Before starting your book proposal, make sure that you have a strong book concept, an interesting approach and a catchy title.

Clearly identify your market, your niche, and understand what your proposal is intended to achieve. Make sure that your book is of the best quality:

that it is interesting, well written, and filled with information that will really help readers.

*** 6 Action Steps****

1. Be honest. Does the world need another book on your topic? Check bookstores and get in the know about what books exist.

If you think that your book is better and brighter, then perhaps it\’s meant to be.

2. Don\’t let anyone talk you out of your dream. If you believe in your idea and it does not exist, then don\’t postpone success.

Many agents have turned down ideas and said, “It\’s just a magazine article,” but those ideas sold.

3. Search online. Search everywhere. Talk to bookstore owners; see what\’s out there. Study your competition.

Learn what other authors have done. Were their books successful?

4. Research your book\’s title. You might be surprised to find that your title already exists. Was it on your topic?

The same title could be used for a book for kids and one about pets. Don\’t rule out a great title, but make sure that your book won\’t be confused with or be considered derivative to another book unless that\’s your intent.

5. Create an outline. Outline your book and see if you are still glued to the project after you set up what your chapters are about, etc. Sometimes people discover they really don\’t have a great deal to say, whereas others find the proof in the outline.

6. Write a Dear Reader letter. Try this assignment: write a letter to your reader and state what you plan to deliver in your book. It\’s a promise to the reader. You\’ll know after writing this letter and sharing it with others if there\’s a burning passion in you to write this book.

Then, keep your promise!
Get your Million Dollar Rolodex at http://www.rickfrishman.com

Rick Frishman, the founder of Planned Television Arts, has been one of the leading book publicists in America for over 30 years.

Working with many of the top book editors, literary agents and publishers in America, including Simon and Schuster, Random House, Wiley, Harper Collins, Pocket Books, Penguin Putnam, and Hyperion Books, he has worked with best-selling authors including Mitch Albom, Caroline Kennedy, Howard Stern, President Jimmy Carter, Mark Victor Hansen, Nelson DeMille, John Grisham, Hugh Downs, Henry Kissinger, Jack Canfield, Alan Deshowitz, Arnold Palmer, and Harvey Mackay.

In addition to his work at “PTA” Rick has now taken on the new role as Publisher at Morgan James Publishing in New York. David Hancock founded Morgan James in 2003 and in 2007 “MJ” published over 130 books. Morgan James only publishes non fiction books and looks for authors with a platform who believe in giving back. Morgan James gives a portion of every book sold to Habitat for Humanity. (http://www.morganjamespublishing.com)

http://www.rickfrishman.com for the million $ rolodex

Book awards bring exposure to books. Exposure generates sales. Sales mean more money in your pocket. Pursuing those book awards that allow publishers or authors to nominate their own titles can be a worthwhile activity for your book marketing efforts.

The literary community hosts a myriad of book awards. These awards differ as to who can nominate a book for an award. For some awards, publishers or authors can nominate their books and a committee or select group of people vote on the nominated titles. Other awards choose to have a nominating committee decide which titles should be considered for an award. Some awards have a select group of people (such as retailers, teachers, or students) nominate titles. There are a few book awards that are based on the number of copies a title has sold or lifetime achievements of an author.

Small and self-publishers can pursue those awards that allow publishers and authors to nominate books. Generally, these awards come with an entry fee. These entry fees can range from $40 to $200.

While entering a book award contest is not a guaranteed win for your entry fee, it certainly more than pays off if your book is picked for an award. Some book award programs publish the runners-up as well as the award winners. If your book falls into either of these categories, you receive a marketing gem.

Book awards, like book reviews, can be harnessed to promote your title in endless ways. One benefit of a book award over a book review is that an award warrants press coverage. Newspapers, magazines, and newsletters like to highlight authors and books that have won awards. Another benefit of a book award is that consumers tend to want to read books that have won an award. An award tells a consumer that a book is worth the money to purchase and time spent to read it. An award signals booksellers to purchase the book for their stores as book awards almost always guarantee sales.

When a book award is bestowed, the award should be used repeatedly in your marketing campaign. In addition to alerting the press about a book award, any book award received should be posted on your website, printed on all your marketing materials, used in advertisements, and added to your book’s cover on subsequent print runs. Also, make sure that you let your distributors know about the award and send an announcement to those publishers associations and discussion groups where you are a member.

