BYTE ME! Excerpt from Profitable Email Publishing
How to Be a Starving Writer: Write for Pay-Per-Click Sites!
Bad Book Reviewers
State of the Ebook
You're So Vain: Traditional Vanity Publishing
Where Can I Sell my Ebook? Comparison of Epublishers
Publishing vs. Self-Publishing vs. E-Publishing
How to Get an ISBN and Get on Amazon.com
Make Money with Your Own Emag
Finding Markets On-line (my little secret)
How to Win a Writing Contest (or at least increase your chances)

FILLERS
"Reprinting" Queries

EXCERPTS
"Competition" from How to Publish a Profitable Emag
"What to Charge for E-books" from How to Write, Publish and $ell Ebooks

 TO RECEIVE CHAPTER ONE RIGHT NOW, send any email to: publishezines@fastfacts.net
BYTE ME!
Ah, I've heard it all by now, mainly from my ex-husband and ex-inlaws. "You spend too much time on the computer." "You'll never make any money at that thing." "There are too many competitors. You'll never catch up." "Give up now before you lose everything you own."
Thank God I never listened to any of them. In the beginning, a part of me knew they might be right, so I kept quiet and worked more but talked less about what I was doing. As I started to turn a profit, I smugly laughed at their criticism.
And now, after going from being penniless to being a paper millionaire, what would I like to tell all of them?! BYTE ME!!!
SELLING YOUR EMAG
 
 

If your emag is very successful, you will probably be contacted by a large firm that wants to buy it. Sure, they'll offer a lump sum of cash, but consider the consequences.

1. You will lose your entire customer-base. You will no longer be able to run free ads in your own emag promoting your own products to your own highly targeted readership. You sales will ground to a halt.

2. You will, of course, be asked to sign a non-compete agreement. This means you won't be able to start over using your current subscriber list.

How much is your emag worth?
Expert opinions vary, but a likely expectation is to determine your revenues for three years. If your emag generates $40K per year in revenues, a reasonable selling price would be about $120K. Some e- mag owners ask a flat dollar amount per subscriber. What ultimately determines the price of your emag is how much someone is willing to pay for it. See the link below for emags that are currently for sale.

When to Sell

Authors Note: I was going to name writers in this article, but most didn't want their names used. Many said they were embarrassed. I was also going to name names of pay-per-click sites, but none of the writers who responded to the survey said anything that made me want to endorse any of the firms. If I were impressed with any of the sites reported on, I'd have mentioned them. Unfortunately, I was not. Even if only one writer had written in about impressive income from a pay-per-click site (none did), they would have been the extreme exception to the rule. To be more than fair, I am posting the most positive response we received as this week's Freelance Success Story.

Run...run really fast, if they say:
We'll pay you IF someone clicks on your article
We'll pay you IF we sell any ads this month
We'll pay you IF...anything!

 Do you only pay your babysitter IF you sold an article this week?
Do you only pay your doctor IF you get well?
As with every other profession, you deserve and should EXPECT a decent wage for your blood, sweat and tears. Only write for publications that offer real money for your work, either by the word, by the article, or by the hour. You're worth it!
To find publications that pay real money for real content, see our wealth of paying markets here: http://www.writersweekly.com/payingmarkets.com. Many markets listed on our markets pages warmly welcome new writers. No clips required.
Angela Adair-Hoy is the publisher of WritersWeekly.com, the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring freelance jobs and paying markets. New subscribers receive the FREE ebook, How to Be a Freelance Writer (with 103 paying markets). Surf to: http://www.writersweekly.com. WritersWeekly.com currently serves more than 36,000 freelance writers. Join us!

KATY'S EXPERIENCE
One of our Booklocker and WritersWeekly books, It's a Dirty Job...Writing Porn for Fun and Profit (http://www.writersweekly.com/index-dirtyjob.htm), was poorly reviewed by another writing ezine. We've had nothing but rave reviews since it was published, but hey, you can't please everyone. Bad reviews don't bother me if they're honest.

However, once I read that review, I knew it wasn't a review of the book. This was a character review of the author. The "reviewer" went so far as to make a statement about writers whoring their wares. She even used profanity. I told Katy, "Hey, let it go. It is so blatantly obvious that this is a Katy Review, not a Book Review.

MY EXPERIENCE
Someone I know used the book page for The Secrets of Our Success at Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1929072244/o/qid=952618207/sr=8-2/104-7195397-6454857) for a blatant self promotion of a website. Professional review? Hardly. Reviewers who use high-traffic web pages to promote themselves while pretending to review a book are unprofessional, rude and amateurs. They need to consider reviewing their marketing methods instead of other peoples' books.

