Brent Sampson

Self-Publishing Simplified

2005-06-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

We've implemented a new catch-phrase which describes exactly what we do and put it on the front page of our website. We simplify the self-publishing process by helping authors overcome the hurdles that prevent them from publishing a book.

It's different for every author. Some are waiting to secure a contract from an old-fashioned publisher. They could be waiting a long time. Others don't want to purchase 10 ISBNs from Bowkers just to self-publish one book. We provide single ISBNs.

Others don't know how to obtain and EAN barcode (or even what it is or why it's important). We do all that for them.

The Gem of Custom Publishing is who we are. Self-Publishing Simplified is what we do. Outskirts Press. What do you think?

Book promotion takes time

2005-04-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

Business trips, inclement weather, and book promotion have all conspired against updating this blog for a long period of time. The Amazon.com lists I was experimenting with appear to be working... sort of. I'll keep an eye on them and work on enhancing their effectiveness before sharing the strategy with Outskirts Press authors.

For example, right now Publishing Gems (http://outskirtspress.com/publishinggems) is hoovering between 100,000 and 250,000 on the Amazon list without any off-line promotion to speak of yet. I anticipate the Denver Business journal article will be hitting either today or next Wednesday and that may have some positive results. I'll be taking advantage of Outskirts Press' Press/Media CD Kit to generate some additional interest, hopefully to secure some on-air interviews. Speaking of which, one of our recent authors appeared on a television talk show in California and his first 9-day sales numbers are wonderful. Promotion really does make all the difference.

New E-Book is Free

2005-03-22T08:05:00.000-08:00

The e-book of Adventures will still be released as planned. The final version is done, including a hyperlinked Table of Contents for the convenience of the reader. The ebook alludes to some elements of our website that are not implemented yet, so we're pushing to get those future implementations done (or at least done enough) so we can release the e-book. It's free, and it's available at http://outskirtspress.com/publishing.

It'll be sent out this week, even if I have to pass on sleep completely.
I'm also suppose to mention our OutskirtsPress.net portal site for SEO purposes. So there you have it.

Adventures in Publishing

2005-03-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

Time is getting short. I'm working like a dog to get Adventures in Publishing done and published in time for the CIPA College on March 17-20. I doubt I'm going to pull it off at this rate. The interior design is nearly done, but I want to increase the margins just slightly, which will throw off the page-breaks. These are page breaks that I've already designed to by adding or deleting content to make the sections as aesthetic as possible. There's a lot of content and information in this book and I really came away with just how valuable of a service we provide as I was writing it. We're going to offer it free as an e-book to anyone who joins our Outskirts Press community, plus the hardback will be available from Amazon.com for an unheard of price of $5.95. Who says on-demand books have to be expensive? This book will even feature a "Case Study" in the back the details exactly what options and pricing model was used. Anybody publishing with Outskirts Press can duplicate the same distribution and pricing structure if the follow the same specs of Adventures in Publishing. It's all outlined in the book.

The back cover is still a work in progress. I want to include samples of all of the cover choices, (25 images), plus some information about how easy it is to publish a book. There may not be room for both. The cover images are small enough already (25 images on a 6 x 9 back --). Plus room for the barcode, price, and Outskirts Press logo.

As if that we're enough, we're wrapping up for the big publication launch promotion, to be coordinated the last week of March. -- Which unfortunately is a week before our Florida trip. But I think the promotional infrastructure is in place to the point where it can run without me.

That plus the OutskirtsPress.net SEO efforts continue.

9 News

2005-02-22T21:45:00.000-08:00

A busy and productive day today. The president of CIPA and I discussed some possible joint-publication opportunities. I also visited 9 News with some CIPA members where their Communications Coordinator Randy took us on a tour and provided some insight into getting television exposure for books. This included listed some of their most likely shows, producer names, demographics, and tips on submitting manuscript and press kits. All very informative and information I will see gets passed to applicable people who publishing with Outskirts Press.

Author Portrait

2005-02-18T07:56:00.001-08:00

Here's the front-runner for the author portrait I'll use on the back of Publishing Gems. Since that's the back of the book, that one can be in color. The inside of Adventures of Publishing will also have a photo, but it'll be in black and white. I've posed both here. The only concern is that it may not be close enough to my face. Although, there are those who might think that's a good thing.

More work than I can handle

2005-02-15T11:43:00.000-08:00

How long has it been since I've updated? A few days at least. A lot is going on. Trying to secure some mutual partnerships with New Novelist and other writing sites and affiliates. Also, the Writer's Digest publication for 2004 is complete, although I can't gauge F & W Publication's interest in promoting it -- which is odd.

Adventures in Publishing and Publishing Gems, the two books I've written that will be published simultaneously at the end of March, continue to march toward their printing dates. I need to have them both finished and "producing" by the end of February. Half a month. That's what's been keeping me so busy. The front of Adventures in Publishing is complete although I don't have a smaller image to share. I'll get on uploaded to this blog soon. The back copy of Publishing Gems is conceptualized, just needs to be laid out. The back copy of Adventures in Publishing takes care of itself -- full color thumbnail images of our 25 cover choices to authors can see the selection. -- These won't include the 18 different color varieties for each one, or the textures that we're adding as an additional sub-option before the book is released.

