Month: December 2011

Top Posts of 2011: As Kindle Authors Make Their Own Bestsellers, Are Traditional Publishers the Vanity Presses of 2011?

by

This post originally appeared on Publetariat on 4/20/11 and has received 1381 unique pageviews since then, making it one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

Some interesting developments lately with Kindle Store bestsellers and bestselling authors….

First, congratulations to several Kindle Nation sponsors who have recently soared into the top 100 in the Kindle Store, and in some cases onto the USA Today bestseller list as well! Here’s where some of our past or current sponsors stand as I write this:

 

  • David Lender‘s Trojan Horse is #47 in the Kindle Store, up from #11,941 prior to its first sponsorship on February 19
  • Debbie Mack‘s Least Wanted is #55 and her Identity Crisis is #65 and #139 on the USA Today list (up from #3,374 and #1,048 before their first sponsorship January 18)
     
  • Victorine E. Lieske‘s Not What She Seems is #86 in the Kindle Store, up from #8,000+ before her first sponsorship in September, and was on the USA Today list ealier this month
     
  • And last but most definitely not least, colleague Abhi Sing of Kindle Review and his Seven Dragons team hold the #1 spot on the Kindle Store bestseller list with their magical and revolutionary Notepad app for the Kindle, which is currently featured as the Kindle App of the day here at Kindle Nation!

Meanwhile, we covered former CIA covert ops agent Barry Eisler‘s announcement the other day on Joe Konrath‘s blog that he has walked away from a half-million dollar St. Martin’s Press deal for his next two books in order to publish them directly via the Kindle and other platforms. “Direct publishing” is the new “self-publishing,” in case you hadn’t noticed, and it may be a more apt phrase since it is the platforms offered by new digital technologies such as the Kindle, rather than anything that we as authors have invented, that allow us to public and connect directly with readers.

Ruth Harris’ novel Decades, a future bestseller at 99 cents?

Eisler’s move has been widely hailed as a major development requiring — I’m sorry, there’s just not a pretty way to put this — very large cojones. And I agree, but courageous moves are seldom significant unless they blaze a trail for others. What may be most important about what Eisler has done is that there will soon be plenty more authors of distinction who follow a similar path to bring their previously published and newly published books directly to Kindle readers and other digital platforms, and it will be interesting to see how they go about the process of building fresh connections with readers, absent the usual intermediaries and gatekeepers.

One of these authors of distinction who comes naturally to mind is New York Times bestselling novelist Ruth Harris, whose Husbands and Lovers is today’s Kindle Nation Daily sponsor. Harris has sold millions of print copies of smart, stylish novels that have been translated into 19 languages and selected by the Literary Guild and Book-of-the-Month Club, and she recently brought back Husbands and Lovers, Decades and Love and Money as direct-to-Kindle offerings. Husbands and Lovers jumped from #55,528 to #5,275o on the Kindle Store bestseller list during the past few hours, and the author is priming the pump by offering Decades at a promotional price of just 99 cents. It will be interesting to see how the New York Times plays it when Harris sells enough directly published ebooks to qualify for bestseller lists, as I believe she will. The Times has taken an utterly indefensible, know-nothing stance to keep its bestseller list free of self-published authors, but if the self-published author is a former New York Times bestselling author, will she still be barred entry?

But not everyone is moving away from traditional publishers toward direct publishing. Along comes the amazing Amanda Hocking today — according to this New York Times scoop — to sign a … are you sitting down? … deal for over $2 million with MacMillan’s St. Martin’s Press for her next series, whose working series title is “Watersong.” Hocking, 26, blogged very eloquently on Tuesday about some of the reasons — in addition to the two million obvious ones — she might be interested in a traditional publishing contract. And who can blame her?

But I have to wonder how her ebooks will do if MacMillan and St. Martin’s price them in the $11.99 to $14.99 range which publishers stupidly claim is the right price for newly released ebooks. Currently Hocking has 6 titles among the Kindle Store’s Top 100 bestsellers, but they are all priced between 99 cents and $2.99. Could agency model pricing ruin the Amanda Hocking franchise?

While this is the first ebook-to-traditional publishing contract narrative to ascend to the rarified air of  the $2 million advance, there have been a few other cases where authors signed nice contracts after doing very well previously with direct-to-Kindle ebooks. A couple of years ago Boyd Morrison made a big splash when he sold enough copies of his self-published novel The Ark to crack the Kindle Store bestseller list’s Top 100 and he parlayed it into a multiple-title contract with agency model publisher Simon and Schuster. The Ark was reissued for about three times its original Kindle Store price, although Morrison’s royalty rate is less than it would be if he had published it directly at the more reader-friendly $2.99 price. Not surprisingly, The Ark has created far less buzz the second time around.

Lately it keeps occurring to me that the big traditional corporate publishers are the vanity presses of 2011. Obviously, when an author is offered a deal such as Hocking’s, nobody will blame her for signing on the line. But Morrison’s example suggests there may be plenty of others who sign away their rights for far less than they are worth because of some romantic and outmoded sense of what it means, or used to mean, to land a book deal.

 

This is a reprint from Stephen Windwalker’s Kindle Nation Daily.

Top Posts of 2011: E-Book Cards Will Change The Way You Sell E-Books: Transform A Digital Book Into A Physical Product

by

This post originally appeared on Publetariat on 10/23/11 and has received 1163 unique pageviews since then, making it one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

Publetariat welcomes author Cheri Lasota. In this guest post, Cheri introduces the idea of using physical gift cards as a means of ebook distribution through brick-and-mortar and other offline outlets.

Have you heard of e-book cards? If you haven’t already, I think you will soon. They are a new book marketing technique making headway and headlines around the country now. 

I heard about them from author Dean Wesley Smith. The idea stems from this simple question: how do authors and publishers sell a digital product in a physical store? 

So many of us are releasing e-book only versions of our fiction. In such cases, how do we sign our books at events? How can we hand-sell our books at conferences, speaking tours, or to the neighbor next door? How do we start to educate the paperback public that e-books are both the wave of the future and the here and now? E-book cards can accomplish all this.

These plastic cards are the same size as your credit card or the gift cards you might buy at the store. Why that size and shape? 

·      You can fit them into your wallet or purse.

·      You can slip them into larger sleeves or envelopes that can display even more content about the book.

·      You can put them in a display holder that has a slot for business cards.

·      You can sign them at events because the plastic makes them durable.

·      You can mail them in a standard envelope for promotional packages because they are so small and compact. 

And just think about how little space they would take up on the bookstore shelf, as opposed to a 600- to 800-page paperback?

SpireHouse Books released my novel on Sept. 13, 2011 and we have wholeheartedly embraced e-book cards in our marketing campaigns since then. 

Thus far, we sold many of the cards at my book launch, I’ve sold some by hand, several stores are displaying and selling them, many have bought them as gifts for their friends, and I have used them as giveaways at events and elsewhere.

In the future, we plan to mail them out to book reviewers,continue to use them for giveaways and to sell at events, give them as gifts for holidays and birthdays…the possibilities are endless.

You can tailor your e-book cards for your own needs. For my cards, my publisher put the book cover on side 1 and included two important notes on it:  “E-book Card Edition” and “Read On Any Device.” On the accompanying display, we mention that the e-book card edition is cheaper than anywhere else the book is sold, which gives bookstore owners a clear incentive to stock them and gives readers a great reason to buy in-store as opposed to buying online. Our e-book card edition also contains exclusive content.

On side 2, we included a “tagline” as well as a short synopsis of the storyline; clear, concise instructions on how and where to download the book; an ISBN/barcode; and a unique scratch off promotional code,which the buyer plugs into my publisher’s website.  

We see this as an incredible opportunity for bookstores as well as authors and small publishers. Spread the word to other authors. Talk about this with your local bookstore managers. Think outside the box and you may find that these cards give you access to readers you never thought you could reach. 

Have questions? Just comment on this post.

 

[Publetariat Editor’s note: more of the how-to nuts and bolts, and costs, of getting ebook cards produced are covered in this linked post from Dean Wesley Smith, which was referenced by Cheri near the beginning of this post.]

_______________

SpireHouse Books just launched Cheri Lasota’s first novel, Artemis Rising, this fall. The book is a YA historical fantasy based on mythology and set in the exotic Azores Islands. Currently, Cheri is writing and researching her second novel, a YA set on the Oregon Coast. Over the course of her sixteen-year career, she has edited fiction, nonfiction,screenplays, and short stories for publication. Cheri also has twenty-four years of experience writing poetry and fiction. Learn more about Artemis Rising at http://www.cherilasota.com or buy it at http://bit.ly/ArtemisRisingNovel.

 

Top Posts of 2011: New YUDU Research Report Finds That Tablets Are Usurping e-Readers as Reading Device of Choice for Consumers

by

This press release originally appeared on Publetariat on 6/16/11 and has received 1141 unique pageviews since then, making it one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

[press release] Research Provides Detailed Insight and Statistics on the Rise of the e-Book Industry; 2011 Is Likely "The Beginning of the End" for Dedicated e-Reader Devices

 

CAMBRIDGE, MA–(Marketwire – Jun 15, 2011) – Digital publishing company YUDU Media (www.yudupro.com) today published a new report summarizing key research, facts and figures on the e-book market, which continues to grow at a blistering pace. The report, titled, "Rise of the e-book: e-book stats and trends," discusses some of the key components of the industry in its current form, aiming to provide analysis and insight into some of its most recent developments.

