Bernard L. Dillard's Blog
September 30, 2016
Enter to win FREE Lemonade eBook
You may be one of several people to win a free eBook copy of Lemonade: Inspired by Actual Events. Click here to enter giveaway: https://goo.gl/8KO2XJ.
Must have an Amazon account to enter. Will be up to 10 winners declared. Giveaway will end on October 29, 2016 or earlier, depending on volume of participation.
Must have an Amazon account to enter. Will be up to 10 winners declared. Giveaway will end on October 29, 2016 or earlier, depending on volume of participation.
December 9, 2014
FREE eBOOK 12/10 and 12/11
Hi everyone! Looks like I'm in the pre-holiday, gift-giving mood!
Download your FREE eBook copy of Lemonade: Inspired by Actual Events on Wed, Dec 10 and Thurs, Dec 11. Get it at: www.GotLemons.net
TWO DAYS ONLY! 48 hours only! This Wed and Thurs only! (Kinda sounds like I'm doing a Raymour and Flanigan commercial, huh?)
Readable on any Kindle reader. No Kindle, no problem? Read it on your smartphone, tablet, or computer by getting a free Kindle App at: http://goo.gl/slQb6z
Happy Holidays and Happy Readin'!
Download your FREE eBook copy of Lemonade: Inspired by Actual Events on Wed, Dec 10 and Thurs, Dec 11. Get it at: www.GotLemons.net
TWO DAYS ONLY! 48 hours only! This Wed and Thurs only! (Kinda sounds like I'm doing a Raymour and Flanigan commercial, huh?)
Readable on any Kindle reader. No Kindle, no problem? Read it on your smartphone, tablet, or computer by getting a free Kindle App at: http://goo.gl/slQb6z
Happy Holidays and Happy Readin'!
November 15, 2014
FREE Download of my eBook! HURRY!
Hi everyone! Looks like I'm in the pre-holiday, gift-giving mood!
Download your FREE eBook copy of Lemonade: Inspired by Actual Events on this Wed, Nov 19 and Thurs, Nov 20. Get it at: www.bernarddillard.com
TWO DAYS ONLY! 48 hours only! This Wed and Thurs only! (Kinda sounds like I'm doing a Raymour and Flanigan commercial, huh?)
Readable on any Kindle reader. No Kindle, no problem? Read it on your smartphone, tablet, or computer by getting a free Kindle App at: http://goo.gl/slQb6z
Happy Pre-Holidays and Happy Readin'!
Download your FREE eBook copy of Lemonade: Inspired by Actual Events on this Wed, Nov 19 and Thurs, Nov 20. Get it at: www.bernarddillard.com
TWO DAYS ONLY! 48 hours only! This Wed and Thurs only! (Kinda sounds like I'm doing a Raymour and Flanigan commercial, huh?)
Readable on any Kindle reader. No Kindle, no problem? Read it on your smartphone, tablet, or computer by getting a free Kindle App at: http://goo.gl/slQb6z
Happy Pre-Holidays and Happy Readin'!
October 26, 2014
FREE DOWNLOAD!
Hi everyone! Looks like I'm in the pre-holiday, gift-giving mood!
Download your FREE eBook copy of Lemonade: Inspired by Actual Events on this Thursday, October 30. Get it at: www.bernarddillard.com
ONE DAY ONLY! 24 hours only! This Thursday only! (Kinda sounds like I'm in a Raymour and Flanigan commercial, huh?)
Readable on any Kindle reader. No Kindle, no problem? Read it on your smartphone, tablet, or computer by getting a free Kindle App at: http://goo.gl/slQb6z
Happy Pre-Holidays and Happy Readin'!
Download your FREE eBook copy of Lemonade: Inspired by Actual Events on this Thursday, October 30. Get it at: www.bernarddillard.com
ONE DAY ONLY! 24 hours only! This Thursday only! (Kinda sounds like I'm in a Raymour and Flanigan commercial, huh?)
Readable on any Kindle reader. No Kindle, no problem? Read it on your smartphone, tablet, or computer by getting a free Kindle App at: http://goo.gl/slQb6z
Happy Pre-Holidays and Happy Readin'!
June 6, 2014
STEP TWO: BECOMING A BONA FIDE BUSINESS
(Entry 2)
We’re continuing our series where I share my experiences in the self-publishing process. We spoke earlier about being proud of the document that you produce. Whether you decide to self-publish or not, you have to work hard enough to make sure you are proud of your final product. No one will buy what you write if it’s shoddy and violates all kinds of grammatical and stylistic laws. As you’re working on that and finishing that aspect of the process, it’s vitally important to start the ball rolling in another regard.
