You've written your book. It could be fiction, non-fiction, biography or autobiography. Most people (the friends you've dared to tell that you are "writing a book") would tell you that if you are serious about your work and
you believe in it, you should submit it to a publisher. In their definition a publisher is someone who will put your book into print, get it into a bookstore, promote it, send you on a book tour to sign your book and do readings in upscale bookstores, libraries and art galleries, get it reviewed in
the New York Times, sell the movie rights to Steven Speilberg and in general make you a house-hold name and a millionaire. In reality, depending upon where you live, most publishers hope your book will not lose money for them. Unless you are an established author, get ready for a long wait and a
lot of rejection letters. My advice is try the new medium of electronic publishing even though a recent survey by a suite 101.com editor showed that none of the respondents chose a preference toward reading e-books. There are success stories on the web that will brighten your hopes of becoming a best selling author.
The most talked about one is M. J. Rose's book "Lip Service". This book made literary history in March of this year when it was chosen by Doubleday Publishing as a featured alternate selection for both the Doubleday Book Club and The Literary Guild. What followed was a publishing contract from Pocketbooks for a hardcover edition in September of 1999. It will also be published in England, Australia, Germany and The
Netherlands.
This success did not come over night. M. J. Rose had her book printed at her own expense and offered it for sale at Amazon.com - it was a hit. People read it and sent it reviews. She promoted it in every way should could. I will discuss some of those methods in this article and add some ideas of my own (I encourage you to send me your ideas too).
Use a small ad in your signature file for all your e-mail. Something like: author of "The Title" available at www.yoursite.com (or your e-pub's site).
Get a web page to send people to. There are hundreds of sites which offer free web pages (including suite101.com). Get as many as you want. Put your ad on them or the first chapter. Offer a free download of the chapter. This doesn't have to be complicated. Tell the visitor to send you an e-mail asking for a free chapter then send them the chapter as an attachment
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