SELF PUBLISH LIST
I moderate the Publish List that networks more than 350 self-published authors. We're a happy bunch, we're a hard-working bunch...but sometimes we're a desperate bunch. When a so-called book reviewer joined our group and asked for free copies of ebooks to review, lots of our members jumped. Noone thought to ask, "Who the hell are you?"

After she complained loudly and offended many members blaming them for not sending what she wanted, sending what she didn't want and sending it in the wrong format (she was quite rude), I surfed on over to take a look at her site. Book reviewer?! Hardly! Her personal web page was awful and I doubt she's had a dozen visitors to her name. I banned her from the list.

WARNING SIGNS
Delete that "book reviewer's" email if:
1. They are your competitor. Think you'll get a fair review? Think again!
2. The URL in their signature takes you to a personal webpage.
3. You don't recognize any of the publications they claim to have written for.
4. They ask for a copy of every single book you've ever written or published.
5. Their attitude is flippant, rude and commanding.
6. They offer no credentials whatsoever and don't tell you who they're writing for.

Remember that there are many people claiming to be book reviewers that just want a free book. If you publish a really great book and 20 people request a free "review" copy, you'll be lucky to get one published review out of the bunch.

THE MIND OF AN AMATEUR REVIEWER
Real book reviewers read and judge books with an open mind. Amateurs don't actually read the entire book. They just skim the pages and look for something really good or really bad to say about the book. Sometimes they don't even open the book. They write a review based on what appears on the back cover and then they give the book away at Christmas time.

The ones who say good things are do-gooders. Gotta love 'em. Want to please everyone! But hell hath no fury like a reader who buys a really bad book based on a really good review.

 The reviewers who say really bad things in a very unprofessional way are God-like creatures wanting all poor authors to bow down before them (after they get their free book, of course).

HOW DO I REVIEW?
I do things differently. I actually BUY the books I review. It's alot easier to reach out and grab a book off the shelf at Barnes and Noble than to go to the trouble of actually picking up the telephone and calling the author or publisher. Once I have a book to review, I read the ENTIRE BOOK, word for word. I write all over the book, underline sentences that affect me, and write in the margins. I've usually made quite a mess by the time I'm finished with the book.

I then forward the review to the author FIRST. I want to ensure that I have not misunderstood anything (this is usually in cases where I feel the author may be wrong about something or when I strongly disagree with something an author has said). Hey, misunderstandings happen...especially when you're trying to read a book late at night while a child throws up next to your bed and the cat is in heat and there's no toilet paper left so you have to jump up to find paper towels. What I'm saying is...I'm not always right and I give the author the benefit of the doubt. Better to do that than to look like a real JERK later on by publishing incorrect information (hope you amateur reviewers are listening!).

SHRUGGING IT OFF
Unfortunately, there's really nothing you can do about a bad review. Amazon won't remove them, and neither will most other sites, unless you can prove gross negligence or that the review somehow violated that site's policies (i.e. use of profanity).

Remember (after you've mentally chopped the reviewer up into small pieces in your mind) that all publicity, even bad publicity, is good publicity.

And, never, ever send your book out for review until you check out the reviewer's qualifications! These days, on the Internet, chances are good they're a fraud.

Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

Where will readers, writers and publishers end up in this new industry now known as electronic publishing?

The best selling ebooks at this time are non-fiction, how-to books. This is the result of the instant gratification needs of consumers. Readers who are looking for how-to information want it right now. With ebooks, they don't even need to get out of their chair to drive to the bookstore and they don't want to wait even one day for the Federal Express man to bring them the information they want right now.

Instant gratification is the primary reason why non-fiction ebooks became so popular so quickly.

Fiction ebooks do not sell well yet. However, sales for electronic fiction are much better than they were just three months ago. Acceptance from readers is growing quickly.

Consumers still prefer to read fiction from a print book for leisure because of the convenient size, enabling them to take their book wherever they go.

However, as soon as a company produces a hand-held reader that is affordable, we will all be able to lug our "books" to bed, to the doctor's office, or anywhere else we choose.

We have also found that most of Booklocker.com's customers (we estimate 80%) print their ebooks after buying them. One of our customers even has his own ebook library in his bedroom.

WRITERS EMBRACING EBOOKS
Writers are embracing ebooks because they can self-publish their works and start selling them online for little or no money whatsoever. This is a far cry from vanity publishing packages that cost thousands of dollars.

PUBLISHERS EMBRACING EBOOKS
Publishers, while hesitant at first because of new competition, are now embracing ebooks as a new form of inexpensive delivery of their inventories.

Publishers are also keeping their eyes open to see what self-published ebooks are profitable so they can make an offer. What better way to test the market than to let the author test it themselves?

If sales for a self-published ebook are good, the publisher knows there is a market for the book (and also knows the author knows how to sell themselves). This not only makes the slush pile at their office easier to paw through, but also provides the successful author with a larger advance and more favorable contract terms.