Following is a list of a few book awards that are geared toward small and self-publishers.

• Annual Writer’s Digest International Self-Published Book Awards
Sponsored by Writer’s Digest, these book awards are the only awards exclusively for self-published books.
www.writersdigest.com/contests

• Christian Small Publisher Book of the Year Award
Sponsored by Christian Small Publishers Association (CSPA), this book award honors books in three categories (fiction, nonfiction, and children’s) for outstanding contribution to Christian life.
www.christianpublishers.net

• Ben Franklin Awards™.
Publishers must nominate titles.
www.pma-online.org/benfrank.cfm

• Best Book Awards.
Best Book Awards actively promote the winning titles through their website and through the media.
www.usabooknews.com

• Indie Excellence National Book Awards.
The Writers Marketing Association presents these awards for non-published manuscripts, POD books, and books by self-published or small press authors. Awards are presented in over 50 categories.
http://www.pubinsider.com/indieexcellenceawards.html

• ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Award.
ForeWord’s Book of the Year Award was established to bring increased attention from librarians and booksellers to the literary achievements of independent publishers and their authors. Print-on-demand titles and ebooks are accepted for nomination.
www.forewordmagazine.com/awards.asp

• The Hurston/Wright Legacy Award™.
This award, given by The Hurston/Wright Foundation and sponsored by Borders Books, is the first national award presented to published writers of African descent by the national community of Black writers. The award is offered for four categories and nominations must be submitted by the publisher with permission from the author.

www.hurstonwright.org/legacy_award.html

• Independent Publisher Book Awards.
The Independent Publisher Book Awards are sponsored by the Jenkins Group. These awards are for independent, university, small press, and self-publishers who produce books intended for the North American market. Print-on-demand titles are acceptable. The award offers 60 award categories.
www.independentpublisher.com

• The Nautilus Book Awards.
These awards are sponsored jointly by Marilyn McGuire & Associates and Independent Publisher Online. Their purpose is to recognize and promote books that change people’s lives and help heal our planet. Awards are offered in 20 categories including both adult and children’s titles.

http://www.marilynmcguire.com/nautilus/nautilus.html

• Writers Notes Annual Book Awards.
These awards are sponsored by Writers Notes Magazine to recognize extraordinary books by independent publishers. Awards in 11 categories are offered.
http://hopepubs.home.comcast.net/awards.html

As mentioned earlier, there are a multitude of book awards given each year. Some are specialty awards and others are more general. These are just a sampling of the more popular and well-known book awards for small and self-publishers. Go ahead and apply for some book awards. If your latest book wins an award or even if it is named a runner-up, you will have cause for celebration!

Sarah Bolme is the author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace

(http://www.marketingchristianbooks.com)

and the director of Christian Small Publishers Association

(http://www.christianpublishers.net). ©2007

In Aesop’s fable of The Hare and the Tortoise, these two animals agree to a race. Everyone knows that a hare is fast while a tortoise is slow. However, during the race, the hare decides to take a rest part way through and falls asleep. As a result the tortoise wins the race. Aesop’s moral in this story is “slow and steady wins the race.” Aesop could have written this fable for small publishers. Small publishers should model their business plan after the tortoise in this tale; slow and steady.

Large publishing houses publish multiple books each year. Then at the end of the year, they retire the books that did not meet their sales expectations and continue to keep the books that sold very well in circulation. The next year they repeat this process again. The books that sell well for the large publishing houses become their “backlist” titles. These are the books that continue to sell year after year. Many publishing houses make almost half of their profit off of their backlist titles. Their remaining profits come from their new “bestsellers.”

When small publishers follow this type of publishing plan, they inevitably fail. Many small publishers attempt to compete with large publishing houses and end up giving up too soon on new books when the do not sell as well they hoped the first year. Large publishing houses have the financial ability to place substantial marketing dollars behind every title they produce and to continue to publish multiple titles each year. Most small publishers do not have the financial wherewithal to compete with the large publishers.

