Features

Articles, how-to’s, opinion and tips and tricks in the self-publishing arena

Ebook Publishing: Are Traditional Publishers Sitting on a Pot of Gold?

The prospects for an explosion in the ebook market are growing every day. Once traditional publishers realize the ebook-only market is a huge opportunity, they will embrace it and they will realize that they had a pot of gold right in front of them all the time.

Current Publishing – Are things panning out with ebooks?
Traditional book publishing is built on speculation and profit predictions. They control the system and the popular authors. They have been sitting at the end of the rainbow for a very long time.

Then along comes this ebook thing with a slick delivery system […]

2019-02-18T12:19:54+02:00June 22nd, 2011|Categories: Features|

I Take Thee … Making That Commitment to Your Book

“Congratulations on your book.”

People are impressed with anyone who has completed the task of writing a whole book. There are thousands, if not millions, of people who have sat down to a keyboard to start writing a book but never finished it.

The first hurdle that most encounter is what I call the Forty-Page Block. It’s not always page forty. Sometimes it’s page twenty-five or page one hundred and twenty-five. Whichever page number it is, at some point there’s a block that separates the authors from the wannabes.

At this hurdle, many writers will simply throw in the towel […]

2020-02-21T06:46:19+02:00June 16th, 2011|Categories: Features|Tags: , |

Self-Publishing Hoaxes: Fictional Blogs

A pretty huge self-publishing story was revealed  yesterday regarding the blog “A Gay Girl from Damascus” – a blog about the Arab uprising from the perspective of a gay woman in Damascus, Syria.  Last week she went missing – reportedly kidnapped.  A picture was reported along with the story who turned out to be a non-Syrian woman in London, who was understandably troubled.

And finally it was revealed that the gay girl in Damascus is actually a married guy in Scotland.  And it also turns out to be a significant self-publishing story with implications for how blogs are read […]

2011-06-15T13:25:04+02:00June 14th, 2011|Categories: Features|

There Is No Such Thing As a Good Book, Only A Good Brand

Originally published on The Nerd Connection, my home site.

Over Memorial Day Weekend, I was privileged to attend the Balticon Convention with its many wonderful panels and panelists.  I went to a panel that included Tan Nguyen and GK Parish Philp, the founders of BackMyBook.com [formerly of DivX].  ARealGirl,  and Scott Sigler filled up the rest of the panel as they all have a lot of book branding expertise.

Unlike the first panel I have blogged about, this panel was all about books and branding yourself in relation to the book you are selling. The first panel [[…]

2020-02-21T03:32:25+02:00June 8th, 2011|Categories: Features|Tags: |

To be an authoritative reference on publishing requires allowing all voices to be heard

There once was a time when Absolute Write stood as a beacon to protect authors from unscrupulous business people and practices. But they have become so entrenched with how publishing has operated in the past, that they are disallowing individuals from sharing their experiences with new models and opportunities. I’m referring to a recent incident where I and author Kevin O. McLaughlin were banned from that site. A post in the Self-Publishing and POD section posed the following question: Can I try and traditionally publish after making a kindle/e-pubbing? Several people pointed out that since the first publication rights had […]

2011-06-08T15:24:53+02:00June 8th, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|

eBook Authors: Render Thy eBook or Miss The Boat

I am a non-fiction and technical book reader at heart. Lately I have become addicted to ebooks. I like the ability to get the ebook anytime and anywhere and read it anytime I want. Recently a historical fiction hardcover book was passed to me. A book about Elizabeth 1 of England and the period in history called the Tudor dynasty.

Sometimes I like to read a good historical fiction novel and this turned out to be a good one. After I was about half way through the novel, the analytical part of me took over. This hardcover book was the […]

2020-02-21T03:37:44+02:00June 2nd, 2011|Categories: Features|Tags: |

Books and their Legs – A SelfPub Experience

Publishers like books that have legs, books that sell themselves through that good witch WordOfMouth, but it was always the same old story – how could they know if a book had legs if they wouldn’t take it for a walk? Publishing, like any career move, had its own version of “must have experience to get hired but can’t get experience unless you get hired.” This is one manhole cover that the ebook revolution has pried open just a crack. Now you can find out for yourself if your book has any legs, but it isn’t a straight shot. There […]

2011-05-26T10:48:50+02:00May 26th, 2011|Categories: Features|

Who Are You? Writing an Author Bio

What’s in your author bio? Do you even have a bio? Believe it or not, your bio is an important tool in selling your book.

A few weeks ago, I was the featured author at a meet-and-greet book event. As is my custom, I made a point of making the rounds to greet the other authors, ask about their books, and collect book markers, post cards, and other souvenirs to check out their websites and purchase books later after I got home, since I didn’t have enough money to buy all of the books, even though I wanted to.

As […]

2020-02-20T13:24:23+02:00May 26th, 2011|Categories: Features|Tags: , |
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