There are some simple steps to get published. Many writers are caught up listening to the advice of unpublished authors, or people who have only one or two published novels.
There is only one thing that publishers want - sales. The authors who have done a lot of self promotion never see the slush pile. (in most publishing houses)
1. Start a website, a squidoo.com lens, a myspace.com profile. Use all of these to build a fan base and prove to publishers that you are serious about becoming an author.
2. Edit - Edit - Edit only works if you know what you are editing for. Authors who can't find a plot hole, even if it is the size of the Grand Canyon are only wasting their time if they edit. Instead, take a course or hire a book editor. Make sure that it is an editor who is familiar with the genre, has several clients who have publishing contracts, and won't charge more than $500.00
3. Hire a professional to write the synopsis. The synopsis needs to be written in 'editor lingo.' If you do not understand editor lingo, then your synopsis will not sell the book. Editors are not interested in what the story is, they want to know what the story is 'about.' This should cost about $20 - $50
4. Get to know publishers. 1) Read books until you find a publisher who has released several books like yours in the last two years. 2) A publisher who uses the same style, amount of narration, and amount of dialog. 3) Make sure that editor is accepting submissions.
5. Get an agent. A good place to start is at myspace.com. There are a lot of groups and agents to help you get started.
6. When the book comes back, have another envelope ready to be mailed before opening the envelope. If it is a rejection letter, put the next submission in the mail that same day. The average book is rejected 10 - 20 times before being accepted.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Website reviews: Digg.com
As a certified SEO marketer, I have to say that Digg is one of the Social Networking success stories. It is now appearing on many blogs, and in many bookmarking tools.
Blog communities like www.authorsconnection.com www.communati.com and content management sites like www.inspiredauthor.com www.suite101.com and even helium are using digg.
The trick is - to use it right. You will not benefit if you tag your article. You need to encourage others to 'digg' it.
The reason?
Page Rank, and as we all know, Page Rank (PR) increases the amount that Google will pay you when someone clicks a link on your site.
Digg stands above the rest because it has respect. It does not let people post dozens of links to a single post. Instead, it has one post and other people 'diggit', much in the same way as technorati.
So, if you want to increase your page rank and earn more money from Google, then you must use a combination of digg, technorati, stumble, and Delicious - these four are the most powerful tools the average blog or web owner has at their disposal.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Blog communities like www.authorsconnection.com www.communati.com and content management sites like www.inspiredauthor.com www.suite101.com and even helium are using digg.
The trick is - to use it right. You will not benefit if you tag your article. You need to encourage others to 'digg' it.
The reason?
Page Rank, and as we all know, Page Rank (PR) increases the amount that Google will pay you when someone clicks a link on your site.
Digg stands above the rest because it has respect. It does not let people post dozens of links to a single post. Instead, it has one post and other people 'diggit', much in the same way as technorati.
So, if you want to increase your page rank and earn more money from Google, then you must use a combination of digg, technorati, stumble, and Delicious - these four are the most powerful tools the average blog or web owner has at their disposal.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Marketing: The 2.0 way
SEO Articles vs. Human Articles
Web2.0
That one new buzz word will shortly change how the search engines rank websites. Web2.0 does not rely on the savvy and wit of the SEO manager. In fact, many people believe that the Internet bottomed out in 2001. It didn't - instead, it was the birth of web2.0
This was the year when big business lost control of the Internet.
Web 1.0 vs Web 2.0
DoubleClick -> Google AdSense
Ofoto -> Flickr
Akamai -> BitTorrent
mp3.com -> itunes
Britannica Online -> Wikipedia
personal websites -> blogging
evite -> upcoming.org and EVDB
domainname speculation -> search engine optimization
page views -> cost per click
screen scraping -> web services
publishing -> participation
content management systems -> wikis
directories (taxonomy) -> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness -> syndication
SEO articles -> Human Consumption articles
While freelance writers do not need to learn how to optimize for client's articles - but they do need to learn how to build their own sites if they want to be taken seriously and win big clients.
I just wrote a course on building a web presence. While I do not believe that CMS are out (our firms still use Joomla) we have noticed that you must change as much of the code in the templates and in the system as you can. There are so many CMS out there that Google is seeing them as duplicate content and leaving long before they reach the content. (Theory - If Google reads 200 words of duplicate content than it will not crawl the rest of the article).
I have seen many successful websites built on WordPress and b2evolution blog platforms - but the same thing applies - you need to change code. I know someone who will alter your site for $20.00.
The main difference between Web2.0 and the old system is found in the site's content. Yes, there must still be sticky content. What good is syndication to bring in new visitors if they can read the entire site in an hour and then leave - forever.
The mission of web2.0 is 'harnessing collective intelligence'
One major component that most online business owners miss is the wikipedia encyclopedia - ADD TO IT - as long as some of the links go back to your resources!
Articles
The most important thing is to remember that keyword density is out. Write for users. Use sub titles every 100 - 150 words, and put your keywords in those. Use the heading code (h1, h2, h3, = IN ORDER). Last, include links to other webpages that include the same content/keywords. This makes 'relevant' keywords more important than keyword 'density.'
These things will increase your rank much faster than any SEO program. If you want to rank high then I have two words for you - social networking.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Web2.0
That one new buzz word will shortly change how the search engines rank websites. Web2.0 does not rely on the savvy and wit of the SEO manager. In fact, many people believe that the Internet bottomed out in 2001. It didn't - instead, it was the birth of web2.0
This was the year when big business lost control of the Internet.