CASE IN POINT
The Secrets of Our Success: How to publish and promote online (an ebook), co-authored by myself and MJ Rose, was sold at auction on Wednesday, Feb 29th to St. Martin's Press. They outbid Harper Collins in the final hour.

Considerations taken by the publishers when bidding included not only customer reviews appearing on Amazon, but also ebook sales figures. (Authors need to keep accurate accounting records of their sales. These will be requested by the publisher if sales volume is a primary reason they are making an offer.)

The Secrets of Our Success was released in December as a self-published ebook and sold to a major publishing house on 2 1/2 months later. Lightning speed in the publishing industry!

This is not the first time this has happened. We (Booklocker.com) were just notified that a major book club wants to purchase book club rights to a self-published book "discovered" on Booklocker.com. The book will likely also go to auction. Booklocker now has an agent to handle these requests because most self-published authors do not yet have an agent. And, Booklocker receives NO MONEY when authors are discovered through us.

All of these scenarious prove that ebooks have already made a serious impact on the publishing industry.

AND, FINALLY, THE MOST IMPORTANT PART...THE CONSUMERS
Are readers embracing ebooks? Yes! And enthusiastically! Whether they read it on their monitor, read it in bed on their laptop, purchase a hand-held reader, or print the book themselves, the phenomenal growth in ebook sales is proof that ebooks are here to stay. Booklocker.com's revenues increase an average of 40% every month.

The market for ebooks is growing daily as more and more people hear about them. Readers no longer ask, "What's an ebook?" They now ask, Where can I buy one?!"

ONE MORE PIECE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION
I'm the author of five ebooks, all for freelance writers. Sales from my ebooks alone now average more than $5,000 per month. 95% of my sales are for downloadable ebooks. Printing costs are non-existent and postage is rare (as in CDRom orders from Amazon.com). This means the rest is pure profit in my pocket.

Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

Standard industry opinion states that vanity publishing (shunned by industry professionals) is when an author pays to have their book published. But, is this assumption correct? What is vanity publishing, really?

Vanity: An inflation of mind upon slight grounds; empty pride inspired by an overweening conceit of one's personal attainments or decorations; an excessive desire for notice or approval.

Synonyms for vanity include egotism, pride, emptiness, and worthlessness.

Is vanity publishing footing the bill to have your books printed? Sure it is! Is it giving up rights to have a Print on Demand (POD) publisher print it? Uh huh.

Vanity publishing is also giving something up (money, rights) just to see your book in print (an excessive desire for notice or approval), even if there is no guaranteed print run, no marketing budget for your book, no advance, and small royalties.

Wait! That last scenario is traditional publishing, not vanity publishing...or is it?

ARE YOU VAIN?
 
 

Okay, now that we've all admitted we're vain, let's move onto what really goes on after you sell your soul to your publisher and your book rolls off the press.

IS YOUR BOOK PAYING TO PROMOTE ANOTHER BOOK?
Publishers sacrifice the profits from all books to support and promote a small number of books. For example, let's say the publisher is disappointed with the sales of your book. If sales are dismal, he is NOT going to spend the sales dollars for your book to promote your book. He is going to pool his resources from all non- and semi-profitable books to promote a select few. Smart business, yet disappointing for unknown authors who assume the publisher is promoting their book.

WHAT REALLY DETERMINES A BOOK'S SUCCESS?
Sometimes the quality of a book will determine its success. Sadly, more often than not, the author's name and/or the publisher's advertising budget are what put a book in the spotlight. Do you think Oprah goes searching for unknown authors at the corner bookstore? Heck no. Publishers pay for press releases, contacts, man hours, and phone calls to get the attention of someone...anyone who knows somebody who's related to anybody who works for Oprah. Is your publisher doing this for your book? Probably not. Is he doing it for any of his books? Probably so. Is he using the profits from your book to promote another book? Most likely...yes.

OUT OF PRINT = DEAD BOOK
If you're sitting around with a box of books in your trunk waiting to get discovered, consider this: If you don't spend time and money to get yourself noticed, your books will grow mold. If you've sold out to a publisher who is not promoting your books, ditto. I receive letters every week from authors wanting to cancel their publishing contracts because their publisher is doing nothing to promote their books. Their books eventually go out of print and, if the author has signed over all rights from here to eternity, their book is dead.

NO REWRITES, NO REBIRTH, NO NUTHIN'
Think you can just write another book and sell it to someone else? In all likelihood, your publishing contract states that you can't write a new book that competes with your old one.

YOU LINE THEIR POCKETS
If the publisher refuses to promote your book, it's all up to you. Then, after you spend time and money on self-promotion, your publisher gets to keep about 85% of the revenues from sales you generate.

