by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Mon May 20, 2013
With all of the options out there to publish, it’s pretty tempting to just point and click your way to a completed book. When print-on-demand first came on the scene around 1999, we saw a glut of books being pushed through the system, unedited, unvetted. When someone said “garbage in, garbage out,” they were often referring to self-publishing. Hence the stigma. If you’re new to indie publishing and you think that the stigma is the “us against them” idea, you’re only partially right. The history, albeit a somewhat negative one, started many years ago when authors thought their book was “good enough” to publish.
Cycle forward to 2013: We now have some 300,000 books published a year, the competition is fierce and the stakes are high. That number, by the way, comes from Bowker, which produces these statistics and readily admits that this number doesn’t include all eBooks or books that are published without an ISBN. You can imagine how high that number really is.
by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Mon May 20, 2013
Starting Wednesday, May 29 and going through Saturday, June 1, Book Expo America is the nation's largest celebration of books and reading. If you choose to have a booth, attend conference sessions, or simply walk the show floor at Javits to take in the enormity and diversity of our industry, here are some tips to help you make the most of BEA.
by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Tue Apr 16, 2013
Occasionally an author will see a listing for her book on a website she's had no previous contact with. Of course, the immediate question is, "Why are they selling my book? I never engaged with them to do so."
Chances are, they're not really selling it. When an author registers an ISBN with Bowker, that information goes into Bowker's Books in Print database. Many booksellers license BIP, and list the entire contents of it on their websites. They probably haven't made vendor agreements with many of the publishers in Books in Print. They're not stocking the books in their warehouses. If they receive enough orders for the book, they'll track down the publisher and arrange a vendor agreement.
by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Tue Apr 16, 2013
by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Thu Apr 4, 2013
The KDP Select program has now been around for nearly two years, and CJ Lyons has a well-thought post on Jane Friedman's blog:
The Select Program is just that: a program, a tool, a tactic.
In other words, it’s not a promise, a guarantee, or even a long term strategy—for authors or Amazon.
It’s a program. Subject to change. And it might not fit your needs now—or later—or ever. Or it might be the catalyst you need to engage new readers and propel sales.
by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Thu Apr 4, 2013
Hugh Howey, author of the Wool series (a self-published series of books, using Amazon's Kindle Direct Platform), has a piece in Salon on self-publishing and how it's a writer's best bet for income:
by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Tue Apr 2, 2013
- Vook - In addition to ebook conversion, interactivity, and other services, Vook distributes ebook files to Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and their own Vook storefront.
- BookBaby - You can upload an EPUB file to Bookbaby, and they will distribute it to Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Scribd, Sony, Copia, Gardner's, Baker & Taylor, eBookPie, and eSentral.
- PigeonLab - You can distribute your ebooks to Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo.
- Smashwords - Uploading your file to Smashwords means that your book can be distributed to Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Sony, Baker & Taylor, Diesel eBooks, as well as Smashwords's own retail store.
by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Thu Mar 28, 2013
If you’re writing nonfiction, you may want to invest in the services of a fact-checker. Fact-checkers adhere to a rigorous standard, questioning assertions and asking for documentation and citations to support those assertions.
The self-publishing service Lulu has some good tips on fact-checking here. Probably the greatest portrayal of a fact-checking department was written by John McPhee about The New Yorker.
Magazines employ fact-checkers because their publication cycles are not as severe as newspapers, and magazine articles are shorter than book-length manuscripts and therefore not insurmountable for a staffer to fact-check.
by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Wed Mar 27, 2013
As a publisher, the bookstore is actually your customer. And of course you want to give your customer good service.
Customers respond well when they are treated well. They buy more of your product. So it's very much in your interest to treat booksellers the way they want to be treated, even if it means a little extra work and thought; bookstores are the portal to your readers.
Some general rules of thumb:
