More Authors Take The Initiative in Book Marketing

According to the firm Author Marketing Ideas, the myth of the publisher as marketer is declining, as a growing number of authors realize that marketing their books is part of their job. Whether they are working with traditional publishing houses or self-publishing, more authors are taking the initiative to market their own books. 

AMIBookMarketing

The trend includes well known writers, such as Pulitzer Prize winning playwright and author David Mamet who decided to self-publish his new book. He told The New York Times earlier this year, “Publishing is like Hollywood — nobody ever does the marketing they promise.” So of his new book he says, “I am going to promote the hell out of it, even though I’ll probably make my own mistakes.”

Award winning children’s author Sherrill S. Cannon say that “Writing ‘The End’ is just the beginning for me as an author; once my book is written, I move into sales mode.” Cannon has written five successful children’s books and relies on social media to connect with fans and boost sales. “My publisher Strategic Book Publishing and Rights Agency and their sister company Author Marketing Ideas have helped me tremendously and given a huge boost through services such as video book trailers and press releases. But as an author my job is also to be proactive. I blog and guest blog as well as enter contests and submit my books for reviews.”

“Authors such as Sherrill Cannon are what we see more and more as the new normal,” says Ellen Green, Vice President of Author Marketing Ideas. In addition to offering traditional book-marketing services, AMI also hosts educational webinars for authors who want to market their books on their own. To educate and empower every author, AMI also has a “Free Tips” page on their website.

If statistics about the rise of self-publishing are accurate, there’s a whole lot of book-marketing going on. According to the book data company Bowker, the number of self-published titles increased 59 percent last year, topping 391,000 books, The authors of each of these books is engaged in some form of self-marketing. 

LINKS

Author Marketing Ideas

 

Writer’s Digest Publishes 2014 Guide to Self-Publishing

2014-guide-to-self-publishingWRITERS. Because new resources for self-published authors continue to be introduced, many books about self-publishing are outdated soon after they are published. To correct this problem, Writer’s Digest has introduced a “Guide to Self-Publishing” that will be updated yearly, much like the company’s popular “Writer’s Market,” and “Poet’s Market” books.

In fact, “The 2014 Guide to Self-Publishing” by Robert Lee Brewer  is the first new market book Writer’s Digest has published since they published the 2008 Screenwriter’s Market in 2007.

Whether you plan to publish a print or digital-only version of your book, “The 2014 Guide to Self-Publishing” can help you find the most cost-effective, efficient ways to get the job done. You will learn how to evaluate the indie publishing landscape, create your own marketing plan, and design professional-looking books, The book also includes insights from successful self-published authors.

The 2014 Guide to Self-Publishing lists hundreds of publishing companies, freelance editors, freelance designers, conferences and organizations for networking, and other resources that can help you succeed. The listings include contact information, rates, services, and specialties.

The pay rate chart can help you negotiate with any freelancers you hire to help you with editing, design, or promotion.

LINK

2014 Guide to Self-Publishing

Writer’s Digest Shop: 2014 Guide to Self-Publishing

 

Kobo Writing Life Platform Streamlines Self-Publishing Process

KoboLogoWRITERS.To avoid the extra step of converting your manuscript from a Word or RTF document into an ePub file, you can now create and edit your book directly within the Kobo Writing Life self-publishing platform. Kobo’s WYSIWYG text editor helps ensure that the layout and formatting of the file will accurately translate the way you intend. If you do need to tweak or update ePub file that is automatically created from your text, you can do so without conversion tools and additional editing software.

“We built Kobo Writing Life by listening to what authors need and want in a self-publishing tool, and we continue to introduce improvements and updates based on their feedback,” said Mark Lefebvre, Kobo’s Director of Self-Publishing and Author Relations. “Kobo is the only international eReading company to offer authors an open self-publishing service that is author-centric. We help them connect with a global community of readers by making it as easy as possible to create, edit, and publish their work.”

At no cost to the author, Kobo Writing Life titles are published using an intuitive self-service portal. The submission process takes mere minutes, with books published within 24 to 72 hours.

