Category Archives: Guest Articles

The Interest in E-Readers and Digital Publishing

Posted on by

E-Readers and Ebooks have been gaining a great deal of popularity in recent years. Publishing and the way we take in and absorb media is changing all the time. One of the most notable areas that this is becoming evident is the rise of e- readers and digital books. With many newspapers and magazines around the world closing down and many others moving to more online content there was a huge demand for electronic books and magazines that can easily be read on a handheld device such as an iPod touch, a Sony E-reader, the Amazon Kindle or any of the other devices that have been coming onto the market lately.

Digital books aren’t a new concept though. E-books have been around a good long while now, and while traditional publishing is still the major driving force in the industry, there is a notable and consistent increase in interest in reading on handheld devices. Many globally renowned newspapers, magazines and websites are syndicated to handheld devices every day, offering the same content as in their print editions without the detriment to the environment that printing physical copies can have.

In addition, e-book readers are capable of storing a great deal more content than you would normally be able to carry in its physical form. Buying ebooks has also never been simpler as you can find them from all the major outlets such as Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Waterstones and of course the Apple iTunes app store.

Some colleges and universities are also turning to E-books to solve the problem of constantly updating textbooks for students. This is something that is proving to be very beneficial to education, as it compacts the massive amounts of text a student needs to take in, onto one handy device instead of huge reams of paper.

E-book readers are also wonderful for travelling, as you can have a variety of novels, books, magazines, newspapers, blog posts and more in the palm of your hand. In addition, devices such as the iPod touch and the Amazon Kindle offer wireless connectivity all over the world, meaning you are able to update your publications and download more to enjoy.

The digital publishing industry is something that will grow in importance over the coming years, as paper stocks dwindle and production costs rise, many publishers and readers are turning to digital handheld devices over the traditional paper publications in order to maintain great output without having to skimp on quality. No matter what you want to read, there are e-books for you, and there is also a range of superb gadgets available to help you do just that. Check out the best eBook readers that are available online and see which one will best fit your needs.

Andrew is a widely read pop culture blogger, music journalist and SF author. You too can get the hi-tech gadget lifestyle you want with the best home entertainment gadgets around!

Author: Andrew Hawnt
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
iPhone iPad apps and games

Online Book Marketing – The 5 Things Authors Get Wrong

Posted on by

The more I work with authors to help them understand the ins and outs of online book marketing, the more I realize that there are five basic and fundamental mistakes that 9 out of 10 authors consistently make.

If you don’t fall victim to these five book marketing fiascoes, you’ll be ahead of the pack…way ahead. So, here are five things to avoid when marketing your books online:

1. Inadequate Keyword Research

This is the #1 big kahuna and the place where 99% of authors quite simply stuff it up. Most of the authors I work with have had little to no success marketing themselves and their books online because they’re not thinking the way Internet marketers think — they have no systematic plan for finding, targeting and ultimately dominating a list of keywords and phrases related to their book or expertise.

In order to have success online, you need to familiarize yourself with the concept of long-tail keywords; to understand how to analyze your competition; and how to know, with almost certainty, how much traffic a particular keyword gets.

Thankfully there are tools out there that do all three. You can find them at the links at the end of this article. Be sure to check them out.

2. Thin Content

Surprisingly, even prolific authors with many books to their credit — gifted writers who can write volumes on their area of expertise — somehow think that they can skate by online with just a couple pages (or even paragraphs!) of content.

Not true.

Here’s the deal: Google and the other search engines LOVE content-rich sites. This is why behemoths like Wikipedia get so much traffic. They have millions of pages in Google’s index. How many pages from your site does Google know or care about? My guess is it’s probably between two and five.

You’ll never rank well for anything other than your name with that kind of site. Bottom line: don’t think you can shortchange people online. If you want your site found, and you want potential readers to care about your book, demonstrate why they should by providing great free content upfront.

3. Ignoring Social Marketing and Web 2.0

If you haven’t noticed, the Internet is changing. In just the past couple of years, sites like Facebook, Digg, YouTube, and EzineArticles.com, along with services such as Twitter, have completely changed the way people interact online.

Gone is the top-down approach of “yesterday’s” media, which is quickly being replaced by a bottom-up system where real people, not editors, decide what’s hot and what’s not.

If you’re not using the sites mentioned above, along with about 100 others that can help you sell more books, you’re missing the biggest sea change in online marketing that you’ve ever seen. (See the links below for resources that will help you identify dozens of sites where you should be marketing your books.)

