As part of our “Now What?” Months, we’re shifting our focus to publishing in all its myriad forms. Today, Orna Ross of the Alliance of Independent Authors closes out a series on independent publishing, focusing on how to market and promote your book:

This the final post in a series of four that leads authors through the design and formatting phases of the writing and self-publishing journey. You’ve completed your first draft in 30 days, completed the self-editing and editorial stage, the design and formatting stage, and the production and distribution stage. Now what? It’s time to market and promote your book.

Begin With Your Motive in Writing your Book.

The key to good organic book marketing is to connect with readers around your deepest motives for writing the book in the first place. Creative motives for writing a book fall into three categories. We write either to:

• educate
  
• inspire 
  
• entertain
  

The best books probably do all three, but one will always be uppermost in the author’s heart.

As part of our “Now What?” Months, we’re shifting our focus to publishing in all its myriad forms. Today, Orna Ross of the Alliance of Independent Authors continues a series on independent publishing, focusing today on production and distribution:

This the third in a series of four blog posts that will lead authors through the design and formatting phases of the writing and self-publishing journey. You’ve completed the self-editing and editorial phase, and the design and formatting stages. Now what?

Production and distribution refers to the process and logistics of actually getting your book to the consumer. There’s a myriad of services and platforms from Amazon to Ingram to iBooks that help you put your work in the hands of readers. Each one has pros and cons, depending on your needs.

During the second month of our “Now What?” Months, we’re shifting our focus to publishing in all its myriad forms. Today, Orna Ross of the Alliance of Independent Authors continues a series on independent publishing, focusing today on design and formatting:

This the second in a series of four blog posts that will lead authors through the design and formatting phases of the writing and self-publishing journey. You’ve completed your first draft in 30 days, and completed the deepening, self-editing and editorial phases. Now what?

Once you have a fully edited manuscript, consider turning it into a digital book and publishing it.

Why digital? Digital levels the playing field for self-publishers. When readers search for, find, and buy books on the Internet, how the book was published becomes irrelevant. A self-published book has a page on Amazon or Kobo or iBooks that’s just as much a selling opportunity as the pages for books from the big trade publishers; if your book is well written, edited, and designed, the reader won’t know the difference.

During the second month of our “Now What?” Months, we’re shifting our focus to publishing in all its myriad forms. Today, Orna Ross of the Alliance of Independent Authors kicks things off and focuses on helping you make sure your manuscript is ready for the publishing process:

This is the first in a series of four blog posts in association with The Alliance of Independent Authors, leading novelists through the process of self-publishing, from first draft to reaching readers. Over the coming weeks, we will cover

• design and formatting
  
• production and distribution
  
• marketing and promotion
  

Today, we’re talking about deepening and editing the first drafts you completed during NaNoWriMo.

Writing a book (indeed any creative project) has seven stages: