Category Archives: Publishing Books

Self publishing started for me back in the 1980’s and 1990’s.

I am published both traditionally and as an indie author and publisher of both paperback and ebooks.

I began offering my own books on my website in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, way before it was popular. Way before there was Smashwords or Kindle or any of the current popular places for eBooks for sale. Here’s my story.

The eBook revolution. You have to love it! I’ve been self publishing long before it became fashionable or so explosively growing. There was a little bit of being ostracized in the early years, and eBooks and self publishing in general was frowned upon by authors who were traditionally published. It was almost (and sometimes still is) kind of a snobbish, looking down your nose attitude. It really didn’t bother me very much, as I was having fun doing my own thing with ePublishing.

I used to belong to Romance Writers of America and in fact I was traditionally published with Harlequin/Silhouette in 2001. As often happens in the publishing industry, the editor who bought my romance and loved my writing, received a promotion and while she moved up the corporate ladder to work in another department, I was assigned a new editor. The new editor didn’t seem to care for my writing. The fact that I had a less than proficient agent also did not help matters along.

My writing experiences began with poetry, then I graduated to essays, and finally to romances, the books I just love to read and write. I’ve also written under various pen names. A non-fiction memoir about grief and loss, a workbook about handling grief, children’s EZ reader picture books when my youngest was in Kindergarten, an internet dating guide when I reentered the dating market after the loss of my husband of twenty years. Nonfiction about buying a pony, and a book about a guardian angel. So much work and love went into all these efforts, but they were all due to life experiences I felt I needed to share.

So now there’s the excitement of the new eBook revolution. I intend to track my progress through a series of articles. I hope you’ll follow along.

I did a big push with the grief book, blogging every day, sending out press releases, writing about 45 articles on grief and loss, visiting other blogs and forums. I ended up doing about 30 radio interviews. I was ultimately interviewed by US News and World Report and appeared on their website and in their paper edition regarding research on widows and how lifestyle and incomes can change drastically with the loss of a spouse.

Readers began to email and call asking me to write articles on grief and loss. I maintained a WordPress blog and I got quite a good amount of hits. I used Google AdWords for a short while to boost visibility and my books were selling slowly but steadily on Amazon and also through my website. I made some sales, not a great deal, but I got a lot of exposure. I received a lot of mail from other widows and widowers who had also lost loved ones.

I’ve recently placed this niche book on Kindle. When I placed it in KDP Select free, it hit # 1 in Family Relationships category and the Grief category and stayed there throughout the promotion. It maintained good visibility for about two weeks after the free promotion, and I began playing with the price. I didn’t want to price it too high, or too low. Although it has since steadily moved upwards toward the 100,000’s, it is still slowly selling at $4.99.

The latest phase of my indie publishing career began in January of 2012. I decided it was time to do something with my backlist of romance stories. I probably have about 20 stories since I’ve been writing romance, but we won’t talk about the other 13.

I had 7 stories languishing on my computer. 4 contemporary romances, 3 time travels. They had all been rejected by every place imaginable, traditional publishers, ePublishers, small houses and large.

An author friend suggested I send one of my romance ebooks to her eBook romance publisher. They were interested in publishing contemporary romance Echoes from the Past, however I would only receive 17% of Kindle sales. I did my homework, researched Kindle and other eBook places and wondered why only 17%. A lot of their ebooks they price at $.99. So they would be splitting the 35% from Amazon sales with me. Was my book worth more than 17% of $.99? I thought so.

Additionally, if I signed a contract with this publisher, they would not publish it for a year to 16 months from contract signing. I would also be tied to them for at least a few years. Did I want to give away that control? Could I do it myself? I knew I wanted something more than 17%.

I found a wonderful illustrator in Australia, Julie McClen of Oak Grove Graphics through my website software forum. I liked her playful but professionally designed websites and hired hire her to revamp my site. She also created my book covers for both series, the Women of Character and Women of Strength time travels.

During this time I continued to research eBook publishing. I found Jakonrath.blogspot.com, thebookdesigner.com, Joel Friedlander, thecreativepenn.com, Joanna Penn, davidgaughran.wordpress.com to name just a few. I’ve learned so much from their informative posts!

I also discovered Smashwords and read about their distribution channels and how an author could launch their books not only from the popular Kindle platform, but Smashwords also.

