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.

While there may not be any real egregious errors in the unedited version, the edited version lends itself to much better clarity of what is said.

Even when you consider yourself a creditable editor, it would probably be a good idea to have someone else look it over. When we edit our own work, we are too close to the subject to clearly see it. Most editors know this and even they will get someone else to “edit” their work.

Before submitting for publication, have someone else read over your book thoroughly. I once stopped reading a particular author’s work. Although the subject was of interest to me and I felt she was a good writer, it was too painful for me to wade through the misspellings and grammatical errors.

Poorly edited books also cause you to lose credibility.

You don’t want to have that happen to you so make sure that your book is well edited, and that spelling (especially) is checked.

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.

TV. Be more aware of commercials or information you hear on TV. A show that I love and rarely miss is Jeopardy. I keep a pad and pencil nearby to write down facts of interest or interesting topics.

“Junk” Mail. We all complain about the amount of  “junk” mail that comes through our email folders or through the post. Even if the specific product or service offered is not something you want, check them out. You may glean some ideas from reading them.  For example, an advertisement about healthcare may remind you of tips or a book you can write about caring for a loved one.

Wikihow or Wikipedia. Both of these sources are full of research information. I particularly like the sometimes wacky and unusual subjects covered at Wikihow.

Most print media sources are excellent sources of topics and ideas.

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kindle or any bookstore on the Internet.

Internet Magazines. Do a Google search for Magazines.

Magazine Rack at Local Grocery Store. Check out the ads, too.

Trade Magazines and Trade Organizations.

Internet Blogs. Blogs have current topics of interest.

Newspapers and Newspaper Ads. Watch your local newspapers if there is one still being published in your area, as well as the Internet newspapers.

I’ve mentioned ten sources where to find content and/or research for your writings. I’m sure you can think of other sources. I would love to hear from you of where you get your ideas to write about.

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

I began my Thanksgiving morning with great expectations. I already have lots to be thankful for—my family, my health, my friends, my activities, and so much more. So when I started out early that Thanksgiving morning for the 2 ½ hour drive to Lompoc where my daughter lives, I didn’t know that disaster would strike, and that by the end of the day, all the things I have to be thankful for would be multiplied.

My plan was to leave early, which I did. I knew I needed gas but decided I could get as far as Camarillo where I would stop for gas and breakfast. Instead of driving straight, I had decided on that plan because I wasn’t quite hungry yet and that would give me an opportunity to build up an appetite and would break up the trip.

A few miles outside of Camarillo, I felt a subtle difference in the car. Nothing I could pinpoint, but something in the driving seemed different, although I was still scooting along at the same rate of speed and everything seemed fine.

I took my off ramp at Camarillo and at the first signal, my car stalled, and would not budge. It was still running, but the gears were not engaging and I could not get it to go forward. I was stuck in the intersection. There was a gas station on the corner but no one there to help me.

While i was on my cell phone to call a tow truck, two ladies knocked on my window and said they were going to push me into the gas station area. Because of the steep incline they were unable to get me all the way up, but some person riding on a motorcycle stopped to help them. I never got to see him or to say thank you. This is my way of saying thank you should he by any fluke be reading this blog.

I was so very grateful to the two ladies. They accepted my thanks with grace and reminded me that if I was stuck in Camarillo for the rest day of the day they didn’t want me to spend Thanksgiving alone so I should call them, then they were off to continue with their activities.

I called the tow truck and the driver happened to know my son who had worked as a mechanic in Camarillo for 30 years. He was anxious to help and towed my car the ½ mile to the service station where my son had been a mechanic. I was thankful that if this had to happen to me at least it happened where there was a convenient location for me to stow the car, since there was nothing open on Thanksgiving morning.

After getting the car settled, the driver then dropped me off at a local restaurant where I was able to go inside and order something to eat and where I knew I could stay until a solution was found.

I called my daughter. A friend of hers who was staying with them had a brother who lived a few miles from where I was stranded, contacted her brother who then offered to lend me his new car to drive the rest of the way to Lompoc. My problem was solved and I was able to get to my daughter’s in plenty of time to enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday with more friends and family.

This reinforced my belief that in spite of what you may hear, there are still plenty of people who will help. They are out there and they come forth in a time of need. I am very grateful to those who helped me that Thanksgiving morning.

At the end of the day, what could have been a disaster turned into multiplying my blessings.

My Create Space and Kindle blogs will continue

after the Thanksgiving Holiday.

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.

What I do and what I highly recommend to my clients is that you get it done professionally. It can still be a simple design, or one that you design and contract someone to do for you, but it will look so much more professional and be a good representative for you.

