How to Self-Publish a Book on a Shoestring Budget

Let's say you want to know how to self-publish a book, and you want to do it in the least expensive and best way possible. Is this contradictory?

In fact, on my web site at Write and Publish Your Book, the two questions I'm asked the most are how to self-publish a book and how to do it on a shoestring budget. They also, coincidentally, want to know the BEST way to do this.

But for now, let's focus on this question of the best and cheapest way to publish a book. In fact, these are two entirely separate questions. The first question is, "What is the best way to publish my book?" Then, the second question should be, "What is the cheapest way to publish my book?"

See, most people who ask me this question are really just new to the business. It's a perfectly legitimate question, especially if you've slaved over writing your book for two or three months (again, the timeline for writing a quality book is the subject of another essay). So let's take these two questions apart.

What is the best way to publish a book?

Write an outstanding, must-read book that is unique, provocative, controversial, a literary masterpiece, or is endorsed by someone like Oprah. No, really. That's the best way to publish a book.

Take for example Joseph Finder, author of the best selling corporate espionage book, Paranoia. He'd had moderate success with his previous well-written CIA suspense novels, but didn't hit it big until he inadvertently created an entirely new genre with Paranoia. In his words, "All I was doing was trying something new - a thriller with a fresh setting, a fresh cast of characters."

Or, how about Nora Raleigh Baskin, popular author of middle-grade novels such as In the Company of Crazies (HarperCollins). She'd had a knee-high stack of rejection letters until she wrote the book she'd always wanted to write - not because she wanted to be published, but because she wanted to write this particular book. That one book, which she wrote from her heart, got her on the road to a successful writing career.

Many people have a great idea for a book, and many of these books are from their life experiences. They have no experience as a writer, but the strange thing is that they almost always ask first about publishing the book before it's even written.

Even if they do ask how to self-publish a book, they're still thinking in terms of publishing their best seller before they've even determined if there is a market for the book!

For example, remember the story about the guy who had to saw his own arm off with a dull knife in order to save his life? Aron Ralston didn't just come up with the idea to write his book Between a Rock and a Hard Place. His story was popularized well before the book was ever written.

Contrast that with the woman who wants to write about her experiences with domestic violence. Unfortunately, this is not an unusual story. As much as I'd like to see an end to this horrible sickness, the story won't necessarily sell books.

And selling books is what it comes down to. Will your book sell? That's the ultimate question you need to answer if you want your book published. The question of the salability of your book applies whether you're self-publishing or attempting to sell your book to a publisher. Either way, it's got to sell or it just won't go anywhere.

That said, let's get back to the original question: What's the best way to publish my book?

Self-Publish or Traditional Publisher?

There's no easy answer to this question, and the answer you get will depend on who you ask. I think a lot of it depends on you, the genre of your book, your experience as a writer and in sales, and your intentions for the book.

Self-publishing is ideal for a business person who wants to use the book as part of his or her overall business strategy. It's a great way to establish yourself as an expert in your field (assuming the book is well-written and informative). The book can be "repurposed" into E-books, teleclasses (telephone conference-call classes), Webinars (seminars held on the phone and Internet), and eventually advanced courses sold for thousands of dollars. Thus, the book itself is printed at a loss and is generally given away to seminar attendees.

Self-publishing is also an option for novelists who really believe in their books, but because they're new can't find a publisher for the book. The key here is that you've at least tried to sell your book to a traditional publisher.

Self-publishing with an aim toward eventual publishing with a major publishing house will require a tremendous amount of energy and perseverance to market and sell your book. If you can show that the book sells, you'll find a publisher. Just putting it on Amazon won't do a thing. You absolutely must work at marketing your book.

There are many self-publishing options, ranging from "free" (Lulu) to several thousand dollars. Perhaps the worst option is to go with what's called "Vanity" press. These are companies who will publish your book for two to ten thousand dollars, print 2500 or more copies, and do a minimal amount of marketing. You're stuck with a garage full of books and an empty wallet. Beware those companies who want to print your book in bulk.

Lulu is the most popular, but has its own costs. Most of the books published on Lulu sell no more than 10 copies - total. The books are amateurish, with home-made covers that look like something the dog chewed. The book print quality is good, but the printing prices are steep. For a fee you can have an ISBN number assigned and the book listed on Amazon.

On the other hand, for just a little more money you can buy your own ISBN number and have your book printed at Lightning Source for far less money per book. You'll make your investment back with less than 100 books printed.

Then, there's everything in-between, including "Print on Demand" book publishers who will create the cover, edit your book, and format the interior of the book so that it looks professional. Some POD publishers simply publish your book as-is. You provide the cover and the interior formatting.

Just consider that you generally get what you pay for, although some POD publishers will charge you high fees for what loosely resembles a marketing plan. Make sure you compare the options closely.

Traditional Publishing

Expect rejection. Seriously, the vast majority of books submitted to both big and small traditional publishers (publishers who either pay you up front or don't ask for any up-front money from you) are rejected. It's a fact of life simply because they're in it to make money. If they don't think the book will sell, they'll reject it.

The best way to ensure success is to write a beautiful, clever, provocative, inspiring, brilliant book. No, let me take that back. The best way to ensure success is to already be someone popular, well-known, famous, or influential. Think Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, or Paris Hilton (dread the thought).

If you're writing a nonfiction book, it's best to be someone important, have a track record in sales, or have excellent credentials. If you're not any of these, then consider co-authoring your book with someone who fits the above criteria.

Also, for nonfiction or a memoir, do your marketing research beforehand. If you can go into your book proposal or query letter armed with documented proof that people are buying your type of book AND that yours has a interesting and unique twist on a highly relevant topic, then you'll get their attention.

You'll need to write an excellent proposal. I've charged thousands to write nonfiction book proposals (and I have a good track record of success). It takes time to write a compelling lead that draws them into the benefits of publishing your book, and following that with a comprehensive plan for marketing your book. For nonfiction, you should have two solid sample chapters written.

But what about writing fiction?

The first thing you'll need is a good, well-written, and interesting book. We recently had a novel writing contest at the site, and you'd be amazed at how many books had basic grammatical errors and were poorly written.

What are people thinking? Obviously, this isn't you. So, take your great book and write an even better query letter. You'll need to have your book written. Don't say that "it's almost done," or that "I'm thinking about writing..." Ideally you will have gone through about a dozen drafts of your book before you send it to anyone.