Web 1.0 vs Web 2.0
DoubleClick -> Google AdSense
Ofoto -> Flickr
Akamai -> BitTorrent
mp3.com -> itunes
Britannica Online -> Wikipedia
personal websites -> blogging
evite -> upcoming.org and EVDB
domainname speculation -> search engine optimization
page views -> cost per click
screen scraping -> web services
publishing -> participation
content management systems -> wikis
directories (taxonomy) -> tagging ("folksonomy")
stickiness -> syndication
SEO articles -> Human Consumption articles
While freelance writers do not need to learn how to optimize for client's articles - but they do need to learn how to build their own sites if they want to be taken seriously and win big clients.
I just wrote a course on building a web presence. While I do not believe that CMS are out (our firms still use Joomla) we have noticed that you must change as much of the code in the templates and in the system as you can. There are so many CMS out there that Google is seeing them as duplicate content and leaving long before they reach the content. (Theory - If Google reads 200 words of duplicate content than it will not crawl the rest of the article).
I have seen many successful websites built on WordPress and b2evolution blog platforms - but the same thing applies - you need to change code. I know someone who will alter your site for $20.00.
The main difference between Web2.0 and the old system is found in the site's content. Yes, there must still be sticky content. What good is syndication to bring in new visitors if they can read the entire site in an hour and then leave - forever.
The mission of web2.0 is 'harnessing collective intelligence'
One major component that most online business owners miss is the wikipedia encyclopedia - ADD TO IT - as long as some of the links go back to your resources!
Articles
The most important thing is to remember that keyword density is out. Write for users. Use sub titles every 100 - 150 words, and put your keywords in those. Use the heading code (h1, h2, h3, = IN ORDER). Last, include links to other webpages that include the same content/keywords. This makes 'relevant' keywords more important than keyword 'density.'
These things will increase your rank much faster than any SEO program. If you want to rank high then I have two words for you - social networking.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Publishing a Book - Finding Publishers
This is an excerpt from my novel writing course at www.writersonlinecourses.com
Plots are difficult. All writers should take some time to learn what themes are, and moral lessons, before they start picking plots. Each genre has plots that are considered genre-staples. These plots fit the story lines readers want. When all is said and done, novel writing is about writing a book that people want to read.
If people do not want to read your book, then it is unlikely that publishers will want to accept it. Many writers write books that are never to be published. Some of them write healing books.' They spend years expressing their feeling and hurts. In the end, the book is finished and they realize that they never really wanted to be published.
Other writers are looking for a venue to express their artistic creativity. These writers do not want to be confined by rules or formulas. They want to write their story, their way.
Until recently these writers never had a chance of being published. Now, e-publishing is expanding the genres, and self-publishing is opening up opportunities. While these venues were considered not really published' five years ago, they are gaining respectability in the publishing world.
Traditional Publishers
The most difficult method of becoming a published author is the traditional route. These publishers receive the most manuscripts and reject the largest number of authors. It can take more than five years to see your book hit the bookshelves.
These publishers never put any money into promoting new authors. New authors are always started on the B list. If the author can sell enough copies of their book, then they are in a better position to negotiate with their next book.
The most important thing to remember is that an advance is only a loan, it is not a pre-payment for the book. Publishers often expect any un earned' portion of the advance to be repaid. This can be in the form of another book, or cash. This is why it is imperative that writers hire a lawyer to go over all contracts before signing.
Traditional publishers also short change' writers is by including a discount clause. This clause means that any book sold below a certain percentage does not earn the author royalties. However, new writers do not know that most books are printed, distributed, and returned to the publisher within six weeks. That means that 99% of all books are out of print within six weeks of release.
The author receives royalties for any books sold by bookstores, but the rest, sold at discount, earn the author no royalties even if the publisher continues to make a profit.
This is not the venue for writers who are not 100% devoted to getting published. The publisher's deadlines are not optional.' If the book is set to be printed in March, and the author is not ready, the publisher looses hundreds of dollars. They will either cancel the writer's contract, or they will remove the cost from royalties.
Traditional publishers are not the place for artistic, freedom lovers to submit. I know many writers who had their books torn to shreds, characters rewritten, and the book completely redesigned to fit the publisher's imprint.' Once the writer signs a contract, they have no right to complain or reject the editor's comments. They must comply or face breach of contract charges.
The last thing writers should be aware of is the rights they sign away. No publisher should ask for rights longer than three years. They should also stipulate whether they want print or digital rights. Also, never sign away the movie rights. The writer should receive at least 50% for any movie deals.
The writer should also know how long the book will be in print. Many publishers have a six week shelf life for the book, and B list books that sell out are not sent back to print. This means that the book writer cannot resell the book rights for another 2 5 years.
The writer should never sign away foreign book rights. They can often be more lucrative than American rights.
The fact is, many big publishers only earn $3 000 - $10 000 for writers. This is very poor compensation for the five years the publisher demands in return.
Small Publishers
Small publishers are easier to sign with. They receive fewer manuscripts and because they use POD printing, can often release more books in a year. The problem for writers is that many kitchen table' publishers are too small to distribute the book.
Never sign with a publisher whose print books are not available at Amazon.com and Barns & Noble. This is a dead give away that the publisher is too small to give their writers good distribution.
They also have creative' contracts. Writers should be wary of any publisher who asks for all rights, including undiscovered' rights. One recent example is MobiFormat ebooks. If an author had sold away all their rights, then they would not receive any royalties for ebooks that are read on cell phones. The publisher would receive all rights for cell phone, audio, digital, PDF, and print versions of the book.
They must also only ask for first rights.' Never sell anything but first rights, and never sign away serial rights.' Serial rights means that the publisher can resell the book over and over, without paying the author any royalties.
It usually takes one to two years to see a book in print.
