Do you know a lot of information but can’t seem to get focussed enough to write a book? This is one of my biggest problems. I start trying to write down everything that I think is important and before long I’m looking at pages of information that are as overwhelming as what is in my head.

This problem never gets in the way when someone comes up and asks me for help! When that happens, I can zero in on my audience and give the information that is necessary to answer their questions.

I have a friend who is a fiction writer. We were talking today about ideas for promoting a book she is writing. She writes in a variety of genres, but the book in question is in the ‘chick-lit’ category - at least that’s what she calls it. I came up with these suggestions:

Blog - This one is pretty obvious. She already bought her name as a domain and I set her up with a WordPress blog. The focus of her blog will be on the world of a fiction writer, with news about her projects and signings, etc. I recommend she actively write about the book and drop hints and teasers about the story to build interest.

For any first time non-fiction book author there are two enormous hurdles to overcome in order to succeed in publishing their book. You must face the blank page and get started and then you must get through the first draft.

These hurdles are not as high as they first appear and with the two strategies you are about to learn, they will shrink even further.

My Do-It-Yourself Bookbinding article has turned out to be one of the most popular articles on this site. It came from my desire to have printed copies of some of the many e-books I have collected over the years. Very often I don’t worry about putting a cover on the book and just bind the pages or I cover the book with plain heavy cardstock and hand-write the title. But what if you really want to put together a polished book that looks store-bought?

Plastic Comb Binding (also known as Comb Binding) is an inexpensive and readily available method of book binding. The spine edge of the paper stack is punched with a series of rectangular holes. The Plastic Comb, which is a tube of flexible plastic with a series of teeth cut into one edge, is threaded through the holes. The loose end of the teeth is tucked into the straight edge to finish the binding.

This binding is often used for cookbooks, manuals, documents who’s content is regularly changing, and reports.

Are you trying to print out the contents of a PDF document in booklet format?

A colleague of mine just told me about a very long and drawn out process he went through to create a booklet for his work. The original file he was given for the project had been created with Microsoft Publisher. He, being a Mac Guy, was using Quark for page design. Overall, it just did not go well.

Easy BookBinding, by Nathan DeStephano, is the most current and complete resource I have found for learning how to print and bind your own trade paperback and case bound hardcover books.

However, this book is NOT for everyone. It is NOT written for the book arts enthusiast who wants to study the centuries old craft of hand made books. It is also NOT written for those wanting to make arts and crafts projects. If that is what you want, here are a few much better resources:

• The Complete Book of Bookbinding
• Book Arts: Beautiful Bindings for Handmade Books