Achieve Your Dream Of Publishing A Book

One of the most common New Year's resolutions is to write and publish a book. While people are happy to write, many are intimidated by or defeated by minor roadblocks and challenges. “With the advent of Web 2.0 and digital print-on-demand technology,” publishing expert Brent Sampson says, "publishing a book is a snap, especially in comparison to goals like losing weight or getting organized."

Sampson is the best-selling author of "Sell Your Book on Amazon," and the award-winning, "Self-Publishing Simplified." As the president and CEO of Outskirts Press at http://www.outskirtspress.com/, Sampson offers effective tips to get your book published, including:

1. Identify goals. Do you want to make a lot of money or find a lot of readers? Or perhaps your goal is more modest – to have a book to share with family and friends. By identifying your goals, you can increase your chance of choosing the right means to publishing.

2. Identify weaknesses. Publishing a book is different from writing one; it is a business rather than an art. Unless you have the technical and financial know how, you will be better off having a company do it rather than trying to do it yourself.

3. Investigate the publishing options. There are three main roads to publication:

a) Traditional publication – a publishing company accepts your book and purchases the rights to it in exchange for an advance on book royalties.

b) Independent self-publishing – you keep the rights to your book and undergo the task of starting a publishing company to print, distribute, and market it.

c) Turn-key self-publishing with a print-on-demand company – you keep the rights to your book and pay experts to perform the publishing tasks for you.

4. Just do it. Your manuscript will not publish itself, so you must be motivated to reach for your dreams. What are you waiting for?

"Publishing a book doesn't have to be difficult or confusing. Sort your options carefully, weigh the advantages and disadvantages, and then go for it!" says Sampson. His company, Outskirts Press at www.outskirtspress.com, offers full-service, on-demand custom book publishing services to help writers publish and distribute their books worldwide.