Hello!

Subject: Hello! Sat Sep 26, 2009 4:15 pm

Hello, I am David Griffiths, a retired sailor.

My naval career spanned 32 years and 5 months, during which, I photographed presidents, astronauts, pilots, ships, planes, events, and lots of people doing lots of things. I became addicted to being where the action is.

For the next fifteen years, I developed Training Task Inventories, monitored contracts for computer-based training, and assisted Chief and Senior Chief Petty Officers in developing nonresident training courses. It was a privilege to work with men and women of their caliber.

While helping sailors write their training manuals, I realized how easy it was to write and publish a book if you didn’t have to go through the traditional gate keepers. It inspired me to write my first book, CBT Design, which was used as a textbook by Humber College.

My next book was the The Misadventures of Russell Quigley, a hilarious collection of sea stories woven into the fabric of Russell’s life as a Navy photographer.

David Griffiths, author,http://www.self-publishing-solutions.com
Publish your book for free, promote it online, and sell in on Amazon.com.

Subject: Re: Hello! Sat Sep 26, 2009 4:29 pm

Hi David,

Welcome to the forum! I think you will receive quite a lot of questions about self-publishing!

Subject: Re: Hello! Sat Sep 26, 2009 6:21 pm

Your site is a wealth of information in lay terms in one place while promoting yourself as an author. The entire example is worthwhile! I am quite pleased that you have joined the forum as some of the authors here have started to become discouraged; perhaps your enthusiasm will be catching.

Several of us have recently discovered Writelife - as a free publisher; however, I don't know anyone with experience with them.

Some people have found Lulu worked for them; others have had different experiences.

I'm still reading.............................

Do you find forums and post to them with your very useful info as part of your marketing platform? (I haven't run across that part in your site yet if so).

Subject: Re: Hello! Sat Sep 26, 2009 8:15 pm

I haven't heard of WriteLife. I like CreateSpace. The cost of your book is critical. CreateSpace has the lowest cost per book than any other self-publishing service company. You have to do everything your self, but you save hundreds up front and make more on each book. Lulu was a pioneer, but CreateSpace is owned by Amazon.com. If you can handle Lulu, you can handle CreateSpace.

Forums can provide backlinks to your blog/website, which everyone needs to be highly rated by search engines. The secret is to keep it real. You have to like helping people. That's what my website is about. I also learn alot.

I have seen some of the discouragement. Everyone should avoid Publish America. Their books are too expensive, and they keep the rights to your book for seven years.

Subject: Re: Hello! Sat Sep 26, 2009 11:48 pm

Hello David. Your input and insights are welcomed.

Subject: Re: Hello! Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:06 pm

Thanks everyone.

Subject: Re: Hello! Sun Sep 27, 2009 6:46 pm

Marie, Ichecked into Writing Life. I can understand its attraction, but I would advise everyone to avoid it:
* Your copyright is worthless once you grant them exclusive rights. Since there is no mention of time, I assume they have exclusive rights for life.
* WriteLife determines the price of your book
* The Royalty is 50% of the NET after their expenses, but they don't tell you what their expenses are. They mention editing, which they claim they do, but they have a disclaimer that says you are responsible for design, format, grammar, and spelling. Strange!
* They don't tell you how much their books cost. This is a killer! This company is similar to Publish America, which I believe is one of the worst in the industry. I am tempted to ask them how much their books cost, but there is no way I would go near them.
Dave

David Griffiths, author of,http://www.self-publishing-solutions.com
Publish your book for free, promote it online, and sell in on Amazon.com.

Subject: Re: Hello! Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:10 pm

About WriteLife:

WriteLife is even sneekier than Publish America. They will not show you their contract upfront. They will not tell you the cost of their books. They are not going to pay you anything for the first 288 books to pay them back for publishing you. Not many self-published books sell that many copies.

If you looking for a really cheap solution for people who can't or won't learn the procedures to do it themselves, tell the to purchase the Book Design Wizard to format their books and then go to http://www.self-pub.net/pdf.html to have their book block converted to PDF. They charge $15.00 for a PDF conversion.

Publish with CreateSpace and use their book cover creator. You can't do it any cheaper and with the ProPlan you can really make money. The only disadvantage: your book is only for sale at Amazon.com. That's okay, because bookstores don't like new authors, unknown authors, or self-published books.

David Griffiths, author of, http://www.self-publishing-solutions.com
Publish your book for free, promote it online, and sell in on Amazon.com.

PDF Creations Service
Source: www.self-pub.net

Send us your Microsoft Word document and we will convert it to a print ready, high quality PDF using Adobe Acrobat 8.0.

David Griffiths, author of,http://www.self-publishing-solutions.com
Publish your book for free, promote it online, and sell in on Amazon.com.

Subject: Re: Hello! Sun Oct 11, 2009 8:29 pm

Wow! Welcome David. Your input is most beneficial.