Next comes formatting.

Unless you are proficient with using a word processing program such as Microsoft Word, you may have problems with formatting. A common error is an improper page break.

A page break is used when you want to make sure that a page breaks at a certain place and does not allow improper flow of content to the next page. Rather than forcing a page break by using manual returns, you should use the page break command.

Other common errors in formatting are not being consistent. All fonts should be consistent and all headings should be consistent.

There are many other details to be considered in formatting, particularly if your publication uses pictures or other special characters, such as borders, page borders, tables, specific symbols to end a chapter, etc.

I find that authors are sometimes disappointed with the way their manuscript looks in Kindle. Kindle is not particularly friendly to any type of special formatting, such as pictures, symbols, characters, lines, tables, borders, spacing, etc.

Because Kindle readers have the option of changing the font size on their individual Kindle, this can change the appearance of a manuscript. I have read some books on my Kindle where there may be a single word on a page because of the font size I am using. If I change the font size on my Kindle, this would be different. This is upsetting to some authors, but it wouldn’t be to a Kindle reader.

I don’t think this characteristic should stop an author from putting their book up on Kindle.

If you are unfamiliar with formatting in a Word processing program, you may want to use the services of an expert in doing this for you and that is one of the things we do at Great Transcriptions. You can reach us at www.greattranscriptions.com.  Check out our services in the rest of this web page. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Now that you’ve written your manuscript and are ready to publish it, there are still a couple of other steps you need take. The first one is the editing.

Although you will find that there are different types of editors and each of them checks for different things, unless you have a complicated college textbook, you will probably only need an editor to check for spelling, punctuation, grammar usage, clarity, consistency and overall flow. Consider the following example from my recent book.

Edited Version: Then as the photographs were displayed, his parents recorded what each photograph meant. What wonderful memories, most of them from the early days of his parents’ marriage, and from the younger years of him and his brother.

Unedited Version: Then as the photographs were displayed his parents recorded what each photograph meant. What a wonderful memory, most of it being during the early days of his parents’ marriage, and him and his brother’s younger years.

Read more

Where can you find content to create an information product?

Your Own Knowledge and Experience. Your own knowledge and experience is most important of all. If you put your mind to it, you will be surprised at the topics on which you have knowledge that would be of interest.

Have you solved a problem in your own life about how to handle the absence of a loved one, how you handled a problem with one of your children, what you do with little or no income, divorce, an accident, or other solution which would aid others?

Do you have a specific skill or talent that provides a solution? I know people who are extremely talented at cleaning, for example, decorating, choosing colors, shopping at thrift stores, and on and on. All of these provide solutions which could help others and which could be good topics for a book or other income producing product.

Read more

I hope you had as wonderful a Christmas as I did.  No problems like I had at Thanksgiving.  Just wonderful family and friends togetherness, and lots of good food.  Yes, I ate a lot.

Now it’s time to get down to brass tacks and back to work.  I’ll be continuing my series on Publishing on Amazon and Kindle; then I’m going to begin  a series on “Getting Back to Basics - Marketing.”  I think you’ll find both interesting and helpful in creating information products to build your business and boost your income — and just in time for the New Year.

Stay tuned.  Sign up on the right to receive notification when new posts are available.  You’ll also receive a special report about how to choose a transcription service.

May 2012 be filled with prosperity,
good health and much happiness.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Once you’ve passed the previous hurdles and you know what you’re going to write about, you know your audience and have done some keyword research so you know how to angle your book and have an idea about the title, the next thing to think about is the cover.

Your cover is another important element and I hear so many different thoughts on this that I’m not sure how to advise you. This decision is really going to be based on the type of book it is and your audience, or market, how you feel about it, and your budget.

Then there is the decision of how to get your cover done. If you can create it in the format Create Space requires it in, it is fairly easy to do it yourself. If you can’t create it yourself, you can order from one of the many services on the Internet from which you will probably get a boiler plate design, or you can get a professional graphic designer to do the cover for you.

Read more

One of the first tools and a valuable tool to use is keyword research. Think about how people will find your book, what words or phrases will they use when they go for a search, either on Amazon, or just in general.

Look for words or phrases that have had at least 1,000 searches per month. For example, if I were going to search for something having to do with transcription, what words or phrases would I use? If your product were about how to find a good place to fish, you are probably very familiar with that subject, and you would think of what words or phrases would you use if you wanted to find a good place to fish. You might want to search for only specific areas or states, a specific type of fishing, etc.

Read more

Give some thought to the type of information product you are going to create. In some cases you will only want to publish for your specific clients. You could make this similar to a brochure, a sales letter; or a special report. If you give it the right slant, it can still be of interest to a general market that would purchase your book for information rather than using your services and at the same time it would give you credibility and provide information to potential clients.

Think about who will likely be consuming your book and check out what other books are now being offered on Amazon. Consider what type of ebooks your market is buying.

Read more

I heard a statement the other day from a successful internet marketer, which is so true. It was made in a room full of attendees who were assembled to learn about Internet Marketing. “Everyone in this room should have a book. If they don’t have one, they should be creating one. If they have one they, should be creating more.” Read more

I’m going to reveal a secret used by transcriptionists which aids in typing faster and more accurately, and can save all of us that important element called Time. 

At first glance, this may seem to be contrary to my previous advice about creating products by recording your material.  Not true.  It’s still better to create information products by recording and getting transcribed.  Nevertheless, all of us do have other instances when we have to type something – an email, a note, a blog entry, taking notes at a meeting.

Read more

In a recent interview, grammarian expert Laura Jarnat revealed five easy steps to get your audience to read what you write.  Laura has been a speaker and trainer for 15 years and has a passion for grammar.  In fact, she will tell you she reads the Great Reference Manual for fun.  Follow Laura’s advice in these five easy steps and your audience will be more likely to read what you write.

1.  Consider your reader’s time and focus on what they want. Write at a level that is optimum for your reader to undersand. The current standard, and has been for a few years, is to write at the 8th grade level. You  may think that’s ridiculous and a reflection of the educaition system in our country today. Really, it has to do with a commodity called “time” that we have in short supply. Very simply, it takes time to read anything that’s written at greater than the 8th grade level. Read more