By Sue DiFranco
Copyright © 2002 Sue DiFranco/Fun Facts Publishing  

While at a recent wedding expo, I noticed an author exhibiting at a booth. I had heard of her book, so I went over to take a look. We got to talking, and I asked if she had self-published, or had gone through a traditional publishing company. She told me that she had gone through a publishing company, but was incredibly disappointed, because the publisher did nothing to help her sell or market her book.  In fact, she said, when her book first came out (a crucial time to have your marketing plan in place), her assigned "publicist" was out on tour with the Bridget Jones sequel, "Edge of Reason." (Needless to say, she didn't receive much help there.) AND the publisher got to keep most of the profits.

The truth is, many traditional publishers now require a "marketing plan" when authors submit a book proposal. This means you have to write a detailed account of how you plan to market your book. They use your marketing plan as one of the factors to determine whether they will publish your manuscript or not.

If they do publish your manuscript, you are left with lots of marketing to do - alone - and A LOT less money than if you had published it yourself. Hey, if you're going to do all the marketing, wouldn't you want to keep all the profits?

Many authors go the self-publishing route, especially in the scrapbooking world. Scrap Angels ( http://www.scrapangels.com   ) owner Joli Hassing has just completed her first book, "8,501 Page Toppers, Quotes, Captions, and Words of Wisdom For Your Scrapbooking Pages: The Definitive Collection." I have read the book, and I have to say I've never seen anything like it - it's just incredible. And it's definitely something she could have brought to a publisher and gotten published. But Joli wanted to be in control of her book, she wanted it to look the way she wanted, and most of all, she wanted to keep all of the profits herself. Smart woman!

If you feel you have a book inside you, I strongly suggest you look into self-publishing. Put these books on your reading list: "The Self Publishing Manual" by Dan Poynter, "1001 Ways To Market Your Books" by John Kremer, and "The Complete Guide to Self Publishing" and "Jump Start Your Books Sales" by Tom and Marilyn Ross. Here's an inspiration boost - guess what famous book series was originally self published. Does the title "Chicken Soup For The Soul" sound familiar? Now get writing!