After pouring sweat over the newest book, it’s time for the next step: Getting it out there for people to buy. Unlike the Field of Dreams, if you write it, they won’t necessarily come unless you’re John Grisham, Mary Higgins Clark, or Patricia Cornwell. If you are one of them, “Hi! I’m a fan of your books!” Not all authors have a publisher to do the press releases and promotional material work or at least, enough to spread the news.

In Putting It on Paper: The Ground Rules for Creating Promotional Pieces that Sell Books, Dawn Josephson walks through the steps of developing a book marketing campaign with a press kit which typically includes (and she covers all items): a cover letter, a press release, a mock book review, an author bio, a sell sheet, a catalog, a give-away item, and an article. However, it doesn’t stop there. The advice isn’t just applicable to authors of books. It’s also valuable for writers who want to promote newsletters, services, and other published works.

I’ve seen my share of media kits for books and products. Some don’t have any benefit for my needs while others sounds like a stereotypical used car salesman trying to make the sale in an uncomfortable way.

Josephson walks the talk since her book, of course, came with a media kit and it’s one of the better ones I’ve seen. Based on this, the book describes how to create a media kit like hers using questions and answers, key points, templates, and real-life examples using the templates. The examples are exactly what I like to see in a press release and other materials in a media kit.

Publicity is hard in that authors and publicists print a general kit and send the same thing to everyone. That might make it easier, but it won’t be as successful has tailoring the kit to the recipient’s needs. With word processors that do mail merge saving us time, it shouldn’t be a problem to give the target reader the information needed.

Creating promotional materials may sound dull, but the book actually gives it a fun spin with its 160 pages of solid advice. Applying the tips and ground rules from Putting It on Paper, any author or publicist can run a successful book marketing campaign.

Title: Putting It on Paper
Author: Dawn Josephson
Publisher: Cameo Publications
ISBN: 0974496618
Date: January 2004
Format: Paperback
Pages: 170
Price: Cover: USD$19.95 Amazon:$16.96

Let’s get one thing straight. Never judge a book by the title. Never mind that the saying is supposed to be “cover” and not “title,” but give me a moment. This title, Get Published Today!, leads me to think it’s about publishing anything, including articles, books, reviews, whatever. Its focus is on publishing books, the wonderful things you hold in your hands with forewords, chapters, page numbers, and indices. In some cases, it may be something your computer can hold in its hands while you read. Meet e-books and POD (print on demand) publishing.

The first part digs into POD, its history, and its publishers’ backgrounds. Oh boy, nine publishers from which to pick. Twenty-seven tips for finding the right publisher are at the end of “The Publishers!” for guidance on the process.

Sansevieri also covers setting up the business. When you’re a writer, you’re a business. That means taxes, paperwork, and accounts. This is concisely covered in “Stuff to Do Before It’s a Book.” Get inside tips on actual publishing including POD publishers, covers, images, book titles, isbins (that would be ISBNs), copyright (ick), agents, and the keys to Amazon’s secret hot spot.

Tooting your horn is a challenge especially since marketing isn’t something to leave for the stars or publishers to handle. We think and dream about our books around the clock, but publishers and their PR people don’t. Their focus is spread across many authors and books. Only authors can be sure the marketing gets done and done right.

The marketing section walks through media kits, press releases, expert sheets, postcards, reviews, book clubs, catalogs, and endorsements. Don’t panic! The chapters in the book are short and all meat. When it’s time to do a press release, open the chapter, follow the instructions, and it’s done.

As soon as the last sentence is written, authors feel the load lighten and begin to think of the fun part of writing a book, interviews and appearances. Maybe for some, it’s frightening, but think about the people who hear about your book and go buy it straightaway. Thinking big comes too easily especially with the Holy Grail of TV, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Appearing on her show has become a surefire way to a best-seller. You and every author in the United States want to chat with Oprah. Sansevieri provides clues for approaching Oprah and other media outlets. She goes as far as naming names and listing contact information.

Staff turnovers and address changes do happen and the information is bound to be out of date at some point. That doesn’t make the book any less valuable. Having these details kick-starts the search for contacts with hints on where to begin the research.

About 60 pages tackle POD publishing, while rest is applicable to any type of publishing. There is little mention of POD after the first section. Get Published Today! has two sides of it: POD books and traditional books, making the reader wonder if they were separate books slapped together. Regardless of this, the bulk of the book deals with marketing and media tips every writer needs for a career boost.