4. Failing to Build a Base of Support

It’s amazing how many authors don’t take advantage of the most powerful online marketing tool there is — the ability to build a base of support and loyal fans through things like mailing lists, or “followers” on Twitter, or subscribers to an RSS feed, or any number of other methods that traditional Internet marketers simply take for granted.

Here’s why this is so important: it’s infinitely easier to sell to people who already know, like and trust you than it is to sell to people who have no idea who you are.

If someone buys one of your books, they’re an ideal customer for your second, third, and fourth books. But if you have no way to reach the people who bought your first book, you’re going to have to go through the entire “customer-acquisition” process each and every time for every new book.

Wouldn’t it be easier to write a couple emails and send them to your fans? Or to simply put a post up on your blog with a new book announcement? This is the way authors build empires.

5. Trying to Sell Your Book

What? That’s a mistake? But isn’t that the point? Yes and no. I’d argue that by focusing on selling your book to the exclusion of everything else (see point #4 above), too many authors actually miss out on the long-term benefits of generating a loyal following online — the kind of following that buys hundreds of thousands of books.

What’s better, selling one or two books a day now, or selling thousands of books a day a year from now? Stop struggling. Start building information empires the way the most successful Internet marketers do. Stop trying to sell a book or two here and there. Start focusing on getting great content out to the people who need your book.

Sales (like you’ve never experienced before!) will inevitably follow.

If you’re not selling enough books online to make a comfortable full-time income, you’re not doing it right. I know for a fact that at least 90% of authors make crucial — but completely avoidable — mistakes when trying to market books online Want to find out if you’re one of them? Visit my free online book marketing blog and find out what the “Ten-Percenters” know that you don’t.

Author: Chris Simeral
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Video news

Brilliant Strategy For Self-Publishers to Become an Amazon Best Seller

Posted on by

With over 400,000 books being published every year its not likely that your book will make the New York Times Best Seller List. Now that’s not to say that you doesn’t deserve it, its just a numbers game as well as the fact that self-published books aren’t even eligible.

According to Edwin Diamond in his book Behind the Times, over 3,000 bookstores are surveyed as well as “representative wholesalers with more than 28,000 other retail outlets, including variety stores and supermarkets” to determine the Best Sellers.

So if you can’t make the grade for the New York Times how can you ever earn the title of being a Best Seller (BS)?

Go to Amazon, they are an equal opportunity seller, that’s how.

To begin with the Title of being a (BS) is an honor that no one can take from you however it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have sold tens of thousands of copies of your book. There are those who have earned this title by selling no more then 50 copies within a given time period.

Begin by crafting an email asking everyone on your list to buy a book at the same time, which will curve book sales during that peak time. The author usually creates Joint Ventures with complimentary companies to offer incentives – eBooks, downloadable audios etc. to the buyers for contributing to the (BS) campaign.

The Joint Venture partners will usually share the email list created from the (BS) campaign. The whole purpose is to have enough book sales to boost the Amazon rank to somewhere in the top 10 books, and preferably to #1, even if only for a very short period of time.

If you’re ready to go to learn more about how to write your own book and scale it into a Highly Profitable Teaching, Training, Coaching, or Speaking business than go to;  http://www.adaptonadime.com for your FREE “Fast Start Guide”

Paul Godines helps Authors with the Publishing Process, building the Authors Marketing Platforms (social media, products, coaching programs) Book Promotions (virtual book tours, amazon best seller campaigns, book award competitions) and receiving Publicity for your Book (Radio/TV and in Print.)

Author: Paul Godines
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Healing food: natural way to cure cancer

Internet Book Marketing-3 Tools That Practically Sell Your Book Themselves

Posted on by

Looking for internet book marketing tools that are practically hands free? Add these three tools to your arsenal and you’ll be certain to sell your book.

Internet Book Marketing Tool # 1 Website Marketing

Possibly the most critical tool for a self published author is your website. A well optimized web site, meaning that people searching for your information can find it quickly and easily via the search engines like Google or Yahoo, means targeted traffic and customers are led directly to your book.

A well written landing page that captures email addresses and sells your information can sell thousands of books. Add a few pages of free content that provide immediate benefit to your reader and credibility to your status as an author and you’re well on your way to becoming a ‘profitable’ self published author.

