The World of Personal Publishing, Part 1

Wow! Half of the year is gone all ready. What happened? Take a look at your writing goals for the year. Sherry, you may get extra inspiration from your copy of Publish Your Nonfiction Book. I drew your name to receive a free copy. (Please contact me at lynndaell[at]live[dot]com so that I can mail it to you.)
The rest of us can sit back with an icy beverage and dare to dream. According to Kristen Hackett, our guest writer for today, all you need is a Word.doc and a dream to publish your book.

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OffTheBookshelf.com is a Personal Publishing site created for authors, BY authors.  The site launched earlier this year, but it has been in development for over a year as the founders saw a real need for a place for authors to gather, share stories, and publish their work.  We felt the future of publishing would be changing.  Had to change.  To benefit authors - the very people who create the stories people want to read.

OffTheBookshelf.com is not a vanity press, but a place for Personal Publishing, a place that creates a 360-degree experience in publishing, providing unique value to independent authors, published authors and their readers.

The site offers independent authors the opportunity to create eBooks, audio books and printed books.  And control each of those aspects.  The site offers the opportunity to connect with like-minded writers and readers.  And offers personal service via an array of options to help authors with all aspects of their book:  from forums to talk with other authors about ideas and issues, to logistical assistance with printing their books (including copyright filings, editors and proofreaders, an audio book creator, epub conversions, cover art creators and more) to marketing their books.  All in one location.  All so simple to use.  All to help writers fulfill their dream.

OffTheBookshelf.com also offers readers a connection to authors that becomes a personal experience.  We feed their sense of discovery with books they may never have found had it not been for OffTheBookshelf.com.
 We know there are other sites out there that are similar - but we feel our personal approach sets us apart, as does the fact that we are writers.  We have firsthand experience with what writers go through to publish their work.  We feel the ease of use of the site is key to writers (we are as easy to use as Facebook!).  And we are continuously looking for services that will help writers.  We just launched a FREE epub conversion software and an audio book creator.  Two more services that give writers what they need.

We are a group of people that love to write. We love to read. And we wanted to create a community where authors and readers could forge a more personal relationship, where authors didn't have to pay to publish, a place that READERS KNOW ABOUT, a place that could enhance the craft of writing in the digital age.

Please look at OffTheBookshelf.com and let us know what you think. We value all the feedback we get and strive to make the site better every day.
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As Kristen's article states, the Internet gives writers multiple options for publishing their works. If you have used OffTheBookshelf.com, Lebrary.com or any independent publishing site, we welcome you to share your opinion about your experience.

In the meantime, keep writing.