by Senior Staff Writer – Jason Bean

A friend of mine just got a book deal, but I can’t tell you much about it now because I’m not sure it should be public knowledge yet. Another client of mine has written a book and is in the process of getting it published. Another friend of mine recently wrote a book and published it herself through Lulu.com.

In most of these examples the idea of writing a book and getting it published makes you think of months, if not years of time and approvals to get a book from idea to printed and bound and on the shelves.

FastPencil is promising to change all of that. The FastPencil service was setup for writers to get their ideas printed and in the hands of readers as quickly as possible. FastPencil tries to cut-out all the middle-man process and roadblocks usually thrown up by publishers.

FastPencil lets you tap into your social networks and build a team of collaborators to help you get your ideas ironed out and on the page. FastPencil gives you more than just collaboration though.

With their service you can do the following, all for free:

• organize your thoughts and collect them
• collaborate with friends and your network
• format and design the inside of your book
• generate a beautiful color cover

It’s all provided by FastPencil and you can get your printed book delivered to your door for less than $10. FastPencil provides additional services to produce more copies and distribute your book to a wider audience.