Cheap Self-Publishing

Jerry D. Simmons on Understanding the Publishing Business

For those of you who read this week's Monday Book Review and want more information, I bring to you an interview with Jerry D.Simmons. Jerry retired in 2003 as a vice president/director of field sales at Time Warner. He is the author of What Writers Need to Know About Publishing and runs the WritersReaders website.

1. Why did you write this book?

JDS: It was never intended to be a published book, it was a self-imposed form of self-therapy that I needed after 25 years in corporate publishing in New York. It was my intention to make some copies and place on my bookshelf as a reminder of my career. Then an author friend called one day and asked what I had been doing with myself since leaving NY and when I told her, she asked for a copy of the manuscript, which I gladly sent along. Then she forwarded it to some other author friends of mine and they all agreed I should publish. But they warned me that no NY publisher would want to take it on, so I should do it myself. That is how it ended up as a self-published book.

2. If writers could take away three things from this book, what might they be?

JDS: The first would be that publishing is a business and it’s extremely important for every author under contract to understand that fact, it’s not about great writing, it’s about revenue and shelf space. The second would be they must protect themselves from the business by becoming a student of the market, which means visiting bookstores regularly, reading the trades such as Publishers Weekly, learn how to develop relationships in-house, ask the right questions and know what the answers mean to their book and career. The more intelligently they can speak about the business, the better chance they have of separating themselves from all the other authors on the list. The third thing would be that every author under contract must have a positive attitude when working with their publisher. Most authors work from the position of “what is my publisher going to do for me?” The better approach is “how can I help my publisher sell more books?” If you make that your premise every step of the way, you’ll have a better chance of having your suggestions heard and acted upon.  

3. What is the number one mistake that writers make?

JDS: Signing a contract and then walking away, leaving every decision to their publisher. There are few authors who take an active role in the publication of their book and it is in the best interest of every author to become involved without being a pset. Learn how to do it, ask the right questions, and you can impact what happens to your book once you are under contract. Authors have one good shot at selling enough copies to continue a career as a published author, take advantage of that fact and make it a good one.

4. In your book, you give a lot of very specific information about the publishing process. Why do you think it is so important for writers to understand the process?

JDS: When you're a writer who spent months if not years writing and perfecting your craft, it's important to understand what happens once you sell the rights to your work. The business of publishing is about producing books, not publishing. One book with a bad sales history and that author could be finished forever as a published author. I feel it's important for every writer to understand their options in publishing, know the facts about the corporate publishers, and understand how to act on those facts to improve their chances of selling copies and maintaining a career as an author.

5. Is there anything else you would like to share with my readers?

JDS: There are two distinct parts to becoming a published author: the first is the writing to the point where the work is ready to be published, and the second is everything from that point forward. This includes every piece that goes into creating a finished book. The more you know about the process, the business,and what is involved, the better chance you have of being successful, which means selling books. It's very easy to get a manuscript published today, but it is not easy to market and sell books. Every author needs some help, so spend some time learning the business as well as writing and you'll be in a much better position to have a long and successful career as an author.

Bill Frederick on Virtual Book Tours

Bill Frederick is on a virtual book tour promoting his e-book on, surprisingly, virtual book tours. If you have not seen one in action, I encourage you to follow him from site to site. Also and importantly, take a look at his My Virtual Book Tour Secrets. If you interested in winning a free copy, read to the end of the interview, and Bill will tell you can do just that! If you have questions, Bill will be around to answer them Feel free to leave a comment and he will respond.

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TN: Why did you decide to write this book?

BF: I have two self-published books coming out later this year, "The 5-Minute Writer," and, "Timeless Promises." After paying for their printing and binding, I have no money left to pay for their promotion and advertising. I had to find a way to promote and advertise them basically on a $0 budget. About the same time, I was reading author and friend Glenda Watson Hyatt's blog where she mentioned that she had just completed a "virtual book tour" for her self-published autobiography, "I'll Do It Myself." The journalist in me became curious and I started researching virtual book tours. It wasn't long before I realized that I had found a way to promote my books on a $0 budget. And, I share, step-by-step, how anyone can set up a virtual book tour in My Virtual Book Tour Secrets!.

