Welcome! You’ve reached the site of Wallace Wang, the author of such books as “Microsoft Office For Dummies,” “Beginning Programming All-in-One Desk Reference For Dummies“, “Mac Programming For Absolute Beginners,” “Steal This Computer Book,” “My New Mac,” and “My New iPad 2.” Although the bulk of my writing centers around computer books, I’ve also helped co-write several non-computer books including “Breaking Into Acting For Dummies,” which is a guide to help aspiring actors break into show business, and “Strategic Entrepreneurism,” which explains an entrepreneur’s strategy for designing a company correctly from the start for maximum profitability.
I basically help people understand technology so they can put it to practical use in their own lives. Specifically for this blog, I’ll be providing news and information about taking advantage of new trends and technology for electronic self-publishing. Traditional bookstores and printed books are dying because they’re too expensive. The world is shifting towards e-books and eliminating the need for specialized publishers and book stores altogether. As an author, if you don’t change with the times, you’re going to become obsolete faster than you might think possible.
In the old days, an author had to submit a manuscript to an agent or publisher, who acted like the gatekeepers to the publishing world. If a publisher liked the manuscript, they’d print, bind, and sell copies to book stores. While the publisher took care of the marketing and physical distribution, they also took the majority of the profits. On a typical $15 book, an author might get $1 with the rest split between the publisher, the distributor, and the book store.
The Internet has already wiped out the middlemen in the music and video industry, and now the same thing is happening to the book industry. With digital distribution of e-books over the Internet, there’s no reason for a traditional publisher, distributor, or book store. By electronically self-publishing your manuscript, you can keep up to 70 percent of the retail price of a book. Sell 10,000 copies of a $10 e-book and that translates into $7 an e-book or $70,000. Sell 10,000 copies of a traditional printed book and you’ll get $1 a book for $10,000.
Would you rather get $70,000 or $10,000 for the same manuscript?
In the past, publishers could get your book out in front of the public so they’d buy it, justifying their share of the profits. Today, the Internet allows any author to get their books in front of the public, eliminating the need for a publisher altogether.
For most authors, the question isn’t whether they should self-publish electronically or not, but how? How do you keep track of rapidly changing technology? Most people don’t have time to study and explore complex technology, so that’s why I’ll do my best to keep you informed so you can anticipate the future and take advantage of it while others are stuck with their old fashion ways that will leave them mired in a rut while the future flies right past them.
My goal is to make every blog post interesting, informative, and useful so you can apply any bit of information you receive and put it to productive use in your own life right away.
Thanks for taking the time to drop by and visit. If you enjoy the information provided on this site, you can support this site by buying one of my books or buying something from any of the advertisers on these web pages. I hope this site will continue proving its value to you for now and in the future.