Category: self publishing news

Holidays, news from the self publishing world, self publishing news, Self-Publishing, Uncategorized

Self-Publishing News: 12.25.2017 – Merry Christmas!!

And now for the news!

Yes, yes, it’s Christmas! And we know you have some yuletide carols to sing, some gifts to open, and some people to see. We’ll keep it short, but we wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas first! Here are some highlights from this month in the world of self-publishing, specifically regarding publishing trends within the publishing industry, and their implications for all authors!

First off, the really really good news: Outskirts Press (with whom many of our writers over the years have worked) are offering a really spectacular deal this holiday season, with $800 off the package price of any of their One-Click Publishing suites. These suites already offer really spectacular discounts by combining services in order to drop prices, so this discount means that for a couple of days over this Christmas season, you’ll be getting everything at rock-bottom price. And if you’re not ready to commit to one of their One-Click Publishing suites, they’re also offering $300 off the package price for their Ultimate and Full-Color publishing services, which are excellent as well. Check out the press release (at the link) or visit their website at www.OutskirtsPress.com for a Christmas present all your very own!

Have you been thinking about self-publishing this holiday season, maybe taking advantage of that sweet deal (above)? Shirley McMarlin of the Tribune-Review has some words of wisdom for you as you move forward. Some of them are warnings, some are encouragements, but they are all of them very wise indeed. Take a peek as she explores some of the ups and downs of both traditional and self-publishing platforms, and digs into those specifics which sell books (it’s not always what you might expect!). Nobody ever said it would be easy … but with experts like McMarlin around, it’s certainly easier to make the right decision to fit your needs.

Oh, who are we kidding? We love a good and positive story during the holiday season, and Jeff Polman’s piece for HuffPost earlier in December truly fits the bill. Herein Polman shares how, as a previously self-published author, he made his first foray into traditional publishing … and then turned right around and returned to self-publishing. Why? He’d written a book he loved, in a voice he felt at home in, and afterward discovered that agents and publishers were looking for some specifics which would require him to rewrite the entire thing to suit. Rather than do that–and sacrifice his original vision for this newest book–Polman went his own way, again, proving the (maybe not-so-) old adage that self-publishing is a refuge for those creators who want to maintain creative control over their work. Read the full article for more!

Yes! Self-publishing is about more than books! We’ve written before on how the self-publishing industry has its roots in everything from printed literature like books and comics and magazines to digital materials like ezines and so forth … but this might just be one of the first times we’ve seen games brought into the conversation. And we love it! the Xbox (and its archcompany, Microsoft) might just be opening its doors to independent games publishers and creators, who formerly were barred from seeing their games used on the platform. This would be, if it truly comes to pass, a massive move in reshaping the gaming industry, with repercussions which will be felt for years to come. Indie game designers have been making inroads into the industry for a while, but the Xbox remains one of the primary hardware components to gaming, and this decision places a thumb very heavily on the scales in favor of the diversification and democratization of game-space. Read the full article, courtesy of Matt Liebl and GameZone, here.

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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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news from the self publishing world, self publishing news, Uncategorized

Self-Publishing News: 12.18.2017 – These Holiday Books are Prime for Christmas!

December banner with fir branches.

And now for the news!

Some highlights from this month in the world of self-publishing, specifically new releases written by self-publishing authors and published by independent presses! Today we’ll be featuring brand-new wintery releases in the Outskirts Press Bookstore!

One of the most necessary of all things to have on hand at Christmas is … of course! … a children’s picture book. After all, many of us will be hosting family and friends over the winter break, and there’s no better way to entertain your youngest visitors than with a book they can’t get at home. Seriously, though, there’s no better way to one-up the holiday competition than to use the power of words, and there are no better words (and pictures!) than those of Lynn Menatian, whose previous Christmas-themed picture book for kids (Santa’s New Reindeer) has already proven a popular staple around our homes. Charlie Takes Flight, out just this last month, is her newest addition and sure to please: here is a story of inspiration, of “can-do” attitude, which is both winsome and sweet.

Maybe you’re not a kid, and you’re looking for something equally inspiring and heartwarming, but … for adults. Have we got the perfect book for you! A Baby Girl for Christmas is a powerful memoir of self-discovery, forgiveness, and relationships. At the start of this book, author Judith Patrecia Bounds is waiting for a call. An incredibly important call! She has only just discovered her birth name and knows very little about her past except her date of birth and where she was born. Fifty years on, she learns that not only has her birth mother reached out to her, but she reached out six years earlier. As you might imagine, this opens up a whole new world of questions and discoveries, and Bounds takes us all along for the ride. This is exactly what some of us need to feel the poignant meaning behind the season!