TN: Why should someone do a virtual book tour? Should everyone do one?

BF: Good question Tom. In addition to their low cost, which I’ve already mentioned, virtual book tours allow you to target your specific audience with laser-like accuracy. There are blogs dedicated to any topic you can imagine, all you have to do is find and contact the ones that are already catering to your potential readers.

Even with these benefits though, a virtual book tour is not for every author. If your readers don’t spend any time online or you’re trying to promote a textbook or some other highly technical book you’ve written, a virtual book tour may not be the best way to market your book.

TN: In your e-book, you discuss seven types of virtual book tour content. Perhaps you could share one or two of those with my readers.

BF: Sure. One of the easiest types of content you can produce for your virtual book tour, especially if your book is non-fiction, is a guest post. You simply write a short article or essay discussing some aspect of your book that relates to the theme of the blog. The blog owner then posts your article on their blog. Another type that looks really fun, but I haven’t tried yet, is virtual book readings. There are 3-D virtual worlds on the internet where people create characters, businesses, homes, entire lives, and interact with each other through text messages, audio and video. A lot like people do in real life. Well, several authors have set up virtual bookstores where they hold virtual readings very much like you’d see at a Barnes and Noble or another local bookstore. And they’re selling books. They’re very futuristic. And, let’s not forget the interview, like we’re doing today. 

TN: What are some things that you should do before the virtual book tour?

BF: Yeah, you can’t just start contacting blog owners tomorrow morning to schedule a virtual book tour without some preliminary work. There are several things you need to have in place before you begin thinking about a virtual book tour.

First, you need to have a book to discuss. Not an idea for a book, an actual book or ebook. You should also have a blog or website set up where you can announce your virtual book tour. You also need a media page on your website where you can post your author’s bio and your photo, cover images, press releases, reviews of your book and any testimonials, as well as your contact information. You should also be able to produce original content quickly and can commit one or two hours for each tour stop you schedule. After you have all of that in place, you can begin contacting blog owners.

TN: A different sort of question: Why did you decide to do an electronic book instead of a print one?

BF: I have several reasons actually. Once your book is published and online, the cost of delivering an electronic book to your readers is $0 and they can purchase 24/7.

Second, and more importantly, the internet is a dynamic and ever changing place. Websites are sold, change their focus or even go out of business. The ability for me to update the ebook wile keeping expenses to a minimum is also important. Who can predict what new methods and tools will be available next year, next month or even next week for that matter, that authors can use to promote their books. I want to provide my readers the most up-to-date information available.

With an ebook all I have to do is make the changes, upload the ebook to my website and send a brief email to everyone who’s already purchased letting them know there has been an update. Since they’re already customers, they can then download the updated version free.

As a way of saying thank you, Tom, I'd like to give one of your readers a free copy of, "My Virtual Book Tour Secrets!" For anyone interested in winning a free copy of "My Virtual Book Tour Secrets!", visit this site, read the instructions, and enter. Your odds are good because I'm giving away a free copy on each of the blog tour stops. You can increase your odds by visiting the other blog tour stops and entering on those sites as well.

Angela & Richard Hoy on the Amazon Lawsuit

Angela and her husband, Richard, are the driving forces behind Writersweekly.com, the largest writers' e-zine, and Booklocker.com, the print-on-demand publisher of many titles. They have stepped forward to take on Amazon.com in the wake of Amazon's decision to pressure small publishers to use only its BookSurge print-on-demand facilities. They were gracious enough to answer some of my questions on the topic. I encourage you to go to their website (see link below) and to follow this as it unfolds. This directly affects you. It certainly affects me.

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1. Can you give us a brief synopsis of what Amazon has done?
BL: Earlier this year, Amazon began contacting publishers using print on demand (POD) technology telling them they need to pay Amazon to print their books or their active buy buttons would be removed from Amazon.com. These weren't just self-publishing service companies. They also included some traditional publishers, including University of Pennsylvania Press.

