Saturday, November 15, Bowker was pleased to be among those sponsoring the Self-Publishing Book Expo, which took place at the Roosevelt Hotel in midtown Manhattan. As Publishers Weekly put it,
Among the highlights of the show were panels providing indie authors with information, tips, and best practices on publicity, marketing, teambuilding, and websites. Among the exhibitors at the show were Lulu, Bowker, Smashwords, BiblioCrunch, BookLife, Author Connections, and Nook Press.
This is the sixth year of the conference, which is quite an indication of the growth in self-publishing since 2008. One other anniversary of note: today is the 7th anniversary of the Kindle. Coincidence?
Blurb, the popular platform for creating and publishing beautiful books, is co-sponsoring indie book review ezine Shelf Unbound’s Writing Competition for Best Independently Published Book. Blurb will award a total of $1,500 in printing services to the winner and finalists of this year’s competition, which will crown the best from independent and self-publishers. Bowker, the official U.S. ISBN registration agency and creator of SelfPublishedAuthor.com, is also a sponsor of this year’s competition.
Entries are being accepted now through October 1. The winning entry, selected by the editors of Shelf Unbound, will receive a prize package designed to help build their publishing business:
Book review magazine Shelf Unbound is accepting entries for its third annual competition to crown the best from independent presses, self-published authors and publishers producing five or less titles per year. The winning entry, selected by the editors of Shelf Unbound, will be featured with runners-up in the magazine's December/January 2015 issue – read by 125,000 book. This year's competition is sponsored by Bowker, the official U.S. ISBN registration agency and creator of SelfPublishedAuthor.com.
DCL and Bowker are interested in your digital publishing plans for 2014! As the demand increases for materials of all types to be available on mobile devices, publishers, authors and documentation managers are challenged with providing a quality ebook experience while managing costs and standards.
Your participation will prove invaluable to us as we continue to provide the highest level of service and educational support in the industry while meeting your growing demands. We look forward to your feedback!
This survey will take approximately five minutes to complete and will close this Saturday, May 31, 2014 at 11:59pm EDT.
On May 21, 2014, the Authors Alliance will hold a kick-off meeting at the Berkeley Center for New Media. From their announcement:
Authors, construed broadly to include all creators, create for all sorts of reasons. In academia in particular, it is not uncommon to write and create primarily for the specific purpose of being read, seen, and heard.
When an author publishes a book in the traditional way, the publishing house assumes the risk - the costs of publishing - in the hopes that the book sales will recoup that investment and begin generating a profit. The publishing house is, in effect, taking a bet on the book that it will do well and warrant that investment.
But when authors self-publish, they are assuming that investment themselves. And there are some costs that new-to-publishing authors may not know to take into account as they begin investing in services to bring their books to market.
In a webinar sponsored by Digital Conversion Labs, Bowker’s Laura Dawson will explain how you can make your best possible eBook, ensuring a professional level product more likely to turn readers’ heads.