 

What Is Man’s Ultimate Goal on Earth? This is the question which Fredrick Reider sets out to answer–or if not to answer comprehensively, to frame thoughtfully. His premise?At some point, every person has the same questions about life on Earth: Why are we here? What can give more meaning to our lives? What happens after death? Message of the Prophets explores these and other questions from a spiritual and spiritually diverse perspective. Beautifully written in language both poetic and focused, this book presents conclusions drawn from science, philosophy, literature, and many different faiths and disciplines—but the reader will see that despite their diversity, many of the great thinkers agree on key points! Which this holiday season is encouraging indeed, as we face a world divided in so many ways. It’s nice to rediscover some of the ideas we hold in common. Concise, compassionate, and inspiring, Message of the Prophets is the perfect guide for your spiritual journey.

The holidays aren’t always sweet and saccharine, are they? Unbeknownst to many, incidences of emotional and psychological hardship spike over the holidays, particularly for those who feel alone or “at sea” with their own experiences. But life, reminds author T. Richard, is a treasure-trove filled with hidden gems … and we ought to treat each day as if it were one of these precious stones. There comes a time when we have to face the curve-balls this world throws our way, writes Richard. The same goes for Charlie Epstein, the protagonist of One Last Season, who is a divorced, middle-aged man whose father has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer. Despite receiving the dire news, however, both father and son slowly grasp what they have known all along—that not every pitch results in a strikeout, as love represents the hope of a second chance. This story is an endearing but sincere look at the ways in which we can discover joy in hardship–perfect for those long winter days which follow Christmas.

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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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news from the self publishing world, self publishing news, Uncategorized

Self-Publishing News: 12.11.2017 – The Interviews!

December banner with fir branches.

And now for the news!

Some highlights from this month in the world of self-publishing, specifically interviews with or articles written by self-publishing authors and experts!

Wait–what? A colonoscopy? We don’t normally advertise those in our book titles. And yet, on the other hand, it did grab our attention. So … well done, David Gilmore. Well done. Gilmore’s book, How I Went to Asia for a Colonoscopy and Stayed for Love: A Memoir of Mischief and Romance, serves as the locus for this article by a different David–David Henry Sterry, and the eponymous “Book Doctors”–for HuffPost. This interview tracks everything from how Gilmore got his start, which influential works have inspired him through the years, his “long and winding” path to authorship and publication, his recommendations and tips for self-publishing, and some of the challenges he faced while gathering the information and stories collected in his book. (There really was a colonoscopy in Thailand, which reported came off rather well and significantly more affordably than it would have Stateside.) This interview is substantial, comedic, sincere, and thoroughly entertaining. We highly recommend you read the full piece at the link!

The Daily Telegraph doesn’t always dive deep into profiling authors, but this week we landed a gem in Daniel Stringer’s piece on Matthew Reilly, one of Australia’s most beloved authors (with a thoroughly American list of inspirations: Tom Clancy and John Grisham top the list, with William Golding coming in at the tail end as a token British mention). He found inspiration on his daily commute in the kind of mass-market fiction which was then and remains now such potent material for thought and action; but while the authors he read are all household names now, he himself struggled to find an audience at first. Reilly self-published his first book after having been rejected by traditional publishers, whose response to his manuscript he describes as “soul-crushing.” Well, he may not be catching the bus so often these days, but he is still publishing, with more than fifteen books already on the shelves and many more to come. You can read the full article on the Daily Telegraph website.

Rose Bingham is everything you need to cheer you up on this dreary winter Monday morning (we’re assuming it’s dreary everywhere since it’s dreary here, which is rather convenient, and indefensible of course). This enterprising eighty-year-old from Wisconsin has done something magnificent and significant: she’s published her memoirs. One might argue that hers is an act of reversal; in chronicling the disappearance of her own mother and her experience in an orphanage, her determination to keep track of her siblings, and what came after. Bingham’s memoirs, published under the title Buy the Little One a Dolly, are not self-published. Why? The answer is telling. The price, Bingham reports, was “quite hefty.” We know this is not an uncommon take on self-publishing in the year 2017–that the confusion of vanity presses with genuine self-publishing companies has done the exact opposite of what self-publishers set out to do (democratize the publishing process). Bingham’s story is inspiring and uplifting on so many levels, but that telling little note–that gentle aside from a woman who ought to have been able to pursue whatever path to publication she wanted–strikes a discordant chord. A reminder to stick to our principles.