Title: Get Published Today! No More Rejections
Author: Penny C. Sansevieri
Publisher: Infinity Publishing
ISBN: 0741411113
Date: May 2002
Format: Paperback
Pages: 262
Cover Price: USD: $15.95 Amazon: $13.56

When reading the words “open theme” in a contest, what comes to mind? Anything goes? It’s anything but. Write Ways to Win Writing Contests imparts this type of advice along with what topics or themes to avoid and how to approach themed-based contests.

The book has more than 80 pages of help plus an appendix of four examples of winning entries. John Howard Reid has entered 80 contests in 18 months as research for the book. He also runs a contest (which he mentions a few times), so he has the perspective of the other side, the person accepting and judging the entries.

Creating a winning entry takes more than outstanding content. Like applying for a job or college, it also takes research. The author provides details in condensed and easy-to-read chapters saving the writer time in trying to figure out the process.

Having entered only one contest years ago, this area hasn’t been an interest of mine since its quirks and unwritten rules aren’t familiar to me. Furthermore, there’s the problem of scams and knowing which ones are legitimate contests and which are rip-offs.

Not all scams are limited to the submit-your-poem and you-won’t-have-to-pay-a-dime, but you-might-want-to-buy-the-anthology-for-outrageous-prices-to-show-off-your-published-poem scam. Baird gives tips on how to weed out the bad seeds.

His advice rings true as he comes across as a seasoned expert in the topic and he fearlessly shares his opinions about contests and rules. After reading this book, I’m open to entering and feel more comfortable about the process.

P.S. There is a bad URL on page 74. Organization should be replaced with .com. www.dmoz.com.

Title: Write Ways to Win Writing Contests
Author: John Reid
Publisher: Lulu Press
ISBN: 1411605756
Date: March 2004
Format: Paperback
Pages: 120
Cover Price: USD: $14.99 Amazon: $14.99

You don’t have to be shy to benefit from this book. It’s helpful to me and I’m not shy, but I’ve been struggling with whether or not I should write a book as I have a hard time interacting with groups because I’m hard of hearing. Though I’m a decent lip reader, a study says lip readers catch only an average of 33 percent of what’s said.

You could be an “I” in the Myers-Briggs, which means a person who is an introvert. This doesn’t necessarily mean “shy.” It means your energy drains when you’re in group situations while extroverts bathe in the energy.

Writing, as you know, is a lonely job. Those who love it without the group situation obviously prefer the solitude of working alone. Those same people may not be comfortable around crowds, much less speaking in front of one! Public speaking is one of the top fears.

Clark offers ideas on ways to promote writing without facing a large crowd. It’s difficult to completely avoid group situations, so she provides tips on how to handle it and make the most of it. She also encourages the reader to be comfortable with shyness and not feel a writing career is doomed because of the inability to schmooze.

Every shy writer has a different comfort level. The advice covers a variety of suggestions to help the very shy to the somewhat shy. Clark also lends help in taking the shy writer a little out of the comfort zone to do more. Everyone is uncomfortable when trying something for the first time and taking small steps pushes a person to try something new. The book has many suggestions for taking those steps.

The book’s theme is that writing is not just for super minglers. Any writer belonging to the “I” group can use the book as a tool to grow a writing career rather than shrink from it.

Title: The Shy Writer: An Introvert’s Guide to Writing Success
Author: C. Hope Clarke
Publisher: Booklocker.com
ISBN: 1929154178
Date: September 2004
Format: Paperback
Pages: 180
Cover Price: USD: $14.95 Amazon: $14.95

If you own the first edition, you won’t experience déjà vu while reading the second edition. The new one has many changes that you won’t recognize it. Whether you’re a power PC user or a casual one, you will benefit from the book. Because of the wide array of topics covered, I can’t imagine many geeks who know all of these tips. Sure, you can find ‘em all someplace on the Internet, but finding time for that kind of searching would prove challenging.

Instead of calling tech support and staying on hold or going to Google, check PC Annoyances for the answers. It’s impossible to have the answers to all the problems you encounter on a PC, but Bass touches on a bit of everything. If you don’t find the answer in the book, you might find enough clues to shorten your search.

GMail joins the book and its tips immediately pay off. Other than the usual Microsoft applications, get stress-busters for fixing annoyances related to music, video, CD, and general email. Mozilla, Firefox, and Thunderbird don’t make the cut this time. However, we know how the publishing industry struggles to keep up with tech changes. The book lists a few Netscape-related tips and what you can do in Netscape usually works in any Mozilla product since they’re based on the same “bones.”