2. Why is this a bad thing for independent publishers?
BL: Publishers should not have to pay the world's largest online retailer to print their books...as a condition of having those books sold directly by that retailer.

3. You have sued Amazon. What can you tell us about the lawsuit?
BL: A time-line of events, a copy of our lawsuit filing, updates, and comments from authors, publishers, and book buyers can be seen here:

Amazon BookSurge Information Clearinghouse

We believe Amazon's practice of requiring POD publishers to pay Amazon to print their books in order to have Amazon.com sell those books directly to customers is an illegal tying arrangement and a violation of anti-trust laws.

4. The ultimate question: Why you? There are many companies that could and should be doing what you have chose to do. Again, why you?
BL: I have to be honest with you. I was stunned when none of the big guys, our largest competitors, stepped up to the plate to take this on for everyone in the industry. After speaking to a few of them, it became clear that everyone was waiting for someone else to step forward and lead the fight. Why us? Heck, I thought, why not us? We'd already publicized Amazon's covert shenanigans, which forced them to issue a public statement about their activities, so we weren't on their good side anyway.

We were happy to take the reins and we're proud to be a part of the growing public sentiment against Amazon's power push against small and independent publishers.

5. Where do you see all of this going?
BL: Well, once things hit the courts, they start to crawl, as you probably know. While we'll have to wait awhile, I'm confident that either Amazon will come to its senses and withdraw their ridiculous plans to take over the printing of POD books, or that, despite Amazon's pretty verbiage, the court will see the company's recent actions for what they really are.

Bob Martin on 49 Ways to Make a Living (Part 2)

The following is the second half of my interview with Bob Martin of Virtual Earner and other places. His latest book is 49 Ways to Make a Living in the Philippines.

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TN: In your book you list forty-nine different ways to make money on the Internet. A number of them seem to fit in nicely with people who are self-publishers. Care to share which ones you think would work best for self-publishers?

BM: Well, certainly writing books is one of them! Writing, and also publishing for others. I mean, if a person can figure out how to successfully publish his own book, he can then do it for others as well. You know, there are a lot of people who have a desire to write a book. I believe that we all have a book in us waiting to get out. However, most people don't have the slightest idea of how to publish that book. Most people want to go to a publishing house and offload the entire job to them. When they do that, they will soon find out that they probably won't make the cut, and thus won't be published at all. If they are "lucky enough" to get a deal with a  publisher, they will then find that the money they will make will be quite small. So, if a self-publisher can take on some of these kind of people and offer a deal where the writer would get maybe 50% of the profit from the book, this could be a great deal for both the writer and the publisher! Instead of just being a self-publisher, why not take the additional step of applying what you have learned about publishing to drop the "self" from your title, and publish for others as well using the same methods that are comfortable to you?

I also think that a lot of the ideas of self-publishing can be applied to the newer media of the Internet. use the Internet as a marketing tool for your books! I am not saying that you should just put up a sales page for your books. What I mean is that you should start a website (or websites) where you also offer your writing and people can get to know you and realize that you are offering information and a style that they enjoy. This, in turn, will lead to additional book sales!

TN: I like the fact that you are very open about money. You talk about the amount of money that you started with, the amount you were running through (rather quickly), and the amounts you are making now. Why do you think it is so important to be transparent in talking about money?

BM: I do try to be very open when it comes to money and how much money I earn. It is something that has been sort of taboo to discuss over the years. However, I think that when you are writing a book about how to earn money, you need to establish some credibility. I mean, if you don't know how to make money, writing a book about it probably won't offer many successes for your readers! It so happens that I know a person who moved to the Philippines around the same time that I did. After only two or three years he had to go home because he ran out of money. Now living in his homeland, he is writing e-books about life in the Philippines. I thought he had a good thing going and was wise to do this. However, a couple of years ago, he came out with a book about how to make money in the Philippines. Now, for me, that is hypocritical. He had to leave because he couldn't make enough money, and now he is charging money to people purporting to teach them how to make money. When I saw that, all of this fellow's credibility went out the door. That is why I am not shy about showing people that I can make money here, and not only that, I do make money here!

