Essay Online

Self-publishing has become common practice for many writers who want accolades of having a book published, no matter who publishes it. Writers choose self-publishing for various reasons. Many writers desire the freedom and business aspects of publishing work independently. A self-published writer is one who is in control of every aspect of their published work. The publishing industry defines self-publishing as authors publishing their own books or other media, instead of with a third-party publisher. Today’s technology has increased the pool of self-publishers, but it still represents only a small percentage of the publishing industry in terms of sales. The proliferation of media channels, such as blogging, video, and audio content, has contributed to the increase in self-publishers.

THE BUSINESS OF SELF-PUBLISHING

The business of self-publishing books and other media is different from any other business. The absence of a traditional publisher makes self-publishing unique. The author of the content takes on the role of the traditional publisher. The author controls the editorial content, arranges for printing, markets the material, and distributes the material to consumers and retailers. Self-publishers publish their books in printed form, or choose print-on-demand with no inventory. Many self-published authors decide to subsidize their work rather than making money from it. Digital printing technology has evolved self-publishing into digital photo book printing. Self-publishers are able to get individually printed photo books from firms like Apple’s iPhoto, FotoInsight, Snapfish, and Printing-1.

THE MOTIVES OF SELF-PUBLISHING

Many writers have varied motives to self-publish. One common reason is the writer’s work is not of interest to the commercial publisher, and otherwise not marketable. Another common reason is the writer prefers to retain complete editorial control over content. Many writers are unwilling to compromise editing of their work, and some writers prefer to have their work presented “as is.” Literary agents and book agents may deny publishing a book because the author is unknown and does not have a substantial resume. Self-publishing may also be an alternative for writers who have written material on a popular topic but the topic is only interesting in a small geographic area. Literary agents and book agents may also deny publication because the book addresses an obscure topic in which few people are interested. Writers of controversial works may also choose to self-publish, as many traditional publishers refuse to work with controversial writings. Some authors choose self-publishing because they want a larger royalty from retail sales.

IS SELF-PUBLISHING A SHORTCUT TO SUCCESS?

Self-publishing is not a shortcut to having a printed book. Depending on what your goals are, it may or may not be a direction you would like to take. In the hard copy world, self-publishing is costly. Getting a book into print costs more money than many writers want to spend. This is why the Internet is a blessing — it’s free. You can either start up a free website of your own and post your novel, or pay a small monthly sum and sell your writing online. If you can write well enough to catch someone’s attention, your readers may be willing to pay for a download of your book. By self-publishing online, you avoid the normal book publishing costs and still get exposure. Who knows, you may be lucky and grab the attention of a publishing guru who thinks you could make a lot of money from your self-published book.

Whatever your reason is for self-publishing, you should know that self-publishing requires extensive work. Self-publishing involves a long list of tasks, which include prepublication and publication. Prepublication includes editing or obtaining editing for the manuscript, proofreading, establishing yourself as a legal retail business, and obtaining an ISBN “Cataloging in Publication” number.

The publication process involves formatting the manuscript, providing front matter and back matter, and providing cover art for the front and back covers and the spine of the book. Self-publishers must also obtain printing quotes, determine how to deliver the manuscript to the printer, and pay for printing and delivery of finished books.

Publishing a book online is easier than publishing in the world of hard copy. The result is not as glorified, but it is a step towards success in the published realm. The more experience you can get writing, the better writer you will be.

Everyone thinks it is so easy to write a book. With so many people writing books these days, it is amazing there are enough people still buying books. In today’s world, if you have any amazing life experience, suddenly publishers want you to write a book about it. If it sells, then your experience was interesting enough to stimulate interest from a large audience; and if not, no one really cared.

This is why poker books fly off the shelves. Many people have life experiences playing poker. Many people want to read about these poker-playing scenarios, including the players involved. There will come a time when the reading public will demand more from its poker writers than in past years. After all, there is only so many ways you can cover the same game repeatedly when you are analyzing your own poker hands and games. This is where you come in.

As a writer, you can keep things in perspective. There will come a time when the poker players who write will run out of things to say if they are only covering their own play and games. Writers who are writers first and players second will have the opportunity to shine.

If you have a lot of talent writing about poker and gaming, you can launch your own online e-book store. If you choose to build a website and place your e-books on the website for sale, you will be branching into a new area of business you may not want to explore yet. While it can be profitable to run your own online e-book store, you may prefer to write e-books for clients.

