Lead Story | Self-Publishing Review

How To Go Bankrupt Thanks to Really Great Reviews

This is a story about book returns. It’s also a story about the bookstore system and what’s not working. You’ll also hear how success can crush the self-publisher.

It’s not my story. I didn’t go bankrupt—but I could have. What I aim to do here is tell you my experience of publishing well-reviewed books and what you might do in this ever-changing publishing world to get ahead.

Here I can’t get into is how to write a really great book. Let’s assume you know what you’re doing, and once you write the great book, you hire a professional editor and […]

Christopher Meeks2011-04-18T16:41:51+02:00April 18th, 2011|Categories: Features, Lead Story|

Free Tools For Authors From Ebook Friendly

Some of you already know that I founded Ebook Friendly – a special kind of e-bookstore addressed to those readers who are aware of distractions the web brings and want to avoid them at the stage of browsing for books. Because reading is all about being focused, opposite to Internet – which is all about being distracted.

Reader friendly interface is one part of the proposition.

As a self-publisher I also want to make this site a place where great books from self-published authors can be easily discovered. There is no better way to do it than help the […]

Piotr Kowalczyk2011-04-28T10:06:45+02:00April 15th, 2011|Categories: Lead Story, Resources|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Promotion Articles|

How to get your book reviewed – by avoiding book reviewers.

To have a chance at selling your book on amazon or online, you need reviews. Lots of them. And if you’re like me, you hate pushing all your friends and family to review your work (is it really fair to ask them?) and leave comments. So most authors do this:

1) Search online for book reviews, indie book reviewers, self-published book reviews, how to get book reviews, etc.

2) Email or contact those reviewers asking them to take a look at their books and comment.

Here’s why that doesn’t work. First of all – those few sites that offer […]

Derek Murphy2013-05-27T15:49:08+02:00April 3rd, 2011|Categories: Features, Lead Story, Resources|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips, Book Promotion Articles, Book Reviews|

Mark Coker on the Downfall of Big Publishing

This week, Mark Coker posted a new entry to the Smashwords blog detailing the rise of self-publishing and discussing the broken model upon which big publishing is built. From the article:

If authors – the beating heart powering Big Publishing – lose faith in Big Publishing, then big publishing as we know it will die. By “Big Publishing,” I’m referring to the old, pre-self-publishing system embodied by the Big 6 New York publishers, in which the publisher serves as the author’s judge, jury, gatekeeper and executioner.

If Big Publishing approves of your book, they acquire it. Post-acquisition, an author can

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Todd Keisling2011-03-05T11:12:08+02:00March 5th, 2011|Categories: Features, Lead Story, News|Tags: Smashwords Tips and Articles|

An Author Interview: Zoe Winters

Zoe Who?

A few years ago I took some time off from writing and publishing. When I returned to the scene in early 2009, I found the landscape had changed. Self-publishing was more accepted. The stigma was starting to wear thin.

I joined Twitter, realizing that it was an excellent way to link up with like-minded folks. If you’re a Twitter user and you dabble in publishing, it’s only a matter of time before you cross paths with Zoe Winters. Her name kept popping up in my feeds, so I decided to follow her and see what she’s all about. […]

Todd Keisling2017-03-24T09:18:43+02:00February 1st, 2011|Categories: Interviews, Lead Story|

Indie Ebook Publishing: Pros and Cons

Is e-publishing right for you? Do you have what it takes to be an indie ebook author? Or would you be better off staying on the road to traditional publication?

I know a lot of authors are asking these questions today, especially with all the hype created by some indie ebook authors doing very well for themselves. I’ll do my best to present the pros and cons of the business.

I’m a relative newcomer myself (published my first two fantasy novels last month and have only sold about 150 ebooks so far), but I’m cautiously optimistic about the possibilities. That […]

Lindsay2011-01-23T09:52:24+02:00January 23rd, 2011|Categories: Lead Story, Resources|

Waiting For Spring: An Interview with R.J. Keller

This past summer I started writing a monthly feature called “Word Machines,” in which I would feature a fellow unknown writer and their work with my network of readers. When the opportunity arose to take over editorial duties for this site, I mentioned to Henry that I’d like to shift the Word Machines feature over here as well. SPR has a lot more traffic and readers than my humble blog, and I think it would better service the talent I want to showcase here.

Since I began digging into the indie scene, one name kept popping up: R.J. Keller, […]

Todd Keisling2017-03-24T09:23:43+02:00January 10th, 2011|Categories: Interviews, Lead Story|

A Life Transparent: An Interview with Todd Keisling

Todd Keisling is the author of the very excellent A Life Transparent, just released via Lightning Source. He’s also going to be taking on some of the editorial duties at SPR, so check out this interview to find out about his novel, his thoughts on writing, and what he hopes to achieve with the site.

About the novel:

He is the consummate husband. Stable, hard-working, and dedicated to his wife, Donovan is a paragon of the Middle Class.

Until now.

Strange visions of a monochromatic world. Bizarre sensations of physical transparency. At first, Donovan fears he’s losing his grip

[…]

Henry Baum2011-10-08T16:34:14+02:00January 10th, 2011|Categories: Interviews, Lead Story|