Self Published Authors

"Self Published Authors" Bi-Monthly Newsletter
Helping self-published authors promote and market their books
and share information and resources.

August 1, 2003 Volume 2: Issue 3
Jennifer Hollowell
editor@selfpublishedauthors.com
http://www.selfpublishedauthors.com

By Subscription Only! You are receiving this newsletter because
you requested a subscription. Unsubscribe instructions are at the
end of this newsletter.

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IN THIS ISSUE:
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1. Editor's Notebook
2. Feature Article: Online Promotion Beats Traditional
Seven-One (Part 1) by Judy Cullins
3. Resource Links
4. Interview: Eleven Questions for Kenneth McGhee
by Dan Shaurette
5. Free Products, Services, Downloads
6. Classes & Workshops
7. Announcements/Requests
8. Guest Article: How to Get an ISBN Number for Your Book
by Kimberly Hayes
9. Self Publishing Services
10. P.O.D. Links
11. Classified Ads
12. Subscribe/Unsubscribe information

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1: EDITOR'S NOTEBOOK: Welcome our Asst. Editor!
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Greetings writers and authors!

Dan Shaurette, our resident interviewer and contributor, has
offered to act as Assistant Editor to help get this issue out,
given my hectic schedule this month! Thanks, Dan!

Enjoy the issue!

Jennifer Hollowell
J.M.H. Creative Solutions
http://www.jmhcreativesolutions.com

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Hello fellow authors!

Jenn, thank you very much for this opportunity to help with this
newsletter. I have enjoyed it from the start, and have been so
happy to have articles published here, including this month's
interview. I hope you all enjoy this issue, and I always welcome
everyone's comments.

Daniel Shaurette
Dan@ShauretteNet.com
http://www.ShauretteNet.com

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2: FEATURE ARTICLE: Online Promotion Beats Traditional
Seven-One (Part 1) by Judy Cullins
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While traditional marketing can work for the book author or
publisher, the return is dim for the huge effort it takes. You
must promote 90% of the time to even get a milligram of
attention. While you may have a success or two, most of your
efforts will bring poor book sales. Ask yourself right now, what
is working for me? What is not?

Traditional Book Marketing Method One: The Press Release

Sure, press releases can bring you attention, but it takes a lot
of time to gather specific media or radio/TV producers' names.
When I wrote "The San Diego Media Resource Directory" that
took 50 hours to research, I had to also keep the media list up-
to-date, ask editors and radio producers by phone how they
wanted their releases. Some prefer fax, others email or snail
mail.

You waste your efforts if your release doesn't go the right
person. Many authors make the mistake of sending the release
to the book editor. He gets hundreds each month, and will pay
no attention if you are self-published. Like agents and
traditional publishers, only 1-2% are chosen.

Another problem is the sheer numbers of releases you send out.
Don't relax after you send one or two releases. Think in terms
of at least five a month. Ninety-five percent releases are
ignored and tossed into the round file. Why? For many reasons,
but check to see if you include a compelling heading, a human-
interest story, a list of how-tos, or a present-time news
analogy.Ask yourself, " Is it under one page, double-spaced?
Did I construct. organize and freely give the solutions that my
book or service offer for my readers' problems?

Your news release should not be about your book, but give
actual solutions the media readers and radio audiences can use.
My first published press release responded to an article on the
editorial page about the "Three R's." My headline was "School
Need to Teach the Fourth "Rapid Reading. After discussing
the background problems of reading circles, I included the
benefits of rapid reading, and gave nine how-to solutions. The
publisher not only loved the article, but also came personally
to my home to take my picture. I used the piece for marketing to
corporations.

Most people don't realize the purpose of the press release is to
attract the editor by the collar, so he or she will want to do a
feature story on you. Make your headlines sizzle. "Seven Ways
to Sell More Books Than You Ever Dreamed Of" got a feature
story which attracted 90 people to a seminar by the same name.
The coach sold $550 worth of books, gained four new book-
coaching clients worth $2000, enrolled 15 in her weekly
seminars, yielding 24 clients published within a two-year
period.

