Showing posts with label Website. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Website. Show all posts
The Pro's And Con's Of Self-Publishing
Self-publishing can be rewarding in order to become a self-published author you have to have motivation and the will to succeed. How do you decide if you should self-publish your book or not? Ask yourself the following questions:
1)Can you be a businessperson as well as a writer? Writing is a quiet occupation, while business demands proficient communication skills.
2)Are you motivated enough? You will need to see your book through from beginning to end, and this can be a lengthy process.
3)Are you willing to take a risk? You can't be afraid to take the plunge, you have to believe in yourself!
Tracy Lyn Moland, the self-published author of Mom Management - Managing
Mom Before Everybody else, states that when she started to write her book, she didn't realize self-publishing was even an option. Tracy Lyn discovered that a well-defined business and marketing plan had to be put into place. There were also different considerations to be made such as learning what market to target your book to, who to hire to design your book cover, layout and editing and how to get the book into bookstores and online. Tracy's favorite part of self-publishing has been the control she was able to maintain over her book.
As a self-publisher you need to be aware of your personal marketing abilities, in order to get your book sold, you have to get out there and sell it. The advantages of publishing your own book can be plentiful.
By choosing to self-publish, you only have yourself to convince. You have the enthusiasm for a book that you have written, and you know that there is a market available for it. You don't have to give anyone else the final say of what you put in your book, how it is to be marketed or any thing else. You have complete and total control when you self-publish. Once you have successfully self-published your book you can always negotiate with a large publisher to produce your book since you have experience in the market.
Your book can be printed in just a few weeks instead of waiting for a large publisher, which usually takes over a year to print and get into bookstores. By that time you could be on your second printing. You can also get distribution for your book through Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com just as easily as any larger publisher can.
You have complete control over your project, right down to the design, without having to deal with a third party. As the sole owner of your material your have complete rights and can set your own price with all profits coming to you. If a large publishing house publishes your book you may only see 5%-15% of your book profits.
Large publishing houses take months to publish material while you can have the process completed in a significantly shorter amount of time. Also, there is not always an interest from large publishing houses in special interest projects you may have written about, such as local history, how to books, or books that appeal to the general public.
Some of the disadvantages in publishing your own book are that you may not see results right away. You are an unknown author and you have to market and sell yourself and your product. Even if you have written an excellent book you need to find ways to get noticed.
Also, there are costs involved. Initially, you will need money to have your books printed from an independent printer. This can cost anywhere from $1-10 per book depending on how many books you have printed, the number of pages, etc. You also need to learn how you would like your book set up. Is it going to be soft cover or hardcover, there are different bindings and other options that will be asked by a printer when you decide to publish a book. There are also costs involved in shipping your books to bookstores and marketing your book.
You will also learn that everyone has an opinion and not all will like what you write no matter if you have self-published your book or a large publisher has decided to add you as one of their writers.
Ellen Parlapiano one of the authors of Mompreneurs Online (published by a larger publishing company) states there are advantages and disadvantages of working with a publisher. "Our books have opened many doors for us...and we always say that although you don't get a lot of money writing books, you do boost your income in other ways. We have done corporate consulting, professional speaking, and spokesperson work for companies--all based on the buzz we have built for our books and ourselves. Simply writing and publishing the book is not enough--you must establish yourself as an expert in your field!"
There is a lot to learn when deciding to self-publish a book. Find out all you can about publishing your own book before deciding to take the plunge. While self-publishing can be rewarding it also is very challenging and you may need more time to market and sell your books which in turn leaves less time for writing. In the long run self-publishing has been very rewarding and profitable for my books. From the beginning point of writing the book to designing the cover, it's well-worth it in the end when you see the final result.
About the Author
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Learn How to Self Publish a Magazine
Self publishing a magazine that's something that many individuals are interested in, not only for the money that is possible to make but also so that they can pursue an interest of theirs to its fullest extent. There are several different things that you're going to need to do in order to start a periodical and it may be difficult to learn how to start a magazine unless you start at the very beginning. All of us have different ideas of what success is as far as our magazines are concerned but by following the proper path, you will have the greatest chance of finding the success you're looking for.
The first thing that you're going to need is to find the proper financing in order to start a magazine in the first place. Before you have a large readership, it is often difficult to attract any advertisers in order to make the initial money to begin publishing. One of the easiest ways to do this is to come up with a business plan for your magazine so that you can approach a lending institution to help you with the financing. Once your readership begins to improve, you can find advertisers that will begin to pay for all of the publishing cost and to make your magazine run in the black.
You also need to determine how large your magazine is going to be. If you're working on a very specific niche, you may want to have a smaller magazine or perhaps only publish it several times per year. There is no set rule that says that you need to publish a magazine every month in order for it to be successful. Many magazines have been published for a very long time that are only available once or twice per year.
