The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success: Part 1 Primer
Julia McCutchen interviews Mark Coker
To register your place for the live call
AND to receive access to the audio recording, click here
While the ebook revolution has taken the publishing industry by storm, many new and established authors are not quite sure just how to get started. Others, who embraced the change and jumped in with both feet, are eager to implement best practices that will help them reach more readers with their books.
In part one of this two-part session, Mark Coker, the founder and CEO of Smashwords—the world’s largest distributor of indie ebooks—will provide a primer on ebook publishing, free of jargon and hype. In this interview, Mark will provide listeners with the practical knowledge and guidance they need to prepare, publish, market and distribute their masterpieces. Mark will cover:
Market trends that led to the rise of ebooksHow indie ebook publishing levels the playing field for all authors
Why there’s never been a better time to be an author
Guidance on ebook creation (including formatting and conversion)
Advice on how to price ebooks
Distribution and marketing strategies
Mark Coker is the founder of Smashwords, an ebook publishing and distribution platform serving 45,000 independent authors and publishers around the world. Smashwords gained international attention for its simple but radical idea: Provide a free service that enables any author anywhere to publish their ebook in seconds, and make it available for immediate sampling, sale and distribution to a worldwide audience via major online ebook retailers and mobile smart phone platforms. More than 139,000 titles have been released through Smashwords since its founding in 2008. For more information, visit www.smashwords.com
Please Note: Part 1: Ebook Publishing Primer - is FREE for everyone to enjoy!
To register your place for the live call
AND to receive access to the audio recording, click here
Here in the UK, the London Book Fair begins today and continues for the next three days (16th to 18th April).
It is described as a “global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. With over 400 seminars and events, 1,500 international exhibiting companies and 24,500 publishing professionals, The London Book Fair encompasses the broad spectrum of the publishing industry.”
It is one of the main book fairs which take place each year for professionals in the book trade alongside Book Expo America, the Frankfurt Book Fair and the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. There are also many smaller yet worthwhile book fairs and exhibitions internationally.
Many authors wonder if it is worth attending these trade fairs and many commentators say that it isn’t. My view is that it can be a valuable experience if you approach it with the right mindset. You also need to plan your visit well in advance and wear sensible shoes in the knowledge that you’ll be on your feet for most of the day!
It is important to be realistic when thinking through a book fair visit, especially if you have a vision of meeting agents and editors to present your book to them. Most publishing professionals will have filled their schedule of 30 minute meetings well in advance of the fair taking place.
Having said that, serendipity can, and does, occur at book fairs.
I am delighted to introduce this guest article fromDana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer. Enjoy!
With millions of books listed on Amazon, it can be a challenge to get your book noticed by shoppers on the site. Here are six strategies for helping customers find your book on Amazon.
1. Use Keywords in the Title and Subtitle of Your Book
Many shoppers search for books on Amazon by doing keyword searches, so it’s important to use relevant keywords in the title and/or subtitle of nonfiction books. If you’re publishing in Kindle format, it’s easy to add a subtitle if the book doesn’t already have one.
There’s also a keyword area on the Kindle publishing dashboard where you can input keywords for all types of books. Think about what kind of terms people might use to search for books like yours on Amazon.
This is a guest post from Catherine G Lucas, author of In Case of Spiritual Emergency: Moving Successfully Through Your Awakening (Findhorn Press 2011).
I wanted to reach across the Atlantic with my book launch. Since I signed the contract with Findhorn Press for In Case of Spiritual Emergency, I’ve been keen to get my message out to as wide an audience as possible.
When it came to deciding on the kind of book launch, a virtual event that was truly international instinctively felt right.
I could have chosen a teleseminar format which would have achieved that, but I wanted something more visual. Also, because I work in the voluntary, charitable sector, my concern was that participants would be put off by the potential cost of the phone call, despite my giving low cost options.
I’d heard the term ‘webinar’ and decided to go for that format. First mistake!
A virtual book tour is a promotional tactic that lets you interact with bloggers and online media outlets in ways that help you get the word out about your book.
If you don’t know where start or feel overwhelmed at the thought of setting up a virtual book tour for your book, join us and learn:
Why a virtual book tour is better than in-person appearances
How to lay the groundwork for a successful virtual book tour months in advance
What materials you do and don’t need for your online tour
How to find the blogs and online media outlets that reach your book’s target audience
How to contact bloggers and others about your book
Tools you have already that you can use to set-up, execute, and track your tour
Ways to make your tour a win-win experience for all participants
Sandra Beckwith was a national award-winning publicist in the U.S. before she began teaching authors around the world how to be their own book publicists. The author of three books, including two on publicity topics, publishes the free e-newsletter Build Book Buzz. Sign up for her newsletter and receive the free special report, Beyond the Press Release: 10 Exciting Book Buzz Ideas That Will Take You to the Top, at www.buildbookbuzz.com
Date: Thursday 8th September Time: 16:00 BST / 11:00 EST
Want to listen to this teleseminar interview for free but not yet an IACCW member?