TN: Although the title of this book has the word "Philippines" in the title, my take is that you could use most of these strategies no matter where you live. Is that your take as well?

BM: Absolutely. I believe that the ideas in my book, many of them anyway, can be used no matter where in the world you find yourself. The only exception is that, on some of my ideas I recommend the hiring of a staff of employees, and in a more developed country that will be expensive. Here in the Philippines, labor is quite cheap and that helps to make some of my ideas possible. It's kind of like outsourcing to a cheaper labor market, but you are actually there and can keep an eye on the operation. So, that is the only limiting factor. That said, I do believe that these ideas can be applied in the full sense if you are living in any market where labor is cheap. This might be good for retirees in Mexico, people living in India, Thailand, or other such places.

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I would like to thank Bob for agreeing to be interviewed. In the next couple of weeks, I plan on writing a review both of the product (the production of the book) and the information inside the book.

If you would like to purchase Bob's book, click the link below:

49 Ways to Make a Living in the Philippines

Interview

If you would like to read an interview with me, I would encourage you to go to Morris Rosenthal's excellent Self Publishing blog. Read what I have said, but I also encourage you to read what else is there. Morris is one of the experts on print-on-demand and self-publishing and you would do well to see what he has to say.

Steve Weber on Online Book Marketing

Steve Weber is the author of Plug Your Book!: Online Book Marketing for Authors and The Home-Based Bookstore. His Plug Your Book blog is becoming required reading for those interested in selling books.

1. You have a new book out, Plug Your Book. What can you tell us about that work?

SW: The message is simple: Free advertising works better than paid advertising. People are paying less attention than ever to traditional advertising, and it's never been very effective for books anyway. But it's easier than ever for authors to get free publicity online, without having any special computer skills.

I recommend three basic things: blogging, joining social networks like MySpace, and strengthening your book's Amazon recommendations.

These techniques are virtually free, but they generate demand for your book everywhere -- online and in brick-and-mortar bookstores.

2. What is the one thing that most folks overlook when planning their online book marketing?

SW: Most new authors assume their book will sell itself; that once it's available in bookstores or on Amazon, people will buy it automatically. You can have the best book in the world, but nobody is going to buy it unless your book has real word of mouth.

Many authors hire a book publicist, but for most new authors, a traditional marketing campaign won't generate many sales. Spending money on marketing is satisfying because it makes you feel like you're taking action. But the truth is, nobody can market your book better than you can, using free or very low-cost online techniques.

3. In your book, you talk about blogging. Why should an author put in the time and effort to blog?

SW: Writing a blog enables your readers to find you.

Instead of trying to beat people over the head with an advertisement for your book, a blog enables your audience to discover you, and they get involved.

Blogging does take time, but the payoff can be huge. The more you blog, the more readers will find you, and contribute new ideas you can use in your books.

You're probably already doing several things now you could be using for your blog. For example, I get a few e-mails every week from readers who have a question about one of my book topics. I take the most interesting questions and post them on my blog along with my answer. This way, more people benefit from my answer. And once my blog post makes its way into Google, hundreds or thousands more people will discover my blog (and book) when they search for a similar question.

4. How useful is your book and techniques for older books? I'm not talking about books that are years old, but perhaps one that came out in the last year or two. What would you recommend for those readers?

SW: These days, with print-on-demand, books never need to go out of print, of course. So as long as your blogging is generating book sales, it's a no-brainer. Plus, with a blog readership, you have more knowledge, momentum, and motivation for your next book.

Also, your blog audience is a great way to try out new ideas. For example, Chris Anderson, the editor of Wired Magazine, posted much of his bestseller, "The Long Tail," on his blog first. What originally was a magazine article grew into this popular blog. Then his blog readers added fuel to the fire. They suggested some new ideas and corrected some mistakes, making the book much stronger. This created a built-in audience for the book because even though the blog readers had already read much of the book's contents, they still wanted their own copy. It's no coincidence that "The Long Tail" has been one of the best-selling books of the past year.

