And now for the news!
This week in the world of self-publishing:
“When former Farrar, Straus and Giroux editor Jesse Coleman was looking to get back into publishing after spending years building a freelance editorial business,” writes Rachel Deahl in this August 26th article for Publishers Weekly, “he found himself weighing opportunities at Big Five houses against a job at a software company.” Ultimately, it seems, he was able to create his own third way between the two and launched a publishing branch to the Los Angeles-based software company, NationBuilder. “That a software company would be interested in a book division seems, as Coleman acknowledged, a bit odd,” writes Deahl. But neither Coleman nor NationBuilder were new to the notion of publishing–or self-publishing. NationBuilder’s cofounder and CEO, Jim Gilliam, gave a viral speech to the Personal Democracy Forum in 2011, a speech he and his fellow cofounder Lea Endres later transformed into a manuscript that Coleman edited and they together self-published. The book’s success, according to Deahl, whetted their appetite and they noticed a distinct synergy between nontraditional publishing models and their own company’s mission. It seemed natural, then, to develop a publishing arm to their own company with the goal of creating “the kind of nonfiction books that have consumer appeal, and extend the company’s brand.” NationBuilder Books, says Deahl, launch this fall when The Internet Is My Religion is officially rereleased on September 13. Says Deahl, “NationBuilder’s titles will be available in both print and online, and Gilliam said he’s currently in negotiations with a major distributor. Veering from the traditional royalty model, Coleman is instead commissioning books as works for hire. In lieu of royalties, authors will be offered flat advances of $20,000 each.” This places NationBuilder somewhere in the grey zone just off center of the traditional publishing houses–albeit a grey zone that has its roots deep in the self-publishing movement. For the full story, follow the link!
A quick update on a story we first brought you news on back at the beginning of the month: FlipHTML5 is officially live and seeing its first users according to this press release published to Digital Journal on August 26th. The Hong-Kong based developer, FlipHTML5 Software Co. Ltd, promotes this software as “significantly useful for self publishers as it allows them to distribute their magazines everywhere in order to reach more people,” but the proof will remain in the pudding until more users have reported back their experiences with the software over time. The demos provided on the FlipHTML5 website, including one for “Dumb Starbucks,” demonstrate the interactivity and potential for the medium–albeit, for very corporate ends. (There are also demos for H&M, WeddingWire, Miss Dior, Apple, Hard Graft, Outside Magazine, Top Gear, GoToMeeting, and a number of others under the website’s “Case Studies” tab.) One could foresee this becoming a new and beautiful way to publish zines, for one. To read the rest of the press release, click here.
Here’s some good news to start your week off on a happy note: the Independent Publishing Resource Center, given notice of its upcoming ousting earlier this summer, is close to finding its next home according to Portland Business Journal staff reporter Ron Bell in this August 24th article. “The nonprofit, which has offered publishing tools, workshops and other resources to writers and self-publishers for nearly 20 years, got word of the increase in July and needs to find a new home to replace its Southeast Division Street location by April 2017,” says Bell, making it one of “handful of recent real estate transactions that have triggered the ousting of Portland artists — including the Towne Storage Building, the Troy Laundry Building and the impending sale of Imago Theatre’s home.” The rent hike of 300 percent may not be feasible for the Independent Publishing Resource Center, but its recent successes in providing support to the self-publishing industry … is. Writes Bell, the organization turned to its friends to help out with the costs associated with leaving its 20-year home and “launched a Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $20,000. As of this past Friday, the nonprofit had cleared that and then some. This morning, the total had hit $20,754, and the campaign still had another 10 days to go.” This is good news for everyone that the IPRC has helped over the years and will help in the years to come! For the rest of Bell’s coverage of the situation, read the original article here.
As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry. This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Monday to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.
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