Life Perspective: Reviews & More

I just received a letter from one of the submitting poets asking if he could get a discount since three of his poems were published in the the Mayberry poetry book (actually, only two were published; we declined one). Don't get me wrong -- usually I am the person negotiating for a discount! However, I have had people raise eyebrows at the cost of the books before. I think shoppers are used to buying trade paperbacks with lots of pages for $7.99. They look at a book which is larger but with fewer pages and think the $12.99 price tag is high. To put things in perspective, I sent him the following note. Actually, more poems = more formatting and more pages printed = more cost to print, so the more poems I run from one person, the more they have increased my costs. That's one reason many publications charge a "reading fee" or "submission fee" for each poem submitted. The $12.95 covers the cost of compiling, editing, formatting, layout, binding, trimming, print...

How to Promote Your Book on a Shoestring Budget started its life as the 8-page booklet "How to Promote Your Benefit Concert on a Shoestring Budget" way back in 1990. That's how long I have been organizing promotional, marketing and publicity tips along with event-planning ideas. I started work on this book in September of 2006, and even had a proof copy done at a local vanity press. However, I was very unhappy with the results and have spent the past two years refining the book, adding four new chapters plus a checklist, as well as workbook pages with every chapter. The book has been through the editing process, has been proof read, designed and laid out, and now I am just waiting for the final product to roll off the presses, hopefully by the end of August! If you order the book, I want you to know that's not all you get! I have just created a Yahoo group where my readers will have access to me and to other writers where you can give feedback, ask questions, and sh...