self publishing

UmeNow Offers Crowdfunding for Indie Authors

The private, social-networking website UmeNow has revamped its features to allow crowdfunding for independent authors and other creative professionals. While many sites allow indie authors to start blogs to promote their work and connect with their readers, UmeNow has added the ability for anyone in the world to donate directly to the author.

“We offer independent authors the tools to attract funding from people who want to do more than just purchase one book,” explains UmeNow founder Evelyn Castillo-Bach.  “If someone wants to donate to a promising author so they can pursue other writing projects, UmeNow offers an easy way for this to happen.”

All funding goes directly to the author and donors are not required to have a UmeNow account. Donors are taken directly to the author’s Paypal account page.

The crowdfunding capability is available at no charge to all UmeNow members. The crowdfunding tool appears within the blog section of UmeNow. Whenever an author writes a blog, the donation button can appear on the blog itself, making the crowdfunding process very easy. The only requirement is that the blog must be posted so anyone in the world can see it. If an author selects privacy settings that allow only UmeNow members to view their blog, the author’s ability to raise funds will be limited to site members.

When a member creates a blog page, they can select to display a donation button that directly links to their personal Paypal account. And because tracking and ads are banned from the UmeNow network, authors can be sure that no one else profits by linking into their readers. Authors can also start groups and invite their readers into those groups, or fans can start groups to discuss their favorite books.

UmeNow’s Castillo-Bach understands the needs and interests of indie authors, because she recently published her first e-book, entitled “Champions, Inc.: Powerful Life Principles.”

About UmeNow

Launched in 2011, UmeNow is known for fiercely protecting the privacy rights of its members. All ads, third-party apps, and games are banned to safeguard members from back-door tracking and unauthorized information extraction.

UmeNow was founded on the premise that you should have the right to socialize and connect with your family, friends, and colleagues without giving up your right to privacy. Information you share online shouldn’t be tracked and monitored by advertisers or data collectors and data brokers who want to collect as much information as they can about you to sell or trade with banks, creditors, future employers, insurance companies and others.

The UmeNow network offers a two-tier membership structure. With a free membership, you can enjoy a full-featured, ad-free, social-networking experience, including blogging, a photo gallery, polling, and a personal profile and wall. The premium membership ($6.00 per month) lets you create private, protected group walls for family members or work groups.

LINK

About UmeNow

Exhibit Your Self-Published Book at Four Major Book Fairs

WRITERS. As an independent author, you not only must choose where to publish your book, you must also plan how to promote it. If one of your marketing goals is to have your book seen by publishing-industry professionals, consider the Global Book Tour package offered by Outskirts Press.  The book-exhibition service enables you to have your book seen at some of the largest book fairs and events in the world.

“The cost of traveling to and attending book fairs around the globe can easily add up to several thousand dollars,” said Elise Connors, Manager of Author Support at Outskirts Press.  Their Global Book Tour package ($1299) enables your book to be seen at four major book fairs.

At each show, your book will receive valuable, face-out exposure on a branded shelf with other titles. A representative will be on-hand to personally answer questions about your book and collect leads from booth visitors. All inquiries related to your book will be forwarded to you for personal follow-up after each show.

Here are the four top global book fairs at which Outskirts Press exhibits:

Frankfurt Book Fair: The world’s largest book fair and publishing event is the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany. It attracts more than 250,000 visitors and 7,400 exhibitors from around the world.  The 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair will be held October 10-14. The 2013 event is planned for October 9-13.

London Book Fair: This book fair helps authors connect with over 23,000 publishing professionals from every point in the publishing supply chain. The 2013 London Book Fair is scheduled April 15-17 at the Earl Court Exhibition Centre.

Book Expo of America (BEA) Book Fair:  Organized with the support of associations such as the Association of American Publishers (AAP) and the American Booksellers Association (ABA), this is the largest, most popular industry book fair and publishing event in the United States. The fair attracts more than 2,000 credentialed media personnel and more than 100,000 authors, publishers, agents and buyers. The 2013 fair will be held May 30 through June 1 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York.

Beijing Book Fair: With more than 200,000 attendees, this is the largest, most popular industry book fair and publishing event in China. China represents an enormous opportunity for translations and publishers seeking to feed the surging consumer demand for all types of books. The 2013 Beijing Book Fair will be held August 28 through September 28.

LINKS

About Outskirts Press

Outskirts Press: Global Book Tour

Learn to Promote Your Book on Podcasts and Internet Radio

To learn how to promote your self-published book on podcasts and internet radio shows, check out the new e-book: “Book Promotion Bonanza:  Leverage the Power of Free Publicity to Promote Your Books” by Amy Harrop and Deborah Drum. They wrote the e-book because many self-published authors don’t allocate any funds to promote their e-books.

Promoting a book on a podcast or radio show is a win-win for both the author and the show. In the constant quest to provide fresh and interesting content, many podcast and radio hosts welcome the chance to interview authors of books that will appeal to their listeners.

“Book Promotion Bonanza” reveals how to approach the shows, contact the hosts, and prepare for a successful appearance. Harrop and Drum explain what to say (and what not to say) to get booked as a guest and how to ensure a successful interview, even if you have no media experience.

They recommend creating sample interview questions as well as a detailed spreadsheet that tracks which shows you have contacted.

The e-book also discusses how to set up your own radio show or podcasts and includes a list of shows that are actively searching for authors to promote.

“Book Promotion Bonanza” is available through iBookstore, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble.

