Join the Small Business Trends team and guests for a text chat on Twitter.com – Wednesday, February 20, 2013 from 3 to 4 pm Eastern (New York time zone).

Topic:  Self-Publish or Traditional Publish A Book – Which is Best?

For authors, entrepreneurs writing a book now, or those planning to write a book — we’ll be discussing the pros and cons of traditional versus self-publishing.  Should you go the traditional publishing route by seeking a contract with a traditional publisher?  Or should you self publish your book?  And if you self publish, should it be an ebook-only format,  a print book, or both?

What are the pros and cons of services and platforms such as Lulu, Book Baby, Smashwords, CreateSpace, eJunkie, ClickBank and others?  And what about some of the cutting edge approaches such as using Kickstarter or other crowdsourced platforms to finance your book?

Book club regulars and book lovers, we’d also like you to weigh in.  Do you think traditionally-published books are better, or do you like self-published books?  Or do you notice any difference today?

Who will be there

This is an open chat. EVERYONE is welcome to join in.  Let’s make it a party! Confirmed guests include:

• Ramon Ray (@RamonRay) - Author of newly released book, The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing. Ramon has 5 copies of his latest book he will give away during the chat.
• Nicole Fende (@NicoleAFende) - Known by her clients as the “Book Shepherd,” Nicole guides newbie authors through the process of writing, publishing and marketing their books.
• Jennifer Canzoneri, Marketing for BenBella Books (@BenBellaBooks) - Jennifer creates and facilitates the marketing campaigns for BenBella titles. She also works with authors to provide tools and resources and manages the social media presence for this boutique publishing company.
• Ivana Taylor (@DIYMarketers) - Publisher of DIYMarketers and Book Editor for Small Business Trends. Co-Author of Excel for Marketing Managers, a book “self-published” by MrExcel.com.
• Anita Campbell (@SmallBizTrends) -  That’s yours truly — I will be there. I am the Founder of the Small Business Book Awards, and the co-author of Visual Marketing, published by Wiley.

Special giveaway

We will be doing a giveaway of Ramon Ray’s new book, The Facebook Guide to Small Business Marketing (read a review ^[1]).  For a chance to win, just follow along and share great tips and insights.

How does one participate?

It’s easy.  Just log in at Twitter.com.  Then do a search on Twitter for the hashtag #BizBookAwards ^[2] to see what is being said. To join in and be heard, just add the hashtag “BizBookAwards” to the end of your tweets during the hour.

PS:  This chat is in honor of the Small Business Book Awards ^[3]. Now accepting nominations through March 3, 2013.