WHAT'S AN AUTHOR TO DO?
If you're already locked in a situation like one of those above, there's nothing I can do to help you. I can, however, offer advice for your future publishing endeavors.

First, don't let your vanity intrude on your common sense. Don't sign a contract that makes you lose sleep at night. Only sign a contract that will leave no regrets. Consider the consequences of your actions today on your self-esteem and peace of mind tomorrow.

Second, there is one way to counter the future results of a stale print book. Authors should demand they be allowed to personally sell electronic versions of their own book. Not only will you control your own income, but you can also ensure that your book will never go "out of print."

NO CONTRACT YET? SELF-PUBLISH AN EBOOK!
Some authors think that publishers aren't interested in ebooks because they're already "published." This is entirely untrue! Just yesterday a major publisher voiced interest in buying print rights for one of my ebooks that has been on the market for 11 months now. And, I'm not the only one!

VANITY PUBLISHING FOR FREE
It's now easier than ever to electronically publish your book for nothing more than the cost of your time. (Read contracts carefully!) Self-publish your book as an ebook, start pounding that virtual pavement and market it far and wide. If you have any doubt about the viability of ebooks and their future, don't. Ebooks have already made a major impact on the publishing industry, and they're here to stay.

It's a whole lot easier to pique a publisher's interest with a couple thousand book sales under your belt, even if they're ebooks. Those ebook sales will likely result in not just a standard contract offer, but a bidding war, a large advance, higher royalties and, more importantly, the marketing of your book paid for by the publisher. Once a publisher calls, do NOT handle these negotiations yourself. Hire an agent. Any agent will take your book if publishers are asking for it.

OVERRIDING VANITY
After this happens to you, you will know your worth as an author and your common sense (and self-esteem) will override your vanity.

Am I vain? Perhaps. But income and pride are higher priorities for me than fame. And they should be for you, too. Don't let your vanity intrude on your common sense. Don't assume that a printed book automatically results in fame and fortune. Don't accept anything less than you deserve. And, don't give up all electronic rights!

Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

Warning! Read contracts before signing! Some publishers change their contracts overnight.

We have omitted e-publishers who:

• are elusive about rights and royalties or do not post their terms
• are not currently accepting submissions
• only or primarily offer free ebooks (most free ebooks are promotional in nature)
• offer odd terms such as a percentage of advertising revenue in lieu of royalties
• Don't take credit cards. Yes, we found a few of those! They'll happily epublish your ebook and take all electronic rights, and then ask customers to send in a check or money order. I guarantee these firms will fail.
• Charge authors a ridiculously high fee to "host" their book's page

Impartial?
Hardly! Yes, we own Booklocker and it's listed first...but it is the best e-publisher in the industry. If you doubt my completely biased opinion, read the contracts at the links below and compare the benefits to authors.

BookLocker.com
http://www.booklocker.com
70% royalties on GROSS sales
PAYS MONTHLY
Non-exclusive rights
Screens all manuscripts for quality.
Charges $20 to convert ebooks not already in .pdf or .exe format. However, anyone can convert 10 documents for free to .pdf at http://www.adobe.com. And, if you don't know how to convert documents to .exe format, I will email the PC instructions to you. For information on getting your ebook epublished by Booklocker.com, send any email to publisher@booklocker.com, or visit the site.

EMatter/Fatbrain
http://www.fatbrain.com
Booklocker's primary competitor. This firm has generated a ton of publicity and gives authors high-exposure. We like Ematter/Fatbrain's generous terms, their efforts to advance the acceptance of ebooks, and their customer service.
Effective Jan. 1, 2000:
Pays 50% royalties
Charges authors $1 per month for every book listed.
Pays Quarterly
Non-exclusive rights
Does not screen manuscripts. Anyone can publish anything.
The monthly fee is automatically charged to your credit card.

Erotic-Ebooks.com
http://www.erotic-ebooks.com
Erotic literature and non-fiction books dealing with sexuality.
Anxious for new authors. They have six under contract writing books specifically for the site right now..but the authors will, of course, be allowed to list and sell their erotic ebooks elsewhere. Reprints of erotic articles as anthologies warmly welcomed, as long as author has retained rights. A link to author guidelines is in left-hand column after you enter the site.
50% royalties
Non-exclusive rights
Still under construction and not yet "released" to public, but already processing orders even though there are only three ebooks listed on the site!

PC Books, Inc.
http://www.pc-books.net/PUBLISH.HTM
Charges $40 set-up fee
40% royalties
Non-exclusive rights

1stBooks
http://www.1stbooks.com/newbooks.htm
Non-exclusive rights
30% royalties
Charges substantial set-up fee, but pays 100% royalties until that fee is met.