Traditional Book Marketing Method Two: Giving Talks,
Seminars and Presenting at Expos

Creating a talk takes a lot of time. You must practice it at
least two times before you deliver it. You must discover
resources to find organizations to present to. Many of them
don't pay their speakers. You may say that's OK because I will
sell books. Yes, you'll sell a dozen or maybe more, but think
of the huge effort it took to get there. Consider travel time,
traffic, clothing upkeep, and schlepping all those heavy books
around.

Like myself, you may present a talk or seminar to a corporation
with big hopes of selling your products. When they pay you,
though, they may set boundaries on book sales. One positive is
that because you have a book, you can negotiate and leverage
with meeting planners and top executives for higher paid
presentations.

The biggest disadvantage? You must wait for decision makers
to accept and schedule you--that could be six months or more.
Think of the time invested in marketing materials such as the
One-Page, videos, and meetings. I left this venue because the
time from presentation to fruition took several in-house
meetings before a decision could be made.. I knew there was a
better way! But was it expos?

Speaking at Expos or maintaining a booth takes many hours of
work. Consider preparing and submitting press releases,
creating brochures, hand outs, decorating the booth, presenting
a drawing, and bringing in products to sell.

Speaking can bring you a few book sales, but people passing by
your booth are usually just looking. Even when I gave free mini
seminars every 2 hours, and passed out free tickets ahead of
time, not many bought books. Giving out hundreds of flyers
with free seminar offers brought few results too.

Yes, I did get on a talk-radio show and eleven people showed
up at my Supermemory seminar. No, they didn't buy books or
book a coaching session. Yes, I collected names and email
addresses from a free drawing. I was able to use them for my
free eNewsletter, "The Book Coach Says...," but clients did not
bang down my door to use my talents.

I figure my prep and floor time was 44 hours for just one expo.
With sales under $350, I'd say that was slave labor.

Think of Your Promotion Time and Budget

Most one or two-book authors don't have a large marketing
budget. Marketing their speaking leaves them little time to
write and promote their books. Marketing experts say do five
things a day, six days a week, which sounds pretty doable. But
do they bring results?

Aren't sales what we should count? Before the sales roll in
however, you need to create a foundation--"a plan"--of what
you want to promote, what money you want to make from it
monthly, how much time you are willing to give it, and how you
will get the word out to your target audience. This takes a
little time, but is worth it.

If other marketing and promotion campaigns have brought few
book sales, have left your wallet thinner, wasted your valuable
time, or left you with a garage full of unsold masterpieces, you
may now be ready to set up your book's virtual marketing
machine--the Internet.

Copyright © 2002 Judy Cullins, Reprinted with permission.
Judy Cullins: 20-year author, speaker, book coach
Helps entrepreneurs manifest their book and web dreams
eBk: "Ten Non-techie Ways to Market Online"
http://www.bookcoaching.com/products.shtml
Send an email to Subscribe@bookcoaching.com
FREE The Book Coach Says... includes 2 free eReports
Judy@bookcoaching.com
Ph:619/466/0622

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3: RESOURCE LINKS:
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AUTHORS' DEN: Free Authors' Home Page
Looking for a place to make a home page for your writings?
Then the AuthorsDen is for you. Here you can display your
poetry, articles, stories, even sell your books, and have
readers rank how they like your works. You can even host your
own message board, newsletter, and Blog (web-log/journal).
http://www.AuthorsDen.com

BOOK CRAZY RADIO NETWORK: Internet Radio for Writers
Listen to authors and reviewers around the nation talk about
reading, writing, and the latest buzz in the industry, live
365 days a year, over the internet!
http://www.BookCrazy.net/

BOOKCROSSING: Liberate your books!
This is a unique site for finding reviews for your book.
How does it work? You'll have to visit to find out more!
http://www.BookCrossing.com