How many times have you come across an interesting URL in a book that was a mile long and took several attempts to get it right? Bass takes care of that by using a URL shortening service making it easier and quicker to get the right URL on the first try. He provides links to software, humorous sites, and resources. After fighting a round with your PC, wouldn’t taking a break by going to a funny resource release a few tense muscles? It does for me.

His software recommendations include free and fee-based products. I recognize many of the programs and own some. Based on my experience, he provides excellent recommendations, so you can trust that he isn’t looking to pump up his stock with any of the companies. Most, if not all, of the programs come with a trial period, so you can play with them and see if they meet your needs. If not, uninstall and no harm done. If so, then thank Mr. Bass.

While writing this review, I am trying to avoid sounding like a replayed record of my first review. Most of the original review applies except the book has more pages. The only complaint I have lies with the warning boxes. They’re dark blue with black text. Not easy to read.

Bass writes likes someone who has battled with the annoyance and shares the solution. It’s conversational, enjoyable, and easy reading. You don’t have to worry about insults from those who think they’re the sultan of computers. Instead, Bass makes you feel better with his “buddy-style” advice. Thanks, Steve.

Title: PC Annoyances: How to Fix the Most Annoying Things about Your Personal Computer, Windows, and More, Second Edition
Author: Steve Bass
Publisher: O’Reilly & Associates
ISBN: 0596008821
Date: May 2005
Format: Paperback
Pages: 252
Price: Cover: USD$19.95 Amazon: $13.77
CDN$: 19.57
UK£: 12.25

I’ve done stupid things to my computer, things I would never admit. But I’ve also saved its life and dealt with accidental reformatting (not my fault!). Every PC is different like our fingerprints. We customize options, install applications, remove default settings and do different things to it. So, a solution may not be the same for two PCs experiencing the same problem. This means trying out various workarounds and fixes.

I rarely have trouble addressing the problems I run into with my PC. If I can’t do it, then I go to the other pro in the house whose job relates to tech support. Usually between us, the problem gets solved. On rare occasions, we call the manufacturer. Still, we find found in the book tips that we hadn’t tried. Others in our shoes might find it useful as well and if someone comes to us asking for help, we can loan them the book when we can’t assist.

Throughout the book the authors share horror stories, which are good teaching tools so you can learn the lesson from someone else’s mistake and avoid making your own. Not only are computers covered, but also PDAs, cell phones, digital cameras and scanners. This is a well-rounded book with coverage on theft, backup and recovery, viruses, spam, junkware and fraud.

If you’re not into techie things, but want to keep your computer healthy–the book won’t bore you. Quite the opposite, as the authors write with humor and down-to-earth feel. An example: after attempting to rescue a hard drive which continues to sputter, try the “defibrillator” method. It states to unplug the computer and remove the computer’s cover, and then “yell ‘CLEAR!’” and lightly tap the face of the hard drive. How can you not like a book with stuff like that?

The authors clearly explain networking and wireless networking. Anyone befuddled by such topics will appreciate the book for those chapters alone. Some problems have simple answers such as, “Is the monitor turned on?” Hearing this from tech support might be embarrassing, but the authors don’t talk down to anyone whether or not a solution is super easy or complex.

The sections use a handwriting style font adding to the book’s friendly nature and engaging writing style. It feels like a buddy helping you figure out the problem or having your own personal support person nearby. In addition to hardware and software troubles, the book includes advice for being proactive such as how to avoid spam and junkware and evade fraud and identity theft.

The text is easy to scan for quickly finding things, the contents are well-organized with topics covering almost everything we deal with when it comes to gadgets. When we hit a roadblock, it’s painful and frustrating. You can rely on the book to get you through any situation without the attitude that we sometimes face when we ask for help.

Title: Surviving PC Disasters, Mishaps, and Blunders
Author: Jesse Torres and Peter Sideris
Publisher: Paraglyph Press
ISBN: 1932111980
Date: January 2005
Format: Paperback
Pages: 416
Cover Price: USD: $19.79
CDN$: 30.79
UK£: 15.61

Make: Technology on Your Own Time is not a book… exactly. It’s between a magazine and a book. Mook? Magook? Boozine? Actually, it’s a mook, which is a hybrid of a magazine and a book. When I received it and quickly looked through it to see what it was about, I wasn’t too impressed. Still, I’m a reviewer and as such give everything a chance. It’s a magazine from O’Reilly, but not a typical one.