5. How did you learn the techniques in "Plug Your Book?"

SW: It was all quite by accident. I didn't relish the idea of spending time on book promotion. When I started promoting my first book, Google advertising was all the rage. I'd heard these "pay-per-click" ads were really effective, so I bought thousands of dollars worth of Google and Yahoo ads. I also tried other expensive things that turned out to be ineffective, like hiring an expensive publicist and mailing thousands of review copies.

All those things that sounded like great ideas were horrific failures -- I was spending $20 on marketing for every $1 of sales. So I ditched my traditional marketing campaign. I started blogging, joined MySpace, and worked at getting some Amazon Top Reviewers to read and review my book. That's when my book started selling, and it was such a revelation. All those things I'd been spending money on were a waste of time, while the grassroots techniques that cost virtually nothing were extremely effective. I though it would be very helpful for new authors to know about these techniques, and that was the inspiration for "Plug Your Book."

Sarah Bolme on Marketing Christian Books

Sarah Bolme is the director of Christian Small Publishers Association and is the author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace. Below she offers valuable advice for publishers trying to break into that market.

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1. Can you tell us the story behind your book. How did it come to be?

SB: As the Director of Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA), it became clear to me that a handbook outlining the structure and resources available for promoting books in this unique marketplace would be a helpful tool to many publishers and authors. Most other book-marketing books only list a few Christian marketplace resources. Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace is the book I wish I'd had when I was starting out in publishing for the Christian marketplace. The book is a compilation of the knowledge I have gleaned over the past 5 years of being involved in both publishing for the Christian marketplace and in directing CSPA, an organization devoted to helping publishers market in the Christan marketplace.

2. How is marketing a book on Christian topics different than secular ones?

SB: The Christian marketplace is a unique subset of the larger book industry. Due to the religious beliefs that are held by this market, this marketplace is driven by name recognition, either publisher or author. Relying on name recognition enables retailers and consumers to be assured that they are receiving products that hold to their basic tenets. As a result, it is a hard place for an unknown Christian name to enter and be accepted as a credible "Christian" product. A number of obstacles exist in this market. While these obstacles are set up to ensure the credibilty of products from unknown sources, they make it difficult for small or self-publishers to break into promoting and selling to this group.

3. Can you give us a couple marketing tips for publishers looking to break into the Christian market?

SB: The most significant tip that I can give is that new publishers should secure distribution with a Christian wholesaler or distributor such as Spring Arbor or STL. Christian retail stores do not order from the usual wholesalers (Baker & Taylor or Ingram) in the book industry. They have their own set of Christian wholesalers and distributors that they do business with.

Secondly, obtaining an endorsement from a known Christian author or personality for your book gives immediate credibility to the product in the Christian marketplace. If a Christian consumer or retailer does not recognize the publisher or author, but recognizes the name of an endorser of the book, then they know that it is a "safe" product to purchase, whether for their store or personal use.

4. What is the one best thing you did for your book?

SB: The best thing I did for my book was to ask Sally E. Stuart, a guru in the Christian author marketplace, to write a foreword for me. Sally graciously consented to do this and her endorsement on the book tells authors and new publishers that my book is a valuable tool. The second best thng I did was to garner some good reviews for the book. Patricia Fry, the director of SPAWN, and Midwest Book Review both gave excellent reviews. The third best thing I did was enter a book award competition. Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace won a Bronze Award from the Independent Publisher (IPPY) Awards in the Writing/Publishing category.

See: Christian Small Publishers Association

Morris Rosenthal on Print-On-Demand (Part 2)

This is the second half, belatedly, of an interview with Morris Rosenthal of Foner Books and the wonderful book, Print-On-Demand Book Publishing. He offers sound and prophetic advice on the future of independent publishing.

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4. Your book, Print-On-Demand Book Publishing, is on eof the early books that shows a different way to be successful in independent publishing. What advice can you offer from the book?