E-Publishing
The e-publishing association asked 14 ebook publishers how much they made in the last three months of 2005. These publishers, only a small sample of the ebook publishers, made a combined 25 million dollars in those three months. While some authors feel that holding a book' in their hand is the only real publishing venue, it is obvious that many people want to read books from their computer screens and Palmpilots.
Self publishing was once for web sites with cheap ebooks, or professionals who wanted to write a book to sell at speaking engagements. Now, hundreds of self published authors are making more money than many published authors.
The main advantage of ebooks is that the book can be sold around the world, it several formats, and is in print' for the life of the contract. Many print publishers also have deals with book distributors and POD printing companies. They can help the author release their book in print for a nominal fee. Some publishers do this as a courtesy, others do it as a secondary publishing option.
When the publisher offers this option, it is important to determine whether the publisher or the writer owns the rights to the print version of the book.
Epublishers contracts must be read as carefully as other publishers. It is customary that books sold from the publisher's website earns the author 50% of the book's price.
It is possible to contract the digital version of a book to one publisher and the print version to another although this is rare.
It normally takes 18 months to see a book in print.
Self Publishing
There are two methods of becoming self published. The most common is to go to a vanity press who offers to put the book out for a fee, usually more than $1000. - $5000.00. This is usually the worst way to go.
If a writer needs help, they can go to a place like www.guru.com or www.ifreelance.com. These places can put writers in touch with editors, layout, and cover artists. A good editor, with book experience, can edit an entire book in less than 50 hours. If an editor claims they need more time, then they are not true professionals.
A book editor will cost about $200 - $500. This varies. If a writer has a good writing style, and a well structured novel, editing is not a big expense.
Book cover artists charge $200 - $1500 for a good cover. I don't see any advantage to paying more than $300.
Layout is usually $0.50 - $1.00 a page. Do not pay more for a book, especially a fiction book.
Distribution is usually easy. Submitting to Booksurge, Lulu, or going right to the source, lightiningsource POD printers, costs about $100. Ingram's book distributors will charge $50 a month to keep the book listed.
In the USA, ISBN numbers cost money, so does copyright. This can add another $100 to the cost of self publishing a book.
In total, an author can have their book ready for bookstores for $800 - $1500.00 and distributed into bookstores. This makes the Vanity Press route not only expensive, but a disservice to their clients because they rarely sell more than a couple hundred copies.
There are two free methods of getting a book into print. Lulu.com and Cafepress.com will print one copy at a time, and do not charge. Cafepress.com only charges the printing fee. Lulu.com adds 20% to the cost + profit (royalties) of the book.
However, the author retains all rights. This means that they can have the book published around the world, sold through international distributors, and promoted in niche markets, earning more money than they would ever see from a traditional publisher, and keeping their books in print forever.
It normally takes two to six months to see a book in print.
Royalties
This is really where the choice of a publisher matters. While traditional publishers offer writers the least freedom and self publishing the most, royalties are where the real difference lies.
A writer can be published with a traditional publisher and sell 20 000 copies of their book, earning $1000.00. That book then remains out of print until the end of the contract. That same writer can earn $500 - $1000 from an ebook publisher every year for the term of the contract. The same book can earn $50 1000 in five years from a small press. Or, the book can only sell 2000 copies and earn the author $10 000.00.
Royalties are calculated in two ways. They calculate a percentage of the net or retail price. Beware publishers who calculate on net. This can mean that they take the retail price of the book and subtract editing, cover, layout, distributor's listing fee, shipping, bookstore returns, and promotion. Or, it can mean they calculate the total cost of the office expense, book conventions (that have nothing to do with the sale of a particular book), travel expenses, association fees, office supplies, insurance, all the way down to the cost of hiring a cleaning company and the office coffee pot.
Some authors who sign contracts that pay on the net' find they are making less than .05% of the retail price of the book. The publisher usually says they offer 10% of the book's net price, but it is really a price gouge. If the publisher has this type of contract, make sure that it clearly lists the expenses the publisher will deduct.
Most publishers offer about .05% of retail cost of the book. This is much less, but the author knows how much they will receive. If the book is sold at a discount, the author earns less.
Almost all contracts have a clause that states a book will earn no royalties if the book is sold at an extreme discount, usually less than wholesale, or 55%. The publisher still makes money, but they can clear out' old copies without loosing money. This causes a problem when the author only sells a few hundred copies from the initial six weeks, and the rest of the books go to a clearance warehouse. The publisher never looses money, only the author does.
This also explains why publishers do not promote books. It doesn't matter to them whether a book is successful. They will earn back their investment.
Ebooks are slightly different. If they are distributed through a book distributor like Ingrams, then there is a short discount' and the author earns a small royalty. Books sold from the publisher's website earn 50% royalty. Even though the book is an ebook, the author is not permitted to freely distribute copies.
Bookstore Returns
This is the hardest part of the publishing world for most authors to understand. In the last world war the government wanted to protect the publishing industry. To protect the nations intellectual and social wealth they created a system where bookstores could return books to the publisher at the publisher's cost. This system was suppose to stop after the war, but never did.
Now, publishers expect an average of 20% bookstore returns.
To compensate they hold back 20 50% of author royalties for up to one year. Some small publishers hold this back long after the contract expires, so writers should make sure the contract outlines how and when held back' royalties should be paid.
Most bookstore returns are trashed. Many stores are indiscriminant about ordering books. They may order 100 copies of a book for a window display, knowing they will only sell ten.
Writers need to prepare for this, especially self published writers, because if they use Ingrams, they will be subject to bookstore returns. This means that their books will be available in bookstores, but they will need to cover the cost of printing and shipping books that will be returned.
