Category: Self-Publishing

Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Self-Publishing

2009 LONDON BOOK FESTIVAL AWARDS Calling for SELF-PUBLISHED ENTRIES

London Book Festival Awards calls for unique self-published book entries:

The 2009 London Book Festival will hold its annual awards program celebrating books that deserve greater recognition from the international publishing community on January 21, 2010 at the city’s famed Grosvenor House. The awards ceremony is open to competition entrants and invited guests of the festival.

The awards ceremony is open to competition entrants and invited guests of the festival. The 2009 London Book Festival will consider books in English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese and Italian in the competition. The works may be published, self-published or independent publisher non-fiction, fiction, children’s books, poetry, art/photgraphy, teenage, how-to, audio/spoken word, comics/graphic novels, e-books, wild card (anything goes!), science fiction, romance and biography/autobiographical works.

A panel of judges will determine the winners based on the following criteria:

1) The story-telling ability of the author;
2) The potential of the work to win wider recognition from the international publishing community.

Our grand prize for the 2009 London Book Festival Author of the Year is $1500 and a flight from your city of entry to London OR Los Angeles – your choice!

ENTRIES: Please classify your book and enter it in the following categories. Multiple entries must be accompanied by a separate fee for each book.

1.General Non-fiction
2. General Fiction
3. Children’s books
4. E-books
5. Comics/graphic novels
6. Wild Card
7. Teenage
8. Science fiction
9. Romance
10. Biography/Autobiography
11. Audio/spoken word
12. How-To
13. Poetry
14. Art/Photography

FESTIVAL RULES: London Book Festival submissions cannot be returned. Each entry must contain a print-out of the official entry form, including your e-mail address and contact telephone number. All shipping and handling costs must be borne by entrants.

NOTIFICATION AND DEADLINES: We will notify each entry of the receipt of their package via e-mail and will announce the winning entries at the LondonBookFestival.com web site.

Deadline submissions in each category must be postmarked by the close of business on November 25, 2009. Winners in each category will be notified by e-mail and the results posted on the site. Please note that judges read and consider submissions on an ongoing basis, comparing early entries with later submissions.

TO ENTER: Entry forms are available online at http://londonbookfestival.com or may be faxed/e-mailed to you by calling our office at 323-665-8080. Applications must be accompanied by a non-refundable entry fee via check, money order, credit card payment or PayPal online payment of $50 in U.S. dollars for each submission. Multiple submissions are permitted but each entry must be accompanied by a separate form and entry fee. Entry fee checks should be made payable to JM Northern Media LLC.

Entry packages should include one copy of the book; a copy of your official entry form; the entry fee or receipt from online payment; and any relevant marketing materials, i.e., press kits or other material that illuminates the background of your book. Entries should be mailed to:

JM Northern Media LLC
The London Book Festival
7095 Hollywood Blvd. Suite 864
Hollywood, CA 90028, USA

AWARDS: The London Book Festival selection committee reserves the right to determine the eligibility of any project.

The London Book Festival is produced by JM Northern Media LLC, producers of the Hollywood Book Festival, New York Book Festival and DIY Book Festival. We are sponsored by the Larimar St. Croix Writers Colony, eDivvy, Westside Websites and Shopanista

Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Self-Publishing Advantages Out on the Table

This posts and blog exists to help you make the best informed choices for the future of their books. Whether you’re still in the conceptualization phase or searching for a publisher, these are tips, each worthy of careful consideration.

For example, take a moment and write out your personal publishing goals…

For many authors, these 7 are the most important:

1) Keeping 100% of your rights and creative control to your book
2) Keeping 100% of your author royalties
3) Unlimited wholesale and retail availability
4) Additional marketing support and services
5) Publishing imprint and ISBN flexibility
6) High-quality book design
7) Complete print-run flexibility (1 to 1000s)

What would you add to this list?

– K


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Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Networking, Self-Publishing

Self-publishing Goes Higher-Ed at NYU

Has the credibility of self-publishing been in question previously? I have to admit I’ve dealt with my fair share of doubters. At times in fact I’ve felt, as has Tracy Jordan, stuck in Horseville – because I sat surrounded by Neighsayers.
The writing/publishing program chairs at New York University have recently announced the department’s intention to introduce a a course in self-publishing for the Spring semester of 2010. The 6 week course will be taught by self-publishing and book marketing expert, Penny C. Sansevieri.

Notes Sansevieri, “I’m delighted to teach self-publishing for NYU and am thrilled that they’ve asked me to bring this model to their students for the first time. Today’s publishing landscape is changing by the minute. Print-on-Demand or POD is taking hold in a big way. With self-publishing and computer technology, big publishers’ stranglehold on the market is gone. Everyone can publish their story.”

Writers rejoice. Doubters take notice.

– Karl Schroeder


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Editing Your Self-Published Book, Self-Publishing

Self-publishing Advice: Word Usage

Editorial Q&A from an established Self-publishing consulting source:

Q: I would like to know of a book or Web site that shows complete sentences in which a specified word is used. I have a good vocabulary and know how to use a thesaurus, but I’m fearful when it comes to promoting a word from my cognitive vocabulary to my active vocabulary; i.e., actually using a word I know in a sentence I write. (For example, I stepped out on a limb to use the word “cognitive.”)

A: First, never use a word in your writing that you wouldn’t use in casual conversation, and you’ll never go wrong.

Next, if you never stretch your own vocabulary, you won’t grow, so after the first caution, I’ll add my favorite source: American Heritage Dictionary. It often, but not always, uses words in a sentence.

A third warning: When you look something up in a thesaurus, be cautious, because each word has its own connotation, and choosing a word from a list does not ensure that the exact meaning you intend will be relayed to the reader. One of my clients for whom English was not a native language, for example, wanted to impart excitement, so after referring to a thesaurus, he wrote, “Oh, no!” he ejaculated. Yes, the sentence and word use are both technically correct, but Americans more often use ejaculate to mean something other than exclaim, so the word choice was less than ideal. It did give this editor a chuckle, however.

Bobbie Christmas, book doctor, author of Write In Style (Union Square Publishing), and owner of Zebra Communications, will answer your questions, too. Send them to Bobbie@zebraeditor.com. Read more “Ask the Book Doctor” questions and answers at http://www.zebraeditor.com.


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Book Promotion, Self-Publishing

Self-publishing’s Epic Adaptation: Wild Things

Dave Eggers’ novel and screenplay adaptation of the timeless children’s book, Where the Wild Things Are saw its big screen debut last Friday, and with controversy tantamount to that created by Maurice Sendak’s original.

Eggers is the founding and managing editor of McSweeney’s an independent or self-publishing option based out of San Francisco.  Eggers’ Wild Things is timely and worth of mention as an extraordinary testiment to the scope and cultural presence self-publishing authors bring to the us through unobstructed editorial voice.

Keep up the great work, writing, and contribution.

– Karl Schroeder

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