by Hugh Holub

Created on: January 04, 2009   Last Updated: January 13, 2009

So you've written a book. You've gone a lot farther than those who think about writing a book, but never actually write it.

You've just begun.

The traditional path is to find an agent, and the agent pitches your book. Unless you know someone who knows an agent, chances of getting an agent are very slim. Some agents claim they read unsolicited stuff, but they all seem to have automatic email responses saying your work isn't right for them.

Book publishers are even more difficult to get to look at your manuscript. Most won't even open your envelop.

Vanity publishers will publish your book for a fee. If you have nothing better to do with your money, that's one option.

One solution is Lulu.com. It doesn't cost you anything to publish your book and you can buy as many or as few copies as you wish for a decent price.

Lulu is a little difficult to navigate through their self-publishing process, so it is best you have your manuscript formatted to the right page size going in.

The Lulu cover-making process requires some graphic arts abilities, and is a struggle. But you can redo your cover as many times as is needed to get it right.

Before you make the leap to self-publishing it is wise to get someone else to read your manuscript and edit it. Good editors make better writers. Your book may be glorious from your perspective, but might not relate to anyone else. The whole point of most writing is to share it with others, so it is useful to try your book out on others first and get some feedback.

Finally, you can get your book printed. Lulu does a good production job. They look like real books.

Next step is copyright your book. That's easy. Just log onto the copyright office website and they'll walk you through the process.

Now comes the fun part. Your book is now one of 100 million books floating around out there. If no one buys your book is that like when a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it or see it. Did the tree really exist?

Books have to be promoted to sell. So plan on spending as much time promoting your book as you spent writing it.

A good first step is to get copies of your book in your local book stores and generate local newspaper reviews of your book. Most local papers will do articles on local authors, even if they are self-published.

Generally book stores will take your book on consignment 60% of the sale price to you, 40% to them. You probably need to initially buy around 100 copies of your book, and spread them around town.

A second aspect of promoting

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