Tag Archives: good business practices

More Indie Publisher News

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Learn from others. Attending other author’s book tours and book release events are an ideal way to learn to promote your book.

There is a great resource for finding out what author will be coming to your area by going to www.BookTour.com.

You can search the website by date, author and place and find out where you can meet and hear about your favorite author’s newest book releases, including NY Times best selling authors.

Learning from others is a great way to educate yourself so that when you are ready to promote yourself as an author, you have the knowledge of what it takes to have a successful book tour.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

Moving Forward

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“Everyone has his burden. What counts is how you carry it”    ~ Merle Miller

There is  no free ride in life, and no one said being an independent publisher would be a walk in the park. You most likely have had successes and disappointments along the way. Don’t we all? But don’t let those frustrations get you down. Let them only be fleeting moments.

As an independent publisher, I am willing to bet that you have the gumption to hang in there, through thick and thin. What made you decide to independently publish was your steadfast belief that your book, film or music is unique, inspirational, educational or entertaining. I’ll wager you are persistant, persevering, have dogged determination, are unfaltering, devoted and unrelenting in your quest to see your project complete.

Precisely the reasons our company serves “independent publishers!”

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Help is on the Way!

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October 1st! It is hard to believe we are 9 months into the year of 2009. This year has been a blur to me and it has passed me by all too quickly. Soon, it will be time to make our New Years resolutions once again.

Before we can make resolutions for the New Year, we need to look at where we stand, look at where we are going and decide how we will get there. Now is the time to consider whether you are suffering from job burn-out. Here are a few ways to know if the stresses of the job are getting you down.

  • Do you feel you have little or no control over your work?
  • Do you have a hard time saying no?
  • Do you identify so strongly with the work that you do that you lack a reasonable balance between work and your personal life?
  • Do you suffer from lack of sleep?
  • Are you feeling stretched to your limits every day?
  • Do you feel you are pulled in every direction?

If you have answered YES! to many of these questions, perhaps it is time to seek help. Being an independent publisher does not mean having to do it all by yourself.  Order fulfillment companies  can support you administratively. Find a company that can tailor their services to your needs. Seek and ye shall find that there are many freelance services available just for independent publishers. Start by using your favorite search engine and look for order fulfillment for independent publishers.

The year 2010 looks to be a very promising year for independent publishers. Maybe your time for change has come. Regain your balance by reassessing your priorities, delegate the tasks that someone else can do for you and seek support. Work smart, the obstacles will disappear and you will be able to see much more clearly.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

Up on A Pedestal

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“Don’t place your mistakes on your head, their weight may crush you. Instead, place them under your feet and use them as a platform to view your horizons.”  ~ Author unknown

One of the conditions of being human, is imperfection – like it or not!  I don’t know about you, but I try my best from day to day to change this well known fact of life. Our company is diligent in it’s work, we try all ways to stick to our promises, we strive for excellence and reach for the highest standards.

Our shipping policy is to process all orders on a timely basis. But, everyonce in a while, our best laid plans go awry. Late one afternoon a few weeks ago, I received a book order throught the internet from a fine art gallery on the East Coast. We reached our goal of shipping the very next day. About seven days later, I received a call from the art gallery owner that he had yet to receive the order. We discussed the fact that the order was sent standard shipping, as requested, and the weekend may have delayed it’s delivery. We jointly decided to give it a few more days with the agreement that he call me if he did not receive it.

Three or four days later, I heard again from the customer that the order still had not arrived at his doorstep. I told him “you have waited long enough, I will send a second book via expedited shipping.”  To shorten the story, the first shipment arrived long after the second one arrived. I don’t know what happened. Each time I tracked the order, the only message available was the date the shipment was picked up by the carrier. Once a shipment leaves our fulfillment company’s doors, it is out of our hands.

But – I beat myself up, feeling we had let our customer down, even though we shipped the order within 18 hours of having received it. I knew there was nothing I could do about the lost order other than try to satisfy the customer the very best I could by sending another shipment – PRONTO!

As much as we strive for perfection, other influences, people and situations often get in the way. The only thing we have true control over is ourselves. For those in the customer service side of things, if we have done everything we possibly can to satisfy our customers, sometimes we have to accept the fact that we are all human beings in an imperfect world, and sometimes things just run amuck!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

Ready, Set, Launch!

Your dream is about to become a reality! Your book or film has been published or produced, and now it is time to think about getting your product into the hands of your audience.

An order fulfillment company is the answer to those nagging administrative and shipping tasks that an independent publisher is faced with.  After all, you are a writer and a publisher. Your primary business is not fulfilling and shipping orders (and that means world-wide shipping in this age of e-commerce). Let someone else handle those tasks so you can focus on what you do best – creating, inspiring, educating and entertaining through the power of books and film.

