How to Promote and Publish On-Line
e-Lectrify Your Sales
Jump Start Your Writing Career With Electronic Publishers
|
REVIEW BY BRETT PERUZZI
You've written what you're sure is work of genius, but unfortunately, every publisher disagrees. Before you succumb to rejection and shove the budding bestseller into a drawer, consider an alternative: the thriving world of e-publishing. In the age of Internet, the definition of book publishing has become increasingly blurred. Once the sole domain of paper-based products, book publishing now includes dozens of e-bookstores selling downloads, disks and print on demand. In fact, it's estimated that by the end of 2000 almost a quarter of a million previously unpublished books were available on the Web, and some put it as high as 500, 000. This month we highlight three guides that will not only help you publish your prose but make it sell like wild fire. Two experts in this digital phenomenon have come together to produce the comprehensive guide to e-book publishing How to Promote and Publish On-Line. Authors Angela Adair-Hoy and M.J. Rose are seasoned self-publishers and e-authors, with plenty of personal experience. Adair-Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly and Rose, a columnist for Wired, created a mini-sensation with her debut novel, Lip Service. After being turned down by numerous publishers, Rose marketed her sexy tale online and generated thousands of sales. Their experience shows as the book first explains everything you need to know about e-publishing, and then features a host of inspirational e-publishing success stories, with many chapters written by prominent authors and other industry figures. Selling and promoting your book online gets detailed treatment as well. The book is available in print and electronic versions, with the latter including more than 500 live links to Web sites. If you're reading while connected to the Internet, you have a virtual library just a mouse click away. These links are a huge time-saver for budding e-authors and are nicely categorized for ease of use. It's an eye-opener to the vast wealth of opportunity for publishing online, and one of the book's most valuable features. Leta Nolan Childers also brings a formidable reputation to e-Lectrify Your Sales: A Writer's Guide to E-Publishing $uccess, a 347-page user manual for online writers. She has numerous books to her credit, including the 1999 Best Laid Plans, which became the best selling e-book of the year, and the recent chart-topping follow-up Best Laid Plans Backfire! e-Lectrify Your Sales presents an even more detailed, nuts-and-bolts approach with chapters on e-publishers, book formats, submissions, copyrights and contracts, and promoting your book. Childers includes an extensive resource section that offers a wealth of Web site links. The links within the book's table of contents are a nice additional navigation feature, enabling you to jump to specific topics within each chapter. Unlike Adair-Hoy and Rose's book, which relies on guest authors for some chapters, Nolan Childers is the sole author of this robust reference, and her fervor shines as she covers negotiating a contract, formats, security, marketing and promotions. Joan Popek's Jump Start Your Writing Career With Electronic Publishers is another recent entry to the e-book how-to category. In an easy to read question and answer format, Popek covers all the basics, from what works (and sells) best for publishers and authors to her 12-step promotional plan. Her advice is simple and concise, allowing you to sidestep common writing landmines. All three books are enthusiastic and inspirational for any writer discouraged by the intricacies and barriers of the traditional publishing process. The authors wonderfully show how e-publishing offers a relatively fast, low-cost alternative well-worth exploring, and the optimism and spirit embodied by these books will quickly have your brain buzzing with ideas for e-publishing your next masterpiece. Brett Peruzzi writes from his home in Framingham, Massachusetts, where he is currently pondering the possibilities for his first e-book.
|