For most small publishers, time, not money, is on your side. Most of the titles small publishers produce can be sold year after year as long as the subject matter is still relevant. Research shows that it generally takes a minimum of seven to twelve exposures to a new product before consumers will purchase. As a small publisher, you can take advantage of the time you have to continually market your titles to build up this required exposure over time. You do not have to have it accomplished in a year as the big publishers strive for. Your titles may never reach bestseller status, but steady sales add up over time.

Aim for continual steady sales. Don’t give up if your new books don’t sell as well as you expect the first year. Continue to market, market, market. Believe that you published the book for a purpose and that purpose is still being fulfilled. Hang in there like the tortoise. Slow and steady will win you the race.

Sarah Bolme is the author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace

(http://www.marketingchristianbooks.com)

and the director of Christian Small Publishers Association

(http://www.christianpublishers.net). ©2007

I recently spoke with a gentleman who had written and published a book on terrorism’s threat to our water supply. As we discussed avenues for marketing his book, this gentleman remarked that mostly academicians had purchased the book, which he found scary. Here was an individual who had the knowledge and the foresight to write a book on an important subject of concern to our country, and yet he did not recognize the position this placed him in. The first thing this gentleman needs to do in marketing his book is to accept the fact that, since he wrote the book, he is now the expert on the subject of how terrorism could affect our water supply.

The same is true for you. When you author a book on a particular subject, you become an expert on that subject. In marketing your books, you must accept this and proceed as an expert.

1. Think like an expert.
Experts don’t wonder who might want to read their books. Rather, they think, “Who needs this information?” “Who would benefit most from this information?” and “Who can help me access my book’s intended audience?” Thinking like an expert opens doors of opportunities for you. Experts seek out other experts in their field. They find others who are writing or speaking on the same subjects and network with them. Experts also think, “The world would be a better place if more people knew about this,” thus they take and make the most of every opportunity to educate and inform others about their subject of expertise.

2. Act like an expert.
Our actions flow from our thoughts. What you think influences what you do. If you are thinking like an expert, then you will begin to act like an expert. Experts approach others with confidence. Confidence engenders respect and trust. Experts make the most of every opportunity to alert others to new information without being overbearing. There is no need for arrogance or dominance when you know you possess knowledge, only a determination to help others learn the information also.

3. Talk like an expert.
Experts speak with authority. They don’t lead conversations with “I believe,” or “I feel that.” Instead, experts speak with conviction. They invite people to see and believe what they are presenting through clear reasoning. Experts say things like “Five reasons you need to know this information,” “Studies show or research indicates,” or “History reveals.” Speaking with conviction to an audience invites and encourages people to learn more on your subject.

You are an expert on your subject. Whether you are approaching a radio station to book a guest interview, speaking at a local bookstore on your book, or writing an article for a magazine, when you think, act, and talk like an expert, people will sit up and take notice. When you conduct yourself as an expert, doors of opportunity open for you to promote your book’s subject and increase your book’s sales.

Sarah Bolme, is the author of Your Guide to Marketing Books in the Christian Marketplace

(http://www.marketingchristianbooks.com)

and the director of Christian Small Publishers Association

(http://www.christianpublishers.net). ©2007

There is a tremendous opportunity for authors to reach millions of potential readers by marketing books online. Even better, you don’t have to be a technology guru or spend a lot of money to launch your online marketing campaign.

First and foremost, every author should have a website. You can use your website to not only market to readers, but to communicate with editors, agents and publishers. Your website is essentially an online brochure that can include as much or as little information as you’re willing to share.

Website hosting is also surprisingly affordable with rates ranging from $5-$20 per month depending on the provider you choose and the services you need. Some providers to consider are Yahoo (http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com), Network Solutions (www.networksolutions.com) or Go Daddy (www.godaddy.com).

Once your website is up and running, there is plenty you can do to get the word out. Following are strategies you can use to market your books around the globe with your own online marketing campaign.

Host a Newsletter
Sending an electronic newsletter, also known as an ezine, is one of the most effective and affordable marketing tools available. This is your opportunity to communicate with your readers, announce events, tell them about new books and products and build loyalty.

Make sure to send your newsletter on or around the same time each month or week. Ideally it should be loaded with interesting information so that your subscribers are eager to read each edition. Check out www.constantcontact.com for email management solutions.

Form Strategic Alliances
Contact authors and business owners in your field and inquire about partnership opportunities. You can swap links to each other’s websites, promote each other in your ezines, refer each other to media opportunities and speaking engagements, and find other mutually beneficial partnership opportunities.

