Monthly Archives: September 2012

Ebooks are becoming more much widely accepted more than ever.

More and more people are looking towards ebooks based on convenience and low publishing costs. According to the International Digital Publishing Forum, in 2002 ebooks sales rose from $6 million to around $33 million in 2007. These numbers do not include individual publishers or libraries so this number could be two to three times larger.

Here we highlight just a few of the advantages of publishing an ebook:

Cost effective

The beauty of publishing your eBook online is that your costs are low. Most ebooks are designed in Microsoft Word or similar word processing software. These types of software are readily available so there are no additional costs in purchasing new software. Once the eBook is created by yourself, or by a professional, you can sell or distribute hundreds of copies, all at the same fixed cost to produce it. There are no ongoing fees or costs to reproduce the ebook.

Another advantage is that you do not have to find a publisher. You publish the eBook when and where you like. Zero printing costs.

You can take them anywhere!

One of the greatest advantages of publishing ebooks is that you can take them anywhere with you. They are more easily portable than a hard copy book. You can take copies of them with you via your computer/laptop or a portable hand-held eBook reader. Printed books can be heavy to carry around, especially when you have multiple books. Ebooks are simply convenient.

Fresh content

Ebooks can be easily updated. Once a book is printed you can’t change or update the content. Ebooks can be updated over time with new relevant content and new images.

Customers can instantly download ebooks and read them straight away. With hard copy books you either have to run to the bookstore, or if purchasing online, wait for processing and shipping. This can take over a week.

Greener Environment

With people more often than not reading pdf ebooks on screen, instead of printing them, it help saves the environment with less paper being used.

There is a big future for the ebook. Printed books are as technologically advanced as they can be. With more and more people becoming interested in ebooks, eBook reader technology is becoming more advanced each and every year.

Thank you for reading this article. If you are an author looking for help with better presenting your ebook, the team at That`s Creative! are here to help you increase your profits with professional and effective creative design solutions. Visit http://www.thatscreativeebookdesign.com for more information.

Copyright That’s Creative!

Author: Karen Wickham
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Android tablet, netbook

While the big-wig publishing companies debate if there’s significant money to be made from e-books and e-readers, entrepreneurial authors turned e-publishers are already making it. Some are even making a living, solely from the earnings of their e-books.

This last year brought changes from companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, allowing indie authors to really take off.

While it’s always been free for self-publishers to upload their e-books to these stores, now they can receive a hefty 70% of the book’s price tag for each sale. Compare this to traditionally published authors who must suffer middlemen taking cuts (royalties tend to be 10-25% with more falling at the lower end of the spectrum).

The sizable royalty these retailers are offering allow independent authors, who cut out all the middlemen, to price their works much lower than mainstream publishers. A new e-book from a traditional press may run $7.99 to $9.99 or more, while an indie can price his or her book at $2.99 and make over $2 per sale (which ends up being as much–or more–than the author going through a publisher).

While some readers may turn up their noses at indie authors, since many of these works haven’t been professionally edited or backed by a “gatekeeper,” others are ready and willing to give them a try. In our struggling economy, it doesn’t hurt that these reads are often 1/3rd the price (or less) of traditionally published books.

So, which authors are making it, you wonder? Here are a few indies that are earning good money (over 1,000 book sales a month) by e-publishing their own work. (Source: JA Konrath’s blog on self-publishing.)

JA Konrath — author of numerous thrillers, including the Jack Daniels series
Suzanne Tyrpak — writer of dark suspense
William Meikle — penned a successful invasion-story science fiction novel
D.B. Henson — indie whose thriller became a kindle blockbuster at Amazon
Maria Rachel Hooley — writes edgy young adult fiction
Karen Cantwell — contemporary mystery author
Tess Oliver — young adult author who sprinkles in werewolves
David Derrico — writes science fiction adventures and technothrillers
H.P. Mallory — paranormal romance author
Ellen O’Connell — author of historical romances
C.S. Marks — Tolkien-inspired fantasy writer

If any of those genres interest you, look the authors up on Amazon!

