It’s no real surprise that the Coalition’s cuts are going to hurt organisations such as the Arts Council, which are seen by many as ephemeral. The proposed 29.6% cut in its budget will see many of the organisations that rely on direct funding affected severely.
 
The cuts equate to a 6.9% across-the-board cash cut in 2011/12. Many current recipients of grants live hand-to-mouth, so this will without doubt cause some immediate closures of arts organisations.
 
It’s a problem not dissimilar to the one faced by libraries, which we wrote of recently. Many press commentators will point out that the arts, including theatre, opera, music and literature, are indeed low hanging fruit when it comes to the cutting of budgets. The argument goes that it’s mainly the middle classes which benefit from much of this activity and if they feel strongly about keeping such services they’ll be prepared to pay for them privately.
 


dofollow blogs

It is often said that the effort of that writing a book is only 10 per cent of the process. The rest of the effort should be placed with the book’s promotion. But if you are a self publisher, without the sales and marketing expertise of a traditional publisher, how can you let people know about your book? 

There are now many avenues available for self publishers to promote their books. These include social networking websites such as YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and  MySpace. Another popular self-promotion technique is to develop your own blog. This can involve something as simple as using a publishing blog platform such as Wordpress to embed a blog into your web site. Advice in creating a popular blogs varies but the one constant is to be consistent and think of your audience.

It is important not to ignore the more traditional marketing techniques when promoting a self published book. One of the first ports of call would be to talk to a local journalist with a feature idea that include yourself or the book. Networking is also a powerful tool. Make sure to talk to your family and friends about your book and even consider giving away copies to local opinion formers.

Finally, do not forget to visit your local independent bookstore. They have had years of supporting local writers and know first hand how hard it is to survive as an independent business. They will often be very supportive and can help you with everything from a book launch to a window display.

The process of self publishing a book by yourself has been made easier in recent years. In the past, self publishing authors would have to coordinate everything themselves from cover design and copy editing to typesetting, printing and ISBN registration. Recently, self-publishing has become a much simpler proposition, largely due to the development of the internet.

The first process when publishing your book through a self-publishing web site is to upload the manuscript. Generally, companies offering this service require the manuscript to already be in a PDF format. These files are also to be copy edited. Once this file is load onto the site, the self publisher can now choose from a selection of templates that automatically typeset the manuscript. The next step is to select the size of the book, the format and paper quality. Once these processes are completed, your book will be ready to self publish.

There has been a huge growth in self publishing in recent years. The greatly increased numbers of self publishing web sites over the last ten years have allowed millions of people to self publish books that might not have seen the light of day.

It is really the development of digital printing that has allowed self publishing authors to flourish. The advantage of digital print technology over conventional printing methods is that an author (or publisher) can order as many copies of their book as they see fit. Although the cost per book is often higher, because smaller quantities of books are being produced the overall cost of printing is much lower and there are no storage costs. This is very appealing for self publishing authors who do not have access to a warehouse as it allows them to print the books as they are required (or print on demand, POD).

The downside of POD printing is that the quality of production can be lower than it is with conventional (litho) printing. However, the quality of digital print is improving all the time and with the latest technology it is often impossible to tell whether a book has been printed conventionally or digitally.

We will examine in more details the advantages and disadvantages of self publishing in future entries.

It’s very easy nowadays for a self publishing book to be produced. There are hundreds of suppliers out there who offer a range of options for the aspiring author.

So why are self publishing book options so popular? Well, it’s partly to do with the perilous state of the conventional publishing world. Too many books are published annually – over 200k per annum in the UK alone. High street booksellers are struggling – see the recent demise of Border UK and the reported downturn in the profits of Waterstone’s as simple proof of this. The result is that publishers look for safe options. This means authors with a proven track record or – more worrying from a cultural perspective – the rise of the celebrity author.

So, unless you are very lucky, a conventional publishing deal will be very hard to come by which is why the DIY option can be very attractive.