Ruth Marlene Friesen: Wishing You A Blest Christmas!

This site is like Ruthe, the heroine of my novel, Ruthe's Secret Roses

Ruthe is. . .
intimate with God,
prays a lot,
a bleeding heart for the hurting,
a big sister,
rescues friends,
has creative ideas,
likes to give surprise gifts,
loyal to friends,
dreams of love and marriage,
dreams of writing a book
goes the extra mile

So this site offers;
a good books to read!
help to become Friends with God,
The One Ideal Real Friend
a cure for loneliness
An Older Sister's Coping Secret
how to pray Panic Prayers,
& regularly/daily
devotionals,
how to grow in faith
Christian mentoring,
how to share your faith
character development
how to become a writer

I read of a woman who has written a collection of 800 poems and she wondered how she should get them published. What would you do if that was you?

That's prolific! I'd like to see the quality of the poetry and the range of topics, but if you are able to produce poems that liberally, maybe you ought to check into publishing them too.

Have you come to the conclusion that marketing poetry is something of a euphemism? There are few commercial outlets, and few readers will buy a book of poems. Even poet laureates have a hard time making a living.

Most of us would like to have our poems printed in handsome form in a book, and be able to give copies to our dearest friends. So why not self-publish? It's an ancient and honourable way to do it. Today, with the advent of e-books and Print-on-Demand (POD) it has never been easier or cheaper.

Note that a printer prints, and a publisher makes copies of the work public, and offers it for sale. You may hire a printer or a quick-copy shop to make up your book, but don't expect them to sell it for you. That's your role if you self-publish.

You don't need anyone's permission to publish. If all that's holding you back is the know-how, then let me outline the simple how-to right here.

Let's cover print publishing steps first, and then electronic, but remember you can do both at once.

1. Think up a name for your publishing company. Design a simple logo on your computer with your Publishing Name if you like. (You can register your name too, but it's not required unless you make lots of money).

2. Decide on the format(s) you want for your book;
-- traditional hardcover or softcover
-- photocopied, stapled, or cerlox & self-bound chapbook
-- folio or folder with exquisite poem pages laid inside.

Publishing Steps for Print Books:

3. Decide on quantity of your first print run. Most poets find that 200-300 is more than they can sell or give away. I made 50 copies of my "Heart 2 Heart" chapbook as Christmas gifts and was a few short by the time I was done with my gift list. But it wasn't hard to whip up a few more.

4. Prepare your manuscript to look exactly how you want it printed. Make up a "dummy" of your book by folding 8 1/2 x 11" sheets in half. 10 sheets will give you 40 pages. (If it's less than 48 pages it is called a Chapbook). Position your poems exactly where you want them on the pages, and in the sequence you want. Paste in the pictures or graphics. If you want line drawings make sure they are dark and clear enough. Include your publishing logo on the title page.

5. Take your book manuscript/dummy around to various printers and get quotes on how they would charge for printing. Break down the costs and consider what you can do for yourself.

Better still, if you now have access to a good printer attached to your computer, you can produce your pages yourself. Just remember, printing more copies is going to mean more ink in the cartridges.

6. Another route is to photocopy your camera-ready dummy pages at a fast self-serve copy shop, or where they do it for you for .03 or .04 per page. For about $1-$2/book they will often do the cerlox binding for you. You would just need to pay extra for the thicker cover stock paper.

(I happen to have access to my sister's cerlox machines, so I do that myself. Look around, you may know somebody who would help you too).

7. You may prefer to have the pages laminated, and then to sew them together down the center of the open book, with your sewing machine, or, with a large darning needle, if your sewing machine won't take that thickness.

8. Perhaps the most avant guard thing you can do, if you have only a few poems, is to make elegant folders of say... hand-made paper, have your poems printed on special papers that cost you a pretty penny -- because your friends are worth it! -- and then simply lay the poems inside the folder. If you make a limited edition, and number the copies, these will become collector's items when you are famous. That's how Anais Nin did it.

9. Now you are ready for your Publication Party, and your Giving, or Marketing and Distribution Campaign!

Publishing Steps for electronic Books:

Steps 1 & 2 of above are done.

Step 3 - not necessary; in electronic or e-books once your original is done you can make further copies without any additional cost. The glory of digitals!

Step 4 - prepare your poems on pretty web pages, or in your word processing program exactly as you'd like people to see the finished pages if going for .PDF format. A bit of desktop publishing (arranging) skill is helpful.

Step 5 - instead, find a compiling software, or someone who will turn all the pages into one executable file, your e-book.

Skip steps, 6, 7, & 8 from the list above.

Step 9 - Upload your poetry e-book to your web site, and start giving away the download URL, or prepare your sales page, your method of taking payments, and then finding people willing to buy it.

Note that people generally are afraid to pay for a book of poetry sight-unseen. You may have to offer samples. Most people think of poetry as a frill they can do without. Especially if they are wont to write poetry of their own, and they've already decided they don't like just anybody else's. If people think they can use your poems to give as gifts to others, in greeting cards or as an attractive plaque or wall-hanging they are more likely to lay out the cash.

A web site is still the best way to share your poems with others, and invite people who think and feel the same way to respond to you. Your poetry can win you a bunch of new friends!

Giveaways

Ruthe's Secret Roses available in softcover! Purchase it at BookLocker.com and it will be in the mail to you within 48 hours!

The novel:
Order NOW
Author
Read it Right NOW!

Available at:
BookLocker.com
Amazon.ca
Amazon.com
B & N
Or ASK at any bookstore!




Site Hostess:
About Me
Contact Me
Media Kit
RoseBouquet
RSS feed!
Privacy Rule
FAQs
Site Map
Search
linking Vines
WebRings
Best Friend



Tips & Solutions

Do words come easy to you?
You should be writing-for-the-Net to make money!


eBook Farming - Create Your Own Money-Making Information Products!


eBooks: free ebook directory and marketing


You can LIVE WELLoff your words - if you learn to use just the Right ones for Net-writing!


The Site Build It! Summary Site "Why build JUST a Web site... when you COULD build a Web BUSINESS?"


Song Search at ChristianBook.com


What?! It is possible to have an Internet Success Blueprint& ScamFREE?
Sure. Check it out.


The 30-Second Nutshell Version of CTPM for folks in a hurry. If you're at all serious about e-business, you'll get it.


SOHOs, startups, and newbies This is ideal for the small business person just starting out, looking desperately for the perfect solution? -- SBI! is it.


Quick Tour Slide Show A fast step-by-step demo of how SBI! works


Fiction is fun and for pleasure, the big money lies in writing how-tos and knowledgeable non-fiction. Want to make a living in this internet information age?


Make Your KNOWLEDGE Sell! is THE BEST manual to guide you through brainstorming, developing and marketing your info-product.

That, and Make Your WORDS Sell! will give you all the training you need. The rest is up to YOUR mind and will-power.


Anything you know well (ie. your book?) can be digitalized! Sell it!





Disciples' Cornerstone is a NEW Christian Bookstore. Have you seen it yet?