It's far easier to get your book published if you've already been published. But if you're new, don't worry. There are ways... and there are certainly ways to do it on a shoestring budget. You can have cheapest, and you can have best, but you're going to have to work at it to have both!

Good luck and good writing!

Writing, publishing and marketing a book on a shoestring budget takes work, but it's possible. Visit us to earn How to Write a Book on a Shoestring Budget, How to Publish a Book on a Shoestring Budget, and How to Market a Book on a Shoestring Budget.

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How Book Design and Book Marketing will Keep your Book Alive

Too many authors spend all their time on writing, then scrimp on book design and book marketing. They hope that their publisher will handle all the details of book design and book marketing, so that they can just sit back and rake in the millions year after year.

Then, if these same authors decide to self-publish, they'll quickly get lost in the morass of print on demand publishers and the time and money sink hole of self-publishing. In fact, most authors would rather die than think about book marketing, or spend money on book design.

Facing your book marketing competition

In 2005, around 172,000 books were published with an ISBN number, according to Bowker, which compiles publishing statistics. An ISBN number will get you into Books in Print, and allows your book to be distributed to bookstores and online sites like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. According to some sources, nearly one quarter of these books were printed by Print on Demand (POD) companies.

I'd estimate that number to be much higher, as many small publishers are having their books printed by Lightning Source, which also provides printing for many of the larger POD companies.

Additionally, Lulu Press, who publishes over 1500 books per week, says that only about 5% of their books get an ISBN number. That's another 80,000 or so books circulating in the market each year, although most of Lulu's books are only sold through Lulu Press on their web site.

The definition of "Best Seller" has changed

It only takes 300 book sales to get on Lulu's all-time top 100 bestsellers list. 300 books! For some people, that can be attained simply by selling books to their extended family. While AuthorHouse, iUniverse, Xlibris, and other big players in the POD market might print more books with ISBN numbers, their sales records aren't much better.

Some sources estimate that the average book sells no more than 150 copies, and other sources put that number at below fifty copies. In many cases, authors end up losing money on their books, which is why Lulu Press is so popular. At Lulu, you can upload your book interior and cover (you do all the design work), and have a book on your doorstep within days - all for the "cost of printing" (which is highly inflated, by the way).

The services and prices of POD companies vary widely, which is why we're in the final stages of creating a comprehensive guide on self-publishing. It can be a confusing morass of information and data, with many unsubstantiated claims. The truth shall be revealed.

Will you be one of the winners, or part of the majority?

Will your book be dead before it hits the streets? If you have any intention of selling more than 50 books, then you'll have to invest time - and money - into the production and marketing of your book. Here are the basic steps you'll have to consider:

1. Write a great book that's got an audience.

One of the biggest mistakes people make is to assume that people will read their book just because it's "good." People will read a book if it is either applicable to their lives (non-fiction), or if it really is a damned good book (fiction). Even then, you'll have to market your book. "How to sell a book" or "How to market a book" are two of the top questions we get, and search engine analysis shows that these are frequent search terms. If you haven't written your book with an audience in mind, then you're down to three legs on your four-legged marketing stool.

2. Spend some money on book cover design and book editing.

The second leg of book marketing is the interior and exterior design of the book. People do judge a book by its cover, so if you're not spending some money on getting an outstanding cover, you're losing sales. Then, people will open the book and read the intro or first few pages. Is it well-written? Easy to read? Is the interior book design clean, consistent, and well-implemented. I've seen many POD books in which the margins were too small, the fonts poorly chosen, and the images fuzzy. Who's going to buy a book like that?

There are many great book cover designers. Then for editing, contact Charity at Mighty Pen Editing for your editing needs. Don't scrimp on the editing because you WILL make mistakes (trust me on this - there are probably a few in this article).

3. Choose a good quality publisher.

Lulu Press is great if you just want to print a few books for your friends, or create a low-cost galley to send to editors, agents, or distributors. You'll often be asked to send a "galley" of your book, which is simply a printed copy of your book with a blank cover. Lulu Press is great for creating galleys at minimal cost.

As we'll show you in our upcoming comprehensive guide to self-publishing, which POD company you choose depends on your intentions and desires. If you want to have your book professionally edited and the cover professionally designed by your publisher (instead of outsourcing to some unknown person), then companies like Cold Tree Press might be a good choice. Other companies offer a varied level of marketing packages. Personally, I'd rather stay away from having these publishers market my book, and instead go to a good book marketing expert or media specialist.

But, there are a few small publishers (like Cold Tree Press or Arbor Books) who have excellent book marketing packages, ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars (you get what you pay for!).

4. Take a "no holds barred" approach to book marketing.

If your book is your life, or is a major part of your business marketing plan, then spend some money on publicity and book marketing. Too many people, especially business people, write a book, put a page up on their web site (and on Amazon), and hope that they'll get some sales. Your book is like a 250 page business card, and it should be used accordingly.

If your book is your life story or a novel, you still need to spend some money on marketing, although your approach will be different. Definitely check out a media relations specialist (Marika Flatt at http://www.prbythebook.com ) or Book Marketing Specialist (Penny Sansevieri).

5. Use the Internet to market your book.

The old ways of marketing books, such as book tours, are dead and gone. Sure, you can still do them, but if you really want to sell books, you'll have to go online - and not quietly.

Use techniques such as blogs (blogging), Podcasting, and Videocasting (something like online infomercials). Be sure to check out the advanced book marketing teleseminar series at http://www.writeandpublishyourbook.com. You should also learn how to do a Virtual Book tour (a class Penny Sansevieri will be teaching through Write and Publish Your Book).

So, write a great book, find a good book cover designer and book editor, work with a quality publisher, market the heck out of your book, and use the Internet to market your book with podcasts, blogging (an author blog), videocasts, and virtual book tours.

Good luck. Good writing. Good selling.

If you're a writer or solo entrepreneur, then you need to visit the Publishing and Self-Publishing website. Tips & resources for writers; advice on publishing or self-publishing, and relatively unbiased media relations assistance. Check out our Avanced Marketing teleseminars on Podcasting, Self-Publishing, Publishing and Marketing for writers and solo entrepreneurs.

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Book Marketing 101 - Enhancing your Publishers Efforts

Congratulations! You have found a publisher well suited to your book. The contract has been signed. You are a published author! What's next? What will your publisher do? What should you do to enhance the publisher's efforts?

Authors covet traditional (trade) publishers because those publishers are experts in taking a book from manuscript to retail stores with perfection. No matter how many articles you might have read about the enticement of self-publishing or "vanity" publishers, trade publishers know what must be done, how to accomplish the tasks and they can do it in a timely manner. They have the artists, printers, distribution channels and retail connections that you require. That's why you should be willing to share some of the profit with trade publishers.