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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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news from the self publishing world, self publishing news, Uncategorized

Self-Publishing News: 12.4.2017 – The Company Files!

december

And now for the news!

Some highlights from this month in the world of self-publishing, specifically news from or regarding self-publishing companies!

First off, that article everyone has been talking about. You know the one! It appeared on HuffPost earlier this week courtesy of Devishobha Chandramouli, an author and entrepreneur. And if you’re like me and were immediately turned off by the title (“oh, it’s clearly set against self-publishing!”) … well, give it a chance! It’s actually one of the most elegantly worded defenses of self-publishing to come out in recent years in any medium and on any platform. Chandramouli distills down the benefits of self-publishing to six key ones, points we’ve talked about at various points on this blog: everything from rights and royalties to self-publishing’s failure to “slow down” despite industry predictions, from achieving marquee success with certain breakout stars to the slow but steady disappearance of the stigma which has so often surrounded it. But Chandramouli also presents a few realistic points of warning: that self-publishing still requires good writing to make a success out of a book, and that it places more responsibility on the author than in the traditional publishing model. We’re excited to see what Chandramouli does (and writes!) next, and highly recommend you read her full article at the link.

Ever been curious what the situation of self-publishing might be abroad, in other countries? We’ve mentioned India before in previous weeks as a hotbed for self-publishing creativity, but here’s a little concrete news about publishing companies in India courtesy of the India Blooms news service, which has the latest on which companies self-publishing authors in India are choosing to publish through. The list is packed with names that might be unfamiliar to our North American readers: Power Publishers, Notion Press, Partridge Publishing (part of Author Solutions), Pothi, and Educreation. Of these five, only one was founded and is based out of India (Partridge); the rest are home-grown and proud of it. For more about what has made these companies a breakout success in one of Asia’s hottest literary markets, read the full article at India Blooms!

As we’ve mentioned before (and regularly) on Self-Publishing Advisor, books don’t have exclusive rights to self-publishing: arts and media of all kinds have found ways to support new, creator-centric platforms which celebrate diverse kinds of art and place the creative control, rights, and the bulk of the earnings back in the hands of their creators. We’ve written about self-published digital magazines–ezines–before, too, and at length … but what else has been happening in the world of catalogs and magazines? Are there other models for what self-publishing can look like in this publishing sphere?

The answer, according to Patrick Henry of Printing Impressions, is a resounding yes! In fact, DigiPub may just have a great new answer to the ongoing question he poses in his opening to this great article: “do they have a grip on the future?” He reports on his experience at this year’s DigiPub conference, and many of the products and people who were there to discuss options. It’s a fascinating article, and not one you want to miss if you love the glossies and are curious about if there’s a place for you among their pages!

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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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Self-Publishing News: 11.27.2017 – Publishing Trends

ThinkstockPhotos-866976318

And now for the news!

Some highlights from this month in the world of self-publishing, specifically regarding publishing trends within the publishing industry, and their implications for all authors!

This article, courtesy of Courthouse News, chronicles the surprising story of a self-published work of erotic sort-of-fanfiction which might have been destined for obscurity had it not, well, featured a number of real life people, including an actual New Englands Patriots player and an actual picture of an actual couple on their honeymoon. And obviously, having not consented to this use of their names and/or images, these individuals took the author–and the self-publishing companies which sold the book!–to court. (Barnes & Noble was also sued, but doesn’t quite rate the headline. Courthouse News contributor Matt Reynolds describes both the history of the case and its implications for self-publishing authors and companies in the future. But two points seem adequately clear already: (1) featuring real-life people in your self-published works without consent opens you up to a whole plethora of troubles, and (2) it might also make your book famous. That said, we don’t advocate for this kind of flirtation with ethics; we recommend reading Reynold’s entire article and making up your own minds.

What are they? Well, we will do our best not to spoil this entire article for you and rather recommend that you take a peek at Ben Fox Rubin’s whole article, but suffice it to say that the Kindle has had quite a history of both successes and failures, and one of Amazon’s trademarks is the ability to turn the flip the latter around, learn from it, and find a marketable way of moving beyond it.

A trick we could all learn from, eh?

Rubin’s article is interesting for more reasons than the clickbait indicated by the article’s title; here he gives an insightful tour of the device’s–and the company’s, and self-publishing’s–early days, its path to profitability, and some key indicators of what’s to come next. You might have heard that tablets and dedicated e-readers are going away, but what does the largest manufacturer of dedicated e-readers actually think about this idea? Check out Rubin’s article in full for further excellent thoughts.

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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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