Since it takes hours to write a good article, take a good care about it when it is finished. There is a law – once you write your original article – only you are its copy-righter. Do not ignore the fact that you are an owner of things that you created by yourself. When your articles finished – they are like grown kids – they will live without you. Be sure do not leave them without a proper protection. Re-read your articles after posting – some improvements may be needed. Tracking your articles once they published is important.

Always keep record of your posted articles. To make it easy use a bookmark option in your web browser or special software to organize all links to your articles. Some software allow you to check article’s visibility though different search engines, such as, Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc.

Do not post your articles on the websites that do not respect copyright law. They may use some “Terms of agreement” that are actually illegal. Any “improvements by community” to your articles should be made only with your permission. Remember, a unauthorized adding co-authors is one of the ways to steal your content.

If you are a Technical Writer at some dot-com, your company expects you to provide an article with their link. It is okay if the link is helpful to readers of your articles. On the other hand, this is how normally a business works – a hard work writing get rewarded by attracting more customers.

You may choose to allow other websites to re-print your articles if they preserve original content and author name. If keeping your links is important, they should not trick you with “nofollow” attribute or OnClick link redirect. In a free market, consumers should have a freedom to choose between an organic search and paid search. If the income of some article-publishing websites generated by Google ads it is okay. However, it is not okay when they delete/disable your links, insert too many other links, or modified your articles without your permission.

Do not send your articles without proper research of the websites you are sending to. Look at Google search what other people saying about a particular website, read reviews. Be caution, do not allow dishonest people to distort your copyrighted content and generate their income by using your hard work. Publish your articles only on the websites that you are sure they can be trusted.

If you decide to self-publish your manuscript, aside from the perspiration and inspiration that you put into your manuscript, there are some necessary steps you need to make sure it is book-shelf ready.

Self-Publishing is more than having a great idea and printing a book that has a number of pages between a front and back cover. Each of the following should be assigned to the book before it goes to print, and they are unique to each and every book. Technically, (again, aside from good writing) they make your hard work book-shelf ready.

Your book must have an International Standard Book Number or ISBN. Currently, the barcodes on a book’s back cover (or inside a mass-market paperback book’s front cover) are EAN-13 and reflect the unique ISBN that you assign to your book. The ISBN is again a part of the separate barcode encoding five digits for the currency and the recommended retail price as well as country code.

Your book must have a Universal Product Code or UPC bar code which is standard to the book industry. It is called an EAN-13 barcode (originally “European Article Number”, but now renamed “International Article Number” even though the abbreviation has been retained). This UPC barcode system is now standard in the United States specific for the book industry. You have certainly seen these bar codes before in grocery stores and other retail outlets. Bookstores are no different.

Your book must have a Library of Congress Control Number. Librarians all over the world use this number to identify in the process of cataloging most books which have been published in the United States. It helps them reach the correct cataloging data (known as a cataloging record), which the Library of Congress and third parties make available on the Web and through other media. There are an estimated 122,356 libraries of all kinds in the United States today. It would be unwise to ignore such a potentially huge and important market as libraries.

Lastly, even though you are protected by using the copyright symbol on your book, it is prudent to acquire a TX Form from the Library of Congress and officially register your manuscript with the Copyright Office. This can be done before the book actually goes to print and once it is book-shelf ready, the Library of Congress requests two finished copies.

Please, when all is said and done, there is no better feeling in the world than walking into a bookstore and seeing your finished book on the book-shelf or being able to order it from a major bookstore chain. Without these four necessary steps, your book, at least defined by industry standards, is not book-shelf ready and will be difficult, if not impossible, to place in any market.