SEO is a big concern of mine and will start to occupy more of my time once these books are written. A third book has been conceptualized and I'll start on that, too. But in the meantime, just to keep it going, here's the .net and .com links.

I sent the rest of the pre-publication galleys out to reviewers. I was going to include newspapers in that list, but since their turn-around is so quick anyway, I figured it might be more beneficial to send the actual published book (the interior looks SOOO much better). We'll see if that pans out. Who knows.

This blog is jumping all over the place -- so's my brain. I can't decide when/if I want to include this blog on the Author's Center of our website. Is there "too" much information in this thing?

A Board of Directors meeting is this week. I have to get ready for that.

Amazon.com working for you

2005-02-10T20:39:00.000-08:00

I've read several articles where some of the "tools" or "resources" available on Amazon.com help drive traffic to books, and secure people as experts. In the interest of experimenting with this phenomenon first-hand, I've established an Amazon.com "personality" with the screen name of outskirtspress. I'm creating some lists in "listmania" and writing some articles under the "So you'd like...." section. Like all things SEO related, this could take some time and it'll be 6 months or more before I know whether or not it was time well spent -- kind of like this blog thing.

Publishing Gems Testimonials

2005-02-09T13:07:00.000-08:00

I contacted Dan Poynter with a request to offer a testimonial for my upcoming book Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer. Dan Poynter is the best selling author of The Self-Publishing Manual, as well as a highly sought after public speaker and wildly acclaimed expert on self-publishing. (He "literally wrote the book" so to speak).

So, in given an opportunity to have his name and his book title associated with another book that would be marketed to the same audience (ie, my book), Mr. Poynter graciously offered a generous testimonial for my book. I plan on placing it above the title. After all, Publishing Gems is not yet know, but Dan Poynter is. Thank you Dan.

More later about the other blurb I got from the President of CIPA.

Publishing Gems Cover Quote

2005-02-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

Work continues to progress on the Publishing Gems and Publishing Guide. I got the review copies sent out for Publishing Gems, so hopefully we'll be able to secure some reviews or editorials in the trade when it's published in April. I'm going to have advance copies ready at the CIPA College in March. I need to get a Kinko's banner created. I don't know if I'll have time to do that.

Interior layout of Publishing Gems is nearly complete. We'll have the size of the book finalized and then can finalize the cover. We have a great quote to put on the front -- a testimonial blurb from Dan Poynter. He was very gracious to provide it. I'm considering asking him if he's inclined to write the forward. I'll be catching him with him at a CIPA meeting soon, but probably after the book is published. When we have the final cover, I'll post it here.

Adventures in Publishing Must Get Done

2005-01-31T15:20:00.000-08:00

I'm determined to have Adventures in Publishing published and available at the CIPA show in March. Here's where I am right this second:

HELP! I MAY HAVE COPYRIGHT ISSUES

If your manuscript appears to contain images and/or pas-sages of text that are problematic during the pre-publication process, your Author Representative may mention potential copyright issues.

If your manuscript contains any images and/or text that you did not personally create as original material, you may not have the legal right to include such material in your publication. Such material includes lyrics to songs; excerpts from published stories, books, or poems; published and commercially produced images; images containing the likeness of someone you do not know person-ally (living or dead); and photographs taken by someone other than you or an immediate family member.

Cover Quotes

2005-01-28T02:15:00.000-08:00

As "Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer" nears official publication I've been working on solidifying the cover. This includes both the design/layout as well as the copy. The front layout is complete, although I want an industry endorsement on the front.

I want some on the back, too.

So I've contacted some other well-known industry professionals associated with self-publishing: Judith, the current president of CIPA; Dan, the man who literally wrote the book on self-publishing, and Jan, the executive director of PMA.

Judith and Dan are maybes. Jan is a no. It's not PMA's policy to endorse their member’s books. Two out of three isn't bad if they pan out -- plus I'm taking advantage of services Outskirts Press offers to all its offers by securing a guaranteed pre-publication book review.

Its imperative (borderline imperative) that how-to or reference books covering a particular field feature industry endorsements on the cover.

Dan Poynter was very gracious. He suggested I send him the pre-pub galley in PDF along with a draft of the testimonial that he would edit to his liking. Prompt, professional, perfect. I have a space reserved for his quote above the title of my book, so I hope it's good.

New Hires at Outskirts Press

2005-01-28T02:08:00.000-08:00

Some new hires and reorganizations have taken place this week at Outskirts Press. For those of us keeping score (probably just me), here's the new scorecard:

Brent - President/CEO/CMB
Jeanine - COO/BM
Lynn - CFO/BM
Tony - BM

Chris - Started as an author rep, and will still handle some of those responsibilities, although core efforts are now focused on marketing, both for the company and select authors/books.