A sampling of the research included in this report:

  • E-book sales now outpace print book sales, as sales of e-books nearly tripled in the US from 2009 to 2010.
     
  • Tablets such as the iPad appear to be overtaking e-reader devices such as the Kindle as the platform of choice for reading e-books; Forrester predicts that by 2015, there will be twice as many owners of tablet PCs than there are of dedicated e-readers.
     
  • Apple’s iBookstore is gaining rapidly on Amazon.com as the highest volume sales platform for e-Books.
     
  • E-books have helped fuel success for self-published authors, who are no longer beholden to large, traditional publishing houses to get their works into the hands of readers.

"The e-book market shake-up is likely to become more pronounced over the course of the year, with a growing number of publishers and consumers alike choosing a tablet as their hardware of choice," said Richard Stephenson, CEO of YUDU Media. "While 2010 may be remembered as the birth year of consumer e-books, 2011 may well be considered as the beginning of the end for the dedicated e-book reader."

The e-book market in 2011 will experience exponential growth which will impact the book publishing industry as a whole. YUDU’s report offers a deeper analysis of the e-book industry with evidence that transitions in the market go beyond a simple upward sales trend. Ongoing technology innovations and shifts in consumer behavior are driving the continued growth of the e-book market, which publishers are embracing to meet consumer demand and factoring in as part of their overall growth strategy in order to compete in this rapidly changing environment.

Those interested in more detail can access the white paper online at www.yudupro.com/e-book_whitepaper or on the iPad/iPhone by downloading the YUDU Media App and selecting ‘e-book Report.’

About YUDU Media
YUDU Media is a web, mobile and tablet ePublishing specialist that’s been serving digital publishing solutions to book and magazine publishers since 2003. YUDU has customers in over 70 countries, produces up to 1,200 digital publications a day and has developed almost 100 iPad and iPhone Apps. YUDU Book customers include Wiley, AA Publishing, McGraw-Hill Ryerson and HarperCollins.

 

Top Posts of 2011: Promote Your Book by Commenting on Blog Posts

by

This post originally appeared on Publetariat on 5/27/10 and has received 2101 unique pageviews since then. It’s been one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

Commenting on other people’s blogs is a great way to get visibility, build relationships with bloggers, subtly promote your book, and get links back to your site (if the site gives "do-follow" links). But you can hurt your credibility if you go about it the wrong way. Here are some tips for successful blog commenting:

Actively look for relevant blogs to comment on. Subscribe to the feed of the most important blogs in your area of interest, and use tools like Google Alerts to keep an eye out for relevant posts on other blogs. You can also use Google Blog Search or blog directories like My Blog Log to find blogs that are a good fit.

Contribute to the conversation. Don’t just drop by and say "great post."  Instead, make a thoughtful comment that contributes something. You might offer an additional tip or real-life example, or expand on a point the blogger made. If you’re commenting on a book review, explain why you enjoyed reading the book. Your comment doesn’t have to be long, but you do need to say something useful and relevant. Do not give the impression that you are just there to promote your book or leave a link to your site.

Don’t make inappropriate comments. There’s nothing wrong with disagreeing with a point that someone has made (and many bloggers encourage disparate views), but do so in a polite, respectful way. I’m amazed at some of the rude and tacky things people say on blogs and in online forums.

Don’t be overtly promotional. Commenting on someone else’s blog is not the place to blatantly promote your book or services.  However, there are subtle ways to convey that you are an expert on the topic being discussed and encourage people to click on your name to visit your website.

You might work in a reference to your book related to the comment you are making. Here are some examples:

"Twitter is such an important tool for authors that I devoted an entire chapter in my book to promoting through Twitter."

"In researching my book, Selling Your Book to Libraries, I discovered that . . ."

"Because I write mystery novels myself, I really appreciated the way that the author . . ."

Depending on the topic under discussion, I sometimes sign my name with a tag line such as "Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer" or "Dana Lynn Smith, author of Facebook Guide for Authors."  Some people include their website address in their signature, but many bloggers frown on this. Creating a signature that’s several lines long and blatantly promotional is not appropriate. Some people think that including any type of signature or reference to your book is too promotional.

You will have to use your judgment to determine what is appropriate, but you might look at what other commenters on the blog are doing as a guideline. Just remember that you are a guest on someone else’s site and mind your manners. Comments, anyone?

Excerpted from The Savvy Book Marketer’s Guide to Blogging for Authors by book marketing coach Dana Lynn Smith. For more book marketing tips, follow @BookMarketer on Twitter, visit Dana’s Savvy Book Marketer blog, and get a copy of the Top Book Marketing Tips ebook when you sign up for her free newsletter.

 

Top Posts of 2011 – An Aside to Authors and Publishers: CreateSpace Expands Distribution Through Deal with Ingram

by

This post originally appeared on Publetariat on 12/3/09 and has received 4574 unique pageviews since then. It’s been one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

For many Kindle Nation citizens, this post will be an easy one to skip over. It’s about what we around here call dead-tree books, and at first blush it may seem of primary interest to authors and independent publishers, because, at first blush, it is.

But the bottom line is that the playing field for publishing and bookselling just got a lot closer to being level, from the point of view of authors and independent publishers. And in the long run this could be a good thing for readers and independent bookstores as well.

Here’s what has happened, with thanks to TeleRead’s Paul Biba for the heads up.

CreateSpace.com, a print-on-demand publishing company wholly owned by Amazon, has made a deal with the nation’s largest book distributor, Ingram Content Group, and Ingram’s own print-on-demand subsidiary, which is called Lightning Source. As a result, CreateSpace authors and publishers are now able to distribute their titles to thousands of bookstores, libraries and online retailers. Here’s a link to the CreateSpace press release (full text of the release also provided at the end of this post).

For the past three years, CreateSpace has been far and away the best printing deal available for independent authors and publishers, except for one glaring omission. The CreateSpace platform allowed its clients print-on-demand production, with no up-front capital costs and no inventory or out-of-pocket fulfillment costs, at per-unit production costs that are competitive with short-run production costs for print runs ranging from 1,000 to 3,000 copies. For authors and publishers seeking to sell their books through Amazon or through their own websites and events, this amounted to a very sweet deal. CreateSpace has been my independent publishing company’s production arm for the past three years, and the interior and exterior quality of their printed trade paperback books has been flawless.

But there was a huge disconnect between CreateSpace and the rest of the bookselling world beyond Amazon, because CreateSpace did not offer wholesale distribution to bookstores, online retailers, and libraries. And the alternatives, involving Ingram and its primary competitor Baker & Taylor, were often difficult to navigate and significantly more expensive.

Now all that has changed in a collaborative deal that is so dramatic that it makes both companies’ spokespersons’ rhetoric about their passionate commitment to books seem utterly believable.

There are three new CreateSpace Expanded Distribution Channels, in addition to the previously available choices of the Amazon bookstore, a CreateSpace eStore whose doorways are seldom darkened by paying customers, and a relatively cheap author-copies feature:
 

 

CreateSpace Direct: By enabling this distribution outlet, you can make your books available to certified resellers such as independent bookstores and book resellers. The CreateSpace Direct program allows eligible resellers to buy books at wholesale prices directly from CreateSpace.

Libraries and Academic Institutions: By enabling this distribution outlet, you can make your book available to public libraries, elementary and secondary school libraries, and libraries at other academic institutions.

Bookstores and Online Retailers: By enabling this distribution outlet, you can make your book available to thousands of major online and offline bookstores and retailers, and expand the size of the potential audience for your books.

 

The expanded distribution royalties payable by CreateSpace to authors and indie publishers — about 20% in many cases depending mainly on retail price and page count — will be less than royalties paid on Amazon store sales, but will in most cases be significantly more than the royalties that would be payable either through what we still call "traditional publishing" or through the kind of short-run digital publishing referenced above.

[Publetariat Editor’s note: according to information posted on the Createspace site, the bookseller cut (referred to as "Sales Channel Percentage" on the CS site) is 20% for sales made on the CS site, 40% for sales on Amazon.com, and 60% for sales made through the Expanded Distribution Channel (EDC) program. Also, the site specifies that only books set up with the Pro Plan option are eligible for EDC. Some authors are finding they would have to raise the retail price of their books to earn a royalty on EDC sales due to the 20-40% higher bookseller cut on those sales.] 

Authors and indie publishers who have books in print on the CreateSpace platform can initiate expanded distribution options for their titles immediately. Here’s how:

 

  • Go to your CreateSpace dashboard page.
     
  • Select an "Available" title for which you would like initiate expanded distribution options and click on the pencil/edit icon to its right (image shown to the right of this bullet item —>). 
     