Without a publisher, you would need to be an expert at cover art, graphic design, editing, printing, acquiring distribution channels, web site design, marketing to retail booksellers and all facets of sales. Very few excellent writers are also experts in all of those areas. And, even if you were an expert in all of those fields, would you have the time to accomplish all of those tasks, as well as restock retail stores? In today's highly competitive and rapidly changing retail book market, even trade publishers cannot do everything. So, unless your last name is King or Clancy, you will need to chip in with some time and effort to make your book a smashing retail success.

What can you expect from your publisher?

A trade publisher will edit your book, create cover art, print the books, contract with distributors and then place your book on the Internet sites of Amazon, Borders, Barnes & Noble, Target and other major global retailers. Your publisher will market your book globally and arrange for distribution in all relevant countries. The publisher will then process the books to sales outlets and restock them on a regular basis. Your publisher may also promote your book at book fairs, through catalogs, through an e-mail or fax blast, generate media publicity, arrange book tours, create a web site, solicit reviews and arrange book signings. And, despite all of this effort on the part of your publisher, you'll receive royalties, which a pretty nice feeling.

However, in today's ever-changing book sales market, a great deal of additional work remains to be done by the author. Much of this is electronic marketing. Because of the changing nature of the publishing world and the revolution in electronic book purchasing, someone needs to market your book throughout the Internet world. Because this work is extremely labor-intensive and detail-oriented, few publishers have the time, workers and enthusiasm to make it happen. This is where the author must step in, with the motivation to work hard on behalf of his or her book. The bad news is that there is a lot of work for the author to do. The good news is that almost no expertise or money is required to accomplish these vital tasks.

Viral marketing:

The Internet has turned the publishing world upside down. Even mammoth publishing houses are today petrified with this abrupt change. People can purchase on the Internet, bypassing brick and mortar stores. They download books to their Kindle. They can even download books on the Internet for free. People today make purchasing decisions based upon what they can see and read on the Internet. For example, Amazon not only allows you to describe your book, display its cover and details; it also has a feature called "Search Inside" that allows prospective buyers to sample many pages of your book before buying. Bookstores and publishers are frightened and losing profit margin. But here is where you can step in and help your publisher.

What should you do to help your publisher? You can contact your local newspapers, magazines and on-line Blogs in order to solicit articles about you and reviews for your book. You can contact local bookstores and arrange for book signings. You can sell books on your own through local organizations. You can try to obtain reviews and interviews about your book everywhere in town. One of the fastest ways to solicit business for your book is through the media. Since you require positive reviews to sell your book, newspapers, magazines and book clubs are a great place to start. When you encounter serious interest, send them a review copy. If your publisher runs out of review copies, send them the e-book as a review copy, or ask them to purchase the Kindle version.

But, the world is a lot bigger than your neighborhood. If you want a great many people to read your book, you will need to create a global electronic marketing campaign. Fortunately, almost all of this can be accomplished with your computer. Better yet, it won't cost you a dime.

First, create a viral marketing campaign. Viral marketing means many things, including web pages, Blogs, social networking, video marketing and all other electronic means of selling your book. It sounds difficult. In reality, it is simple and free. Use effective search terms in Google or Yahoo to find places and people related to your book. For example, a book about the history could be promoted to schools, public and private colleges, universities, historical societies and organizations dedicated to historical preservation. Thousands of people, places and organizations that might use such a book can be located with Internet searches.

Once you uncover these people, places and organizations, all that remains is to contact them with a sales pitch for your book. E-mail marketing is cheap and fast. However, your sales pitch must grab the reader's interest quickly. You must construct an e-mail cover page that is informative, has embedded links to your web sites and the publisher and will sell the value of your book instantly. More about e-mail marketing later in this article.

Web site marketing:

Most publishers will create a web page for your book. But never rely on the public finding that one page, or even your publisher's web site. Anyone can create a free web page for his or her book. Just visit Yahoo, Google, Hotmail, Wordpress, Blogspot, Goodreads, or Geocities and begin building your site. There are many other Internet sites where you can build a web site or Blog for free. The instructions are simple and fast. The more web pages that you create for your book, on your own, the more chances buyers will discover it. I have dozens of such sites.

You can create a free web page that includes many detailed facts about your book, including review excerpts, historical data and links to your Blogs and web sites, as well as your publisher. To keep readers on the site, add dozens of interesting and useful links about the topic of your book. Then, you can create another free web site that includes a syllabus for your book, packed with features and reasons why people should purchase it. Connect these web pages to each other via links. This is FREE. All it takes is some of your time.

The secret to success with Internet web sites is to make them interesting and to use effective key words. Key words (a.k.a. "tags") are the way that search engines find web pages. Select your key words very carefully. The more accurate and appealing your key words, the better the chance that search engines will uncover your book.

Some people recommend that you give away downloadable copies of your book on the Internet, as a marketing tool. Publishers may disagree. However, if you allow someone to download your e-book, or e-mail it to them, there is a chance that they will enjoy it and tell their friends about it. Since most people do not wish to read a book on their computer particularly a long book, print sales will increase as a result. Someone recently asked me if I was disappointed that so many people were reading my book from the local library, rather than paying for it at a bookstore. I don't mind at all. People who enjoy your book will tell friends and family about it. In the end, giving away books judiciously is an effective sales tool.

There is no limit to the number of web pages that you can create. The more times you create a new web page, and the more times you update an existing page, the more times people will discover your book. Continue to perform maintenance on your key words and update your sites with new links. Before you are done, go to this web page http://www.google.com/addurl/?continue=/addurl. Here you will be able to submit your web sites to Google's search tool. This step is critical, so that your web sites will appear on all future Google searches.

Blogs:

Blogging about your book, or writing on other Blogs about it can be a powerful tool to increase sales. Anyone can create a Blog for free and use it to promote a book. I Blog on two of my own sites. Blog about anything of interest to you, or any particular expertise you have acquired. It doesn't have to be related to your book. Note that you can easily promote your book on Blog pages, through links and sidebar widgets. Just be sure to sign off each post as, "Author of ..." below your name.

Perhaps more importantly, you can comment on other people's Blogs, vastly increasing your book's visibility. Use a Google search feature to troll the Internet searching for key words related to your book's topic. When you find Internet newspaper or magazine articles about your book's topic, visit the site and write something there about your book. Always sign off on Blogs with the title of your book and a link to your book's web site under your name.