Maximize Exposure on Amazon
There are a variety of programs on Amazon that can boost an author’s book sales. Check out Amazon Connect, where you can post messages to readers and on your book’s main page. You can also create Listmania lists, post reviews for other people’s books, and submit search terms relevant to your book. Also, make sure your book’s description on Amazon is accurate. If not, contact Amazon and request appropriate changes.

Participate in Forums and Message Boards
Online forums are a place where visitors can exchange information. Whenever you post a message, you can include a brief signature line with details about your book and your website address. Locate forums related to your book’s topic and become a regular visitor. You might be surprised by how many new readers you will find here. One great resource is Yahoo! Groups: http://groups.yahoo.com. Also search the internet for industry-appropriate forums. If you’re really ambitious, you might consider hosting your own forum.

Host a Blog
A blog, also known as a web log, is essentially an online diary where you can post brief bits of information for your readers. Most bloggers post messages two or three times per week. Well-read blogs provide information on controversial topics or offer how-to advice and useful statistics. You can start a free blog by visiting www.blogger.com. Make sure you promote your blog everywhere by including a link from your website, in your email signature and mentioning it in your author bio. You might also want to read some existing blogs to get some ideas on how to format yours.

Publish Articles
Many of the millions of websites on the internet are in need of quality content and articles. You can write articles related to the topic of your book and submit them for consideration to industry-related websites. Make sure to include an author bio with a link to your website.

You can also post articles to content sites such as www.ezinearticles.com and www.ideamarketers.com. Visitors to these sites look for articles to publish on their websites and in their ezines. When your article is selected for publication, the publisher must include your author bio. This is one of my favorite book marketing strategies. Even if you publish just one article per month, over time you should see your website traffic grow dramatically. Don’t forget to run an internet search periodically on your article’s title so you can see where it is featured.

The more time you spend online looking for opportunities to market your book, the more chances you will find to increase sales. Commit to spending an hour every day to marketing online and you will surely see your sales improve.

Stephanie Chandler is the author of several business books and the founder of http://www.BusinessInfoGuide.com, a directory of resources for entrepreneurs. She also recently released a workbook and eBook called “Online Marketing for Authors.” For details visit http://businessinfoguide.com/products.htm

There are two things every author must know about promoting your nonfiction book. First, it is your responsibility, no matter what publishing method you use - conventional, print on demand (POD), or do-it-yourself. Second, promotion should begin long before your book is finished. In fact, you should be thinking about it from the very beginning of the planning process.

One of the first questions you probably asked yourself was who are my readers? Once you have identified them, your next step is to find ways to tell them what the book is about; what problem it will solve; why it is funny, informative, or moving; who wrote it and why; and, most important, why they want to spend money to own it. What follows are seven proven ways to reach your readers with this information:

1. Create a website.
You must have a presence on the Internet. A Website showcases your book, highlights the cover, introduces you as an expert author, delineates the main points, tells where the book may be purchased, and provides a place for testimonials. A Website doesn’t have to be expensive or elaborate, but it should be professionally designed and constructed. Unless you are a Web guru, invest in a professional Website designer.

2. Brainstorm ideas.
Gather a group of your most creative friends to generate as many ideas as you can (It’s a good idea to feed them). Break your reading audience into subgroups, and list all the places to find them. Where do they hang out? What organizations do they belong to? Where do they shop? What are their passions, hobbies, and vocations? The spreadsheet you create is the beginning of your promotional plan.

3. Send advance readers’ copies (ARCs).
When the book is finished but not yet published, send bound copies of galley proofs to book reviewers at print and electronic media. Be sure to stamp them “Reader’s Copy” or “Galley Proof.” You want to time the reviews to coincide with the publication and availability of your book. Reviewers want to read it before it hits the shelves. Timing is everything.

4. Submit articles.
Your book is a goldmine of article ideas. Every major point is an article ready to be excerpted or paraphrased. Once you know what your target audience is reading, you have a list of potential publications, print and electronic. Write a 25- and 50-word author’s blurb to be printed at the end of every article. When you submit to an online article Website, indicate that the article may be reprinted at no charge, as long as it includes the author’s blurb.