However, Ingrams does allow self publishers to refuse to enter into a bookstore return arrangement. This drastically reduces the book's exposure, but protects the writer from loosing money.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Plots are difficult. All writers should take some time to learn what themes are, and moral lessons, before they start picking plots. Each genre has plots that are considered genre-staples. These plots fit the story lines readers want. When all is said and done, novel writing is about writing a book that people want to read.
If people do not want to read your book, then it is unlikely that publishers will want to accept it. Many writers write books that are never to be published. Some of them write healing books.' They spend years expressing their feeling and hurts. In the end, the book is finished and they realize that they never really wanted to be published.
Other writers are looking for a venue to express their artistic creativity. These writers do not want to be confined by rules or formulas. They want to write their story, their way.
Until recently these writers never had a chance of being published. Now, e-publishing is expanding the genres, and self-publishing is opening up opportunities. While these venues were considered not really published' five years ago, they are gaining respectability in the publishing world.
Traditional Publishers
The most difficult method of becoming a published author is the traditional route. These publishers receive the most manuscripts and reject the largest number of authors. It can take more than five years to see your book hit the bookshelves.
These publishers never put any money into promoting new authors. New authors are always started on the B list. If the author can sell enough copies of their book, then they are in a better position to negotiate with their next book.
The most important thing to remember is that an advance is only a loan, it is not a pre-payment for the book. Publishers often expect any un earned' portion of the advance to be repaid. This can be in the form of another book, or cash. This is why it is imperative that writers hire a lawyer to go over all contracts before signing.
Traditional publishers also short change' writers is by including a discount clause. This clause means that any book sold below a certain percentage does not earn the author royalties. However, new writers do not know that most books are printed, distributed, and returned to the publisher within six weeks. That means that 99% of all books are out of print within six weeks of release.
The author receives royalties for any books sold by bookstores, but the rest, sold at discount, earn the author no royalties even if the publisher continues to make a profit.
This is not the venue for writers who are not 100% devoted to getting published. The publisher's deadlines are not optional.' If the book is set to be printed in March, and the author is not ready, the publisher looses hundreds of dollars. They will either cancel the writer's contract, or they will remove the cost from royalties.
Traditional publishers are not the place for artistic, freedom lovers to submit. I know many writers who had their books torn to shreds, characters rewritten, and the book completely redesigned to fit the publisher's imprint.' Once the writer signs a contract, they have no right to complain or reject the editor's comments. They must comply or face breach of contract charges.
The last thing writers should be aware of is the rights they sign away. No publisher should ask for rights longer than three years. They should also stipulate whether they want print or digital rights. Also, never sign away the movie rights. The writer should receive at least 50% for any movie deals.
The writer should also know how long the book will be in print. Many publishers have a six week shelf life for the book, and B list books that sell out are not sent back to print. This means that the book writer cannot resell the book rights for another 2 5 years.
The writer should never sign away foreign book rights. They can often be more lucrative than American rights.
The fact is, many big publishers only earn $3 000 - $10 000 for writers. This is very poor compensation for the five years the publisher demands in return.
Small Publishers
Small publishers are easier to sign with. They receive fewer manuscripts and because they use POD printing, can often release more books in a year. The problem for writers is that many kitchen table' publishers are too small to distribute the book.
Never sign with a publisher whose print books are not available at Amazon.com and Barns & Noble. This is a dead give away that the publisher is too small to give their writers good distribution.
They also have creative' contracts. Writers should be wary of any publisher who asks for all rights, including undiscovered' rights. One recent example is MobiFormat ebooks. If an author had sold away all their rights, then they would not receive any royalties for ebooks that are read on cell phones. The publisher would receive all rights for cell phone, audio, digital, PDF, and print versions of the book.
They must also only ask for first rights.' Never sell anything but first rights, and never sign away serial rights.' Serial rights means that the publisher can resell the book over and over, without paying the author any royalties.
It usually takes one to two years to see a book in print.
E-Publishing
The e-publishing association asked 14 ebook publishers how much they made in the last three months of 2005. These publishers, only a small sample of the ebook publishers, made a combined 25 million dollars in those three months. While some authors feel that holding a book' in their hand is the only real publishing venue, it is obvious that many people want to read books from their computer screens and Palmpilots.
Self publishing was once for web sites with cheap ebooks, or professionals who wanted to write a book to sell at speaking engagements. Now, hundreds of self published authors are making more money than many published authors.
The main advantage of ebooks is that the book can be sold around the world, it several formats, and is in print' for the life of the contract. Many print publishers also have deals with book distributors and POD printing companies. They can help the author release their book in print for a nominal fee. Some publishers do this as a courtesy, others do it as a secondary publishing option.
When the publisher offers this option, it is important to determine whether the publisher or the writer owns the rights to the print version of the book.
Epublishers contracts must be read as carefully as other publishers. It is customary that books sold from the publisher's website earns the author 50% of the book's price.
It is possible to contract the digital version of a book to one publisher and the print version to another although this is rare.
It normally takes 18 months to see a book in print.
Self Publishing
There are two methods of becoming self published. The most common is to go to a vanity press who offers to put the book out for a fee, usually more than $1000. - $5000.00. This is usually the worst way to go.
If a writer needs help, they can go to a place like www.guru.com or www.ifreelance.com. These places can put writers in touch with editors, layout, and cover artists. A good editor, with book experience, can edit an entire book in less than 50 hours. If an editor claims they need more time, then they are not true professionals.
A book editor will cost about $200 - $500. This varies. If a writer has a good writing style, and a well structured novel, editing is not a big expense.
Book cover artists charge $200 - $1500 for a good cover. I don't see any advantage to paying more than $300.
Layout is usually $0.50 - $1.00 a page. Do not pay more for a book, especially a fiction book.