Similarly, you can comment on articles in magazines and newspapers via their Internet versions. In most cases, you will need to register. It's free and the time you put into registering is a small price to pay for the ability to promote your book in all future iterations of that newspaper or magazine. Most Internet news media allow reader comments after an article. When you find an article related to your book, write your comment and then sign your name and, "Author of ..." after your name. Be sure to include the title of your book and a link to its web site under your name.

Write articles:

Anyone can write articles and have them published on the Internet. Where is your expertise? In what way can you provide people with valuable information? Writing articles is not simple or swift. You may need to conduct some research. Take your time and write carefully. Your topic need not be connected with your book. I have had articles published on topics as wide ranging as publishing, psychology, religion, life, death, war, happiness, prejudice and philosophy. Each article is a chance to sign off with your book's name and a link to its web site.

Establish a Goodreads account. Goodreads is a web site for readers and authors. It is a terrific place to see and be seen. There is no more natural place to sell your book's value to potential readers. Although Goodreads is not a retail site, it offers an opportunity to network with other authors who have similar interests and problems.

Social networking:

Join as many social networking sites as possible. MySpace, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Ziggs, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Multiply, Urbis, Squidoo... They are all valuable ways to make your book known. You may be able to generate your own Wikipedia page. At each of these social networking sites, you can create a profile, including a description of your book and stores where it is sold. But your work there is not finished. Join groups within the sites that are related to your book, your writing, or anything related to the topic. Promote your book through Facebook, MySpace and Twitter by joining groups related to it. LinkedIn is an excellent place to network with professionals of all types. At LinkedIn, you can create a profile to describe your book that will be seen by countless readers. You can also join groups of interest related to your book. You can reach literally thousands of people within these groups.

Amazon:

Amazon is not only a place to sell your book. It is a place to post a Blog. Amazon has a new sponsored link called "Filedby" that includes an author biography page where you can post a Blog and relevant articles. Also within Amazon, each content section has forums in which people start topics or respond to the topics of others. You can post messages and responded to messages in Amazon forums as wide ranging as history, fiction, war, romance, art, science, religion, literature, etc. Again, each time you write, sign off with your name and the title of your book. You will instantly reach thousands of potential buyers.

Another Amazon feature allows anyone with an Amazon account to create a review for any book sold there. Think about every book that you have read. You can locate the book on Amazon and create your own customer review. Just scroll down the Amazon page for any book until you see a button that says, "Create Your Own Customer Review." Follow the instructions to rate and then review the book. When you are done, be sure to write, "Author of ..." after your name. Every time someone reads your review of that book, the name of your book will appear. Since the reader is already on Amazon, they can purchase your book by typing its name at the top of the page. You can review as many books as you wish, each time marketing your own book under your signature.

Email marketing:

You can personally contact tens of thousands of critical people and organizations with e-mail. Never count on your publisher doing this. They can only dream of having the time and labor to accomplish such a task. All that you need are e-mail addresses, an effective sales letter and some time.

Use the Internet to search for lists of people who would have a natural interest in your book. You can uncover literally thousands of e-mail addresses related to your book's topic. Organizations often include membership e-mail addresses. All that is left for you to do is to create an effective e-mail cover letter and send it to each member electronically. This is not spamming because the addresses are publicly posted.

While few of us are brave enough to open an attachment from a stranger, we are all willing to open a hyperlink. Embedding Internet hyperlinks into your e-mail cover page is simple and fast. In most e-mail programs, you can right-click on any word in an outgoing message and then select the "Hyperlink" option. Follow the instructions to embed the hyperlink. That word will appear in all future e-mail versions of your letter in blue or red. When your reader clicks on the blue or red word (while compressing the "Control" key), your web site will emerge in their browser. With this method, the reader can access all of your book's important web sites, including your publisher's web site, book reviews, the book's Amazon page, another web site that contains a syllabus, author interviews and much more.

Hyperlinks are also vastly superior to typing in lengthy Internet addresses. For example, the Amazon Internet address for many books can be quite lengthy and would occupy at least two lines in an e-mail pitch page. Instead, simply hyperlink the word "here" at the end of a sentence. Clicking the word "here," which will appear in blue or red, will transport the e-mail reader to the book's Amazon page.

Your e-mail cover page message must be brief and concise - less than one page; while compelling the reader to learn more about your book. No one will bother to read a lengthy dissertation about your book while the rest of his or her daily incoming mail is piling up, waiting to be read. Just grab their interest quickly, hyperlink the best web sites and provide contact information. The e-mail is only designed to command their interest. The embedded web sites will sell your book. At least one of your embedded web sites should allow the reader to instantly purchase the book. Another hyperlinked web site should contain the book's syllabus, access to your best reviews, the author's biography and links to other relevant sites, articles, Blogs and books.

Once you have created an impressive e-mail cover letter, save it in generic form for future use. Then, each time you wish to contact someone new about your book, retrieve the file and customize it to that particular receipient. In most cases, you will require only a few minor changes to your original letter. This will allow you to contact literally hundreds of people rapidly.

Only a few days are required to create and modify e-mail cover letters, web sites and Blogs appropriately. It will cost nothing. In fact, some large Internet companies, like Google, will pay you per click if you allow them to advertise on your site. Instead of paying for web site development, create your own site and make money by selling advertising on it. Learn more about the "affiliate programs" at Google and Amazon.

Conclusion:

The world of book marketing and sales is undergoing considerable, rapid change. People who formerly explored books and purchased them at their local bookstore now increasingly accomplish this task from home or work on the Internet. Since publishers are still required to edit, print, distribute and market in traditional ways, and since they have fewer staff due to lower margins, it falls upon the author to accomplish many new tasks related to electronic marketing and sales.

You can construct web sites and Blogs that can be used to attract the public to your book and accomplish the sale with a few mouse clicks. You can solicit reviews, articles and sales by creating several attractive and concise web pages, by using appropriate key words in those web sites to attract search engines and by implementing an effective e-mail marketing campaign. You can accomplish all of this right from your own computer - and it is virtually cost free.

Marketing a book can be time consuming and frustrating. But do not count on your publisher to accomplish everything, particularly if you are a new author. Be willing to implement your own marketing campaign with web sites, Blogs, by writing articles and with an effective e-mail blitz. The harder your effort, the larger your royalty checks will become.

