Monthly Archives: September 2012

With people buying kindles and iPads by the millions, you may be wondering if you should jump in and be a part of the e-publishing revolution. It’s free and relatively easy to get your eBook listed with the major online resellers, such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Apple. Profits are high, as well, for indie authors (you’re not represented by a publishing house, so there are no middle men to share earnings with). Expect to keep 60%-85% of the royalties on every sale.

But e-publishing may not be for everyone. Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of turning your own book into an ebook:

Advantages of E-Publishing

It’s a speedy process

Between the hunt for an agent, the hunt for an editor, and the wait-time before a book is actually printed and available in a bookstore, the traditional publishing model is slow. You can expect that process to take one to two years, if you’re able to find an agent and publisher at all!

It’s much different with e-publishing.

For my first ebook, it took me about a month from first deciding to publish it to having it go live. In that time, an editor proofread it, an artist created a cover, and an eBook formatter turned my Mac Pages file into something readable on the kindle, nook, iPad, etc. When I uploaded the finished file at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords (a distributor that gets your ebooks into the stores that require ISBNs), it took a maximum of two days for it to go live.

You have full control

Everything is up to you with e-publishing. You write the story or book you want to write, and you choose the artwork. You also choose the price, and you can experiment with the price at will. This means you can tinker around and see if you sell ten times as many books at $0.99 as you do at $2.99, or if you can raise the price to $3.99 or higher and people will still buy.

You can also see novel sales as they’re happening, which gives you some insight into what marketing tactics are paying off and which are taking up time and money and returning no profits.

We may be in the “perfect storm” for ebooks

I’m no Nostradamus, but with eBook readers leaping off the shelves, this feels like the time to jump on the e-publishing bandwagon. Actually, I wish I’d jumped on in 2009, because some of those people are the ones making a living as indie authors now! Still, with more and more people grabbing kindles, nooks, ipads, etc. the market should only grow.

Downsides of E-Publishing

Okay, I can see you’re getting excited, but it’s not all fun and profits. There are certainly downsides, and the indie-author road may not be for everyone. Here are a couple “cons”:

Upfront costs

If you want to create a professional looking product, something that can compete with ebooks from publishing houses, you’ll need to invest money up front.

Unless you’re artistically inclined, you should pay for custom cover art. You’ll also want to hire someone to edit your work. It’s best to have a professional editor (you can find freelancers on Elance or any job board) do the task, someone who edits for a living and can quote the Chicago Manual of Style to you. The formatting is something you can learn to do yourself if you want to save a few bucks.

I paid $600-$800 to put together each of my fantasy novels, and I’ve seen people spend more if they had heavy line editing done (I had several critique buddies read my work first so didn’t feel I needed that).

You’re on your own for marketing

While traditionally published authors may complain that they don’t get much help from the publishing houses any more when it comes to marketing, you’re really and truly on your own as an indie. If you’re not willing to push your book and network online, this business is not for you.

That said, I’m a hardcore introvert who isn’t that comfortable with selling either, and I’m doing all right so far. The internet does offer many ways to market, and it’s likely you can find something that works for you as long as you’re willing to invest time in learning.

There you have it: some of the pros and cons of e-publishing. I hope this article has helped you decide whether or not this road is right for you. Good luck!

For more information on this topic, visit the author’s e-publishing blog, where she covers everything from internet marketing basics to social media promotion to explanations of the Amazon sales rank system. She also maintains a “for fun” Kindle blog that highlights fantasy, science fiction, and geeky non-fiction releases for the popular e-reading device.

Author: L.a. Buroker
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Assisted living

With the computer industry exploding over the last decade, many software engineers are staying away from the traditional means of work and heading over to the freelance market. Sites like Elance and freelancer.com have made it easy for a freelance software programmer to make a hansom income from getting bids on their patented software. These websites also offer freelance software engineers a chance to design for a company on a per project basis. This would usually involve the company posting a job for a specific program that they need for a platform. The engineer would then big on the job and, if they won, they would build the program for the company for a set fee and relinquish all of the rights to the software.