Clients often hire ghostwriters to pen e-books to sell at their websites. Poker players and poker hobbyists who want to read about everything about poker will purchase these books online for a fee. The ClickBank.com marketplace, which sells gambling and gaming e-books penned by ghostwriters, is a good example of this.

SELF-PUBLISHING FOR SUCCESS

Many writers who are not brand names in the poker industry choose to self-publish their books and can still easily get their books sold at major bookstores, online and offline, like Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble. Many writers choose to self-publish their books in digital format only because the process is quicker and less of a hassle.

Self-publishing has many advantages:

1. You don’t need a literary agent.

2. There is no submission or rejection process.

3. You own the rights to your material.

4. Whatever money you make, you keep.

5. Royalties are much higher if you choose a print-on-demand publisher.

6. The publishing and distribution process is a lot faster. For instance, if you use LuLu.com, you can make your book available in less than a day.

The disadvantage: you are responsible for marketing your book and generating sales. This may be a disadvantage or an advantage for you. For me, I enjoy self-publishing because it gives me control and creative freedom over every aspect of my book, including generating sales. I find self-publishing exciting.

If you are going to self-publish, decide if you will publish your book in digital format or in paperback (plus digital format). I recommend you first publish your book in digital format to test your book in the marketplace. Most writers use LuLu.com, a digital publisher, because of the low cost, quick turnaround, and your book will appear in its marketplace. When you feel it is time to publish your book in paperback, then go with a print-on-demand publisher. Many writers use BookSurge.com (owned by Amazon) so their books appear in Amazon as well as other major book stores.

Other self-publishing outlets include:

1) Clickbank.com. Many self-publishers use Clickbank.com as a sales outlet to generate a steady stream of sales for their book. Clickbank has one of the largest audiences of affiliates who are ready to sell your book for a commission. You will need to create your own website and sales page (also known as a “landing page”) for your book and then sign up with Clickbank to use their ordering system.

2) LightningSource.com can make your book in digital format and paperback format. Once you submit your book for publication, anyone can order your title, as a print-on-demand or as an ebook. Many popular online book stores (especially ebook stores) order from LightningSource.

3) AuthorHouse.com

4) BookSurge.com

If you decide not to self-publish yourself, try a reputable e-book publisher to handle everything for you, including marketing. Many e-book publishers will consider poker-related material. If the e-book publisher decides to publish your ebook, they may also offer to place the book in trade paperback. The publisher will offer more royalties and sometimes a higher advance.

BOOK WRITING SUCCESS

If you choose to write your own books and e-books, then follow these tips:

TIP # 1: Know your market and know where you can gain the most readership.

TIP # 2: Remember, non-fiction sells in poker. Don’t try to re-invent the wheel because it won’t work.

TIP # 3: Have your manuscript ready before you approach a publisher for electronic submissions or for trade submissions.

TIP # 4: As you are writing your manuscript, begin searching for markets where you will want to submit your work.

TIP # 5: Buy a Writer’s Market book so you can read over the markets and decide the best market for your manuscript.

TIP # 6: Avoid work-for-hire contracts from publishers. Sure, what publisher wouldn’t prefer to pay an up-front fee to a writer in lieu of royalties? Go for the royalties and take a chance on your own talents.

TIP # 7: Know your poker.

If you want to attract your poker-reading audience, writing books about strategies and systems can sell if it is based on a mathematical advantage or a tried and tested theory. If you aren’t able to do this, no one is going to read about going on your “gut” feelings or how poker players win more when the stars line up in their favor. Fact-based theories and strategies will sell, and nothing else will in this corner of the market.

An excellent way to generate book ideas is to attend poker events and tournaments and get close to the action. Go to these events armed and ready to learn all you can. At the end of the day you will have dozens of book ideas buzzing in your head. Spend some time in casino poker rooms to find other topics. Talk and network with poker players and try to find out if they desire to write a book with the assistance of a ghostwriter or with you as a co-author. As a ghostwriter or co-author, an excellent way to gain business is to hand out your business cards at writing conventions, casinos, poker events and poker tournaments.

People never change. Nor do their basic desires. They’ve existed for thousands of years and will continue to exist for thousands more.

Names of people will change. Technology will change. People’s desires won’t &ndash their desires are hard-wired into our DNA.

That’s good for you &ndash as an author. By knowing what people want, you can profit from their desires. And since their desires are predictable, your ability to make money from your book ideas just got a lot more profitable, as well.