Charles S. Weinblatt
Author, "Jacob's Courage: A Holocaust Love Story"
http://jacobscourage.wordpress.com/

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Promoting Your Book on-line with Paperbackswap

Paperbackswap.com is an amazing website that I stumbled onto several months ago through the internet (maybe you've heard of the internet?). The site is a community of readers and the premise is simple: have a shelf of books you don't want anymore? Share them with others and you get a free book in return. Simple, right?

Contents:
1. Introduction
2. Profile
3. Navigation
4. Lists
5. PBS and Your Book
6. Discussion Forums
7. Reviews
8. In Closing

1. INTRODUCTION

The cover prices of the books are inconsequential. All you have to do is sign up, upload the ISBN numbers from those books on your shelf that you don't want (they're just taking up valuable space anyway!), and sit back and wait for other readers to request them. Once they do, you simple drop that book in the mail, wait for it to be received, and then go shopping! If you're like me, you probably grew up loving a specific genre of book. Whether they were mysteries, romance novels, or suspense thrillers, your tastes have probably matured and now you're hauling around eight boxes of books each time you move. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but those boxes are HEAVY!

As an author you're probably more into reading your particular genre nowadays. Heck, maybe you want to build a reference library, or perhaps there are bestsellers you've been wanting to read, but for whatever reason didn't pony up the cash for that shiny hardcover. Welcome to Paperbackswap, also known as your Salvation.

Now before we go any further, I'm sure this is all sounding too good to be true and you might be wondering what the catch is. The one simple catch is that after someone requests a book from you (you're given the option to accept or deny the book request), you accept and are provided the name and mailing address of the receiver and you must take that book to the Post Office and pay for the postage. Since most paperbacks won't cost you over $3.00 to ship, this is a small price to pay for building a great library. Books under thirteen ounces can even be shipped from your home mailbox and you can print the shipping label from home. The good news is that when you request that book you've been trying to get your hands on, someone will do the same for you.

You're probably eyeing your bookshelf as you read this, considering how much shelf space you can clear up. I felt the same way, and I have cleared up a LOT of space. Now you're snapped back into reality and thinking, "Hey, this is supposed to be an article about promoting my book and all you've shown me how to do is send books in the mail!"

You clever fox, you. Let's get into the fun part: Promoting your book.

2. PROFILE

Once you've signed up for an account you can immediately begin uploading ISBN numbers to your Bookshelf (which displays all books you are looking to set free) or you can setup a profile for yourself. I'd suggest the latter since we are, after all, here to promote ourselves.

Photo
This first thing you'll want to do is upload one of your standard author head shots so the world can put a face to the name that is sending them some awesome books. Make sure you smile, and ensure your photo captures the genre you write for. Since I'm a humor writer, I'm able to get away with all kinds of wacky pictures and no one can really say anything.

Bio
Next you're able to input your age (if you want) and website address. Let's make sure the link is to your book's website, or Amazon.com link where people can quickly add your novel to their shopping cart.

Following those small text boxes you'll see an even bigger box where you can input a full bio and write pretty much anything your heart desires. Let's play it safe and copy/paste your professional bio, which discusses your awesome book and has a word or two about you in there. First impressions are everything. Don't forget to add in any additional websites of importance along with reader quotes and the whole nine yards.

Forum Settings
If you plan to become active in the Paperbackswap (PBS) forums, which I highly recommend, and will touch on later, you can upload a small avatar (I'd suggest your book cover) and a signature that will automatically attach itself to each post you make. This is a great spot to put a brief blurb, which should include the name of your book, a tagline, and a link to where people can pick up a copy. Make it short and simple. We all have ADD.

There are a handful of other settings you can mess with in this section, but I leave you to toy around with them and tweak them to your liking.

3. NAVIGATION

You navigate PBS through a series of tabs that take you to different sections of the site.
They are as follows:

My Account - Shows any incoming or outgoing books and your swap history (among other things)

Post Books - Lets you upload books you want to swap. You can upload one ISBN at a time, multiples, or even a spreadsheet full of them if you're looking to clean house.

My Bookshelf - Shows all titles you have available for swap. If you've had a change of heart about getting rid of "Where the Red Fern Grows" you can delete it on this page. I don't blame you. That one's a tearjerker.

My Lists - This is the meat and cheese of the site. All of the books you want are found in this section. More on this in a second.

Buddy List - Because what would a social networking site be without the ability to make friends?

Personal Messages - An inbox/outbox for any communications you might have with other PBS members

Settings - Did you leave a typo in your author biography? Fix it here.

4. LISTS

Lets go back to the Lists tab. This is where you'll spend the majority of your time. As you're cruising the site, your bound to run into titles that you've wanted to read along with about a zillion books that you never knew existed that you now want to read. Depending on availability, they will go one of two places.

Head to your Amazon.com wish list (I know you have one) and copy the ISBN numbers from the product page and paste them into the PBS search window. After searching, the book's page will pop up (if it has an ISBN, it's more than likely in the PBS database).

Either the book will be available, or it will be unavailable.

If the book you desire is available, you can click the "Order" button immediately, and if you have the credits (each time someone receives a book from you and clicks a button on the site, you receive a credit), the book will be on its way to your doorstep in just a few days. HOWEVER, if the book in unavailable, you can opt to add the book to your Wish List.

Wish List
If you've added a book to your wish list, you will be added to a queue and shown how many other users also want that book. You might be the tenth person in line, or the first. PBS is first come, first served.

PBS will attempt to calculate how long it will be until that title becomes available, but keep in mind that it's all dependent on someone entering the ISBN and adding it to their shelf. If you are number one in the queue, PBS will be really nice to you and 'hold' the book for 48 hours. You'll receive an email alerting you that the book is available and you can log in and accept or deny. If you wait longer than two days, person number two gets a crack at it. And so on, and so on.

PBS takes this system a step further and you can set certain titles to automatically accept the swap if that book suddenly becomes available in the system. Then all you have to do is sit back and wait for it to arrive.

Reminder List
If you find a book you want and there are copies available, you can add it to your reminder list if you'd prefer to pick it up another time. From your reminder list you can order that book with the click of a button as well as keep tabs on how many copies are currently available in the system.

I highly recommend searching YOUR book(s) in the database and adding them to your reminder list immediately so that you can see how many are available.

If there are lots of copies of your novel available, then that's fantastic! You're probably getting some great circulation. No copies available at all? Patience, Grasshopper.