It’s important to become a bona fide business in this self-publishing endeavor. There are a number of ways to do this without breaking your bank. Of course, you can become incorporated and go through the necessary paperwork to have “, INC” placed behind your business. That is somewhat of a costly option, however, as is becoming an “LLC” (limited liability corporation). Having an LLC assumes you’re hiring at least one person and you want to make sure you’re protected in case you get sued. Truth is we live in a very litigious society and you may want to protect yourself in case you are. Of course, if you are only publishing books, there is not a real need to become an LLC. You will probably not hire anyone else, and you will be in charge of your business as the owner and founder. So what I did was establish my business as a “DBA” (doing business as). This is probably the cheapest route to go for your publishing business if you want to start a sole proprietorship and be seen as “real.” The benefit of establishing a DBA is that you are later able to open up a business checking account and even apply for business credit cards. Come tax time, you will be able to write off certain expenses you paid for your business (advertisements, etc).
I bought my DBA on www.ezonlinefiling.com and had someone else do the legwork for me. They just have to send paperwork to your local county court house, which will then be sent to you. This was the cheapest site I found for getting the DBA, although cheaper ones may exist now. Once I got the DBA, I was able to give my business a fictitious name. In my case, it was BerNerd Publishing, the name of my own publishing company. It may not be obvious at this point why I even went through all the “trouble” to do this, but it will become apparent later — when it comes to placing the publisher name in the book and as it relates to getting an ISBN number for your book eventually (and exposure in case your work becomes a best seller). More on this later.
Once you pay the one-time (unavoidable) fee, you’ll just wait to receive the paperwork for your DBA in the mail. You should go ahead and apply for a free Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS so that you’ll have it for tax purposes when it’s time for you to file and get some of your money back for what you’ll invest into your new company. You can apply for your free EIN at: https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/modiein/indi...
I know it may still seem a bit confusing why you should buy your own DBA, but just trust me. It will be time and money worth spent. You pay for your DBA but don’t pay for your EIN number. Remember, you’re your own business. You’re on the path to becoming a self-publisher. If you were getting with a publisher that is already established, you don’t have to jump through these hoops. But this is what you are doing so you can be a trailblazer and pioneer your own path to owning your own brand. You have now acquired your own business name and you are registered with the IRS. So now you’re good to go and ready for the next step to being your own self-publisher.
The most important thing to realize at this juncture is to be proud of what it is your are writing. Read and proofread! And now you are your own business — at least on paper. You’ll spend a little money at the outset, but this is true of any business. You’re investing in the best product that there is for what you want to do. And that product is you!
Aren’t you worth it?
More to come later.
We’re continuing our series where I share my experiences in the self-publishing process. We spoke earlier about being proud of the document that you produce. Whether you decide to self-publish or not, you have to work hard enough to make sure you are proud of your final product. No one will buy what you write if it’s shoddy and violates all kinds of grammatical and stylistic laws. As you’re working on that and finishing that aspect of the process, it’s vitally important to start the ball rolling in another regard.
It’s important to become a bona fide business in this self-publishing endeavor. There are a number of ways to do this without breaking your bank. Of course, you can become incorporated and go through the necessary paperwork to have “, INC” placed behind your business. That is somewhat of a costly option, however, as is becoming an “LLC” (limited liability corporation). Having an LLC assumes you’re hiring at least one person and you want to make sure you’re protected in case you get sued. Truth is we live in a very litigious society and you may want to protect yourself in case you are. Of course, if you are only publishing books, there is not a real need to become an LLC. You will probably not hire anyone else, and you will be in charge of your business as the owner and founder. So what I did was establish my business as a “DBA” (doing business as). This is probably the cheapest route to go for your publishing business if you want to start a sole proprietorship and be seen as “real.” The benefit of establishing a DBA is that you are later able to open up a business checking account and even apply for business credit cards. Come tax time, you will be able to write off certain expenses you paid for your business (advertisements, etc).
I bought my DBA on www.ezonlinefiling.com and had someone else do the legwork for me. They just have to send paperwork to your local county court house, which will then be sent to you. This was the cheapest site I found for getting the DBA, although cheaper ones may exist now. Once I got the DBA, I was able to give my business a fictitious name. In my case, it was BerNerd Publishing, the name of my own publishing company. It may not be obvious at this point why I even went through all the “trouble” to do this, but it will become apparent later — when it comes to placing the publisher name in the book and as it relates to getting an ISBN number for your book eventually (and exposure in case your work becomes a best seller). More on this later.
Once you pay the one-time (unavoidable) fee, you’ll just wait to receive the paperwork for your DBA in the mail. You should go ahead and apply for a free Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS so that you’ll have it for tax purposes when it’s time for you to file and get some of your money back for what you’ll invest into your new company. You can apply for your free EIN at: https://sa2.www4.irs.gov/modiein/indi...
I know it may still seem a bit confusing why you should buy your own DBA, but just trust me. It will be time and money worth spent. You pay for your DBA but don’t pay for your EIN number. Remember, you’re your own business. You’re on the path to becoming a self-publisher. If you were getting with a publisher that is already established, you don’t have to jump through these hoops. But this is what you are doing so you can be a trailblazer and pioneer your own path to owning your own brand. You have now acquired your own business name and you are registered with the IRS. So now you’re good to go and ready for the next step to being your own self-publisher.
The most important thing to realize at this juncture is to be proud of what it is your are writing. Read and proofread! And now you are your own business — at least on paper. You’ll spend a little money at the outset, but this is true of any business. You’re investing in the best product that there is for what you want to do. And that product is you!