MR: It took me several false starts to write that book and in the end, I wrote the book I wished I'd had around to read when I first got involved in writing and publishing. The first third of the book describes the trade publishing industry as it is today, talks about author contracts and distribution, in order to provide the context for the new print-on-demand model. I'm not trying to convince readers that there's only one right way to do anything, but I wanted to provide enough background, especially for those new to publishing, to know where they need to start their research to make the right decisions for themselves.

The middle of the book is about print-on-demand publishing and the costs and benefits of working with the primary POD provider to the whole industry, Lightning Source. I also provide a one year case history of my first POD book to demonstrate how different that life cycle is from the typical New York trade model of publishing a large number of books onto the shelves and waiting to see if it will result in more orders or returns.

The last third of the book focuses primarily on Internet marketing. My own approach to promoting books on the Internet can be summed up by "content." I give away big chunks of books that cover entire subtopics, not teasers that leave the reader wondering if I really have anything to say, and I add to my website continually, so there's far more material online than some subjects I write about than there is in the books. I also publish online BEFORE publishing on paper, in some cases,I start writing articles on my website years before I write an actual book. It's the best way to get honest feedback by way of e-mail and server statistics on the true potential of a book. For example, I dedicated two months this winter to researching and writing a guide for American tourists spending long periods of time in Jerusalem. If the site doesn't produce enough interest, I won't expand and edit it into a published book.

Morris Rosenthal on Print On Demand

Morris Rosenthal is the author of Print-On-Demand Book Publishing and the owner of FonerBooks.com. His website provides fantastic information on using POD, but also provides high-quality information on Amazon sales rankings. Below is a recent interview with the blog. The second half of this interview will appear on Monday.

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1. What do you see at the future of publishing?

I don't think there's any question that the Internet is the future of publishing, and it's a good chunk of the present as well. I'm not predicting the disappearance of books any time soon, but the nonfiction business which makes up the majority of titles published is in for a complete overhaul. Just a decade ago, a person looking for information about anything under the sun would look for a book on the subject, or maybe call the information desk at their local library. Today that person starts with Google, or calls the library, where the librarian starts with Google.

That's good news for small publishers, since the Internet remains more of a level playing field than bookstore chains, particularly in reference tot he investment required to break-in. It's possible (though not recommended) to create an Internet presence without spending a dime, through blogging or social sites. A website with the publisher's own domain name (and the key here is own - as in ownership) only costs $5 or $10 a month to have hosted, and publishers are the last people in the world who should have trouble coming up with text content for the site. On the other hand, a publishing  business plan that starts with a hoped for sell-in to the chains requires an investment of at least $10,000 upfront, from all but the most extraordinary corner cutters.

2. Many of the experts in the field recommend that new publishers commit to printing 2,000 or more copies of their first book. What is your take on that recommendation?

I think it's nuts, and I say that as a publisher who once printed 1,000 hardcovers and spent a couple thousand dollars just giving them away. That 2,000 copy recommendation is based around the old model of bookstore sell-in and full-service distribution. New publishers who buy into the concept that they need a big sell-in and a full service distributor are stuck with a big print run, and frankly, if you're going to print 2,000 books, there's a reasonable argument to be made for printing 5,000 instead. But the majority of publishers who start out printing thousands of books will never sell them at any price, and will end up paying to have them taken to the landfill or recycling facility. A print run of a few thousand books does nothing to help a book sell. That's a faulty extrapolation by small publishers and consultants who are trying to emulate the big trades, and see that announcing an initial print run of 50,000 or 100,000 helps convince bookstore buyers that the publisher is seriously committed to the book and will spend six figures on promotion.

But the small publisher version of printing 2,000 copies just tells everybody that you're a small publisher taking a big risk. It doesn't give them a reason to take a risk on stocking your books. Small publishers can compete with the largest NY trades on individual titles, but not on the business model, it simply doesn't scale that way. It's like a small retailer declaring that they are going to compete with Walmart by taking a big risk and buying 2,000 of some widget to get a lower price and have plenty in stock. Walmart can buy 200,000 of that widget, get a much better price on it, advertise it, and has an industry best warehouse and transportation network. The small retailer just has 2,000 widgets in the garage and a second mortgage. New publishers have to be smarter than that.

