Writers Gear Up for the Write Nonfiction In November Challenge

In just under two weeks, nonfiction writers will take to their keyboards to begin 30 days of work on a new project. Not only will they start that project, they will finish it. Why? Because that's the challenge posed by Write Nonfiction in November (WNFIN).

WNFIN, which is both a challenge and a full-month of guest blog posts about many aspects of nonfiction writing and publishing was one writer's response to National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a contest that asks fiction writers to compose 50,000 words in 30 days during November. Nonfiction editor, writing coach and author advisor Nina Amir, tried NaNoWriMo one year. She says, "The next year I thought it appropriate that nonfiction writers should have something to do during November. However, I didn't want to start a contest, and I wanted to offer information to help other writers get published. After all, that was my goal, too—to publish my work." The WNFIN blog, which now features 25 or more expert guest bloggers each year, supports writers as they work, and the comment area gives them a forum to chat about the posts and their work.

For those nonfiction writers wanting to take the WNFIN challenge, Amir offers the following advice: "To begin a WNFIN project—or any new writing project for that matter—you need to prepare. Get started before the challenge, not necessarily with the writing but with the stuff you need to do to be able to write quickly and easily."

Here are some things you can do to prepare:

1. Write down the 3-5 top projects you would like to tackle that you have not had time to start or finish; figure out which one might be doable in 30 days time.

2. Create an outline to follow.

3. Mind map your project.

4. Get your research together in a physical folder.

5. Do research on line and put the links or copied pages in folders on your computer.

6. Conduct any interviews necessary for writing your book or article.

7. Finish any outstanding work that might get in the way of your writing project.

8. Examine your schedule and block of a time each day to work on your project.

9. Find a WNFIN writing partner or create a WNFIN writing group as support system.

10. Consider anything that might stop you from sitting down to write or in the process of writing, and rid yourself of those obstacles before November 1.

"If you take these 10 steps, you will be ready to take the WNFIN challenge--or to start any writing project at any time of the year," Amir concludes.

Writers also can peruse previous year's November archives at Write Nonfiction in November.

Source: Nina Amir

Digital Media Marketing - Marketing Your Digital Products Offline by Carolyn Anderson

Digital products such as software and eBooks are hot items that you can buy online as downloadable items. However, if you are one of the eBook writers or software developers who want to market your products not only on the internet, you can actually find a lot of ways to market them offline as well.

For digital media marketing tips, you can actually store your eBook on CDs and DVDs and market them offline as well. Although downloading digital products is a convenient and easy way to sell information without having to print your eBooks for example, or publish it, but of course, many people would also want to have a tangible copy for their eBooks and software so they can bring it along with them.

If you are an eBook writer or someone who develops and sells software, you can also explore the option of putting your products into discs so that you can sell them offline to your friends, give them away as contest prizes or incentives, or sell them in flea markets. Putting it on CD or DVD also allows you to sell your products in online auction sites where you can sell them in sets or in bulk as well.

To help you sell your digital products offline, aside from your online efforts as well, here are a few tips that you might find useful.

- Use high quality discs if you want a long-lasting file. However, it is important to note that digital mediums may change over time, as floppy discs have become obsolete, the mediums existing today may also become obsolete in the near future, so make sure that you also remind yourself to upgrade your storage medium over time.

- Store your files or digital media in two or more backup mediums. Of course, you may never know what will happen to your one and only copy, so it is just commonsense and wise to have two or more copies of your eBook or your software.

- Keep your backup copies safe and secured. Of course, if you are marketing these products, you would surely want to make it available to many not just today but in the years to come, so make sure you can still provide copies in the future by making sure that you do have a backup file that can still be accessed in the future.

These are just a few of the things that you can do to help you market your digital media. Indeed, there are a lot of ways for your digital media marketing, but you have to keep in mind as well that even though you have a digital product, you can still market them offline to boost your sales and your profit.

Carolyn Anderson writes and markets her eBooks. To learn how you can copy your digital files on discs and sell them offline, check out digital media marketing. Also check out Easy Licensing Pro, where you can learn how to put up a successful online business without having to create your own products.

FastPencil Gains Momentum with Best-Selling Authors on FastPencil Premiere

FastPencil has added world-class authors who are signing to FastPencil Premiere, a new and exclusive publishing imprint where top-tier and best-selling authors can create and publish books with all the advantages of FastPencil's next-generation digital and social media publishing services. FastPencil gives them the opportunity to publish their books in print and digital formats in a timely manner while collecting higher margins and maintaining complete control every step of the way.

