First off, is self-publishing worth it? If you have a story idea that would appeal to a lot of readers, or is considered more mainstream or genre (think romance, science fiction, mystery), or if you have a non-fiction story that many people can relate to, then you should try to find a publisher. And an agent.

Finding a publisher (or agent) is admittedly hard for an unpublished author – but it does happen. After all, go back far enough and you’ll find a point where Stephen King and J.K. Rowling were unpublished nobodies. They got their chance and so can you. It’s easy enough to get dispirited when you see the likes of Nichole Ritchie or Madonna getting book deals just because they’re famous – but publishers also like to take chances on unknowns, often because it costs them a lot less to sign.

Having said that, if your book will only appeal to a very small market, or if you have plans to sell it yourself (as an adjunct to lectures, for example, or in conjunction with your crafts), it may make more sense to self-publish.

There are four basic methods to self-publishing your book:

1. Lay out the book yourself, design the cover yourself, and pay a printer to print 200-1,000 copies which you’ll then have to keep on hand while you try to get them stocked in bookstores or sell them yourself.

2. Pay a vanity press a lot of money for them to lay the book out, design the cover, and print a small number of copies. Why a small number? Well, they don’t think you’ll be selling (or giving away) more than a few.

3. Pay a print-on-demand company like iUniverse or Xlibris some money for them to layout the book and design the cover, and have it ready to be printed whenever someone buys a copy (‘on demand’).

4. Sell it electronically.

You may not have considered selling an electronic version of your book, but you should. Here’s why:

1. No upfront costs. You can download templates to format your manuscript, and you can also download free software that will convert your word processing document into Adobe PDF (portable document format) files, the most common type of files for ebooks.

2. No worry about printing or reprinting. You can sell as many or as few copies of your ebook without having to figure out how many books to print ahead of time. It simply doesn’t cost anything to duplicate an electronic file.

3. Easy to set up. There’s no need to contract with booksellers or distributors; sell the ebook yourself on your own Web site or blog, or even your Facebook or MySpace page.

Many top Internet gurus have sold books through these outlets. They have sold books based on their seminars, workshops, and business tactics. These books are highly valuable, but only if everybody knows about them. If your book shows up on Amazon and Barnes and Noble with little fanfare then you will experience low sales which can be devastating to your bottom line.

The basics of promoting your book include letting people know the title, cost, and publication date. How do you promote these details in the most effective manner to massive audiences that will want to buy your book? Read on to find little known tips from top Internet gurus who have traveled this path before you.

Book Launch Tip #1: Focus on Amazon.com first. It is more difficult to drive traffic to Amazon.com so you want to conquer that task in the beginning. Then focus on sending traffic to Barnes and Noble.com. Plus, achieving an Amazon.com bestseller designation is worth its weight in gold.

Book Launch Tip #2: A great way to drive traffic to either Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble.com is to have an opt-in page on your website. Once people subscribe to your list automatically send them to your Amazon.com (or Barnes and Noble.com) landing page where they can buy the book.

Book Launch Tip #3: Verify that your book information appears correctly on Amazon. Make sure that the title, author, price, etc. are correct before people are sent to your page. If your page has errors then it will look unprofessional and may turn away customers.

Book Launch Tip #4: Don’t make your book launch schedule too short. Some people try to complete a book launch in 45 days which is very difficult. There are so many details to take care of that people don’t realize how long they actually take. For example, obtaining an ISBN number can take a long time.

Book Launch Tip #5: Don’t wait until the last minute to find joint venture partners. Try to find these partners well in advance because you want people to commit to your book launch right from the start. In order to obtain joint ventures you need to establish and build relationships earlier as well. For example, the minute you determine that you are going to launch a book is the minute you should get on the phone and call your friends and colleagues for their support and joint venture possibilities.