LITERARY LAW GUIDE: Online resources
Everything you wanted to know about Copyright and should be
ashamed that you don't! Just kidding! There are some free
articles here to read, e-zines to browse, and of course, some
books to buy.
http://www.literarylawguide.com/resources.htm

PALM DIGITAL MEDIA: Palm DropBook
Looking for a new audience to reach, perhaps an new eBook format?
The Palm Pilot is the PDA of choice for millions, and
PalmDigitalMedia has created a way to make an eBook out of
your documents, for free!
http://www.PalmDigitalMedia.com/makebook

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4: INTERVIEW: Eleven Questions for Kenneth McGhee
by Dan Shaurette
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Kenneth McGhee is the author of "Eleven Leadership Tips for
Supervisors", a concise guidebook for refining leadership
qualities in us all. His career in supervisory positions has
helped him understand how important "leadership" is. The goal
of his self-published work is to crystallize the elements that
can help the reader distinguish what a "leader" is, and perhaps
more importantly, is not.

DS: Kenneth, what I think first stands out about your book is
that it is so compact. In a marketplace deluged by verbose
books on strategies for improving many aspects of one's
professional and personal life, what is it you believe your book
delivers in eleven tips that the others do not?

KM: A lot of management books offer helpful advice for
supervisors to make their organization more successful.
Other books offer inspirational information.

I attempt to strike a balance between helping the organization
advance and also looking out for the supervisor's career.

Keeping in mind that your staff members may want to advance and
their careers are also involved, is something I cover in this
handbook.

Although my handbook is inspirational, it mainly deals with how
to handle a supervisor's daily tasks and responsibilities.
Understanding organizational history and politics is one of the
things I think is important.

Striking a balance between your career and personal life is one
of my themes.

Also, it deals a lot with the potential for a person to be an
effective leader. Issues from preparing to enter a supervisory
position to how to evaluate and make difficult decisions are
discussed.

I learned how to be concise, from doing financial aid
presentations for the families of high school juniors and
seniors. In 1995, I watched as concerned parents collected a
shopping bag full of financial aid pamphlets before my
presentation. They really appeared to be overwhelmed.

I thought to myself, "they don't need a shopping bag full of
pamphlets to understand the financial aid process. Maybe I can
break the information down so they can relax and walk away with
the information they need."

This was my first year I working as a college financial aid
administrator. The presentation was held at a local high school.
I was scheduled to speak for half an hour and allow fifteen
minutes for questions.

This was the start of me learning how to have explain a lot of
information, that would answer most people's questions, in a
compact manner.

DS: Did you find that the idea to write this book came
immediately to fulfill a need, or were these tips that you noted
on your own and later decided to collect together?

KM: These tips were noted and collected over a period of time.
In 2000, I began to see how my various experiences could be
placed together in a leadership handbook.

DS: Your career has gone in various directions, to not only
include supervisory roles, but also to make presentations, work
as a tutor, and as a trainer. Was this book meant to serve as a
textbook of sorts, or is it just an accumulation of tips you
believed would help others?

KM: I can see it used in both ways. The handbook would be good
for a business management college course.

For a current supervisor, it's a resource for day-to-day job
responsibilities. If a person is considering switching positions,
a number of the questions I raise could be utilized.

DS: Certainly you consider yourself to be a strong and successful
leader. You make the very important distinction between
management and leadership. It seems that even good managers
aren't always successful as leaders, and yet people under such
managers need strong leaders to guide them. Why do you think
this disconnect between management and leadership is so common?

KM: Part of it comes from the trends in management training.
Teambuilding is a term that is sometimes misunderstood. I believe
a lot of organizations have implemented a "family style" and
think they have a "team style" in place.

I agree that a manager should not "rule over" their staff and
make decisions without their input, but on a team everyone has
a role to play. Everyone's role is of equal importance but not
the same. A manager is responsible for making the final decision,
hopefully an informed one, involving the workplace.

Management is task-focused and leadership is vision-oriented.
Leadership is needed to look out for the short and long term
goals of the organization. Management and leadership are both
needed for an organization to be successful.