  • Scroll down to the heading called Sales Channel Management and click on the "Edit" hyperlink to the right of the heading.
     
  • Scroll down to the heading called Expanded Distribution Channel Sales and, at the bottom of the page, review the Distribution Royalty Calculation to ensure that you are prepared to accept the royalty offered to you for these channels. You can change your book’s price, but the price will be fixed across all of CreateSpace’s distribution channels.
     
  • If you wish to go forward and enable Expanded Distribution, click on the "Enable" button next to each of the three sub-categories. You will be able to enable the Libraries and Academic Institutions button only if your book’s ISBN was provided directly by CreateSpace.
     
  • After you have clicked on these buttons and see "Enable" in green to the right of the sub-categories, click the "Save" button at the bottom of the page.
     
  • You will be returned to the previous page, where you should scroll down to the Sales Channel Management heading and verify that you see a line that says "Sell via Expanded Distribution – Yes."


That’s it. Good luck.

[Publetariat Editor’s Note: according to the Createspace FAQ on the EDC program, "It may take up to six weeks for your title to begin populating in the distribution outlets you select."]

Here’s the full text of the CreateSpace press release, for your convenience:
 

 

CreateSpace Announces Expanded Distribution Options for Members through Ingram Content Group and Lightning Source

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Dec. 03, 2009 – CreateSpace, part of the Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) group of companies, today announced a new agreement with Lightning Source Inc., the print on-demand unit of Ingram Content Group Inc. The collaboration between the two companies will expand CreateSpace’s distribution options for its members beyond Amazon.com and CreateSpace eStores.

Under the new agreement, CreateSpace’s Books on-Demand platform will allow members to print and then distribute their titles to thousands of bookstores, libraries and online retailers. CreateSpace members will have access to this enhanced print and distribution option as part of the CreateSpace Pro Plan, a program which gives members access to lower print pricing for their own book orders and better royalties for sales on Amazon.com.

"With this expansion, CreateSpace members will not only be able to reach Amazon.com customers, but they can also reach the thousands of bookstores, libraries and online retailers that work with the Ingram Content Group, " said Dana LoPiccolo-Giles, managing director, CreateSpace. "With Lightning Source and Ingram, our members can make their titles available to the larger book marketplace while remaining inventory-free with print on-demand."

"At Ingram, we are passionate about books and the book industry," said Philip Ollila, chief content officer, Ingram Content Group. "Our new relationship with CreateSpace is a continuation of Ingram’s long-term strategy to offer the broadest selection of books to our customers worldwide."

For more information about CreateSpace, please visit www.createspace.com.

About CreateSpace
CreateSpace is a leader in manufacture on-demand services for independent content creators, publishers, film studios and music labels. CreateSpace provides inventory-free, physical distribution of Books, CDs and DVDs On-Demand, music downloads via Amazon MP3 and video downloads via Amazon Video On Demand. CreateSpace is a brand of On-Demand Publishing LLC, a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN).

About Lightning Source
Lightning Source is the leading print-on-demand company in the world, offering the unique combination of quality one-off book manufacturing and access to the most comprehensive distribution solutions in the publishing industry. Lightning Source is an Ingram Content Group company. The Ingram Content Group of companies provide a broad range of physical and digital services to the book industry, and immediate access to the largest selection of books and book-related products in the industry. For more information visit www.lightningsource.com

About Ingram
Ingram Content Group Inc. provides a broad range of physical and digital services to the book industry. Ingram’s operating units are Ingram Book Company, Lightning Source Inc., Ingram Digital, Ingram Periodicals Inc., Ingram International Inc., Ingram Library Services Inc., Spring Arbor Distributors Inc., Ingram Publisher Services Inc., Tennessee Book Company LLC, Coutts Information Services, and Ingram Marketing Group Inc. For more information, visit www.ingramcontent.com

About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth’s Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as books, movies, music & games, digital downloads, electronics & computers, home & garden, toys, kids & baby, grocery, apparel, shoes & jewelry, health & beauty, sports & outdoors, and tools, auto & industrial.

Amazon Web Services provides Amazon’s developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon’s own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Examples of the services offered by Amazon Web Services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3), Amazon SimpleDB, Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS), Amazon Flexible Payments Service (Amazon FPS), Amazon Mechanical Turk and Amazon CloudFront.

Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca and www.amazon.cn.

As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.

Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management’s expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com’s financial results is included in Amazon.com’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
For CreateSpace
Amanda Wilson
amandasu@createspace.com

For Amazon.com
Amazon Media Hotline
206-266-7180

 

This is a cross-posting from Stephen Windwalker’s Kindle Nation Daily.

Top Posts of 2011: 8 Simple Steps To Self-Publishing

by

This post originally appeared on Publetariat on 5/4/11 and has received 1444 unique pageviews since then, making it one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

Thanks go to Self-Publishing Coach Shelley Hitz for contributing this guest post. 

Are you interested in self-publishing a book?

It might not be as much work as you think. In fact, if you already own a website or blog, you can seamlessly transform your most popular content into a book. Think about it: you can take the same great content you’ve already written for your site and reformulate it into a printed book, PDF eBook or audio book to make the most of all your hard work. Follow these steps and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a self published author, like me!

8 Simple Steps to Self Publishing Your Book:

  1. Create an outline and chapter layout using the best articles from your website or blog.
     
  2. Enter your content into a template formatted for your desired book size (i.e. Microsoft Word).
     
  3. Save your book as a PDF file.
     
  4. Select a designer for your book cover or design it yourself.
     
  5. Select a self publishing [services] company.
     
  6. Sign up for an account with your publisher and upload your documents.
     
  7. Begin promoting and selling copies of your book online, via your website or blog and in person.
     
  8. Finally, convert your book into various formats to get the most out of your work (i.e. PDF eBook, audio book and Kindle eBook).

That’s it!

I stumbled upon the concept of self publishing books in the fall of 2008 when one of our colleagues, a fellow speaker, showed me a copy of his self published book. Not only were his books affordable-they only cost him $2-$3 each-but their quality was excellent. And he also gained the instant credibility of being a "published author."

I thought, "I can do this!"

And believe it or not, after about one month of hard work, I was ready to publish a 190-page book based upon my website, Teen-Beauty-Tips.com.

How did I do it? I followed eight simple steps!

The Nuts and Bolts of Publishing My First Book

Step #1: To get started, I assembled my first draft based on the best articles from my website. Once I selected the articles, I decided on an outline for my book and formatted the content into chapters.

Step #2: I then decided on a book title, "Mirror Mirror…Am I Beautiful? Looking Deeper to Find Your True Beauty," and began the process of copying and pasting the text of my articles into a Microsoft Word template.

Step #3: Next, I converted my Word document into a PDF file using the free edition of PDF995 (to do this click on properties, then advanced option and select the "statement [5.5 X 8.5] " from the drop-down menu for the paper format).

Step #4: Since I was working on a very low budget, I decided I would use a DIY design approach and used Photoshop to create my book cover.

Step #5: After more research on self publishing, I decided to use CreateSpace (affiliated with Amazon), to publish my book. Why? Well, there are no upfront costs, they list you quickly with Amazon and I can buy books for less than $4 each to sell at events.

Step #6: Finally, I was ready to upload my files and order my proof copy! My 190-page black and white soft cover book cost a mere $3.13 + shipping, with the help of the Createspace Pro Plan.

Although the Pro Plan requires a one-time fee of $39, followed by a $5 annual fee, these small fees are well worth it! With the Pro Plan you gain significantly higher royalties and can also buy copies at a much lower cost to sell at events. Therefore, I highly recommend the Pro Plan for anyone interested in self publishing with Createspace.

Step #7: What a great feeling to self publish my first book! I immediately began selling copies online through my website and at speaking events.

Step #8: My final step was to create other versions of the same book. I chose to offer it digitally as a PDF eBook and give a free copy away to my newsletter subscribers. In a very small niche-Christian teen girls-this has helped to build my list to almost 3500 subscribers in a relatively short period of time.

I also recorded an audio version of my book using the free software, Audacity, and a $30 microphone. Once the audio files were completed, I began selling the MP3 downloads of the book through ClickBank and the CD version of the audio book using Kunaki. With Kunaki, I can buy CD’s for as little as $ 1 (+ shipping).

Finally, I expanded my book’s influence by making a version available for the Kindle. To convert my book into the Kindle format, I removed all of the pictures embedded in the Microsoft Word template and saved it in as a HTML document. I then uploaded my book to Kindle Direct Publishing, text and began offering the Kindle version from my website as well. You can see my sales page here.

Do I Make Money Selling Books?

I’ll be honest. In such a small and specialized niche, I’m not getting rich by selling books from my website. However, I am receiving regular paychecks from both online and offline sales. And as my website traffic increases (now over 1000 visitors per day), my sales also increase.

If you want to "make it big" in publishing, I recommend that you hire a professional to design your interior book template and your book cover design. I also recommend hiring a professional editor. After taking the DIY route initially, I did eventually decide to hire a designer to update my book cover.