If your book is fiction and it is based on a certain subject, it will depend on how sophisticated your audience and market are, and you will probably want the cover to depict something of what the book is about. It will probably need to be more elaborate than a how-to book.

It doesn’t make any difference how you get the cover done as long as it is done well. The cover is an important element. The book cover and the description on the back or on Amazon are what sell your book. They are your sales people when you aren’t there. So you want to make sure the book cover is a good representation of what you want.

If you are going to put your book up on Amazon, you need a PDF file, which has the front, the spine and the back on it and has to be a specific size based on the size and length of your book. In other words, if it is a long book, 150 or so pages, it will have dimensions to accommodate that. If it is a short book 50-100 pages, it will have different dimensions. You or your book cover designer will be able to ascertain that from the submission instructions from Amazon.

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.

Next you want to think about your title. The research that you have done in these previous sections will be valuable here because you want an enticing title, something that is going to grab your audience and make them want to read this particular book. Take note of titles that have been used for other books in this category and ascertain which ones have been the best sellers.

Although you can’t get any statistics from an Amazon search, you can get a feel for how well the book has done by the number of reviews. Not everyone who orders a book will write a review, but a certain number will so if there are several good reviews, you can be fairly certain that one of the things that sold that book was the title.

There have been stories told of books that have been on the market for years and never sold anything, but when the title was changed, sales sky rocketed. The title is very important.

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.

Do some research online. Search in the Amazon and Kindle stores for other books on this subject and see what topics come up. Do a keyword search for other titles. Ascertain what categories sell well.

Most importantly, however, think about the angle you will put on the subject. Oftentimes we think we don’t have anything new to offer because “everyone already knows what I know,” “someone else has already written about that, or, “I don’t have anything different to say.”

None of these statements are true. Have you ever been in a group where someone told a joke and you said to yourself, “Oh, that’s such an old joke. I heard that one years ago.” But there is probably someone in the group who hasn’t heard it or they heard a different punch line, or heard a slightly different slant to it.

Let’s face it. There is nothing that is new. There is nothing you can write about that is completely new, but you may have found a solution to a problem that you faced—surviving a divorce, repairing a relationship, how to get along with a neighbor, what to do about a barking dog—if you’ve found a solution then you have something worth writing about. And no matter how many times it has been written about before, you will probably have a new slant that will be of interest to your market.

You can write about virtually anything and there will be someone who will be interested in it. You just have to find the right market, you have to market it in the right places, and you have to use good keywords that will help your market find your product.

This is Part 1 of a series of blogs which will talk about how to get published on Amazon and Kindle. In these next few blog entries you’ll see how easy this is.

Great Transcriptions is an information product services company for coaches, consultants, speakers, internet Marketers and entrepreneurs, who want to boost their business. We not only provide you with knowledge to record your information and get it transcribed (which is the easiest and fastest way to produce an information product), we also help you get it published as an electronic product and on Amazon and the Kindle.

Why would you want to be published on Amazon or Kindle?

Visibility. Being published on Amazon and Kindle gives you visibility and you are able to reach highly targeted customers. The more titles you have on Amazon, the higher your visibility.

Credibility. It also gives you credibility. Once you get your book completed and published on Amazon, you have a physical, soft cover book, one you can hold in your hand and show to your clients. You are a published author. Being published can help to make you an instant expert in the eyes of your potential market.

Fast and Easy. Getting published on Amazon or Kindle is fast and easy, and once you develop a system, your next books will be easier to write. The best part is that they can appear within 24 hours on Kindle and within two weeks on Amazon.

Earn Royalties. A side benefit is that you can earn money on autopilot through your royalties and these royalties may keep arriving for many years, depending on the subject and popularity of your book.

Pride of Ownership. A number of years ago, I got an urge that I wanted to write a book. Well, that never happened, but I guess the desire lingered. I admit that over the years as I’ve seen some of my friends be consumed by the time and energy they’ve spent writing (or attempting) to write a book, and the disappointments they’ve faced, I have been glad that I wasn’t consumed with this desire.

However, that all changed when I finally did write a book. There was a pride I never thought I would experience. And when I finally got published on Amazon and received that first order of books in the mail, it was amazing how energizing and how great a feeling that was.

Help Other People. If you have knowledge that will help others, it is your “duty” to pass that on.

Makes Good Business Sense. If you are a business owner or an entrepreneur, you know that in this day and age information is king and you must provide your potential clients with information about yourself and the work you do. If you don’t, your competitors will, and they will get there first.