Tips on Writing – Thoughts on Self-Publishing and Print-On-Demand

There are many reasons to self-publish your written work. At one time, self-publishing was considered “vanity press” and elicited little respect. That attitude has changed as many successful writers have self-published and many self-published books have become best-sellers.

There are many types of self-publishing. If you do it completely on your own, you will need an ISBN number and bar code. There are many places on-line where you can download the forms for those. You also must have your book registered in the book indexes. One place to do this is Ingram Books. Once you are listed in the indexes, you will automatically be on Amazon and on Barnes and Noble and the other on-line stores, and brick and mortar stores will be able to order your book.

Many people want to self-publish as a platform for being picked up by a major publisher. This is quite possible, Legally Blonde was such a book. To do this, you must get good sales and good reviews. If you can show good sales, they will at least talk to you.

If you go with one of the Print-On-Demand houses, such as AuthorHouse (there are many others) they will take care of the ISBN, bar code, printing (usually through Lightning Source – a print-on-demand printer) and listing in Ingram so all the indexes know your book is there. Again, if you can generate a lot of sales, and good reviews, you can then approach a major publishing house.

If you don not use a print-in-demand house, you must consider the logistics of warehousing your printed books and delivering them to the end buyer. This can be expensive and cumbersome.

Whether you are self-publishing, doing Print-On-Demand or being picked up by a major publisher, actually, the publicity and promotion of your book is your responsibility, so it is a very good idea to learn how to get copies to reviewers, etc. On-line social media is also a good way to promote a book, but you should not rely on that exclusively, as it has its limits.

Some things to consider when you self-publish:

What kind of paper will the book be published on? It should be acid free or your books will disintegrate fairly quickly. (If you use Lightning Source, they use acid free paper.)
What kind of binding will the book have? Some use inferior glue, etc. and the books will fall apart. (Again, if you use Lightning Source, they have superior quality binding.)
If you use a Print-On-Demand house, do they provide the ISBN number, which is the number used to sell the book? If not, it can be a cumbersome and expensive process to get one and you will need it to sell the book in book stores.
Do they list your title at all the on-line book stores and in brick and mortar indexes? (Many POD houses use Ingram Book Group as part of the service.)
These are just a few of the things to consider when deciding to self-publish your book. It can be a very rewarding process, however.

Geoff Hoff is a best selling author. Among his books is the one written with co-author Steve Mancini ca

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Making the Right Choice While Purchasing a CD & DVD Publishing and Printing Unit

“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” A right decision in acquiring a disc publishing and printing unit can really work wonders with faceless media. How about a presentation DVD for the clients with the company logo and punch line, your digital modelling portfolio that gives a glimpse of your beauty. How about opening a kiosk? Not just this, we can also produce the most popular applications include video and music content, software, press kits, trade show handouts, instruction and training manuals, technical documentation, PowerPoint Presentations, catalogs and more.

A CD/DVD publisher can be a great help to us when trying to accomplish the above points. One of the things that we have to be sure of, is the unit we buy has fantastic software. With the right CD & DVD publishing software, we can do more than simply create a CD or a DVD. We can also create effective marketing materials with it and many more. How about gifting your girlfriend a CD with all her favorite songs with a photo of your rosy-eyed duo printed on the top of it? Well, everything is possible with a right choice we make while purchasing a CD/DVD publishing and printing unit. There are some factors that matter a lot in choosing a publishing unit. Some of them are:

1. The quality of the CD/DVD publisher and printer definitely makes a difference to our digital media.
2. The cost and capacity of production are the factors that define the performance standards.
3. Ink costs are the main consideration when buying a CD/DVD publisher unit followed by the speed of production and capacity. Higher the speed and larger the capacity, more expensive the CD/DVD publisher/printer will be.
4. The reliability of a CD/DVD publisher develops the framework that links specifications and product performance. The product reliability allows us to choose products that can project service costs, warranty costs and predictable sparing levels that will allow us to optimize profitability.

So, in the era of media publishing, XLNT Idea brings us the perfect media as a solution and can make our dreams come true. This excellent product can make our loved ones happier than ever. XLNT Idea is one of the well acknowledged names in the publishing and printing industry, not only in the originality in printing technology, but also has a distinct presence in the entire industry of innovative technology. XLNT Idea has introduced the Nexis series as the industry’s leading DVD/CD Publishing Solution.

The Nexis series come with an advanced print engine and the DiskWorks software that provides an intuitive, user-friendly label editing job available today. Ensuring features like, easily design labels, print, and burn discs of superior quality, with its 50-disc input capacity and small desktop footprint make it perfect for business and personal requirements. XLNT Idea’s CD/DVD publisher & printer come with single as well as dual CD, DVD and Blu-Ray drives. Integrated with a disc transport robotic system that can move discs while printing which achieves the highest throughput. Nexis series have introduced the six-color quality for best print and photo-realistic images. But XLNT Idea products can work along with Windows XP, 2000, 2003 server to Vista. XLNT Idea Nexis series products are very economical with an elegant look and feel. Unique products with multiple features will definitely make the job of printing and publishing simple and easy. So, we will definitely feel delighted after purchasing the amazing product from XLNT Idea Nexis series.

XLNTidea is the industry’s premier DVD/CD duplicator manufacturer, CD printer, DVD copier, CD copier, CD and DVD Duplication, DVD copier duplicator.

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