So, you must be wondering what do people want to read.

The top three general desires revolve around: Food, Love, and Money.

There will ALWAYS be a market for new cookbooks, new books on love, and new books on ways to make money. Guaranteed!

This will never change. Ever.

So if you have an idea that fits in one of those categories - you are well on your way to celebrity status. It doesn’t have to be an original thought on the subject. It can just be a new spin on an existing topic.

NOTE: People do not buy books because they are bargains. They buy them because they have some hope that they will find something &ndash not matter how small &ndash that will positively add value to their lives.

What else are people interested in reading about…

* Security

* Sex

* Power

* Immortality

* Happiness

* Safety

* Health

* Recognition

Some more generalized topics would be things like:

To attract the opposite sex.

To keep their possessions.

To have more fun.

To satisfy curiosity.

To protect their family.

To be in style.

To have beautiful possessions.

To quench their appetite.

To emulate others.

To avoid trouble.

To avoid criticism.

To be an individual.

To protect their reputation.

To grab opportunities.

To make work easier.

When you brainstorm ideas for your book, keep these customer desires in mind.

NOTE: Although it is good to focus your topic, you should try to keep it in a general category that will be wanted by a larger section of the population.

For example: You don’t want to write a book just about “Love” because it’s far TOO general of a topic. But you also don’t want to focus your topic so much it becomes something like “Love between 20 &ndash 24 year olds in Northwest California.”

Yes, I know that was an exaggerated example and you’d never go that targeted but you get my meaning.

Maybe you could write something like “How to be a 20-something in Love.” More targeted than just LOVE but still part of a large group of people who would be interested.

NOTE: Go with a subject you’re already passionate about.

Don’t make this process harder than it has to be. If you’re already passionate about gardening, cooking, investing, pet health, etc. then look in that area for the subject of your book.

#1) You will WANT to become a recognized expert in the field. Nothing worse than finding a topic that will make you money but you’re embarrassed to be associate with.

I did some research and found a hot topic that could have made me thousands literally overnight… but then I realized I didn’t really want my name associated with that topic. Money is important but if you write your book about a topic you’re excited about and you become a recognized expert &ndash achieving celebrity status &ndash you will have SO much more than just money in the bank.

#2) Working on your project will seem like anything but work. When I chose a subject specifically because I think it will make money &ndash I’m less than happy to do the writing. When it’s about something I enjoy then I can’t wait to write and don’t want to stop. I’ve worked until the early hours of the morning because I just lost track of time.

Find something that really gets you excited!

It was the first time I overheard someone whisper “she’s the author”, as I walked into a book signing, that I suddenly realized that I had achieved something very special. Not only had I managed to get my book published, I now received respect and admiration from total strangers. Being an author even it today’s digitized world, is still an awe-inspiring accomplishment.

In 2005 USA TODAY reported eighty-two percent of Americans say they plan to write a book someday. I think the critical word here is ‘plan’. If you want to be someone who really does write a book, you can begin right now by understanding how being an author will improve your life.

Here is my top ten list why you should become an author today, especially if you are a spirituality, self help or personal growth expert:

1. Authors are recognized as experts by virtue of having a book with their name on the cover
2. The media loves authors (i.e. experts) and uses them often, on all levels
3. Being an author improves your chances of getting paid speaking engagements
4. While you may not become a millionaire from writing a book, you can certainly improve your chances of increasing your income
5. When you go to your high school reunion, you can finally shove your book under the noses of all who snubbed you in your teenage years
6. If you ever felt that you weren’t ’smart enough’, writing a book will certainly go a long way in curing that.
7. Being an author gives you a stronger sense of self-esteem
8. Your book will open doors and create business opportunities you wouldn’t have received without it
9. Having a book gives you a platform for teaching workshops and seminars
10. Being an author is a great icebreaker at cocktail parties. (Hint: authors are often considered VIPs or celebrities! It’s true!)

When I started writing my first book, it wasn’t because I was sure I wanted Bill O’Reilly’s producer to have my name in his Rolodex to call whenever he needed a ‘mystical’ New Age expert. (In fact I’m not sure I’ve ever wanted that at all!) I didn’t devote hundreds of hours to stories of couples finding one another through magical, mystical ways just to impress strangers at a cocktail party. And I can definitely tell you I didn’t write six books just to tell my old high school classmates about it.