There really are a lot of other things that are involved in how to start a magazine. As long as you have the desire and an interest in maintaining one of these periodicals, however, you can generally be successful with it. Give it time to grow and make sure that you are constantly promoting the magazine in order to have a larger following. Eventually, your magazine will have a life of its own and you would be surprised at exactly how far you will be able to take it. It is a very old way to make money but it is one that still works today.
Laying out a magazine can me more of a hassle then writing the content for it. One great way to massively cut down on the time it takes to lay out your magazine is by using an InDesign magazine template. Once you learn how to use an InDesign template you will be able to spend less time laying out the pages of your magazine and be able to spend more time writing content for it as well as promoting it. Since time is money both of those things can in turn lead to more profits, so this is a very worthwhile investment.
There are many websites online that sell InDesign magazine templates so it should not be a problem finding one that meets your needs. If you feel that you can not find a template that fits your specific needs then you might consider hiring a freelancer to design the template for you. This is a once off expense that will save you countless time in the future. InDesign templates are simple to use and will absolutely help you save time that you would have spent laying out your copy. Using these templates are fast and simple. You just layout your content as you want it to look in the template.
When you consider how much time and effort you save by using an InDesign magazine template you soon realize what a worthwhile investment they are. By just using a simple layout you are also maximizing how much you are able to fit on each page. If you do not already use a magazine templates and you are looking for a way to save time and money the acquire one today.
About the Author:
If you think you may want to publish a magazine check out some indesign magazine templates.
Article Source:Include this link when reprinting this article: http://www.freearticles.co.za/publishing/learn-how-self-publish-magazine.html
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Magazine Articles: The Ten Golden Rules
| Most magazines, especially women's magazines, are full of feature articles. If your aim is to write this kind of article, here are ten rules that will help put your work at the top of the pile! For most people, magazines are a treat, a small indulgence that they buy for themselves as a little luxury. For some it's a contented lunch or evening read. These readers expect to be entertained, informed and amused so features need to be sharp and to the point whilst still being readable and interesting. The following ten points will help you, as a writer, craft your features to fit almost any niche in any magazine feature article. 1. Do your own research. Magazine editors are savvy creatures and they'll spot a composite, internet-trawled piece a mile off. I'm not saying don't use the web for research - just make very sure that the article your write is truly yours and in your own 'voice'. 2. Study the trends of the magazine you're writing for. A good place to look is in the ads columns - who are they targeted at? What kinds of products do they feature? This can give an you an excellent idea of both the magazine's typical reader and what style of writing you may have to adopt. 3. Use the first paragraph to tell the reader just why they should read your feature article. Explain the core of your article here and get all the article benefits in as early as possible. 4. Don't leave any questions hanging in the air. This article is yours - you are the expert of the moment and your reader will expect everything you say to be accurate and informative. Don't be vague on any points - do more research and find the answer! 5. If you are reviewing a product, try and test it personally. Rather than give sterile specifications and measurements, include your opinion - but make it clear that it is your opinion. If you have had a product on test, give a verdict. People will expect it. 6. Keep your writing style as simple as possible. This may not be easy if your article is all about particle physics or celestial mechanics but avoid using flowery language and overlong words. Your readers don't want to have to refer to a dictionary to understand what they're reading! 7. Give some thought to what the people feel who buy the magazine your article will appear in when they pick it up from the newsstand. Most readers say that a magazine is definitely a form of diversion and some comfort they're seeking. It's up to you to help fulfil that need. 8. Try to be as much like your readers as possible. If they can't identify with you as a person, they're unlikely to have any great interest in what you write, no matter how topical or potentially interesting it may be. Also - don't brag. Even if you're fortunate enough to have a second home and an ocean-going yacht - don't boast. Readers need to feel empathy with the writer, not be alienated by their snobbery or smugness. 9. If you are lucky enough to be writing your feature article about a celebrity you have interviewed, try to throw in one or two surprise questions. Not embarrassing ones, of course - more along the lines of 'If someone stole your handbag/wallet, what would you miss most?' Such questions give an insight into the person being interviewed and add a great deal of interest. Avoid shallow, meaningless questions such as 'Do you prefer tea or coffee?' - they tell the reader nothing about the subject. 10. If you find yourself being asked to write on a well-known theme, try to surprise your reader with some little-known fact about the subject. Readers love surprises! Here the internet can be a boon, with such sites as Wikepedia providing some truly obscure facts about the commonest subjects. However, it's always a good idea to validate your facts by checking with at least one other source - you don't wish to be known as the writer who got their facts wrong on their chosen subject! The above points aren't an exhaustive by any means but, if you adhere to them when writing your feature article you won't wander far from the mark and the magazine editor will appreciate it too! |
| Author Resource:- Steve Dempster writes informative articles such as the one above as part of his working day. Learn more about feature article writing here - and he'd also be delighted if you would pay his writing website a visit. |
| Article From New Ezine Articles |
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Why every print publication should also be a digital publication
Print publications have character
Digital Publications may be the future. Yes, but the print magazines have a certain endearing quality about them. A print magazine is finite, i.e., you can read it “cover to cover”. The vibrant colors are, in most cases, better than screen resolution of a laptop or a PC monitor. In fact there is an entire set of reader behaviors such as tearing out articles, dog-ears to mark pages, flipping the pages to scan the pictures and headlines etc. that continue to define the strong if dwindling relationship between the print publications and its readers. Flipping pages, for example, can be much quicker than going to as many web pages on a site, not to overlook the fact that you must be online.