The exclusive publishing imprint has added:

Jim Dratfield - Author of almost a dozen popular animal oriented fine art photographic coffee table books and creative director behind Petography® traveling the country offering photo commissions of people's pets

Steve Greenberg - The Innovation Insider and author of "GADGET NATION: A Journey Through The Eccentric World of Invention"

Mark Victor Hansen - Co-founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises, Inc. and co-author of the upcoming book "U R The Solution"

Angela Sage Larsen - Author of the seven-book series for children, "Good Things Come on Tiny Wings: The Adventures of Petalwink the Fairy"

Steven Pressfield - Author of the international bestsellers, "The Legend of Bagger Vance," "Gates of Fire," "Tides of War," "Last of the Amazons," "The Virtues of War," "The Afghan Campaign" and "Killing Rommel." "The War of Art," an autobiographical treatise on the life of the artist, is his only work of nonfiction


Mark Victor Hansen is co-founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul Enterprises, Inc., the popular brand that has almost 200 titles in print and has sold more than 150 million "Chicken Soup for the Soul" books worldwide. His other best-selling books include "The One Minute Millionaire," "Cracking the Millionaire Code," "How to Make the Rest of Your Life the Best of Your Life," "The Aladdin Factor," "Dare to Win" and "The Power of Focus." Hansen's newest book, "U R the Solution," co-authored with writer-director-producer Bill Froehlich ("MacGyver," "Hart to Hart," "Outer Limits") will be available through FastPencil Premiere in October.

Angela Sage Larsen's seven-book series for children, "Good Things Come on Tiny Wings: The Adventures of Petalwink the Fairy," is available in ebook formats through FastPencil Premiere. Larsen's "Fifties Chix," a young adult series that will be based on her blog telling the stories of five girls in 1955 who wake up to find they are fifty-five years into the future, will soon be available on FastPencil Premiere as well, in print and ebook formats.

This terrific group of authors is joining Guy Gilchrist, whose "The Best of Today's Dogg" is already available through FastPencil Premiere, Premiere.Fastpencil.com, in hardcover, paperback and ebook formats. Together they all represent the first group of landmark best selling, established and highly popular authors and illustrators joining the Premiere imprint, making FastPencil Premiere a formidable publishing presence.

Why Do I Have to Market My Book? I Just Want to Write a Book

Today's authors need to be expert marketers.

 

At one time, authors were coddled and cosseted (a very, very long time ago). Today's authors need to consider how they're going to get that book sold, often long before the book is written.

 

Anyone who goes the route of self-publishing knows that they are responsible for getting the word out about their book, but many authors don't realize that even the larger publishing houses have cut their marketing divisions down to such an extent that unless you're a regular name on the New York Times Bestseller List, you're not going to qualify for a marketing slush fund.

 

What does this mean for you?

 

If you have any intention of writing a book that will reach the audience you want to reach, you are going to have to do all the marketing for your book.

 

Even before you write the first word, you need to consider the following points:

 

• Who your audience is
• What they want to know
• Why they need your book
• How your book is going to help them better than anyone else's book out there

I admire anyone who has the desire to write a book, especially a nonfiction book that is designed to share information that the author has and I don't. When I talk to authors, however, many of them don't look much beyond their desire to write a book. They fail to take into consideration their future audience, their future readers. They want to roam and ramble through their topic, much like taking a wandering stroll through the woods without a map or a compass. What is likely to happen is that hiker is going to get lost.

 

So will your reader.

 

This is a big mistake. You don't want your reader getting lost or confused when they pick up your book.

 

In order for a book to be any sort of a success, it must absolutely take the reader into account. It must answer the four points above in great detail. Before your reader even reads the first page of your book, they want to know that you understand their problem and are going to solve it for them.

 

What does this have to do with marketing?

 

Simple. My identifying your reader's major problem and showing how it can be solved with your book, you've taken the first step toward marketing your own book. You've identified a need and with your book, you have a solution.

 

That's not only going to make your book a better book. It's good business sense to write a book that people will pay money to read.

 

About the Author:

 

Kathleen Birmingham is a ghostwriter of hundreds of articles, lesson plans, newsletters, and books. Currently she is partnering with Russ Stevenson creating a book coaching writing system to help numerous people get their ideas out of their heads and down on paper. For more insight into her philosophies on the business of writing, visit her at:

 

http://americasauthormaker.blogspot.com/


http://kdbwriting.blogspot.com/

New eMagStudio Software Eases Publishing on iPhone and iPad

Apple's recent announcement that they have removed restrictions on development tools to create iOS apps has opened the door for Digital Publishing Providers to start developing their own apps for publishing digital editions on the iPhone and iPad devices.

Software vendor eMagCreator has chosen to focus on iPhone/iPad publishing and have already released a new mobile version of their online publishing platform eMagStudio, which is one of the first desktop software's which publishes directly to Apples iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices, using the newly developed HTML 5 based reader. The new release is the first of many initiatives towards publishing on Apples mobile devices.

