I believe the old adage that everyone has a book within themselves - just waiting to get written, published and sold.

Print on Demand

There is now a relatively inexpensive way to publish your books as paperbacks and e-books. This method is based on a paperback publication called ‘print on demand’. No more having to have a large number of paperbacks printed to save on individual book costs and then paying large amounts to self market your texts, or for even more outlay paying some professional marketing firm and then having to find a distributor, etc. I would like to share my recent very positive experience this year with an Amazon.com company called CreateSpace.

Background Experiences

As a background, originally I took what I thought would be the cheapest method of publishing and marketing my books. The books I wrote I made into e-books and then uploaded these pdf versions to my websites for publication. Simple and relatively cheap i.e. if you do not count the cost of setting up two e-commerce enabled websites, each for a different theme, from a private designer. These days you can set up these e-commerce websites relatively inexpensively e.g. check out Yahoo’s Business options. Once you master the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) skills, which take some enormous amount of time and creativity and / or pay Google Ads, etc., then people will visit your site and purchase your books.

A Better Way

Since that time in 2009-10, I discovered that there was now a better way. This way uses the production, printing and marketing skills of an enormous world-wide internet selling company, Amazon.com, to achieve your publication at a relatively inexpensive cost to you. Once the production is finished you decide where you would like your books sold e.g. directly through Amazon.com and / or createspace.com and / or through their enormous collection of distributors and sellers world-wide. (You have more distribution options through the Amazon.com networks if you allow CreateSpace to arrange your ISBN numbers. However, if you take this option you need to stay with them and not go with other independent distributors.) The whole process is well explained on the CreateSpace website. There are many levels of production from which you may choose. They will do virtually everything for you, through to you doing almost everything yourself, with you eventually signing off on the finished product. Options range from cover design to proofing of text and internal designs, etc. Costs are proportionate to your needs. From my experience the whole process with your continued input / feedback sort or given is about 2-3 months.

Sales Outlets

Once the books are for sale through whatever outlets you choose, you then have the option of having your paperback converted into an e-book for sale on Amazon.com by CreateSpace. Once again you have various options of where to have these distributed dependent on where you had your ISBN sourced. Check their policy statements carefully before signing up.

Paperbacks + e-Books = Wider Distribution

Paperbacks and e-books now complement each other. It has been suggested that even though the markets are different, you will still sell substantially more paperbacks if distributed properly. The CreateSpace production and distribution methods seem to me to be the way to go for so many reasons, not the least this method is a cost effective world-wide means to sell your paperback and e-books.
I am still learning as my paperbacks have just been listed on Amazon.com and the e-books are being produced now. As an example of how paperbacks and e-books are listed on Amazon.com just check out Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed), 2011, and School Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (3rd ed), 2011.

The 'Everyone has a book within themselves - write, publish, sell it - the relatively inexpensive way!' was written by Bryan Foster, author of Church Marketing Manual for the Digital Age (2nd ed), - the paperback and ebook manual for Church communications and marketing personnel - 304 pages of easy to read and implement summarized points, which allow for a considerably large number of quality stategies and examples to be detailed and available for church marketing personnel - with copyright remaining GDPL. Book available from Amazon.com and Createspace.com