BIR List
BIR stands for "Books I've Read." On every single book page there are five stars. As you go through and rate books that you've read, they will show up on this list. From here you can see if any of these books are currently on Wish Lists of other members. If you see there is a demand for a book that you have, you can opt to add it to your shelf and put it up for grabs.

By rating books, PBS's FABIL (Find a Book I'll Like) system generates titles that you might enjoy reading. You can sort them by genre or availability and delete anything that looks uninteresting. I've found quite a few great titles this way, so it's definitely worth looking into when you aren't busy promoting your own title.

5. PBS AND YOUR BOOK

Now here's what you've been waiting for. Hopefully you're still with me. For all I know, you're off packing up your bookshelf and shipping books across the state. Don't get me wrong, that's a ton of fun, but we're here to promote a book, remember? Let's get to promoting it.

Make it Available!
I'm willing to bet you have a box full of your books somewhere in the house. Whether they are in the garage, a closet, or even right on your bookshelf, you likely have some extras that you sell at signings, events, or just from the trunk of your car. Maybe you have some dent and scratch copies that you've been looking to move. This is the time and the place.

If you run a search of your book in the PBS database and see that none are currently available, it's time to take matters into your own hands. Grab a copy from that box or bookshelf and input the ISBN into the uploader. Voila. Your book is now available on Paperbackswap. If you look at your book in your reminder list it should now say "Copies Available: 1" and that means we're in business.

I've yet to see that there is any rule against uploading a book you have authored, and I can't imagine why there would be. If someone wants to read your book, they should be able to get it, even if that's directly from the author. If someone requests your book and you ship it out, no worries, just upload another and keep a supply for the ensuing demand.

Don't feel ashamed or embarrassed that you are sending out your own book. Use the opportunity to make it special. Autograph it. Inscribe a personal message. Include handwritten sheet of paper in the mailing to thank them for taking the time to request and read your book. Ask for a review when they've finished.

Suddenly you've gone from sending a book to sending something that's personalized and special. Readers will appreciate the time you spent in jotting down their names and saying thanks.

Some authors like to keep other promotional materials handy whether they are bookmarks to advertise their title or business cards. Consider sticking these in the package as well. Worst-case scenario, they love your book and decide to give the cards to a friend (and they BUY a copy).

What's that you say? You're giving away books for free? You're not getting paid?

This is all very true. However, in return for giving away that book and losing a little bit of profit, you will soon get a replacement book for your collection AND you've possibly made a new fan if your first impression (and book) are good.

If you're just starting out as an author, remember that word of mouth is the biggest source of sales and sometimes a new fan is worth more than the three dollars you might get from selling it online.

Promoting Your Book With Other Books
Since I write in the humorous essay genre, I tend to own and read a lot of other books in the same vein. Some of them I like to keep around, others were fun for a bit, but I probably want to swap them for something else that might make me laugh. Each time I send out a book (even if it's not in the same genre) I include a piece of paper, which is printed from a simple Microsoft Word file on my home computer that contains all pertinent info about my book.

On this piece of paper I have a personalized note to the receiver congratulating them on being the new owner of the book, and a quick note suggesting that if they enjoy what they're receiving (or if I'm mailing a book in a different genre, I suggest that if they like to laugh) they should also consider checking out MY book.

Also printed on the sheet is a big old color picture of my book's cover along with the ISBN info, the synopsis (what you'd see on Amazon), and some short (but hilarious) snippets from its contents.

Now, depending on the genre of your book, you can probably put together your own one-sheet that will appeal to readers of that genre. If you write thrillers or mysteries, give them a pivotal moment from your book but leave a cliffhanger so they can't help but track it down!

Next, I mention to look for the book on Paperbackswap, but also include my email address and a link to my website. I wouldn't want to stop anyone from purchasing a brand new copy, now would I?

Lastly, I round out the page with my scribble of an autograph, tuck that sheet randomly into the pages (or into my favorite chapter) and drop that thing in the mail.

If you have bookmarks or business cards to promote your book, consider dropping those in as well for the reader to share with a friend.

I've had numerous occasions where I've seen an email response thanking me for the suggestion, or have seen a book order come through for the exact same address! As long as your printed page is well written and grabs the reader's attention, you've just added a sale and gotten rid of an unwanted book simultaneously!

Follow Up
If you have sent out a copy of your own book and see that it has been received, wait a few weeks and follow up with the PBS member you sent it to. If you haven't seen any reviews pop up on online from them, consider dropping a quick note to let them know you hope they're enjoying your book and you can't wait to read their review of it on Amazon. You'd be surprised at how often readers are willing to share their opinions, especially if they know the author will read them. Be warned that not all reviews will be the Five Stars you hope for, but take all feedback into consideration and let it help you improve your next book.

Additional Promotion Ideas
If you're looking to ways to spice up your website, Facebook, Twitter, etc... then let your friends and fans know that they can get your book for FREE from Paperbackswap.com.

If they're already members on the site, they should be able to locate and order it very quickly, but for those who are not on the PBS bandwagon, you may have brought them onto a new site that could change their lives... or at least their reading habits.

Keep an eye on the availability of your book. Sometimes, after a member has read it, they will add it to their bookshelf in hopes of passing it along to someone else. If your book doesn't pop back up in the system, that simply means the reader probably wants to keep the book (take a second to be flattered) and you should consider uploading the ISBN number again to "keep it in stock."

6. Discussion Forums

Paperbackswap has a rather in-depth forum system. By hunting around, you can find other users looking for all kinds of books. Some folks have specific titles they are hunting for (that you just might have) while others will ask for book suggestions based off of other authors they like.

Periodically search the forums for key words and similar authors and don't miss out on an opportunity to plug your book and mention its availability on PBS. If there are a small amount of copies available, people tend to order them sooner than later.

Each book genre also has its own forum, so get into the community and contribute to discussions! If you set up a solid Signature for yourself, your book will be promoted each and every time you post a topic or reply. Your book will promote itself without you even needing to be at the computer, and that's a wonderful thing.

7. REVIEWS

As with any book-centric website, PBS allows you to contribute book reviews for titles you have read. Don't bend over backwards here, simply copy/paste the reviews you've probably already written on Amazon, Goodreads, or Shelfari. If you leave solid and well written reviews for books in your genre, a reader just needs to click once to end up on your profile page where they will learn all about your book, and you'll be mailing them a copy soon enough.

8. IN CLOSING

As an avid reader and book lover, I find Paperbackswap to be an amazing site in and of itself, however, you should never miss an opportunity to market your book to your target audience, and if you go about things the right way, you have thousands of users from that target market right at your finger tips.

