The Major Barrier to Getting Your Book Published

Whatever your perspective, your opinion or your belief, the Internet provides a platform to express it. Barriers to entry for getting your material published is practically nonexistent. The greatest barrier to entry is not getting started. Simple as that.
The great news is this: the minute you post something, your writing, video or audio file is published.
The bad news is this: the minute you post something, your writing, video or audio file is published.
Good or bad, your information can be published with very limited effort.
In years past, there were many barriers to entry to have our material published. Today, with untold numbers of platforms, regardless of the message, the industry and the format, virtually anyone can have his or her material published.
Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should…not until a few things are in place.
I always encourage my clients to get their material published, but I’ll also be one of the first to encourage them to think through their message and what platform is best suited for their message.
Rather than taking a haphazard approach, consider the following:
Who is the reader, listener or viewer? How do they like to consume their information?
Where is your strength? Some experts come across great with the written word, while others are well served to either shoot video or put their message into audio format, such as a podcast.
My recommendation is to get good at all three, but don’t get caught up on being perfect. Perfectionism is one of the greatest self-imposed barriers we have.
Granted, you don’t want to put out garbage, but many people use the excuse that everything has to be “just so” before putting anything out.
With all the resources available to us today, there is no reason you can’t get your material out to market sooner than later.
Video
If video is your preferred format (and you know your market wants video), your iPhone is all you need to get started. For most amateur video producers, iPhones actually produce very high quality video compared to what was available in years past, like the Flip or Zi8 cameras.
Granted, having a full production studio is the dream of many experts, but you don’t need a full studio to produce quality footage.
For now, let’s assume you will be using your iPhone to get your message out. The following tips will give you a better quality video:
1. Keep your hands steady. Avoid jerky motions and moving around too much.
2. Avoid shooting into the sun or bright lights.
3. Although you want to avoid shooting directly into light, good lighting is essential. For indoor shoots, invest in inexpensive camera lights. Pricing ranges from under $50 for a low-priced LED light to several hundred for a multiple-light set up.
If you’re going to shoot lots of video this will be a wise investment.
4. Focus on what you are filming to avoid a blurry image.
5. Don’t hold your camera vertically. You’ll get a better quality video by shooting horizontally.
Audio
If you prefer to get your message out with MP3 files it’s incredibly easy to do so. There are plenty of resources available to create your files.
Two very popular platforms are Audio Acrobat and Audacity. Your computer likely has a built in microphone. You can also purchase an inexpensive external microphone.
Another option is Instant Teleseminar for easy-to-produce MP3 files. In this case, other than your computer, you need only your phone.
Of course, you can go with a full-blown recording studio with a high-end external microphone and sound board, but for 99% of what you want to do, this is not necessary.
PDF
If you prefer to create your message with written documents, PDF files are the way to go. This is as simple as writing your document, in many cases getting it edited, formatting and then converting to PDF format.
There are many free PDF creation programs, such as PDFCreator and Adobe Acrobat. Most computers come with PDF creation software. Search your computer for PDF creation software before you download anything.
If you are submitting your written document to a blog or where someone needs to make any type of changes, a PDF is not the best choice. In such a case, the Word doc may be preferred.
Downloading software
A word of caution on downloading—be careful! If you’re not sure you are downloading from a reliable source, don’t download. You could infect your computer. Proceed with caution and only download from a reputable site.
Before downloading, do your homework. Check If there’s a forum attached to the site that has people saying they’ve downloaded the particular program you’re considering.
Don’t just assume that because something looks legit, it is. Proceed with caution.
Conclusion
Whatever message you want to get out to market, it is easier now than ever before. Don’t let perfectionism keep you from putting your information out, but on the flip side, don’t be so hasty that you produce poor quality information.
It’s exciting to think that virtually any expert can get his or her message out quickly, professionally and in record time.
So what are you waiting for? Produce!