Resumo de Harder To Get Published Today? Yes And No!

Harder to get Published today? Yes and NO!

Substantial changes have taken place in just the last 10-15 year within the publishing field that you should know about and be prepared to overcome to get your work in print.The conventional publishing houses have scaled back their operations and their offerings via the yearly, bi-annual, and quarterly catalogues made available to the retail booksellers. Conventional publishers are not using or accepting as many ?filler? type works from would be authors. Historically publishing houses looked for new properties from little known or unknown authors to help ?bulk up? their catalogues and make themselves appear to be major players in the publishing field. Advertising costs and distribution concerns coupled with the growing phenomenon of e-commerce has caused the conventional publishing firm to reconsider their former philosophy and approach resulting in a reduction of ?filler? publications being accepted. That much is the bad news that has to be delivered to the aspiring author.
ONLINE POSSIBILITIES: Technology is beginning to catch up to the need for alternative publishing avenues. A writer hoping to earn a living sees growing opportunities online. Sites such as Svhoong and Helium offer opportunities for sharing experience, expertise, insight, and entertainment while also giving the author a royalty for each posted abstract. Content based sites actively look for good articles and ?white-papers? to include in the growing number of newsletters and e-zines.
POD: For writers hoping to see their book in print the most cost effective means available is the Print On Demand (POD for short) avenue. Ten or fifteen years ago the print-on-demand industry suffered from quality issues; both binding quality and limitations on cover options made this form of publishing less than attractive. This has changed. One such provider, Lulu.com, offers free access to load, edit, and then publish through their free database. Options include eBook download, hardbound, perfect bound (paper back w/glossy cover), and looseleaf or plastic spine. All content, editing, and therefore end-product responsibility is retained by the author. Cover design can be built on one of their stock backgrounds or the writer can choose to build their own and have it uploaded for reproduction. Without minimums to meet (authors and purchasers can order as few as a single copy) coupled with volume discounts, the aspiring writer can self-publish a work by converting their Word document to PDF format and uploading. Once all files necessary for the work have been placed in the company?s computer memory the first copy can arrive in as little as 10 days.
DISADVANTAGES: The author must step into the role of advertising and marketing their work. These types of services are available through various companies online but all are fee-based. Book signings and other media attention require making contact with the right person and meeting their requirements. Press releases and notifications to book distributors must include a follow-up phone call or calls. An author's web site, considered an essential element, must be available on the internet search engines and submission to these can be time-consuming. Free internet classifieds are also time consuming. A web site that is properly indexed for the search engines must STILL have two things to be a viable tool: A) A means to contact the author/distributor, and B) E-commerce capability for processing orders.
RESOURCES: Utilizing free web sites, writer?s forums, free tutorials, free software programs, and other free services can substantially cut the cost of self-publication. But effective advertising will cost something. A press-release-kit will consist of a high-quality bookmark with the book cover design on one side and description on the other side, a similarly designed two-sided business card, a press notice with the book?s release date, limited iographical information on the author, description of the book, any reviews that have been made regarding the content, and either a sample of the book in the form of a chapter-CD version that can be downloaded and read-or a sample of the book itself. Tutorials and kits are available on how to write and assemble an effective press-release packet. Local newspapers, TV, and radio stations, occasionally include interviews and reviews of works by new authors. Ability to take and process orders must be in place prior to the appearance. Certainly E-books avoid many of the pitfalls and problems that accompany books in print but that form of publishing also serves to limit one's market and reduce availability.
ROYALTIES: In side by side comparison the writer will realize larger royalties on a per-sale basis from self or private publication than can be expected from conventional publishing avenues. Self-publication also allows the writer to prove the market exists for their work and can serve as a test-market platform before offering the ?property? to a conventional publisher.
In conclusion the options for new writers who have not been able to successfully publish have never been greater, the risks for self-publication have never been so few, and the profits from a successful marketing campaign have never been higher. Go forth and PUBLISH!!

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