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

Self-Publishing News: 4.18.2016

This week in the world of self-publishing:

A Busy International Book Fair Season

“The past few weeks have been a busy period for the publishing industry,” write Publisher’s Weekly correspondents Jim Milliot, Andrew Albanese, and Diane Roback in this April 15th article. Milliot, Albanese, and Roback report from the far afield as they cover the events taking place at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and the London Book Fair as well as the 28th Independent Book Publishers of America (IBPA) Publishing University, held in Salt Lake City. While the book fairs are not themselves specifically focused on indie, hybrid, and self-publishing authors, certain self-publishing-related events proved extremely popular, “with the popular Authors HQ once again facing overflowing audiences for its presentations on best practices and services, how to find an agent, and more. Emerging technology was also prominent, with sessions on virtual reality, and on artificial intelligence,” write Milliot, Albanese, and Roback. The IBPA’s Publishing University, unlike the two book fairs, is all to do with independent publishing–and “approximately 230 independent publishers and self-published authors turned out,” cutting across all demographics and disciplines. Newbery-winner Kwame Alexander delivered a keynote on his own road to success as a self-publishing author running his own small press. For the full report from Publisher’s Weekly on these international book festivals, visit the original article here.

Meet Mark Dawson, the literary sensation you’ve never heard of

“Everybody has a novel in them, so they say,” begins this April 15th article by Guy Kelly for the Telegraph: “Yet even if the idea for a book comes easily, the challenge of having that dormant masterpiece accepted by iron-clad publishing houses has long seemed a Herculean task, even for the most promising manuscripts.” Kelly goes on to explain how this landscape is slowly but irrevocably shifting under the influence of self-publishing, a process which removes obstacles and allows “anybody to become an entirely self-reliant, published author in a matter of minutes. And if you’re prepared to be shrewd about it, the move could prove extremely lucrative.” He goes on to paint a portrait of Mark Dawson, a 42-year-old self-publishing author whose books have been downloaded over two million times, and whose sales are in excess of six figures–each year. Dawson, writes Kelly, has now launched something called “The Self-Publishing Formula, a range of courses designed to advise others on how best to monetise their writing in the modern, internet-driven world.” His journey to success was a long one, giving him plenty of insight into the traditional publishing model which he left in order to pursue his own course. To follow that entire journey, follow the link.

Book publishing is a resilient business according to CEO

In this April 15th article for the South China Morning Post, contributor CNBC writes that “The e-book business is thriving, despite the competition between digital, print and audible books, according to the boss of an e-reader company.” The “boss” CNBC mentions is Michael Tamblyn, the CEO of Kobo, “which sells e-reader apps and devices, as well as e-books.” And importantly, the market CNBC mentions is the international e-book market, giving us insight into a world much larger and much more diverse than the standard American publishing outlook. Tamblyn, according to the article, “also discussed the increasing success of self-published books on the market. Last year, 22 per cent of e-books sold in the U.K. were self-published.” 2015 was in many ways a recovery year for the international book market–not just in terms of ebooks, but in terms of overall print and digital sales, traditionally or independently published–after a two-year slump. “Agents and publishers still dominate the market but self-published has become a real, viable channel,” CNBC quotes Tamblyn as saying: “More often than not the customer who’s buying this doesn’t necessarily know they are buying a self-published book. They are so well produced, so well edited, so well designed that they just sit on the shelf with everything else.” The fact is this: self-published books are beginning to lose their stigma, and that’s a very good thing for everyone. Well, everyone who is invested in making sure authors get their due. For more of CNBC’s article, you can find the South China Morning News piece 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.

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.

