and disappointing experiences using the traditional book publishing model, I was truly blown away when I discovered the many benefits of the Online Publishing Model.
In fact, I was pleasantly surprised and thrilled to discover that there actually IS an alternative that will allow me to write and publish books and ebooks for a living!
BENEFITS OF ONLINE PUBLISHING MODEL
As I state on the Web site for the Instant Book Writing Kit, the benefits of the Online Publishing Model are numerous and compelling:
You’ll Make More Money
Instead of getting a paltry 3% to 35%, you’ll get somewhere between 60% and 90% of your cover price, depending on which of the three channels you’re using.
You Can Charge More
People are willing to pay more if they can get the information they are looking for almost immediately. Higher prices = more profits for you.
You’ll Get Paid Sooner
Many online payment processors will pay you within two weeks of making a sale. On the other hand, traditional publishers and distributors will make you wait 90 to 120 days for payment.
Your Costs Will Be Lower
With the online publishing model your up-front costs will be significantly lower than if you self-publish the traditional way.
You Won’t Have “Returns”
You can choose to NOT accept “returns”. Unlike the traditional publishing model, all sales will be final with minimal refunds. Returned “over-orders” will be a thing of the past.
Your Sales Will Be On Automatic Pilot
Once you have your Web site up and running and your files uploaded to the digital fulfillment and POD distributors, you’re ebooks/books will be selling automatically with little or no intervention by you.
You’ll Be In Charge
You’ll be in control of almost all aspects of the publishing and distribution of your book/ebook. You can publish or revise when you like. No more jumping to somebody else’s timetable.
You’ll Have No Inventory
You won’t have to keep track of an inventory and worry about shipping, storage, and damage hassles and costs. You’ll be completely inventory free.
You Can Revise When You Like Using online publishing channels you will have the freedom to make revisions to your books/ebooks whenever you like. You just update your book/ebook and post the new version.
You Can Add Special Features
You can add value to your ebook by adding links to multi-media features and other hyper-linked bonuses.
You’ll Have Direct Access To Your Data
Dealing with online fulfillment houses and distributors you’ll have direct online access to current sales and earnings data.
BOTTOM LINE
When I realized the full power of the online publishing model I truly was astounded! Discovering this new publishing model hit me like a breath of fresh air.
After all, using the conventional book publishing model, I had spent more than two years banging my head against the wall in frustration — getting nowhere and going broke fast.
That’s when I decided that I should write this information down and share it with other small-time authors and self publishers so they wouldn’t have to go through all of the trial-and-error and expense that I did.
So, I finally wrote it all down in Instant Book Writing Kit for the express purpose of sharing the Online Publishing Model with anyone who is interested in writing a book/ebook and making some decent money by publishing and marketing it online. Essentially, anyone who wants to duplicate what I have done.
My goal was to create a turnkey, paint-by-number blueprint, that any aspiring author and/or self-publisher could easily implement. I believe I’ve done just that.
Here’s the link where you can check that out for yourself:
http://InstantBookWritingKit.com
The Online Publishing Model
The following material is an abridged excerpt of some of the material contained in my eBook titled: Instant Book Writing Kit – How To Write, Publish and Market Your Own Money-Making Book (or eBook) Online.
http://www.InstantBookWritingKit.com
I am convinced that the KEY to publishing success for the small time author and/or self publisher in the Internet age, is the Online Publishing Model.
How do I know this? Because I’ve been there and done that, as they say. I’ve learned it all the hard way.
THERE HAD TO BE A BETTER WAY
I gained first-hand experience with the traditional publishing industry by self-publishing, marketing and distributing my first two books using that model. That’s how I came to know that it is one of the most archaic and poorly run business models that I have ever encountered.
Realizing that the conventional model just wasn’t working for me as I had hoped, I embarked on a relentless two-year search to find a better way. That’s right, it took me a full two years (and thousands of dollars) of research and trial-and-error experimentation to clearly identify the elements of what I now call the “Online Publishing Model”.
THERE IS A BETTER WAY – THE ONLINE PUBLISHING MODEL
The Online Publishing Model is a combination of online digital download delivery and print-on-demand (POD) publishing that sidesteps most of the pitfalls of the traditional book publishing model.
It offers small-time authors/publishers an excellent alternative that will give them more control, and will increase their sales and profits by using little known online channels when publishing their books/ebooks.
Here’s how it works…
THREE MAIN ONLINE DISTRIBUTION CHANNELS
Using this model, once your book/ebook is written, there are a number of online channels through which you can distribute and sell your book/ebook, as follows:
- Dedicated Sales-Mini-Site
First and foremost, once your book/ebook is written you need to create what’s called a “mini-Website” (i.e. sales-mini-site) for the sole purpose of selling your product. Trust me, this is the only way to go. You MUST have a site dedicated to the sale of that one book/ebook. Search engines will send targeted traffic to your site and your site copy will make the sales online. - Digital Download Distributors
The second online channel for your book/ebook will be through digital fulfillment companies that distribute downloadable ebooks to the largest online bookstores such as amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and many others. These distribution companies are happy to put your ebook in front of thousands of traditional book buyers who normally wouldn’t see it. Listing your digital download ebook with one or more of these distributors is essential. - Print-On-Demand Distributors
These are distributors that use a relatively new technology called print-on-demand (or POD). You provide the company with a digital copy of your book, plus some cover art work in digital form, and they will set up your book so that single book orders can be printed and drop-shipped directly to the buyer. This allows you to provide a hard copy version (of your ebook) to those customers who insist on it, while you only pay the cost of printing a single copy. (No more printing 2,000+ copies up-front just to get a reasonable cost per copy!). - Other Distribution Channels
There are a few other distribution channels as well, such as small online ebook stores, but these are relatively minor, and to-date I just don’t think they’re worth the trouble.
BOTTOM LINE
Suffice it to say, there are at least three highly effective channels by which you can distribute and sell your book/ebook online through the online publishing model.
If you can harness these three channels in the Online Publishing Model, and get them working for you, I can guarantee that you’ll make more book/ebook sales and profits than you ever would under the traditional publishing model.
To learn more about the Online Publishing Model, click on the following link:
http://InstantBookWritingKit.com