And finally, if you want to truly self publish, I recommend that you start your own book publishing company and use Lightning Source. Be aware that it does require more time, money and effort upfront. However, in the end, you can earn more in royalties by self publishing through Lightning Source, especially if you want to sell books to international audiences or in bookstores. If you’re interested in using Lightning Source, I recommend reading a book by Dan Poynter called, "The Self Publishing Manual" to help guide you step by step.

You Can Do It!

Since you’ve already invested so much time and energy into writing your website or blog, why not take a little extra time and get the most from your content by repurposing it into a self published book? Follow my eight simple steps and you, like me, will soon be selling physical products like paperback books, audio CD’s as well as digital products like Kindle books, PDF eBooks and MP3 downloads from your website.

Are You Ready to Get Started?

If so, I recommend that you go and download my free book templates and then sign up for a free Createspace account. It costs you nothing and yet provides you with an easy action step toward achieving your goal of getting published.

And have fun…soon you’ll be a published author.

Shelley Hitz is an entrepreneur, author and speaker. Her website, Self Publishing Coach, provides resources and tutorials that help you publish and market your book. Discover 200+ free book marketing and author tools in Shelley Hitz’s 36-page free report. You can also find Shelley on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

The Three Essentials Of A Great Acknowledgements Page

by

1. Make It The Appropriate Size

Your book’s acknowledgements page will play an important role in the critical and financial success of your book. Therefore, it is essential that you do not skimp on the quality of information and quantity of time that you need to put into this section. Do not listen to those that tell you to keep this section “short and sweet”. There is no such rule about “keeping it down to one page”, or else you risk “boring your readers”. This is nonsense. If your non-fiction book is on the short side, maybe a few paragraphs are enough. A much longer non-fiction book will almost certainly need a longer acknowledgments section. You need to plan this section with some serious thought while you are developing, writing, and building your book.

2. Find A Good One To Emulate

With some research in your library and on the internet, you will be able to find some acknowledgements pages that are done correctly and certainly look like they should have a beneficial impact on the book’s success. Acknowledgements pages in too many non-fiction books are poorly planned and not well written. When you see one that is done correctly, you will notice it immediately. It will look, sound, and feel like it is talking to you with respect, and show you, the reader, how much effort the author put into making his book.  It will pull you into the book, and give you an inside look at what went into building that book. As you read it, it will make an emotional connection with you, and you will want to know more about that book and about the author. This is a good acknowledgments page to emulate.

3. Do Not Be Superficial

Making superficial statements about your spouse supporting you while you were writing your book, or your hard-working editor, or favorite professor in college, or the famous author you met for thirty seconds, will not help you or your book be a success. Making superficial statements about anyone will instantly make your readers realize that you are superficial, and not treating your book, the book’s subject matter, or the reader, with respect. You must give your readers an honest, sincere, and insightful view into who and what went into making your book come to life. It is your job as an author to write this section in a narrative format and in such a way as to keep it interesting. Show your readers all the wonderful and interesting and productive people that helped you make your book a success – and worth reading.

This article was written by Joseph C. Kunz, Jr. and originally posted on KunzOnPublishing.com.

 

Top Posts of 2011: Lightning Source – Reviewed

by

This post originally appeared on Publetariat on 6/3/10 and has had 3129 unique pageviews since then. It’s been one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

Lightning Source (LSI 268.40) has become synonymous with authors pursuing what is described as ‘true self-publishing—whereby an author sets up their own imprint, purchases a block of ISBN’s and uses Lightning Source’s global print and fulfilment services to publish and make their books available for distribution.

 

“Lightning Source, an Ingram Content Group company, is the leader in providing a comprehensive suite of inventory-free on-demand print and distribution services for books to the publishing industry. Lightning Source gives the publishing community options to print books in any quantity, one to 10,000 (POD or offset print runs), and provides its customers access to the most comprehensive bookselling channel in the industry in both the United States and the United Kingdom.”

Founded in 1997, with its headquarters in La Vergne, Tennessee, Lightning Source is a subsidiary of Ingram Industries Inc., and a sister company of U.S. book wholesaler, Ingram Book Group. Lightning Source quickly established itself as the global leader for print-on-demand book printing and fulfilment services with massive operations in their La Vergne base and their plant in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom. The Lightning Source digital library database holds over 750,000 books and has built lasting partnerships with Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Gardners. LSI’s strength is the flexibility to print and ship a single copy of a print-on-demand book or several thousand copies.

LSI has become so synonymous with POD (print-on-demand) that authors often lump the global print solutions provider in with so-called self-publishing companies like Lulu and CreateSpace. LSI is neither a POD publisher nor an author solutions service. They are a global digital printer for the publishing industry, but due to the explosion in self-publishing, they now deal directly with authors wishing to utilize their services. However, dealing with LSI directly requires a new account holder to verify that they have registered blocks of ISBN’s under a publishing imprint name and they provide an accessible bank account and sign a commercial contract with them.

Working with LSI as a publisher or author does require a reasonable hands-on knowledge of book creation software and the proficiency to provide and load-up print ready files to industry print standards directly to their website. This is not a service that should be used by the faint-hearted or novice author and I would strongly suggest that previous experience in self-publishing and book design is required, or contracted out to a professional prior to attempting to submit a book file to LSI’s database. My own experience with LSI reveals a company laden with online tutorials and guidance, a strong commercial customer focus, but a professionalism that means they are not available for hand-holding. This is one of the reasons their website is packed with the necessary information an author might need; from technical book specifications, a spine width calculator, and a step-by-step manual. The actual process of loading up a book file to LSI can be mastered with a degree of study, patience and attention to detail—by no means beyond any computer-savvy author.

https://www.lightningsource.com/covergenerator.aspx
https://www.lightningsource.com/spinecalc.aspx
https://www.lightningsource.com/tutorials/tutorials_title_set_up.aspx
https://www.lightningsource.com/ops/files/pod/LSI_FileCreationGuide.pdf
 

“Thank you for your interest in Lightning Source.

If you are a publisher…

… and want to become a customer please proceed to our New Account page.

Please note that Lightning Source does not provide design, file work, editorial, promotional or marketing services. These are solely the responsibility of the publisher.


If you are not a publisher…

… and require publisher services, like design, editorial and marketing services, please contact an author services company.”

 
Lightning Source, in the following benefit section, explain the Print to Order and Print to Publish programs they offer – meaning the author or small press operator has the option to utilize LSI’s print and distribution services or simply use their print facilities.

Print to Order

With this service the publisher sets the retail price, wholesale discount and return policy.

We send the data out to our Distribution partners (including leading distributors such as Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com and others).

They capture the demand from booksellers, libraries and consumers and we print to fill the order.

We collect the wholesale price, deduct the print cost and pay the publisher the balance.

The price for this service is $12.00 a year per title. Just one dollar a month.

B&N purchases through Ingram Book Group.

As you know Lightning Source titles are listed in the Print-to-Order program – an exclusive service that allows Ingram to display 100 copies on hand at all times. As part of this arrangement, and to avoid book buyers from having to backorder, we at Lightning Source guarantee books ordered by Ingram will be printed and returned to their shipping dock within 8 – 12 hours, generally in time to be included in the book buyer’s regular order.

Print to Publisher
 
With this program we fill orders placed by the publisher and ship them in any quantity to any location. That can be one book to a reviewer or 5,000 to a warehouse.

As part of that service we offer Offset printing on paperback quantities of over 2,000 or hardback quantities of over 750.

Turn around time on digital printing is days, turn around time of offset is about 7-10 days depending on the books specifics.

Offset printing
 
Offset printing isn’t a component of Print to Order.
 
We also offer traditional printing services for titles that require large print orders.

In effect, dealing directly with LSI, is simply cutting out the middle-man—or in this case the author solutions services who use LSI, like Lulu, Outskirts Press, Xulon, Xlibris, and hundreds of others. The difference is—the author will pay $75 for title set-up ($37.50 each for interior and cover files). You are also required to purchase a proof copy and you are charged $12 per year to keep the title in LSI’s database. One important detail authors should be wary of is the LSI submission load-up fee of $40. This does not apply to the first submission load-up, but does apply on any subsequent file revisions after the proof is delivered. This is why I believe LSI is really only for the seasoned self-publisher, familiar with working with print ready PDF files. Print charges for POD books are set out below, and taking our normal 200 page colour cover and black and white interior as an example, her is how it plays out:
 

PRINT CHARGE EXAMPLE

$0.90 per unit $0.90
+ 200 pages x $0.013 per page $2.60
Total print charge per unit $3.50
 
Authors buying copies of their book directly from LSI only pay for the book at print cost—there are no mark-ups or built in fees imposed by LSI. The author, when setting up a title, decides what retail discount should be given, but LSI advises not to go below 20%. However, some retailers may expect far more discount (up to 55% – Amazon) before they will even consider stocking your book.
 
In light of the above costs – pause for a moment – and just consider what fees other POD publishers/printers will try to charge authors. Yes, sometimes the fees charged by other author solutions services can be in the thousands, and often, the author is getting little more than a printed book made available online.
 
