Self-Publishing – Page 108 – Self Publishing Advisor

Sizing-up Your Self-published Book

As you continue to develop your content, target your market, and research self-publishing options, it will become at some point important to consider your book length.

The most important thing to recognize is the difference between your manuscript page size (which is most likely 8.5 x 11) and your published book trim size (which will most likely be smaller). Whenever a publisher discusses page count, or per-page pricing, it is based upon the size of the published page.

The most common published book trim sizes are 5.5 x 8.5 and 6 x 9, although many publishers will offer several more options. Check out our recent post on book sizes recommendations for more on choosing your book’s trim size.

If your manuscript is 100 pages long at 8.5 x 11, you probably have closer to 200 pages of finished text when the book is published. The good news is, your book just got twice as long, which in many cases improves its perceived value. On the other hand, some authors will be surprised when they see pricing based upon 200 pages instead of 100. Be prepared.

Keep in mind that production cost is directly related to page count, and POD books, as a result of their many advantages, are still a bit higher per-book than traditionally offset printed titles. The more pages your book has, the more it will cost to print. Most authors keep their books between 100-300 published pages.

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Book Marketing

Social Media Marketing for Self-publishing Authors

As of June 2010, about 65 million “tweets” are posted each day, equaling about 750 unique 140 character “micro-blogs” sent each second, according to Twitter. This massive communication stream has elevated Twitter into the Big 3 social networking sites according to ebizmba.com.

If Facebook were a country, it would be the 3rd most populated in the world right now with over 400,000,000 users.

Many will contend that LinkedIn is the most valuable social networking sites for gaining business connections, and Evernote just hit 5 million users in record time. And there are countless others – Myspace, Foursquare, your personal blog, Meetups – that you can and should be utilizing to network with others and active promote your self-published book.

Sure, if you’re not a current social media wizard, there will be some upfront work involved – gaining the learning curve and building connections. But here’s the kicker: social media is exploding, its completely FREE, and there are increasing ways to measure its ROI. With self-publishing POD services your book will also be available virtually everywhere books are sold, an additional digital advantage since you’ll never need to stock an inventory or personally ship pre-printed copies. It’s all connected for you.

Over the coming weeks, Self-publishing Advice will be sharing social media news, information, tips, and resources to help you gain the most oomph for using these dynamic and powerful venues for generating buzz for your books.

We’ll also be actively implementing them here on our blog and other social media sites. So stay tuned, and in meantime, check out these new icons below and visit us on Facebook and Twitter, or send a Digg. We are eager to connect.

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Book Doctor

Guest Post: Ask the Book Doctor

The Book Doctor talks about writing signs for the self-publishing author…

Q: In several places in my novel I have things that the character reads, such as the following:

I turn the page in my journal and write, “This is gonna be a breeze.”
I see a sign that says, “Crab Cakes and Cold Beer—1 mile.”
I sign it, “To my buddy, John, Samuel Two Guns.”
The sign says, “Please be seated.”

My critique group questioned whether or not these phrases should be in quotes.
What do you think?

A: The answer is not the same for all four examples. Specific wording of short signs or notices should be capitalized but not put into quotation marks: I see a sign that says Crab Cakes and Cold Beer—1 Mile. The sign says Please Be Seated.

If the message on the sign is long, such as “We reserve the right to refuse to serve minors, drunks, belligerent people, the shoeless, or the scantily clad,” it would be inside quotation marks.

In the two sentences that refer to what someone is writing, though, use quotation marks around what was written. The first line is correct: I turn the page in my journal and write, “This is gonna be a breeze.”

The third sentence, however, should have a period after John: “To my buddy, John. Samuel Two Guns.”

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Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-published Book Review of the Week: The Science of Life

The Science of Life
Ronnie Lee
9781432758639 $34.95

Some things in life can’t be quantified by numbers. “The Science of Life: Philosophical Equations of Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Religion” is a discussion that seeks to blend science with philosophy and religion, with a unique format from Ronnie Lee, a Chinese poet and philosopher. Giving readers a lot to ponder and think about and discussing major scientific breakthroughs and discoveries, done in a poetic style, “The Science of Life” is a unique experience that will be hard to match.

Susan Bethany
Reviewer

This Book Of Science is a unique volume of poetry full of scientific equations to understand fundamental scientific values of today such as quantum entanglement, gravity, relativity, string theory, genetics and even the origin of life. From Newton to Einstein to Bohr to Schrodinger, this book covers a history of physics, to uncover, inspire and unravel new laws of science to allow the past generation to be understood by the new and future generations to come. The information age has allowed a Golden Age of Science to begin and this book is a fundamental research log for the start of the new era of quantum mechanics, nanotechnology and space exploration. It attempts to align everything in science towards an orderly, easy and efficient method of deduction for a grand unfied theory and a practical logic to make science a success for society to reach its goals and ambitions for wealth, profit and worth. It attempts to unite the laws of life in the simplest way possible; through the heart and mind of a philosopher.

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Book Marketing

Your Publicity Goody-bag from Self-publishing Advice

The most powerful marketing tool for most self-published authors is themselves. Here are some cool media resources used by publicity professionals to help garner publicity for your self-published book without shelling out tons of money to actually have a publicist do it for you.

HARO (Help a Reporter Out): Tap into the largest source repository in the world with over 80,000 mainstreet and expert sources who will respond directly to your query on your terms. No more flipping through your rolodex; searching out-of-date databases, or being bothered by unsolicited sources with off-topic pitches. Submit your query and let HARO deliver the perfect sources right to your inbox.

All-in-One Media Directory: There is a print version and a CD version available. If you want up-to-date media contacts, this is it, all in one place:www.gebbiepress.com

Cision’s Media Directories: These directories are available for specialized outlets and channels and include in-depth profiles on reporters, editors, and columnists. Some of these reports aren’t cheap, but they are the same top-of-the-line reports used by many libraries: http://us.cision.com/

The Gale Databases: Here you will find thousands of listings for radio and television and cable companies. All the relevant data is here including there addresses, phone number, and email addresses: www.gale.com

Bulldog Reporter: National PR Pitch Books media directories include contact information for up to 43,000 journalists:www.bulldogreporter.com

Newspaper Directory: A useful online resource for local, daily, and weekly newspapers: www.bizmove.com

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