Distribution is usually easy. Submitting to Booksurge, Lulu, or going right to the source, lightiningsource POD printers, costs about $100. Ingram's book distributors will charge $50 a month to keep the book listed.
In the USA, ISBN numbers cost money, so does copyright. This can add another $100 to the cost of self publishing a book.
In total, an author can have their book ready for bookstores for $800 - $1500.00 and distributed into bookstores. This makes the Vanity Press route not only expensive, but a disservice to their clients because they rarely sell more than a couple hundred copies.
There are two free methods of getting a book into print. Lulu.com and Cafepress.com will print one copy at a time, and do not charge. Cafepress.com only charges the printing fee. Lulu.com adds 20% to the cost + profit (royalties) of the book.
However, the author retains all rights. This means that they can have the book published around the world, sold through international distributors, and promoted in niche markets, earning more money than they would ever see from a traditional publisher, and keeping their books in print forever.
It normally takes two to six months to see a book in print.
Royalties
This is really where the choice of a publisher matters. While traditional publishers offer writers the least freedom and self publishing the most, royalties are where the real difference lies.
A writer can be published with a traditional publisher and sell 20 000 copies of their book, earning $1000.00. That book then remains out of print until the end of the contract. That same writer can earn $500 - $1000 from an ebook publisher every year for the term of the contract. The same book can earn $50 1000 in five years from a small press. Or, the book can only sell 2000 copies and earn the author $10 000.00.
Royalties are calculated in two ways. They calculate a percentage of the net or retail price. Beware publishers who calculate on net. This can mean that they take the retail price of the book and subtract editing, cover, layout, distributor's listing fee, shipping, bookstore returns, and promotion. Or, it can mean they calculate the total cost of the office expense, book conventions (that have nothing to do with the sale of a particular book), travel expenses, association fees, office supplies, insurance, all the way down to the cost of hiring a cleaning company and the office coffee pot.
Some authors who sign contracts that pay on the net' find they are making less than .05% of the retail price of the book. The publisher usually says they offer 10% of the book's net price, but it is really a price gouge. If the publisher has this type of contract, make sure that it clearly lists the expenses the publisher will deduct.
Most publishers offer about .05% of retail cost of the book. This is much less, but the author knows how much they will receive. If the book is sold at a discount, the author earns less.
Almost all contracts have a clause that states a book will earn no royalties if the book is sold at an extreme discount, usually less than wholesale, or 55%. The publisher still makes money, but they can clear out' old copies without loosing money. This causes a problem when the author only sells a few hundred copies from the initial six weeks, and the rest of the books go to a clearance warehouse. The publisher never looses money, only the author does.
This also explains why publishers do not promote books. It doesn't matter to them whether a book is successful. They will earn back their investment.
Ebooks are slightly different. If they are distributed through a book distributor like Ingrams, then there is a short discount' and the author earns a small royalty. Books sold from the publisher's website earn 50% royalty. Even though the book is an ebook, the author is not permitted to freely distribute copies.
Bookstore Returns
This is the hardest part of the publishing world for most authors to understand. In the last world war the government wanted to protect the publishing industry. To protect the nations intellectual and social wealth they created a system where bookstores could return books to the publisher at the publisher's cost. This system was suppose to stop after the war, but never did.
Now, publishers expect an average of 20% bookstore returns.
To compensate they hold back 20 50% of author royalties for up to one year. Some small publishers hold this back long after the contract expires, so writers should make sure the contract outlines how and when held back' royalties should be paid.
Most bookstore returns are trashed. Many stores are indiscriminant about ordering books. They may order 100 copies of a book for a window display, knowing they will only sell ten.
Writers need to prepare for this, especially self published writers, because if they use Ingrams, they will be subject to bookstore returns. This means that their books will be available in bookstores, but they will need to cover the cost of printing and shipping books that will be returned.
However, Ingrams does allow self publishers to refuse to enter into a bookstore return arrangement. This drastically reduces the book's exposure, but protects the writer from loosing money.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
How to Use Paid Directory Submissions
I've read a few posts where people ask me how come I have so many posts in the Hall of Fame. It is fairly simple. I follow the outline in my course, and I follow the advice in this blog.
Directory Submissions
That said, there are a few ways to fast track. If you want to make money from your blog, and you want to increase traffic and hits, there are a few ways to do it.
I mentioned one good method in the last post. Another is to submit through a directory submission tool. This is different than a website submission. Directories are not search engines.
http://www.directorymaximizer.com/
This is the service I use. They have 1000 directories in their list, and are always adding more. There is no 'reciprical link needed' increasing the value of the links. Each one costs $.14 and you can submit to as many as you need at a time. If you only have $15 to invest this month, then that is good.
After a few months you will have submitted to them all. This service has a 60-80% acceptance rate on the PR3 and higher sites.
I submit to the PR3 and higher sites first, while they are still new and looking for members. The PR0 sites will take anyone. The PR3 and higher sites will also pull your page rank and traffic exposure site up faster.
Page Rank Increased
But, beware of buying links based on the PR of the home page. A directory with a PR8 will not help you if it is on the home page, and the page your site appears on only has a PR0. (PR zero)
I have heard of the sites promising that if you pay a high price for a listing on a site with PR8 pages that your site will increase. I understand the theory. I was taught the theory in class. But, I've never actually seen a person who paid $200 for a listing on a PR8 site - a single link - actually benefit from it.
PS. If you don't use heading titles and the meta tag section of this blog, or any blog, this advice probably will not work as well as I say it will.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Directory Submissions
That said, there are a few ways to fast track. If you want to make money from your blog, and you want to increase traffic and hits, there are a few ways to do it.