In researching eBook formats, I was amazed at the wide diversity available, from the time that I had made my first foray into this field to now. There was not only PDF format, but Mobi, ePub, RTF, PDB, LRF and many other formats and devices to read ebooks on.

My next question became, do I hire someone to format each of my 7 books or do I learn to do it myself? I found out about a program called Calibre. It creates several types of eBook formats. Ultimately, I used Calibre to create my mobi file for Kindle. There’s even a forum Mobileread.com with lots of threads and friendly people to help you out if you get stuck trying to convert your files to eBooks.

I personally think there should be one universal format for all reading devices, but that’s just me. I played around with Calibre, a free download, for a few days and at first I got a bit frustrated because I had some formatting squiggles in there that I had to delete. I had used the long dash in places and when you convert to mobi, the long dashes came out as fractions. Trust me, that doesn’t look great in your manuscript. I had to manually delete each one and replace with a short dash.

I also had an issue with trying to get a Table of Contents to show up on the finished mobi file for Kindle. Apparently, based on the amount of forum posts about TOC, others have had the same issue.

I read posts about inserting HTML into your document so the table of contents would appear. I had played with HTML years ago when I first began creating my websites and I really didn’t want to try to learn it again. So I kept looking at my Word document HTML file trying to figure out why the first three chapters showed up in the Table of Contents and nothing after that.

Those three chapters were “Heading” style in my word document. The rest of the document, unless it was italics, was “Normal” Style. So I went and changed all my Chapters to the Heading style and lo and behold, I had a TOC.

Next I saved my document as a HTML document, web page filtered. Then I opened the HTML file in Calibre. I now had a full TOC, but I had way too big paragraph indents. I went through the entire document and made the indents.25 and it looked much better.

Anyone who has been published by traditional publishing houses knows that anywhere you have italics, you underline when submitting your manuscript. So I had to once again go through my manuscript and remove all the underline sections and use italics instead. Italics, the real thing. No more underlining to indicate italics. Way cool.

When I was pretty certain I had cleaned up my formatting I again saved the file as a HTML, web page filtered. Then I uploaded my book and cover into Calibre, plus all the publisher, author, ISBN, tags info etc. Then I converted the book to mobi format. I tested on my kindle reader and it opened nicely.

Now Smashwords conversion is another article.

Grace Brannigan is a romance author of contemporary and time travel romances. She’s constantly trying to figure out this book marketing thing. She lives in the Catskill mountains, loves swing dancing, custom painting shoes and barn murals. You can find out about her romances at http://www.GraceBrannigan.com

Author: Grace Brannigan
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Prof. Servan-Schreiber’s Moving Story on Fighting Cancer

Five years ago, neither Facebook nor YouTube existed. Now Ehow, Squidoo, and other digital publishing sites saturate the Internet world. Digital storytelling, reporting, or teaching is no longer limited to content writing. Article distribution has become its own business. Ghost writing is a growing source of income. Dozens of websites exist for the sole purpose of connecting writers to article vendors. Pennames are an everyday Internet occurrence. But in the process, author accountability sometimes slides to the background. Writers are working cheap. Quality suffers. Facts get jumbled. The sorting out of sound content becomes more difficult. Look for the balanced digital magazine. Find the one that cares about reputation. Otherwise, do not permit your company name to get mixed in with it.

Digital storytelling is about establishing an online profile, about creating a quickened market presentation, about generating a continuous flow of readers and viewers. Digital magazines often provide free information that is readily available and purposed to create a user-friendly link between advertisers and their prospective customers. Vendors want and need premium search engine exposure. Digital publications advance that goal.

Media providers (those who generate the content of digital magazines) are ever seeking improved ways to quicken the pace of digital implementation. Readers are always hungry for new information. The site content completion is endless. Site hits determine advertising profits, customer responses, and the very life cycle of the associated website. A hardcopy slick magazine cannot survive without both new and repeat readers. Neither can a digital magazine. The demand for quality content, new photos, current videos, and exciting audio keeps every media provider hustling.

Yet, speed must be tempered with document accuracy and freedom from plagiarism. Data providers need dependable fact-checkers and watchdogs. Digital publishing requires accurate information resources, access to up-to-date database files, and imaginative but knowledgeable writers. With so much loss of author accountability, it is important to choose a trustworthy digital publishing partner site.

