Generally, our chosen field of writing is an isolated place where we sit alone with our thoughts, ideas, and determination to write a story that will impact the world, or at least our reading audience. In our self-imposed isolation it is easy to come to believe we really are alone and there is no one to help us … just me and my laptop. But there is hope and that hope is in the form of apps, programs and points of connection where we can turn to receive help in our writing career.

Writing a manuscript and releasing it to a publisher is akin to birthing a child, raising that child, and then sending them off to kindergarten without us. There is that sense of helplessness, that we’ve lost control of that very precious entity and we no longer make a difference. But there is hope and help for us, even after we’ve released the manuscript for publication.

Do you have a program on your laptop or computer called Adobe or Adobe Acrobat Reader? This is a free download that will allow you to open, read and print PDFs as well as filling out PDF forms. Before we are ready to send our manuscript(s) to the publisher we need to be able to put them in a PDF format, for the publisher’s sake and to satisfy ourselves that it really is ready to go to the publisher. 

If your document is not yet in a PDF format and you know you want to convert it to one, Adobe will allow you to do that or to perform even more complex tasks. We suggest you download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader first to become familiar with it and to educate yourself on converting documents to PDF, adjusting the layout and even do some editing. You will be able to see the layout of your document as it will appear in printed form and, if you want, you can cut and paste text without messing up the source file. It takes a little practice and learning but it is well worth your time and effort. You might even like it well enough to subscribe to the more sophisticated platform of Acrobat Pro but start with the free download and work your way up.

Once the manuscript is published and birthed as a book the entire world needs to read, the question we ask ourselves is how does that happen? How does the world even know my book exists? Marketing is the key and one of the ways to do that is through an online source called Brand Featured which is really a glorified press release program. I am sure I am not the only one that has wondered how to get my book noticed and even promoted on TV shows when no one even knows I exist. Well, Brand Featured is one way to do that. 

They will write an article about you, as an author, and about your book. You simply sign up – for a fee, of course – and then you write a simple article with the material you want them to use as your story and a promo of the book. Brand Featured has a staff of professional writer’s that will develop the article you’ve written into a format and style that is beneficial to you and then it is sent to hundreds of outlets like Fox, NBC, CBS and so on, where it will be published in a short format that will introduce you to the reading world. The upside is that you can now have a banner across the front of your book and/or on your marketing materials that will say, “As Seen On NBC, FOX, CBS” and 100+ sites. That statement will be legitimate and it lends credibility to you, as an author. Furthermore, using Brand Featured.com will provide you with great SEO (Search Engine Optimization) when someone is searching for you on the internet. 

There are several other outlets that you, as an author, can avail yourself of to help get your name out there. Rather than inundate you with an overwhelming wealth of information, lets just get started with these two and see how you do. Always remember, we make publishing easy and we are here to help you. Always remember, We Make Publishing Easy and we are here to help you!