I mentioned one good method in the last post. Another is to submit through a directory submission tool. This is different than a website submission. Directories are not search engines.
http://www.directorymaximizer.com/
This is the service I use. They have 1000 directories in their list, and are always adding more. There is no 'reciprical link needed' increasing the value of the links. Each one costs $.14 and you can submit to as many as you need at a time. If you only have $15 to invest this month, then that is good.
After a few months you will have submitted to them all. This service has a 60-80% acceptance rate on the PR3 and higher sites.
I submit to the PR3 and higher sites first, while they are still new and looking for members. The PR0 sites will take anyone. The PR3 and higher sites will also pull your page rank and traffic exposure site up faster.
Page Rank Increased
But, beware of buying links based on the PR of the home page. A directory with a PR8 will not help you if it is on the home page, and the page your site appears on only has a PR0. (PR zero)
I have heard of the sites promising that if you pay a high price for a listing on a site with PR8 pages that your site will increase. I understand the theory. I was taught the theory in class. But, I've never actually seen a person who paid $200 for a listing on a PR8 site - a single link - actually benefit from it.
PS. If you don't use heading titles and the meta tag section of this blog, or any blog, this advice probably will not work as well as I say it will.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Fast Track Your Blog's Success
There is a quick way to fast track your blog and get it ranked. It will only cost $20.00. Join Google AdWords. Here is how it works. You sign up for a Google Adwords account. Invest $20, Google says the minimum is $50, but they will accept $20.00 https://adwords.google.com/select/Login
To enter your blog or website into the program, they must rank and spider (read your website) within 24 hours. Your website is instantly submitted - no sand box. Your site is instantly ranked. And, it is rated for the campaign. Also, you will receive traffic to your site for the $20.00.
This reduces the time needed for your blog or website to be added to searches, receive search traffic, and to receive a Page Rank. A higher page rank equals more money from Google Adsense, more traffic from searches, and more exposure on the web.
However, there are a few 'tricks'
1. There should be 20 - 50 posts in the blog, even if these are 'free content' articles, reviews you wrote, or daily muses.
2. There should be at least 30 - 50 back links to the site. These can all be from another blog, forums, or directories. Many of these can be inside your blog, navigation links.
3. There should be inbound links from your site to other 'relevant' sites to help make your keywords solid. a) only use keyword anchor that matches the keywords you want Google to focus on. b) make sure the site you link to has the same keywords in the titles, links, and meta. c) use the keywords in meta information and titles on your blog
Following these rules will fast track your blog or website.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
To enter your blog or website into the program, they must rank and spider (read your website) within 24 hours. Your website is instantly submitted - no sand box. Your site is instantly ranked. And, it is rated for the campaign. Also, you will receive traffic to your site for the $20.00.
This reduces the time needed for your blog or website to be added to searches, receive search traffic, and to receive a Page Rank. A higher page rank equals more money from Google Adsense, more traffic from searches, and more exposure on the web.
However, there are a few 'tricks'
1. There should be 20 - 50 posts in the blog, even if these are 'free content' articles, reviews you wrote, or daily muses.
2. There should be at least 30 - 50 back links to the site. These can all be from another blog, forums, or directories. Many of these can be inside your blog, navigation links.
3. There should be inbound links from your site to other 'relevant' sites to help make your keywords solid. a) only use keyword anchor that matches the keywords you want Google to focus on. b) make sure the site you link to has the same keywords in the titles, links, and meta. c) use the keywords in meta information and titles on your blog
Following these rules will fast track your blog or website.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Get Paid to Write Blog Posts - Ethical Problems
I must admit that Trick Falls made me start to think. One of the problems I face is that much of what I do, and how I do it, has become habit. When I am writing for new writers and work at home professionals, I often forget the 'little things.'
Trick falls asked about disclosure in a blog, and making readers feel like they have been 'advertised to' when they are reading. This forced me to take a good hard look at my blogs. I knew that I had disclosure. But, I never really thought about how I do it.
First, there are organizations that help bloggers with disclosure and ethical problems. There are several companies like womma that help bloggers learn how to use full disclosure and ethical blogging.
There are also disclosure badges from PPP and other places that let people know a post has been sponsored. I also use a comment such as:
This post is my thoughts and my message for the day. I thank XXX company for sponsoring it and allowing me to continue bringing this information to you free
Pay Per Post is one of the most ethical, and profitable, paid posting sites.
If you would like to make some money by writing a review for my blog, and let the world know about the information I give away free, then please click the red bar above. PPP will pay you to review my site.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Trick falls asked about disclosure in a blog, and making readers feel like they have been 'advertised to' when they are reading. This forced me to take a good hard look at my blogs. I knew that I had disclosure. But, I never really thought about how I do it.
First, there are organizations that help bloggers with disclosure and ethical problems. There are several companies like womma that help bloggers learn how to use full disclosure and ethical blogging.
There are also disclosure badges from PPP and other places that let people know a post has been sponsored. I also use a comment such as:
This post is my thoughts and my message for the day. I thank XXX company for sponsoring it and allowing me to continue bringing this information to you free
Pay Per Post is one of the most ethical, and profitable, paid posting sites.
If you would like to make some money by writing a review for my blog, and let the world know about the information I give away free, then please click the red bar above. PPP will pay you to review my site.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Not Every Internet Business is 'Do It Yourself'
One of the hardest things for most internet business owners to handle is the SEO. Most of them are lost, so they go to a web design business, pay all their money, buy a great site - and have nothing.
When you are ready to take the website to the next stage then it is time to leave Google behind, and start using a 'real' income generating service on your website.
A good service offers search engine promotion and internet marketing services. The services should offer the business more than just an opportunity to make money.
