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The internet has opened up tremendous opportunities for anyone who wants to have their own online business. The sky is the limit for creative writing.

Previously, people dreamed about owning a business, but became discouraged at the high costs involved.  Technology has now made it possible to run an online business with very little financial capital. In fact, some very successful online businesses have been built, quite literally, out of “thin air”.

The lifeblood of internet business, whatever type of model you use,  is TRAFFIC. You can have the best website, the sharpest squeeze pages, the greatest products in the world, but if no-one comes to see them, you’re dead in the water. If you’re willing to do some work using the right methods, you can go a long way to getting that traffic!

There are basically 2 ways to get the traffic. You can BUY it, or you can ATTRACT it. Many have worked hard at advertising an online business and ended up with little more than a maxed out credit card for their trouble.

Here are some methods you can use:

1. Viral Marketing
2. Giveaway Events
3. Membership Sites
4. Article Marketing
5. Social Sites – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
6. Squidoo
7. Forums
8. Traffic Exchanges
9. Joint Ventures
10. Ad-swaps
11. Free gifts with affiliate links

If you want more information, I recommend Phil Morgan’s “Minimum Budget Maximum Traffic” audio course, where he shares some free (or almost free) techniques on how to attract traffic to your product without breaking the bank.

More information here:  Minimum Budget Maximum Traffic

Remember, no one will buy your product if they don’t know it exists!

Blessings!

Val

You will find everything to you need to know about creative writing, publishing and marketing your book in Dan Poynter’s eLibrary.

Dan Poynter’s amazing eLibary CD includes the famous and popular “Self-Publishing Manual” (Volumes 1 & 2).

Valued at much more than $100 , Dan Poynter’s Book Writing/Publishing PDF eLibrary includes:

• Writing Nonfiction
• The Self-Publishing Manual (Volumes I & 2)
• Is There a Book Inside You
• Book Publishing Encyclopedia
• Successful Nonfiction

Plus:

• Poynter’s Secret List of Book Promotion Contacts
• Book Marketing Special Report
• Book Writing Information Kit
• A complete list of his other products.

Order your copy of this invaluable Library today

The writer of the Book of Ecclesiastes said, “Of making many books there is no end” (Eccl. 12:12).

“Making them” is the first part of the creative writing journey. Selling and distributing your books is a major obstacle course, but it can be done with some planning, lots of prayer and much perseverance.

The only way to get people to buy your books is to make them aware they are available. Internet Marketing is a vast subject, but well worth researching because there are literally millions of buyers online at any one time.

The best way to learn how to succeed online is to learn from the experts. Patience, discipline and perseverance are the keys to succeeding online.

Click here for more info on How To Effectively Market and Sell Your Product On The Internet.

Market Research

• Identity your readers.  Are they young, old, rich, poor, educated, urban, rural, Christian?
• Locate your readers.  Where do they congregate, shop, worship? What magazines, newspapers, literature do they read? What radio programmes do they listen to? Where will you find them on the internet? Are they computer-literate?
• Concentrate on these areas as you consider the best way to promote your book.

Pricing

When setting the retail price, it is important to take into consideration that bookshops normally require 35-40% discount, after which they add VAT. They do not take kindly to being undercut by the author.

Preparation of advertising material

• Catalogues – print in colour for distribution to bookshops.
• Extra cover copies – to use as advertisements, especially for bookshops. Keep in mind marketing agents do not carry loads of books into the bookshops, but sell from covers.
• Quick order forms.
• Posters.
• Collect testimonials and endorsements.

Distribution

• Christian bookshops.
• General bookshops.
• Specialty stores
• Online bookstores (internet)
• Libraries
• Non-traditional markets (places you don’t normally find books)
• Offer incentives
• Consignment stock
• Ask your friends to purchase their books from your outlets

Bookshops make books available, but rarely promote them.
So …

Advertise

• Internet marketing.
• Web presence
• Email lists, newsletters and ezines
• Email to personal friends and contacts
• Blogs
• Social sites, e.g. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn
• Press Releases
• Newspapers and magazines
• Local suburban papers
• Radio and TV advertising and interviews
• Book Reviews
• Pre-Publication promotions
• Special offers
• Send review copies to magazines
• Write magazine articles on topic of your book
• Leaflets
• Postal mailshots
• Postcards – for “snail mail”

Visit my online Bookshop for eBooks on these topics

Click here for more information on how to turn your manuscript into a digital (eBook) publication

The Internet or Worldwide Web is a collection of electronic (digital) documents that are read on a computer screen. To obtain a physical copy, it is necessary to print the required document on your printer.

