The journey to becoming an indie-published author has been rewarding and one I would recommend. It is not for the faint of heart, however.

Art Linkletter once quoted Bette Davis, “old age ain’t no place for sissies. Indie publishing (self-publishing) “ain’t no place for sissies” either. If you take the opportunity to become an independent author-publisher you will face challenges, but the rewards are worth it.

My own learning curve taught me to think in what I call my rule of threes. I believe that following them will help me to avoid the three deadly sins of self-publishing in the future.

The Three Rules

The first rule demands that authors write a good story, well told. Plot bunnies look like cute little creatures until they get hungry. They nibble around our brains and are the ideas for a story demanding to be told. All writers know how difficult it is to steer them in an organized direction, some say harder even than herding cats. Whether you plot your novel or write by the seat of the pants, you owe it to the reader to give them a well-written story. If you do you will hear the rave reviews. That brings us to editing. Editing and rewriting is a tedious and thankless job. Going through a 100,000 word manuscript line-by-line and page-by-page is slow going. It is something that has to be done before putting your story in the hands of a competent editor. Most of us are not married to a professional copy editor nor have one as a friend, so why rely on family and friends? It costs money, a precious commodity for most of us indie publishers, but I can’t imagine not doing it. I service my automobile to avoid complications later. I think the service of a good editor is similar.

The second rule in the rule of threes calls for putting a good face to our work. For the same reason I wouldn’t skip the hard work of rule number one, or the service of a good editor, I need a cover designer that knows how to match the cover with the story. The cover is your invitation to a reader and it has to promise what the reader will find between the covers.

The third rule is to have a plan for marketing. This is where you have to ask yourself the question of what you will do after you have sold books to friends and family. I have heard many indie authors say they were blindsided by the need to market their books. To break through the noise and draw attention to your book means having a plan to get the most from a tight budget. Your plan can include a lot of things you can do with sweat equity.

Three Deadly Sins

That brings us to the three deadly sins of self-publishing.

The first deadly sin is sloppy or poor writing. When a story is poorly organized, meanders when it shouldn’t, and in other ways does not deliver on its promise to a reader, you risk publishing a story that gives indie publishing a bad reputation. If you fall into the trap of hurried writing or producing a cluttered story you will suffer the pain of a poor review. Isn’t it the worst fear of a writer to have a reader stop reading by not turning to the next page? Sometimes cost is ‘the’ issue. If that is the case you need to do serious self-editing. Readers spot typos and misspelled words, along with grammatical dust balls. They not only do spot them, they love to point them out. It was embarrassing when chapter thirteen in one of my novels will be forever be chapter “thirteer” in print. I turned that into a marketing gimmick by initialing that page at book signings. After all, it will be a collector’s item someday. But I dearly wish that mistake isn’t staring at me every time I open that page.

The second deadly sin I committed was going with template covers to avoid expense. My first two books are good examples of how not to choose a cover, especially when compared to those same to books with covers created by a competent designer. My designer understood my stories and matched them with great covers.

The third deadly sin is to bury one’s head in the sand when it comes to marketing. Few of us are born marketers. But a garage full of books gathering dust is not a marketing plan.

Is there help?

In a word, yes. There are local writing groups that are sources for information. Meet other indie authors who have self-published. Join associations like the Association of Independent Authors and take advantage of the tips available. Contact other indie authors by email. You will find most of us quite willing to share. There are resources at the library and online. Grab what you can for free.

What’s the Reward?

Not only will you experience the feel-good reward from a well done self-published book, you will not have to share the credit, you can hold up your head and smile. And, by the way, you will also share more of the revenue. That may be the best part of all.

Chuck is an independent author with three published novels:

Tears in the Dust

Remington & the Mysterious Fedora

Served Cold

His fourth novel, The Lion’s Head Deception, is currently in rewrite with an expected launch in mid-summer 2012.

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 for 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 or send an email to chuck@writebyme.ca

Chuck Waldron,
Kitchener, Ontario

Author: Chuck Waldron
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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One of the industries affected by the recent economic downturn was that of the paper magazine publication. An evidence of this is the decreasing trend in rate-card-reported advertising revenue from 2007 to 2009 as published by the Publishers Information Bureau. The year 2009 by far had the worse figures with a drastic 18.1% decline in advertising revenue. Revenues amounted to $19,450,949,762 compared to 2008’s $23,652,018,533 total rate-card-reported ad revenue. The 2008 figures on the other hand, was 7.8% lower compared to 2007’s advertising revenues.

