Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Great Resources for Self Publishing

I'm on a guilt trip. It's been way too long since I've posted something useful on this site. So here's my penance. Short and sweet.

Today I got two great books in the mail. I could have gone to the library for them, but I decided these will be keepers--an important permanent addition to my writer's library.

A friend had told me how valuable Dan Poynter's advice was for her. She met him at a conference, and highly recommended his book, Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book. This book is credited with starting the current self-publishing revolution--the one I'm caught up in.

When I ordered Dan Poynter's book, Amazon recommended another one (surprise, surprise) and it's a keeper too. The Well-Fed Self-Publisher: How to Turn One Book into a Full-Time Living, by Peter Bowerman, is an insightful, readable, relaxed introduction to the frantic world of self-publishing, with a dash of humor to keep you entertained as you learn.

Both these books are geared to non-fiction manuscripts, but I have already found helpful information for my situation. And I remain undaunted by Bowerman's warning that self-pubbed fiction is harder to sell than non-fiction. This bulldog has got her mouth around a bone and she's not going to let go until someone else takes a nibble or her teeth fall out.

Today my professional editor received my completed manuscript, as perfect as I can make it. Until he writes back and tells me all the things I still need to fix.

Onward and upward, my writing friends.

2 comments:

Robynn Tolbert said...

Most excellent! I hope you offer some tips from "the experts" as you go. I may need to add those books to my library.
I would also recommend Seth Godin as a marketing resource. His book Tribes made a huge impact on me.

Brayden Hirsch said...

Hey, just found your blog! Pretty cool, what you're doing. You could pull this off, if the writing's good and you have a solid marketing plan - I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store with you. Keep it up!