• No, keep this book hidden for now. (This option will mean your book is uploaded but not available for public viewing.)
• Yes, make it public! (This option will upload your book and make it available for public viewing.)

Selling More Books on EditRED

EditRED.com has been designed by writers with books to sell. We quickly learnt, when prompting people to buy our own books, that the most common response from friends, colleagues and blog subscribers was ‘'I can't wait to get myself a copy just as soon as I get paid.'’ In 99% of cases this translated as, ‘'I can’'t wait to get myself a copy, but probably won't because a) Martin Amis has just released a new book I’'d much rather read or b) I'll forget and blow any spare pennies on beer.

Unless you are a very pushy salesman or saleswoman who's constantly carrying a box of books under your arm you won't be selling a copy of your book to the majority of people you mention it to, let alone blog subscribers who you never meet face to face. This is where the EditRED 'My Bookshop' comes in.

The 'My Bookshop' feature was designed so that anybody who views your profile or reads any of your work on EditRED will be prompted to a) buy your book or eBook or b) read uploaded excerpts or book reviews, whereupon they will be prompted once again to buy your book. Once you have uploaded your book cover and blurb adverts for your books are automatically and strategically placed on all your EditRED content pages, meaning blogs, stories, poems, excerpts etc. Remember, it is much easier to get somebody to read a free short story than it is to buy a book by a relatively unknown author. It is much easier to sell a book to somebody who has just enjoyed one of your short stories or blogs, which on EditRED is exactly when we will prompt them to buy your book, by placing an advert for your book at the end of all your uploaded writing. The EditRED 'My Bookshop' feature leaves you free to write and promote shorter pieces that are then used to sell more books.

You can sell your books either by linking to a retailer like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, or, using your own Paypal account so all money goes straight to you, direct to your readers. Selling direct means you have to handle packing and shipping (which you charge for) but also means you make more money as you bypass Amazon's 55% commission.

Use the Short to sell the Long

You probably already have some examples of your work uploaded to your EditRED profile by now. Whether they be short stories, blogs, poems or excerpts, you want to make sure they are free of typos and errors. Remember, your writing will be judged on these examples. They need to be strong and finished. Once your texts are ready, it is time to start inviting readers and potential book buyers.

From your ‘'My Ink' page click the ‘'My Writing' link that is just to the right of your user image. A complete list of all your uploads will appear on the right hand side of your page. Select the upload you want to invite people to read and click the ‘'Edit' button to open the edit module for that upload.

Right at the top you will see a long link that reads, ‘'Invite your friends, family and fellow writers to come and read...' This link enables you to send an external email inviting all your friends, family and colleagues to come and read your writing. Remember when they do, they will see an advert for your book.

Once the invite page is open, fill out the boxes.

Enter email addresses

You can enter as many email addresses as you wish, just separate each email address with a comma.

Personal Message

Although you can bulk mail friends, relatives and colleagues, I generally advise against it. Don't make them feel like they are being spammed, not by somebody they know. That's what companies selling pills and penis extensions do, and I am sure you don't want to be lumped in with them. So take a minute, write something personal. You don't have to write 500 words, just make sure the person getting the email can sense you are writing to them personally.

By default there is already a message in the message text box. You can write in front of it, even delete it and write something of your own if you want to, but be sure to leave the web addresses in that text intact. Otherwise there will be no link to your story included in your email, and your invitees won't know where the party is.

Click Send

That was easy, right? E-mail your upload to EVERY contact you have.

Rinse & Repeat

You should be going through this process every second week. Be careful not to bombard people; aim to be regular and reliable without being a nuisance.

Producing content is not always easy, but remember you are doing this to promote a book. Why not upload a few excerpts from your book and invite people to read those?  After all, they have already been written and they'll take just a minute to upload. Use blogs and book reviews too. Just remember that what you are sending is an example of your penmanship. If it is not 100% finished, don't send it. Drafts are for your EditRed friends and readers, who are there to help you edit and improve. Only a finished product should be sent to your public readers. If it is full of typos and errors, they won't feel very inspired to buy your book.

If you are actively promoting your book you are probably running several blogs at once. However, we recommend you send your MySpace visitors to read your blogs and stories at EditRED.com because you'll be offering them a much more personal experience.  And this is essential.  There has to be a real element of trust on your reader's part if you want to make a sale.

When they read your blog on EditRED they will also see adverts for your books.  These have been strategically placed to catch their attention. You'll be offering them a range of buying options. You can sell direct and make more money yourself or you can self through a retailer like Amazon. Either way, EditRED.com has been designed so that you can use your short works to sell your longer works. Other blogs and networks, while great for many things, have not been designed specifically for writers, especially those with books to sell.