This little Self-Publishing Guide has it all. Denise Hamilton of Ink Tree Marketing has put all her book marketing and publishing experience into this straightforward and comprehensive guide. The cost is quite reasonable for the amount of information that's packed in to the guide. You'll find it a very helpful addition to your resource list if you are considering self-publishing your book. The author sold 250,000 copies of her book without taking a single workshop or seminar, and with absolutely no training or experience. Learn More about this guide.
I just learned about a book-publishing web site called “Blurb” (www.blurb.com). Wow.
Publishing for the masses. What could be better?
This new site proves one thing I’ve been saying since I wrote and self-published my first book (in less than a month): “Writing and publishing a book is the easy part.”
Now that’s not to say that anyone and their dog can write a book (although I’ve read books that may have been written by someone’s dog). But, it is certainly getting mighty easy to put fingers to keyboard and slap out a new novel or life story.
Given that estimates have about 85% of us thinking we have stories worth telling (but who’s going to listen?), that’s going to mean an awful lot of books. Maybe awful is the operative word.
However, that’s putting a negative spin on something that is actually very positive. Think of it this way: everyone who writes a book has at least ten family members or friends who will be forced to read it. That’s ten more people who are reading instead of watching TV or yelling at their kids. Of course, if the book is exceptionally bad, they may still end up yelling at their kids. But at least they’re away from the boob tube for a bit.
When you go to the Blurb site, you’ll see rotating images of ordinary folks who have written their first books. Yep. Anyone can do it – even you. How cool is that? Well, I think it’s very cool indeed.
Blurb has made creating your own book fun and easy. They even provide a handy bit of software that does all the formatting for you. All you have to do is insert your text and photos or images.
So far, everything I’ve written about is free. Yes – free. You can download their free “Booksmart” software (I’ll review that for you in the next couple of days) and create your book. Nice.
But, then I wondered about the catch. This is clearly a profit-making venture, so where’s the money coming from?
Ah, yes… there it is.
Once you create your “free” book, you may just want to print a copy or two. The EULA (end user license agreement) clearly states that you can ONLY print and publish books created with their software through Blurb. The printing, as it turns out, isn’t cheap.
That’s all I’ll say for now. I’ll check out the software, and maybe even coax the owners to be interviewed. I’ll let you know what transpires. In the mean time, check it out. While not for the serious writer, it seems like a good way for the ordinary non-writing citizen to get themselves into print.
This little Self-Publishing Guide has it all. Denise Hamilton of Ink Tree Marketing has put all her book marketing and publishing experience into this straightforward and comprehensive guide. The cost is quite reasonable for the amount of information that's packed in to the guide. You'll find it a very helpful addition to your resource list if you are considering self-publishing your book. The author sold 250,000 copies of her book without taking a single workshop or seminar, and with absolutely no training or experience. 
