God and Publishing

Considering publishing a book? What about a book about religion?

If you've been thinking about publishing a religious book, then you are not alone. Religious publications have exploded in recent years. In fact, according to BookWire, the number of new titles published under the religious category increased 298% between 1993 and 2004 - more than twice the growth rate of all other categories.

In fact, according to the American Association of Publishers, sales of religious books increased 50% during 2003 alone.

Divine intervention? Not necessarily. According to a 2004 article in the Christian Science Monitor, some of this growth can be attributed to self-reported figures from some of the largest publishing houses that have begun combining religious books and self-help books into the same category.

Why would they do this? Because it helps them sell more books of course!
Many self-published authors recognize the potential of religious publishing. Ever since the explosive popularity of Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life with more than 20 million copies sold, many publishing companies have jumped on the religious publication bandwagon, and begun to actively seek religious books to add to their catalogs. In fact, some publishing industry analysts have found it necessary to pull the sales figures of Rick Warren's books out of their data because they skew the entire sector!

Wow, that is successful. But, what does it mean to you?

Even if your book is not directly religious in the traditional sense. It may sell well within the religious community. Just as large publishing houses have begun re-branding the self-help category into the religious one, you can too.

After all, one of the keys to selling more books is to broaden the scope of the market you sell to; and religion is billions of people strong!

Using the Internet to Increase Your Book Sales

The Internet has a number of great resources you can use immediately to promote your book. Some, in fact many, are even free!

First, you will want to make use of some of the book listing services and directories out there. One great resource for finding places to list your book can be found at: http://www.ioba.org/newsletter/archive/v16/manley.php. Use this as a jumping off point to other listing services. Remember, the more places people can find references to your book the more likely they will be to consider buying it.

Secondly, you can get some great traction for your book by starting up a blog at www.wordpress.com or www.blogspot.com, or any of a host of others.

Thirdly, you can promote your book and your blog by sending out press releases whenever you have a new item to announce. This can be a great way to enhance the popularity of your existing web presence, as well as give a short-term boost to your web site's traffic. A few worthy sites to consider for sending press releases: http://www.prweb.com/, http://www.businesswire.com/, and http://www.prnewswire.com/.

For even more ideas on boosting your book sales online, check out our article on the Ten Quick and Inexpensive Things You Can Do to Promote Your Book.

How Do I Publish Myself?

This may seem like a strange question to come from a self-publishing company, but it's the question we get asked the most. So, here's how to publish your own book:

The first step in publishing your book is to think about the format. Do you want to sell a paperback or hardback book? How big should it be? Do you want your readers to be able to fit it in their pockets? Perhaps it is more of a "coffee-table" book? The most popular books sizes are 6 x 9 and 8.5 x 11. Children's books often are a perfect square at 8.27 x 8.27.

Once you have answered these questions, you can then use any word processing program to layout your book. Many self-published authors use Microsoft Word to do this, but you can use any program that can save your document in Word or PDF format.

No matter what program you use, you will want to go into the "Page Setup" utility and specify the size of the final document you intend to make. Set the margins so that you leave enough space for the paper to fit into the spine of the book (at least an inch or so), and also enough room around the sides so the text doesn't crowd too close to the edge of the book.

You will also want to consider what you want your book's cover to look like. Does it need to have a special picture on the front? Perhaps a simple background color or design is more appropriate.
You can use Adobe Photoshop (you can download a free 30-day trial of Adobe Photoshop here) to design your cover or you can use the built-in cover editor available on http://www.wwaow.com/ to design your book's cover. Remember, people really DO judge books by their covers, so you will want to make sure you put your best foot forward in this regard.

You will also want to write up a short biography of yourself and a short description of your book that we will use to sell your book.

Finally, you need to go through the upload wizard on http://www.wwaow.com/. The step-by-step process helps you determine what you need to do in order to make a great looking book.

Learn more about how to publish yourself at http://www.wwaow.com/!