It's all about building your credibility, creating and maintaining relationships, and having a great product to offer. Embody those qualities and word of mouth will take care of the rest. In the meantime, swap your old novel collection for some fresh reads and enjoy some great books.

Remember that in no way are my opinions and techniques the end all, be all on how to promote your book on this website. In fact, I welcome any feedback as well as tips and tricks I may have missed. After all, we're all in this together.

Weston Locher is the author of the humor book, Musings on Minutiae, a collection of 50 hilarious essays about his childhood memories, life with frenetic felines, living in an urban apartment complex, and everything in between.

For more information, visit his blog at www.musingsonminutiae.com

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Promoting Your Book on-line with Goodreads

Goodreads.com is one of the premiere social networking sites for book lovers. At this site you can make friends, share book recommendations, create virtual bookshelves to show off what you're currently reading, the books you've read in the past, and titles you intend to read in the future. The article below details a few functions of the site as well as several ways that I have successfully promoted and marketed my own book.

I won't get into the technical side of things as far as how to join the site or set these things up, as the website itself is good at walking you through the process.

Contents:
1. Author Page
2. Status Updates
3. Groups and Forums
4. Giveaways
5. Reviews
6. Paid Advertisements
7. In Closing
8. Additional Resources

AUTHOR PAGE

If your new book has an ISBN number or is posted for sale on Amazon.com then it's more than likely that your title will be searchable in the site's database. Once you have signed up for a Goodreads account and located your book, you will be able to click a magic button to tell the site that you are the writer of the book and will be led through the process on how to set up an author page.

Bio
You'll be able to create an author biography for yourself that will list the books you have written, a link to your website, your genre, your favorite writers, as well a picture. Make sure everything is professional looking and sounding so you immediately have credibility as an author. This is likely the first information your potential readers are going to see or read about you. Make a great first impression!

Blog
Goodreads has its own blog service which will display any posts you make to your profile, but hopefully you're one step ahead of the game and already have a blog (and a professional looking) website of your own. In the blog settings you can insert the web address of your blog's feed and anytime you update your regular blog, it will automatically cross-post to Goodreads where friends and potential fans will see it. It will put the first few paragraphs on the site and then link externally to your regular blog... and once those readers are on your real website, hopefully you have enough material to keep them there, ultimately leading them to that fateful Amazon.com link where they can purchase your title!

Events
If you have any big events coming up, whether it's the actual release date of your book, a blog tour, or a book signing, list it here! You can then promote the event to your friends and they can decide whether or not they will attend. If nothing else, it shows potential readers (and publishers) that you're a hard worker and willing to do your own promotion.

Videos
Video book trailers are all the rage this year, so if you have your own hosted on YouTube, or other online video service, you can link it here and your readers will be able to enjoy it right from the Goodreads site (and hopefully purchase your novel soon after!). Other good videos to post include author interviews, public speaking engagements, or a personal reading from a chapter of your book. It's easier to sell a book when someone feels like they know the author, so get personal! Just don't get so personal that you end up revealing your social security or credit card numbers to your viewers! That would be silly.

Writing
Another section on your author page lets you post writings. This can be whatever you like! Often times you'll see good reviews of the book reposted here, sample chapters, and more and more authors are putting brand new material online in order to get feedback as they write the sequel to their current novel. Interactivity is the key to a strong and loyal readership!

Quotes
Goodreads.com encourages all of its members to share quotes from books they love. You can put quotes from your favorite books, inspirational sayings, or (if you're crafty) you'll upload quotes from your book that will be attention grabbing. These quotes will also show up on your book's Goodreads page. Between the "Writing" section and the "Quotes" sections, there's enough room to add some good snippets to get people reading your work, and hopefully it also makes them feel like they HAVE to finish it, and subsequently buy the book!

Fans
The last section of the author page that I want to mention is the "Fan" area where people can click a single button and become a fan. Your name and photo will then show up on their profile underneath their "Favorite Authors" section, and they will be updated whenever you post a new book, new writings, or a new blog post. Whatever keeps them coming back! Remember that the average person has to be exposed to something almost seven times before they decide to purchase it!

STATUS UPDATES

Since authors love to read, it's easy to share what book your nose is currently in with your Goodreads friends and fans. With status updates, you can tell them what page you are currently on in any given title you may be reading as well as any thoughts or emotions you're having on the book thus far. You can also leave a general status update where you can share 140 characters of anything you want! This is seen by anyone who is currently your friend, or has clicked the "Fan" button on your page. Is summer coming? Suggest to your readers that they sit outside and enjoy a copy of your book (with a link to the Amazon.com product page, of course).

Remember that sharing which books you enjoy is another good form of interaction. By clicking on any book's title, you'll be able to see which of your friends and fans have read it. Strike up a conversation! Find out what they liked and disliked about the book, and if your novel is in a similar genre, don't forget to recommend it to them!

GROUPS AND FORUMS

The heart of any social networking website is the actual networking part. Goodreads has thousands of user-created groups where readers discuss every genre and title imaginable. If you're about to release the next great Thriller novel, do some searching for groups who are (actively) talking about the books that you enjoy and that inspired you. A great feature of Goodreads is that these discussions are insanely simple to find. Search one of your favorite books and you'll be treated with a list of current groups that are discussing the book! Some groups are open for anyone to join while others require invitations or requests to join. Get in on the conversation and contribute to the conversation. Don't just tell everyone to read your book, that's too pushy. Be a solid participant in the conversation and people will appreciate your contributions, and all they have to do is click on your name and BAM, they'll be in your Author Page world where you have everything you need to sell someone on your book.

GIVEAWAYS

My favorite way of promoting a book on Goodreads is through their "First Reads" program where authors can setup a giveaway of their book. You get to write the synopsis, how many copies you are willing to give away, and how long people can enter to win.

The only thing that avid readers love more than reading is winning free books. I normally run my giveaways for a month making sure that the synopsis I include attracts readers of the humor genre. I lead off with a funny quote from the book and then get into the details from there.

Throughout the month (or however long you decide) to have your giveaway open to entrants, a box will appear on your book page that says "Win a Copy of this Book!" and all people have to do is click a couple of buttons to enter. Your book is also found in a master listing of giveaways which contains books of every genre, some of which are self-published, some are ARC (Advanced Reader Copies) and others are unedited galley versions.