Authors receive royalties of 70 percent on e-books priced between $1.99 and $12.99 and 45 percent for items priced lower or higher than that range.

To help promote and market your work, you can set your book price to “free” at any time without restrictive exclusivity agreements or hidden transaction or download processing fees.

The Kobo Writing Life portal is currently available in English, French, Italian, Spanish, German, and Dutch.

Since Kobo launched the self-publishing platform a year ago, more than 17,600 authors have used KWL to publish more than 100,000 titles. The e-books are available in 184 countries and 54 languages. Kobo Writing Life titles represent more than 10 percent of the company’s unit sales.

Kobo Inc. is one of the world’s fastest-growing eReading services. It offers more than 3.5 million e-books, magazines, and newspapers to millions of customers in 190 countries.

Kobo’s family of e-readers includes the Kobo Touch, Kobo Mini, Kobo Glo, Kobo Aura HD, and Kobo Arc. Kobe offers free e-reading applications for Apple®, BlackBerry®, Android®, and Windows® products.

LINKS

About Kobo

Kobo Writing Life

 

Outskirts Press Offers Flat-Fee Self-Publishing Package for Fiction Writers

OutskirtsPressIf you have finished writing your novel — and can’t wait to see it as a published book — you might be interested in the new One-Click Fiction publishing package from Outskirts Press. For a flat, upfront fee of $3,779, you will get a start-to-finish range of consulting, design, formatting, publishing, printing, and marketing services. The services included in the One-Click Fiction publishing package are available a la carte, but you can save money by purchasing the services in the One-Click bundle.

Here are just a few of the services included in the One- Click Fiction package:

  • Dedicated team of service providers, including a Publishing Consultant, Author Representative, Book Designer, and Personal Marketing Assistant
  • Professional copy editing and cover scribing (writing copy for the back cover)
  • Custom designed book cover and interior
  • Paperback edition
  • Official copyright registration, Library of Congress number, barcode and private label ISBN
  • Electronic, digital and mobile editions, including Amazon Kindle and Barnes and Noble Nook editions
  • Press release distribution
  • Unlimited distribution on demand to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s Book-A-Million and scores of the world’s top booksellers!

Outskirts Press offers self-publishing and book marketing services for writers and professionals who want a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books while retaining 100% of their rights, 100% of their profits, and 100% of the creative control.

Outskirts Press introduced their “One-Click” service in 2012 with a One-Click Publishing package for speakers wanted to build their credibility through authorship. Outskirts Press later expanded the service to authors of children’s books. That bundle includes full-color custom illustrations. Now fiction writers with a ready manuscript can benefit from substantial cost savings on full-service support.

LINKS

Outskirts Press

Outskirts Press: One-Click Publishing for Fiction

Bookbaby Offers Free Guide on Printed Book Design

CoverPrintedBookDesign101WRITERS. Before self-publishing a printed book, check out Bookbaby’s  free guide: “Printed Book Design 101: How to Turn Your Manuscript into a Retail-Ready Printed Book.”

Written by self-publishing expert Joel Friedlander, the guide emphasizes that even if you publish e-books, you may still need some physical copies of your book to sell at readings or other events to give to family, friends, or reviewers. Plus, many people still prefer reading books in printed form.

Even if you plan to outsource the cover design and interior page design, you must know how to instruct the designers and evaluate their work.

Professional-looking printed books are far more complex to prepare than e-books, says Friedlander.. Some details to consider when preparing a book for print are fonts, margins, design templates, and printer specifications.

In Printed Book Design 101, Friedlander walks you through the whole process. He explains how to:

  • Pick the perfect typeface
  • Use book-interior-design principles to enhance the readability of your book
  • Catch the reader’s eye with a well-designed cover

The guide lists common components of a printed book and suggests how to avoid some of the most common mistakes self-published authors typically make.

“It’s very important to make sure you book is put together properly,” writes Friedlander. “Influential people you may be relying on for your book’s success — such as bookstore buyers, reviewers, award committees, agents, and others — are going to notice whether your book conforms to the standard book–trade practices.”

