The New Oxford American Dictionary
Second Edition

The Author's Guide to Building an Online Platform: Leveraging the Internet to Sell More Books

With more than 175,000 new titles published each year, publishers want to sign authors who are capable of helping to sell their book. The platform may be that the author is a widely syndicated columnist, is the internationally acclaimed expert in his field, or is a highly sought-after motivational speaker. Or perhaps the author is a New York City television news anchor. These types of platforms make a publisher s mouth water. But what about authors who aren t widely known or acclaimed? How does the ordinary guy build a credible platform? The answer: the Internet. Today you can build an international platform right from your kitchen table even if your kitchen table is in Manhattan . . . Kansas.

The Fine Print of Self Publishing: The Contracts & Services of 45 Self-Publishing Companies Analyzed Ranked & Exposed

If you re considering paying a company to publish your book, read The Fine Print and consider your alternatives. It will save you a lot of time, money, and heartache. --Dan Poynter, author of The Self-Publishing Manual

It would take years for an author to compile all the research that Mark Levine has and, even then, most authors wouldn't be able to analyze the self-publishing companies and their contracts the way Levine does. The Fine Print of Self-Publishing will save time and money with your next self-publishing project. --Tim Bete, Director, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop

. . . Mark explains the industry's tricky contract language in such clear terms, that any non-lawyer can understand and follow. --Perry Binder, Associate Professor of Legal Studies, Georgia State University.

Red Hot Internet Publicity:
An Insider's Guide to Promoting Your Book on the Internet!
Penny C. Sansevieri
24 Reviews Averaging 5 out of 5

Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual, 16th Edition:
How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book (Self Publishing Manual)
Dan Poynter
246 Reviews Averaging 5 out of 5

Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual, Volume 2:
How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book
In his first book, Dan Poynter says he doesn't see any reason to go with a traditional publisher and divide up all your potential income. He has dozens of books to his credit and continues to successfully self-publish.

Print-on-Demand Book Publishing: A New Approach To Printing And Marketing Books For Publishers And Self-Publishing Authors
Mark Rosenthal

This book is where it all started for me. The book publishing industry remained largely unchanged between the Great Depression and the turn of the Millennium. Print a lot of books, try to get them reviewed so that stores would stock them on consignment, advertise, then hope that they don't come back as returns. Small imprints and self-publishers were reduced to begging distributors to accept their titles at discounts of 60% or more, and were expected to accept returns in any condition and quantity. Print-on-demand book publishing, combined with short-discount distribution and Internet marketing, is turning the publishing business on its head. For the first time, authors are finding that they can launch their own publishing businesses and earn more from their writing than they would with a major trade publisher. Small imprints can invest their scarce resources in acquiring, designing and promoting new titles, rather than gambling on tons of books that cost money to keep in inventory. This book details the new method with which authors and publishers alike can use POD to cut costs and increase profits, while reaching new readers through the magic of Internet marketing.

Top Self Publishing Firms: How Writers Get Published, Sell More Books, and Rise to the Top: and Make Money Working from Home with the Best Print On Demand Self-Publishing Companies
Stacie Vander Pol
28 Reviews Averaging 5 out of 5

Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate
Michael Miller
Miller is known for his casual, easy-to-read writing style and his ability to explain a wide variety of complex topics to an everyday audience. He has written more than 80 nonfiction books over the past two decades, with more than a million copies in print. His books include Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Computer Basics, How Microsoft Windows Vista Works, Making a Living from Your eBay Business, Googlepedia: The Ultimate Google Resource, and Is It Safe? Protecting Your Computer, Your Business, and Yourself Online.

Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day
Dave Evans with a foreward by Susan Bratton
13 Reviews rate Evans' book with a 5 out of 5.
This book is highly regarded: He starts with an overview of early social networks, through to marketing via social Web networks, to defining social media, Web 2.0, etc. Evan's steps you through effectively pitching a social media campaign inside your company, becoming a "genuine Social Web participant," building a map of conversation-generators, social media measurement tools, best practices, etc. Absolutely fabulous book! If you want to keep your job, you will benefit from Evan's book. He delves into MySpace, FaceBook, LinkedIn, Twitter, YouTube, and a few I've never heard of.

Secrets of Social Media Marketing: How to Use Online Conversations and Customer Communities to Turbo-Charge Your Business!
Paul Gillian
10 Reviews rating Gillin's book 4.5 out of 5
Social media marketing is daily becoming a mandatory piece of your marketing arsenal. It is less expensive than traditional methods and it has an international reach should you need to present yourself to the world. (I just received two Web design jobs from firms in Eastern Europe! through FaceBook.) Gillian's book is easy to ready and grasp.