A factor worth noting is that home produced newsletters may be the bottom end of the market in terms of quality etc but they are nevertheless important in the new growth and distribution of paper newsletters. The modern trend towards ownership of a desktop printer and a computer means that virtually anyone can now publish a newsletter with no extra skills or equipment.

It does not require a lot of effort to produce an electronic newsletter compared to that required for a hard copy one. The costs are insignificant too and the finished product is ready for distribution immediately without the need for further preparation, processing or, of course, printing. That is why the growth figures for e-newsletters are so much more impressive even than printed newsletters.

E-zines (or e-newsletters, as they were once known) have now become established as the principal type of communication online. They are popular now because of electronic production as well as distribution over computer networks (largely meaning, of course, the all-consuming Internet). The rise to dominance of these types of newsletters has been absolutely fantastic and goes far beyond anything that was expected. Every topic under the sun is covered in one form or another and every possible bunch of people with a common interest is now a reader of them.

Paper newsletters have a vestige of authority and permanence (because they are more tangible) that online publications cannot match. The electronic format is still distrusted because it is perceived to be too easy to fraudulently manipulate documents and too easy to accidentally erase them. You might well consider these issues to be irrelevant in the case of newsletters but it is the perception that matters.

From a practical point of view, the choice of format is often not an issue. If the target market is confined to a small area or if the people that make up that target market are not likely to be online in large numbers, then hard copy is the obvious choice. If, on the other hand, a large proportion of the potential readers are online, then an ezine is the obvious way to go. As time goes by, the trend towards the adoption of electronic newsletters is bound to continue since the number of Internet users is continuing to expand at such an incredible rate.

Want to read more about Content Solutions for your newsletter? Then visit 101 Newsletter Answers for more information.

Everyone tells you that you should write a book, right? Well, it’s not quite as simple as that, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Writing the book is actually the easy part, it’s putting the required proposal together than often stumps the would-be author. Here are the basic elements to get you started:

1. The Overview: Why is your book concept, or ‘hook’, different from what’s already on the shelves? Does it offer a unique voice or methodology? Has something happened in the world or is there a trend that’s emerging that demands a new book on the subject?

2. The Table of Contents and Chapter Outline. Often the most difficult part of the entire process, putting together the table of contents proves to yourself (and ultimately, publishers) that you have enough ‘meat’ to flesh out your topic. Can you cover ten different chapters? Are the headlines for each chapter engaging? Do they give the reader a good idea of what their reading experience will be like? Once you are happy with your chapters and titles, write a lead paragraph for each. This will be your only chance to demonstrate your writing style or ‘voice’ until the actual writing is done.

3. The Introduction. Take a little time to look over this section in existing non-fiction books to get a feel for the purpose of the Introduction. They vary, but in general this is where the author explains what he or she is setting out to do in the chapters that follow. This is also where you can announce any caveats that may exist. For example, “My advice here can’t replace medical attention from a vet, but my twenty years of training stray dogs has taught me that”

4. Target Markets. This is where the preliminary work on the book itself is done and where you prove to publishers that you understand your intended audience. Convince publishers that there are 2.5 million dog owners in the United States and that most of them wish that their pets behaved better. Tell them that pet owners spend about $1000 a year on caring for their pets and that 2% of them are avid readers. Dig around to build a case for the publication of your book!

5. Competitive Titles. There are undoubtedly already several published titles on a similar subject to yours. Find them and write a paragraph or two about them. Then, explain how your book’s ‘hook’ offers something completely different to the shared audience.

6. Author Background. By this point in your proposal, you’ve done a great job of selling your concept, but why are you the person to write the book? Do you have a built-in audience? Generally publishers consider a first-time book by a non-published author a success if they sell 10,000 copies. If you have a large family, but your connections stop there, you might have a tough go of it. However, if you are writing a book for young women and were the president of your college sorority, that’s a built-in audience with an alumni magazine that might publish an excerpt. Do you have endorsements (direct quotes) from readers of your work in another format? Can you offer a unique perspective of the subject? This is where you position yourself as the only author who can bring this book to market and why.

7. Promotions. The days of book tours and marketing departments are all but gone for anyone but best sellers. As such, publishers want to know if the author has any ideas on how to get the word out about their book. Would you print up book marks for your cookbook and ask local supermarkets to put them in their shopping bags? Get creative here and let the publisher know that you will do your part to make the book a success after they publish it.