How to Self Publish Your Book
Steve Piacente?s Bella Takes It Straight to the Readers
Once, back in the dark ages, like about five years ago, if you wanted to be an author, you?d write a book, scour the city for an agent, and, if the stars aligned, get one and sign with a big-time publisher. That?s how it worked ? there was one path, one key to the literary castle. If you couldn?t follow the path, you didn?t get the key, and all you got to write were letters home, a journal, or maybe some angry graffiti in the bus terminal stall.
If you did land an agent, he or she would need enough pluck and luck to snag a publisher. If not, that would be the end of your story. You?d moan and mutter unintelligible curses and vow never to write another word. Then, one day at the beach with the orange sun setting low, inspiration would strike and words would pour forth like draft beer during Game 7.  After a time, you?d have a new manuscript.
And you?d try, despite that inner voice warning of impending disappointment, to get an agent to sell your book to a publisher. You?d daydream about a sweet movie deal, and which stars would play the leads. Then the agents would write nice rejection letters. Or ignore you altogether. Or take you on and give up if the publishers didn?t launch an instant bidding war.
Well, guess what? The game?s changed. Technology has provided a direct path to prospective readers. Screw the middleman and let?s stand straight and salute the power of new media. Potent tools like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have enabled writers to find cover artists, illustrators, book trailers, editors, web designers, and, most importantly, readers.
This is the route I?ve taken with Bella, a Washington, D.C.-based novel that explores the power of temptation, the futility of revenge, and the consequences of yielding to either. The story tracks Isabel Moss? fierce quest to uncover the truth behind her husband?s death and her relationship with reporter Dan Patragno. As Dan gets further into the story, he becomes personally involved with his source, violating one of the cardinal tenets of journalism and risking his career and family.
I began with a well known D.C. agent, but ultimately decided to self-publish and use a website, social media tools, and various personal networks to market the book. The process is described step by step on ?Back Story,? my blog, but essentially we have created a video book trailer, an interactive reader map of the U.S., illustrated excerpts, and other features to help Bella stand out.
New content is added frequently and cross-purposed on all our sites, and every email I send out ends with the following messaging arsenal:
- Visit Bella on the Web: www.getbella.com
- Friend Us on Facebook: http://on.fb.me/bellaFB
- Follow Us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/wordsprof
- Watch us on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/getbella
- Read the Reviews on Amazon: http://amzn.to/catchingon
To be clear, cutting out the middle man is not a phenomenon restricted to new authors. Savvy politicians routinely bypass reporters and use social media to communicate directly with voters. Tech-savvy songwriters and artists are skipping the agents and taking their wares straight to consumers.
Witness the success of ?Legaci,? an Asian-American pop group whose YouTube-powered success earned three-quarters of the New York Times? Arts & Leisure section front one recent Sunday. The Times calls YouTube ?A crucial launching pad for artists traditionally ignored by the mainstream recording industry.
Self-published authors can work with companies like Amazon.com or LuLu.com to print on demand and avoid winding up with 5,000 books in the garage. One industry tracker website notes a significant portion of the rise in published titles is due to an increase of print-on-demand books.
The real trick is figuring out how to separate your product from the glut competing for people?s attention. As the landscape changes and the technology becomes more powerful, I wonder what they?re thinking up in the New York publishing houses, and if they can feel the once solid ground shifting below.
About the Author:
Steve Piacente of Rockville, Md. is the self-published author of ?Bella". Find out more about Steve and his book by clicking the links above. |