5. Take part in book fairs.
Share a table or booth with other writers or with members of an association of which you are a member, if it is relevant to your topic. Book fairs can mean long hours on your feet if you go it alone; but, when you share the workload, the experience can be fun and rewarding. You’ll meet new people, reach readers directly, and become personally involved in selling your book.

6. Share what you know.
Offer to give free presentations at bookstores and other venues that carry your book. This is a great way to build your reputation as an expert in your field, provide value to the bookseller and the book buyer, and connect directly with your readers. It’s good for your ego to be asked to sign your own book. One caveat: if you don’t feel comfortable speaking in front of a group, join Toastmasters or hire a speaking coach. Don’t muddle through your presentation.

7. Assemble a sales package.
Put together a press kit to send to local radio and TV stations. Include a news release with pertinent information about the book and future scheduled appearances, an author’s bio, talking points to use in an on-air interview, a sample book cover, background information, and favorable reviews and testimonials. A press kit is like a resume; it gets you in the door. Once you get there, the rest is up to you.

Promoting your book is an ongoing project. It isn’t something you do once and then move on. As long as your book is available and there are potential readers who could enjoy it and benefit from reading it, you have a job to do. This is, after all, why you wrote it.

Bobbi Linkemer is a ghostwriter, editor, and the author of 12 books under her own name. She has been a professional writer for 40 years, a magazine editor and journalist, and a book-writing teacher. Her clients range from Fortune 100 companies to entrepreneurs who want to write books in order to enhance their credibility and build their businesses. Visit her Website at: http://www.WriteANonfictionBook.com

Now that your book is in your hands, yipee, wowee. Congratulations. Many compete but few get to publication these days.

Some authors are quite naive when they are first published with the idea that the publishing company will take a leading role in their promotion, dumping buckets of money out on flashy advertisements in magazines. They will hire you a book promoter and pay for a six day book tour around the country. It’s the beginning of a dream fulfilled. Sure, that might happen sometimes. With a book tour costing an average of between 1,000 and 10,000 dollars a day, it would be unlikely the would spend the money on you. Instead, the publishing company is most likely going to watch you instead.

The book publishing company cannot sell books without the author. So they wait to see what the sales are like before they think about investing in advertising.

So if novel A is published and it’s from a first-time author without a track record, they simply ignore it and wait. They have books they’ve published from more established authors and still those authors are probably expected to make their own wind. Often, they do not even put out press releases. In fact, how many books can your remember reading an online press release about? Few, if any.

No track record, no money. Nothing is thrown at you to make your life easier.

So what do you do if you want a career?

You remember some of the shows where the gopher and mailroom clerk work their way up to CEO. This is the same concept with your book. If you want the book career and have your book right there, this is your entry level job. It doesn’t matter who published it. It now comes down to what you do.

So if you thought the heartbreaking rejection letters were the worst, you just wait.

Now you have a sales job of getting book signings at bookstores. Even if your book company distributes themselves or doesn’t have a distributor, bookstores can still host you. So if someone says ‘no’, then you need to find out why.

For media coverage, you’re not going to get it without first setting up an event so chicken before the egg or egg before the chicken. Nobody is going to pick your story up unless you’re somewhere visible.

So be somewhere visible. If bookstores aren’t immediately interested, it is probably due to your approach.

Are you faxing them? Yeah, people hate that. Don’t fax them unless you want to tag along on an event they are promoting. Really, don’t fax. And what about email? Sure, give it a try. You might email 150 places and find two get back to you. But that might be worth it to you. But by faxing ahead of emailing, you may be consumed with the fact that you are rejected which isn’t the truth.

Yes, you’re a new writer and a published author. Now, it’s time to realize you’ve just entered your job in sales.

Sales people don’t get their answering machine messages returned as a general rule and if they are identified as a sales person, they don’t even get to talk to the real decision maker.

If you want to set up book signings at bookstores, make a point to call eight or more bookstores a day or at least a week. These should be bookstores you can get to in a car or on a bus.

Tell them who you’re with. This is Jake. I’m looking to talk to someone who sets up book signings at your store.

Don’t talk to anyone else if you can help it because the element of surprise is a good one.

Introduce yourself. Tell them about your book as a secondary issue and instead focus on what successes you’ve already had drawing in people and selling books. So you sort of name drop in the last book signing and how many books you sold. If you don’t have the track record, say nothing. Sprinkle in reviews from fans with your conversation.