Compelling advantages of the digital publication
On the other hand, the advantages of Digital Publications are also well understood. Let’s begin with the readers who are spending increasing daily hours online with or without having access to the digital version of your publication. Another advantage in favor of digital publications is cost and speed of distribution. If its available online then a link or even a preview with table of contents can be emailed within minutes, and the readers are just a click away from your digital publication. Add to that a slew of benefits that were unthinkable prior to the availability to digital publications:
1. Embedding video and interstitial ads
2. Tracking the number of readers – unique and repeat
3. Growing your online ad inventory by serving IAB standard ads within and outside the digital publication pages
4. Capturing user view and interaction data such as page views, clicks – unique and repeat
5. The ability to instantly share the E-magazine with friends or colleagues
6. Reader interactivity such as ratings, sharing, and comments
7. Administrative features such as login requirement, preview of selected content, data capture, instant polls; and
8. Enabling ecommerce
The phenomenally low cost of publishing a digital magazine may be the knockout punch in the triumph of digital version over print version.
So how can you create a digital version of your print publication?
This is probably the simplest part. In fact, creating a trial version of your print publication to actually see and test the features and benefits of having a digital publication should be a part of your decision making process. All you need is a PDF of your print publication. You can set up a free trial account (no obligations) at PageTurnPro (www.pageturnpro.com). Once you have an account all it takes is to follow 3 easy steps: Upload the PDF; Configure your digital publication i.e., provide a short description and select features you would like to enable; Click CONVERT. It takes just minutes and you will have a URL for your digital publication which you can forward to your friends, colleagues or just embed in your emails or website. It is that simple.
About the Author: Hopefully this information is useful for you. If you need further clarification please visit our website at www.pageturnpro.com for more information.
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Starting Your Own Magazine Publishing
The success of your magazine publication will depend greatly on the content. If you are doing something similar to what Cosmopolitan or Vogue is doing, chances are you won’t even make a dent in the market because you don’t have anything new to offer.
In order to sell your magazine off the stands, you must feature something different. For instance instead of focusing on clothes, you can create a magazine that caters to parenting or cooking. This all boils down to doing some market research.
If you can’t do it, hire a market research firm to do it. Should their study prove that there is potential in going a certain direction, it is time for you now to develop a plan that will make the magazine profitable.
The biggest question that a lot of people have a problem with is that what if you don’t have enough money to start it up? The best thing to do will be to invite investors by showing them your business plan which includes the start up capital needed and when can they expect to get a return of their investment.
The other option will be to start a magazine publication through the web. Unlike those that hit the stands, you don’t have to invest a lot of money since the cost of making a website and looking for a webhost will not cost you a fortune.
To know other things you may need to make this work, you can visit the website of the small business association which may provide you with a lot of useful input.
A few important things you have to work on will be the name of the magazine. The shorter the name the better so people will be able to remember it and the only way that can happen is if it is able to grab the people’s attention.
Magazines come out monthly or quarterly. To ensure the quality of your content, make sure you hire the right people to work as editors, writers and photographers. If you can’t afford yet to hire these people on a full time basis, make sure you can buy the rights from them and then be able to edit the materials yourself and pay them accordingly.
Don’t forget to promote your online magazine. You can do this by paying for pop up ads that will appear in various websites especially the search engines.
If your online magazine publication has captured a lot of hits and you are able to earn a sufficient amount of money from advertising, perhaps this is the time that you shift your attention towards coming up with your very first magazine to hit the news stands.
Starting a magazine Publishing is not easy in the beginning since you are entering an industry that has already been around for a very long time. Again, if someone else has already made a magazine that is similar to what you plan, try to see what they lack and then use it to your advantage. This hasn’t stopped others from launching their own which just goes to show there is room for everyone in this business.
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