Amy - Customer Service / Author Rep back-up

Vicky - Customer Service / Author Rep back-up

Mary - New hire, Author Rep

Deni - New hire, Author Rep

Publishing Gems Cover

2005-01-26T13:08:00.000-08:00

The pre-edit galley draft of Publishing Gems: Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer went to the printer today and we'll be able to forward galley review copies to pertinent publications in time for them to consider a review before the book's official publication in April. I'm trying to have our Publishing Guide complete by then, too. The first draft was complete and all board members had a chance to provide their .02, but then we changed the orientation of Outskirts Press from pure POD to custom publishing with more flexibility. That changes much of the content (although much of it also stays the same -- we're just as advantageous as before, only more so. "More so" is easy to add to the book).

So, I mention both because I'm trying to aim for a synchronous publication because I allude to being the author of Publishing Gems on Adventures in Publishing, and I mention that I'm the author of Adventures in Publishing on Publishing Gems. It would be best to hit a window where both are true as fast as possible.

All this brings to mind one of the chapters of Publishing Gems, which is about establishing one's self as an expert. I'm trying to follow my own advice. Step one is writing the book. Check (almost).

Here's a tentative cover for publishing Gems. I think it's going to change a bit. The COO thought the "self publishing" part was too difficult to read. What do YOU think?

We're also going to change the title just slightly. The subtitle is Insider Information for the Self-Publishing Writer. Oooh... insider info. Very la-de-da!

Publishing Gems Tip # 1

2005-01-23T19:57:00.000-08:00

Sending my latest book to the printer this week for review copies to be produced. Here's tip # 1.

NINE STEPS FOR PLOTTING A FICTION FOUNDATION

Start with a piece of paper. It should be large enough to write on. 8.5 x 11 is perfect. Draw two parallel lines both vertically and horizontally across the page, creating 9 comparable boxes, as if you were starting a game of tic-tac-toe. These boxes represent either chapters, scenes, or sections, depending upon your book’s intended length.

Number the boxes, starting from the upper left: 1, 2, 3.
Next row, starting from the left: 4, 5, 6.
Last row: 7, 8, 9.
Title each box…

Box 1) Triggering Event

First thing’s first. What happens? Why have you bothered to write a book, and more importantly, why should a reader invest time flipping through its pages. Your “triggering event” is the answer to those questions, so make it a good one. Also, don’t make the reader wait very long for it. First sentence, first paragraph, first page. These are good spots for a triggering event.

Box 2) Characterization

Generally, books succeed or fail on the strength of their characters more so than on the strength of their plots. While your protagonist may have been involved in the “triggering event” there wasn’t time in Box 1 to characterize him or her. Here’s where you explore what makes your protagonist tick. No, this isn’t an excuse for drawn out exposition, history, or back story. If your “triggering event” is captivating, the reader will discover enough about the protagonist in Box 2 simply by reading how he or she reacts to Box 1.

Box 3) First Turning Point

By now, your plot is picking up steam, and because of Box 2, the reader is invested in the ride. Time to throw a monkey wrench into the works. This turning point can be either a positive event for your protagonist, or a negative one, but it should be directly related to either a character flaw or trait your protagonist demonstrates in Box 2 (see, there’s a reason these boxes are touching one another – keep this in mind when you get to Box 6).

Box 4) Exposition

You’ve earned some time to fill the reader in on important data. Since this box touches Box 1, here’s where you shed some light on that “triggering event” and since it also touches Box 7, you get to foreshadow your protagonist’s darkest hour. In common cases, for example, Box 4 can reveal a relationship dynamic or a character flaw that contributes to the dark times in ahead.

Box 5) Connect the Dots

Box 5 represents the trickiest part of fiction, and is often where plots fall apart, or where authors experience massive writer’s block. Since Box 5 is the center of the book, it touches, and therefore must relate to, all the boxes around it. Kind of like a nucleus at the center of an atom bomb, Box 5 should tick systematically upon elements introduced in Box 2 and Box 4. And like the calm before the storm, Box 5 should give the false impression of resolution before heading like a freight train to Box 6. Most importantly, it needs to provide subtle, foreshadowing support for the protagonist’s revelation in Box 8.

Box 6) Negative Turning Point

Here’s where that atom bomb explodes and all hell breaks loose. It’s a shock to the reader, and yet, it makes perfect sense due to the foundation built in Box 3.

Box 7) Antagonist Wins

The protagonist is defeated here, and the antagonist is going to “win.” Even though the reader may have seen Box 6 coming, the protagonist didn’t=. How the protagonist deals with the defeat in Box 7 will depend upon the traits and/or story developed in Box 4, and will lead to Box 8.

Box 8) Revelation

Of course! The protagonist’s revelation turns the tide. Here is where the protagonist connects the dots here, just like the reader did in Box 5. Part of the fun of a great fiction novel is allowing the reader to be just one step ahead of the protagonist, who overcomes the obstacles in Box 8 via the devise introduced in Box 5.

9) Protagonist Wins

The “negative” turning point in Box 6 is rectified while the character’s resolve from Box 8 is brought into full bloom.

Congratulations! Another great tale told greatly.

Birthday

2005-01-21T05:44:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention. Wednesday was my birthday.