One of the cool things this list shows is that authors are succeeding across a wide range of genres. The biggest thing these folks have in common are good books, solid editing, professional-looking covers, and a willingness to learn the ropes of marketing one’s own work.

The author publishes the Kindle Geeks Blog, which is devoted to science fiction, fantasy, and non-fiction e-books only a geek could love. She also writes fantasy novels of her own that are available for the kindle and other e-book readers.

Author: L.a. Buroker
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Eco Friendly

Since officially deciding to “get into” publishing, I’ve been toying with the idea of taking one of those publishing courses. There’s the famous summer program at Columbia, and a certificate from NYU. Stanford and Denver also boast impressive courses (you can find a whole list of other schools here). But at $5,000 a pop, is it really worth it?

Honestly, I’d love to take a class at NYU’s Center for Publishing. They offer a Master of Science in Publishing, professional certificates, continuing education and a six-week long Summer Institute. The classes sound like a lot of fun too (or at least they do for nerds like me). You only need to take five for a certificate, but I don’t know how I’d choose! There’s everything from fundamentals to copy editing to freelance to graphic novels.

So I’m back and forth on this. With each class at around $500, I don’t really have the money to drop, especially since I’m still technically unemployed. But if I knew that taking these classes would land me a job, I’d take out a loan in a heartbeat. Would it hurt? No, probably not. But what I’ve been hearing from the various people actually in publishing, is that it’s always a plus to have something that specific on your resume, but it wont necessarily get you a job. Most people say an internship at a publishing house is just as valuable as one of those courses. Some would argue even more so, as you actually get hands-on experience rather than just practicing theory.

But what about networking opportunities? These classes are usually taught by some seriously impressive people. People you don’t have to make an appointment with or spend ages on the phone harassing their assistant to get five minutes of their time. No, these people are specifically there to help you. Ah… what I wouldn’t give.

Alas, I currently do not have the funds to take such a course. The thing I’m learning about networking though, is that there are plenty of opportunities outside of the classroom. You just need to have the balls to take advantage of them. For example, I just recently joined NYC Women in Publishing, who have monthly Networking Happy Hours at the Stone Creek Bar. I also joined the Women’s National Book Association (it’s the feminist in me, what can I say), who put out a great newsletter and are having a big “welcome new members” event in September. Membership is $50, which I’ve managed to scrounge up, but there are other meet ups, such as the Digital Publishing Group, which are free.

So while I really (really, really) want to take the NYU courses, I think professionally I can get the same benefits by setting up informational interviews, joining publishing organizations, and just generally sucking it up by putting my $10 business cards in my pocket and actually meeting people the old fashioned way.

Author: Marian Schembari
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Alternative energy

One of the greatest challenges for “indie” authors during the post-writing stage of their books is how to reach their target audience. Most independent writers are also the publisher of their works, whether these are e-Books or physical books. Certainly, these authors and self-publishers are looking for cost-effective ways to market their publication.

Here are at least five (5) ways to market and promote your book without having to spend much:

Dedicated websites – find sites that devote themselves to promoting authors and their publication. As an Indie author, you get to benefit the most from these sites. Find a site that will do the following on your behalf:

– stimulate interest and curiosity of readers to get to know you and your stuff better, such as with their daily feature that highlight your work and your biography;
– publish relevant information about you including your website and social networking sites where your target audience can connect with you;
– give away freebies to readers such as free Kindle and Nook downloads;
– enable you to benefit from both free and paid promotion.

Membership to book forums – you will find several book forums on the web where members and participants talk about authors and their works. Most book lovers browse these forums for interesting finds. Sign-up with these forums. Some of these are the following: Kindle Boards, Nook Boards, Amazon Discussion Boards, Mobile Read, and Library Thing.