Archetype-Press
http://www.archetype-press.com/contract.htm
For initial product upload, password, and editing privileges, charges $45 for first 5,000 words; $75 for 5,000-30,000 words; $95 for manuscripts over 30,000 words. Also charges a $10 per month membership fee. No royalty info. at website.

CyberNet Books
http://www.cybernetbooks.com/authorw.htm
Royalties not provided at website.
Non-exclusive, but authors may have to wait up to six months for contract termination.

M-Pro
http://www.m-pro.demon.co.uk/bookstore.html
Royalty percentages vary and include a flat-fee. This is an ebook reseller.

AGoodBook.com
http://www.agoodbook.com/publisher/agree.htm
OUCH! Charges $250 reading fee! No wonder their inventory is so small. Pays "a royalty of 20% of the selling price for all copies sold, less a reserve for credit card disputes (unfair!). Initially, this reserve will be 10% of royalties and will be adjusted up or down based on actual, documented experience." Won't sell new books for more than $4.95.

Bibliobytes
http://www.bb.com/contract.cfm
35% royalties
Exclusive electronic rights

Book-on-Disc.comhttp://www.book-on-disc.com/author's1.htm Doesn't publish royalty information.
Exclusive electronic rights

Books-End.com
http://www.books-end.com Only pays author $1 per book sold!
Rights not specific at website.

Crossroads Electronic Publishing
http://www.crossroadspub.com/contrac.htm
50% royalties
Exclusive rights

Cyber-Pulp Houston/USA
http://come.to/cyberpulp
50% royalties
Exclusive electronic rights

DiskUs Publishing
http://www.diskuspublishing.com/Contract.html
40% royalties
Exclusive electronic rights

Dreams Unlimited
http://www.dreams-unlimited.com/contract.htm
Royalties not specified
Exclusive electronic rights

Electric Works Publishing
http://www.electricpublishing.com/index.htm
40% royalties on average. Deducts 10% for works they edit.
Exclusive rights

Hard Shell Word Factory
http://www.hardshell.com/contract.html
30% royalties
Exclusive rights

Hyberbooks
http://www.hyperbooks.com/submit.html
"My price for this service is to have the exclusive right to publish your work for one year, and a 50% cut for that year."

Nitelinks, Inc.
http://www.nitelinks.com/Authors/AuthorSupport.html
10-40% royalties
Exclusive rights, but offers an "out" clause "if a paper publisher wishes to publish the work."

Petals of Life Publishing
http://members.tripod.com/~PetalsofLife/authorcontract.html
50% royalties
Exclusive rights for two years

PreviewBooks.com
http://www.previewbooks.com/oaktree/agree.html
Pays $2.00 flat fee to author for books sold. First half of book is given to readers at no charge. Second half is "sold" to the reader. Neat concept, greedy terms.
First electronic rights.

Pulpless.com, Inc.
http://www.pulpless.net
25% royalties
Exclusive rights

Star Publications
http://www.starpublications.com/ctsample.html
35% royalties
Exclusive electronic rights

Treeless Press Publishing
http://www.treelesspress.com/writers.html
20% royalties
Exclusive electronic rights

Word Wrangler Publishing
http://www.wordwrangler.com/contract.htm
35% royalties
Exclusive rights

Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

Thanks to the Internet and technology, we no longer have two options to consider when authoring a book.

 More writers are self-publishing their own e-books and having success. I receive daily e-mails and phone calls from writers wanting advice on self-publishing. This is what I share as I explain publishing options to budding authors.

 TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING
If I went the traditional publishing route, received a $3K advance, worked my fingers to the bone, and saw my book in print, things would be looking pretty good, right?

Well, not really. Let's say my publisher offers me a 5,000 printing with a list price of $10.00. The most my book could gross, barring a reprinting, would be $50,000. I get 10% royalties (which are taken out of the advance I received), totaling $5,000. That's it. There's nothing more.

If you've ever written a book, you know that calculates to a very low hourly rate.

SELF-PUBLISHING
Now, let's say I publish my own book, print 5,000 (at a cost of $2.50 per book for 200 pages), and sell them all. My profit would be $50,000 minus printing costs of $12,500, totaling $37,500.

But, would I be able to afford the printing costs? Uh, no. Even if I could, would I be able to sell all my books on my own? Probably not. So, things still aren't looking too rosy.

 Sure, I have lots of pretty books stacked in my garage to show off to friends and family. They don't call it vanity publishing for nothing.

E-PUBLISHING
Now, let's say I e-publish my own book. There are no printing costs and no minimum order. (I can 'sell' as many file attachments as I want.) My expense was my time to write and format the book. The rest is pureprofit.

 This week, I sold books to readers in the UK, Australia, Canada, and even Grenada. That's not including the hundreds I've sold in the US in the past month. My website's global reach far exceeds the exposure I would receive from a distributor. And, my books aren't lined up on a shelf sitting cover to cover with my competitors.