Kelly Speaks, news from the self publishing world, self publishing news

Self-Publishing News: 4.11.2016

This week in the world of self-publishing:

Local author finds possible new evidence in 20 year old murder case

“Tammy Malinowski O’Reilly of Union Dale has loved crime stories since she was 6 years old,” writes Regge Episale for the Independent Weekender––a web-based newsletter that comes out of the Susquehanna County, Pennsylvania area––but her love of solving crimes continued into her adulthood, prompting her to pursue entry into the Pennsylvania State Police Academy. Despite having to leave the Academy to devote more time to other things, her passion for solving crimes stuck with her, and between 1989 to 1991, she published a series of stories in True Detective Magazine under the name “Tammy Mal.” “At the age of 47,” writes Episale, “40 years after she first fell in love with her genre, she self-published her first book, Little Girl Lost: The True Story of the Vandling Murder, a well-researched book about the murder of 9-year-old Mae Barrett in 1945.” And that was only the beginning. After a number of successful true-crime novels and other works, O’Reilly turned her attention to the 1994 Katrinak murders in Catasauqua:

From more than 10,000 official documents including Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) reports, FBI Files, forensic lab results, and the 6,500-page trial transcript, four years of intensive research, countless interviews with those involved, and hundreds of letters, phone calls and personal visits with Patricia Rorrer, O’Reilly found details that didn’t add up, had never been made public, and that raised serious questions about the case and Patty’s guilt.

Her book, working title Reasonable Doubt, details the original story as presented in the press and the story as found in the files and reports.

Through her research, O’Reilly has been instrumental in getting the Philadelphia Innocence Project to take a closer look at the evidence and has gained the support and cooperation of Appeals Attorney Craig Neely.

How’s that for lasting impact? While the case in question is still under appeal and therefore details in O’Reilly’s book can not yet be made public, one hopes that Reasonable Doubt will hit bookshelves in the not-so-distant future. To read more about how this self-publishing author is making a real difference in the world, check out the full article here.

Book Deal For What? How To Self Publish Your Book

It’s official: self-publishing has reached the glamor market! As Ashley Coleman writes for Essence magazine on April 7th, “there used to be a time when aspiring authors were simply at the mercy of literary agents [… h]owever, with the growth of self-publishing platforms, so many more authors are able to get their work from the pages of their notebooks to the world.” A self-publishing author herself and friend to other self-publishing authors, Coleman spends the rest of her article combining tips and advice for how to get started with tidbits of encouragement for those still wavering between pursuing indie or traditional modes of publication. “Although in self-publishing you will have to put a lot of thought into not only creating the work but how to get it out there, the return on the investment may be well worth it,” she writes. She advocates for outlines, deadlines, discipline, and professional editing. She also weighs the benefits of designing a book cover or having it designed for you by a paid professional, as well as the pros and cons of Print on Demand (POD) options. Her closing words hold a life lesson for us all: “Your book can literally go as far as you are ready to take it!” For the rest of Coleman’s how-to (succeed in self-publishing) article, follow the link.

Howard County authors make the leap into self-publishing

“It started with a routine procedure,” writes Valerie Bonk for Howard Magazine, syndicated through The Baltimore Sun on April 6th. Connie Bowman’s path to self-publishing started with a procedure, and with tragedy–the death of her daughter due to a botched catheterization. She self-published her book Back to Happy, through Amazon’s CreateSpace program, and says that she chose the self-publishing route “over a major publisher like Penguin Random House or HarperCollins to ‘get it done.'” Another local author, Patty Sroka of Woodbine, chose a similar path after taking her Girl Scout troop on a trip along with a copy of Nora Roberts. She now publishes under the pen name P.J. O’Dwyer, Bonk reveals. Says Sroka:

Back then, when I would run into authors and they said that they were self-published, I would kind of stick my nose in the air and say, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to be self-published. I want a major publisher.’ But then I realized that it doesn’t mean you have a poorly written book. It could be that publishers don’t have room on their lists that year or they already have reached their quota of books like yours.

But with the success of her Fallon Sisters Trilogy of romantic suspense novels, Sroka was struck by the idea that ought to share what she had learned in a more systematic way. And so she approached Howard Community College “with an idea for teaching a course to help others in the area navigate the world of self-publishing. She now teaches a series of noncredit classes focusing on writing fiction, self-publishing and marketing fiction,” writes Bonk–and her students are already finding their own ways to success. For the complete story, including snapshots of where Sroka’s students are now, check out the full article on The Baltimore Sun‘s website.

