Author: Geraldine Solon
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
ISBN: 978-1495201678

Everyone has a story to tell and with the proliferation of home pc’s hitting the keyboard and getting going on a memoir or a narrative based on fact or fiction is easy. After typing ‘The End’ on your sure-to-be-bestseller, it gets harder. The problem is: what happens next? Low sales and the closure of book stores have hit the publishing industry hard – traditional publishers, wary of first time authors and overwhelmed by truckloads of unsolicited manuscripts take months to reply to submissions – the reply, for a previously unpublished author, more often than not, in the negative.

If you’re determined to share the results of all those hours typing, editing and running spell-check with readers other than family and friends, then, self-publishing with the help of online retailer Amazon is the fastest option to put your book where it matters – the internet marketplace.

Before taking the plunge (cyber space really is a jungle) from unpublished to published, help from a publishing industry professional would be good. Geraldine Solon’s new self-help book, Authorpreneur in Pajamas, Building Your Author’s Platform Without Leaving Your Home, is full of helpful, encouraging, common sense advice for publishing industry virgins.

The award-winning, best-selling author of Women's fiction and Romance novels  (two of her books have been adapted into film) Geraldine is the Managing Editor of Gastronomique en Vogue, a fashion, food and lifestyle magazine so is well qualified to demystify the fascinating, frustrating, rapidly changing world of book marketing, promotion and find the prize at the end of the rainbow: lots of sales.

In the introduction Geraldine Solon states that an author should have a strong presence in person and online and presents the premise that we all live in a virtual world, a world where digital has taken over from paper and promotional data can be delivered globally in a matter of seconds.

Before the nitty gritty of how to do this is discussed, there are chapters on identifying why you write, who you are writing for and what is an Authorpreneur? Geraldine Solon’s writing style is fresh and engaging – she doesn’t waste words, the message conveyed in a candid, practical manner which while realistic is still encouraging.

There are facts and figures given from the author’s own publishing experience which are inspiring (hard work and planning does get results) and tips on how to present yourself and your book; forget the holiday snaps, your online image has to be by a professional photographer and  hire a graphic artist for your book cover design.

Research, a must, there’s a seriously cool list of websites included which will tell you everything you need to know about publishing – writer’s groups, publishers (the good, the bad and occasionally ugly) and if you think an agent is the way to go… the who, why and what agents are looking for listings. Some of these sites you may have already come across but to be able to find this list of web addresses pertaining to book publishing all in one place is a plus for the aspiring author.

The chapter ‘Who Doesn’t Love Bargains’ is a winner – it’s pretty tricky to work out how to price your book and along with the chapter ‘The X-Factor in e-Book Pricing’ setting the right price for your book and using discounted pricing as an effective marketing tool are explained in  easy to comprehend language.

Social media, author websites, blogging, blog tours and virtual book clubs (didn’t know they existed… sounds like fun) and how to use the opportunities that exist within these online entities to start selling and keep selling books are explained with great enthusiasm.

The notion of sitting in pajamas, coffee in hand while marketing your book globally, very appealing, if you are planning on climbing the slippery publishing slope but really don’t know where to begin then Authorpreneur in Pajamas, a small (82 pages), modestly priced e-book (paperback also available), would make an ideal companion. Nice work, Ms. Solon.

Follow Here To Purchase Authorpreneur in Pajamas: Building Your Author's Platform Without Leaving Your Home