Authors on the Net: A Resource for Writers

Reaching the end of the manuscript isn’t the end of the writing, and getting the book published isn’t the end of the writer’s job, either.

Although it comes as a shock to many writers, marketing is the author’s job as well. Even very successful authors promote their books with booksignings and other promotional activities. Major publishers may allocate marketing funds for book tours and promotions by their top authors. However, even the big publishers don’t spend much money to promote titles by first-time or midlist (those with only average sales) authors. Authors who are self-published or published by small press are responsible for their own promotion.

Authors on the Net is a new free mastermind community for authors. Phil Davis of ZDocs, a digital printer with many self-publishing authors as customers, realized the challenge authors face in promoting their books and set out to find a way to help. Authors on the Net is the result.

The site is new and has only a few members at the moment, but I think there is potential for great benefits to authors. While there are sections on writing and publishing, the focus is on promotion, especially using Internet tools.

I’m so convinced that Authors on the Net can benefit authors, especially self-published and small press published authors, that I’m a site partner. I’ve already made my Self-Publishing Primer available, and I’ll be contributing additional articles on writing and editing as well as participating in the author forums.

You can join Authors on the Net for free and have access to videos and articles on blogging, creating a marketing plan, conducting a virtual book tour, using social networking to your advantage, getting your books listed and taking advantage of the promotional opportunities of Amazon.com and other online stores, and more. Online coaching will be available for a fee starting in a few weeks.

I think the networking available through the mastermind community and the author forums is one of the most valuable benefits of Authors on the Net. Members can ask questions of other community members (authors and industry professionals) and share what works for them – and what doesn’t. If two heads are better than one, many heads are better than two.

Everyone likes to be “on the ground floor” of a new opportunity. Usually we only recognize the value of the opportunity in retrospect. I can’t predict the future, but I’m betting that Authors on the Net will be a great opportunity for authors who want to promote their self-published and small press books.