Designing My Book Cover Art

If you are publishing your own book, then you can save lots of money by designing your own cover. For most people with little or no design experience, this can seem like a daunting task.

If you are using WWAOW to publish your book, then it is an extremely easy thing to simply follow the publishing Wizard to make your design. If you are using another system, then you will need to follow these steps:

• Get a good layout program - Adobe products are often used for this type of work. You can download a free trial of Adobe Photoshop from Adobe.com. The free trial lasts for 30 days, which is plenty of time to get your cover finished.
• Ask your printer for specs - WWAOW provides the dimensions you need for your book on the design wizard. If you are using another company to do your printing, you will need to know the file requirements.
• Make sure you are creating the file in the right format. There is a difference between a file saved in CMYK and RGB. Depending on your design, your printer may ask you to specify "Spot" colors. Make sure if your quote was for a 2-color print job, that you are not handing your printing company 4-color artwork!

Most often, a simple design is best - especially for newbies. A simple picture downloaded from a website like Comstock or Getty Images with a Title on a flat field of color is usually all a book needs. Make sure you include the author (your) name on the cover as well.

If you are selling your book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble.com or through other retailers, you will also need to design a place for the barcode and ISBN numbers. Make sure you consult with their requirements as you work on your cover.

How Can I Get Press for my Book?

Press coverage for a book can be the most powerful tool to generate sales. That is because journalistic coverage is trusted much more than advertisements, and it is free.

Getting journalists to talk about your book, however, is not an easy task. After all, there are hundreds of thousands of books published each year in the United States alone, and many more worldwide. All of these authors, publishers, and publicists are competing for attention with the same journalists and editors.

So, how do you get your message heard above the "chatter"?

The first step is to develop a press release. A press release allows you to cast a wide net to thousands of journalists all over the country. But don't stop there!

Next you need to pick up the phone and personally contact editors and journalists that cover your topics. Your goal is to let them know you exist, and to make yourself available for interviews. If you don't like to use the phone, use your email, but reach out to as many journalists as you can.

It is a good idea to ask editors if they have an editorial calendar, and then to respect their calendar by providing them information that is relevant to their articles in a timely manner. Keep in mind that many publications create their articles well in advance of their publication dates. So, get your stuff to them in plenty of time.

You will have to reach out to dozens of journalists before you will get your first "hit". But once you start getting coverage, you will find that it becomes much easier to get more in the future. So, don't give up. Persistence is the key.

You can learn more about publishing a book by visiting www.wwaow.com

What do I need to watch out for when self publishing?

If you are considering self-publishing your book, then you should be aware of a couple pitfalls first time author’s fall victim to.

Buying Too Many Books Up-front
There is a famous cliché in the publishing industry that the first book that comes off the press is the most expensive. After all, the more you print, the less each book costs.

All too often beginning authors look at the “per book” charges on the quote and decide to print thousands of books before they have any idea how well their book will sell. That is too much risk!
The last thing you want is to end up with a garage full of books, and with today’s print on-demand technology there is no reason you should have to store, ship or invoice books, ever.

It is usually better to print a few dozen books - even if the initial cost per book ensures that you will not make money. Once you have gauged the demand for your book, you can always order more at lower unit cost. This lowers your initial risk, and lets you focus your money on the marketing side of your business.

Paying for Services You Don’t Need
The other major mistake many self-publishers make is paying for lots of services they do not need. The fact is that you can usually do most of the layout and design for your book yourself, or find a friend who is willing to help you for little or no cost.

It is true that people judge books by their covers, but this does not mean you need to spend thousands of dollars on an expensive designer. Many times, simpler is better, and a well-chosen picture with your book’s title across the top can be just as effective as an expensive design.

You know your market better than the designer does. You know what will appeal to them the most. Make your book look like the product they are searching for, and it will sell.

Other services you might consider doing yourself:

• Typeset your own book
• Market your own book
• Write your own Press Releases

Some self-publishing companies require that you work with their designers and editors. This makes sense because this is how most of them make their money.

