This doesn’t speak at all exclusively to self-publishing/published authors. But, something every self-publishing author should take a moment to absorb: Building books that sell in the digital age
– Karl Schroeder
Author: selfpublishingadvisor
The digital age brings us a virtually unlimited number of ezines straight to our computer screens and finger tips, each with a specific niche or category. With so many free and competing factions most are voraciously hungry for content. Ezines are a great way to generate content AND promote your book (either before it is published by building a “name” for yourself) or after it is published.
Rather than seeking them out individually, you can place your articles into databases that ezine editors frequent for content. They use your article free of charge, and in exchange, include your biographical byline, which includes information about you and your book.
Here are some to check out:
http://www.ezinearticles.com
http://www.ebooksnbytes.com
http://www.connectionteam.com
http://www.netterweb.com
http://www.ideamarketers.com
http://www.goarticles.com
http://www.knowledge-finder.com
http://www.articlecity.com
Don’t send them the same article you published last week. Instead, write another chapter of your book first (since finishing your book IS the main goal, after all.)
– Karl Schroeder
Have fun and keep writing
Riddle of Berlin
by Cym Lowell
A recent review submitted by this self-published author:
An arms dealer orchestrates acts of terrorism throughout the world, vexing international authorities.
Mark Anton is an Internet wunderkind living in Germany, a 27-year-old Californian who went abroad to take advantage of the wild free market conditions in Eastern Europe. Little does Anton know that his empire has caught the attention of an international terrorist mastermind. The Lion, frequently posing as an old German frau, is a sophisticated and cultured criminal holdover from the Old World who orchestrates attacks from a plush library in his suite at Berlin’s finest hotel. The shadowy international financier decides to frame Anton—as well as his unsuspecting mother—as the perpetrator of a series of attacks on NATO intelligence and civilians in Germany, using Anton’s online venture, an auction site for sports memorabilia, as a coverup for arms dealing. Anton’s only hope of escaping this nefarious web—one that also includes the American vice president (who is a friend of his mother’s) Chinese militants and the FBI—is an investigator named John Jaëgerman, a decorated war hero and skilled soldier who somehow knows to warn Anton a few days before the first attack. Jaegërman, however, jumps off the Notre Dame Cathedral into the Seine shortly thereafter, in hopes of meeting a mysterious female entity who resides in the water. He is rescued by a Slovakian nurse driven by her own carnal and spiritual desires. For such an integral character in the book, Jaegërman is touched upon too infrequently and without enough emphasis. His relationship with the Slovak Carmen is distracting and even unnecessary in light of the tremendous amount of action going on elsewhere in the book. These disparate storylines eventually come together, but the novel as a whole feels overly plotted. The European settings are top-notch, a Jason Bourne-like mix of sex, immense manses and fast cars. However, NATO seems like a prosaic and harmless target for such a skilled criminal to focus on, and more so, the ability of The Lion to repeatedly defeat the authorities is not entirely plausible.
A dense amalgam of genre elements, but fans of international thrillers will be pleased.
To opt in or out? With court developments arising last week, the implications, at least as they stood, may be moot.
The AP released an article last week noting the Justice Department’s, deem of the current agreement as a threat to give Google the power to increase book prices and discourage competition, though it said a renegotiated settlement might obey U.S. copyright and antitrust laws.
In his subsequent adjournment order, US District Judge Denny Chin noted that “the current settlement agreement raises significant issues, demonstrated not only by the number of objections, but also by the fact that the objectors include countries, states, nonprofit organizations, and prominent authors and law professors.” However, “the proposed settlement would offer many benefits to society, as recognized by supporters of the settlement as well as DOJ…if a fair and reasonable settlement can be struck, the public would benefit.”
If you’re published and chose to opt-in. Still writing and have this topic on the radar, this is good news. While the settlement probably won’t affect any of us directly, that we are taking the democratization of important materials into collective is a step in the right direction.
Have fun and keep writing
– Karl
In a recent blog post, literary agent Nathan Bransford wrote of on-demand printing and distribution:
“No warehouses, no catalogs, no print runs. Online vendors, as we’ve seen, will sell anything. In this scenario, does the Author of the Future, especially one with a built-in audience, really need a publisher? Well… yes. Maybe.”
Bransford goes on to argue in favor of the author/publisher relationship, stating that the role of the publisher lies in the dirty work – copy editing, cover design, distribution, marketing, etc. We know that writing and publishing is often the easy part – the real execution comes in getting books effectively into the marketplace. That is where real self-publishing options stand out. Be prepared to pay for the services you and your publishing consultant determine best suited for your goals. In the long-run, you’ll thank your self. And so will the readers who have the privilege of enjoying your work.
Bransford: “But publishers would have to be extremely author-friendly — they would be providing a service, not relying on their traditional role as gatekeepers and distributors. Publishers won’t be able to rely, as they have traditionally, on the fact that authors need them in order to reach their audience, just as authors won’t be able to rely on publishers losing money on most of the books they publish.”
Keep your eyes and ears open. Self-publishing is on the way.
– Karl Schroeder
Self Publishing Advisor 