The Internet has made it possible for small publishers to venture out on their own. We no longer have to depend on a distributor to deliver our books to large bookstores. There's a whole wide world of readers out there that will buy our books online. The Internet has changed our options, and things are looking grand!

 But, how do you find those readers? How do they find you? My advice is to publish a free e-mail newsletter on your book's topic. Start the newsletter before you start the book. Letters from your readers will give you ideas for your upcoming book. You'll know what they want and what they need. They, in turn, will trust that you have the answers, because you are the expert in your field. And,they will buy your book.

Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

Well, I finally did it! All of my self-published books and software databases are now available at Amazon.com. I'm patiently waiting for those big checks to start landing in my snail mailbox. Want to know how I did it?

ISBN's
The cost is steep for an independent self-publisher exceeding a couple hundred dollars depending on how big of a block of numbers you need.

"The cost is a flat fee charged for processing each publisher application for an ISBN Publisher Prefix; it is NOT per ISBN. There is no other fee involved. A publisher is assured a minimum block of ten numbers (it could be more, based on the title information provided by the publisher at the time of making the application, which the Agency requests)."
-Don Riseborough, Senior Managing Editor, U.S. ISBN Agency

What does this mean? Once you receive your pubisher prefix, you can enter Bowker's site and add products as they become available, as well as make updates to your existing products. Your products are then published in Bowker's periodicals. You DON'T have to pay $195 for every new product you publish.

 "The U.S. ISBN Agency is responsible for the assignment of the ISBN Publisher Prefix to those publishers with a residence or office in the U.S. and are publishing their titles within the U.S." -R.R. Bowker

 R.R. Bowker is the US agency. However, Bowker's website provides linksto foreign registry agencies as well.

Publishers enter the site and begin filling out a series of forms that register their publishing company and all the current products they have for sale. Then, they wait ten days for their publisher's prefix. You have the option of paying an additional $50 to expedite your application which brings your ISBN publisher prefix within three days instead of 10...but what's another week, eh?

 Have your credit card handy and order your ISBN publisher's prefix here:
http://www.bowker.com/standards/home/isbn/

 You can also find their contact information online if you prefer to pay by check. You can't register with Amazon until you have an ISBN.

AMAZON.COM
Thanks to the Internet, we small publishers can now give the entire globe access to our products. No longer must we fight to have our products carried by the large book distributors. And, it's free!

 Amazon's terms state that they pay you 45% of the list price of yourbook. You have to pay the shipping to send your books to them.

 Amazon makes it easy to track sales by providing sales and inventory reports, automatic reordering by e-mail, hassle-free fulfillment, andquick payment terms. If you want to stock your books in your garage, theystate that your title will be shipped in 4-6 weeks. However, you can send a box of books to them and your book page will state that the book will be shipped to the customer within 24 hours. Amazon also offers assistance via their Marketing Research Center.

For more information about registering with Amazon, surf to: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/subst/partners/direct/advantage-for-books.html/ref=wl_31/002-6216341-1160461 If you have additional ISBN questions, feel free to e-mail me at aadair@writersweekly.com. I'll help if I can.

Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

Many e-mags (or e-zines) are profitable, but there are thousands in existence and hundreds more appearing every day. How to you create one and make it profitable?

REVENUE SOURCES FOR E-MAGS

AD SALES
This will be your main source of income. Sell premium ad space at the top of your e-mag, and sell classified ad space at the end. For samples of rate cards online, surf to your favorite search engine for rate card, rate sheet, advertising rates and other variations of these words.

SPONSORSHIPS
This is similar to a company paying you to produce the e-mag. They may be your sole source of income, but they pay a higher rate than advertisers for the exclusive right to target your readers. Unfortunately, some editors bow to the sponsor's pressure as to the kind of editorial content provided.

SUBSCRIBERS
Will readers pay for your content? If you provide valuable and reliable information in a timely, professional format, readers will pay for your wisdom. For example, The Write Markets Report (http://www.writersweekly.com) started out as a print pubication. This established our presence as a serious competitor in the industry. We then experimented with electronic issues, offering them to readers at a reduced price. To our surprise, 90% of all new sales were for the electronic issues. We are now electronic only. We eliminated postage and printing costs, were able to slice the price in half, and sales soared. Is The Write Markets Report profitable? Yes indeed!

WHERE TO BEGIN?
1. Find your niche
2. Check our your competitors. Find out what they do best and do it better.
3. Build your readership. Offer a free, teaser issue every month (like this one). Offer it for free. You will be able to sell ad space in your teaser issues as well.
4. Start advertising your for-cost e-mag and start building your publishing business.

