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When to Self-Publish: Editor's Notes #152 October 31, 2013

Hello, The first chapter sells the book; the last chapter sells the next book. --Mickey Spillane In this issue: 1. When to publish 2. Tickled my funnybone 3. Interesting Web site ========== 1. When to publish In a workshop in March, M.A. Demers, author of The Global Indie Author: How anyone can self-publish in the U.S. and worldwide markets -- 2nd Edition and all-round guru of self-publishing, shared her best marketing tip: Have at least two books ready before you publish one. I agree under the following conditions: You expect to write more than one book in your lifetime. Not everyone is building a personal catalogue of books. If you have a one-off, don't be discouraged. In some ways, you are farther ahead because you have the demands of only one book to juggle with the demands of the rest of your life. And, yes, your book has demands. Your books are related in some way that makes marketing sense. Some writers write in several genres and actually use pen names to avoid confusing readers about what the writer is all about. Although it is not necessary for a university professor to write academic work under a birth name and children's fantasy under a pseudonym, it is also not clear that in this case sales in one genre would lead easily to sales in the other. If you do think that you have more than one book in you, her advice allows you to use Book #1 to market Book #2 easily by putting a link at the end of ebook #1 that says "Coming soon: XXX" or "Coming on (Fill in date here)." When the book is actually available, you simply change the destination of the link to your Amazon/Barnes and Nobel, etc. page for your new book. If you are going for hard copies, you can still announce the upcoming book. Of course, the really smart thing to do would be to start Book #3 as soon as #1 is out, wait a decent amount of time (but not too much) to release Book #2, and announce Book #3 in Book #2. Now sit down down and write those books! =========== 2.Tickled my funnybone A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat. =========== 3. Interesting Web site Yes, that's my recommendation for her book on the left of her sales page. I wrote her an unsolicited thank you note before I had even finished the book because it is so well done. If you ever plan to self-publish, her book is a must-read. http://mademers.com/globalindieauthor/ =========== Join Writer's Helper Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WritersHelperEditor Follow me on Twitter @AudreytheEditor =========== If you know a writer who would appreciate receiving Editor's Notes, forward this issue. If someone has passed this on to you, you can get your own free subscription by signing up at https://www.writershelper.com/newsletter.html

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