Melissa McPhail is a classically trained pianist, violinist and composer, a Vinyasa yoga instructor, and an avid Fantasy reader. A long-time student of philosophy, she is passionate about the Fantasy genre because of its inherent philosophical explorations. For this interview, we focus on the author’s selection and use of languages in creating a world for [...]

In this roundup: As recently discussed here at SPR, we are inching closer to the day when self-published eBooks will be stocked by libraries. Consider using your author platform to promote your local library’s eBook lending policy and make friends with your local library ahead of time. Also, is landing a publishing deal for your [...]

Whatever your budget, chances are you could do with a few free photos for your author blog or even your book’s cover. This article explores several websites offering the use of royalty-free images at no cost to you. You also need to familiarize yourself with different types of licensing when using royalty-free images. DON’T GET [...]

Who do you talk to more on social media, your readers or other authors? Do you spend more time online than you do writing? How much of your online time is devoted to arguing about the “future of publishing”? At Digital Book World’s Expert Publishing Blog, Bob Mayer writes in his post  The Great Publishing [...]

A new social community for self-published eBook authors was announced yesterday: From Project Gutenberg, the first producer of free eBooks, now comes the free Author’s Community Cloud Library, a social network Self Publishing Portal.  This portal allows authors to share their works with our readers as well as allows readers to provide comments, reviews and [...]

As a child, Michael Accordo longs for a balanced diet. As a young man, he seeks to balance mixed signals from his parents, his religion, and his culture in general. The novel is structured as though we are reading a transcript of reflective conversations recorded in 1987 between an adult Michael and Ambrosia, a close [...]

In this round-up: the Smashwords July sale for either hemisphere, GalleyCat’s weekly lists of eBook sales ranks, new legal ruling in Europe on eBook resale, a lengthy opinion piece deconstructing why The Authors Guild among other things attempts to invoke sympathy for PublishAmerica, and a save-the-libraries campaign from The Bookseller. Enroll Your Books in the [...]

As a self-publishing author, you are Chairman of the Publishing Board and Chief Operating Officer, deciding for yourself, by yourself when to hit the publish button. But what informs your conclusion that today is The Day? One of the biggest chores is to tidy up first. Author Deborah Niemann comments on the trials and tribulations [...]

Self-published authors set their own writing goals. If you fail to write according to your schedule, you answer only to yourself. There may be outside pressure from people who mock your claim to be a “real” writer, but the biggest pressure is internal. The toughest person to answer to is your own self. Over at [...]

Media Bistro has put together a list of places where self-published authors can promote their eBook at no charge. The list was culled from Kindle Boards: We’ve collected more information about the sites in a simple directory below, linking to the submission pages for these eBook sites. If you are an avid eBook reader, these [...]