Today we’re reviewing, discussing, and giving away A Path to Publishing: What I Learned by Publishing a Nonfiction Book by Ed Cyzewski. Keep reading to learn how you can win a free copy.

In A Path to Publishing, Ed Cyzewski provides authors with a guide through the entire publishing processes from writing to contacting an agent to drafting a proposal to marketing the book. It also compares the pros and cons of having a publishing company publish a book versus self-publishing.

The publishing industry is going through radical changes right now. When publishers are considering new authors, they give a lot of weight to an author’s platform – how many people read their blog and follow them on Twitter and Facebook. They do this because an author who already has a following online will probably sell more books and probably do a better job of marketing their book once it’s publishing. A Path to Publishing provides insight into building a platform before submitting a proposal as well as marketing a book online after it’s published.

For more info and how to get a free book copy:
http://www.liveintentionally.org/2010/06/29/authors-get-free-copy-path-to-publishing-edcyzewski/
Favorite quotes:

Writing the book is only half of the work in publishing. Marketing it makes up the other half. (P 22)
One of the most important questions you’ll need to answer as an author is why YOU are the person to write this book. (P 25)
If you don’t have a website/blog and accounts on Twitter and Facebook, you don’t exist in today’s marketplace. (P 37)
Part of developing your craft should also be finding readers for your work. (P45)
View your writing time as sacred. (P 59)
Listing your web site statistics and the number of friends in your network will help establish your credibility. (P 79)
Self-publishing puts a lot of pressure on authors to not only write a clean manuscript, but to organize the editing, designing, printing, and marketing of their books. (P 96)
Editors are your most valuable allies. They will save you from publishing a shoddy book. (P 121)
I strongly suggest that you consider developing a regularly updated blog as a first priority. (P 133)
A blogger with a regular following and a solid network of fellow bloggers is in a much better position to sell a book proposal and a book. (P 143)
If you’re a writer, you’re goal is to connect with readers. (P 176)

If God is calling you to writing, the options today are much more interesting than a few years ago. A few years ago you had basically two options: finding a royalty publisher or vanity publishing. The royalty publisher pays for the costs of editing, publishing, marketing, and distribution and pays you a royalty. The publisher takes most of the risk. You can make good money on a popular book if the volume sold is high.

When using a vanity publisher, you pay the costs for editing, publishing, marketing, and distribution. You take all the risks and get all the gravy. The publisher prints a few thousand and delivers them. You stock the books. The problem here is that most authors don’t have sufficient marketing and distribution skills and finances to get the printed books into the market. This is often a good alternative, however, if you are a popular speaker and sell the books at your conferences and workshops. In most cases, however, you end up selling a few copies to friends and church members and that’s about it. Our book Discovering Your City that I authored with Bob Waymire was vanity-published. It is used in many classes in seminaries and workshops and we’ve recovered our costs and more.

Now there is a new and third option: Print on Demand. With this method your book is stored on a computer. When orders arrive, books are printed based on the order. You don’t have a large print investment or a large stock of books. When you need more books, you tell them how many you need and those are printed and delivered. With a quality print on demand publisher (such as Winepress , the printed books are indistinguishable from those printed by a royalty publisher.

The Pros of Print On Demand (POD) are a smaller upfront investment to publish your book, and some POD companies can get the books into good distribution and have good marketing. In addition, some POD companies can move your book to a royalty publisher if the sales become aggressive. You own the copyright on a POD book. The down side is that the cost of the book in the store can be a little higher and (with some PODs) you have to do the marketing and distribution.

Want more information? Athena Dean , Director of Publishing at WinePress, is offering a free workshop for potential authors. We highly recommend this. The next conference is online the Tuesday evening of February 21, starting at 5:30. It lasts 1 1/2 hrs, and a Part II is the next Tuesday at 5:30 – another 1 1/2 hrs. To register for the free conferences, see http://www.winepresspub.com and click on the menu option for the free conference. Register and then return on February 21.