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Tag Archives: self publishing
MediaShift: Pitfalls of Using Self-Publishing Book Packages
// Some great advice on the PBS MediaShift blog for hopeful self-publishers. In a nutshell, be leery of any “self publishing firm” that wants to charge you several hundred (or thousand) dollars with no guarantees or references from satisfied authors. The article never mentions the most obvious point: the best way to avoid getting ripped [...]
The Boulder way: A bookstore’s experiment with microdistribution
I am glad to learn there is at least one surviving independent bookstore in Colorado. But charging fees to carry books by self-publishing authors? A new low in vanity publishing: // Among the traditionally published works on display stand a smattering of print-on-demand titles — many of them being sold on consignment by authors from [...]
Book marketing roundup
Publishers worried Kindle may squeeze book profit margins (Bloomberg). Tagged.com gives social networking a bad name.Do-it-yourself Kindle self-publishing author gets big-time book contract. Amazon shaves Kindle 2 price The eBook War: Amazon vs Apple vs GOOGLE Authors, publishers examine Scribd pros and cons Barnes & Noble debuts iPhone app Breathe life into your backlist with [...]
Will Kindle crash Nielsen BookScan?
Quick, how many copies of your books sold this month? Most authors know their Amazon Sales Ranks, but few can tell you how many books have sold, and where. Amazon’s ranks are the poor man’s Nielsen BookScan, they reveal the rate at which a title sells relative to competitors. But if you want real, hard [...]
Authors can sell their own book on Amazon Marketplace
Most small publishers these days use a distributor to get books into the hands of retailers. Today this is easy to arrange thanks to print-on-demand firms such as Lightning Source, which can wholesale your book through Ingram Books. But some self-publishing authors prefer to handle sales fulfillment themselves, for a variety of reasons. Handling the [...]
How to get a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) for your book
It’s pretty simple and costs nothing for self-publishers to obtain a Library of Congress Control Number (LCCN) before publication. Library of Congress numbers are helpful if you want to sell your book to libraries, since some libraries order every cataloged work. First, apply to participate in the Preassigned Card Number Program. (Here’s the Library of [...]
The secret way to get your free Amazon 'Author Store'
The instant I heard about Amazon’s new Author Stores, I just had to have one. I’ve got a new book to plug and bills to pay. Plus, I’m supposedly an online book publicity guru. How would it look if Mr. Book Marketing was the last guy with an Amazon Author Store? Pretty lame, that’s how [...]
Amazon's BookSurge increases author royalties
Amazon’s self-publishing unit, BookSurge, announced Monday it would increase author “royalties” from 25 percent to 35 percent. The announcement came in an afternoon e-mail to the company’s customers and prospects: As a company focused on providing customers with the best possible publishing experience, we are pleased to announce that we are passing on cost savings [...]
Q&A: How much will it cost to market my self-published book?
QUESTION: My self-published book will be available soon. How much should I plan to spend on marketing? Are there any free or low-cost ways to market my book? ANSWER: Keep your marketing budget as close to zero as possible. “Free” and very low-cost Internet publicity is much more effective than paid advertising when it comes [...]
Smashwords enables publishing to Apple iPad