Henry Baum

About Henry Baum

Author of three self-published novels and one traditionally published (Soft Skull Press, Canongate, and Hachette Littératures). Recipient of Best Fiction at the DIY Book Festival, the Gold IPPY Award for Visionary Fiction, and the Hollywood Book Festival Grand Prize. He lives with his wife Cate Baum in Spain. He's the founder of SPR.

A Master’s Degree in Self-Publishing

MA_Self-Publishing_Banner750Via Goodereader: The University of Central Lancashire now has an MFA in self-publishing. The course is described as:

Having produced commercial success stories, such as 50 Shades of Grey, self-publishing is now a highly successful and respected business model for both new and established authors. This dynamic course, the first of its kind in the world, reveals how to make self-publishing work for you.

Perhaps you are an independent author who wants to retain full editorial control and/ or a higher percentage of royalties? Or you have a completed draft of a book and you’d like to understand

[…]
2014-02-06T11:45:37+02:00February 6th, 2014|Categories: News|

There’s No One Way to Self-Publish

header+dec+2+1151px

Mick Rooney has a great post up at the Independent Publishing Magazine: Is self-publishing creating a hierarchical community for its authors?

So what’s bugging me about self-publishing now? Aren’t we experiencing a self-publishing boom with little to complain about?

There is an increasing hierarchy developing in the self-publishing community and it shows no sign of disappearing anytime soon. It’s the hierarchy of the true savvy self-publishers and those authors who choose an assisted self-publishing service. I’ve even witnessed the line in the sand drawn between authors who have their own publishing imprint name and block of ISBNs registered with Bowker/Nielsen,

[…]
2014-02-06T11:26:05+02:00February 6th, 2014|Categories: Features|

Self-Publishing Has Arrived: Now What?

FireShot Screen Capture #538 - 'Self-Publishing Is Not The Minor Leagues « terribleminds_ chuck wendig' - terribleminds_com_ramble_2014_01_27_self-publishing-is-not-the-minor-leaguesChuck Wendig has a great post up now: Self-Publishing is Not the Minor Leagues

It’s time to take a long look at the culture surrounding self-publishing. We’ve moved past the time where we need to champion the cause, okay? We’ve seen enough success in that space and have plenty of positive examples it’s time to stop acting as cheerleaders.

And it’s time to start acting as critics.

The attitude that pervades self-publishing is that it’s a good place to test your craft, to hone your work. We are reminded constantly that the cream floats to the top, that all the

[…]
2014-01-30T14:57:36+02:00January 30th, 2014|Categories: Features|

Agents Funneling Writers to Self-Publishing: Corrupt or Not?

FireShot Screen Capture #535 - 'Novel Rejects_ From Futerman Rose Associates_' - myrejectletters_blogspot_co_uk_2013_01_dear-john-many-thanks-for-this_htmlThis story has generated a lot of controversy lately. From the Novel Rejects blog comes a rejection letter of an agent recommending a self-publishing firm in lieu of representation, likely for a fee.

The writing is strong and the storyline intriguing. I have to tell you however, that agents are finding novels, even intelligently written commercial work like this, harder to place nowadays. Publishers are so subjective and only concerned with the bottom line.

What I can do is to suggest an organisation who, for a reasonably low fee will make the full arrangements to ensure a full Kindle publication

[…]
2014-01-30T11:42:34+02:00January 30th, 2014|Categories: Features|

Publish America Rebrands as America Star

FireShot Screen Capture #534 - 'About Us I America Star Books' - www_americastarbooks_com_about_htmlVia Writer Beware comes this news: embattled vanity press Publish America is trying to make people forget its past by changing their name to America Star. It is perhaps in reaction to stories like this:

Plaintiffs allege breach of contract, unjust enrichment, fraud, violations of the California Business and Professions Code (for untrue advertising), violations of the California Unfair Competition Law (for unlawful business acts and practices, unfair business acts and practices, and fraudulent business acts and practices), and deceptive acts and practices under New York General Business Law.

The allegations of fraud, unjust enrichment, and breach of contract

[…]
2014-01-29T12:02:02+02:00January 29th, 2014|Categories: News|

Profitable Price Points for U.S. and UK eBooks

A fascinating survey of ebook sales, via Luzme – the ebook price comparison site, shows the different ebook buying habits of readers in the U.S. and UK. UK self-publishers should especially take note, as ebook pricing in the UK has a much different impact than in the U.S. Many U.S. self-publishers already publish books in the $.99-$2.99 range, and her results show this price point works well.

luzme-2013-comparative-units-us

Ebooks sell decently across the board, especially up to a $5 price point. However, in the U.K., it’s completely different. Ebooks only sell well in the cheap range.

luzme-2013-comparative-units-gb

For UK self-publishers, this […]

2014-01-17T14:23:51+02:00January 17th, 2014|Categories: Features|

Designing a Book Cover with 99Designs


Visit 99designs.com
Though 99Designs has had mixed reviews of their logo design service, the book cover wing has a good track record. JC Leland was the e-Book Cover Design Award Winner for June 2012 in Fiction at the Book Designer blog using a 99Designs cover.

an end to the means leland

The author captions: ““I ran a design contest at 99designs.com to develop the cover art for my book. Highly recommend this process for authors!”

Here’s how it works: you submit info about your book to the pool of designers and pay money up front ($299 and up). This acts as the cash prize, and then designers […]

2014-01-20T14:56:09+02:00January 15th, 2014|Categories: Resources|Tags: |
Go to Top