Being a writer, people are always asking me how to get published. The first thing I usually do is send them over to Dan Poynter's book, The Self-Publishing Manual : How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book

With this book, you have a good starting point to plan your contents properly, to pre-sell many hundreds, even thousands of copies - before you print, and information on how to format the final product so that it keeps selling for you.

The fact that it is now in it's 12th edition - and in retail bookstores all over the country should tell you that Dan, who publishes his own books, does know whereof he speaks.

If you are going to start a writing career, even if you have an agent, this $15.96 is the best investment you will ever make.



But I have just found another dynamite resource for you! I met Bob Holt at Affiliate Force 2000. His site, GreatUNpublished.com is a brilliant resource for small publishers and new authors.

Instead of paying a printer or a vanity publisher $5,000 or more to produce the first print run of your book, GU enables you to upload an electronic version of your book for under $100!

Readers can come along and either download a copy of your book to read (for a price) or order a printed copy. GU produces a printed, perfect bound, paperback book with a full-color cover and sends it off to them on your behalf.

You no longer have to find a place to store 2,000 - 5,000 unsold books. You don't have to deal with setting up a merchant account with a bank and taking credits and doing all the administration and paperwork. In fact, they'll even help you find readers - they showcase their authors' books on the site and, let's face it, if somone searches for a fiction book, they are likely to see yours.

I am so impressed with this. In fact, it may solve a problem that I have had for several years. A friend wrote the funniest book Rick and I have ever read. (I know he thinks it was funny, I kept hearing him laugh out loud for two days while he had the book first. ) Charles Coulter's "Ponce's Fountain" is about a corporate executive realizing that he is past middle age ... and the delightful things that happen to him when Aphrodite elicits his aid in a battle of the Olympian Gods in modern Greece.

We loved the book so much, that when Chuck died and the publishing house folded, we bought up all the remaining copies of his book. And we've been trying to find a publisher to reissue it. (His publishing house folded because the owners ran off with about 10 million dollars of the authors' money ... and disappeared!)

I think we'll be talking to his wife to make arrangements to have Ponce's Fountain re-released through GreatUNpublished.com .

Considering all the research Chuck did on the gods for his Encyclopedia of Ancient Deities, you can just bet that he had enough intimate knowledge of the gods to make them authentic, believable and totally hilarious....and, oh yes, he does reveal the ultimate truth about the One and Only!

You may feel that you need some more guidance to write your e-book for a web audience. And since your topic is more informational and less fictional, you think you want some help on creating a book that showcases your knowledge and expertise? Don't despair. You've heard of Ken Evoy, the Make Your Site Sell guru? Well, he's written a book to help you Make Your Knowledge Sell.

Ken realizes that the hardest part about writing a book is getting started. How to express yourself, what to write about? He gives you a "Brain Shovel" to help you get started. Now you have some excellent tools to start writing. It's time to become the author you always wanted to be!