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As in most – if not all – things in life, there are no short cuts or Magic Bullets that will miraculously take you to a successful conclusion of whatever you are busy with.

A lot of people promise you quick returns for hardly any effort (especially in internet marketing). Don’t believe them. You get what you pay for!

In the Christian life, it is exactly the same. There are no instant secrets to becoming mature in the faith. The “Super Spirituals” SOUND great, but the fruit on the Tree of their Lives is what counts. Integrity, faithfulness, self-control and all the Fruits of the Spirit together with the powerful Gifts of the Spirit makes for Spirit-filled living. How do you get to that place? An old Sunday School song puts it concisely:

Read Your Bible
Pray Every Day
And You will grow.. grow.. grow..

Talking to the Lord on a daily basis and having Him talk to you through His Word is the only “secret” you need. There are no Magic Bullets.

That’s true for writing books too – and (far harder!) selling them!

I will be introducing my Internet Mentorship Programme soon which will help a lot. Email me if you are interested and I will keep you informed.

No Magic Bullets

Success takes hard work, knowledge applied, and perseverance.

Val

From His Eye Is On The Sparrow
365-Day Devotional

Please leave a comment for me by clicking on the comment/no comments link above. Appreciate it.

Someone asked me a question today about getting their book published without spending hundreds of  Rand or Dollars. They are unable to find a Publisher willing to take on their book.

I am delighted to be able to assist with some great advice. Please feel free to send me your questions and I will do my best to help you.

If you are going to self-publish, the first thing is to get your manuscript typed. Use Microsoft Word and I suggest using the A5 page setup. (That’s half the size of the regular A4).  Use a nice font like Verdana, Bookman or Arial.  You will be able to see what your book looks like as you type. That will save you a lot of setup costs.

Next, get a stunning front cover. Contact Clive Thompson for a quote – email him at cliveleet@mweb.co.za. He does a really nice professional job.  Remember, the cover sells the book. Tell him the size of your book and the number of pages so he can get the spine right.

Next, turn your book into a PDF.  Here’s a link to some free software that will easily do that for you – www.pdfill.com. Upload your book and cover picture to a Print-On-Demand Publishing Service.

1.  If you live in South Africa and are wanting to print just a few copies and you are not too worried about “bookshop quality” – contact Molly Ferreira of Digital Image Printing -  ids@lithotech.co.za.  You pay approx. ZAR twelve cents per page (or thereabouts) for a black-and-white interior and a full colour cover. The cost is the same whether you print one copy or one hundred copies. This is great for short runs.There are POD companies in the USA, but it costs quite a bit to get the books to South Africa. This is your cheapest option.

2. If you want a quality book, sign up with www.createspace.com in the USA. They are an Amazon.com company. Just upload your PDFs to their system (they will help you do that) and the company will prepare your book for sale.  They will also put it in the Amazon.com database so folk can buy it. They handle all sales, posting, finance (but not marketing)  and give you a 50% royalty. You set the price of the book upfront. This will give you a nice quality paperback, which you can import to South Africa at quite a good price.  The only cost to you is the initial copy you have to buy in order to authorise the publication. That will set you back about USA $12. Visit their site and take a look. They even give you a template for the cover, which you can send to your cover designer.

There are other companies that do similar work and a search on Google will help you find them. However, I work with these two and highly recommend them.

The sky is the limit!

From His Eye Is On The Sparrow
365-Day Devotional

1.      Self-publishing

Self-publishing is where the author bypasses all the intermediaries, deals directly with the editor, cover artist, book designer and printer, and then handles the marketing and distribution.

If you self-publish you take a greater risk, but you also get to press sooner, keep control of your book, and make more money. You are required to invest time and money, but the rewards are greater.

Should you choose the self-publishing route, you need to make decisions about:

• The size of your book (physical size and number of pages)
• The cover design – use a good artist.
• Layout and typesetting – use a professional typesetter.
• Additional pages – e.g. Dedication, Foreword, Introduction, Prologue (if appropriate), Acknowledgements, Advertisements, Copyright notice, Autobiographical sketch, and Disclaimer (example below).
• Obtaining ISBN and barcode information
• Printing – select a good professional printer and request quotes on an initial print run.
• Marketing of the finished product – where, when and how.

2. Print-on-Demand Publishing

Get your book published in the USA for international distribution without incurring enormous printing and distribution costs. You pay for initial layout and design. They make your books available on Amazon.com and other online booksellers, print and distribute them as and when ordered – without further cost to you – and handle the sales. You keep worldwide rights and watch your postbox for royalty cheques.  It is also in your interests to do some marketing and point people to the sites where they may order your books. The more people know about your books, the faster they will sell.