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

Self-Publishing News: 4.4.2016

This week in the world of self-publishing:

Self-Publishing Platforms Deemed Distributors, Not Publishers in Privacy Suit over Unauthorized Book Cover

In the world of self-publishing, we know just how important precedents can be–and we have a lot to learn about and deal with when it comes to the legal ramifications of going solo. And well–another precedent has just been set, as reported in this April 1st article for the National Law Review by Jeffrey Neuburger, a Partner in the New York office as well as co-head of the Technology, Media & Communications Group and a member of the Privacy & Data Security Group. In short, Neuburger is an expert. He knows what he’s about, and he takes the conversation about self-publishing’s future seriously.

Writes Neuburger, “We live in a world that has rapidly redefined and blurred the roles of the ‘creator’ of content, as compared to the roles of the ‘publisher’ and ‘distributor’ of such content.” And what exactly is the nature of this precedent? In short: “This past month, an Ohio district court ruled that several online self-publishing services were not liable for right of publicity or privacy claims for distributing an erotic (and so-called “less than tasteful”) book whose cover contained an unauthorized copy of the plaintiffs’ engagement photo because such services are not publishers.” The plaintiff brought suit not just against the author but against Amazon’s Kindle Digital Publishing, Barnes & Noble’s Nook Press, and Smashwords. Luckily for self-publishing, the suit was dismissed on the grounds that the author had signed agreements with all three companies stating he owned the rights to all material he published–and therefore bore sole responsibility for violating the plaintiff’s privacy. But the implications, should a similar case be brought against self-publishing authors and companies in the future, are massive. And in an industry that is increasingly hybridizing–with companies offering book cover design packages among many others–the boundaries become even more blurred.

With Romance Novels Booming, Beefcake Sells, but It Doesn’t Pay

Have you ever wondered if there might be a hidden cost to the self-publishing industry’s near-rampant success? Well, there is one, but it might not be what you think: The rise of self-publishing and the high demand for uber-cheap stock photos of steamy men to grace the covers of new (self-published) romance novels has cut the bottom out of the industry that used to supply these photos. Or at least that’s what Laura Holson argues in this March 30th article for the New York Times Business Day.

The demand for steamy cover photos has never been higher–but indie authors aren’t willing or able to pay what traditional publishing companies have paid in the past, so the (mostly male) cover models make less per photo. Holson quotes Liz Pelletier, “the chief executive of the romance novel company Entangled Publishing” as saying: “I never thought I would say this […] but I am so tired of looking at men’s abs. I don’t know if these ones are sexier than those other ones.”

Most telling of all is the average income for these models, and Holson singles out a Mr. Baca to illustrate the difficulties facing them now: “Few romance models, if any, make enough money to eke out a living. Mr. Baca, for example, works at the Housing Authority of the Santa Clara County, Calif., as a customer-service clerk. And although he has an agent, he said he earned only $20,000 in his best year. This, despite the fact that he is a tireless self-promoter who fancies himself the next Fabio.” And appeared on the cover of Playgirl in 2004. While you may or may not be a romance novelist in addition to being a self-publishing author, Holson’s article serves as a useful reminder that every change in the status quo or in a market trend is bound to have some kind of human cost. To read the rest of Holson’s article, follow the link.

Roslyn Heights Author Shares Her Journey of Persistence

In his March 31st interview with self-publishing sensation Elyse Salpeter for The Island Now, Adedamola Agboola begins with the author’s rocky path to improvement. “I wasn’t always a great writer but I had great ideas,” Agboola quotes Saltpeter as saying, after recounting her early humiliation at the hands of an unkind schoolteacher. And more importantly, Saltpeter never gave up: “Since 2011,” writes Agboola, “Salpeter has self-published nine books in four different genres from thrillers, horror, fantasy to young adult novels.” Nine books! And all of them brought into existence as the final product of a creative mind set at liberty to realize its full potential–without the limitations and criticisms systemic to traditional publishing. But Saltpeter didn’t start with self-publishing; as Agboola recounts, she published her first book through the traditional imprint of Coolwell Press. But over time, her relationship with her editors deteriorated, and after they “trashed” another round of drafts, it took “almost 15 years to hit [her] strides” again–and she did so by going indie. While Saltpeter is honest about the challenges facing self-publishing authors in a crowded marketplace, she sticks by her decision. For more information about Saltpeter and her latest book, The Call for Mount Someru, you can access Agboola’s full interview here.