The eMagStudio publishing platform allows Web and Marketing Professionals to place content online without having to depend on an agency or graphic designer, hereby reducing production time and costs. The software is an effective marketing tool that every marketing department should use, to easily place all of the company's publications online. It can be used for creating online magazines, brochures, catalogs, ebooks, newsletters campaigns, sales material and much more.

eMagStudio is incredibly easy to use, and publishing on Apples mobile devices simply requires checking a check box in the actual publishing process. The latest version of the software uses the highest standards within the industry and is based on Adobe technology insuring the best available reading experience. To test the new publishing software simply download a free full featured version of the software from the website http://www.emagcreator.com/

First-Ever Publication of Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous

The original 1939 working manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous, the revolutionary "Book That Started It All" that has sold more than 27 million copies in the US and Canada alone, will be made available to the public for the first time on October 1 by Hazelden.

As the "bible" for the worldwide fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), the Big Book is arguably the most influential and important 20th century book on recovery from alcoholism and other drug addiction. It has been translated into more than 50 languages. The sale of this original working manuscript, which secured $1.56 million during its 2004 auction at Sotheby's, was ranked by Fine Books & Collections as among the top 10 of the year, along with the auction of the Magna Carta. The manuscript's current owner made available to the world-renowned addiction treatment center and publisher, Hazelden, high resolution scans of this historic document that in 1939 became the book, Alcoholics Anonymous -- which Hazelden will publish in a four-color cloth edition and bring to the world as a piece of cultural, medical and publishing history.

First written by AA's co-founder Bill Wilson, with contributions from many of the original 100 AA members, the 161-page working manuscript unveils five layers of handwritten comments and revisions in black, green and red pencil. The edits reveal the intense debates that transpired during six weeks in 1939, when several newly-recovering alcoholics discussed how to best share their message of hope with other alcoholics and their families.

"Hazelden's decision to publish this important manuscript is rooted in our belief that principles within the Twelve Steps are core to helping those that suffer from addiction to experience lifelong recovery," said Nick Motu, publisher and vice president of Marketing and Communications at Hazelden. Readers will see the "rejected" suggestions, inserts, cross-outs and last minute proof sheet changes - all of which now provide insights into the thinking behind AA's founding members as they described their program of recovery in print for the first time. Of special interest will be the debates in these pages over the role of religion and spirituality in AA - co-author Bill Wilson's decision to give this book a spiritual rather than explicitly religious character was a turning point that enabled AA to benefit people of all faiths and persuasions.

Readers can now explore the unedited version of the Twelve Steps (including a First Step that lacks the famous "We" of the opening); along with essays by AA and Big Book historians that explain how the personal experiences of the first AA members shaped the text. (The writers and contributors of materials in this new book are all currently members of AA and so have chosen to remain anonymous). One essay on the publishing history of the Big Book, recounts the internal debate over what to title the text: The Empty Glass, The Dry Life, The Way Out, and even One Hundred Men? Finally, the title Alcoholics Anonymous won out.

The original AA manuscript was copied and distributed to AA members, doctors, psychiatrists and ministers for suggestions, with all changes entered on one single multilith copy - the one reproduced in this book. For almost 40 years, the manuscript was stored within Bill and Lois Wilson's home in Bedford Hills, New York. In 1978, Lois gifted her prized possession to a friend, author Barry Leach of Montreal, and the document stayed hidden from public view for another 30 years.

"Imagine being able to explore a rare and valuable manuscript that takes you behind-the-scenes during the creation of one of the most influential books of all time - dramatically capturing the controversy and creativity that went into introducing AA's program of recovery to the world" marvels Twelve Step educator, Fred Holmquist, who is director of The Lodge Program at Hazelden. "For anyone who wants to understand the foundation of their own sobriety or that of their family, friends, co-workers and loved ones, this book will be a revelation. Most importantly, this 1939 manuscript highlights the collaborative process which changed forever the way the world treats alcoholics and drug addiction."

In a 1954 speech that is reproduced in the book, AA co-founder Bill Wilson says of the birth of Alcoholics Anonymous: "Not a syllable of this program, so far as I know, was in writing. How could we unify this thing [AA]? Could we out of our experiences get certain principles, describe certain methods that had done the trick for us? Yes, obviously, if this movement was to propagate, it had to have a literature so its methods could not be garbled either by the drunks or by the general public."

This four-color cloth edition will be available for $65.00 (sugg. retail) from bookstores nationwide. In addition, a numbered, leather-bound limited edition, available only direct from Hazelden, will be available in October for $125.00.