Though it is possible for a writer to hold fast to a strictly textual format, the modern method of digital publishing is such as can be found at sites like Yudu. Here is the next wave of digital publishing technology. By bringing together the written word, easily accessible video imaging, and audio interweaving these products push the standard for multimedia publishing. Conventional desktop publishing, aside from being per-piece costly, is unchangeable and limited in audience scope. Hardcopy brochures, catalogues, flyers, magazines, and newsletters cannot reach the new, digital shopper. This is why online publishers provide free digital conversion. Every company seeks a superior Internet presence. Why not join in? Even while reaping the gains of reduced hardcopy print and distribution costs, your company can reach more customers than ever before.

Martin Alan enjoys writing on subjects such as literature, online publishing, the digital magazine, publishing 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
Android tablet, netbook

Here’s a tip for the indie-published (self-published) author. Think Virtual Book Tour. You just put you labor of love and sweat into your book, spent time and money editing, and have a great cover. With luck you found a quality print source. There are several good choices for print-on-demand services. The best part of choosing print-on-demand means you don’t need to lay out huge sums of money until there is a need for copies.

The next step is often a daunting one for an author, the marketing challenge. What do you do after you have sold copies of your book to family, moved on to friends, and “encouraged” co-workers to buy a copy?

Making cold calls on bookstore owners can be excruciatingly painful when first starting. It gets better with practice. And, there is always the fear that local bookstores and bookstore owners are becoming a vanishing breed.

You may have tried setting up a table at a book fair and book signings. It’s true when asked how to sell a book. The answer is “one book at a time.” That said, book fairs and book signings are labor intensive and far too often result in disappointing sales. That is if you have a name like mine, unknown to the reading world. It really blows when the temperature is too hot or too cold, it’s raining or snowing, and the crowds are not in the book-buying mood.

It comes down to being an unknown, an indie-published author with scarce financial resources for marketing. The very thought of a book tour is laughable at best. Who cares whether an unknown author is signing books at the local bookstore? Not many, it turns out unless you put time and money in promoting each one.

Getting newspapers to review indie-published authors is hit or miss and mostly miss. The bad reputation of self-publishing is a reputation we all have to face down. Until then most newspapers turn up their nose at anyone other than traditional publishers.

How to get exposure and reviews then, especially with a limited budget? Without the money to cover the expense of a book tour I was intrigued when I heard about Virtual Book Tours. Was it a way to take virtual advantage and save the cost of air fare, hotels and meals, not to mention the emotional cost?

If you want to find out what virtual book tours are and were they are all about you will quickly recognize their merit. There are articles and instructions on how to organize a virtual book tour (VBT) but for many we soon realize the technology required may be beyond the reach of patience and time. Why should one do it alone when there are companies to set you up for a Virtual Boot Tour and do the leg work. The cost is within reach for those of us on a limited budget. There are some, but Pump up Your Book.com is a good place to start your investigation

It takes stamina and organization to tour when you are bombarded with requests for interviews and asked to do guest posting for bloggers who review your book.

The exposure I realized is invaluable. To have your book each reviewed by some blog stops on your tour, to see Q & A interviews displayed, you will enjoy the exposure when you see guest blogs posted. When you start to feel overwhelmed you can sit back, knowing your are in the good hands of your tour operator at Pump up your Book.com, or what ever VBT service you select.

I urge other indie-published authors to give serious consideration for this great way of letting the world hear about your new book.

Whatever the form of your VBT, self-organized or in the hands of a professional, the best of luck and enjoy the ride.

As an independent author and publisher, I have learned some valuable lessons through trial and error. If you are considering self-publishing I hope you find the encouragement you need to take control of your publishing destiny. Welcome to the Indie Book Rebellion.