It is becoming more common - leaving Google behind. Businesses cannot operate on the sliding scale. They cannot pay their bills when they only are paid if someone clicks to the site for more than XX amount of time. The cost of internet marketing is not calculated on a sliding scale, so revenue should not be on a sliding scale.
When you are ready to take the website to the next stage then it is time to leave Google behind, and start using a 'real' income generating service on your website.
A good service offers search engine promotion and internet marketing services. The services should offer the business more than just an opportunity to make money.
It is becoming more common - leaving Google behind. Businesses cannot operate on the sliding scale. They cannot pay their bills when they only are paid if someone clicks to the site for more than XX amount of time. The cost of internet marketing is not calculated on a sliding scale, so revenue should not be on a sliding scale.
Should You Put Google Ads On Your Ecommerce Site?
Should You Put Google Ads On Your Ecommerce Site?
One of the biggest debates in the ecommerce world is whether to post PayPerClick advertisements on a website, or not. Many sites are using video advertisements to improve the look and feel of their sites. Others are hoping that PayPerClick will offer a passive source of income, but this short-term thinking may cost the company serious profits.
The purpose of a PayPerClick ad is to take a visitor from your website and put them on another website. This person leaves before they ever see the host company’s squeeze page, buy-now page, or Social Networking tools. This means that a potential customer is gone for good. The problem is - the ads on the host company’s website represent the competition.
PayPerClick Passive Income
On one side of the debate is the idea that PayPerClick lets ecommerce businesses generate some revenue from people who were going to leave the website anyway. The problem arises when the website looks at the actual numbers.
It takes several months before Google starts registering clicks, even if thousands of people have already clicked the link. Even when Google does start registering links, they rarely register more than one half of the actual links. In many cases, Google counts less than half.
Then, there is the Page Rank Trap. Google only pays a percentage of the money promised, based on the site’s page rank. A site can build more than 10 000 inbound links and 1000 pages of content and still have only Page Rank 3, earning about .05% of Google’s promised payout. Many sites (non MFA - Made For Adsense) work for 2 - 3 years before they earn $100 a month.
A website can make hundreds of dollars a month from Adsense, as long as the primary purpose of the site is to generate PayPerClick traffic.
PayPerClick Traffic
Many ecommerce businesses sign up for a PayPerClick program through Yahoo or Google to generate traffic. While the search engine advertising companies promise that they do not favor their advertisers, it is foolish not to. They are only cutting their throats letting sites which do not use their ads to rank higher than the sites who do use their ads.
From this side of the fence, PayPerClick is a good deal, because you are the company stealing customers from the competition. However, very few PayPerClick programs give the advertiser control over sites they appear on.
Google does, to a certain extent. It is possible to visit a major competitor’s site, which generates millions more hits than your site does, and place an ad on their pages. However, this does not guarantee that these same people will not click off your website.
Rule #1 of Sales
The first rule of sales is to hook a potential customer. This means keeping them on the host ecommerce site, and encouraging them to click through the links until they reach the buy now page.
There are some crafty ways to do this. For example, make the link bar to squeeze pages and buy-now pages look like PayPerClick ads. Another trick is to lead people from one website owned by the host company to another of their sites, in effect, creating a big circle.
However, make sure that the main pages are optimized with no=follow code in the links. Search engines penalize this type of ‘black hat’ SEO trick. The no=follow code in the ads will prevent the search engines from penalizing the site.
Both of these tricks will keep potential visitors inside the company’s ecommerce sites.
Another trick is to use a ‘default’ internal search tool. Instead of Google’s search, use one that defaults inside the ecommerce network’s sites, instead of on the world wide web.
Keeping customers is the only way to increase profits, and retain customers.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
One of the biggest debates in the ecommerce world is whether to post PayPerClick advertisements on a website, or not. Many sites are using video advertisements to improve the look and feel of their sites. Others are hoping that PayPerClick will offer a passive source of income, but this short-term thinking may cost the company serious profits.
The purpose of a PayPerClick ad is to take a visitor from your website and put them on another website. This person leaves before they ever see the host company’s squeeze page, buy-now page, or Social Networking tools. This means that a potential customer is gone for good. The problem is - the ads on the host company’s website represent the competition.
PayPerClick Passive Income
On one side of the debate is the idea that PayPerClick lets ecommerce businesses generate some revenue from people who were going to leave the website anyway. The problem arises when the website looks at the actual numbers.
It takes several months before Google starts registering clicks, even if thousands of people have already clicked the link. Even when Google does start registering links, they rarely register more than one half of the actual links. In many cases, Google counts less than half.
Then, there is the Page Rank Trap. Google only pays a percentage of the money promised, based on the site’s page rank. A site can build more than 10 000 inbound links and 1000 pages of content and still have only Page Rank 3, earning about .05% of Google’s promised payout. Many sites (non MFA - Made For Adsense) work for 2 - 3 years before they earn $100 a month.
A website can make hundreds of dollars a month from Adsense, as long as the primary purpose of the site is to generate PayPerClick traffic.
PayPerClick Traffic
Many ecommerce businesses sign up for a PayPerClick program through Yahoo or Google to generate traffic. While the search engine advertising companies promise that they do not favor their advertisers, it is foolish not to. They are only cutting their throats letting sites which do not use their ads to rank higher than the sites who do use their ads.
From this side of the fence, PayPerClick is a good deal, because you are the company stealing customers from the competition. However, very few PayPerClick programs give the advertiser control over sites they appear on.
Google does, to a certain extent. It is possible to visit a major competitor’s site, which generates millions more hits than your site does, and place an ad on their pages. However, this does not guarantee that these same people will not click off your website.
Rule #1 of Sales
The first rule of sales is to hook a potential customer. This means keeping them on the host ecommerce site, and encouraging them to click through the links until they reach the buy now page.
