How can I get my book made and published to be put online and in stores?

I am at the beginning stage I suppose. I have typed my poetry and sent it in to the Library of congress for copyright.



My ultimate goal is to have books made and be put online and in stores.



I have heard many scam stories and uncertainties about what publisher to choose.



If anything I would love to publish my own book. I do not know how to go about doing this.



I have seen the publishing packages for xlbris and iuniverse. Are they any good?



I have also thought about starting my own card business how do I go about doing this?

How do I get a ISBN Number for my book?How can I get my book made and published to be put online and in stores?
I know of several book authors published by Xlibris and they are happy with the services provided by the company.



When you publish, copyrights and ISBN is already the concern of the publisher and you don't have to worry about them. What you need to concentrate on is the book that you are writing.



Get this FREE book publishing guide from Xlibris and a publishing consultant will walk you through the details of the process including an assessment of your publishing needs free of charge:

http://www2.xlibris.com/requestkit/index鈥?/a>



You may also visit this site that provides information on publishing:

http://selfpublishingjourney.wordpress.c鈥?/a>How can I get my book made and published to be put online and in stores?
It sounds like you have a lot of research to do!



I can't answer all your questions completely, but I can share what I know, starting with the truthful statement that poetry is very hard to sell commercially even when the economy is blossoming. I would say that at this early stage, you should work on building a name for yourself in the writing world - i.e. develop some credibility for yourself. Start out by submitting poetry to literary journals. Below is a link to the Poetry Society of America, and a list of journals they've compiled.



http://www.poetrysociety.org/psa-links.p鈥?/a>



The issue of publishing is tricky when it comes to poetry, because unlike writers of fiction your best option may be self-publishing. To avoid being scammed, just make sure you go into the situation with your eyes open, and understand exactly what the situation is. You, the customer, are paying them, the merchant, to print your book because you lack the equipment and expertise to do so yourself. Your book is not being 'accepted for publication' and no money will be earned for your pocket unless you yourself actively promote your book - and even then, a large percentage of people who self-publish don't break even on what they paid to publish. It's not like a commercial publisher, where your work is accepted and then someone else takes over and you earn royalties. They have less incentive to market your book, because they're making money already - off you. Some self-publishing companies can assign you an ISBN, usually for an extra charge.



You sound like a reasonable intelligent person. When selecting a company, use exactly the same criteria you'd use if you were buying any other service - cable or phone coverage for example. Decide what you need and what you don't, then carefully examine each 'package' for those items or services. Don't let them smooth-talk you into services you don't need. For example, "I need 1,000 copies of my book, but I do not need a subscription to an online advertising service." If they don't have a package available that fits your needs, or if you have any trouble getting information out of them, then move on to the next company. They'll haggle with you, there are enough of them competing for your business. You should also google-search them for customer reviews. Research is the best protection against cheats.