When it comes to royalties—LSI don’t do a ‘Mill City Press’. You really do get 100% profit following the subtraction of print cost and retailer discount.
Returns Program
The decision to make a book returnable lies with the author/publisher, and significantly, LSI do not charge a fee for this service. Why should they? Returned books will be subtracted off author/publisher payments. This is one area which should really highlight to authors using author solutions services, and paying anything up to $500 for a returns program, just how much authors can be gouged on profits when the POD publishing middle-men muscle in on the business of publishing.
 
Online Distribution and Availability
Provided an author ensures their book is listed with Nielsens Books in Print, using LSI, who are owned by Ingram in the US, you are, for the most part, getting exactly the same promised distribution that you get with Lulu, CreateSpace’s Pro-Plan or AuthorHouse (AUH 222.38), or most other POD author solutions services.
 
Yes, you will have to look after all the promotion and marketing of your book, but the reality is, many POD publishers actually use their affiliation with LSI/Ingram as if that in itself was the gateway to heaven. It is not—but it is no more or no less than you as an author are getting from most other author solutions services.
 
Lightning Source may be a bridge too far for some authors, unfamiliar with preparing book files for a printer, but for the charges and gouging practices engaged by some author solutions services, it may actually be worth the effort to pause and contemplate crossing that bridge.
 
Frankly, LSI’s reputation as a digital printer and fulfilment service is not in question—they are also used by the world’s leading mainstream publishers just as much by author solutions service providers. Bluntly, if you are not using a service like LSI, Lulu (LUL 244.75) or CreateSpace (CSP 256.21) for printing and making your book available—you must think beyond the production of your book—and ask what exactly it is any other company is providing you with, beyond what the above companies do economically.
 
RATING: 8.5/10
 

This is a cross-posting from Mick Rooney‘s The Independent Publishing Magazine.

Top Posts of 2011: Self-Publishing Resource Roundup

by

This post originally appeared on Publetariat on 5/12/11 and has received 1773 unique pageviews since then, making it one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

Since Publetariat’s launch a bit over three years ago, the site has become a trusted resource and thriving community for indie authors and small imprints. For that, I thank each and every one of you. It’s also become a favorite haunt for writers who are considering going the self-pub route, but don’t feel quite ready to come out of the shadows and stake a claim to a readership independently. To them, I offer this roundup of particularly useful articles and resources for those just starting out.

Choosing A Self-Publishing Service Provider

Mick Rooney’s POD, Self-Publishing and Independent Publishing made its name on its analysis and reviews of various service providers, and continues to post service provider reviews and commentary about them on a regular basis.

Over on their Greene Ink blog, Stephen Wayne Greene and Meredith Greene offer the recent results of a survey they’ve taken among indie authors, asking which service provider the authors preferred and why.

Considering Lightning Source? See this case study over on the Foner Books blog.

Joel Friedlander explains what a subsidy publisher is, and why you shouldn’t work with one, on his The Book  Designer site.

This free, sample lesson I wrote for Publetariat Vault University will help you crunch the numbers when comparing service providers, and I’ve made these worksheets I designed for my book, The Indie Author Guide: Self-Publishing Strategies Anyone Can Use, available online as a free pdf download, too.


Getting Your Book Ready For Print—or Ebook—Publication

Editing – there are LOTS of articles and tips on editing right here on Publetariat. Whether you’re looking for DIY editing tips, guidance on when and how to work with a professional editor, or how to find and hire a freelance editor, you’re sure to find what you’re looking for.

Joel Friedlander offers a kind of crash course in self-publishing on his The Book Designer site, from Getting Ready to Publish, to Planning Your Book, Understanding Fonts & Typography, and Making Print Choices. 

Joel also offers this post on Ebooks &  Ebook Readers, and I’ve made my Indie Author Guide to Kindle Publishing and my Kindle Publishing Workshop (from the Writer’s Digest Business of Getting Published conference, 2010) available as free pdf downloads on this page of the Indie Author Guide companion website. 

Author Platform and Book Promotion

You’ll want to visit Dana Lynn Smith’s The Savvy Book Marketer site for lots of great articles on book and author promotion, with a particular focus on using new media and social media.

Also be sure to check out Joanna Penn’s The Creative Penn, where you’ll find excellent how-tos on subjects like podcasting and making your own book trailer, as well as plenty of insight and firsthand accounts from Joanna herself regarding her own experiences as an author and speaker.

Once again, Publetariat has you covered with its own treasure trove of articles on author platform and book promotion.

Indie Audio

So you wanna learn how to turn your manuscript into an audiobook, and maybe release that audiobook in podcast form and make it available online for free? Podiobooks is the place to start. They’ve got a large and helpful community, a mentoring program, and excellent tutorials, all for free.

So you wanna release your indie book on audio and sell it? Audible has just announced its ACX.com service, which will allow you to do just that. Hey, if it’s good enough for authors like Neil Gaiman and MJ Rose, and Random House, it might just work for you, too.

Community, Support, and Motivation

The Association of Independent Authors is there for you, with resources, online discussion forums, and news from around the globe that affects indie authors.

If you just need a good old fashioned kick in the pants to get you motivated and excited about the possibilities of going indie, or need to feel like you’re not all alone out there in the indie wilderness, there’s hardly a better source than Zoe Winter’s Weblog. Whether she’s talking about her own struggles and successes, her writing, publishing and book launch approaches, or commenting on the state of publishing in general, Zoe tells it like it is and pulls no punches.

Mark Barrett’s Ditchwalk is another excellent stop, where you’ll find a mix of commentary and reportage on Mark’s own adventures in the world of indie authorship.

Finally, Publetariat’s got an extensive library of articles on the topics of motivation, writer’s block and the writing life.

Now get out there and do it!

 

April L. Hamilton is an author and the founder and Editor in Chief of Publetariat.

Top Posts of 2011: 11 Resources To Make Editing Your Novel Easier

by

This post originally appeared on Publetariat on 6/7/11 and has received 1968 unique pageviews since then, making it one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

As if learning the craft of writing a novel isn’t difficult enough, after it’s finished you’ll need to edit it. If you’re going to be traditionally published, you’ll probably work with an editing staff to make your work marketable.

But before it gets to that point, you have to get it past the slush pile – that means doing a lot of self-editing first.

Of course, you may choose to go the indie author route and self-publish. No need to rise out of a slush pile, just a need to catch a reader’s eye out there in the big world. Sounds pretty simple.

But before you catch a reader’s eye (and you want to make a good impression, yes?), you need to have a great story – that means doing a lot of self-editing and perhaps hiring a professional as well.

No matter what you do, if you want to be read and have those readers give you great reviews, spread the word and buy your other books, you have to face the red pen. You must edit your manuscript.

Thankfully there are many resources available to help from blogs to books to videos. Here are 11 resources that will make editing just a little easier on you.

  1. Editing Your Novel: High Level Story Read Through by Joanna Penn – In this video, with transcript, Joanna explains some of the process she went through editing her first draft of Pentecost from weaving in back story to checking for consistency.
  1. A Perfectionist’s Guide to Editing: 4 Stages by Jami Gold – In this blog post Jami narrows our focus from revising the big picture to nailing down those pesky words that need to be just a little stronger.
  1. Proofreading & Editing Tips: A compilation of advice from experienced proofreaders and editors – This article is just what it says, a list of tips from general proofing to content editing.
  1. Copy-Editing And Beta Readers by Joanna Penn – In this blog post Joanna shares how she worked with beta readers and what benefits she found from their feedback.
  1. No Really: Kill Your Clichés by Leslie Wilson – This blog post takes a humorous look at how clichés can hurt your writing.
  1. Do You Copy? Tips on Copy Editing Your Own Work by Janice Hardy – In this blog post Janice shares several concrete examples of common problems such as tense issues, parallel series difficulties and ambiguous pronouns.
  1. Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing by Mignon Fogarty – In this book Mignon helps writers understand complex grammar concepts by using simple examples and memory devices.
  1. 10 Actions You Can Take to Improve Your Proofreading by Randall Davidson – This blog post is rather on the nose with simple tips that include slowing down, reading out loud and asking for help.
  1. 10 Grammar Rules You Can (and Should!) Ignore! By Tracy O’Connor – In this blog post Tracy gives us permission to break those “hard and fast rules” like split infinitives and ending a sentence with a preposition… only when it makes the writing sound natural, of course.
  1. A Good Edit Would’ve Fixed That by April Hamilton – In this blog post April gives several concrete examples of how to fix problems such as using internal monologue for omniscient exposition.
  1. 5 Essential Tips on Self-Editing by Catherine Ryan Hyde – In this blog post Catherine reminds writers to use spell check, but don’t rely on it, as well as four other very useful tips.

Editing is unavoidable and can be painful, but it doesn’t need to be impossible. These are only a few of the resources I’ve found. What about you? What resources and tips have you picked up as you’ve gone through the editing process?

 

This is a reprint from Virginia Ripple‘s The Road to Writing.