Kelly Speaks, news from the self publishing world, self publishing news

Self-Publishing News: 03.28.2016

This week in the world of self-publishing:

How self-published novel Jalan Jalan took flight with an Asian publisher

We’ve written before about how self-publishing is thriving in eastern markets, but the story of Jalan Jalan‘s author Mike Stoner might take the cake for success stories––as recounted by Tim Hannigan in this March 25th article for The Guardian. (Talk about fame and recognition––The Guardian has been a go-to resource for literary aficionados for decades.) Stoner’s novel––which “follows a heartbroken young Brit through Indonesia, where he finds himself embroiled in a murky world at the bottom of the expat barrel after accepting a teaching job at a dodgy language school after a five-minute telephone interview”––won The Guardian‘s much coveted self-published book of the month award in December of 2014, and it didn’t stop there. After a year or more picking up momentum in social media and overseas markets, Jalan Jalan found a second home with Tuttle and Periplus, one of southeast Asia’s biggest distributors of English-language books. If it seems like your average rags-to-riches indie-to-traditional stories, hold on a moment: Stoner says that he was only able to reach such a large audience because he first chose to self-publish. “I’d recommend self-publishing to anyone who writes and gets dejected about being rejected,” he says, “because you never know where it might lead. If I hadn’t made the effort I’d never have won the Guardian award.” For the complete article in The Guardian, follow the link.

Why I Decided To Self-Publish My Book

“In 2015, I celebrated my 18th birthday in quite an unconventional way: by debuting my first authored book on Amazon,” begins this March 25th article by Julia Schemmer for HuffPost Books. The teen entrepreneur continues: “I decided to take the road more traveled by self-publishing my work, 20 Seconds of Insane Courage instead of seeking a publisher and pursuing printed copies. Looking back, it is a decision I still stand behind, and am proud of.” If this seems like an unconventional way to begin a defense of self-publishing, chew on this for a moment, too: in a world where teens are constantly competing to be heard on issues ranging from the controversial to the mundane, self-publishing provides one of the few paths forward in the evolution from private to public voice. It would be easy to see Schemmer as an exception to the rule, a Truly Gifted Individual and not the exact model for many of her generation hope to do, but one of the largest demographic groups within the world of self-publishing authors is, in fact, teens. So when Schemmer speaks in defense of self-publishing, she’s speaking as more than just one teen who hit a lucky streak––she’s speaking as an advocate for many others. And what does she have to say? Quite a lot! With points ranging from creative control to broader access for readers, Schemmer’s article is well worth a read–and you can find it here.

Keep Your Eyes Open: Tips from an Indie Author

The conversation about improving diverse representation within the publishing––specifically, the self-publishing––industry is ongoing, but significant inroads are being made and there’s no better example of people leading the change through decades of hard work than 24-year publishing veteran Erika Berg, writes Drucilla Shultz in this March 21st article for Publisher’s Weekly. Berg, who crowd-funded and then self-published Forced to Flee: Visual Stories by Refugee Youth from Burma and launched a companion website, looks to use her experience and her skills as an author “as an advocacy tool for giving voice to refugees” and other often-silenced minority groups. Asked about her advice for other indie authors, Berg advises going “off the beaten path”:

When it comes to marketing, again, be alert to possible win-win partnerships. Forced to Flee’s most fruitful events haven’t been at bookstores; they have been hosted by school districts, universities, organizations, etc. that had even more to gain from a large turnout and media coverage than I did.

For more of her stellar advice, check out Shultz’s entire interview and article on the Publisher’s Weekly website.

