Writing has traditionally been considered a solitary craft.
You wrote you article or book in seclusion. You submitted
it to an editor or publisher and prayed it would be
published.

Along comes the Internet and the monsters out of the cage.
You now have the ability to self publish your work. You can
throw up a Blog, hook up to an RSS feed and syndicate your
writing.

You can form online communities with other writers. Readers
can give immediate feedback on your work. You can promote
your work in the virtual book stores such as Amazon.

The Internet has become a writer’s paradise.

With the advent of the Internet, you no longer are limited
as a writer. With a little research you can become a
writer/publisher. Think of the possibilities.

Every word you write can travel the globe in the blink of
an eye.

Why would you want to be a publisher?

* You can make money before your book is even written.

Before the Internet, writers had to find ways to support
themselves while working on their novels or stories. Now if
you’ve got a book that will take any length of time to
complete, you can still make money by joining affiliate
programs for books by other authors.

* You can start an online newsletter.

What an advantage you have over writers of the past. With
your newsletter, your readers get to know you and your
work. You have a waiting audience for the day your book is
released.

* You can start your own Blog.

You can plug your Blog into an RSS feed and your work can
be accessed on the entire network.

* You can start your own affiliate program.

Sites such as Clickbank take the hassle out of having an
affiliate program. They process the orders and pay
commissions to your affiliates. It’s a turnkey system for
under $50. Your affiliates are an army of salesmen ready to
promote your work around the globe. They can reach more
markets than you could on your own. It’s leverage in
action.

* You can build a theme oriented site drawing readers and
writers from around the world. It’s like having your own
Disneyland for writers.

* You can set up your own autoresponder course geared to
your market. Educating and selling on autopilot.

* You can create free ebooks. Take a few of your chapters
and create the book as a preview. You’re giving readers
enough information to decide whether they want to buy your
book.

You can also add links to your website, Blog and other
books in the free book. .

* You can write for the online newsletters in your target
market.

As an ezine writer there are times I’ve had an article
circulated to millions of readers in a single week.

* You can allow webmasters to host your articles on their
site.

Imagine thousands of websites promoting your work.

Think it can’t happen. Think again.

Without even realizing it was happening, my articles are
published on 4000 websites at any given time. Most of those
articles are there for the duration.

Imagine what you could accomplish if you put some effort
into self promotion.

I’ve just scratched the surface of the possibilities.

The difference between being a writer or a writer/publisher
is just a shift in mindset. If you’re willing to get out of
your comfort zone, the skies the limit.

There’s a cartoon that illustrates the mindset of a winner.

There’s a little boy throwing the football with his father.
His father looks at him and says, “Son, with a little
practice, you can be making the big money they’re paying
professional football players.”

The little boy smiles and looks at his father and says,
“Dad, I don’t want to be a football player. I want to be
the man who can afford to pay all those salaries.”

From the mouth of babes.

It’s in your hands. Do you want to stay in your comfort
zone and limit your possibilities, or do you want to expand
your thinking and build a publishing empire?

In the immortal words of Shakespeare,

“Why, then the world’s mine oyster, Which I with sword will
open.”

Is the world your oyster? If not maybe it’s time you
expanded your thinking.

Wishing You Success, 
John Colanzi