Blog world – network with book bloggers and benefit from their influence to encourage their readers to consider reading your book. Specifically, pay attention to bloggers who post their reviews on self-published or indie books. To find these bloggers, access their listing from online directories. You may just have to sort out which ones welcome indie authors. You may wish to check out these sites: Kindleboard listing of book reviewers, Indie reviewers list, as well as book blogs where you can find a listing of reviewers of indie and digital books.

Social media – tap the power and influence of social media to market and promote your publication. You can take advantage of the huge population of social networking sites in promoting your books. You can get long advertising mileage without having to spend as you would with conventional advertising. An example would be creating your Facebook page where you can connect with your fans. You can increase their engagement by holding contests or quizzes and giving away freebies such as free Kindle e-books or Nook e-books in return for their participation.

Search engines – if you have built your own website or blogsite, it pays to be nice to the search engines as they will bring you your natural traffic. Make your post interesting and engaging at the same time optimizing your content for the search engines. Your site should be a venue where your readers can get all relevant information they need about your publication. It is also where you can keep them hooked up to reading your books.

There you have your five (5) cost-effective ways to market and promote your publication. As long as you stay committed to your goals, and you know how to benefit from the vast resources of the internet, you can always reach your goals just like the rest of successful indie authors.

Are you looking for more information regarding indie authors? Visit http://www.indiehousebooks.com/ today!

Author: Pete Morgan
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Video news

The term “Paradigm Shift” was coined in the sixties by Thomas Kuhn. It is essentially a significant change in our fundamental view. As an example Kuhn sites the making of books. Gutenberg’s invention of movable type made books readily available, easier to handle and cheap enough for commoners to acquire directly. As more and more people learned to read, these new devices started an information revolution in the 1400s.

Churches and Governments began to lose control over what people were allowed to know. As time went on those who could afford the presses and control the flow of information became people of great influence.

Today, thanks to computers, the internet and printing technologies, anyone can afford to have their words “prepared and issued for sale or distribution to the public” (Published).

I was actually able to prepare and publish my book in 6 different formats, including a 337 page paperback, for free. Of course I had to write the book, do a lot of research, learn to use some new software and have the book mentioned in the right circles to generate sufficient sales to offset my costs. But even if I hadn’t sold a single e-book, my total investment would have been less than $1000. And if my readers hadn’t insisted on a paperback, I could have e-published without investing a dime.

So if we can all afford to get published, can we all become persons of great influence?

This is where we have not yet seen the paradigm shift. Or at least, we have not yet discovered the single method or process that lets us control the flow of information.

There are millions of digitally published authors on the internet. There are hundreds of thousands of print published authors with books available at your online and local stores.

YouTube has millions of videos competing for our attention while PodCasters, shock-jocks and talking heads preach their gospels to us every minute of the day. And let us not forget the ubiquitous handhelds texting us those vitally important HBYs, DYKs and LOLs while we try to study, work, watch, eat and sleep.

The presses have not just been freed. They have been enhanced, tuned and digitized to provide us with a never ending flow of information from an ever increasing number of sources. And who controls this flow of information? YOU!

Every individual can now choose to pay attention to whatever is important to them.

This is a tremendous responsibility that has been thrust upon us. Just as our brethren from the 15th century no longer had their “beneficent” Church and Government making their decisions for them, so too are we losing the infallibility of our god-like Media Moguls and Celebrities controlling our ability to reason.

Your voice is now just as audible as all the others. Your TV station is now another channel to be surfed. Your words are readily made available to billions. So the question is no longer, “How do I get published?” The question is, “How do I get YOU, the person of greatest influence, to put me into your flow of information?”

B.L. Lindstrom is a proponent of Modern Mythology and believing it’s never too late to try Someplace Else. He is passionate about his writing and his topic, with a new book titled, SomeplacElse.

Author: B. L. Lindstrom
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Android apps