Kelly Speaks, news from the self publishing world, self publishing news

Self-Publishing News: 03.21.2016

This week in the world of self-publishing:

Kondo Association: House & Home Books, 2016

In this March 18th article for Publisher’s Weekly, contributor Jennifer McCartney compiles a list of the titular “house and home” books published so far in 2016 in the tradition of Marie Kondo’s decluttering handbook, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up––a book which became a massive bestseller after its release in 2014. Of more specific interest to fans of self-publishing, however, is McCartney’s use of an indie favorite to provide context to her list: Francine Jay’s 2010 self-publishing phenomenon, “the minimalist lifestyle guide The Joy of Less,” which according to McCartney “has sold almost 25,000 copies in paperback.” While Jay’s book has “found a home” with the traditional publishing label Chronicle, and will be releasing a hardcover edition under that same label in April featuring new material, it had its start in the world of self-publishing. “Like many decluttering proponents,” writes McCartney, “Jay is fond of acronyms and advocates the STREAMLINE approach: start over; trash/treasure/transfer; reason for each item; everything in its place; all surfaces clear; modules; limits; if one comes in, one goes out; narrow it down; and everyday maintenance.” Fans of the original indie pick may be interested to know that the new edition includes a “five-step program” called “the clutter-free family,” which by all accounts “addresses readers at various stages of life, from a newly cohabitating couple to a household that includes teenagers.” McCartney’s list does not, disappointingly, include any other self-published titles, but you can find out more about The Joy of Less at the book’s Amazon bookpage!

First awards for Canadian self-published books to debut at Whistler Writers Festival

Becky Robertson, in this March 18th article for Quill and Quire, gives a much-needed update on the inaugural Whistler Independent Book Awards, “jointly produced by the Whistler Writing Society and publishing and editorial services company Vivalogue Publishing.” While Quill and Quire, which self-describes as “the magazine of the Canadian book trade,” remains a subscription-only magazine, the full details of the Whistler Independent Book Awards are available from the Tidewater Festival website. Tidewater, “the first book festival exclusively for independent and self-published authors in western Canada,” now assists in organizing events for the indie publishing across the entire nation of Canada, including the aforementioned Whistler Independent Book Awards, which aim “to recognize excellence in Canadian independent publishing,” and will offer prizes in four categories: fiction, non-fiction, crime fiction and poetry. According to the website, there will be a “single winner in each category, with two additional finalists.” The awards close for entries on June 3rd, with finalists announced on July 15th and winners announced at a “Literary Cabaret event held as part of the Whistler Writers Festival” in October. If you’re a self-published author of Canadian extraction and are thinking of applying, we’d love to follow your journey! For more information including eligibility requirements and prize details, follow the link.

The medium is the message – the power of public poetry

Taking somewhat of a different tack in her view of self-publishing, Guardian contributor Marta Bausells takes on a specific brand of poet in this March 20th article focusing on Scottish poet Robert Montgomery, who has “consciously made an ‘awkward space’ for himself in between artistic categories.” As Bausells reports, his work “puts poetry in front of people in eye-catching visual formats: from advertising billboards he has covered with poems, to words he has set on fire or lit with recycled sunlight in public spaces––including the Sussex seafront and a Berlin airport.” Of more recent interest, says Bausells, Montgomery has been working “on tomorrow’s World Poetry Day ‘Pay with a poem’ campaign, through which customers can get coffee in exchange for poetry in cafes across the globe. Montgomery will then collect the public’s poems to create an installation in a secret location.”

3881 — From Bausell’s article: “The People You Love at the De La Warr Pavilion in Sussex, in 2010.”

Fascinating stuff, and definitely of an “indie” bent, but more relevant to us here on Self-Publishing Advisor is Montgomery’s words on self-publishing. As Bausells puts it, he “celebrates the fact that self-publishing is becoming essential online, and that these peer-to-peer demographics mean poets garner audiences that ‘bring their work alive’ before they get a chance to get published.” Public poetry, according to Montgomery, is at its best when the barriers between poet and public are finally broken down–and there’s no better manifestation of this trend than in self-publishing! We encourage you to read Bausell’s full article on Montgomery’s rise in popularity here.

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