Welcome to part three of this series. By now, you're probably getting the idea that self-publishing requires a fair amount of work on your part. (or a lot if you choose) In order to be successful at it, you've got to be willing to put in a little bit of work every single day. I mentioned 3x5 cards with action steps in a previous installment. Work them as much as you can.

This installment will discuss two very important steps you'll need to take to make sure your book accomplishes what you want it to. I will be telling you about some really great resources you probably will not want to live without. They were one of the keys to the success of my self-publishing venture. Make sure you have a clear purpose in mind what you want your book to do before you go any further.

If you're going to publish an e-book (electronic book), later installments will discuss that in detail. You probably should still consider print because readers like to hold your book in their hand and carry it with them on the bus or to the doctor's office.

Your Book's Best Friend (besides yourself!)

Your next step should be to find the right printer for your new book. This is a very crucial step that will make or break the success of the project. The last thing you need is to get down to the last month before your book is supposed to be on your doorstep, only to discover your printer is full of empty promises.

The book printer you choose is going to be your book's best friend (second only to yourself). You probably won't want to choose someone you can never reach on the phone, and you'll want to make sure your printer cares about your book as much as you do. I could tell in the first ten minutes of talking to my chosen book printer that he cared a lot.

I cannot tell you exactly who you will ultimately choose to print your book, but I can point you in the right direction to make your own best decision. If you'd like to know who I chose as my printer, send an email to lynne@r66cci.com, and I'll gladly tell you who I used.

I found the right book printer I ultimately ended up with through the help of Dan Poynter's booklet called "Book Printing At The Best Price". You'll find this great guide at a very reasonable price of $7.95 here.

You'll need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to read this document, which you can quickly download here:
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

Dan Poynter is a master at self-publishing and has a wonderful website besides. He points out in this priceless booklet that you don't want to pick a printer who prints anything except books. You probably would not ask your auto mechanic to fix your air conditioning system at your house.

He lists about forty(40)printers in this booklet. Follow Dan's instructions and send your requests for quotations to as many book printers from his list that you feel you need to. I sent all forty of them a request to make sure I did not miss just the right one. Give them a deadline for quotations so that you get all your quotations in at about the same time. This makes it much easier to make a quick decision.

As a side note, you will also probably want to start rubbing elbows with other self-publishing authors. How would you like to have a personal conversation on a discussion board with one of the masters of electronic publishing and a regular writer for Wired magazine? The first time I got a personal email from Melissa, I almost did back flips! M.J. Rose, as she is known to most people, runs a great discussion board here:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Novelists  Melissa is the author of one of the most successful electronic books online called "Lip Service". She's also a very nice woman.

Another great place to frequent is the Publish discussion board. You'll find many published authors there and some great answers to your questions: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Publish

Visit these boards once a week at least. You'll have to get a Yahoo! username and password to join, if you don't already have one. Once you get to the main screen for the boards, click on "Join This Group" (indicated in red at the top right).