In addition to my own writing I am proud to be a partner at a new service in the support of independent authors, a place where you can expect editorial, cover design, and support in developing your marketing strategy. Visit http://www.canamauthorservices.com

You are invited to visit my website at http://www.writebyme.ca

Chuck Waldron,
Kitchener, Ontario

Author: Chuck Waldron
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Eco Friendly

Regarding digital publishing…all thanks should be given to Larry Kirshbaum, former agent of LJK Literary Management recently described as ‘Amazon’s hired Hit Man’ by Brad Stone, writer for Business Week for being the new group leader on changing the world of publishing into a whole new digital playing field? Kirshbaum was hired to run Amazon Publishing, to jump-start a flailing imprint that desires to publish books on the bestseller list by large-scale authors. Amazon began rubbing the noses of the Big Six – Random House, Simon & Schuster (CBS), Harper Collins, Penguin (PSO), Hachette (MMB:FP) and Macmillan – in muck in November, 2007 when Jeffrey P. Bezos, founder, president, chief executive officer (CEO), and chairman of the board of Amazon.com unveiled the Kindle and proclaimed to these Big Six publishers that Amazon would sell their big-name authors’ titles as ebooks for $9.99, a highly discounted price from most top-selling hardcover books.

Barnes & Noble has also tossed their digital hat into the ring, they bought Sterling Publishing in 2003 and has since also entered the world of ebooks with the NOOK eReader and tablet with their form of vengeance. They taught a digital library of 2.5 million titles themselves and in November of 2011, they launched NOOK Digital Shops in 40 store to showcase NOOK applications, books and digital products. The shops focus on the presentation of digital reading in grand fashion. The digital shops offer 2000 square feet tailored by-product displays and large light boxed digital screens that play like a giant screened NOOK to engage readers into the new technology world of ebooks. Barnes & Noble is hoping to focus on their big advantage over Amazon and Apple, they’re the last freestanding physical, premium bookstore, who can physically engage shoppers into their digital world of publishing.

Apple has also played a hand in changing the digital landscape with the introduction of digital songs for 99¢ in their iTunes music store, which harshly stagnated the growth of the compact disc, and expedited the dissolution of music retailers like Tower Records. The power of digital monopoly began the launch of Apple’s market growth beyond the world of PC, creating new landscape for their digital products like iPods, iPhones and the world of iPad, launching their profitability into digital hemispheres.

Lastly, Mark Coker, an angel investor well versed in the world of Public Relations and technology startup companies, launched Smashwords, Inc., in 2008. Smashwords is a distribution platform designed to publish ebooks for authors and publishers as self-publishers. The Smashwords service actually converts Microsoft Word files into many e-book formats for a vast array of e-book reading devices. Also Smashwords does not use any Digital Rights Management (DRM) so books are for sale on the Internet at whatever price that is set by the author. No DRM is a major advantage for the self-publishers and a factor that was fought and haggled over between the Big Six publishers and Amazon.

As the many digital publishers, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Smashwords, etc., hash out the new world of digital publishing, no one expert is quite clear on how the landscape will look in two-three years, in five years, let alone 10 years from now. Will Amazon capture the world of ebooks, like Apple did with the many new forms of music and Internet media like Podcasts? It’s anybody’s guess about what the future holds and what new media will unfold to drive the world of readers into a whole new frontier of technology to experience the wonderful world of storytelling and story sharing.

Get the latest info on the world of ebooks, eReaders, iPads & tablets
Visit: http://mckessonbooksellers.com
Riley Rose McKesson
McKesson BookSellers, Division of McKesson Marketing Company
info@mckessonmarketing.com

Author: Riley Rose McKesson
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Alternative energy

Writing a book and selling a book goes from easy to hard, harder, and hardest.

Anonymous once said, “the beginning is easy, what happens next is much harder.”

For me, it all started with a short story and ended with three novels. Between the beginning and the end of a novel comes what I call writer’s sweaty time. You have your own version of a writing journey. We share that certain feeling; the time spent staring at a blank page, waiting for exactly the right word. We know what it is like when the story finally comes to life, and the struggle to find our way to the end, often surprised when we actually make it there.

Writing seems like hard work, right?

Looking back, writing was the fun part of the journey for me and, in retrospect, turned out to be the easy part. When I finished my first novel I sat back with a smile of celebration, unprepared for the next steps. Those next steps included editing, cover design and the choice of a printer.

EDITING

I have a hard time doing my own editing. I keep missing the same mistakes over and over. I need a good editor, someone who understands the grammar and spelling, but also follows the story flow. Whew! That was my reaction when I realized how much it would cost. How many of us have a limitless budget to pay for editorial services? I certainly didn’t. Whether we are on a fixed income in retirement, or carefully balancing time between family, working and writing, the real cost of editing can be daunting. The cost of not editing, however, can be disastrous.

