Shel's Favorite Publishing Resources on the Internet

Taken from the much larger Resources Section of Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers, which also includes…

• Specific contact information for 12 honest book coaches/packagers
• 28 of the most useful books and e-books for book marketers
• 8 powerful resources to contact the media
• 4 national organizations for publishers and booksellers
• 8 prestigious review outlets, with submission guideline URLs
• 6 major awards
• 9 resources for media training

Publishing Resources Websites

Many of these folks also have free newsletters; I strongly suggest subscribing.

Aaronshep: <http://www.aaronshep.com/publishing>

Aaron Shepard’s resources page for desktop book publishing, self publishing, book printing, and print on demand. Includes a handly link to check a book's sales rank at Amazon.

Aeonix: <http://www.aeonix.com>

Pete Masterson’s extensive list of printing and production resources, including the best list of book printers out there (a list that even notes which printers do on-demand printing).

Bookmarket: <http://www.bookmarket.com>

Site of John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Book

Resources: <http://www.bookmarket.com/files.html>

Self-Publishing Hall of Fame (success stories): <http://www.bookmarket.com/selfpublish.html>

John Culleton’s Shortlist: <http://wexfordpress.com/tex/shortlist.pdf>

Recommended reading list covering every aspect of publishing and marketing, from a professional typesetter/indexer with decades of experience and a great desire to help newbies succeed.

John Culleton’s List of Book Packagers, Coaches, and Consultants: <http://wexfordpress.com/tex/packagers.pdf>

Gropen Associates Reference Desk for Publishers: <http://www.gropenassoc.com/TopLevelPages/reference%20desk.htm>

Marion Gropen, proprietor of this site, also offers fee-based accounting and profitability advice for publishers, in increments as small as a single question. She is familiar with small, midsized, and large publishers, and participated in the publication of several best-sellers.

Midwest Book Review’s Advice for Authors: <http://www.midwestbookreview.com/bookbiz/advice/advice.htm>

Jim Cox of MWBR, a long-time friend to the small press and self-publisher, compiled this extensive list of helpful articles.

Para Publishing: <http://www.parapublishing.com>

Site of Dan Poynter, author of The Self-Publishing Manual. Perhaps the largest collection of publishing resources out there, some for pay and some for free.

Self-Publishers’ Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ): <http://www.creativemindspress.com/newbiefaq.htm>

Prepared by Jacqueline Church Simonds of Beagle Bay Books (small publisher and distributor)/Creative Minds Press (book packager/consultant) at the request of members of the Self-Publishing Yahoogroup, which she coadministers. This is a mixture of FAQ answers and useful resources, including direct links to everything you need to register yourself as a publisher, etc.

The Publishing Game: <http://www.publishinggame.com>

Publishing and marketing wizard Fern Reiss offers a substantial selection of her own articles, organized by category. Scroll past the descriptions of her books (unless, of course, you don’t have them yet; you’ll want at least one).

The Tool Shed in the Cat’s Back Yard: <http://hometown.aol.com/catspawpress/ToolShed.html>

Pat J. Bell, who compiled these resources, has been a fixture on the various publishing discussion lists for over a decade. The author of the now-out-of-print Pre-Publishing Handbook, she also served as PMA’s liaison to self-publishers for several years.

Discussion Groups

These are the three where I regularly participate; there are many others. Two of the three lists generate a large volume of messages; management strategies include sending all the messages to a designated folder that you set to sort by topic (so you can delete whole threads that don’t interest you), receiving a digest of many posts at once, which you can then either quickly scan onscreen or print out and read), or reading in a web browser where you can sort by thread.

Pub-Forum: <http://www.pub-forum.net>

Free-ranging and at times antagonistic discussions by primarily very experienced publishers. Not moderated and frequently wildly off-track, but you can get great answers here if you can “swim with the sharks.” Very active.

Self-Publishing: <http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/Self-Publishing/>

A mix of very experienced and patient publishers and a steady stream of newbies/wannabees. Probably the best place for newer publishers to get good advice, and you’ll get a lot more benefit if you first read a few of the books on John Culleton’s Shortlist. Moderated (posts are reviewed before they get sent to the list) and very active.

Small Pub-Civil: <http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/smallpub-civil/>

Free-ranging and unmoderated, but much more focused discussions than Pub-Forum, also with a very experienced group. Set up specifically to provide a comfortable, non-confrontational, alternative to Pub-Forum. Low to moderate volume. Disclosure: I own this list. When you sign up, be sure to give a reason for joining (e.g., “I’m an author and want to learn about publishing”); this will get you approved immediately. Otherwise, you'd have to respond to a query—this is to keep spammers out.

Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers includes detailed chapters on marketing plans, coverage in the media, Internet marketing far beyond just a website, trade show strategies, and much more. Please click here to get your copy of the complete book, including $168.70 worth of extra bonuses, for just $24.95 plus shipping (paperback) or $19.95 including shipping (e-book).