DS: How long have you worked in supervisory occupations?

KM: I have been a supervisor for ten years. In my first
supervisory position, I had one part time secretary. Currently,
I supervise twelve full time and thirty part time staff members.

DS: Can you point to any one position that really taught you the
most about becoming a successful leader?

KM: It would have to be my second supervisory position. I had to
supervise a person who applied for my position. This employee
was also the most popular person in the office. During my first
two years in this position, staff members would regularly remind
me about this employee wanting my position. Earning the staff's
respect and leading was not an overnight process. This experience
helped me to develop and become a better person and supervisor.

DS: Is this your first self-published work, and are there other
books in the works?

KM: Yes, this is my first self published book. I have been
writing a lot of career articles lately. A second book is also
under consideration.

DS: Was BookSurge your first choice for a POD publisher, and
what do you think of your publishing experience with them?

KM: Yes, they were my first choice. Booksurge has done a good
job. I feel comfortable calling or e-mailing them when questions
come up.

DS: Is there anything in particular, an author or mentor, that
has influenced and inspired you?

KM: My father is my mentor. Although he was unable to attend
college, he is a very knowledgeable self-taught man. My mother
and father sacrificed so that my sister, brother and I could
graduate from college.

DS: What would you say was the hardest part of writing and
publishing this handbook?

KM: I didn't know anything about the publishing process. It took
a lot of time to research the business.

DS: Your advice for becoming a successful leader is the focus of
your book, but after writing and self-publishing it, do you have
any advice for being successful as a self-published author?

KM: Don't be afraid to "cold e-mail or cold call" established
authors, book marketing experts, book reviewers and publishers.
I received two of my current four book endorsements this way.
Everyone will not say yes, but you may be surprised by the
assistance you receive.

DS: Thank you Kenneth, for your time with me. I wish you even
more success in your career and especially in future writing
pursuits.

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5: FREE: Products, Services, Downloads
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TEXTPAD: Shareware - Fully-functional, Nag-ware
The only Text File editor for Windows that you'll ever need!
Free Add-ons, dictionaries, Web developer tools, and more!
http://www.textpad.com

PDF995 Suite: Shareware - Fully-functional, Ad Supported
This wonderful program will generate Adobe Acrobat files for
you as easily as printing a document. There are two other
programs, also available for free, that only serve to improve
your PDFs. Download all three, and you'll be on your way to
generating real PDF files to send to POD publishers, making
your own eBooks, or just publishing for your own website.
http://www.pdf995.com/

ULTRAPDF: Shareware - Fully-functional, Ad Supported
Normal PDF not good enough for you? Try this: UltraPDF!
UltraPDF is a new way to publish and share photographs, PDF,
HTML and MSOffice documents, binding them all into single,
indexed UPDF presentations. Using a free UPDFviewer, you can
view UPDF files in a Web browser. Create a photo album to
share with your friends, make a slideshow, or even create a
multimedia eBook!
http://www.ultrapdf.com/

OMNIFORMAT: Shareware - Fully-functional, Ad Supported
OmniFormat is a free document conversion and image manipulation
program. It has an Optical-Character-Recognition module also
that makes pulling text from an image a snap.
http://www.omniformat.com/

SEARCH WITHIN: Shareware - Fully-functional, Ad Supported
Like Google for your hard drive! SearchWithin is a free text
search engine that allows you to search inside the files on your
local hard drive or over your LAN network. Search through
virtually any type of file, not just documents, in seconds!
http://www.searchwithin.com/

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6: CLASSES & WORKSHOPS:
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ARIZONA SENIORS' PEN WRITING GROUP:
Monday, Aug 25 @ 7:00PM
(4th Monday of every month.)
Dr. Gladys T. McGarey & Nick Ligidakis
Barnes & Noble at Kierland Commons
7030 E. Greenway Parkway, Suite 150, Phoenix, AZ 85254

