Self Publishing

Share Your Knowledge and Experience - Write a Book

A "Boomer", by definition, has been around for a while. Consider what you have learned in your career, from your hobbies or other pastimes or from your travels. Perhaps you have picked up some useful information that you can package into an e-book and sell on the net.

Visitors to the Internet are hungry for information. Information products are among the best selling items online.

Traditionally, a budding author would have to find an agent or publisher to take her on. This is hard to do and can be tricky. Please visit, Publishing Craft Ideas for information on how to find a legitimate agent to represent you.

Another form of publishing that existed long before the Internet is known as "vanity" publishing. An author pays a printer to print and bind a run of his book that the author than has to try to sell on his own. Please visit How Do I Publish Craft Ideas for more on vanity presses.

Another good way to get published is to write an e-book. This is a book that just exists as electrons and is never put onto paper. There are certain advantages to this type of publishing.

The upfront costs are low, mainly the time you invest in the book. You don't have to keep an inventory or be concerned with shipping and handling costs. Best of all there are online services, such as Clickbank, that specialize in selling this type of product. Everything is automated for the author, who just has to collect the checks for his sales.

Of course you have to get sales. Again eBay or Overstock online auctions are a good place to start. You can also use Google Adwords (you don't need a website to sell this kind of product), rent an opt-in e-mail list (to avoid spamming) and send out ads or sell the book from your own website.

One of the best ways to get an e-book sold is through affiliates. They write about your book on their web sites, in e-mails they send out or in their newsletters. You pay one-third to one-half of your sales price in commissions. Again Clickbank specializes in this type of program and does all the work for you.

Consider this manual on self-publishing, Make Your Knowledge Sell. This free e-book will help you get your knowledge into writing and it will also give you resources to use to sell your finished product.

Conclusion

Of course, book writing and self-publishing is not for everyone. You have to be able to write and have something to write about. You have to be able to provide a book that either supplies information that others are looking for or that entertains. The former is easier to do than the later.

Consider your life and what you've learned. You might have a book in you.

Here are some other business opportunities to consider.

Affiliate Selling from Your Own Website
Earn commissions pre-selling goods for other merchants, such as Amazon or Sharper Image.

Make Decorative Art Stamps
For those with artistic talent and knowledge of computer graphics. Tap into the crafts market by making quality original decorative stamps.

Drop Shipping
Using mail order, online auctions, virtual stores or your won website, sell products that will be shipped directly to your customer in your name by the wholesaler.

Glass Etching
Purchase kits that allow you to make beautiful etched glass pieces.

Back to Boomers on the Brink