Friday Social Media Tips: Twitter and Facebook.

Whether or not you opt for the marketing packages North Highland Publishing has to offer or you decide to have a go at marketing your own book you'll have to get the news out there that your book exists. 


So, with that in mind, how should you go about doing just that?

The power of Facebook and Twitter should never be overlooked. 


On Twitter you can directly search for your readership as Twitter filters out users who share the same interests as you by clicking on the '#Discover' button. Once you've done this, type in the exact keywords you'd like to find relating to your search. This will lead you to find users who 'tweet' about the same topics that relate to your book or writing. Twitter is free of charge to use and allows your followers to feel as though they're having a direct conversation with you. 


Facebook 'fan pages' are ideal for either setting up in the name of your book or under your author name. Facebook follows a different format than Twitter but it still allows you to have a direct line of communication with your 'fans.'


Through both of these mediums you can share links, pictures and any updates with your books.

DIY Self Publishing: Should You or Shouldn't You?

When you heard the words 'self publishing', they sound pretty tame in comparison to the traditional route of publishing you might be more familiar with; the competitive conglomerates who will take up only a handful of manuscripts per year, who are ultimately not able to meet the demands of many wannabe published authors.

Hence why self publishing is opening the door where it may have once been closed - and with digital book sales and e-readers growing in number and popularity, it's no wonder that any sales savvy author would snap up the chance to self publish.

Wikipedia says that self-publishing is; 

Self-publishing is the publication of any book or other media by the author of the work, without the involvement of an established third-party publisher. The author is responsible and in control of entire process including design (cover/interior), formats, price, distribution, marketing & PR. The author can do it all themselves or outsource all or part of the process to companies that offer these services.  

At North Highland Publishing, we're a company who will let you, the author have complete control over the design of your front cover, the formatting of your fonts, marketing and promotion - with a little help from us. You send your manuscript to us, we'll pass it onto our Editing Department and we'll send you a quote based on our most updated price list as to what work needs done on your manuscript. 


Authors probably have enough on their hands with the marketing and promotion of their books so we will take your manuscript and sculpt it into a book; hard copy, eBook or both. 


But, if we can do it, anyone can do this - right? 


Our team have a combination of industry and personal experience when it comes to self-publishing and eBook publishing, specifically. 
We have worked on various manuscripts; fantasy, crime, thriller, fiction and non-fiction works. 
We have converted books to be sold as eBooks.
We manage several on-line book shops. 
We sell hundreds of eBooks per month. 
We sell eBooks across the world. Our authors have sold hundreds of their print copy books.


The difference between 'Do It Yourself' self publishing and jumping on board with North Highland Publishing is that when you DIY your publishing, you may make many mistakes along the way. Mistakes that may cost you time and money to make. 


We're not saying we haven't made the same mistakes as the DIY'ers make, we probably have, but the difference is that we have learned very quickly with each mistake. There is also the advantage of a whole team there to cushion any blows we might have faced. 


So can a person 'do it themselves' when it comes to self-publishing? Absolutely. Is this for everyone? Absolutely not. 


Not everyone knows where to begin when it comes to selling and promoting their book, not everyone knows how to edit their book and not everyone knows where to sell their book once it's completed. And once you decide to get serious about publishing, these are just the top three most important things to know.


Most people starting out in the self-publishing world won't know about these things and will spend an awful lot of time - and money - discovering what works and doesn't. With an established publishing company like North Highland Publishing you can rest assured that we've been there and done it several times over, getting it better each time we do.


Another hurdle that authors face is that they don't have the experience of repetition, which we do. We've done this several times over and over, are signed up with a number of book retailers and have guaranteed monthly sales. 


If you're serious about publishing with North Highland Publishing, get in touch with us here. 

Smashwords Announcement.

We're now very happy to announce that our eBooks will be available now on three on-line outlets; Amazon Kindle, Kobo and Smashwords.


We're also working with Google Books and the iBookstore this month to bring you more great content that is accessible to all, in all formats and countries.


North Highland Publishing started selling eBooks on probably the world's most famous book store - Amazon. And now we want to be able to offer eBooks in all platforms. We're fast approaching this goal with more and more on-line retailers being added to our list. 


It has been a wonderful start to the new year to welcome in these new retailers and this is of course wonderful news for any potential author whose looking to sell across different eBook platforms. 


In 2011 we could only offer to sell an authors eBooks on our own website and on Kindle. And now, in 2012, the possibilities are becoming realities as we're opening the door on these marvelous opportunities to sell on other well known websites. 


We'll keep you updated throughout the month - and the year - as our progress grows from strength to strength. 

Write a Book Challenge.

So, now we're 6 days into our new year - how many resolutions have you stayed true to? 


Or are you finding out you're one of those who promised themselves to lose that extra weight they've been trying to shift and are cracking open the chocolates instead?


Why not take our New Year's Challenge for 2012 and write a book?


This Challenge is great for those who've spent a long time promising themselves they'd write their book. Make 2012 your year to finally get started on your book - and to complete it!


Follow us on both the North Highland Publishing and 'Write a Book for 2012' Facebook pages to kept updated - and motivated.


Be quick as spaces on this Challenge are limited!

Happy Hogmanay!

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Whether you're fireball swinging in Aberdeen, or 'burning the clavie' in Moray we hope you have a Happy Hogmanay!

But what is Hogmanay? 


In Scotland it is New Years Eve, the day before the New Year. Most celebrations don't kick off until Hogmanay night into the early hours of the New Year and with January the 1st and 2nd being public holidays in Scotland this is probably time enough for people to recover from the Hogmanay celebrations.


When the clock strikes midnight it is customary to hug and kiss the person next to you and wish them a happy new year. If you're at a party - or indeed at the Edinburgh street party - then you'll probably find yourself singing Auld Lang Syne, a traditional Scots poem by poet Robert Burns which is set to traditional folk music.

Whatever your plans are - and wherever you are, we wish you a Happy Hogmanay and a Happy New Year, all the way from Scotland and from North Highland Publishing.

Merry Christmas...

and a Happy New Year from the team at North Highland Publishing.

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November Recap.

We were delighted to attend the book launch of 'Latter-day Pioneers' at the Alloa library on the 26th of November.

George Stewart (pictured), the author of the book, and North Highland Publishing had been working very hard to bring the book to publication and we were delighted to share in the excitement of the book launch. It is an interesting and exciting book which chronicles the early beginnings of the Latter-day Saints church in Scotland to the present day and George shares his view from Scotland in the book.

The book is avaiable on Amazon, at the Kindle store, here.

We've had an exciting run-up to Christmas with the publication of another book about Scottish identity with Ken Pratt's 'The English Student' which, yep, you guessed it can be bought at the Amazon Kindle store here.