Aren’t you worth it?
More to come later.
April 26, 2014
STEP ONE: BEING PROUD OF WHAT YOU WRITE
This will be the first of 6 (or so) entries that I will write about concerning the topic of publication and your role in making it happen. Before speaking about the publishing process itself, it would be a great idea to talk about what it is you are writing. So let’s start with that.
The main component of publication is making sure you have a product that you are proud of. If you have a sub-standard product, it will not matter if you self-publish or go through a traditional publisher. Nobody will feel comfortable buying your book if they get a feel that you rushed to do it. So it is crucial to take the time to think carefully what it is you want to write about and map out a plan for doing so. In my case, I took 2 complete years to write “Lemonade”, 1 years to edit, and another 6 months to re-edit. I made a decision to take my time and “get it right.”
Once you outline and plan what it is you want to write (book of essays, autobiography/memoir, book of poetry), it is important to figure out how to start and get it done. Do you write better in the morning? at night? in a quiet atmosphere? with music? Figure out the environment that suits you and stick with it. Even if you get writer’s block, that’s okay. Take a break and get back to your environment and keep at it.
After you are finished (however long it takes), it is important to get your work edited. This is one of the most crucial aspects of your project. You will be surprised at how many books get published that are replete with grammatical errors, sentence fragments, and the like. You don’t want to lose readers by having a great topic and errors upon errors. In my case, I self-edited my book. Thankfully, I was an English major, so I proofread my own. And then proofread it again after it was published. And then again. Depending on when you purchased “Lemonade”, you’ll see that there are certain errors that exist in one book that don’t exist in later printings. It was very important to correct those errors because you just never know who’s gonna read it.
Second, if you decide that you would like to put music lyrics or lyrics from a show, etc, realize that you will probably have to get permission to print that in your book. Copyright laws require you to pay a small fee to place those words in your book. In “Lemonade”, I place the lyrics from “Good Times” in my book. I had to contact the copyright headquarters in California and paid roughly $35 to put those lyrics there. If I didn’t, I could get sued for using “property” that wasn’t mine. Imagine me finally becoming a millionaire from book sales (wishful thinking!) and then owing millions more because I would have overlooked a small thing in obtaining those rights for my book.
If you can’t proofread, then you should pay for someone or professional service to edit it for you. This will not be money wasted. This website is great for giving advice for finding a great editor.
The bottom line is that you will need to spend a considerable amount of time making sure you have a written document that you feel proud of. I would rather you take longer to create a stellar book than rush and end up with a document that won’t sell, even if you have the best publisher.
So go ahead and get working! Get that next chapter written and get someone or some agency to proofread it. And then do the next one.
You can do it!
The main component of publication is making sure you have a product that you are proud of. If you have a sub-standard product, it will not matter if you self-publish or go through a traditional publisher. Nobody will feel comfortable buying your book if they get a feel that you rushed to do it. So it is crucial to take the time to think carefully what it is you want to write about and map out a plan for doing so. In my case, I took 2 complete years to write “Lemonade”, 1 years to edit, and another 6 months to re-edit. I made a decision to take my time and “get it right.”
Once you outline and plan what it is you want to write (book of essays, autobiography/memoir, book of poetry), it is important to figure out how to start and get it done. Do you write better in the morning? at night? in a quiet atmosphere? with music? Figure out the environment that suits you and stick with it. Even if you get writer’s block, that’s okay. Take a break and get back to your environment and keep at it.
After you are finished (however long it takes), it is important to get your work edited. This is one of the most crucial aspects of your project. You will be surprised at how many books get published that are replete with grammatical errors, sentence fragments, and the like. You don’t want to lose readers by having a great topic and errors upon errors. In my case, I self-edited my book. Thankfully, I was an English major, so I proofread my own. And then proofread it again after it was published. And then again. Depending on when you purchased “Lemonade”, you’ll see that there are certain errors that exist in one book that don’t exist in later printings. It was very important to correct those errors because you just never know who’s gonna read it.
Second, if you decide that you would like to put music lyrics or lyrics from a show, etc, realize that you will probably have to get permission to print that in your book. Copyright laws require you to pay a small fee to place those words in your book. In “Lemonade”, I place the lyrics from “Good Times” in my book. I had to contact the copyright headquarters in California and paid roughly $35 to put those lyrics there. If I didn’t, I could get sued for using “property” that wasn’t mine. Imagine me finally becoming a millionaire from book sales (wishful thinking!) and then owing millions more because I would have overlooked a small thing in obtaining those rights for my book.
If you can’t proofread, then you should pay for someone or professional service to edit it for you. This will not be money wasted. This website is great for giving advice for finding a great editor.
The bottom line is that you will need to spend a considerable amount of time making sure you have a written document that you feel proud of. I would rather you take longer to create a stellar book than rush and end up with a document that won’t sell, even if you have the best publisher.
So go ahead and get working! Get that next chapter written and get someone or some agency to proofread it. And then do the next one.
You can do it!