The decline in advertising revenues and ad pages created has forced many magazines to cease publication. The famous of which is Gourmet magazine, closing last year after almost 70 years in publication. Although the recent economic recession may have had the greatest effect as to why many magazines went out of business in the last 3 years, it can not be solely blamed for the industry’s struggle. With the developing technology and the rise of the Internet generation, audiences have shifted interests. Many have preferred gossip blogs over celebrity magazines, online cooking guides over recipe books. The Internet has become the number one source of information.

To adjust to the decreasing advertising revenue and at the same time to take advantages of the wide reach that the Internet has to offer, many publications have resorted to having a digital edition for their paper publication, or have totally abandoned paper and embraced digital publishing. An online magazine software could create paperless magazines that do not need logistics costs in order for copies to be sent to subscribers, a feat that is very helpful in cutting costs for publishers. Not to mention that being paperless means zero contribution to paper waste and consumption.

The answer to whether or not digital publishing is the future of the magazine industry is still uncertain. Though many people still prefer flipping through glossy pages, digital media publishing has opened endless possibilities, benefiting not only publishers but subscribers as well.

Visit Zipadi for more information on digital publishing [http://zipadi.com/solutions/industry/magazine-publishing-industry.htm]. You may also want to read on Magazines That Folded in 2009.

Author: Steve F. Smith
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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Recently I’ve been following a discussion on the Amazon forums about how to avoid indie authors. When I saw the title, I frowned, and clicked into it to begin reading. Considering the title, negativity was expected, but it was pretty harsh at times.

It’s no secret that the indie scene isn’t regarded very highly in almost any medium. There are a lot differences when you look at the independent creations of art forms such as books, movies, painting and the like. In each scenario though, there is usually a higher body that the public looks to find the latest and greatest. In books of course, that is traditional publishing.

Back to the topic at hand though, the prejudice in the thread was quite apparent. Readers don’t want to sift through low quality books, and want a way to remove them from what they see. Low quality isn’t what was said though, they want indie books removed, and to only be able to see books from major publishers.

That’s such a shame…

Yet there’s also an argument that can definitely be made. However, it’s being pursued wrong. The answer isn’t to be able to remove all indie books from search results, but to change the KDP publishing standards. I think changing it as follows would be an effective approach for readers, Amazon, and independent authors alike.

First, break the publishing into two categories. Free, or for sale. Books published in the free category would basically be published just like all books are published on Amazon right now. There would be no standards, and a special area of the Amazon eBook store dedicated to free titles. Those who are publishing something for a small group of friends or family, or authors who want to offer any of their books for free would be able to publish them there, using the current system.

The major change would come in when the publisher in question chooses to have the book for sale. At this point, you’d do everything just the same as now, only the book would not go up for sale shortly there after. Instead, it would go into a review process. At this point, people may start saying Amazon isn’t going to pay people to read books by independent authors, that there would be too much volume with everything added every day.

And that argument would be very valid.

However, there is a solution that could benefit all parties. Thanks to digital downloads, it’s no longer a hassle to create and send entertainment. No physical copies required, just a few mouse clicks and you have it. This is the point that should be uniting Amazon, readers, and independent authors. The review process would involve sending free copies of eBooks to well established reviewers and bloggers, or other beta readers. They check them out for quality, both in terms of story and proofreading. Each book is sent to more than one reviewer, and their reviews are gauged. Should the quality meet certain standards, in each area of criteria, not an overall score, then the book is then published for sale on Amazon.

There may be some questions for readers at this point, such as why eBooks specifically, and how can Amazon trust the word of reviewers and bloggers on what to publish. How would it be set up, maintained, etc.. Those are all valid questions that would have to be addressed with the parties in question.

What I can say though is this. Amazon would lose nothing in providing free copies of the eBooks to reviewers. What they would stand to gain is a slough of material that would be easier to convince customers to buy. The current mentality with independent publishing seems to be make a handful of money from each, and do that with every author who publishes. Wouldn’t it be much more effective though to have quality products people didn’t have to question as much before purchasing? Some people say Amazon is making money off the deal, so they don’t care. If that’s true, they should care. They may technically be gaining money with the current system, but they are losing a lot of money that could be being made. The market for independent books is damaged, and damaged markets don’t sell well.