Top Posts of 2011: The Truth About Createspace's Free ISBNs

by

This post originally appeared on Publetariat on 4/14/09, and has received 6296 unique pageviews since then. It’s been one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

If you’ve heard about dire consequences of accepting the free ISBN offered by CreateSpace, or that those free ISBNs aren’t "real" ISBNs, you’re just hearing misinformation perpetuated by people who don’t understand what ISBNs are all about, who’ve never used CS’s services, and/or who have an axe to grind against CS.

 
 
The ISBN: A Mainstream Tracking Tool
 
The ISBN system was developed in 1966 to facilitate the creation of a single, standardized method publishers, booksellers and libraries could all use to track books.
 
Prior to the advent of the ISBN system, each publisher, bookseller and library had its own, internal tracking system, and none of those systems could easily share information with one another. This didn’t pose much of a problem until the mass-market paperback was introduced by PocketBooks in 1939. Prior to that time, only hardcover books were available to buy and they were very expensive; booksellers didn’t tend to move a lot of copies per month, and it wasn’t too difficult to track those sales or report them back to publishers.  
 
Despite the huge popularity of the paperback book, bookstores snobbishly refused to stock them until the 1950’s, seeing them as somehow inferior to the hardcovers on their store shelves. Nevertheless, millions of copies were flying off the racks at bus stations, drug stores and markets, and the need for some kind of standardized tracking system soon became apparent. 
 
From Wikipedia:
The International Standard Book Number, or ISBN , is a unique, numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering (SBN) code created by Gordon Foster, now Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H. Smith and others in 1966.
 
An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation (except reprintings) of a book. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned after January 1, 2007, and 10 digits long if assigned before 2007.
 
Generally, a book publisher is not required to assign an ISBN, nor is it necessary for a book to display its number [except in China]. However, most book stores only handle ISBN-bearing merchandise.
 
How Important Are ISBNs, Really?
 
Over time, the ISBN has come to be associated with legitimacy in book publishing, since all mainstream-published, hard copy books have ISBNs and the ISBN system has been adopted industry-wide. The claim that a book without an ISBN cannot be stocked by any library or retailer is a myth, however. The fact that an ISBN makes it easier for them to keep track of their books makes them reluctant to work with books lacking ISBNs, but this is a matter of choice on the part of the retailer or library, not a rule backed by law or regulation. This is why indie booksellers are able to stock chapbooks and other books lacking ISBNs.
 
ISBNs are only important to the extent publishers, libraries and retailers rely upon them. For example, since the ISBN system hasn’t been uniformly applied nor enforced where ebooks and audiobooks are concerned—probably because publishers have never believed ebooks or audiobooks will ever comprise a significant piece of the publishing pie—, ISBNs are considered entirely optional for books in those formats.  
 
Are CreateSpace’s Free ISBNs "Real"?
 
R.R. Bowker is the official U.S. ISBN Agency; all ISBNs in the U.S. originate from Bowker, though they can be re-sold once purchased from Bowker.
 
The free ISBNs issued by CS are real ISBNs which CS purchases from Bowker in blocks just like any other publisher. However, when you accept the free ISBN from CS, CS remains the registered owner of that ISBN—ISBN ownership is not transferred to you.
 
Registered ISBN Ownership – Why Does It Matter? 
 
All the false claims I hear about CS books (that they can only be sold on Amazon, that they can’t be listed in Bowker’s or other bookseller catalogs, etc.) stem from the fact that CS remains the registered owner of the free ISBNs it provides. This isn’t as big a deal as it’s made out to be for most individual indie authors, and any author or small publisher who prefers to register her ISBNs in her own name can purchase her own ISBN and barcode block direct from Bowker (as of this writing, it costs US$150) rather than accept the free ISBN from CS.  It’s also worth noting, mainstream authors aren’t the registered owners of their ISBNs either: their publishers are. 
 
Registered ownership of an ISBN only becomes a pertinent issue in three cases: 1) when the book changes publishers/printers, 2) when the publisher or author wants the book added to catalog listings, and 3) in litigation over copyright, publication rights or proceeds from sales.
 
1) ISBNs, Once Registered, Are Non-Transferable
 
Since CS is the registered owner of the free ISBNs it provides, if the author chooses to withdraw his book from CS and publish it elsewhere he must acquire a new ISBN—but this is true of mainstream books as well. 
 
It’s not too likely to happen thanks to contractual obligations, but if Neil Gaiman somehow wrests control of his The Graveyard Book away from Harper and gets a different publisher to put it back into print,  the existing ISBN on the book will remain the property of Harper and the new publisher will have to purchase and assign a new ISBN for their printing of the book. And if that should happen, the old ISBN floating around in the system will cause confusion for people trying to purchase the book; a lookup on the title may point to the old ISBN, and the book published under that ISBN will turn up as "out of print".
 
Even if you elect to withdraw your book from CS and publish it elsewhere for some reason—and let’s face it, once the book is in print and listed for sale, this isn’t a great idea—you didn’t pay anything for CS ISBN so you’re not losing anything by letting go of that ISBN. You’re introducing the possibility of ISBN confusion, but that’s your fault, not CS’s.
 
Some people will protest that a new ISBN must also be acquired if you want to release an updated or revised edition of your CS book, but that’s true for any book within the ISBN system: each edition of any book being offered for mass-market, retail sale in the U.S. must be assigned its own, unique ISBN, regardless of who published it or how. 
 
2) Only The Registered Owner of the ISBN Can Create Catalog Listings
 
Only the registered owner of an ISBN can list the associated book with the Library of Congress, Bowker’s Books In Print (catalog for U.S./Canadian libraries and booksellers), Ingram (another U.S. catalog), or the Nielsen’s catalog (for UK/European libraries and booksellers), and CS elects not to create those listings for any of its ISBNs.
 
Most authors have been told these listings are crucial to their books’ success because libraries and book retailers generally rely on catalogs for all their book orders; if your book isn’t in the catalogs they won’t know it exists, and even if you tell them it exists, they won’t usually order it.
 
They could order direct from CS, but they’re not likely to do so since their entire system of ordering and tracking inventory is based on catalog orders.  Also, orders placed directly with CS aren’t returnable in the same way as books ordered in bulk through catalogs. As a rule, CS books are only returnable if the book is defective or was damaged in transit.
 
However, in my opinion this is a non-issue for the great majority of indie books because libraries and mainstream book retailers aren’t likely to stock our books anyway.
 
It’s true that if your book is listed in the catalogs you can tell potential buyers that your book can be ordered through any bookseller, but if the buyer must place an order for the book (as opposed to picking a copy up off a bookseller shelf), why wouldn’t he place that order on Amazon, where he’ll get it at a lower price and may be able to get free shipping as well?
 
I’m also fairly confident the big, chain bookstore is an endangered species (I blogged about it: Big Chain Bookstore Death Watch), so in my opinion there’s little point in spending much time, money or effort on courting them.
 
There’s one important caveat here. When you publish through CS, an Amazon listing is automatically included as part of the publishing process for free, though you can choose to opt out of the listing. Listings on Amazon’s international sites are not included. In order to get your book listed on any of those sites you must register your book with the Nielsen’s catalog (it’s free), and in order to register with Nielsen’s, you must be the registered owner of your book’s ISBN. 
 
3) ISBNs Are Important In Court
 
Being the registered owner of the ISBNs affords you certain legal protections as a publisher, and helps to establish copyright in the U.S. in cases where copyright hasn’t been registered separately. That’s why the one case where even I think it’s definitely worthwhile to buy your own ISBN/bar code blocks direct from Bowker is if you’re running, or forming, your own small imprint. 
 
Does CS Recycle ISBNs?
 
With respect to the hysteria surrounding CS’s recycling of its ISBNs, that’s all it is: hysteria. So long as your book remains with CS, the assigned ISBN remains with your book. It’s true that when an author withdraws his book from CS after the ISBN has been assigned, CS may re-assign the ISBN to a new book. However, this isn’t the nefarious practice so many naysayers make it out to be.
 
5/4/09 Correction: According to Amanda Wilson, CreateSpace’s Public Relations Manager, CreateSpace does not, and never has, re-assigned its ISBNs. If an author accepts the free ISBN and subsequently removes her book from CreateSpace, the ISBN assigned to her book will go out of circulation.
 
ISBN re-use would definitely be a problem for books listed in any of the mainstream catalogs, because anyone looking up a book by ISBN might get the book to which the ISBN was originally assigned, or the book to which the ISBN was re-assigned. In fact, re-use of ISBNs is strictly prohibited in those listings. I also previously discussed the issue of ISBN confusion on out-of-print books.  
 
Even so, this is not an issue for authors who accept the free CS ISBN because only the registered owner of the ISBN can list the associated book with any catalog services, and CS chooses not to do so. Remember, if those listings are important to an author he can purchase his own ISBN and barcode block direct from Bowker. 
 
Mainstream Concerns Aren’t Always Shared By Indies
 
Most of the worries about CS’s ISBN practices are based on mainstream publishing and book distribution models, which are largely inapplicable to individual indie authors.
 