Check out these “print on demand” companies.

• CreateSpace
• Booksurge.com Very highly recommended
• iUniverse
• Authorhouse

3. Formal Publisher

Finding a Publisher is not easy. Publishing is a business and the expected financial return is the bottom line for Publishers. Publishers carry all costs and authors usually receive royalties of around 10% of net receipts (i.e. what the publisher receives for books sold.)

It is estimated that publishers receive about two million book-length manuscripts every year, so unsolicited manuscripts have little or no chance of being well received. It is, therefore, important to do extensive research in order to find a publisher who is interested in your type of manuscript.

It is highly recommended that aspiring writers purchase the “Writers’ & Artists” Yearbook” for information on publishers and their submission requirements.

4. Literary Agents

Literary Agents are specialists who work for both the writer and the publisher. They assist writers to find interested publishers. They also protect publishers from being overwhelmed by unsuitable manuscripts, which is why many overseas publishers only accept work submitted by Literary Agents.

There are two types of Literary Agents. Some simply evaluate your book and return unsuitable work. Others offer editorial services and assist to bring books with potential to their final stage. You may expect to pay around 15% of your royalties for their services, plus administration costs.

Do you need a Literary Agent?

1. Do you have a thorough understanding of the publishing market and its dynamics?
2. Do you know who are the best publishers for your books and why?
3. Are you financially numerate and confident of being able to negotiate the best commercial deal available in current market conditions? Agents collect monies due, take their commission and pay the balance to you.
4. Are you confident of being able to understand fully and negotiate a publishing or other media contract? e.g. retention for author’s benefit of motion picture rights.
5. Do you enjoy the process of selling yourself and your work?
6. Do you want to spend your creative time on these activities?

Literary Agents are not easy to find, as they will only work with authors of books they consider to be saleable before they invest their time and money in a project.

Where do you start looking for a Literary Agent? The Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook is a good place to start. You may also join the South African Writers’ Circle for up-to-date information on local markets and agents. Address: Suite 522, Private Bag X4, Kloof, 3640.
Email: sawriters@webmail.co.za.
Web: www.sawc.co.za.

Well-known South African Literary Agent: Francis Bond.
Email: bondh@absamail.co.za.

Should you choose to use a Literary Agent, send a synopsis, your manuscript and a brief history of your background and achievements in writing. The Agent will evaluate your book and either accept it for submission to a publisher, suggest re-writes, or reject it. If accepted, it is usual to sign an agent/writer contract.

IMPORTANCE OF CONTRACTS

Whatever your choice of publishing route, make sure you have a valid, legal, written contract covering all details, financial and otherwise.

FINAL NOTE

The best Literary Agent of all is the Holy Spirit!

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and all your plans will succeed.”
– Proverbs 16:3

From His Eye Is On The Sparrow
365-Day Devotional

Congratulations! It has taken a lot of time, effort and concentration to bring your book to this point.

Writing was the easy part! The next stage will take as much – if not more – concentration, discipline and “stickability”. There are thousands of manuscripts in cupboards around the world that did not reach the production stage and I want to help you get successfully get published.

First things first:

a. Proofreading. Has your manuscript been proofread and thoroughly checked for spelling and grammatical errors? Is your content logical, reasonable and Biblical? Is your manuscript easy to read and understand?

b. Acknowledgements. Have your quotations been acknowledged? Check the front pages of Bible translations for information about acknowledging scripture or visit the publishers via the Internet.

c.  Accuracy. Are your facts accurate? e.g. “During the time of St Jerome in AD 275, everyone believed in the laying on of hands by the Bishop or the elders for the baptism of Holy Spirit.” (Did “everyone”?)

d.    Editing. Finding a professional editor to give your book a good polish is the next stage in producing a book that will be saleable. Submit your completed manuscript to your copy editor on a rewritable CD or memory stick so they may make changes directly onto the disk and return it to you. If the corrections are made on a hard copy with ink, that leaves room for additional errors when updating your manuscript.

Choosing a Publishing Route:

Basically you have four choices – self-publishing, print-on-demand publishing, finding a formal publisher or using a literary agent. More about that next time.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Register for Kathleen Gage’s free Teleseminar on “How To Turn Books into Amazon.com Bestsellers while Increasing Your Visibility, Revenue and Credibility” – Thursday, October 29, 2009 10 – 11 a.m.  PST (Around 7 pm Thursday South African time). 
Click here for more information.

From His Eye Is On The Sparrow
365-Day Devotional