Try to solve problems as they give them to you. They don’t take on romance books? Start identifying your book as an inspirational book or some other more generic genre. They don’t do mystery books. Describe it next time as a crime book.

Expect six rejections for every two positive calls. The two positive calls could simply be getting more information, being pointed in the direction of the Regional Sales Representative. It could be a book signing right away.

If you are finding that bookstores are not responding, it could be related to the time of year. Winter book signing events are rare when there’s three feet of snow. In cottage areas, summer book signings may not be popular.

But don’t think because book signings don’t immediately welcome you that you’re in trouble. Now’s the time to instead phone up a local charity or a small business and have them put on an event for you with you donating a little money to the charity per book. It gets your name out. It’s very easy to advertise this kind of event. Media outlets will pick it up.

Phone up a cafe. Ask to be hosted. Order your own books and get out there. Create your own wind and I guarantee by your third book, the advertising dollars from the publishing company will now start following you.

Robyn Whyte is the CEO of Stargazer Press. Drop by http://www.stargazerpress.com and check out our great educational programs and novels. This May first, pick up a copy of Victoria Graydale’s journey story ‘The Wizard’s Daughter’.

Approximately 20% of the cost of your book is the paper. The type of paper you select can affect the price but more importantly it will affect the perception of its value to your customers. This article will give you a better idea how paper is classified in North America and should make talking with your printer a little easier.

There are a great many types of paper. Some are acid free archival quality. Some are made in part of recycled paper. Some reproduce photographs better than others due to the coatings applied. Here is where you might save a little money. If you are publishing novel or other book with few illustrations consider an uncoated archival paper. It might also be a little heavier which will add thickness to your book and reduce show-through. (If the paper is not opaque enough the text on the other side can show through.) Unless you’ve written a modern War and Peace, a little extra thickness can be a good thing.

Your paper decision will depend to a great extent on the printer and her presses since some presses work best with specific types of papers. And you don’t want any surprises when the book goes to press so it’s usually best to use a paper that your printer is familiar with.

I usually ask the printer for several samples that meet the project requirements and that she is familiar with. This way I’m not married to any particular paper and the printer will know what to expect from the paper on her press. Make your concerns known to the printer when she does the quote and listen to her recommendations.

Don’t be surprised if the samples you get are few. Generally a printer has a couple of business options. They can offer lots of paper choices and charge a higher price or a couple of choices and a very competitive price. Face it, choice costs more no matter what business you’re in.

Graphic designers will talk endlessly about lovely paper that they have seen and used. As a group we like to think of ourselves as paper experts, but the truth is very few are. Although I don’t consider myself an expert I love the feel of fine paper and appreciate its use in books. For novels I like paper that has an interesting texture. Text without pictures is best with an off white matt paper. The colour is a little less jarring than a bright white sheet and it will usually show pictures acceptably so long as great detail isn’t required. Paper for colour printing needs to be smoother to take the ink properly and whiter for better colour reproduction.

Now it will make life much simpler to go with whatever the printer recommends but it’s also nice to know what your printer is talking about. So let’s take a quick tour of common terms in the paper industry.

Paper comes in seemingly unending, confusing variety. Not only is the paper coated, uncoated, sized on one or both sides; it is matt, cover, offset, antique, text or newsprint and comes in a cacophony of weights and measures. Let’s try to make things a little simpler.

Paper in North America is usually divided into four broad types, newsprint, offset, matt and gloss. Newsprint is the paper used in newspapers; cheap, thin and short-lived. It does come in a variety of grades depending on how white it is and how heavy (thick). Offset is an average quality paper commonly used for printing of all sorts. Matt is a higher quality paper, usually smoother so it will take the ink more consistently. Gloss is exactly what it says. The very smooth surface takes ink very accurately and produces more vibrant colours. Each type is subdivided into grades normally referred to as book, coated and cover, depending on quality and thickness. There is quite a bit of overlap in these terms and you could easily find an offset-gloss that is better for your project than a matt coated. The industry isn’t consistent in using the terms and often dispense with them entirely in order to market a paper with a more or less descriptive brand name. You won’t find all grades in each type, for example there is no point in a cover stock for newsprint

Paper can also be classified based on the manufacturing method. Paper that has not been heavily calendered (this is a process of smoothing and flattening on large machine rollers) has more of a textured surface. It is usually thicker and is commonly referred to as antique. Machine finish papers are calendered to give a smoother surface and are usually thinner. The smoothest finishes are attained by coating the paper with a mixture of clay and glue then callendering. Depending on the type of calendering and the clay mix they can have a matt or gloss finish.