INTERNATIONAL AMATEUR WRITERS MEETUP DAY:
Tuesday, Aug 26 @ 8:00PM
(4th Tuesday of every month.)
Meetup with other writers near you to share experiences of
getting started in writing and advice. All writers of all
experience are welcome. Find a group near you!
http://writers.meetup.com/

INTERNATIONAL FREELANCE WRITERS MEETUP DAY:
Thursday, Aug 14 @ 1:00PM
(2nd Thursday of every month.)
Meetup with other local freelance writers to brainstorm projects
and share contacts. Find a group near you!
http://freelancewrit.meetup.com/

INTERNATIONAL INDIE PUBLISHING MEETUP DAY:
Saturday, Aug 16 @ 3:00PM
(3rd Saturday of every month.)
Meetup with other local people to discuss how to get started on
your own in the book publishing world. A gathering for writers
and entrepreneurs. Find a group near you!
http://indiepublish.meetup.com/

MEETUP.COM: What is it?
Meetup.com is a free service that organizes local gatherings
about anything, anywhere. Special interest groups, classes,
workshops, bowling leagues, it doesn't matter! If you are
looking to join a group of like-minded individuals IN YOUR AREA
and/or ONLINE, then, you will probably find a listing here.
If you don't, then start your own!
http://www.meetup.com/

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7: ANNOUNCEMENTS/REQUESTS:
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CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: [PAYING] Acrimony.org
Acrimony is a new publication that will focus on the Alternative,
Gothic, and Paranormal scenes. Acrimony is currently looking to
publish short essays, investigative stories, poetry, pictures,
and other artwork. Visit http://www.Acrimony.org
E-mail your content to editor@acrimony.org or mail it to
Lava Marketing, P.O. Box 18330, Phoenix, AZ 85005.

BOOK SIGNING:
Authors Nick Ligidakis & Bill Kollar
On August 2nd 1:00-7:00pm
Veterans of Foreign Wars
7618 N. 63rd Ave, Glendale, AZ

BOOK PREMIERE:
Author Pamela Johnson will be premiering the paper release of her
mainstream romance, "TIDES OF AUTUMN". TIDES is the first in the
"Shores of Mackinac" family saga style series.
Visit her on the web at http://www.pamelajohnson.net
On August 2nd, See her at:
Island Bookstore-Mackinaw City, MI. 11 am-12 noon
Island Bookstore-Mackinac Island , MI. 2:30-3:30 pm

BOOK SIGNING:
Author Helen Spaulding
On August 9th, starting at 2 PM
Family Christian Store
546 Washington St., Columbus, IN,
Will host a book signing for her book, "A BRUISED REED"

BOOK SIGNING:
Author D.L Bolk, will be signing her psychological thriller,
"WHEN HEROES FALL" at the Waldenbooks Authorfest 2003
On August 23 & 24 from 1:00 to 5:00 at the
Francis Scott Key Mall in Frederick, Maryland

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8: GUEST ARTICLE: How to Get an ISBN Number for Your Book
by Kimberly Hayes
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So you're writing your own book, and are going to publish it
yourself. That's great news, but there are some things you need
to know first. Publishing your own book is a tedious process,
and requires patience, and time.

The first thing you'll need to do after you finish the writing
is to obtain an ISBN number. You're probably wondering what that
is, and why you need it, and I will explain that to you as best
I can.

Once you get the book out there, you're going to want to market
it, and to do that you need an ISBN number. It in a way
identifies that book to wholesalers, distributors, and such. In
order to sell the book, you will need an ISBN number. It consists
of a ten digit number proceeded by the letters ISBN. The ISBN is
broken down into four parts.

The first one identifies a national or geographic group of
publishers. The second part, identifies a particular publisher,
in which this case that is you. The third part identifies a
particular title, or edition. Finally there is a single digit at
the end of the numbers, which validates the ISBN.

Now I know your wondering: who do I contact to get an ISBN
number? ISBN is assigned by certain ISBN group agencies
worldwide; R.R. Bowker does them for the U.S.A. You can contact
this agency directly from the Internet, but be aware that the
process can take up to 3 weeks, and will cost you.