WWAOW does not require you to use any particular designer or editor. In fact, Wwaow has a cover "library" and you can select your own cover at no additional cost. This allows you to enter the self-publishing market for a minimal expense. With Wwaow, five copies of your book total as little as $79.

What is Perfect Book Binding?

Perfect bound books are basically paperback books, although the term “perfect bound” is also used for magazines and other printed materials that use the same binding technique.

Perfect bound books are printed on large sheets of paper. Depending on the size of the book and the size of the press, each “sheet” of paper that moves through the press may contain as many as 8 pages on each side - or 16 final book pages. Therefore, a 300-page paperback may be printed on only 19 pieces of paper.

Once the sheets are printed, they are folded down and the side that will face into the spine is rough-cut. This rough edge allows the binding glue to adhere to the pages so they will not fall out.
Each sheet creates a section, and the sections are gathered together and glued to the cover.

Once all the sections are in place, the final book is trimmed - cutting off the folds and creating the separate pieces of paper that make up the pages of the final book.

The softcover books made by WWAOW are perfect bound books. You can learn more about how to publish a book at http://www.wwaow.com/.

Book Publishing

For many people the idea of publishing a book seems like a daunting task. From the author's perspective, simply writing a book is difficult enough. Add in the time and effort and technical experience required to properly produce and sell a book, and the whole process can seem overwhelming.

In reality, however, publishing a book is a lot like eating an elephant. You do it one bite at a time.

Once you break the process down into individual steps, what seemed like an insurmountable obstacle suddenly seems more like a staircase to your destination.

Keep in mind that you CAN publish your own book. And with WWAOW, the production and sales parts are taken care of for you. All you have to do is write the book, upload it, and market it.

Following are a couple of resources you may want to read to learn more about publishing your book:

• For information on uploading books to WWAOW, visit our FAQ page


• For information about marketing your book, visit our article on Ten Quick and Inexpensive Things You Can Do to Promote Your Book

Self Promoting Your Book

There is a lot of myth and hype regarding the promotion of books within publishing circles. While a professional can often get better results than someone without experience can, anyone can promote their own book by following a few simple steps. That's why we've put together WWAOW's Ten Quick and Inexpensive Things You Can Do to Promote Your Book page.

Oh, and by the way, you can do these things whether you self-publish, or work through a traditional publisher. In fact, publishers usually LOVE it when you promote your own book. After all, they make money off that.

Publishing Steps

Ok, so you’ve finished writing your book and you’re ready to publish it. What do you do now?

In the old days, you would print out (or type) your entire manuscript and send it in to a publisher with a cover letter asking them to publish your work. Those days are long gone.


Today, there are two paths to publication for most authors. The easiest and fastest method is to self publish (which is where WWAOW comes in). The other method is to contact a number of literary agents and try to find one who will represent you.



Getting a good literary agent to represent you is a complicated topic, and there are a number of books written on the subject. It involves writing proposals and sample chapters, doing a lot of research, and being prepared to network with a lot of people in order to find a good agent who is willing to represent you.



Once you have found a literary agent, he or she will work on selling your book to publishers. This can be a long and difficult process.



Assuming the agent finds a publisher who is willing to publish your book, you will then go through several phases of editing, and revision. The process of revision, production, and marketing typically takes 18 months or so. Once complete, the book is then available at book stores.



Fortunately the WWAOW path is much easier, and a whole lot faster. All you do is go to http://www.wwaow.com/, register your account, and then follow the steps in the upload wizard to get your book published instantly worldwide. The entire process takes just about 10 minutes.

Introducing WWAOW and the New Way to Self Publish

Welcome to the WWAOW blog. This blog will address many of the issues facing the new era of publishing – particularly the market segments involving self-publishing, niche publishing, and book marketing.

We welcome feedback, and will use your feedback as we develop additional content for the blog and the website. So, if you have questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to contact us at info@wwaow.com.