LINK

E-Book: Book Promotion Bonanza: Leverage the Power of Free Publicity to Promote Your Books by Amy Harrop and Deborah Drum

 

Read Interviews with Indie Authors about Self-Publishing

A new book can help indie authors find their way through the world of self-publishing and book promotion. In “Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from Successful Self-Published Authors,” Claire and Tim Ridgway talk to 34 top indie authors to learn how they got into self-publishing and how they made their books a success. The authors publish a wide range of genres (science fiction, mystery, romance, comedy, young adult fiction, horror, and non-fiction) and use many different strategies to connect with readers.

“When I began my own journey into self-publishing in February 2012, I found lots of books to help me with the technicalities of self-publishing, but what inspired me and helped make my books successful was reading the stories of authors who’d been there and done it,” explains Claire Ridgway. “I wanted to learn from the masters and find out what tools and techniques they used to ensure success. As my own books hit the bestseller lists, I began to be asked how I’d done it and what advice I could share. That’s when the idea for Interviews with Indie Authors hit me.”

LINKS

Book: Interviews with Indie Authors: Top Tips from Successful Self-Published Authors

Meet the Authors Interviewed in the Indie Authors Book

Amazon Author’s Page About Claire Ridgway

 

Learn How to Write a Book-Announcement News Release

A veteran publicist and book-marketing coach has published a new e-book to teach authors how to create the all-important press release that announces their books.

“Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Press Release That Announces Your Book” by Sandra Beckwith takes you through the book-announcement press release writing process step-by-step. You will learn how to create a document that contains the information journalists need and expect in the format they prefer.

Beckwith’s 25+ years of experience are distilled into a handy guide that offers:

  • Nine ways to use an announcement press release to get publicity, attract book buyers to a website, or secure speaking engagements
  • A detailed, 13-step process for writing a book announcement press release and a companion fill-in-the-blanks template
  • Specifics on who to send the press release to, when, how to send it, and how to follow up
  • A list of the most common press release mistakes and advice on how to avoid them
  • Formatting instructions
  • A press release makeover
  • Press release distribution service recommendations and other resources

The bonus section of the e-book contains 11 actual press releases used to announce fiction and nonfiction books in several genres.

“A book announcement press release is probably the most essential and versatile book promotion tool because it can generate book reviews, news items, author interviews, blog columns, and speaking engagements,” says Beckwith. “Done right, it creates impressive and long-lasting exposure. Done wrong, it ends up in an electronic trash can.”

Beckwith is committed to helping authors learn how to be their own book publicists. She also teaches a “Book Publicity 101: How to Build Book Buzz” course online and publishes Build Book Buzz, a free e-newsletter available at buildbookbuzz.com.  She has written (and publicized) three nonfiction books herself, including two on publicity topics, and an author publicity workbook.

“Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Press Release That Announces Your Book” is available as a PDF for $9 on the Beckwith’s website.

LINKS

Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Press Release That Announces Your Book

 

Learn How to Market Your Book with a Book Trailer

Like a movie trailer, a book trailer is a short, video advertisement for your book. Websites such as vabbler.com, booktrailercentral.co and bookscreening.com are dedicated to sharing book-trailer videos.

One resource that explains how to use book trailers is “How to Market Your Book with a Book Trailer” by Maria Pinochet, Linda Wasserman, and Maggie Ruch. It is the first in series of books they are writing to help authors connect with readers and sell more books.

Iin the book, the authors guide you through the five steps needed to complete a book trailer marketing plan that will be as distinctive as you are as an author.

“With today’s access to desktop tools that rival those of the professionals, there is no reason motivated authors cannot take on more marketing functions to ensure the success of their books,” observes Maria Pinochet.

“If you able to focus on one task at a time, you can master the skills needed to create and use a book trailer,” says coauthor Linda Wasserman.

“How to Market Your Book With a Book Trailer,” is now available as a Kindle version at Amazon ($2.99) or as a print version at Createspace ($12.95)

Maria Pinochet is president and founder of the Kore Access marketing firm. Linda Wasserman is owner of Pelican Press Pensacola. Maggie Ruch, virtual assistant and social media consultant, is founder of Advanced Virtual Assistant Services.

LINK

How to Market Your Book with a Book Trailer

New Firm Seeks to Be Quality Standard of Indie Book Market

WRITERS. As self-published novels flood the market, book buyers are struggling to distinguish good quality books from those that aren’t very well written. Grub Street Reads seeks to solve this problem by instituting a quality standard for indie novels.

The new company is offering  an endorsement seal to self-published novels that pass an objective evaluation based on the fundamental components of good storytelling and publishing, such as plot, characters, pace, accuracy, grammar, layout, and overall impression.

Grub Street Reads accepts all genres of fiction for evaluation. Submitted manuscripts are read by trained evaluators who assess them as objectively as possible. Manuscripts that meet the basic standards in each category of evaluation earn the Grub Street Reads endorsement.  The price for an evaluation is based on the length of the submitted manuscript.

Authors may include the Grub Street Reads seal on the cover of their endorsed novel and post it in the Grub Street Reads library.

The company’s founders, Jessica Bennett and Leslie Ramey, are independent authors and avid readers themselves. They hope The Grub Street Reads endorsement seal will make it easy for readers to discover great new indie books.

“With the rise of online book retailers and the proliferation of e-readers, it’s easier than ever for indie authors to get their books into the hands of readers,” said Ramey. “Unfortunately, this ease of distribution encourages a lot of indie authors to publish before they are ready, which plays into the pervasive indie stigma of low quality. Grub Street Reads was created to change that. Our endorsement spotlights great indie titles.”

“The indie book market is in desperate need of a standard,” agrees Bennett. “As voracious readers ourselves, Leslie and I understand how a good story can touch a reader’s soul. Grub Street Reads facilitates that magic by connecting readers to the best indie novels on the market.”

LINKS

Grub Street Reads