If you want to, you can go through other places such as
instantpublisher.com. They promise it will only take 10 days,
and will be cheaper than going directly through R.R. Bowker. I
would recommend doing a search on the Internet to find the best
place to go through.

Next you will need to register your ISBN number. This number will
not be automatically registered. How do you do that? You must
submit your title information to Books in Print at
www.bowkerlink.com. This lists your book with various
directories. Now you're set, and ready to get that book out, and
in stores.

Just remember to be patient. If you feel frustrated, don't worry,
you aren't alone. I suggest you contact someone that has gone
through the process before, and can calm your fears. Good luck
to you.

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9: SELF PUBLISHING SERVICES:
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INKWELL PRODUCTIONS
http://www.selfpublishersgroup.com

PPC BOOKS / THE ALTERNATIVE BOOKSHOP
http://www.selfpublishingservices.com

PHOENIX PUBLISHING GROUP
http://www.phoenixpublishinggroup.com/self-publishing

TURNKEY PRESS
http://www.turnkeypress.com

FIVE CORNERS
http://www.fivecorners.com/index.HTM

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10: P.O.D. LINKS:
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LIGHTNING SOURCE
This is the original, the biggest, and the one that most other
POD services use as their press under their gloss. This is the
place to go when YOU want to be the Publisher/Bookseller.
https://www.lightningsource.com

BOOKSURGE
The up-and-coming heavyweight contender for the throne. With
its alliance with R.R.Bowker/Books In Print, this is the fastest
growing POD provider. Rates are affordable, and they either do
all the work for you, or let you submit PDF/artwork as you like
and charge you even less. They are the muscle behind other POD
services like The Great Unpublished, among many imprints.
http://www.BookSurge.com

CAFEPRESS
These guys took a different approach to Print-On-Demand -- they
applied it to merchandise! You can send them artwork which they
will silk-screen or otherwise apply to everything from t-shirts,
to coffee-mugs. But now, they are extending their reach into the
book POD world. You submit your PDF manuscript, your cover
artwork, and they will make your book available for sale --
at NO COST to the author! The per-book-binding base cost is
higher than other PODs, but they all charge an up-front cost.
For the penniless publisher, this may be a good first POD.
http://www.CafePress.com

AMBER QUILL PRESS
One of the many imprints by BookSurge. This POD had some very
nice books on display, in many categories.
http://www.AmberQuill.com

WILDSIDE PRESS
Another imprint of BookSurge, but this one only prints classic
and out-of-print books that have been previously published.
So, if you are an author with an old classic you want to see the
light of day again, this POD may be just what you are seeking.
http://www.WildsidePress.com

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11: CLASSIFIED ADS
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LISTINGS:

ADD YOUR BOOK LISTING & AUTHOR BIO:
This is a marketing feature you don't want to miss:
http://www.selfpublishedauthors.com/add.html

SHAURETTENET: The Home Page of Dan Shaurette
- His Novel: LILITH'S LOVE - http://www.Liliths-Love.com
- His Blog: The McJournal Project - http://clik.to/McJournal
- His Stories: The Lurkers' Domain - http://clik.to/Lurkers
- All this and more at: http://www.ShauretteNet.com

YOUR ADVERTISEMENT COULD BE HERE!
We accept advertisements for products, services, books, and
web sites that are of interest to writers. We currently publish
our newsletter bi-monthly and back issues are available on-line
for a year. We limit the number of ads to 5 per newsletter, so
this is first come, first served!

Requirements:
5 lines max, 60 characters per line, includes web site or email.
Cost: $7.00 CDN / $5.00 USD for one issue.

Email your text, email address and/or url to use in the next
issue to ads@selfpublishedauthors.com

For payment, questions, and more information, visit:
http://www.selfpublishedauthors.com/advertise.html

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12: Subscriber Management / Contact Information
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© 2002-2003 Self Published Authors All Rights reserved
http://www.selfpublishedauthors.com

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Self-Published Authors
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