Patrika Vaughn is well qualified to write this book. She has served as a literary agent, professional writer, ghostwriter, and teacher of creative writing for almost a quarter of a century. Her works have appeared in more than 100 publications and she is listed in The International Authors and Writer's Who's Who. She is also a marketing and public relations consultant serving business, industry, non-profit corporations and individual authors. She now combines those skills, as the world's first 'Author's Advocate', to help aspiring writers succeed as a published author. She has some innovative approaches, such as a writer's contract with himself to write a definite number of minutes or hours every day. The three parts of this book are Preparing to Write, The Mechanics of Writing and The Final Steps (including editing your work, marketing, submissions, self-publishing.) This all adds up to a tremendous amount of knowledge to cover in a single book, but Vaughn does it well.


Excerpts:

Although your mind tells you that you're an author and not a publicity agent, the reality is that yours is only one among hundreds of books being offered just this season! You are competing for limited bookshelf space in bookstores. Also keep in mind that bookstores are not the only places to sell books. In fact, only 15% of all books are sold in stores created to do this job. This is partly due to the short shelf life books are given in commercial bookstores. Bookstore research shows that the average book stays on sale for only three to six months before being bumped from the shelves by a newer hopeful. So how are the other 85% of books sold? In a variety of ways, all of which depend on getting the word out. Here are some proven tactics for successful self-promoting. Remember, the key is to obtain as much FREE publicity as possible through interviews, news mentions and book reviews, Be sure to note the correct timing for each of these efforts.

Local publicity:
Create a short, snappy press release along the lines of "Local Writer to Publish New Book." Include basic data such as publisher, price, date of publication and a phone number for further information. About two months before publication, mail the announcement to local stores, radio and TV stations, newspaper reviewers ~ to anyone who might order and/or want to read the book. Chain stores and bsook distributors (listed under "Independent Distributors" in the Yellow Pages) should be high on that list. At publication time, follow up with actual copies of the book and an updated release. Make yourself available for interviews, book signings and calls for further information.

Pre-publication offer:
Make up a flier about your book, including a picture of the cover. The flier doesn't have to be fancy; it can be in black and white (though you could dress it up by printing on coloured paper). At the bottom of your flier, print a tear-off order coupon which offers a free reading or review copy and quantities at a discount. Mail this to potential buyers, including: wholesalers; bookstores, especially those specialising in your subject; libraries (the second largest book buyers in the U.S., spending more than a billion dollars a year on books; catalogue companies (there are nearly 10,000 ~ choose the logical ones from a source such as Catalogue of Catalogues at your public library); wouldn't it be nice if someone bought a million copies of your book for use as a premium? Look at magazines such as Incentive Marketing, Potentials in Marketing and Premium Incentive. They'll teach you how to pursue this market. Special interest individuals, organisations, associations, corporations, museums, specialised stores, etc.

Review copies:
Reviews provide the greatest sales impetus of anything you can do. Reviews are worth your greatest efforts. More than 40,000 books are published every year in the U.S. Fewer than 10% of them are reviewed. You will have to be timely, persistent and willing to make an investment in this endeavour if you are to succeed. As far in advance of publication as possible, mail copies of your new book (galley copies if possible ~ they're less expensive) to trade magazines and large newspapers as well as to local newspapers and other reviewers. Send out as many as you can afford. Ideally, this should be done several months before your publication date because reviewers and columnists need reading time. Get these copies directly from your printer. Reviews often contain words of praise for your book which then can be included in your further publicising efforts. Short quotes from several reviews look especially good on the back of your book's dust jacket, serving as an endorsement.

Use the Web:
Be absolutely sure to spread the word electronically throughout the world. Most ISPs (Internet Service Providers) include a small amount of free web space in their user dial-up account agreements, however some have rules that restrict commercial advertising in non-commercial web space. Tell about your book and about you, the author, and create links to other sources (to amazon.com, for instance, if you are listed with this electronic bookstore where, with a mere click of the mouse, people can purchase your book). Once you have your home page up and running, be sure to register your page(s) with all of the major search engines (Yahoo, Infoseek, Alta Vista, Webcrawler, Netfind, etc.) so anyone searching the web will be able to find your site and learn about your book.

Conclusion:
The extent of free publicity available to you is limited only by your time and imagination. None of these steps is beyond your ability, and each of them is invaluable for generating publicity that will put your book before the public eye.



What others are saying about this book:

"Good books begin with good writing. Good writing begins with Write, Publish & Market Your Book. Get yours now." ~ Dan Poynter, author of Is There a Book Inside Youand The Self-Publishing Manual.

"Throw everything else away! If you're serious about writing a book, Pat Vaughn's Write, Publish & Market Your Book is the only book you'll ever need on the subject." ~ Rita Conway, author and C.E.O., Sandpiper Publishers, Inc.

"[Vaughn] has her finger on the pulse of today's publishing realities. A must-read for every writer who hopes to be published." ~ Jack B. Emden, author and Managing Director for European Operations, SMI International.

"Calling it brilliant would only diminish its true value to writers of any kind." ~ Dr. Alan Kurzrok, author & Motivational Therapist

"Taken as directed, this book is a sure cure for one kind of writer's block. And the medicine is tasty and refreshing, too." ~ Dr. Robert Vossburg, author & Life Fellow, American Psychiatric Association.

The murder of 6-year-old JonBenét Ramsey on Christmas night in 1996 inspired sensational headlines throughout the nation--and plunged idyllic Boulder, Colorado's justice system into an ongoing nightmare. In Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, bestselling author Lawrence Schiller explores both the child's mysterious death and the exhaustive, yet often mishandled, investigation that has, in the two years since the crime, failed to produce either a plausible scenario or a killer. The more that was discovered about the crime, the less likelihood there seemed of tying all the evidence into a single theory that fit the murder scene. Meanwhile, conflicting agendas and personalities within the Boulder police department, the district attorney's office, and the sheriff's office escalated a war that has all but eroded the picture-postcard image of liberal, laid-back Boulder.

Schiller has a knack for distilling context and meaning from violent crime. He partnered with Norman Mailer on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Executioner's Song and was O.J. Simpson's choice of confidante for I Want to Tell You. (From there, he went on to write the definitive story of the Simpson defence, American Tragedy.) For Perfect Murder, Perfect Town, Schiller and researcher Charles Brennan conducted more than 500 interviews, examining the exculpatory evidence from every conceivable point of view to create a fascinating portrait of what happens when tragedy strikes in paradise. There are no easy answers, no simple outs; the murder of JonBenét Ramsey remains unsolved. © Amazon.com