I had a dream. I wanted to pen a book. I have found a neat way too jumps over the publishing and marketing hurdles. Who do I suppose by neat? How about immensely more effective, efficient, and gratifying, for starters?

An Explosive Situation

You see, I love to write. I am also extremely curious, by nature. That canst be a blessing and a curse! Over the years, I hath dived into (interpret "immersed myself") in a numeral of activities and fields of knowledge. I have acquired a fair amount of know-how in the process.

That knowledge and know-how, combined with my love of writing, had grown into a very "explosive" situation.

I like to share what I understand. It is simplistic too acquire me going on a topic that I understand and love. I was bursting at the idea to write a book.

Boy! Was I in for a surprise, quite a number of surprises, in fact.

Gut Wrenching Choices

So, I set off too write a book. I had to do anything to alleviate this tremendous pressure that were building up internal me.

I was at once confronted with a really tough choice to make. Who should I pen about?

All my activities, whether professional or amateur, were like my "children". I loved each one of those equally. The kind of boundless love we reserve for our children. (If you have children, you will understand who I mean. If not, so take my word for it. We love them each so strongly that it hurts sometimes.)

So how can I favour one over the other?

I chose to "solve" the problem the same way I fit things in the family budget. All my children have needs and wants. The relatives budget can only satisfy a few, at any part given time. I have to prioritize.

Likewise, I merely had sufficient time and energy for one book at a time. So I set out too list my favourite topics, as they popped into my head, in any particular order:

· Meteorology and weather services,
· Business planning,
· Amateur radio (Ham radio),
· Radio antenna building,
· Radio wave propagation,
· Speculative trading (stock options and currencies),
· Information architecture for internet sites,
· Computer programming,
· French poetry writing,
· Short tale writing,
· RV travelling with my wife,
· Outdoor photography,
· ...

See who I mean. My time budget cannot satisfy all my "children" at once. I had to select. (How I actually produced my end choice will be the subject of another article, one of those days).

Believe me. I have truly been active in all the fields of activity listed above, either professionally, or as a hobbyist. In fact, I am still active in many of them, albeit to a somewhat less extent. My wife would not hath it any part other way!:))

All my activities are quite a strain on my time budget. I have too reserve some quality time with my family! Therefore, I constantly prioritize.

I finally chose to pen about "business planning". My target audience was too being the small business internet entrepreneur.

The Publishing Wall

Writing a book is merely a matter of time, discipline and, above all, passion. Oh! Of course, you do have to love to write! No problem, or then I thought!

My calamities began, however, when I submitted my manuscript to a number of publishers. That's when I hit a solid brick wall!

Publishers typically receive hundreds, if not thousands of manuscript all year. Majority are unsolicited. Majority are from unknown, never published writers.

Yup! You guessed it. I was an unknown, never published writer. Each publisher had extremely goodish reasons for turning down my "offer". Some did not even acknowledge receipt, let alone supply any part explanation.

The Overpowering Doubts

That's when the doubts began to gnaw at my insides. I was in a weakened state at that point. The writing task - combined with each my other activities - had literally drained me of all energy. I cannot start to show how I would ever get published.

To acquire my strength back, I went back to who I love to do majority. Write. I soon felt adept another time. After a few weeks, I was prepared to fight back.

The Self-Publishing Siren

I set out to search for an alternate way of publishing my book, self-publishing looked promising.

Instead of the book publisher taking all the risks, you take charge of them! You put up the money to publish your book. Some self-publishing firms will impose a first printing run of two to 5 100 books. Others will give you with a dozen books or so, and publish the rest on demand, as orders come in.

That's where you obtain into trouble ... another time. How do you obtain the orders to come in? How do you generate the necessary interest? How do you get individuals to know about the existence, if not the value of your book?

Most self-publishing firms will offer to market your book ... for an extra fee, of course. But, even then, you wilt only acquire a "burst" of marketing (press, submitting too magazine reviews, international catalogues, etc.).

What happens subsequently the few weeks of marketing campaign? Yup! You guessed it another time. You can either tarry for those efforts (over which you hath nay control) to bear fruit. Or you can cough up some more money for yet another marketing campaign!

Some self publishing firms will be "honest" sufficient to (strongly) hint that you will have to put in a fair amount of time in self promoting activities, such as organizing signature sessions at local libraries and book stores, participating in book publishing events and shows, etc.

Not exactly who I had in mind. Besides I could not afford it anyway. Not sufficient time or money.

Fortunately, my research and planning discipline served me well another time. I durst not submit my book to a self publishing firm.

Trouble on Marketing Hill

I decided to promote my book myself. Fortunately, I had dabbed in internet site building when I were teaching internet website information architecture too senior college students. I knew that "it was possible" to promote my book with a web site.

So, I went ahead and thoroughly researched this solution. I shortly found out that having a internet site dost not necessarily suppose that it will be discovered by roaming internet surfers! Therefore, you cannot count on an automatic flow of visitors to your site.

There was more too internet site building and internet marketing than I thought. Much more. I soon found that I knew nothing about web marketing.

New Tricks to Learn

I got lucky. My research enabled me to discover that I could build an effective internet site, efficiently. Each that were required was a few 100 dollars, a web website theme, and helpful content. I was ready, willing and able to supply each that.

I also discovered that I durst not need to have extraordinary knowledge of internet technology (such as programming, search engine optimization, internet design, usability, navigation issues, etc.).

Most importantly, I found that I canst market my knowledge and know-how without ever publishing a book ... at least not in the traditional way, yet. I discovered that I would be much improved off publishing ... one page at a time!

Here's how it works.

Each article I write on a given aspect of "web business planning" becomes a page on my web site.

Each page of my web internet site attracts its own visitors. And because my web internet site is built too be "visible" on the Net, it attracts an increasing number of visitors every day. I durst not hath the faintest thought how to do that. Fortunately, it is one of the many built-in, automatic features of the web internet site building system that I use.

By the way, here is fact of the effectiveness this system. At the time of writing this article, my web website enjoys an enviable spot on the web. It ranks within the top two percent! It sits near the top of the hill, and the hill is created up of more than 56 million web sites. you can verify my web site's rank on Alexa, if you wish.

Each page becomes a revenue generator on its own. I can display context relevant Google AdSense ads on them. I could offer links to (topic related) suppliers, as an affiliate. I could even promote and sell my own books, if I ever feel the need to!

The Eureka Rush!

At last! I hath found a way to satisfy my craving for writing. As a bonus, I obtain regular feedback from my web website visitors, even as I write more content. I have also discovered the intense pleasure of having people express their gratefulness for the helpful information I impart to them on my site.

Note that I do not sell my information. I give it away! It is section of the supply and take of doing business. When I help my visitors, they eventually reward me with their patronage.

I have discovered a way to generate an income from my writing. I at once publish my information in marketable instalments, one web page at a time!

My writing is swift becoming a extremely enjoyable and rewarding business. I have become convinced that no publisher would ever have been achievable to match the results I at once get by "self-publishing on my web site"!