I’m working on international distribution at the moment. The issue I’m running into is shipping costs. For international priority mail, the cost is about $13. But what I’m seeing is that first class mail is nearly that much to most areas (with the exception of Canada) and it can take twice as long. Can international orders be done through Amazon.com? Or through Barnes & Noble’s US website? If anyone knows the answer to this, please let me know!

At some point in the next couple weeks I plan on writing a post outlining the entire publishing process. Until then, feel free to ask any questions you might have in the comments here. And thanks to everyone for their support!

At some point in the next few weeks, I plan to write an in-depth post about getting to this point.

You can also become a fan on Facebook (where you can vote in the poll to determine the subtitle of the book) or follow us (me) on Twitter (@internet_famous).

I have to give a giant shout-out to my beta readers (in alphabetical order to be fair): Dan Holloway, author of The Man Who Painted Agniezska’s Shoes (did I spell that right?) and Songs from the Other Side of the Wall and a founding member of Year Zero; Jason Horger, who did a superb job of pointing out the many grammatical and other errors in this book; and George LaCas, author of The Legend of Jimmy Gollihue and founder of Witchy Hat Press.

Editing on the book is basically done, and I’m expecting to release the book (both in print and digital formats) sometime in August.

Tomorrow I’ll reveal the title of the book and give you all the URL for the new site. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek at the cover (and a hint: the number of question marks corresponds to the number of letters in the title):

Photo by zilupe, via Flickr

Over the years I’ve built up plenty of strategies for keeping my motivation level high. Here are a few:

• Set yourself reachable daily goals. Whether a reachable goal for you is 200 words or 2,000 words, set a goal and stick to it. But, if for some reason you don’t make your goal one day, it’s not the end of the world. Don’t beat yourself up over it. Just get back on track the next day.
• Celebrate small successes. When you finish a chapter, or a page, or even a paragraph, celebrate. Have some chocolate. Listen to your favorite song. Watch a movie. For the bigger successes, treat yourself to dinner or a movie. And when you finish the first draft, take a few days off!
• Keep a to do list. Listing each step to reaching your goal is a good idea. Checking things off a list is a nice little boost to your motivation and keeps you moving in the right direction. Breaking things down into the smallest steps possible might look daunting at first, but you’ll check them off much quicker.
• Take a break. Sometimes, you just need a day off to let your batteries recharge. There’s nothing wrong with that. I’ve found that when I get writer’s block, forcing myself to take a weekend off can do wonders for opening the creative flood gates.
• Set deadlines. With so many writing projects, there are no deadlines. No one really cares if you finish something this week or a month from now or never at all. So set deadlines for yourself and stick to them. On my current project, because I’m self publishing, there’s no editor hanging over my head telling me to have the book done by a certain date. So I’ve set up a schedule for myself. I’ve vowed to have the first draft done by the end of April, and so far I’m on track for meeting that goal.
• Converse with others who have similar goals. Finding other people who are working on the same kinds of projects makes it easier to keep working. Consider setting goals and deadlines with each other and holding each other accountable. Sometimes the idea of disappointing another person is enough to keep you going.

If you have any other tips for keeping motivation high, please share them in the comments below.

Photo by stephmcg, via Flickr

First things first. Self publishing in not the end of the world. There are plenty of reasons to self publish that have nothing to do with being a last resort or not being able to find a traditional publisher. So, without further ado, here are my reasons for actively choosing to self publishing.

#1: Timing is Everything.
The book I’m writing deals with social media and Internet marketing. These are both very timely topics right now, but who knows what will happen in the next couple of years? That’s about how long it would take for the book to hit bookstore shelves if I went with a traditional publisher (and that’s a best-case scenario). Plus, in those two years, a dozen other books could be released on the specific topic I’m writing about. At present, there isn’t a single book with the same angle I’m coming from. Being the first in the marketplace is going to be a big advantage.

#2: A Particularly Suitable Niche.
Social media and Internet marketing make a perfect niche for self publishing. And because of the unique approach I’m taking, this book is well suited to getting plenty of attention from leaders in social media. It’s also in an excellent position to have viral spin-off content, some of which I’m planning for pre-launch publicity.