Since I only publish my own books and wish to remain "out and proud" about my indie status, I elected not to form my own imprint, and I also elected to leave CS listed as the publisher for my books. I have no plans to withdraw my books from CS, and can’t really think of any reason why I might want to do so in the future. I don’t care about getting my books listed in the mainstream catalogs, since I find it’s much easier (and less expensive) to drive buyers to my Amazon listings than it would be to drive them into brick-and-mortar stores.
 
7/27/10 Update: After I published my books with them, Createspace instituted a strict policy whereby Createspace is not to be listed as the publisher anywhere in or on Createspace-produced books; either the author or company/imprint name (if applicable) is to be listed as the publisher of record.
 
True, my books aren’t visible to book buyers outside the U.S., but since I never planned any big international marketing push, nor to release my books in foreign language translations, international listings haven’t been a priority for me to date. Mainstream booksellers will often hold back on international releases of first editions from all but their most popular and bestselling authors as well, so I’m not alone in taking the conservative approach.  I may elect to purchase my own ISBN/bar code blocks when publishing future editions, but on my first editions there was no reason for me to refuse CS’s free ISBNs and I suspect the same is true of most indie authors. 
 
An Opposing Viewpoint
 
In the interests of fair play and full disclosure, I’m providing a link to Walt Shiel’s discussion of ISBNs on his View From The Publishing Trenches blog. Mr. Shiel is adamant in his belief that ISBNs should only be registered to the author or an imprint, and that ISBNs should never be re-used.
 
Note that Mr. Shiel comes from a background in mainstream publishing however. In my estimation, all the arguments he offers are either based on assumptions or realities that are only applicable to the mainstream publishing/bookseller world, or warn against potential problems that are no more likely to crop up for an indie book with the free CS ISBN than for a mainstream-published book with an ISBN registered to the publisher. For example, Mr. Shiel talks about how the author must return to whomever is the registered ISBN owner for subsequent print runs of his book—but the concept of print runs isn’t applicable to POD books, ebooks or digital audiobooks.
 

Click here to share this on Twitter!

April L. Hamilton is an author and the founder of Publetariat. 

 

Top Posts of 2011: How To Lose Fans And Alienate Visitors

by

This post originally appeared on Publetariat on 9/6/09. It’s received 2179 unique pageviews since it first appeared, and was one of the most popular posts this year.

Hi, Joe or Jane Author. My name is…well, it doesn’t really matter what my name is, all that matters is I’ve just signed up for your newsletter, or started visiting your site or blog, or registered for membership on your site, or started following you on Twitter, or friended you on Facebook or MySpace or FriendFeed or Goodreads or LibraryThing or something similar. This should be the start of a wonderful relationship, in which you share useful and amusing information with me and I sing your praises to everyone I know, buy your books, register for your webinars and show up to your speaking engagements. So far, so good.

Now here’s how to f**k it up.

 

Bombard me with emails. When I signed up for your newsletter, Helpful Tips or the like, unless you specified otherwise at the time I signed up, I’m expecting to hear from you no more frequently than once a week. And in all honesty, if your messages take longer than about five minutes to read, I won’t. Between my job, my family commitments, my social commitments, my own reading and writing, and the fall TV schedule ramping up again, I don’t have time to wade through your too-frequent or too-lengthy missives.

Bait and switch me. It might surprise you to learn that when I signed up for your newsletter or Helpful Tips I was expecting to receive…wait for it…news or Helpful Tips, NOT advertising messages. It’s fine to have a one- or two-line sales pitch at the end of your email, or to send out the occasional message about your upcoming book or speaking engagement, but the rest of your content better be worth my time and attention. Look at it this way: would you read a magazine that had nothing but full-page ads in it? If your favorite TV show suddenly started consisting of 80% ads and 20% show, would you keep watching it?

Son of bait and switch me. If you’ve promoted your free webinar, ebook, members-only site, newsletter or whatever else you’ve got as Twenty Surefire Strategies to accomplish some goal, and I sign up, I’m expecting to receive…you guessed it: Twenty Surefire Strategies. When you give me a series of sales pitches for twenty fee-based products or services from you and your affiliates instead, I tend to conclude you’re a lying liar.

Return of the son of bait and switch me. Goodreads, LibraryThing, Shelfari and other reader community sites are places where people share their reactions to books they’ve read and engage in discussions about all things book-related, generally from a reader’s perspective. If the only books on your virtual shelf are those you’ve written yourself, or if you’ve got a variety of books on display but reserve your gushiest reviews for your own work, it’s obvious you’re using the site as a marketing outlet. Way to give new authors everywhere a bad name.

Bait and switch me, the revenge. It’s great that you’re branching out into new areas, or already operating in multiple areas, but don’t assume I want to branch out with you. I signed up for your Sci Fi Wonks site because I enjoy science fiction in general, and yours in particular. Imagine my surprise (and annoyance) when I also started receiving emails from your Gory Horrors site. And your Renaissance Romance N’ Ribaldry site. And your [insert religious affiliation here] Inspiration Of The Day site. And your eBay store. Bonus question: how angry do you think I was to find there were no “unsubscribe” links in any of the unwanted emails?

Bait and switch me, the final chapter. I understand I may need to provide my email address when posting a comment on your blog or site, because it protects you from spammers and hackers. And of course, if I’ve used the Contact form to send you a remark or question off-site, you need my email address to respond to me. But neither of these actions gives you the right to add me to your mailing list. Even if you’ve added some verbiage to your site pages to indicate that’s what you’ll do anytime someone enters his or her email address anywhere on your site, since that’s not how upstanding and honest most sites operate, if you want to avoid any appearance of bait-and-switchery you need to have a separate page just for mailing list signups.

Bait and switch me, the remake. Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, MySpace and other social networking sites are intended for…seriously, do I have to say it? Social networking. Not marketing or sales pitches. If most (or worse, all!) of your tweets, status updates or blog entries are only there to promote yourself or your work, you’re wasting my time. Just like I said about signing up for your newsletter or Helpful Tips, I wasn’t expecting to get a steady stream of advertising.

Are you beginning to sense a common thread? When I’m getting a lot of quality content from you, I don’t mind getting a modicum of advertising and promotion too. Sometimes I’m truly glad to hear about your new book, service or product, especially if I’m getting a special discount, premium edition or access to material or events not made available to the general public. But the moment the balance between content and advertising tips in the direction of advertising, I’m out. The moment I start thinking you’ve abused my trust, I’m out AND spreading the word. So please, don’t make me tweet angry.

 

April L. Hamilton is the founder and Editor in Chief of Publetariat. This is a cross-posting from her Indie Author blog.

 

Top Posts of 2011 – The End Is Near: Four Ways To End A Short Story

by

This post originally appeared on Publetariat on 4/15/10, and has received 3905 unique pageviews since then. It’s been one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

"This is the end. My only friend, the end. Of our elaborate plans, the end"
– from "The End" by The Doors, 1967

In my humble opinion, that song is one of the truly great rock songs. The mixture of pleasure and pain it describes applies to more than just lost love and killers and death. Sometimes when we writers are working on a story, finishing the story can be bittersweet, or even just plain bitter. And sometimes we get near the end and we have no idea how to finish it, especially with a short story. In this post, I’ve outlined four possible ways to effectively end a short story.

 

There are more ways to end a story other than these four of course. And there is often overlap between the different ways. But if you are stuck, a look at these may help unstick you. Even if you aren’t stuck, they may give you some ideas. Anyway, here they are:

The Twist Ending

Add something a bit unexpected right near the end. If you have listened to or read Edward G. Talbot, you’ll know that we like to end stories this way. It works for many genres. The one thing you have to be careful about is not making it too unexpected so the reader feels like you just threw it in there. The reader needs to feel that it’s consistent with everything else in the story

There are so many ways to implement this concept. You see it all the time in suspense movies. Jeffrey Deaver is a master of this with his thrillers. A really good example is in James Patterson’s second Alex Cross thriller, Kiss The Girls. The killer turns out to be the FBI agent who was working the case. It’s just possible enough that the reader buys it and feels a chill at the betrayal.

The twist can also be subtle. My friend and fellow podcaster Scott Roche recently released an e-book short story called Bitter Release about a soldier trapped in a cave with only memories and a case of absinthe. Roche gives us a subtle twist literally in the last line that ties the surreal feel of the story together very effectively. I can’t say more without spoiling the story.

The Resolving Action

In action, mystery, thriller, and suspense genres, this is probably the most common ending. The line between a resolving action and a twist ending can be blurry, but a resolving action to my mind tends to be more expected, more like a traditional climax. This can be a major action like a bombing or a killing, or it can be something simple that punctuates the story.

A good example is in Tom Clancy’s "Debt of Honor", where a plane crashes into a joint session of Congress, making Jack Ryan the President. That’s one serious resolving action. Or in our own audiobook New World Orders we resolve the chase that has at one level been going on for the entire book. I won’t give the details, but it definitely ends with a Resolving Action.

On the other hand, you could have a story where a woman has killed an abusive husband and is struggling with guilt and the story could end with some symbolic gesture regarding letting go of it. That is a bit of a cliche, but it wouldn’t seem like it if done right. You get the idea.

