Web site helps publish your book

The Internet lets us do things and affords us opportunities like never before. Take publishing, for example. The Internet has literally transformed the music business. Things such as iTunes and mp3 players have really turned the music industry around. But the Web has changed the music publishing industry as well. There used to only be a few record label companies out there that were capable of taking a new artist or music group to stardom. Now the Internet helps you to get you started by making it a lot easier to get your music heard. Of course, you still need the talent to make it. It’s just a lot easier to get the exposure that was once reserved only by those major recording labels.

Writers are also beginning to tap into that power as well. But there were still a lot of obstacles to overcome. But now a new Web site is making it a lot easier to get your book into circulation and it’s doing it by using a “Printing on demand” model. Wwaow (World Wide Association of Writers) lets you get your book printed and makes it available to anyone with a minimum amount of effort.

To get started, you enter in your book’s title, a description, the language it’s written in and any keywords you think may be used by anyone who might be looking for a book like yours. Once that’s done, you upload your book to the Wwaow Web site. The book needs to be a Word or PDF file along with some general formatting such as the paper size and if you want color or black and white pages. Your book must contain at least 30 pages, so this won’t work if your story is a really short one.

The next step lets you design the appearance of your book such as adding your picture as the author as well as the cover of the book. If you can’t come up with something, you can just keep it blank or choose from a variety of generic cover art. Other options that help to individualize your new book include background colors, hardcover or paperback, dustcover layout, font sizes and more. After all is chosen, you will see a preview of what your book will finally look like. You can go back and edit any changes until you see what you like.

Finally, you get to choose how you will receive all the royalties you will get from anyone who buys your book. PayPal is the only method available. What you do need to decide is how much of a royalty percentage (5 percent, 10 percent 15 percent or 20 percent) you will want to receive from the sale of your book. If this is your first book, Wwaow suggests you might go for 5 percent or 10 percent. After you’re a big name, then go for the bigger bucks.

Also along with the final preview of your book is the selling price and royalties breakdown. As part of your publishing agreement, you must agree to buy five copies of your book. Once that is done, you’re on your way to fame and fortune as a published author. Your book will be proudly displayed on the Wwaow Web site. Anyone visiting can see your book, read an excerpt and decide to buy it right there on the spot.

Since this is printing on demand, you don’t have to be concerned about how many copies you need to have printed. Wwaow will bill, print and deliver as many books as are ordered and your only expense is buying the five copies that you’re going to give away to your mom and some of your friends who are probably too cheap to buy their own copy anyway.

Granted this wasn’t the route Stephen King took to get started but then again, the Internet wasn’t very robust back in 1973 when he got started. And the worst thing that could happen is that you and your mom will own five autographed copies of your book that you can proudly display in your home on your bookshelf. I’d say that’s a pretty good deal no matter how things go for you in your new career as a published author.

X Craig Crossman is a national newspaper columnist writing about computers and technology. For more information, visit his Web site at www.computeramerica.com.

2008 McClatchy Tribune