Way back in 2007, I wrote a blog post about publishing your book online, and getting sales, before you go the traditional publishing route.

In this article, Does publishing your book on the Web help sales? | Write a Book: Just Write A Book Blog, I concluded:

“You get these benefits:

* a readership

* publisher interest once the readership is big enough

* confidence in yourself – readers tend to give you confidence

* motivation to continue writing, because of the interaction with readers.”

So, four years on, is that still a viable route?

My answer: yes, definitely.

The above benefits still apply.

However, these days, you have more options.

My own preferred option would be to self-publish for the Kindle and similar e-readers, as well as publishing some of the material online (site or blog) purely for promotion.

These days, as Amanda Hocking shows, you can build a readership and make money on your own, you don’t need a publisher. Traditional publishing takes years. Self-publishing takes weeks — which do you prefer?

Tip: your options are moot — first and last, you’ve got to write a book. So focus on that. You’ll find that as you write, you’ll get a sense of what’s right for your circumstances. Writing comes first, last and always.

Self-publishing is much more accepted and these days, much more sensible.

Two reasons:

* You get your book out faster, and can start earning immediately (no more waiting for royalty statements, hurrah!)

* You’ll probably make more money, if you’re a little smart about what you’re doing.

As this writer says, in Midlist Becomes the E-List – A Writer’s Life:

“It’s no wonder that more and more midlist authors like me are opting to self-publish — which can be far more lucrative, and far less risky, that a publishing contract, especially if you can get back the rights to your backlist.”

Tip: Build Your Platform as You Write

As I said in this post, it’s essential to build your platform as you write: “Nowadays, you’re expected to have a platform, before you approach a publisher. Therefore, in addition to writing a book, you’ve got to build a your platform…”

Building your platform is even more vital if you’re self-publishing. Ideally, you’ll have a flock of eager readers waiting for your self-published book to launch.

The easiest way to build your platform is to start creating a blog to give readers a taste of your offering. Yes, now, today.

With a platform, you’ll have money coming in, and you chart your own destiny as an author… what’s not to like?

Ebook publisher Angela Booth is presenting a new series of tips on her Top Ebook Writer Blog. The ebook market exploded in 2010. Writers now have many new sales channels and options, and Angela will be exploring them in the series.

Now three years old, her popular blog is a resource for information product creators. It covers ebook writing, marketing, and strategies.

Angela says: “I originally created the blog to provide inspiration for anyone who wanted to write and sell an ebook, but had no idea how to do it. Creating information products is a perfect home business, because the startup costs are minimal, and the business can be bootstrapped easily. I’m launching the new series because there are now a bewildering number of sales channels available to ebook creators.”

The channels include Amazon, Apple iTunes/ iPad, Lulu, Smashwords and many more.

The series will look at the various channels, and what they offer, so that writers can choose the best channel for their ebooks in 2011. Writers need to be wary of distributing through too many channels however, because each new channel requires a different format, and marketing can become very complex.

For writers who want to do it themselves, Angela will be including posts on the technical aspects of ebooks: how to format ebooks for the various channels, and how to hire a graphic designer, and copyeditor.

Like many writers, Angela is surprised at how huge ebooks have become so quickly. She says: “I’m sure it’s taken traditional publishers by surprise. This ebook tsunami started with the Amazon Kindle, and received a huge boost with the launch of the Apple iPad and the bookstore ebook readers.”

It’s a very exciting time for writers and information product creators as they explore the many new options available.

The series, called “Ebook Revolution 2011″, will be available on the Top Ebook Writer blog soon.

Want to make $500 a day WRITING… from your home office?

Are you make as much money as you could be making? Chances are that you’re not. There’s no shame in this. Writers often struggle to find their own special niche.

If you love to write, then you’ll love the information in my new ebook/ coaching package, Info Product Maestro: Make $500 a Day with Your Information Products.

Write what you like, when you like, and make an income you’ve only dreamed of.

Enjoy.

Are you writing a book? If so, there’s a marketplace you may not have considered: Amazon’s Kindle.

I’ve owned a Kindle for a while, and although I loved it at first, the dinky little forward and back buttons just annoy me. I’m a fast reader, and the buttons hurt my thumbs. Then I bought an iPad, and now I read my Kindle ebooks on that: forward and back with just a tap! Magic.

All of which is a long-winded way of saying that the future of books is digital, and you can read Kindle books on just about any mobile device, which makes for a HUGE marketplace.

To be honest, although I publish ebooks, I disregarded the Kindle. Then I kept hearing from writer colleagues that they’d just published their books on the Kindle, and that sales were great. One writer told me she was publishing a book a week.

That raised my eyebrows.

What raised them even more was when she told me of the income she was making, without doing much promotion at all; she was relying on Amazon’s popularity.

This means that I’ll be taking a fresh look at the Kindle’s publishing format, and you should too.

Publishing for the Kindle is amazingly easy.

To show you how easy, I discovered this new video training, which shows you how to publish in Kindle format quickly and simply, and completely for free, using the tools you already have on your computer.

Discover how you can publish your books in Kindle format today.

Here’s an interesting story, Apple Reveals New Service for Authors to Sell Their Books Directly in the iBookstore | Mac|Life which reports:

“Apple sent us an e-mail today with details on how someone could sign up to sell their own books in the iBookstore. Their books would have to adhere to these criteria: each one would need to have a 13-digit ISBN, be in ePub format, validate against epubcheck 1.0.5, and contain no unmanifested files. If you are not familiar with any of these Apple suggests working with their aggregation partners.
“

This is an intriguing opportunity. If you’re reasonably techy it will be an option for you.

However, I think that most self-publishers will still want to work with an intermediary company to take some of the hassle out of the tech involved. Companies like Smashwords take the angst out of getting your ebooks online.

Are you contemplating getting your books into the iBookstore? Please share your strategy (whether you’re going it alone, or not) in the comments.