How To Publish and Promote Online

Rating:
Summary: Examples of How to Succeed by those who have.
Review: M.J. Rose and Angela Adair-Hoy know how to promote. They were sick of people cornering them in public and e-mail about how to "do it", so they wrote a book about it. All you need to know about publishing, promoting, where to target and who to contact is included in this useful book. Tips and advice are offered by over twenty e and print authors. The main thing to remember is that you will probabally work harder on the promoting piece than the actually writing of your actual book. The experts all got to where they are by working on these tips, using their time and effort, and not giving up. The thought alone depresses me, but there is a wealth of info found in How to Publish and Promote Online.

Rating:
Summary: Examples of How to Succeed by those who have.
Review: M.J. Rose and Angela Adair-Hoy know how to promote. They were sick of people cornering them in public and e-mail about how to "do it", so they wrote a book about it. All you need to know about publishing, promoting, where to target and who to contact is included in this useful book. Tips and advice are offered by over twenty e and print authors. The main thing to remember is that you will probabally work harder on the promoting piece than the actually writing of your actual book. The experts all got to where they are by working on these tips, using their time and effort, and not giving up. The thought alone depresses me, but there is a wealth of info found in How to Publish and Promote Online.

Rating:
Summary: Self-publishing manual a winner!
Review: Ms. M.J. Rose and Angela Adair-Hoy have captured the self-promotion and publishing market for those of us unfortunate enough to find a NY Publishing House. Even with a reputable agent first-time authors have difficulty navigating the maze of self-promotion. The authors have provided free websites for cyper-promotion. Their index of email addresses is invaluable to authors. First-class book.

Rating:
Summary: Overtaken by events
Review: Other than to verify a few common-sense steps one would expect authors to take anyway in marketing their books, this book is of very little use. The specific resources it names mostly boil down to web sites, the vast majority of which either no longer offer the services they did when the book was written, or else have disappeared entirely from the internet. This book has sadly outlived its shelf life.

Rating:
Summary: Don't even think of NOT reading this book
Review: Should be considered the bible of the industry. Easy to read, great resources and tons of wonderful information. I also enjoyed the chapters written by others known in the industry. If Publishing and Marketing online is your interest, do not do anything until you read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Good information, readable and useful.
Review: The authors put together a collection of their own essays and of essays of other folks who have self-published on line, using publish on demand, or done a traditional off line self-published book. This book has lots of information, and includes numerous citations to other books, and, particularly helpfully, internet URLs where new information and answers to frequently asked questions can be gleaned.

The emphasis here is on how to achieve some commercial success for your book, including good advice on inexpensive and free ways to promote your work on line. This is not a "get rich publishing books" throwaway. This is a solid effort at an overview of how to really publish your own material with commercial success.

I found the work imperfect in two ways. My own mode of self-publishing--using inexpensive specialty chapbooks sold in on line auctions, is not covered. In addition, the work is more geared to the commercial author than to the author of poetry or specialty fiction who just wants to break even and be read. Still, this is a good book. It offers interesting info, like pamphleteer Paulette Ensign's story of figuring out how to make money in 16 page booklets. It's nice to hear this sort of thing expressed in real world terms, rather than in "how I made a million" copy.

Dan Poynter's book on self-publishing once set the standard for traditional self-publishing guides, and its updated version is still a good work on the basics of dealing with printers, etc. But this book offers the reader a good bunch of good ideas, and I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: Worth Looking at
Review: This book is inspirational in the sense that it gives frustrated writers, like yours truly, a glimmer of hope for the future. According to the authors, the sheer number of manuscripts being presented to traditional publishers and bookstores makes publication for aspiring writers who lack celebrity status a long shot. The authors are also recognized experts/pioneers in the field of e-book production and marketing, and make a valid point that being a successful writer involves more than just writing a good book, it also means learning the marketing ropes.

This book has helped me identify a strategy to use to market my upcoming children's book, "Abby and the Bicycle Caper," which I anticipate having available on Amazon by January 2004. Using the authors' ideas, I have laid out a marketing plan encompassing e-mail, newsgroups, and search engine promotions, in addition to several other ideas. Whether it works out or not, this book has helped me learn a lot about the business of self-publishing, which I consider a good return on my purchase/investment.

Ron Atkins Taylor
Member, Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators
[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: Yes and No
Review: This guide to promoting and publishing your book online is entertaining but I felt let down. The whole book is not by the authors. There are way too many guest articles and most are useless. Some of M.J. Rose's opinions about what constitutes good writing turned me off. Quite a few of the internet links are out of date. Will this system work? Maybe. It worked for the authors but they wrote very specific types of books. I just wasn't convinced that this is really a viable way of selling my book.

Rating:
Summary: This book gave me motivation to go ahead
Review: This is not the catch all of self publishing. It is on the other hand a good motivator for those who are starting out getting published. It is a grass roots effort by those who have started with nothing, and are now selling a good deal of books.
I recommend it. I was totally encouraged after reading it.