Getting Started in Booklet Publishing

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Booklets are considered an easy way for the new publisher to start a mail order publishing business or to get started selling on the internet.

What is a booklet?

A booklet is a short book or book. Booklets are normally up to 60-75 pages in length. The average length is usually between 24-48 pages long.

Many people prefer the shorter, more direct style of reading that booklets provide and thirty to forty page booklets are a good length to provide for busy people who like to get information quickly and with as little effort as possible.

The length of your booklet however is unimportant. The quality and the value of the information you provide is considered more important than length to the reader who is seeking just the kind of information that your booklet provides.

People will pay as much for a booklet as they will for a book especially if it offers them valuable or hard-to-find information not readily found elsewhere e.g. bookstores and libraries.

Booklets are known to range in price from US $4.95 to as much as $25.00 or more.

10 steps to developing a booklet to sell online.

There are several steps to take in the development of your booklet projects before the final stage of selling on the Internet and making a profit.

Most booklets take no more than a week or so to write and complete after you have finished the initial research for your topic

Step 1

Getting an idea for your booklet project.

Step 2

Researching the market you wish to target and any topic-related research required.

Just because you think your  topic idea is good, there may not be a demand for your subject matter. Find out before you spend time on writing a booklet that may not sell well.

Step 3

Planning and designing how you want your booklet to look.

You need to think about size (how long you want it to be), the choice of fonts to use, colours, and the actual design layout of the contents and finished look.

If you use artwork in your booklet or your booklet cover you will need to take this into consideration when you are designing your layout and how the finished product will look.

Will you create the artwork yourself, or get it from other sources?

Limit your use of graphics and use them only when you need to illustrate a point. You need to consider file size when downloading over the Internet or the cost of colour printing as opposed to using text only if selling via mail order.

There are several places where you can get photos and clipart for illustration purposes. However, you need to be aware of copyright infringement and it is always best to purchase any images that you use.

Step 4

The actual writing and editing of your booklet.

When laying out your booklet keep it simple. Choose a serif font like Times New Roman for your headlines and sub-headings and a Sans Serif font like Arial for ease of reading for the main body copy of your booklet.

A 14pt size provides easy reading on a computer screen and 12pt is the normal size if you are going to sell your booklet offline e.g. by direct mail-order.

Try this simple technique to help you write more quickly and easily.

Make a list of the ideas and key points you want to convey to your readers.

List these points in order on your computer.

Illustrate each of these points with two or three stories. Stories bring your message points to life and help people remember them more easily.

Any subject can be taken and broken down in this way and make writing your booklet easier.

When you have finished writing your booklet give it a commercially appealing title.

Do not forget to include your copyright notice information.

Example:

Copyright © 2008 J Black All Rights Reserved.

Do a final editing, spell check and ensure all hyperlinks work before releasing it to the public.

Step 5

Now it is time to compile your booklet ready for the internet.

Will you compile in PDF, HTML, or another format?

Will you offer your readers a choice of formats or another alternative e.g. via regular mail order for offline customers or people who prefer a hard copy?

Step 6

The next step is to get a domain name and create a website to showcase your booklet.

Pay for a domain name that matches your subject topic and create a small web site filled with information based around that topic.

The better your domain name matches your topic the better you will do. Make it easy for people to find you and not your competitor when typing in keywords with the search engines.

Step 7

Decide on a price for your booklet.

Then determine how you will accept payment for your e-booklet e.g. credit card, check or other methods of payment. Will you sell your booklet on the Internet or perhaps sell by direct mail order offline as well to capture both markets?

Step 8

Create a password protected directory on your website (where your customers will download your booklet from) and upload your booklet to the directory.

Step 9

Implementing strategies for promoting and marketing your e-booklet.

Submit your site to the search engines/directories.

Get links with other complementary sites.

Write articles about your topic and send them to e-zine publishers. At the bottom of your articles place your resource box and include your contact details, your author bio and your web site URL (your www. domain name) so that people can visit your web site and find out more about you.

Step 10

Finally selling your booklet to your customers.

If your booklet proves a success you can sell the reprint rights. This allows others to reprint your work for a fee. Selling your non-exclusive reprint rights to 100 people for $400.00 each you can make an extra $40,000 in extra profits for your business.

There are many languages in the world. Sell the licensing right to your booklet for translation into another language. You get paid for the rights and they will do the translating, editing, promotion etc.

When you see how well your booklet sells you can commit yourself to write a much larger book or maybe a series of booklets based on your first one.

Starting the next project.

Before the completion of your first booklet you should be generating ideas and beginning work on your next project because it is very unlikely that you can make all your fame and fortune from one stand-alone booklet project.

The creation of a range of products ensures your business continues to grow and prosper in the future through repeat business.

Up to 80% of your business will come from repeat customers and getting a new customer can cost between five and eight times more than to sell to an existing customer.

Always treat your customers well rather than continually searching for new customers for your products.

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