I wrote because I had to. I had a story inside of me that wouldn’t rest until I put it onto the page. The benefits of actually finishing the book and becoming a bona fide author and the other “reasons” were simply an afterthought.

I can do everything short of putting a cattle prod under you to get you started on writing your self help book, but, at the end of the day, writing has to be something you want to do. Sure, it’s hard to sit down day after day and stare at a blank computer screen. I know how hard it is to tell your mom or your husband that you only typed two pages in an entire day. I can tell you hundreds of great things about being an author, but not a single one will really get you to the finish line.

What will get you down the home stretch is the satisfaction of knowing that you’re being true to yourself. You dreamt of becoming an author because you had to. You envisioned title ideas and chapter outlines because they came to you and wouldn’t go away. You told your friends you wanted to write a book because you could and you will.

You are an author, and you always have been. All you need to do now is make it happen. It might not be scintillating cocktail banter that puts a finished manuscript in your hands, but keeping your eyes on the prize can’t hurt.

The publishing company is the backbone of the writing world. The publishing company provides a great service to society by publishing and displaying the work of authors. The global existence of publishers is obvious, but the inner workings of a publishing company is unknown by many authors. Many book publishers consider the publishing industry as an apprenticeship industry — most book publishing professionals gain knowledge and skills in this field with hands-on job experience. Generally, what an apprentice learns in one department is useful throughout the publishing house, which gives professionals the opportunity to move between departments. A typical publishing company has many levels to it, each with different functions.

THE ADMINISTRATIVE DEPARTMENT

The Administrative Department is the first level of any book publishing company. It has many responsibilities to help the publishing company function properly. The Administrative Department manages daily operations for publishing executives and management. This responsibility involves interaction with all employees from all departments, as well as interaction with authors and agents. The administrative employees manage the calendar, maintain organized files, screen/prioritize mail, draft correspondence, make travel arrangements and prepare itineraries, process expense reports, take minutes at meetings, and prepare reports. A position as an administrative employee allows a person to have a high-level of understanding of a publishing company, while being visible to executives.

THE ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT

All large and small publishing companies have an Advertising Department. Most publishing companies have in-house advertising agencies that purchase media space and create and design advertisements. In a publishing company, the Advertising Department works closely with the marketing directors, editors, and publishers of titles to create an advertising plan that promotes sales of an author’s book. An advertising plan requires research and negotiation to provide the best venues and the most cost-effective methods of advertisement. These employees also work closely with graphic designers, commercial sales representatives, printing presses, and internal staff to facilitate the run of advertisements.

THE EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT

The Editorial Department of a publishing company is one of the most important departments. The Editorial Department acquires, negotiates, develops, and edits book projects for publication. The daily activities of editorial employees include preparing acquisitions for transmittal to the production department; developing and maintaining relationships with authors, booksellers, and agents; performing general administrative duties; participating in editorial, design and marketing meetings; and reading and evaluating submissions by writing reader’s reports. The editorial department must work closely with all departments.

THE MARKETING DEPARTMENT

Another division of a publishing company is the Marketing Department. The Marketing Department creates, prepares, and establishes marketing strategies and policies for each book title by coordinating the efforts of publicity, promotion, advertising, and sales departments. The Marketing Department prepares all sales presentation materials, audio recordings, fact sheet collation, and promotions; creates and produces additional account-specific presentation materials; researches and establishes relations with new markets; and plans and maintains sales and marketing schedules.

THE PUBLISHER’S OFFICE

The Publisher’s Office is also an important department for many publishing companies. The publishers oversee the life cycle of a book title from acquisition to production, and onto the sales force. Publishers make executive decisions for all book titles within assigned imprints while staying within any cost restraints. This department is also responsible for sponsoring book projects, strategies, and initiatives for the publishing company.

BOOK RIGHTS DEPARTMENT

The Subsidiary Rights and Permissions Department is one of the most important divisions of a book publishing company. This department finds additional sources of profit for a given title, including serials, book clubs, and paperback, audio and e-book rights.

The daily activities for the subsidiary department include writing submission letters; sending manuscripts, proposals, and books to foreign publishers and agents; coordinating co-productions with other publishers; working with book clubs and sales for special editions; and maintaining relationships with other publishing companies.

ENJOY THE JOURNEY

The road to getting a book published is a long one, but well worth the effort. Trust yourself, and trust the publisher to create a beautiful masterpiece. Don’t be discouraged if several publishers are not interested in your book. You may have to self-publish your first book, and then again, a large or small publishing company may accept your book based on marketability. Good luck and enjoy the process.