For more information, visit http://www.hazelden.org/

US Futurist says E-Books Will Replace Textbooks Within Three Years

Electronic books are expected to replace traditional textbooks in universities in two to three years' time, according to the New Media Consortium's authoritative Horizon Report, a comprehensive annual study of developments in e-learning.

At the largest global e-learning conference for the corporate, education and public service sectors, Online Educa Berlin (December 1st - 3rd), Laurence F. Johnson, CEO of the New Media Consortium, will discuss the very latest findings of the Horizon Report 2011, before the official release in January. The annual report is based on the views of hundreds of technology experts in education, museums, business and creative industries.

E-Books are claimed to be lighter and more versatile than traditional books and incorporate visual learning aids like videos, colour imagery and animations.

"The prospect of holding all the materials you will need in a single device weighing less than a kilo is a powerful driver from the student side, and we are seeing a number of universities that are pushing publishers to move in this direction," says Larry Johnson.

The report suggests that simple augmented reality, using computer-generated imagery, will be common on university campuses within two or three years and gesture-based computing may only be four or five years away.

Larry Johnson's New Media Consortium (NMC) is an international not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the exploration of new media and technologies with hundreds of prominent members in the world's leading universities, museums, research centres and industrial companies (www.nmc.org).

The Horizon Report is available online at http://www.nmc.org/publications/2010-horizon-report.

Boston Publisher Celebrates Publication of 100th Title, All Written by Children

KidPub Press, publisher of books written by children, has released its 100th title. Established in 2008, KidPub Press helps kids ages 8 to 18 understand the publishing process by giving them a chance to publish their own book. The young authors work with an editor to get their manuscript into shape, then with a designer who helps them create a cover. The completed books are sold on Amazon.com, at the KidPub Press bookstore, and through affiliated online bookstores. The kids receive quarterly royalty payments for sales of their books.

"This is the same process that an adult author would go through," remarked Publisher Perry Donham, "and we keep the kids involved in every step, to help them get a good feel for how the book business works. Many of us go into a bookstore and see thousands of titles on the shelves but have no idea how they got there; our authors understand the incredible amount of work it takes to get a book published."

While there's no expectation that an 8-year-old's book will reach the New York Times Bestseller List, many KidPub Press authors sell hundreds of copies and hold successful book signing events at their school, local bookstores, churches, and other venues. "More importantly," said Donham, "the kids are like rock stars when they walk into school with copies of their book. The confidence and pride that this gives these kids is something that sets them up to be successful college students and young adults."

KidPub Press books are typically 100 to 150 pages long, though some have topped the 300-page mark. It is an international endeavor with authors from Canada, the Middle East, Australia, and Europe having participated. The company also has a school program that produces compilation books written by middle-school classrooms.

"There's always a moment of confusion when we describe the business," explained Donham. "Everyone is familiar with children's books, but books -by- children? That's a different story. The expectation is that kids can't possibly write 'real' books, but having read every one of the hundred we've published, I can tell you that these kids really do have a talent for writing. I'm proud that my company can give these young authors an outlet and market for their creativity."

With 100 titles behind them, Donham and the KidPub Press team are looking forward to hitting the 500-title mark, and to expanding the market for this genre of book, both in print and electronically. "The first hundred are always the hardest," quipped Donham, "and we're well on our way to that next big milestone."

KidPub Press is headquartered in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. Visit KidPub Press for more information. Books are also available at Amazon.com.

Guest Experts Sponsorships and Free "Guest Request" Interview Alerts

RadioGuestList.com helps authors and experts get radio interviews to promote new books, businesses, or products. Experts seeking more publicity can now advertise as Featured Guest Expert sponsors on http://www.radioguestlist.com/. Subscribers to RadioGuestList.com's free radio publicity email list receive free, daily "live" PR interview opportunities from real radio show hosts or producers. The daily emails detail exactly what type of guest interviews that radio show, TV producer or Internet radio podcast host is looking for – simply reply by email to those that are seeking guest experts or authors to interview on their shows!

RadioGuestList.com helps get radio interviews for authors and experts to promote new books, businesses, or products.

This free radio and TV and podcast interview publicity booking service has now expanded its services so that experts seeking more publicity can now advertise as Featured Guest Expert sponsors on http://www.radioguestlist.com/.

How to Be a Radio Guest - Free

Each day RadioGuestList.com's free radio interview and TV public relations service subscribers receive an e-mail with radio guest expert interview opportunities from real radio, TV, and podcast show producers who are looking for expert guests and authors to interview "on the air".

These http://www.RadioGuestList.com "Guest Requests" are "live" booking opportunities submitted to RadioGuestList.com by a real show host or producer. The daily emails detail exactly the guests that each radio show, TV producer or Internet radio podcast host is looking to interview - all subscribers need to do is reply by email to those that are seeking guest experts or authors for their shows!