Affiliate marketing has made this means of income extremely easy. A software engineer creates a great program or application plug-in and then offers an affiliate program for his product through an affiliate marketing directory. An affiliate marketer sees the product and believes that they can really churn some profits out of it’s potential. When the affiliate marketer makes a sale, they get a percentage of the sale and the software engineer just sits back collecting a great passive income. Of course, this is only one way of marketing their application.

Another way that you could publish your software is by going the traditional route. By pairing yourself up with a company like IBM or Dell, you could sell your software to them. This route usually involves intellectual property attorneys though. Attorneys who handle this kind of law can be found online or through software publications.

Other software engineers have ditched the traditional means and the affiliate markets by selling through their own websites. With their understanding of computer code and search engine optimization, a lot of programmers have just resorted to investing in themselves by setting up their own websites to sell their software packages to consumers. Niche software usually goes by this means of operation. For instance, one of the hottest markets right now is affiliate marketing tools. A programmer may come up with a series of software packages to help out an affiliate marketer and offer them individually or as part of a bundle per their website.

The software industry is not something that is going away any time soon. Engineers are always finding new uses for software packages and are always updating their products. There are a variety of ways to publish your software with companies or on your own. Whether you decide to publish through your own website, publish through an affiliate marketing directory, or by the traditional means with a large company, you can rest assured that your work will always be needed.

Martin Alan enjoys writing on subjects such as literature, online publishing, digital magazine, publisher software, sharing sites and self publishing. He also enjoys keeping up-to-date with the latest developments and innovations in technology and online marketing.

For more information on online publishing click here; http://www.yudu.com.

Author: Martin Alan
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Pension

Indie artists are at a disadvantage. While there are some who will dismiss any thought of comparing themselves to other artists, I would like to offer a different perspective. The Problem for Indie Artists

First of all, the biggest problem for indie artists is gaining exposure through unfriendly systems. The traditional systems that are in place today were built around an industry that has many layers of interdependency. These layers of interdependency are the various services that are frankly necessary to operate at higher levels. Agency, management, and promotion are only a few of these services. Some of these systems may seem “unfriendly” because they are reliant on larger publishers and labels. For the larger labels, publishers and related services, self sufficiency threatens their source of income. If we were on the opposite side of the fence, we would view it the very same way.

However, as indies, we are not on their side of the fence by definition. We are indies, which, aside from being a genre unto itself, is short for independents. Part of the Solution for Indie Artists

Indie artists must provide many of the services through friends, by themselves, or by paying for specific services. New systems are developing to assist indie artists, but they are unfortunately mired among scores of new services that are yet unproven. Either way, it is an uphill battle for an indie artist.

It is necessary for an indie artist to create paths for themselves that are not always clearly marked. I would suggest trying to look at yourself from the perspective of your potential market. It is not an easy exercise, because it could not be further from the core business of making music. In fact, it can be discouraging. Most artists already have enough to discourage them, so it becomes a critical part of survival, for some folks, to avoid anything that is discouraging. However, if you don’t have the money to pay for this service, then you may need to be a little more resilient. So, if you can be brave for a minute, take a look at yourself from a real market perspective. How Do You Find You?

First of all, how do you find you? It is perhaps a silly question to some folks, because you already know where you are. But, the vast majority of your market has no idea where you are. This is very difficult for many people to imagine, but it can be powerful. Stated differently, how do you rise above the crowd?

Who Do You Sound Like?

I think there are many ways to differentiate yourself, but I want to address one of the easiest techniques for drawing people to yourself. It is actually very simple. Who do you sound like? Do not be afraid to compare yourself to well known artists. Why? Because your market already knows these artists and it can be like a beacon of light leading back to you.

“But I am unique”, you may say. Yes, you are unique. But, there are elements that can be compared to other artists, including your style, the sound of your voice, and perhaps something a little less noticeable such as your lyrical phrasing.

It is a little contradictory in that you are trying to differentiate yourself by comparing yourself to others. However, you can also paint a very nice composite picture of yourself through comparisons with more than one artist. I know most everyone has seen it before, but you might say that you sound like the Allman Brothers with the funk style of Mother’s Finest. It creates a picture that can lead people to you through association with well known artists. The Added Bonus

Guess what? There’s more. You can use these artists as keywords to help your prospective fans find you a little easier. The well known artists do not mind as it also helps them, but it is a very descriptive way to drive potential fans to you. What is the beauty of using well known artists as keywords? They are well known so they are much more likely to be used in search strings.