The most valuable thing you can collect if you are selling your book from a website when a visitor comes to your book’s sales site is not their money… it’s their email address and/or other contact information.

If you have no clue how to create a website, do not worry about feeling intimidated. It is actually a lot easier than you think. There is a simple site that teaches people all about creating websites for free at .LissaExplains.com

You can also learn a lot by doing a search for a phrase at Google.com like “how to make a website” and “free html tutorial.” You will find tons of very good free training that way and can learn how in no time. Anyone can learn the basics of creating a website in just one day.

Ok, back to collecting your website visitors contact information.

I know, I know you’re probably saying… “I’m an author. I want to write my book, sell my book and become a recognized expert. WHY do I need to get their contact information?”

The simplest answer is: Because you will NOT become wealthy from the sale of your book. You will become wealthy and achieve celebrity status through the ongoing relationship you build with your readers.

If you don’t know who they are, how can you continue to keep in touch with them &ndash and they with you.

If you’re an expert on the subject and they already have your book, don’t you think they’ll want MORE information and MORE books from you?

ABSOLUTELY!

Your book makes you an expert on the subject, your interactions and relationships will propel you to a recognized expert and position you for long-term success &ndash not just a one-hit wonder.

The service you need to collect email and contact information and automatically respond to the person is called an Autoresponder.

There are paid autoresponders and free autoresponders. Normally the free autoresponders paste their own marketing message at the bottom of the emails you send out.

Not the best scenario, obviously, but if you want to do this will limited or no upfront investment then a free autoresponder service will work just fine until you start to see profits coming from your book.

The service I use is a paid service called Aweber. It is located at .aweber.com

Do your own research and find a company that meets your needs. I recommend this service because it’s been around for a long time and many of my high quality marketing friends recommend this to their clients and wouldn’t continue to do so if it was a shoddy service.

What should you do with your autoresponder service when you get it?

1) You should place at least 1 or 2 “sign up” boxes on your book’s sales page. You can offer an ongoing “newsletter” or “ezine” (as it’s called online). Or you can create a “special report” related to the subject of your book and offer it free to anyone who signs up.

The purpose of this sign up is to capture “visitor” information. This way even if the visitor doesn’t order your book, you still have their contact information and can keep in touch to promote your book and yourself to them on an ongoing basis.

Maybe they won’t buy your book, but because of your newsletter or special report, they might recommend your book to family and friends.

2) After PayPal.com and before your download page.

When looking at PayPal.com, we saw that after they took the person’s payment for your book, they would send them back to your website.

The first page the person &ndash now a client &ndash should see is a “register” page. This page can simply ask for their name and email or you can have optional fields like address, phone number etc. Obviously the more information they are willing to provide the better for future contact with them.

This is a different list than those in #1. #1 is a list of people who visited your book’s website who may or may not have purchased your book. These people are registered buyers.

History proves that it’s far easier to get current clients to order more from you than trying to get someone who hasn’t already ordered. Both lists are valuable &ndash but this one is the most valuable to you for ongoing success.

Many writers aspire to write books. Writing a book is a long, involved, difficult process. Book publishing is harder. A writer may submit his book repeatedly only to be turned down. The writer may eventually succeed. Wouldn’t it have been easier to get published the first time? Is that possible?

You can improve your chances of a publisher accepting your book manuscript if you understand more about what happens at the publisher’s desk. Book publishers are busy people with several projects bombarding their desks every day. They must decide quickly about what will sell. They must also delegate their time efficiently to keep the business running. Only occasionally do publishers actually seek out work. Let’s look at a typical work day of a publisher to help you understand book acceptance and book publishing.

PERSIST AND PERSEVERE

Writers must be persistent. Regardless of how many times a publisher rejects your book manuscript and throws your ideas in the trash, you have to keep going back for more discouragement. Eventually you’ll make it in the door. If you can get all the way through, you will finally get to a place where publishers accept more of your work. When working with a book publisher, the rule is the same. If you have a book that you know will sell, you must persevere to get the publisher’s attention. Most likely, you will be sending excerpts of your book, not the entire book, to a publisher. As you continually send your manuscript or book excerpts to publisher after publisher, you should try to market it in different ways. Publishers seek a particular kind of writing; they will dismiss anything that doesn’t meet their criteria and high standards. Variation in your marketing techniques may turn a rejected book into an accepted book.