It was my good fortune to discover an editor that was talented and reasonably priced.

COVER DESIGN

I’m not proud of the look of my first two books. There are some OK cover templates on the market, but they tend to look bland, and frankly like templates. If you want to make a book stand out in the crowd you need a cover that will do your book proud. I tried the generic cover templates, and while nice, as in OK, they lacked a look that would have someone reaching for them on a crowded shelf in a bookstore. But I was fortunate to find someone who could design an outstanding cover, and at a price I could afford.

How lucky was I? I ended up with an outstanding designer, someone who translated my novels into a graphic design, the covers looking great, each hinting at the story between the covers.

PRINTING

Today, writers have several good printing options to choose from. Independent authors can pick from a variety of companies serving the self-publishing community, and easily found using your favorite search engine. I use one that offers a menu of print options, but allows me to take advantage of print-on-demand (POD) technology. I don’t need to use my garage or closet as a warehouse, and the cost of printing a large number. I can use the POD computer. When I have an order for a novel I go online and my computer/warehouse springs into action and shipping takes care of the rest.

I have learned to look carefully at the internet ads offering self-publishing services. Unfortunately there are some scoundrels lurking on the internet, waiting to take advantage of a writer’s ego. It pays to ask around and make sure you check references.

Once the books are written and printed comes the hardest part.

THE HARDEST PART

In Julius Caesar Brutus made what was called the unkindest cut of all. To borrow that phrase, from a writer’s point of view, marketing is the hardest part of all. Few of us have the knowledge of, and talent for, marketing. Yet, as writers, we are expected to market our novel, like actors thrust on stage, actors without a script.

I can tell you from experience how much courage it took to walk into a bookstore for the first time, not to buy a book, but to ask them to sell mine.

I thought I had a grasp of what it would take to market my novels, but learned by trial and error, and ended with a portfolio of ideas for low-cost, do-it-yourself marketing. I have learned to embrace the saying that we sell books one-at-a-time, the old-fashioned way.

Not everyone has the stomach to be a relentless self-promoter, but that is what it takes. There is no magic that will turn my novel into a best-seller and all the fame that goes with it. I am learning to sell one book at a time, the old-fashioned way.

BUT WAIT, THERE IS HELP

Are you thinking about becoming an indie author and taking control of your publishing destiny?

Welcome to the Indie Publishing Revolution. There are resources for writers just like you. You can find help that will provide you with a triptych, a guide to you as an emerging author, one who is considering self-publishing. Their goal is your book in print, as a book you can be proud of.

I use Createspace, an Amazon publishing arm, but there are others that offer similar services; Bookstand Publishing, IUniverse, Lulu, etc. They all provide a menu of service allowing you to pick and choose that which is right for you.

There is a review of self-publishing I found most informative. Check it out at http://reviews.cnet.com/self-publishing/. It is a helpful, unbiased review.

I found an editor, a designer, and became an “accidental marketeer” committed to offering affordable, good reads. Then the magic happens. My readers make the vote that counts, reading and liking what they read. I have weathered the trial and error storm of writing and publishing and now stand ready to share that experience with others who are considering the independent choice.

I wish you good luck with your writing and encourage you to consider becoming an Indie Author

Chuck Waldron is an indie author of three novels. His website is www.writebyme.ca and he welcomes your questions and comments.

I grew up listening to my grandfather, an Ozark Mountain story teller, spinning tales of the caves on his farm, describing them as hiding places once used by Jesse & Frank James’ gang. It didn’t matter if the stories were true or not. Those legends set fire to my imagination, creating images that emerged slowly over the years, finally igniting as my short stories and novels.

Now, thirty-plus short stories and three novels later, ideas keep coming, with novel number four well underway. Do they share anything in common? Each has its own unique voice and tale to tell, some in the old style and some in the flavors of Chunky Monkey and Marshmallow-Cherry swirl. Yet, at their heart, my stories tell a tale of the human condition – the good, the bad and the ugly.

My literary roots, planted in the American Midwest, thrived when transplanted – over thirty-nine years ago – to the rich, cultural soil of Ontario. Warmed by a Florida sun, I now divide my winters between Port St. Lucie and Port St. Joe. Those roots have grown to become the life I’ve always dreamed of having: writer, dreamer and storyteller. Who could ask for more?

Author: Chuck Waldron
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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