INSPIRATION
The following are links to subscription forms of for-cost electronic publications.

Food and Health Writer
http://www.booklocker.com/newsletters/food.html
Monthly by email. $12/year.

The Daily Stock & Option Picks Service
http://www.booklocker.com/newsletters/wallstreet.html
Daily by email. $70/year.

Market Insight for Playwrights
http://www.booklocker.com/newsletters/playwright.html
Monthly by email. $35/year.

The Write Markets Report
http://www.writersweekly.com/index-orderform.htm
Monthly by email. $11.97/year

Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

Ssssh! I know a secret!! I stumbled upon it quite by accident. I found writer's guidelines and editorial calendars posted at websites that not many others had found. Want to know how?

Start With the Search Engines (of course)
This is the obvious first step, but do you really know where to start? Follow me and I'll show you my technique.

 My favorite search engine for finding guidelines is NorthernLight. Yes, they've received some bad press of late, even from us, but they do have a darned good product. Keep your mail window open while you open your web browser and surf to: http://www.northernlight.com

 Okay, now search for this: "writers guidelines" (include the quotes). NorthernLight doesn't register punctuation. That's why I left the apostrophe out. You'll get the same results either way. Keeping up with me? (My computer is running really slow today. How `bout yours?) Ah, here we are. 4,792 items. Hmm, bet most of them don't pay. Now add the word pay after "writers guidelines" - after the quote. Now we're down to 1,023 matches.

 Next search:

"authors guidelines" - 3,448 matches.

Want another one? Here's a few!

"contributors guidelines" - 703 matches

 "guidelines for writers" - 2,267 matches

 "guidelines for authors" - 4,427 matches

 Catching on yet? "guidelines for contributors" - 1,220 matches

 I'm sure you can think of many more variations that I. Now, have you always wanted to know what editors need for future issues? Try searching "2000 editorial calendar." 378 matches!

Most editors post their editorial calendar for advertisers. But we writers can take advantage of this information as well!

"Dear Editor, I have an idea for a piece to complement your December, 2000 issue covering....."

 The Internet can be a valuable tool for finding additional markets for your works. You just have to be creative in your surfing. Make a list of variations like the one above, and you'll find thousands of markets that have been hiding from you and your fellow writers.

Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

Want to Win?
It's easier than you think. Be different. Don't write about what everyone else will write about. Your first topic thought is probably not the best. If a contest has a set topic, the vast majority of entries will start to sound the same to the judges. Go one step further, or take a tep back, and make your entry stand out from the rest.

Twists and Turns
Write a short outline for your entry. Then, rewrite it. Change the obvious directions of your manuscript and make them not quite so obvious. A reader who knows where the story is going, and is then surprised to learn they were wrong, is a happy, fulfilled reader. Always keep the reader guessing, and you will hold their attention.

The End
Aside from the hook (the opening), the ending is the most important part of your manuscript. I have read so many articles and stories that were great throughout (where I'm thinking, "We have a winner!") only to have the ending fall apart. Those are as bad as a great movie with a really bad ending. A surprise ending is always best.

Typos and Grammos This should go without saying, but I'll say it anyway. Run your spell checker, and then have someone else read your entry as well. They will pick up typos and grammatical errors (grammos) that you have overlooked. Writers know how hard it is to check our own work. We read it so many times that we don't see the errors after awhile. Have somebody else do the checking.

What the Judges Do
Judging writing contests is a very hard task. My process includes distributing the entries to a number of judges. They are each given guidelines with which to judge and pick their top ten. The guidelines include:
1. Is the hook great? Do you want to keep reading after the first paragraph?
2. How is the content? Did you get sleepy in the middle or did you want to read really fast to see the ending?
3. Were there typos and grammos? Too many of these show a judge that the writer did not care enough to check their work.
4. How was the end? Were you bouncing out of your seat with glee, or were you groaning?
5. Finally, on a whole, was it a good piece?

Finale
If it is an exceptional piece of work, judges will usually dismiss the typos and grammos. The final judgement, whether fiction of non, is based on whether the writer is a good storyteller or not.

Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

Last month (while waiting for the cable man), I submitted 20 queries in about an hour by e-mail...all on a whim.

 The query topic was was the same, yet targeted to each publication's audience (i.e. interviewing online office supply firms for an office supply magazine; interviewing online computer firms for a computer magazine). I changed two essential words in the query letter, added each editor's name, and hit send.

 Much to my surprise, I received a $300 assignment in less than an hour. A week later, I received another $300 assignment, and this week (almost a month later) I received a $500 assignment.

 These assignments all resulted from the same query letter. Obviously, my query is a good one.

 I'm planning to "reprint" my query this afternoon and send it to more editors. You should do this, too! Pull out the last query that resulted in an assignment. Refocus, reslant, and "reprint" it for other magazines.