I would only caution that you should take your time to get this characterization right. Using an artist that does not describe your style or sound does nothing to help you because there is nothing more frustrating to a potential fan than to be disappointed at a poorly characterized comparison. Get a Second Opinion

You should ask others for their thoughts on comparisons. It is very difficult to be objective about yourself sometimes, so this can be very useful. Ask a lot of questions. Ask them how you are similar. That is, are you similar in terms of sound, or are you similar in terms of style? Spread It Out

Finally, try to create a composite built on well known artists from different generations. This also helps to attract potential fans, as you may have an appeal to a larger demographic that may surprise you. If you are an older artist, don’t dismiss the potential for younger fans and if you are a younger artist, don’t dismiss the potential for older fans.

Article written by Del Boland and distributed by permission of Del Boland. Follow Del’s blog at http://publishingboxofdreams.blogspot.com.

Author: Del Boland
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
iPhone iPad apps

First of all, the cost of online publishing is typically affordable, often free. Online publishers don’t have the overhead that paper publishers do. In addition, online publishers generally make their money off of advertisements and premium accounts, so there is no need for authors or creators to pay large sums in order to publish their documents. Second, online publishing is much easier than traditional publishing. Determining whether or not a print publishing company is reputable can be difficult, and finding a print company willing to take on your work at all can be challenging. Online, however, you not only have the choice of many publishers, but you can view the publisher’s work easily on their web pages. This means that you know what you’re getting into well before you publish.

Because of the success of online publishing, more and more online publishers have been springing up over the Internet. Modelling print publishing, different types of online publishers are available for different types of work. For instance, online literary magazines accept creative writing and art. A variety of web sites, like Associated Content and Orato, allow users to publish their own journalistic endeavors. Magazines for niche audiences, like students, women, sports enthusiasts, etc., have also gone online. Writers, artists, and other creative professionals can choose to submit to these online publishers. However, the Internet also offers opportunities for individuals looking to take the self-publishing route. Blogs and web sites are two examples. Free and easy to use, a blog allows an individual to turn anything–from recipes to diary entries to poetry and music–into a published work. Users can choose whether this work is private or public, in much the same way that they would if publishing traditionally. Blogs are now used for everything from magazines to newsletters for groups and clubs.

However, a blog presents a problem for the individual looking for an online publisher. Although they are easy to customize, blogs don’t give readers an interactive, professional looking document. This takes a great deal of creative options away from designers, as they can’t dedicate mock pages to photos, pull quotes, etc. An alternative is the traditional web site. One method of online self-publishing is to choose a domain name that will be the title of your publication, whether it is a magazine, newspaper, journal, or other document. Then you can design the page to look as you would like, with few logistical limitations. The limitation that does exist, however, is related to time and effort. This process is very time consuming and requires you to learn aspects of web design, in addition to charging you for the domain name and hosting.

Fortunately, a new online publishing technology has recently emerged that offers the advantages of blogs and web sites without the disadvantages. This is the file sharing online publishing portal. Sites like megaupload allow individuals to upload documents that they have already designed using software such as Microsoft and Open Office publishing programs. Free to use, megaupload also hosts the documents for free so there is no need to worry about them expiring. Most online publishers allow users to select a privacy level. This way, newsletters for a local baseball team can’t be read by the rivals!

Because it is easy, cost effective, and may actually reach more readers, online publishing is the option that many of today’s writers and creative professionals take. However, the options for online publishers are numerous. To choose an online publisher, you must determine what your needs and limitations regarding cost and time are. Then, you can decide whether the web site, blog, or file-sharing portal is for you.

Martin Alan enjoys writing on subjects such as literature, digital publishing, digital magazine, publishing software, carbon neutral publishing, file sharing sites and self publishing. He also enjoys keeping up-to-date with the latest developments and innovations in technology and online marketing.

Author: Martin Alan
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
iPhone/iPad accessory