Friedlander is the author of the “A Self-Publisher’s Companion — Expert Advice for Authors Who Want To Publish” and publishes a blog on on his own website TheBookDesigner.com.

Bookbaby offers a wide range of editing, cover design, ebook conversion, book printing, distribution, and website services for self-published authors. The company’s P&E (printed and ebook) Package provide a $100 discount when you add an ebook to your order for printed books.

LINKS

About Bookbaby

Bookbaby: Printed and E-Book Packages

Free Guide: Printed Book Design 101

Joel Friedlander: The Book Designer

A Self-Publisher’s Companion

Word Templates Help Indie Authors Avoid Book Composition Errors

WRITERS. A new website, BookDesignTemplates.com, offers a selection of Microsoft Word templates for creating beautifully designed, industry-standard book designs. The templates can help you avoid rookie mistakes in formatting books for self-publishing.

The templates were created by book designer Joel Friedlander and independent author Tracy R. Atkins to help authors avoid common mistakes such as misplaced page numbers and running heads, no hyphenation, and inconsistent formatting.

“D-I-Y authors might think that their readers don’t care about such things, but think about all of the book professionals who might have something to say about your book,” says Friedlander. “I’m thinking of book buyers, reviewers, distributors, journalists, media bookers, and all the other people you may need for your promotion plans. They’ll see these kinds of errors right away.”

BookDesignTemplates

Some of the templates on the new website are well suited for fiction and memoirs. Other templates are meant for more complex non-fiction books that might include footnotes, tables, bullet points, and diagrams.. The site offers templates for books that will be printed in hard-copy form by print-on-demand services as well as specialized templates for e-book publishing.

With the template, you simply strip out the sample text that comes with the file, and replace it with your own manuscript.

Each template design is a fully formatted Word file with “master” pages for your text, chapter openers, title page, copyright page, and other front matter pages. In addition, you get a “Book Construction Blueprint” that tells you how the parts of a book go together, and the “Template Formatting Guide” to show you how to use the template. Also included are the fonts needed for the template, ready to install on your system, and access to a tutorial library that shows how to put your book together.

Three types of licensing are available, depending on whether you want to use the template for a single book, for multiple books, or to help multiple authors get their books ready to print.

For more information on book design and self-publishing, check out Joel’s blog, The Book Designer or online course The Self-Publishing Roadmap..

LINKS

BookDesignTemplates.com

The Book Designer

The Self-Publishing Roadmap

New Digital Registration Service for Artists and Writers

WriteVaultWrite Vault is a new digital registration service for artists and writers who want to protect their intellectual property before and after gaining copyrights or patents for the work.

For example, writers can use Write Vault to register works-in-progress that they plan to make available for peer review and editing.

When you register a work with WriteVault, you will receive a time-stamped, proof-of-authorship certificate that can serve as admissible evidence in any legal disputes about when a creative project originated. The types of works that can be protected include:

  • articles and academic papers
  • paintings, drawings, illustrations, and sculptures
  • product designs (blueprints and pattern designs)
  • photographs (with watermarks)
  • poems and song lyrics
  • screenplays, stage plays, and teleplays
  • comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels
  • novels, novellas, and short stories

To register a piece of work, create a Member Account and purchase a credit ($10). This will protect one piece of work for 10 years. You will have a 48-hour grace period to make changes to the descriptions of your work, but once a document is uploaded it cannot be manipulated.

Write Vault users can toggle their registrations from “Private” to “Public” making their work accessible to other registered WriteVault Members for feedback. A download history is updated when the work is accessed.

Writer/producer/inventor Lisa Todd regards it as a useful precursor to copyright registration, especially during the revision process when writers continue to make changes to the basic work. Then, you only pay for copyright registration when you are truly “finished” with the work.

WriteVault was created by Stacy Porter and Devin Watson, two writers with experience in independent film and publishing. They share a personal interest in helping artists protect their intellectual property rights in ways that are technologically current, affordable, and easy to use.

LINKS

WriteVault

Frequently Asked Questions about WriteVault