The "Story" ends itself

This is very common in literary stories. Ask yourself, "What is the story I am telling the reader?" Stephen King in his book on writing talks about knowing what the story is as the key to all good writing. What is it on a high level that is interesting enough to make people keep reading? The story itself may have a built-in ending.

Seth Harwood uses this technique to perfection in his short story collection A Long Way From Disney. In story after story he has characters or feelings or some tension (or all three) to tell you about, and they end when he has finished telling you that particular story.

Another example is the movie Titanic. There are basically two stories, one how all the characters react to the sinking/tragedy and the other is how that tragedy impacts Jack and Rose, who have fallen in love. The movie ends with Rose casting the necklace away (a resolving action), but it could have simply ended with Rose finishing her tale and the viewers really understanding how that brief time impacted the whole rest of her life.

So once you understand what the story is you are telling, the ending may simply present itself. In some ways it can be easier in a short story because there are usually not very many threads in the story. The flash story that Jason wrote for our Intercast podcast – "Alive" – ends with the main character jumping out of a building. That is no surprise to readers, as the whole story builds to it. You could call it a resolving action, but in this case it’s more of a simple completion of the only place the story could have gone. James Melzer’s ebook story PTS does something similar. Nothing in that story is a surprise, and it ends with action, but again, it’s the only place the story could have gone.

The Intentionally Ambiguous ending

I like this one, but in my opinion it is the hardest to pull off. The problem is that most of the time the reader wants resolution. In a longer work, it’s possible to leave questions unanswered for a sequel, but that’s not the same thing – that’s not really the ending. It generally only works when the "story" is the tension or some interpaly between characters, and the resolution doesn’t matter.

I tried it in my short story "Transition" in the Intercast Audiobook, where the tension between outgoing and incoming U.S. administrations and several different middle eastern governments led to a climax where one group in the U.S. government was about to launch a nuclear strike and another was trying to stop them. The story is about how close we could get to nuclear holocaust with only one or two overt acts leading to it – whether nuclear holocaust actually occurs or not is irrelevant to the story. I actually got a couple of extremely positive comments about how I did this, but I also got one negative for not telling people exactly what happened. This kind of ending will not please everyone, but I do think it can be done effectively.

There are many other ways to end a story, or variations on the above techniques. Tell me about some of your favorites in the comments.

This is a cross-posting from the Edward G. Talbot site.

Top Posts of 2011: The Next 10 Ebook Trends

by

This post originally appeared on the Online Colleges site and is reprinted here in its entirety with that site’s permission. It originally appeared on Publetariat on 8/3/11 and has received 3314 unique pageviews since it first appeared. It’s been one of the most popular posts on Publetariat in 2011.

No matter one’s opinion of ebooks and ebook readers, it’s highly doubtful they’re going to just up and disappear anytime soon. Since they’ve already started infiltrating bookstores, libraries and schools, now makes for a great opportunity to start evolving and better meeting various consumer needs. Exactly how this comes about remains to be seen, obviously, but gadget gurus and digital enthusiasts certainly have some interesting ideas about what ebook trends might start cropping up soon.

 

1. Bundles
Whether packaging a print edition along with the ebook, blending digital versions of an author’s entire oeuvre or organizing reads thematically, many ebook enthusiasts think bundles will inspire quite the popularity surge. The added incentives might very well sway individuals and institutions unsure about whether or not they want to embrace the admittedly expensive technology.

2. Social reading sessions
Online book clubs are actually quite common these days, but ebooks have yet to really seize upon their potential. Beyond offering up discussion questions, readers themselves could include ways for members to communicate with one another via audio or video, or promote even better integration with some of the technologies and organizations already available.

3. Greater interactivity
Ebook users don’t have to set up a book club to enjoy a greatly enhanced reading experience! The digital format allows a far higher degree of interactivity than the traditional paperback, and the potential is limited only by an author’s or programmer’s imagination. Books aimed at young children might especially benefit from this trend — think of how the audience might respond to animations of their favorite illustrations!

4. Authors go straight to ebook publishers
Rather than waiting on their publishing houses to transfer their works over to ebook format, more and more authors are bypassing the traditional system altogether and submitting straight to the producers themselves. And for those looking into self-publishing, pursuing such opportunities may very well mean the difference between floundering in obscurity and hitting the ebook bestseller list.

5. Monetized content
Not everyone will necessarily dig embedded ads in their ebooks, even unobtrusive ones, but that doesn’t mean publishers and companies won’t try to cash in on the technology. All the same, though, monetized content doesn’t have to mean staring down "CLICK HERE!" in the middle of Cat’s Cradle. It could be anything from downloadable content — along the lines of many video games — to subscription services.

6. Different formats for different genres
As ebook readers gain popularity and become more sophisticated, it may come to pass that different genres might end up housed in different technologies. The computerized equivalent of hardcovers versus softcovers, in other words. Kindles and Nooks are excellent for converted novels and nonfiction, but prove a bit too small for textbooks. Larger, more specialized devices could easily come about in order to house "heavier" content.

7. More indie epublishers
With plenty of authors heading straight for ebook publishers and bypassing the usual mainstream channels, now’s an incredible time to be (or even launch) an independent "label." So many talented individuals have excellent stories to tell and research to share, tech-savvy entrepreneurs and editors probably won’t have a difficult time finding viable content. Because if this, it makes perfect sense that more and more digital publishing — and even self-publishing — houses will start springing up.

8. A greater decline in traditional bookstores
Even those without a business degree see Borders’ recent bankruptcy and closing as the death knell for traditional bookstores. Although it may be a bit premature to declare such a thing, the format certainly needs to adapt and change if it hopes to survive. So while the familiar setup might not "die" like Borders, over time it’s going to start looking a lot different. Barnes and Noble, for example, released the Nook in order to compete with the evolving market. As ebooks continue climbing, it and other book carries will have to find new ways to pick up the slack.

9. Increased royalties from ebook sales
Since ebooks are becoming more profitable, authors (not to mention their agents!) will probably want to see more royalties coming in from their availability. Understandably so! If publishers wish to retain their talent — not to mention attract some awesome new names — they’ll have to start paying up for more than just the bound books.

10. Free ereaders?!
It probably sounds insane right now, but the declining cost of ebook readers mean more can be handed out for promotional purposes. Book clubs, publishers and other businesses or organizations might charge consumers a membership or subscription fee, providing the device completely gratis. No different than cell providers receiving money in exchange for air time and comping the phone as an added incentive to sign up, really.

 

Top Posts of 2011: Fair Use Frequently Asked Questions (and Answers)

by

This FAQ, from The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), originally appeared on the EFF site on 3/21/02 and was excerpted and linked on Publetariat on 9/21/10. It has received 4648 unique pageviews since it first appeared and was among the most popular posts on Publetariat this year.

1. What is Fair Use?

In essence, fair use is a limitation on the exclusive rights of copyright holders. The Copyright Act gives copyright holders the exclusive right to reproduce works for a limited time period. Fair use is a limitation on this right. A use which is considered "fair" does not infringe copyright, even if it involves one of the exclusive rights of copyright holders. Fair use allows consumers to make a copy of part or all of a copyrighted work, even where the copyright holder has not given permission or objects to your use of the work.

 

2. How does Fair Use fit with Copyright Law?

Copyright law embodies a bargain: Congress gave copyright holders a set of six exclusive rights for a limited time period, and gave to the public all remaining rights in creative works. The goals of the bargain are to give copyright holders an economic incentive to create works that ultimately benefit society as a whole, and by doing so, to promote the progress of science and learning in society. Congress never intended Copyright law to give copyright holders complete control of their works. The bargain also ensures that created works move into "the public domain" and are available for unlimited use by the public when the time period finishes. In addition, as part of the public’s side of this bargain, U.S. Copyright law recognizes the doctrine of "fair use" as a limitation on copyright holders’ exclusive right of reproduction of their works during the initial protected time period.

The public’s right to make fair use of copyrighted works is a long-established and integral part of US copyright law. Courts have used fair use as the means of balancing the competing principles underlying copyright law since 1841. Fair use also reconciles a tension that would otherwise exist between copyright law and the First Amendment’s guarantee of freedom of expression. The Supreme Court has described fair use as "the guarantee of breathing space for new expression within the confines of Copyright law".

3. How Do You Know If It’s Fair Use?

There are no clear-cut rules for deciding what’s fair use and there are no "automatic" classes of fair uses. Fair use is decided by a judge, on a case by case basis, after balancing the four factors listed in section 107 of the Copyright statute. The factors to be considered include:

  1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes — Courts are more likely to find fair use where the use is for noncommercial purposes.
  2. The nature of the copyrighted work — A particular use is more likely to be fair where the copied work is factual rather than creative.
  3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole — A court will balance this factor toward a finding of fair use where the amount taken is small or insignificant in proportion to the overall work.
  4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work — If the court finds the newly created work is not a substitute product for the copyrighted work, it will be more likely to weigh this factor in favor of fair use.

4. What’s been recognized as fair use?

Read the rest of the FAQ on the EFF site. More in depth information about Fair Use issues can be found at Chilling Effects.