This situation would help remedy that. By having Amazon partner with these reviewers, in exchange for money if they are willing or for other benefits such as exposure as an official Amazon partner, free books, or however it is worked out, the independent publishing world would see a boost.

Digital downloads are a great money maker, and offer the convenience of being sent to anyone Amazon wishes at no cost to them. This would encourage authors to expand into the eBook market if they currently only publish in print. eBooks are a growing trend, and Amazon recognizes that. The more digital downloads they have available, the more money they make without anything stored, packaged, and shipped.

There have been many beneficial reasons for Amazon to do this presented, but what about the indie author? What does he get out of it? What he gets is less anonymity, and a seal of approval. Those are two of the biggest hurdles for any independent author. Readers have been burned by a lot of sub-par works, stories that didn’t even seem to be spell-checked or read through after being written. Every independent author has to struggle with overcoming those two road blocks. If your books were available with those two stigmas lessened, sales would be much more likely. More sales means more recognition, and more recognition means more readers. Amazon would then be able to promote indie works, leading to more sales for them, and authors alike.

At this point, I want to point out how exactly I would envision the review process working. The books would be graded, as mentioned, on different categories. A certain score in each category would be required, which would be determined after compiling the results of each reviewers scores and notes. It wouldn’t be based on “did you like the story or not” but the quality of the writing, frequency and degree of errors, etc..

I’m not saying doing all this would be easy. Change rarely is. It’s possible things will continue on as they are, but the market could end up irreparably damaged. Amazon, and probably many other businesses that offer independent publishing services, should consider how they want to approach their publishing game.

I’m Benjamin C. Andrews, an author sharing my writing knowledge with others. Visit http://magicjarpublishing.blogspot.com/ for more writing tips and tricks, and other quality information.

Author: Benjamin C Andrews
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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In today’s way of living, exchanging information is not as tedious and slow as it was before, particularly because of the emergence of the World Wide Web. Reading eBooks online is an efficient way to gain knowledge of things easily. The increasing demand for these electronic reading materials shows their functionality, that’s why more and more marketers are making, publishing, and distributing their own eBook. If you are one of the marketers trying to generate online profits, this article will help you get not only the best but also assist you in finding free digital publishing software for e-newsletters, e-documents, and eBook.

According to some reports, eBooks are continuously gathering wealth and steam as these materials gain commendation as well as respect from online visitors. With the boosting activity of eBook comes the accumulation of eBook publishing software. But how will you determine the most efficient software for your publishing needs?

The foremost step that you should take is to look for available digital publishing software without charge. Keep in mind that publishing digitally, is all about the internet, so the first place that you should visit is the World Wide Web. By using popular search engines at any given time, you will come across with over four million results for eBook publishing; some are free while some come with a definite price. Even so, that’s the greatest place to search out for links to all of the programs for different publishing needs. To assist you in narrowing your options, you should begin with several different products that have been gaining appreciation.

As with many opportunities in life having several different programs for free digital publishing that you can choose from grants you with advantages and disadvantages. The delightful thing is that the cost or no cost, ease-of-use, and of course features differ from one piece of software to another depending on your requirements. The not so good news is that with so many options in the market, it will call for your time and effort to review all the free programs so the software that you will obtain will suit your project.

The prices of eBook publishing software range from $99 to $595, but since you are looking for something without a fee, it’s vital for you to understand that you can’t demand much from what you will get for free.
Once you obtain free publishing software, you should initially check its ease of use. Note that some programs will require you to have an experience in utilizing HTML while some call for word processing.

Evaluate its features and examine if the program asks for add-ons or not. You should also test out the security features, specifications and compatibility concerns with other computers, and the templates and wizards available in the software.

Keep in mind that the compatibility issues are very critical in free digital publishing software. You must ensure that other computers and operating systems will be able to access and read your final product. The materialization of e-Publishing presents a thrilling and functional marketing strategy for online marketers. This permits writers, consultants and almost anyone to simply type a text or content and let the software transform all the work into informative publication.

Need free digital publishing? We can write top quality eBooks for your website for an extremely low price. Go to http://www.eBooksCreated.com to get started today!

Author: M Goudelock
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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