 A good query can go a long way!

Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

"Borrowing" from the Competition Get online and find all the e-mags that will be your competition. Subscribe to them and see what they do best. You can do it better. You should also review the print publications you will be competing with to determine their strengths and weaknesses.

 Using Competitors to Find Your Niche
When I launched The Write Markets Report (http://www.writersweekly.com), I ordered sample copies of every writing magazine I could find. What I discovered was a large gap in providing current, paying markets. As a writer, I knew that was what writers wanted most. I could provide it. I also discovered that far too many writing magazines teach writers how to write, while none focused solely on teaching writers how to sell their services and manuscripts. I had found my niche.

 Have you ever wondered why a certain magazine doesn't provide a certain type of information? You can probably determine gaping holes in your competitors' e-mags as well. Make a list of what you know your readers will want. Figure out which of these items are not offered by your competitors. You now have your niche!

Pssst! Borrow Advertisers!
I frequently scout competing sites and e-mags to find out who their paying advertisers are. I then send a personal e-mail to the firm telling them about WritersWeekly.com. (i.e. I saw your ad in xxx and I am writing to introduce you to WritersWeekly.com.) I also have an ongoing database of potential advertisers' e-mail addresses that I have collected from print publications for writers. Most potential advertisers won't even know of your existence until you introduce yourself. Don't be shy. I've never been accused of spamming potential advertisers. They are happy to hear about an inexpensive, profitable home for their advertising dollars.

 See Detailed Chapter Listing and another excerpt at: http://www.writersweekly.com/index-ezines.htm Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

I now make more than $5,000 every month selling my e-books through my website and electronic newsletter. I currently have five e- books available. Not bad for a new medium of delivery!

 Why do people really buy e-books? Don’t they want a nice pile of paper on their lap to read? Something to lug to the bathroom? Well, not really. The answer is simple. People buy e-books for instant delivery! When you go shopping for a black skirt or shirt, you want to buy it TODAY. When people go shopping for information, they want it RIGHT NOW.

What are people willing to pay for e-books? Readers will pay your listed price, as long as:
 
 

 Here are some e-books currently on sale and their prices:
Secrets Never Told – How to Avoid Greedy Lawyers - $8.95
The Inner Structure Of Tai Chi - $8.95Handbook to A Happier Life - $7.95
George and the Jeannie - $9.95
How to Be A Syndicated Newspaper Columnist (the e-version of my book, includes the newspaper database) - $10.95

 I can assure you that the majority of books with higher prices have less pages. They are non-fiction and they are usually how-to. But, they are more sought after…more needed by the market they are targeting.

 If you are the first to write a book on your specific topic, you will be able to charge a higher price. Likewise, if your book's audience encompasses a high-income readership (i.e. lawyers), your book price can reflect the ability of your readers to pay for the information.

I try to find hot new topics that haven't been covered by the publishing industry yet. But, my books are priced low enough to be affordable for writers (we are all starving artists, aren't we?).

Changing the Price
You can also experiment with pricing. For my book, How to Be A Syndicated Newspaper Columnist, I sold more books at $14.95 (the print version) than any other advertised price, all higher and lower. I experimented with different pricing structures for months before settling on $14.95. The e-book is priced at $10.95. 90% of the syndication books I sell now are the e-book edition. Needless to say, that surprised me. I began my research into e-book sales...hence, my NEW e-book (this one!). (Remember, my syndication book includes a database of newspaper markets, so don't use this price in determining yours. You'll have to experiment with your title, too.)

Last year, when I raised the price of my syndication book to $19.95, sales stopped…completely. Change the price periodically over the first few weeks of sales and distribution. It’s better to start high and work your way down. Don’t do it backward the way I did. Your readers will get angry if they wanted to buy the book last week, but it costs twice as much this week.

Perceived Value
Sometimes, a higher price gives the impression of a higher-quality book. Readers assume the book is worth that much, or that the book is the only source of information for that topic. Again, experimentation is the key.

How to Write, Publish and $ell E-books will show you everything you need to know about e-book publishing, including writing, formatting, online sales, merchant accounts (accepting credit cards), e-mail delivery, how to sell your book with a free e-mail newsletter, writing ads that sell, and more. It can be ordered online at: http://www.writersmarkets.com/index-orderform.htm

Angela Adair-Hoy is the co-owner of Booklocker.com and WritersWeekly.com. Booklocker (http://www.booklocker.com) lists ebooks for authors for free, pays 70% royalties, and only requests non-exclusive rights. Authors are free to list and sell their ebooks elsewhere. WritersWeekly.com (http://www.writersweekly.com) is the FREE marketing emag for writers featuring new freelance jobs and paying markets delivered to your emailbox every Wednesday.

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