Features | Self-Publishing Review

Review: Lightworker: The Unique Souls Who Have Come to Heal the Planet

I feel I must preface this review by offering full disclosure: Until now, I have never reviewed a work of non-fiction, nor a work which falls into the Spiritual or Self-Help genres. Naturally, what follows in this review is entirely my opinion, and I’ll do my best to cover what I think are its high and low points.

As I mentioned before, Lightworker by Sahvanna Arienta is what you would consider a Spiritual book, one written to help others find an understanding of their place in the world. The book revolves around a number of statements about the balance […]

Todd Keisling2014-06-19T12:25:45+02:00March 9th, 2011|Categories: Book Reviews, Features|Tags: Book Reviews, Self-Help 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|

The Writing Process

One of the things I love best about DVDs are the special features. I love learning how and why a movie was made as much as (and maybe more than) the the movie itself. The same goes for books. I love learning about the process that went on from conception to publication and all the steps and changes that happened along. So in that spirit, I thought I’d share my own writing process for those who are curious about where my stories come from.

First I don’t sit down and say to myself, “Self, you must come up with an […]

Jeff Thomason2011-03-03T15:26:28+02:00March 3rd, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Book Editing Tips, Writing Tips|

Help Shaina quit her day job. Please. Please?

So, why do free eBooks exist? Why would any person go to the trouble of typing so many words on a page, then spend money to create a cover for that electronic book, only to give it away to people with no expectation of a monetary reward?

It’s because we need reviews.

Reviews of our free books help to perpetuate sales of our books that are not free. In addition, free eBooks generate interest and publicity by getting our work into the e-reading devices of a lot of people. And a LOT of people love free stuff. Hopefully if they […]

Shaina Richmond2011-03-03T15:26:09+02:00March 3rd, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Smashwords Tips and Articles|

The Dark Side of Reviews

In the past, I’ve blogged my thoughts about the review process, and I’m at it again. It’s the wonderful experience when publishing a book. Every author, whether self-published or traditional, has a star-filled future from one to five.

After being in the public eye since 2008, I’ve come to one conclusion. The entire review process is so – what’s the word I want to use here – LAME! Why lame? Because frankly, folks, it’s a broken process limping along that has little value, if any, these days.

Why do I say that? Recently, I’ve discovered a very disturbing trend […]

Vicki Hopkins2011-10-08T14:00:16+02:00March 2nd, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Amazon News and Tips, Book Reviews, Goodreads Articles|

e-Textbooks: How do they stack up against traditional textbooks?

I will start by stating that I believe e-textbooks are a great opportunity to improve the quality of education. But the players have to start thinking outside the box and stop resisting the new concept. E-textbooks should be a wake-up call to professors and students, publishers, authors and content providers.

I have been championing ebooks and ebook authors for a while how and listening to the educational community’s reasons for not adopting the new technology. Oh I know about the current pilot programs and the studies being conducted. Some schools are even being forced into using them because of their […]

James Moushon2017-05-26T05:27:19+02:00February 28th, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|Tags: Amazon News and Tips|

The Other 90% of us

In a recent talk, the great novelist Margaret Atwood (link courtesy of teleread) said that approximately 10% of authors make their living by their writing. This seemed like a high number to me. It makes me wonder a) what is the definition of an author and b) what is the history of this percentage?

I assume that an “author” is a writer who has been published by one of the six subsidiaries of international conglomerates which constitute “literature” today, in which case, the fact that a mere 10% of their stable make money is not a bright reflection […]

tom lichtenberg2011-02-22T18:23:14+02:00February 22nd, 2011|Categories: Features, Member Blog|

Self-publishing and social networking

The main advantage of self-publishing for me is that as the author, I have full control over the content, design, and marketing of my book. I also decide when it goes to press and I retain all the publication and subsidiary rights. Thus, I was free to penetrate a niche market in foreign romance, which a commercial publisher would have ignored. I also believe that my book had a greater chance of success because I was very committed to promoting it, more than say, a publisher who has hundreds of other titles.

In terms of sales, A Heart to Mend […]

Myne Whitman2020-02-21T03:58:11+02:00February 21st, 2011|Categories: Features, Resources|Tags: Book Marketing Advice and Tips|