In my experience, these giveaways promote themselves because at the end of the day, it's a free book and people want it. Check in often to see how many people have entered to win your book. The first giveaway I did was open for entries for a month and I have over 1,000 people enter to win. The second giveaway I did was also for a month and over 800 people entered to win. I only gave away one copy of the book with each contest, however, I made it my mission to turn all 1,800 of those people into my readers since they had at least seen the book and shown interest.

Since Goodreads will show you the name and photo of everyone wanting to win your book, you can easily click on them and see their profile. Their bookshelves will often tell you right away if they like your genre, or if they're just trying to win a free book. Occasionally you'll see people who have entered with dummy accounts, just in increase the chances that they will win. These profiles have no photos and no books on their shelves, so just ignore these.

Now, the following suggestion has been the best source of book sales for me, but I warn you, it will be tedious for you.

For all of the people who sign up to win the book, I went on to each one of their profiles individually and sent them a personal message or friend request to thank them for entering to win a copy, and suggesting that they add my book to their "to-read" list in the unfortunate event that they didn't win the giveaway. For each person I message or friend request, I include their actual name so it doesn't just look like a spam message that I sent to hundreds of people. These friendly messages usually open a dialog with users who have actually taken the time to explore your book a bit, and they will occasionally offer up that they read some of your quotes and sample chapters and are eager to win it.

As I mentioned, this messaging process takes a long time, and Goodreads doesn't make it any easier. They limit the amount of friend requests and personal messages that you can send in a day, but with a little bit of time set aside, along with some persistence, you can eventually reach out to everyone. On your book page, Goodreads will show you the number of users who have your awesome novel on their "to-read" lists, and hopefully this number is steadily growing with each personalized message you send out.

So you've spent a month getting the word out about your giveaway, more and more people are entering every day, and you're trying to stay on top of messaging them all, hopefully making a few friends in the process. What then?

Then your giveaway ends. Goodreads does the hard part of choosing a winner. One winner is chosen for each copy of the book you volunteered to give away. I don't know the mechanics behind how they pick winners, but in my experience both people who won copies of my humor book were readers who previously enjoyed books in that genre. Once I was delivered the names and addresses of the winners, I sent the books out immediately, and emailed them with a big CONGRATULATIONS on winning the contest. I once again thanked them for entering and politely asked them to consider writing a review on Goodreads and Amazon.com after they'd had time to digest it.

With both winners, I was lucky enough that they did enjoy the book and wrote sparkling reviews on both sites. They since have stayed in touch and will be the first people I go to when I release another book in the future.

Then comes the next tedious and time consuming part: I went back through all 1,800 people who entered to win my book and messaged them AGAIN to thank them yet again for entering, but also delivered them the sad news that they had not won. I did, however, include a link to the book on Amazon.com where they could purchase it if they were still interested in reading it. This led to several immediate sales!

I was able to see when these users were reading the book and thus I was able to reach out to them and politely request they post Goodreads and Amazon reviews upon completion.

REVIEWS

Though groups and forums are the center of most social networks, book reviews are the heartbeat of Goodreads. Readers will offer up their opinions, both good and bad, on the books they have read. Whereas Amazon tends not to encourage negative reviews, Goodreads users don't pull any punches. I learned the hard way that not everyone is interested in my genre, and not all people share my sense of humor, so even though I've received some rave reviews, I've also had people discuss who much they hated my book. You have to build up a tough skin and realize that not everyone likes the same things, but be sure take all feedback that readers offer into consideration for future titles.

I've been working on reviewing all of the books that I've read and enjoyed; especially novels and collections that are in my genre. I try to leave constructive and concise reviews with helpful information. If users like your reviews, they can end up on your author page with just one click where your book is ready to be presented to them. Always be aware how anything you write on the website can add or subtract to your credibility. If you go leaving horrible reviews for books, people will assume you are negative and unlikeable and therefore, why would they buy your book? But if you are constructive, insightful, and your reviews are well-written (you are a writer, after all) then your credibility goes up and you will also help them find new and exciting authors to read.

PAID ADVERTISEMENTS

The last section that I want to mention should be a supplemental area for your promotions. Goodreads runs an ad service much like Google where they will promote your book in their sidebar (with an image of your book cover, and a brief line of text - so make those characters count!) on a pay-per-click basis. Unlike Google, Goodreads asks you to decide how many clicks you want and you pay for them up front. They then rotate your ad until you collect the clicks you paid for.

In the world of books, word of mouth is the best tool at your disposal, but by having your book cover and an eye-catching description floating around, it will help put the book into people's minds so that later on when they see that their friend is planning to, or has read your book, they'll be even more likely to pick it up.

Goodreads allows you to choose where the reader ends up when they click your link. Most times it's the book's page on Goodreads, the Amazon product page, or the author's website. Having run only one campaign though this service, I can't be sure of which destination will offer you the most sales, but I linked mine to my author website and didn't see a large return. Don't ever assume that advertisements will get you the sales you want, and be wary of how much money you sink into them as those dollars can often be used more effectively for other marketing campaigns.

IN CLOSING

I hope that this has given you a better understanding of the awesome potential that Goodreads offers to authors of all genres and remember that my way is not necessarily the best way; it's simply what has worked for me thus far and led to sales of my book. I welcome any feedback on this article and hope that if you find another great way to use Goodreads that you will shoot me an email and let me know. My hope is that other authors will find this information useful throughout their journey toward the Bestseller's List.

Remember that we're all in this together, and as Benjamin Franklin once said, "We must all hang together, or we will surely hang separately."

I'm not sure if that's relevant, but dang was he a funny guy.

Weston Locher is the author of the humor book, Musings on Minutiae, a collection of 50 hilarious essays about his childhood memories, life with frenetic felines, living in an urban apartment complex, and everything in between.

For more information, visit http://www.musingsonminutiae.com.

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Death is nothing at all

Death is nothing at all
I have only slipped away into the next room
I am I and you are you
Whatever we were to each other
That we are still
Call me by my old familiar name
Speak to me in the easy way you always used
Put no difference into your tone
Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow
Laugh as we always laughed
At the little jokes we always enjoyed together
Play, smile, think of me, pray for me
Let my name be ever the household word that it always was
Let it be spoken without effort
Without the ghost of a shadow in it
Life means all that it ever meant
It is the same as it ever was
There is absolute unbroken continuity
What is death but a negligible accident?
Why should I be out of mind
Because I am out of sight?
I am waiting for you for an interval
Somewhere very near
Just around the corner
All is well.
Nothing is past; nothing is lost
One brief moment and all will be as it was before
How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!




Death is nothing at all

Canon Henry Scott-Holland

1910