3. Print-On-Demand is increasing in popularity. How can a publisher, new or not-so-new, be successful using that framework for their publishing efforts?

There are two main tracks for publishing with print-on-demand. One is the experimental track, where a publisher can bring out a new title with print-on-demand, sell into distribution at the 55% off industry standard discount, and plan on transitioning to offset if the book "gets legs." The reason for transitioning to offset if the sales justify it is, with a 55% discount, the cost of printing has a tremendous effect on the bottom line. A $10 book sold at a 55% discount to Ingram (the largest distributer/wholesaler in the U.S.) that costs one dollar to print on offset and three dollars to print-on-demand through Lightning Source means netting $3.50 on each offset copy sold and just $1.50 on each print-on-demand copy. But the upfront costs for Lightning Source are trivial compared to a practical offset run, and the Ingram relationship is automatic. If orders start to pour in, you can meet the demand with POD while setting transitioning to offset, and then reap the larger profits. But that transition won't be necessary for most titles because most titles fail in the marketplace.

The track I advocate for print-on-demand is to publish at a short discount, which equalizes or even exceeds the profits earned with offset printing, and forgo the goal of sell-in and bookstore stocking. You can set a higher discount for special orders to fill demand from bookstores or specialty distributors who won't order at the short discount, but it's not necessary to run a successful publishing business. There's an excellent book out by Aaron Shepard titled Aiming at Amazon in which he describes a business model summed up by the title. That said, I've been growing orders by both bookstores and schools for one of my short-discount print-on-demand titles over the past three years based on customer demand, which is the only demand that matters in the end.

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Stay tuned for the second half on Monday.

Penny Sansevieri on Red Hot Internet Publicity

Penny Sansevieri is the CEO and founder of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. She is an internationally recognized expert in book marketing and media relations. She is also the author of From Book to Bestseller and No More Rejections: Get Published Today. Her next book, Red Hot Internet Publicity, looks to be the one book on Internet publicity that we will all want to buy because, humbly on her behalf, Penny is the queen of Internet publicity!

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1. You recently spoke at the SPAN Conference in San Mateo, CA. What was the one best thing that you hope attendees took away from your talks?

PS: I hope they learned that the worst thing you can do when promoting your book is sell your book. You should never, ever sell your book but rather what you book can do for your reader. Also, I hope they were able to learn about the necessity to be creative - almost super creative when it comes to book promotion. Cookie-cutter programs and ideas don't work anymore, you have to find your unique positioning and push that in as many ways, with as many angles as you can. And finally, I hope they learned the importance of the Internet and how it can change the scope and success of their campaign in ways they couldn't even imagine.

2. In your book, From Book to Bestseller, you talk about spin-off products. Do you think this is something that most authors/publishers should do? How should we get started? What spin-off products have worked best?

PS: Yes, I think whenever possible, an author/publisher should do this. The idea is that once you get someone interested in one thing, let's say a book, then you can easily get them interested in other versions of that book. The key is to not copy the content that's already in the book but offer new content, additional ideas, etc. Otherwise it's just another version of what they already have. As to where they would start, well this depends on the book and the market but ideally they could start with audio. Audio is one of the easiest ways to create additional product!

3. What is the most common marketing mistake that new publishers make?

PS: They try to sell the book. You should never sell your book, you should always sell what your book can do for the reader. No one cares about the book, they care about the benefits.

4. Your company, Author Marketing Experts, Inc., provides many services to new and experienced authors and publishers. Can you give us a glimpse into what your company offers?

PS: We offer a wide range of products, packages and services tailored to any book and author. We're also quite cutting edge, we're the leading company in the Internet publicity market. Marketing on the Net might not be new, but publicizing a book there is and it's one of the most powerful ways to sell a book these days.