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Things To Do
Get a P.O. Box
The first thing you're going to need to get when self-publishing your book is a Post Office Box. A P.O. Box provides a private way for distributors, customers, vendors, agents, etc. to contact you with orders, payments, and other general correspondence. It also provides you with a return address to use when mailing out your shipments. I strongly advise against using your personal address for this purpose, since keeping a good separation between your personal life and your business life is simply good business.Get a Fax number
The other thing you will need is a Fax number. Many government forms and distributor/vendor forms require this number when you register with them, so get it now before you need it. This number does not have to be toll-free, nor does it need to be a direct number into your house. By choosing e-fax, you have access to your faxes from anywhere there is a computer with an Internet connection -- making it extremely convenient (and inexpensive). As long as you don't request a number that is local to your area code, and as long as you don't need to send faxes (just receive), getting an e-fax number should be free. (Check out e-fax.com for more information.) There are also many other online fax service companies which you can find with a quick Google search.Get a Domain Name
Another item you'll need to begin work on is your Web site. Don't get overwhelmed, but don't skip this step, either. At this stage the only thing you need to do is to pick a URL, choose a Web-hosting company, and register the domain name. There is no need to actually build the site yet, just get it ready to build later. This is an important step because later on your Web site will be an integral part of your marketing strategy. It's important to register a unique domain that will follow you regardless of what service you use to connect to the Internet. If you connect to the Internet through service from your local phone company, chances are they provide hosting services and a Web site home page that you can build through them. The problem with using this service for your official Web presence for your self-published book is that it is not very likely that you will always be living where you are now, nor that that particular phone company will always be around. By registering a unique domain name, it doesn't matter where you live or what service you use to connect to the Internet, your registered domain name will follow you anywhere and everywhere -- making it completely stable and permanent. The easiest way to accomplish this is to pick a hosting company and let them register your domain name for you, through them. That way your domain name and hosting are taken care of by the same place (making it easier to manage, and easier to renew your services annually). The hosting company I recommend is Dreamhost.com, since I've been hosting sites there for almost nine years.Get a second phone line
The last item on the to-do list during the preparation stage is to get a separate phone number for your business. It's a good idea to get a toll-free number (for the same reasons why I advise to get a unique domain name that can follow you around no matter where you live and what phone service you use), but this is not a requirement. The important thing is to not use your personal home telephone number on any of your registrations since you need to have a separate voicemail message for callers, and also because you need to keep your personal life separate from your business life.Preparation Resources
©2008 Lorelei J. Logsdon. All rights reserved.