#3: I’m an Entrepreneur at Heart.
I love business. I love starting businesses. I love running businesses. And self publishing is a business. It takes marketing, organizing, planning, and coordinating. While writing is art, publishing is more like science. Self publishing this book gets me back into the world of business, something I’ve been out of, for the most part, for more than a year. I miss it sometimes and am looking forward to getting back into the thick of it.

#4: I Have the Technical Know-How to Do Almost Everything Myself.
This is one of the biggest factors for me. If I had to pay someone else to do my layout, cover design, proofreading, and website design, I probably wouldn’t be doing this. But I have a background in magazine publishing and am an experienced copy editor. I’m proficient with Photoshop and have done graphic design for years, so designing a cover isn’t a big deal. I’ve got friends and family who are willing to double check my proofreading and copyediting. The only thing I’ll need to pay for is the actual printing and someone to do my taxes.

#5: Self Publishing Non-Fiction is Different Than Self Publishing Fiction.
Self publishing a novel is much more difficult than a nonfiction book. Niche nonfiction has somewhat of a built-in market. Fiction doesn’t. That’s not to say you can’t be successful self publishing fiction, but it’s a lot harder. You have to take a lot more time to build up a readership than you do with nonfiction. And while plenty of people will purchase a nonfiction book online, selling an unknown novel through the Internet is much more difficult. A lot of readers buy their fiction in brick-and-mortar bookstores, which are harder to get placement in if you’re self published. And even if they buy novels online, they are usually doing so on the recommendation of a friend or based on a review, also harder to get if you’re self published.

Those are my primary reasons for self publishing this book. I’m sure other people have other reasons for going it alone. As an aside, I’m also interested to see what the possibilities are for profit in this business. While publishing overall is a very low-margin business, I have a feeling that with the right niche product and a bootstrap mindset, it could be very profitable. I may prove this thesis wrong in the course of this project. Either way, I’ll be posting about it.

Photo by D'Arcy Norman, via Flickr

While novel-writing is often a seat-of-the-pants kind of adventure, non-fiction, especially that focused on technical topics, requires planning and research. I already have a couple years of experience writing about this topic, so that makes things a bit easier, as I’m familiar with what needs to be covered and where to find information I’m missing. But it still required a LOT of preplanning and notetaking.

I also have a very particular method I’m using for writing this. It’s something I found online a couple years ago, and I wish I could remember where so I could give proper credit (if anyone recognizes this, please let me know so I can attribute it properly). I just wrote it down in my notebook and put it away, knowing at some point I would find a use for it. Here’s the method:

1. Write down the general topics you want to cover in your book. You should have 15-25 of these for the average book. Use mind-mapping if you need to. These will become your chapters.
2. Write down a list of 20 or so sub-topics you want to cover or points you want to make in each chapter. I’ll admit that some of my chapters might have 25, and I have a couple of chapters that only have 10.
3. Those are going to become your sections and paragraphs. Some of them you may use for headings within your chapters, others might just take up a single paragraph within those sections.

That’s the basic formula I’m using for writing this book. I’ve set up a Word document for each chapter, and within each chapter I’ve listed out the points I want to make. In my case, a lot of these sections end up being a page or two long, while others might only be a paragraph or two.

Breaking things down in this manner makes it easier to stay on track and not feel overwhelmed. When I open up a chapter file to work on, I’m not overwhelmed by what lies ahead of me because I’m only seeing that one chapter. And seeing exactly what I need to cover makes my research easier.

Photo by Silence Of Night, via Flickr

This blog is going to focus primarily on writing and publishing. I’ve written five novels, all in various stages of rewrites at this point, as well as two screenplays (unsold) and various poetry (really horrible and will never see the light of day). I’m currently working on my first book-length non-fiction project, which I plan to self-publish within the next few months. Details of this project will be forthcoming and progress will be reported regularly. In addition to posting about my own writing trials and tribulations, I’ll be offering up writing prompts and discussions of the craft of writing and the business of publishing.

I plan on posting on a daily basis, with a regular schedule of writing prompts (though these will not be the standard “write about an early childhood experience” or “once upon a time…”). An upcoming post will detail that schedule. You can expect regular progress reports and at least one article on publishing and one on craft each week. On occasion I may also post parts of various works-in-progress for your entertainment (and feedback if you’d like to offer it).

So sit back with some tea (or wine) and put your feet up. Enjoy yourself, offer some feedback, tell me I’m crazy (I probably am), or I’m a hack (also a possibility), and have a good laugh.