There are some crafty ways to do this. For example, make the link bar to squeeze pages and buy-now pages look like PayPerClick ads. Another trick is to lead people from one website owned by the host company to another of their sites, in effect, creating a big circle.
However, make sure that the main pages are optimized with no=follow code in the links. Search engines penalize this type of ‘black hat’ SEO trick. The no=follow code in the ads will prevent the search engines from penalizing the site.
Both of these tricks will keep potential visitors inside the company’s ecommerce sites.
Another trick is to use a ‘default’ internal search tool. Instead of Google’s search, use one that defaults inside the ecommerce network’s sites, instead of on the world wide web.
Keeping customers is the only way to increase profits, and retain customers.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Passive Streams of Income
Revenue is not the same as income, or wealth. Revenue is the money that comes into a business before expenses are paid, and a percentage of money is saved for growth is removed.
Most businesses cannot increase their revenue because they do not understand the difference between revenue, and disposable revenue. Most business plans do not pay the business owner an income for five years. All profits in the first five years are needed to ensure the company’s continual growth.
Unfortunately, most people who start a business need disposable income – now. They start a work at home business to supplement their income. This means that the business owner needs to look at multiple streams of incomes. However, not all revenue is earned from sales.
The important thing to remember is that revenue is money earned. Write up a budget. Calculate the cost of operating the business, and how much money is going out of the business on a monthly basis. Do this for your personal income also.
Revenue is anything that lowers the expenses side, or increases the profit side of the balance sheet.
Income Tax
A work at home business gives the business owner the opportunity of saving on their taxes. Most income tax offices do not allow business write offs if the business operates from a room where the family eats. However, converting a dining room to an office offers several benefits.
The dinning room often takes up 20% of the home. This means that business owners can deduct 20% of every bill, from hydro to lawn care, carpet shampooing to renovations. They can even write off 20% of the mortgage and mortgage interest, insurance paid, property taxes, and levies.
Careful planning can drop the business owner’s income tax $1000 or more, depending on how much they usually pay. This is revenue earned, money in the business owner’s pocket, that does not come from sales.
Depreciation
Everything a business uses from computers to automobiles is subject to depreciation. This depreciation is deducted from the fixed asset’s value, whether it is a portion of the family vehicle, a computer, office furniture, and other equipment used to generate income.
This depreciation lowers the income generated by the company, and in turn, lowers the income tax paid.
Invest In Yourself
Many small business owners fail to realize that they have value. They rarely consider the knowledge learned as an asset. It is an asset, and it can be used to reduce expenses, and increase revenue.
Most small business owners spend a few months researching their business, but few take the time to learn how to become a success. Once they find one or two methods that they understand, they stick with them, whether the methods work or not.
Every time a business owner learns how to save money, the money saved should be considered revenue.
Conclusion
In this way, many business owners save a few thousand dollars each year – even before the company starts earning money from sales. The problem is, most work at home business owners overlook these streams of passive income. They do not keep gas logs on their vehicle, or receipts for their home care, utilities, and taxes. They loose thousands of dollars each year, because they do not view their business as a ‘real business.’
However, if a person occupies their time trying to generate sales and earn revenue, then they are in business. There is no threshold that defines a business.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Most businesses cannot increase their revenue because they do not understand the difference between revenue, and disposable revenue. Most business plans do not pay the business owner an income for five years. All profits in the first five years are needed to ensure the company’s continual growth.
Unfortunately, most people who start a business need disposable income – now. They start a work at home business to supplement their income. This means that the business owner needs to look at multiple streams of incomes. However, not all revenue is earned from sales.
The important thing to remember is that revenue is money earned. Write up a budget. Calculate the cost of operating the business, and how much money is going out of the business on a monthly basis. Do this for your personal income also.
Revenue is anything that lowers the expenses side, or increases the profit side of the balance sheet.
Income Tax
A work at home business gives the business owner the opportunity of saving on their taxes. Most income tax offices do not allow business write offs if the business operates from a room where the family eats. However, converting a dining room to an office offers several benefits.
The dinning room often takes up 20% of the home. This means that business owners can deduct 20% of every bill, from hydro to lawn care, carpet shampooing to renovations. They can even write off 20% of the mortgage and mortgage interest, insurance paid, property taxes, and levies.
Careful planning can drop the business owner’s income tax $1000 or more, depending on how much they usually pay. This is revenue earned, money in the business owner’s pocket, that does not come from sales.
Depreciation
Everything a business uses from computers to automobiles is subject to depreciation. This depreciation is deducted from the fixed asset’s value, whether it is a portion of the family vehicle, a computer, office furniture, and other equipment used to generate income.
This depreciation lowers the income generated by the company, and in turn, lowers the income tax paid.
Invest In Yourself
Many small business owners fail to realize that they have value. They rarely consider the knowledge learned as an asset. It is an asset, and it can be used to reduce expenses, and increase revenue.
Most small business owners spend a few months researching their business, but few take the time to learn how to become a success. Once they find one or two methods that they understand, they stick with them, whether the methods work or not.
Every time a business owner learns how to save money, the money saved should be considered revenue.
Conclusion
In this way, many business owners save a few thousand dollars each year – even before the company starts earning money from sales. The problem is, most work at home business owners overlook these streams of passive income. They do not keep gas logs on their vehicle, or receipts for their home care, utilities, and taxes. They loose thousands of dollars each year, because they do not view their business as a ‘real business.’
However, if a person occupies their time trying to generate sales and earn revenue, then they are in business. There is no threshold that defines a business.
----------------
Visit More Learning Sites:
inspiredauthor
Get Your Book Published
Get Paid To Write
How I Built a Career
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)