Self-Publishing and Promotion

Boy, once you get a book published by self-publishing it on Amazon, you really need to do a lot of self-promotion.

I have been really busy since my book, Wilderness Heart, has come out on Amazon.com's kindle book list on February 8, 2011.  I have been researching how I can market it on other ereaders and have joined some author forums as well as some book review web sites, such as http://www.goodreads.com, joined http://www.mobileread.com author forum, working on this blog, and researching and downloading all sorts of programs for the writer to use to help me publish the next book....if and when I get started/finished with it.  I have to say there are a lot of great people/authors out there willing to help new authors such as myself with formatting, cover suggestions, how the kindle process works, etc.

I had really great news when I woke up this morning and logged onto facebook.  One of my father's twin sisters left me a message that she purchased my book that morning.  I asked her if she had purchased a Kindle to read it and she said no, she downloaded the Kindle for PC program so she could read my book.  I had forgotten about that.  So if people want to read books and don't have a kindle reader, they can do what my aunt did.  I also reminded a friend who said she had a Nookbook that she too could download the Kindle for PC and read my book on her computer that way.  I told my aunt she could be the first one to review my book if she liked it on Amazon.  Totally awesome.

This is actually an exciting process and fun.

Formatting and cover problems for my book

Still working on getting my book published to Amazon.com so it can be sold/downloaded to a Kindle reader or any other kind of electronic reader one might have.

There is now the formatting part of the book and there are so many programs and advice on what or how to do it.  I found someone willing to help me for free to format it correctly for uploading to Amazon.com after, of course, I have a cover and description of the book.

So that is the big problem I am facing now.  The cover.  I am not an artist.  Don't have an artistic bone in my body when it comes to drawing, painting or even scribbling, lol.  So, I am hoping to get a friend, who is better at Paint Shop Pro than myself, to help me put a few photos together to show what the book is about.  We are hoping tonight we can put something together.

But what was really cool about yesterday, was that the person I found to format the book for me, sent back a copy that I was able to download to my Kindle and low and behold there is my entire book with a Table of Contents, Title and acknowledgements.  It was really cool to see it on there.  So after it is completely formatted and sent back to me, I can down load it to mom's Kindle I bought for her birthday and surprise her with a dozen books to read as well as MINE!!!

I am excited.

To blog or not to blog! That is the question.

I have been thinking about whether or not to blog for some time.  My first reaction many years ago when I first heard the word, was what is it and how is it used?  So I looked online for its meaning.

Wikipedia's definition:

A blog (a blend of the term web log)^[1] is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order.Blog can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Most blogs are interactive, allowing visitors to leave comments and even message each other via widgets on the blogs and it is this interactivity that distinguishes them from other static websites.^[2]

Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, Web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability of readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (Art blog), photographs (photoblog), videos (video blogging), music (MP3 blog), and audio (podcasting). Microblogging is another type of blogging, featuring very short posts.

As of December 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 112 million blogs.^[3]

It has taken me a long time to decide whether not to blog.  I think I have finally decided, as you can see here, to blog.  And what is my blog about you may ask?

Well, since I am an aspiring author since the early 1980s with nothing published by the old school way of publishing (writing a book, hiring an agent, finding a book publisher, hopefully getting it sold and then marketed in true book form), I am now ready to embark on the self-publishing way of getting a book published.  I am hoping the ereaders will be an asset and inspiration to all of us aspiring authors.   

The first book I wrote set in the Idaho wilderness in the late 1970s was brought out of the dusty cabinet, reworked and I am now ready to upload it to Amazon.com Kindle department for publication and available for purchase on not only the Kindle but for all the other readers out there.  

SO please watch for the publication date here.