OK so you should now be thoroughly confused, but at least you have heard some of the industry terms even if they don’t have the meaning you might expect. Here are some examples of paper that might be used for various projects.

Letterhead: 50 lb offset (approximately the same as 20 LB bond, commonly referred to as book weight)

Flyer printed on one side in 4 colours: 45 LB gloss

Flyer printed on both sides in 4 colours: 60 LB gloss

Book jacket printed one side in 4 colours: 60 - 70 LB gloss

These examples show weight in pounds, unfortunately in North America text and cover paper is weighed differently. For example, a manufacturer might have an 80 LB text and an 80 LB cover stock. The cover stock is much thicker than the text because the standard sheet size that is being weighed is smaller. The 80 Lbs. refers to the weight of a standard number of sheets of a given size (this quantity is usually called a ream). Some manufacturers now show European measurements in addition to North American, so the 80 LB text might have a weight of 118 grams per square meter and the 80 LB cover a weight of 216 g/m2. It’s obvious from the European weights that the cover stock must be almost double the thickness of the text stock.

I’ve heard a number of different reasons why paper weights were based on different sizes of paper. I think the most likely is that the machines designed to print the inside pages were different that those designed to print covers. As a result what we think of as cover stock was supplied in a size that worked well for whatever manufacturing process or machine was used and it was simply weighed in the same way as text paper. Sheet size may also have something to do with the paper manufacturing process. If you are a fan of ‘which came first’ arguments then the paper came first and the press came later. However the press came before widespread use of machines for paper making so I still vote for the press size as the dominating factor.

The weight per square meter is a European standard. You can see a very concise article in Wikipedia on paper size. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_size) The system is based on a sheet of paper one square meter in area with an aspect ratio based on the square root of two (longer on one side than the other). Various paper sizes are obtained by halving the sheet on the long side to create subsequently smaller paper sizes of the same ratio. It’s been around since early in the twentieth century (actually conceived in the eighteenth century) and it’s a much better system. Only Canada and the US have not adopted it. (Insert your snide remark here.)

Don’t get stuck on a particular make of paper. A printer might quote a particular make of paper for a job because she knows it will work and has the stock or knows it’s available. It’s quite possible that another printer would have to special order the same paper and be unable to get it in a reasonable time. Printers are the paper experts and unless you have something very special in mind, go with your printer’s recommendation.

I’ve said earlier that gloss paper takes ink more accurately and gives more vibrant colours, but don’t discount using a non-glossy paper for your book cover. I’ve seen some wonderful colour work done on uncoated and matt paper and it might give you the perfect feel for your book.

I strongly recommend that you use archival acid free paper. There is a greater variety of this type of paper available today than at any time in the last 50 years. Books made in the late 19th century and onward are generally poor in paper quality. This is one area where technology has failed us. While supplying enormous quantities of inexpensive paper to feed the information age, we limited the information’s life span to a few years. Books made two and three hundred years ago can be in wonderful shape where books made just 50 to 80 years ago are almost universally yellowing and growing brittle with age. Many books printed from 1850–1900 are beyond repair.

I hope this article helps a little. Paper is a complex subject, not because it’s difficult but because it has a long and distinguished history.

Michael has been a full time graphic designer for over 15 years. He has designed all manner of communication but his first love is a good book finely bound.

Michael Dyer
Graphic Designer
http://www.mocabookdesign.com/

Have you been straining and struggling, trying to find a way to get your favorite manuscript, articles, poems or other classic writings out to the world? Ok, you can blog them of course, but what if you had a way to actually publish your cherished works in an iPod book form? Would that be of great value to you? I can only speak for myself in this regard as I am an author. The subject of my material is usually about search engine optimization and search engine marketing. This is my passion and my drive. Therefore, I write articles, press releases, blogs and forum posts all the time.

