I went to speak at East West Books in Mountain View last week. Many authors in the audience are interested in self-publishing. This is what I find wherever I’ve gone in the last few months. A lot of curiousity, a few people who have already uploaded to the Kindle store, and a lot of people wondering exactly what’s happening and what it means to them. I’m here to help. This week take a look at book marketing advice from several sources, the new status of self-publishing, and some platforms for new ways to publish. Enjoy!

Jane Friedman on Marketing Tips for Authors
3 Ways to Make Your Online Relationships Matter
“You can jump into social media, start a blog, and do everything right content-wise, but without a little help from your friends, it can be a tough and lonely road.”

Gary Smailes on Bubblecow
Self Publishing is not Print On Demand
“It isn’t that long ago that we were on the end of derogatory comments about the fact that we offered self-publishing to authors; now we have agents and commercial publishers sending us authors.”

Joe Konrath on A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing
The Tsunami of Crap
“Readers aren’t the ones perpetuating this stupid myth that the crap will destroy the world. It’s the writers–specifically the legacy writers–who keep trotting this one out.”

Michael Stelzner on Social Media Examiner
9 Ways to Use Social Media to Launch a Book
“If you can make it easy for people to share and get excited about your book, you won’t need to spend big bucks or hope you make the list of some old newspaper that no-one really reads anymore.”

Penny Sansevieri on Author Marketing Experts
Eight Steps to Successfully Market Your Book Online
“Regardless of where you go or how you pitch, you must know your market and understand how to effectively reach them and abide by the rules of the online road. Here are a few to consider.”

Kirstin Butler on Brain Pickings
7 Platforms Changing the Future of Publishing
“Disrupting the mainstream marketplaces for journalism, literature, and the fundamental conventions of reading and writing themselves, here are seven startups that promise to reshape the way we create and consume ideas.”

Photo by Bill Ward