WHAT DO BOOK PUBLISHERS WANT?

Book publishing is a strange business. People’s tastes are somewhat fickle. A book publisher has to keep up with what kinds of books will sell. It seems mysteries will always have a place on the bookshelves. Crichton and Grisham may tie up the book market until they are finished. That is just one example from one genre of books. Publishers have to keep track of what is selling in all areas of literature. The best way for you to get your work noticed is to make it look similar to what is already selling in the marketplace. Be careful not to imitate style or voice of another author. Write with your own unique words while imitating the use of popular public opinion. Another way to improve your chances of getting published is to find out who’s publishing what.

ARE YOU MARKETING TO THE RIGHT PUBLISHER?

Some publishers specialize in a certain kind of writing. If you are writing a novel, you’ll look stupid (and get rejected) if you send it to publishers who publish technical manuals. How do you find out who is the most likely candidate to publish your work? There are reference manuals, such as Writer’s Market, at your library that will tell you who’s publishing what and what publishers are seeking. It will contain valuable information leading you to children’s book publishers, novel publishers, and textbook publishers. If the handbook at your library is not up to date, your next option is to check out the new releases and best sellers rack at the bookstore. Buy a few books and read them. You’ll have a much better feel for the book market as a consumer first, and book writer second.

Book publishing is difficult to break into. It can be helpful to approach the issue from the direction of the publisher. Before you submit your manuscript again, improve your chances of acceptance by following these tips:

1) Change your marketing style so that you grab attention;

2) Make sure you are a book consumer yourself. You’ll get a better feel for what’s selling and what a publisher will buy. You’ll also find out who is publishing which types of books.

3) Finally, by buying the product you are trying to sell, you will improve the book economy all together. Publishers need to see people buying books before they can commit to publishing more.

Many authors begin their careers with the single goal of getting their book published by a reputable publisher. Book publishing is difficult to accomplish. It takes many months of work and extensive preparation. Writing a book involves intricately woven ideas. A book is a project, and it may contain many other projects that involve research, development, and marketing. Most authors are disillusioned about the intensive process of creating a full, coherent book. Writing a book and finding a publisher is like nothing you have ever done before. It will take extensive and intensive work and development. It will also probably include much of everything you know, and more.

As more and more old-growth trees are cut down, and we face the reality of having to wait close to 100 years or more to replace them, the need to recycle paper becomes increasingly important.

Paper, of course, includes books and magazines. Although paper products are nearly 100% biodegradable, it is pointless to send these resources to the dump to rot in the landfill when we can recycle and reuse them.

More than any other material we hope to recycle, books and magazines represent knowledge. We find wisdom in the pages of old books, and learn about culture in the pages of old magazines. Because of these factors, the best thing to do with old books and magazines is pass them on.

Your local library or college library will accept donations of old books, and sometimes magazines in good shape. This allows other people to benefit from the publication as well. Once you have enjoyed your book, donate it to a library rather than letting it sit on a shelf to collect dust.

The second choice, for both books and magazines, is to sell them to a used bookstore, at a garage sale, flea market, or on eBay. Other people may be looking for the exact book or magazine you have; passing it on is a win-win scenario for you and the new owner.

If you wish to reuse publications in a creative way, magazines make good colorful craft supplies for children and adults. You can cut out parts of pictures to make collages by pasting the picture pieces to a cardboard backing; or make hanging mobiles by cutting out shapes, stringing pieces of thread through holes at the top, and attaching the strings to a clothes hanger.

You can also cut out whole pictures to construct a dream board or a vision board, which helps you to think about and visualize the goals and dreams you want to achieve; for instance, a Hawaiian vacation, a certain type of job, or a new sports car.

As for traditional recycling, some areas will let you place books or magazines in your blue bin for pickup as well. Many publishers print magazines on glossy paper. It is more expensive to recycle glossy paper because the demand is low for this type of paper. This will change in the future as the need to recycle paper becomes more important.

The biggest challenge with recycling books and magazines is separating the paper from the adhesives or staples used to bind the pages. Forward-thinking recycling companies have a way to remove the waste from the bindings magnetically; in the future we should begin to see growing opportunities to recycle all kinds of paper products.

Next time you’re thinking about throwing away some books or magazines, think first about how you can pass them along for others to enjoy. If that doesn’t work for you, try to reuse them creatively. If you still can’t find a use for them, look for places to take them where they can be recycled into new paper products, so we can save more trees.