I have just recently met an amazing individual online. His name is Steve Cox and he is a well known software designer for some major corporations and educational institutions. He has introduced me to what I believe is the most efficient way to get your manuscripts, both in media and written format. This ingenious software is called PocketBook. With PocketBook, famous authors like yourself can trial download the software and place up to 10 works for absolutely no money. Its a simple program to use as you will already have your media uploaded and you will simply transfer this into the PocketBook and bingo! You now have your published work to display to the world.

But wait just a moment. I have not told you the best part yet. What if Steve Cox gave you the opportunity to place your new novel, poems, articles or whatever for sale into his high traffic ebay store? Would that be a great value for you as well? Well, guess what? That is exactly what his software program can do as well. Yes, you produce the work, publish it, send it to his ebay store and when someone wants to purchase it, you make money! This is nothing short of an incredible opportunity people. Could it be any better than this?

As a matter of fact it can be. What if Steve Cox were to do all the technical work for you at absolutely no charge? Would that be an even better value? That is exactly what this man is offering, for a very limited time. He will place your media files, your written copy and even produce a pocket book cover for your book at no charge! Let me ask you Mr. or Mrs. author. What could you possibly think of that would hold you back from doing this?

If you have been following my articles at all, you know that I love marketing online. I love meeting like minded people that are striving for internet notoriety in some manner. Most are having no luck at all, but that is ok. It is called a consistent building process. I have just published my new first edition iPod book called “Internet Marketing for the Average Guy.” For me, this tells it all as I am a believer that absolutely anyone breathing today can learn to become an effective online businessman or businesswoman. We have a choice. We have to make the decision.

Seriously, Steve Cox has the best system for quickly producing your iPod books. He even offers to place them in his ebay store. He does this as he knows that building a great business online requires visualization and hard work. I sincerely hope to see your iPod book along side mine very soon!

Butch Hamilton is an SEO|SEM Specialist. Living on the internet has become a way of life…a successful way of life. His talents for obtaining top positions on the search engines have led him to the point in his life where he has always wanted to be.

Says Mr. Hamilton, “Writing has always been my passion. Gone are the days when I placed blatant ads on the internet for exposure. I have found my life’s work in writing articles.”

Butch Hamilton’s Quote: “What we think-is what we become.”

Butch Hamilton
806-874-3314
806-205-0648
Skype: butch.hamilton

http://pocketbookmaker.com
http://butchhamiltonsbestdomains.com
http://butchhamiltons-internet-newsletter.com

Like the many thousands of people who seek the services of a literary agent, I too have sent many query letters to those experts who promote the publication of some form of written communication to the public. Yes, whatever that might be, you can be sure that at least one of those literary agents specializes in the subject that you and I worked so hard to create so that the World’s people can learn from and/or enjoy.

Believe it or not, I’m still waiting for some of those literary agents to respond to the letters I sent more than two months ago. Then again, maybe the delivery rate for the U.S. Postal Service is only 80%. or I wasted 20% of my time because what I sent was simply discarded. I wish that I could have hand delivered each and every letter so at least I’d know that 20% of my literary agent search work wasn’t wasted.

Well, it seems that I’ll have to wait awhile longer. So far, I’ve kept myself busy by writing short stories, house cleaning and analyzing the rejection form letters that I did receive. Most of them are exactly the same except for the name of the person who signed each one. As it happens, I also made one mistake in regard to selecting the proper agent for the kind of novel I wrote, and those replies I fully understand.

You see, those literary agents told me that my story isn’t the kind of story that they promote. The truth is, they never said exactly what they promote, so I took a chance and sent them a letter. Keep in mind that each one of those people receives hundreds of query letters each week and maybe they just like to receive huge amounts of paper. There must be big money in the scrap paper business.

Some agents said that their client list was full. Is that actually what they mean, or are they saying: “I don’t like money,” or, “I have an office in the high rent section of the city because I like the view from the window,” or, “I’m looking for ideas for my next novel.”

Your guess is as good as mine, but this waiting has caused me to think of reasons that probably aren’t true. One gentleman was kind enough to tell me that I did good work and he also wished me the best of luck. Thank you so much for that, but it’s too bad for me that he didn’t know any publishers who would publish my novel.

There you have it. They know people in the publishing business, so they also know just about what to send to those people so that they can both profit from the written works of art that every writer created in which to also earn a living.