In my initial perusal, I think I wasn’t keen on it because I’m not into home projects partly due to the usual time constraints. When I was a kid, I enjoyed making things like model cars (yes, I am a girl) and a magnet out of a battery. I liked those science books where you do a project to make something happen. But the projects in the mook were not the simple projects I did as a kid.

Then, I sat down and carefully read it like I do when reading a book I review. Shortly, I became engaged and enjoyed reading the articles. Though I don’t plan to make anything (like I’m going to put a monorail in my backyard—yes, this is a real project), the stories and the writing drew me in.

I like geeky things, but I’m not a geek in terms of building computers from scratch and hacking gadgets. These are the kinds of projects covered in the mook. The premiere issue includes the following projects:

* magnetic stripe card reader

* kite aerial photography (camera on a kite—cooool!)

* $14 video camera stabilizer or buy one

* 5-in-1 network cable

The quarterly mook has a Web site with things not covered in the print edition as well as a blog. Its design is clever with color codes on the cover and side for the major projects. The initial issue has 192 pages of quality paper and color printing to justify $8.74 an issue.

The mook has a homemade yet professional feel and has “home improvement” style fonts to add to its DIY (do-it-yourself) theme. The photos give the impression they’re taken by average people and not photographers. They’re good quality and complement the articles.

People who don’t have time to build (like me) and like technology will find it an engrossing read thanks to the personable writing and instructions that don’t make eyes glaze.

Few new magazines make it past the first year or so. Make should thrive for years to come.

Title: Make: Technology on Your Time
Author: Various
Publisher: O’Reilly Media
ISBN: B0007RNI5K
Publishing frequency: Four issues a year
Format: Paperback
Cover Price: USD: $34.95 for one year’s subscription

After reading a few pages, I’m hooked. This book takes about an hour to read and has a lifelong impact. The title implies exploring other questions based on the original question. However, the real story is about personal accountability in work and life.

Rather than doing what comes naturally for many of us and becoming defensive and pointing fingers, the book changes your mode of thinking from “It’s his fault” to “How can I fix this?” For example, in a restaurant, a diner is waiting for his waiter to come to the table. He catches the attention of a waiter who says, “This isn’t my table” and walks off. The diner can only hope the waiter went to alert the person who is responsible for his table.

A waiter who uses QBQ thinking would help the diner rather than dodging the table just because it’s not his table. In one true story given in the book, a waiter went so far to have the manager go to the store around the corner to buy a diner’s originally requested drink. That waiter eventually becomes a manager. Such action has positive results on both people.

In another story, a cashier pays for the customer’s under $3 purchase as her register didn’t have enough to provide change. This action resulted in the store getting 100 percent of the customer’s business.

The book grabbed me and I applied QBQ thinking the day after reading it. It feels much better to take the QBQ route instead of responding defensively. If you want to “try” the book before you buy, subscribe to the free companion email newsletter.

Title: QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life
Author: John G. Miller
Publisher: Denver Press
ISBN: 0966583299
Date: September 2001
Format: Paperback
Pages: 115
Cover Price: USD$10.50
CDN: 20.30
UK: 9.39

If you wish you could be a famous actor like Wil Wheaton, after reading this book you might understand that being a famous actor is not all cracked up to be. This is a guy who has had a hit movie and a hit TV show. Not many actors can claim one of each, and yet, he suffers the life of a “has been” and doesn’t enjoy the riches we all think famous actors of hit stuff enjoy for a lifetime.

Wow. This guy has impressed me with his brutally honest autobiography. I don’t have the chutzpah to say half the things I would love to say and the things on my mind are about people you never heard of. Not for Wheaton. The people and industry he speaks of are the people you and I are likely to have heard of. It’s the kind of stuff that could get you kicked out of Hollywood for good. If Hollywood turns its back on him, I’ll be standing behind him and I’m no groupie.

Sure, I’ve seen most of the ST:TNG episodes thanks to hubby, the Star Trek show fan. Sure, I admit writing a few fan letters in my lifetime. Heck, I even tried to email Wheaton asking if I could do an interview with him, but he has yet to write back. That’s OK. Many, many don’t respond to my interview queries and I just move to the next person on my list.

Why would anyone want to read an autobio about a guy on a couple of hit shows who is a blogger? I can’t answer that, but I can tell ya it is great reading. The people who would like this book are geeks, bloggers, Star Trek fans, famous people fans, actor wanna-bes, parents with step-kids, and Shatner haters.