Without the distraction of processing and shipping orders – you can get ready, set and  DSC_0094 your next creative endeavor!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Cracking Up!

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As an independent publisher, do you ever feel the tasks are overwhelming? There are printing matters to be dealt with, cover design decisions to be made, making sure the editiorial/revision process has been effectively handled, layout, pagination concerns, and the list just goes on and on. Isn’t it enough to just focus on publishing matters without having to handle the administrative tasks and shipping side of publishing too?

Before you reach beyond your limit, there is no reason to “crack up” from the stress of it all. There are companies out there that can assist you with processing and fulfilling your orders. They know the fastest and most economical ways of getting your book, film or other publication to the buyer and can even keep track of your sales and inventory matters.

It is easy to find a company to assist you. Go ahead, google “affordable order fulfillment for independent publishers.” It is that easy! Don’t wait until it is too late!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com.

Joy in an Ordinary Day

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I  have had  careers in the hospitality/travel industry, as an insurance agent and branch manager, employment in the fine arts field, and now, as owner of an order fulfillment company specializing in e-Commerce. I have always enjoyed working. There is the good feeling of being productive, collaborating with co-workers and clients and the sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. No matter what type of work I have done, it has been satisfying. I guess it is all in the way that we look at things. And as they say, your outlook can determine your experience in life. I would much rather walk in the sun than in the clouds.

Some would say I am a stickler for details but, my feeling has always been the way I do my job is a reflection of my attitudes in life. I want to represent myself well!

Yesterday afternoon, I was a recipient of an email from C J Scarlett in North Carolina. She was writing  to tell me she had read my blog posts and I am “a  great writer.” Say what? For someone that just recently confessed to being a writer, it was pay back enough for the day’s work.  Maybe she was just spreading a dose of  kindness for the day. But, her comment was much appreciated and gave me JOY in an ordinary day!

See what you can do to spread a little kindness to someone each and every day!  See www.thekindnesscure.org.

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

To Market,To Market, To Buy A…….

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A few years ago, my husband and I saw a show on the Travel Channel about teardrop travel trailers. They are the cutest little june bugs! These camper trailers came on the market after World War II and were made out of surplus materials. The exteriors were made from the wings of World War II Bombers. They are making a come back and every so often, you will see one being towed behind a car, if you are alert.

This weekend at Arts and the Parks, we saw this little turquoise teardrop travel trailer being used as part of a booth display. The exhibitors were selling a line of cosmetics, soaps, hand lotions designed and packaged for the “rodeo girl.”  The products being sold were not exactly art, but what was art was the entire brand identity this company had built. The packaging of the products had an outstanding southwestern “rodeo” theme,  all highest quality of packaging, the company owner was dressed in her rodeo wear(complete with cowboy hat) and even the teardrop trailer was decked out inside with towels appliqued with western motif  and the galley table in the trailer had tableware settings of western design. The entire booth “worked” to sell their unique line of products. I remarked to the company owners that I liked their booth very much. They told me they had won best booth awards about 6 or 7 times from various arts and crafts events they have participated in. I can see why!

How does this relate to independent publishing you may ask? Well- products don’t sell themselves. People sell products. With independent publishing, critical to selling products is the author’s involvement in the process. You will need to sell yourself  as an author and that, in turn, will sell your publication. Polish up your “shoes” and know what you are passionate about as a writer. Visit bookstores, libraries, and other venues. Convey that passion about your publication to your potential readers. If you can find something “gimmicky” that will set you or your genre of writing apart, great!

Independent publishing is not just about the writing process!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

A New Day Rising!

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There is a group 1,600 filmmakers that have come together to produce “films that matter.” This group of filmmakers, Nomads Land Network www.NomadsLand.com partner with non-profits, ecotourism and volunteerism groups to produce social issue media and documentary films. I am so excited about this network of filmmakers. This is the stuff we at Cornerstone Fulfillment Service, LLC get all excited about and want to shout “Hurray!”

I told you there is alot of good stuff on the horizon in independent filmmaking!

This blog brought to you by www.CornerstoneFulfillmentService.com

Angels and Such

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“Many hands make light work” ~ John Heywood

One of my favorite movies of all time is “Lilies of the Field” starring Sidney Poitier. The basic story line is that an unemployed construction worker ends up at a remote plot of land when his car breaks down, while traveling through. The land, located in the west, is being worked by some nuns with a vision to build a chapel and a school. The long and short of it is – Homer Smith (played by Poitier) ends up being the “angel” in the story, convincing the community to join hands. They labor together and contribute materials to build the beautiful, yet simple chapel.

The lessons of this film prevail as strongly today as they did back in 1963 when the film was produced. Anything can be accomplished in  strong communities with lots of willing hands to help.