Self-Publishing Simplified

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.