Find out about how to do so and discover the other benefits of becoming a member of the International Association of Conscious & Creative Writers (IACCW) by clicking here …
The principles of Twitter are simple. Yet successful practice comes from knowing how to focus your time and activities for the best results. Join me as I interview Twitter expert Mark Shaw and learn:
how to set up your twitter account correctly
what the 5 types of tweets are
how to make yourself more ‘followable’
how to find targeted people to follow
how to demonstrate your expertise and knowledge
what Twitter search is all about and why you need to hang out there
Mark Shaw is an award winning ex sales guy who advises and trains businesses, and individuals on how to utilise Twitter to gain more business and to be effective with their time. Mark has over 13,500 followers and has been on radio, published in the media and given talks throughout the UK in his capacity as a Twitter expert. Mark was a very early user of Twitter, having joined in April 2008. It has been his passion, his love and his full time business ever since. For more information visit http://www.markshaw.biz/
Date: Thursday 5th May Time: 16:00 BST / 11:00 EST
Want to listen to this teleseminar interview for free but not yet an IACCW member?
Find out about how to do so and discover the other benefits of becoming a member of the International Association of Conscious & Creative Writers (IACCW) by clicking here …
Happy Xmas Eve to all aspiring and published authors!
Before signing off for the festivities this weekend and a winter retreat next week, I’m inspired to share this short video with you about out Core Training Program for 2011. You’ll hear about the topics we’re going to cover and how the program works.
If you’re interested in participating, please note that the monthly payment option is only available until next Friday 31 December. Read more and register your place here http://www.iaccw.com/49/2011-core-training
Enjoy watching and have a fabulous festive season. Looking forward to catching up with you again in 2011!
If I only had the chance to give you one tip for success on your writer’s journey, this would be it – write a first-class book proposal to give your book the best possible chance of success.
Even if you are self-publishing, compiling all of the information you need to include in each section of the book proposal is an immensely worthwhile investment of your time and energy.
With traditional publishing, the book proposal is the key to open the publishing door for you to achieve your full potential as an author.
With self-publishing, having all of the most important information easily accessible in one document means that you have the basis of a plan to work to when it comes to taking your book successfully out to the marketplace.
I am delighted to announce that The IACCW Experts’ Guide to Writing, Publishing & Building Your Authentic Author Platform is now officially published and available for all conscious and creative writers to enjoy!
Featuring exclusive interviews with our six bestselling authors and IACCW Experts on the secrets to authentic success, this beautiful package makes a valuable addition to any writer’s library of resources.
You will learn how:
New York Times bestselling author Mike Dooley prepares to do his writing plus tips to apply to your writing
leading US book publicist Arielle Ford discovered the one thing that all bestselling authors have in common (and what that is!)
inspired author entrepreneur Nick Williams explains the two levels of building your author platform
New World Library publisher Marc Allen makes decisions on which new books to publish and how to apply that information to your authorship
Smart Women’s Institute CEO Sheri McConnell recommends writers raise their profile through membership of a good quality association
President of the Global Speakers Federation Alan Stevens summarises his most important PR tip in just 3 words!
And so much more …
Dive in to find out how it feels to be a bestselling author and what light that perspective shines on your current writing projects so that you can fulfill your true potential as an authentic author in the world today.
Patience means the capacity to endure waiting, delay, or provocation without becoming angry or upset (Roget’s New Millennium Thesaurus).
Patience is required at many different levels on the Writer’s Journey both with yourself and with others.
Why is patience such an important quality for writers?
First of all, writing a book for publication is a long term business.
Despite the fact that there are always exceptions to the rule, there are very few books that are written and picked up by an agent or publisher straight away. The norm is for the process to take time.
The stage where patience is most required, and one of the most important for all writers seeking commercial publication, is finding the right people to work with – agent and/or publisher.
The reason that it takes so long for publishing professionals to respond to your approach is that they genuinely do have an extremely long list of other tasks on their ‘To Do’ list. And this is before they even get to assessing new projects from new authors!
Add this to fact that they are almost always in meetings and inundated with material to read, and you’ll begin to get the picture.
Ironically, once a decision is finally made, from that point onwards everything suddenly switches to tight deadlines where everything needs to be completed ‘yesterday’.
With self-publishing, the long term nature of successful publishing takes into account the whole life cycle of the book. In this situation you need patience to nurture your book to success long beyond the launch.
It requires patience to cultivate mutually rewarding working relationships with people who will help to sell, market and promote your book. It also takes patience to build up a strong relationship with your readers that is likely to be rewarded by them buying your next book too.
Life has a way of taking the time required for projects to come to fruition – whatever that may be – rather than an arbitrary timeframe you may have decided you want to impose.
Usually, there is a bigger picture at work – if only you could see it then and there.
This is a guest post from Catherine G Lucas, author of In Case of Spiritual Emergency: Moving Successfully Through Your Awakening (Findhorn Press 2011).