Being published on the Internet makes it possible for your creative writing to become accessible to the world, without great expense on your part. The only limit is your ability to market your work and bring it to the attention of the millions of people “surfing the web” every hour of the day.

Millions of online readers are waiting for your book

There are millions of online readers around the world who do not have access to libraries or bookstores. Why not make your book available to them?

We are not just in the “information age”; we are in the “electronic information age” or, better yet, the “communication age”. The world of knowledge is going from a paper culture to an electronic culture.

Publishing E-books on the Internet

E-books are electronic or digital books. Instead of investing money in physical print runs, books may now be written and delivered electronically to a computer near you. Readers see the advertisement on the web, pay online, and receive a private web address in their email that allows them to download the e-book to their computer. As easy as that! The question is: how do you publish your book on the Internet as an e-book?

Electronic publishing allows you to write, store, sell and read your book without printing it.

There is an increasing demand for instant information and electronic or digital books are becoming very popular. They may be downloaded from the Internet instantly and are searchable and less expensive than regular books. Online readers need just click on an address in the e-book to instantly go to the referenced web site. They cost nothing to write and publish in full colour and can be distributed electronically without sacrificing trees!

“If book publishers can’t see the writing on the wall,
it’s because the writing is not on the wall. It’s on a computer screen.”
– Dan Poynter

Once you have transformed your manuscript into an electronic book, it may be uploaded (sent electronically via the Internet as a file) to the websites of online booksellers with whom you have an agreement, or your own website, or some other website so that it becomes available for downloading by readers. Online booksellers handle all the financial aspects and pay very generous royalties. Amazon.com, for e.g., pays 50% of your advertised retail price for books hosted on their edocs site. Contact mobipocket.com in this connection.

Selling your ebooks online

ClickBank is the Internet’s leading retailer of digital products and the Internet’s largest digital marketplace, where thousands of the web’s most popular products are sold every day. Whether you’re looking to buy, sell, or promote digital products, ClickBank is for you.

CLICK HERE for more information

Your e-book may also be copied to a CD or emailed as an attachment and distributed globally. It can be read on IPods (electronic device for listening to audio sound).  It is a very versatile product in our electronic age. All you need to access it is an electronic screen. It may also be printed out via your printer for bedtime reading!

“Books are going electronic. Some bound books will soon be as dead
as the trees they are printed on.” — Dan Poynter.

“The breakthroughs are leading authors to bypass publishers,
retailers to become publishers and publishers to become bookstores”
– Don Clark, Wall Street Journal.

How to turn your manuscript into an ebook

How do you do brain surgery? Obviously it takes some training and research to gain the expertise, but producing e-books is a simple operation once you know how.

There are many programmes that produce e-books, but I would recommend the following using Microsoft Word and turning your document into a PDF.

If you do not possess Adobe Acrobat, get PDFILL – super free PDF programme that allows you to secure your ebooks.

Obviously, there are some finer details to be aware of concerning the preparation of the document if you are using Microsoft Word.  e.g. The preferred page size is 6 x 9 inches and the book is set out in a “book layout format” so your manuscript looks like a book page. A book like “Adobe Acrobat for Dummies” will tell you all you need to know.

Remember that each edition of your e-book also requires a unique ISBN number and is treated the same way as a regular book in this regard. You will be required to send the National Library a copy on CD.

In your search for a regular publisher, you will be able to send the e-book to literary agents and publishers and offer to sell the electronic, print, translation, movie or other subsidiary rights. Recommended reading: “The Self-Publishing Manual” by Dan Poyner and the “Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook”.

Click here for information on making great ebook covers.