If you are between the ages of 8 to 18 and love to write, be it short stories, plays or poems, then you are a young writer. For the writer nothing is more satisfying than finishing a story, play, poem etc. In fact some young writers decide to make it their career of choice. This is not always an easy path but if you have a passion for it you will ride out the difficult times. Here are some tips to help you.

1. Read widely,a good writer is one that reads constantly and widely. This helps you to get a good idea of how the language is to be written and exposes you to several different styles of writing. Reading is an excellent way to develop good grammar. You shouldn’t just stick to modern works of fiction but you should also read classic authors, study their work and the way they developed their characters. Your aim as a writer is to create characters that your readers care about, once they care about the characters readers keep turning the pages.

2. Write everyday, this may be in the form of journal writing or adding to a story, poem or whatever you may be writing. Make it a routine. You have heard that practice makes perfect, well this is true for writing as well. You might want to have a special desk or area in which to write, many writers have a favorite spot in their house in which to write, being in that space puts them in touch with their creative side.

3. Editing is important. It often surprises me as a writer, how many times I revisit and review and rewrite a piece. You may think it’s perfect but a few days later when you approach the work with a fresh eye you may find there are more flaws than you saw before. So be prepared to edit a lot. You might also consider showing your work to a trusted friend, who could proof-read or help you edit. Don’t let the number of edits you have to do discourage you or let you question your ability. You might write something today that you think is brilliant and a few days later you hate it and just throw it out. That is part of the process.

4. It is often said that you should write what you know. This certainly makes writing easier and more believable. It is also true that writers should be researchers so whatever you don’t know you can always find out about through extensive research and then it will become something you do about. Live vicariously as well, remember you can learn a lot from others especially those who are older than you. Listen to their stories, they may inspire you as a young person to write something great.

5. Share your writing with others by joining groups and entering writing contests. This gets you into the habit of putting yourself and your work out there. These experiences are valuable as it provides feedback that you can use to evaluate your writing.

Ask any published book author about writing a book, and they will tell you it’s a monumental task. The process is long, drawn out, and grueling. Even if you enjoy writing &ndash and don’t mind writing on the same subject for an extended period — the writing process will, undoubtedly, exhaust you. Getting your book published, however, will take even more time and effort than writing the thing in the first place.

Are you thinking about writing a book? Have you already written one? Do you wonder how to get your book published? If you so, read on. Here are some hand-picked tips on how to publish your book.

WRITING YOUR BOOK

To write a successful book you need to start out with some original thought. You probably have plenty of originality, but you may have trouble creating a coherent flow of ideas and information that the public will digest. The first step is to create the skeleton (or blueprint) of your book. You need to organize your thoughts into a progression of chapters.

If you are writing a non-fiction book, start with a table of contents. Write chapter headings and sub-headings. Organize your chapters so you build each chapter upon one another. If you can brainstorm more chapter headings than you will use, you will find it easier to fill your book with a series of short articles that flow into one another.

If you are writing fiction, you will need more of a storyboard. You will need to create cause and effect as well as character sketches. To make your story coherent your characters will need to react to events. Their reactions should become predictable as your readers get into the story. You may need to create some situations for your characters to introduce their traits to the reader.

These are general guidelines on how to construct your book. The complete process will be much more involved as you move closer to finding out how to get your book published. Even after you are finished with the bulk of the content, your goal to publish your book involves a lot more work.

GETTING YOUR BOOK INTO PRINT

The next step to get your book published is finding a publisher. Both the Internet and your local library have many resources. You can tap into these resources to find the best publisher to publish your book. After a series of queries and correspondence with potential publishers, you may get an invitation to submit your manuscript. Then the work begins.

A publisher is very experienced in finding marketable books. He knows what it will take to get your book to sell. Don’t be offended when a book editor tears your writing apart, as this may be a positive sign that the publisher is interested in your book. Expect to enter into a close relationship of compromise and change with the editor as you rework what you have already painstakingly written. When you are finished, you will have a readable, clean, and correct manuscript, ready for print.

The road to getting a book published is a long one, but it is well worth the effort. Trust yourself, and trust the publisher to create a beautiful masterpiece. Don’t be discouraged if several publishers are not interested in your book. You may have to self-publish your first book, and then again, your book may eventually get accepted right away. Good luck and enjoy the process.