As a self published author, your website can offer a variety of pages to their visitor including:

o Ezine/newsletter subscription

o Free Articles and/or short stories

o Bio

o Sales page

o Links to stores

o Shopping cart to purchase directly from the website

o List of appearances/promotions

Internet Book Marketing Tool # 2 Ezine Marketing Magic

Ezine marketing is not only a great way to build your opt in list, it is a fantastic tool to sell your book, your information products, and any affiliate products that you choose to endorse. Additionally, it provides you with a constant means of communication to your target market and the ability to provide them with quality information that will benefit their lives. The time saving aspect of this tool is that you don’t have to struggle to come up with content. You’ve already written your book. Pull one or two useful paragraphs from your book, round it out, and you have an ezine article!

In addition to publishing your own ezine you can contribute to other relevant ezines, just make sure that you provide a link back to your own website and product line. You can also purchase inexpensive ad space in relevant ezines to market your book. For example, if your book is a small business book, you can purchase ad space in other small business newsletters and link directly to your website.

Internet Book Marketing Tool # 3 Rave Reviews

Reviews are the proof to others that your book is worth the money it costs. Reviews can be used in your publicity package, in your press release, on your book’s back cover, on your website, and even on your business card. They are a valuable and economic expert marketing tool. Visit our website or click on the following link to learn more about secrets to getting rave reviews.

Internet book marketing doesn’t have to be an all consuming struggle. It’s true that the more time you spend marketing your book, the more you’re going to sell. But why not use a few tried and true marketing tools that drive traffic and sales to your book with little or no work from you?

For Your FREE MP3 (Value $97.00)
‘How To Make A 6 Figure Income Writing & Publishing Your Own Book’
Go To: Write a Book

Bob Burnham Entrepreneur, Consultant and Author of ‘101 Reasons Why You Must Write A Book’

For Information on How to Write and Publish your own book go to Expert Author : http://www.expertauthorpublishing.com
Read More On: Internet Book Marketing

Author: Bob Burnham
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Retirement plan

A Guide to Self Publishing

Posted on by

Self publishing involves the act of an author publishing books or magazines at his or her own expense. If the author self publishes, the author has control over content, editing, printing, marketing and distribution. In traditional publishing, the publisher invests money prior to publishing for marketing, printing, binding and promotion of the publication. Because the publisher wants to recover the cost of the initial investment, the publisher researches to make an educated guess about whether the author and the book will earn enough money to recoup the initial investment after its release. The publisher will only select the author’s writings if a profit can be earned.

The author will assume all financial responsibility of the project from marketing to distribution and storage. The writer will receive all of the profit from the sales and maintain all rights to the publication. In this case, the author typically will not accept pre-prepared packages, but will submit a bid for each aspect of the publishing process. In some cases, because the author has full autonomy and receives all proceeds, the author can yield a much higher quality product.

Vanity publishers will publish the work of an author without regard to the quality of work or its potential to be marketable. The vanity publisher is only responsible for printing and binding the publication. Since, the responsibility lies solely with the author, vanity publishing is often more expensive than traditional publishing, but offers more autonomy. Vanity Publishers make their money from the fees charged to the author, rather than on sales from the publication. Therefore, it is the author’s responsibility to market and advertise to gain exposure.

Print on Demand allows authors who have a desire to self-publish to do so for a small fee and in some cases, for free. Print on demand companies typically offer to print and ship a book only when the book is purchased. Their services can also include collecting royalties, listing in online bookstores and in some instances, formatting, proof reading and editing. Because the process is digital, the initial investment required by the author is generally less than vanity publishing.

Print on Demand companies such as Lulu, xLibris, and Trafford Publishing all require a small initial investment for each of their packages. Companies such as Yudu.com, Amazon’s Booksurge and CreateSpace offer self publishing services for free. When publishing a work with these companies, the responsibility of getting a work to submission ready status generally lies with the author. These companies allow the author to design book covers, as well as, choose whether the publication will be an eBook, hardback or paper back.

These low cost services give amateurs, as well as, seasoned authors independence from publisher demands, editorial control and more profits or royalties than with traditional publishing.

With subsidy publishing, the author pays for the printing and binding of the book, but the publisher will contribute a certain amount to the author to cover expenses such as editing, distribution, marketing and storage. Because of the publisher’s contribution, the publisher possesses, owns the book and also has a portion of the rights, while the author only receives royalties on the copies that are sold. In this scenario, the author will possess little or no autonomy in certain production decisions.

Martin Alan enjoys writing on subjects such as literature, online publishing, digital magazine, publisher software, file sharing sites and how to self publish. 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