Despite his being celebrity, he’s a guy who faces problems many of us do. Financial, a difficult ex who is no help with the kids, balancing a career and family, and finding the right job. I have experienced all of these (except the ex factor). Oh yeah, he had a moment when he felt like the invisible person. That happened to me… too many danged times.

His writing style is candid, conversational and comes across like a friend who is talking to you. Since he and I are parents, must mention that he uses a few cuss words. If you like his blog writings, you’ll like this book – without question. However, if you’ve read every blog entry he has done, you’ve read most of this book. Furthermore, if you’ve read Dancing Barefoot, you’ve caught about a chapter’s worth of this book.

Trek fans, don’t expect an entire book on his life as Wesley. Wheaton, the actor fans, don’t expect an entire book about acting although it covers a bit. WWdN, you’re getting exactly what you see in his blog.

Reading this book was a quick and wonderful read. I happened to be hospitalized (twice) for part of it and it helped me smile when it was difficult.

He might be famous and a hotshot blogger, but he has lived through many things you and I have, too. That’s what makes the book a delight. This review may sound like one from a groupie, but my responsibility is to readers not to Wheaton. My only disappointment was “re-reading” the “Saga of Spongebob Vegaspants” since this was already covered in Dancing Barefoot.

Title: Just a Geek
Author: Wil Wheaton
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 059600768X
Date: June 2004
Format: Paperback
Pages: 296
Cover Price (of course, it’s marked down): USD$24.95
CDN: 36.95
UK: 15.95

Jennifer Niederst follows her recently released Learning Web Design, a book for those just starting Web design, with an updated Web Design in a Nutshell that takes novice to intermediate designers to the next level and is also useful as a desktop quick reference.

Many buy such books and end up never opening them or maybe a few times before it’s outdated. I admit I’m one of those people, but not when it comes to the Weasel (picture on the cover) book. This is the book the professor assigned for one of my first Web design classes and it is responsible for my learning tables, CSS, and knowing when to make a graphics file .gif or .jpg.

It’s the most well worn Web design book I have in my collection and the only HTML book I ever bought. Thankfully, there is little that’s changed in the format of the book because it wasn’t broken. Niederst takes the appropriate steps to update it and expand the sections that are more relevant today such as HTML 4.01 and new versions of browsers including Netscape 6 and Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.

Expect an entire orchestra of instruments relevant to Web design, along with the specific details and tricks you should know. It may seem a bit much that Niederst covers HTML, CSS, SSI, graphics, multimedia, JavaScript, DHTML, XML, XHTML, WAP, and WML. However, she appropriately magnifies essential things while the advanced or “you may want to explore” topics are touched upon to give an idea of how it works with suggestions for further reading

The book starts off by addressing the biggest challenge of designing a site that looks good in every browser and version. “Designing for a Variety of Browsers” has a two-page chart of various browsers and versions for the Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX environments, showing what each supports and doesn’t support.

The next chapter covers another source of frustration for designers, “Designing for a Variety of Displays.” If you monitor your Web visitor stats, then you’ll probably notice that no size leads the majority especially with WebTV, handheld, and cellular devices accessing the Internet. There are screen shots of browser and system measurements and tips for designing for various displays.

Chapter 26, “Flash and Shockwave” explains what it is, advantages and disadvantages, introduces you to the Flash interface, adding a Flash file to a Web page, and integrating it with other technologies. Flash is a whole different animal and the book gives you the big picture of how it fits with designing Web pages. The following chapter on SMIL covers the same basics.

Part V addresses the advanced technologies including JavaScript, DHTML, XML, XHTML, and WAP and WML. It’s useful to have these all close together at the end of the book to help you figure out which you may want to use for a Web project.

As useful as special characters can be, I never remember what to type to make the symbol appear, though I know these now. Finding the special character chart is the only complaint I had from the original edition and not even the index helped me find it, so I had to tab the page. This has now been remedied with one of the best improvements of moving the special character reference chart to the appendix for speedy access. Other appendices in the book are listings of HTML tags, attributes, deprecated tags, proprietary tags, and CSS compatibility and support.

As your design skills and knowledge grow, there is always a question that prompts you to open the book and get your answer. It holds true today as I retire the worn out book with a loose page thanks to a certain child and happily replace it with its new younger sibling.

Highly recommended.

Title: Web Design in a Nutshell, 2nd Ed.
Author: Jennifer Niederst
Publisher: O’Reilly
ISBN: 1593270321
Date: October 2001
Format: Paperback
Pages: 640
Price: USD$29.95
CDN: 44.95
UK: 20.95