5 Worst Publishers – BEWARE!

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Author and e-Book Builder Deena Rae wrote in one of her blogs:
“The world of publishing has always been filled with scammers, and top of the list are vanity publishers. To those who have been in the world of publishing a vanity press used to be a bad thing, but with Penguin, Random House, Simon & Schuster, and even Harlequin getting into bed with AuthorHouse / AuthorSolutions to form so-called subsidiary presses. Now there is a sheen of “respectability” to vanity publishing…
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Want to know which vanity publishers I personally find the worst?  This is based just on my own research, observations and studying of lots of “publishing contracts”.  Top of the list are the ones that are operating under so many names and are changing them so often, one can barely keep up with listing them:

1. PublishAmerica, America Star Books
2. AuthorHouse / AuthorSolutions (Penguin)
3. Alibi, Hydra etc. (Random House)
4. iUniverrse, XLibris,
5. General Store Publishing, Renfrew, ON, Canada

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   “I wish I had seen this site (and many others popping up out there) before paying … to destroy my four years of hard work.”
   “Stay away from those people, do not invest a penny in …. Save yourself time, money and frustration! Buyer beware! Author beware! Writer beware!
   “I am their client too and very much disappointed with the way my book is handled, unless it is the matter of grabbing money, it is difficult to get a response.

These are original comments of authors to articles about the vanity company practices.

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Century-old Scams
Authors are surprised when so-called publishers want money up front. Publishers are supposed to pay authors, aren’t they?  There is nothing wrong in this. The trouble comes if the author, having signed a hefty check, is led to expect that his book will be treated in the same way as all the other books coming onto the market. To pay for publication is no guarantee that a single copy will appear on the shelves of even the local bookshop.  Authors feel they have been conned, persuaded to part with money for services not rendered.  If you think writers and publishers today are dodgy, get a load of the crooks and scoundrels of 18th-century London Publishing scams seem to be nothing new. Read this Salon.com article about the worst publisher of all time.
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Author BEWARE!
Despite the evidence, there are still writers who fall into the trap of vanity publishing – often with open eyes. That is why as soon as one vanity publisher goes out of business, another soon fills the gap. Here are a few tips on what to look out for. Read it in a former blog post – and BEWARE!
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The expression “publisher” should be legally protected and it should be forbidden by law to call themselves publishers! Read more about vanity publishers and un-ethical publishing contracts in Stop: Vanity Publishing aka Subsidy Publishers.  

Here is an excerpt from a contract where the vanity firm extends the right to the universe – in case people make home on Mars or the moon:
“The author hereby grants the publisher, during the full term of copyright, the sole and exclusive right to manufacture, print, publish and sell and to otherwise use, as set out further in this agreement, including, but not limited to, acting as agent and/or exercising any or all subsidiary rights, throughout the universe.”
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More about this topic:
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2013/03/06/a-contract-from-alibi/
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/easy-to-lose-money-a-lot/
http://emilysuess.wordpress.com/
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/author-beware-its-a-long-post/
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/12/06/how-to-choose-an-ebook-publisher-or-diy/
http://accrispin.blogspot.ca/2014/02/publishamerica-is-now-america-star-books.html

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Less than Minimum Wage for Authors?

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Are you thinking about approaching an agent or publisher for your next book? Do you know what clauses publishing contracts usually contain? How do you read a publishing contract? What your income will be – compared to author-publishing? This blog post and the following two will help you to “take the con out of the work con-tract”.

Wikipedia explains: “A publishing contract is a legal contract between a publisher and a writer or author, to publish written material by the writer or author. This may involve a single written work, or a series of works.” And as with every legal contract, authors are faring better when consulting a lawyer that is specialized in publishing contracts – BEFORE – they sign it.  

 

Savvy Writers & e-Books online

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Justicia

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Traditional Publishing Contracts – Part One of a Series

You might remember an article How Harlequin Publishing Deceives Their Authors from last summer in this blog, about the planned class action suit against the publisher. Today I stumbled about a sequel of J.A. Konrath’s blog: Harlekin Fail, Part 2, where he explains the contract practices of the trade publishers in general, and how they deceive their authors. From today on we will look more closely into these practices.
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When offered the opportunity to publish traditionally, about two-thirds of self-published authors are interested. The supposed prestige of a traditional publisher, the wide distribution a publisher can generate and help with marketing, are the reasons, cited in surveys.
However the perception of traditional publishing is often not up to date in public, as the way of book marketing (and the whole traditional publishing business) has totally…

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Checklist for Successful Book Sales Campaigns

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No matter if you are organizing a book launch for your latest work (or your first book), planning your Goodreads Giveaway or if you prepare to have your book on sale, or for free for a couple of days:  these campaigns need to be well organized and promoted – and all that well in advance.

I have seen it too many times, that authors decide on Monday morning to have a book sale from Tuesday on and expect it to be a successful one. Or they hurry editing, formatting and slap a cover image together, in order to get the book on Amazon’s sales pages before Christmas.

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Start EARLY !!!
You have about three months to promote a new print book (paper back or hardcover) before the bookstores clear their shelves for the next bestseller. But if you can rack up enough pre-orders BEFORE the pub date, then you can kickstart your book launch. Once it hits the New York Times or other lists, then a couple of weeks on those lists become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Again: the more time you give your book to be listed on Amazon and other online retailers BEFORE your publication date, the better.
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The Minimum You Can Do To Make it a Success:

1. Write Several Blogs About Your Campaign Including Images
Tell potential readers the benefits, e.g.:

• Low price or even free
• Send as inexpensive gifts
• Give them a great incentive for a review
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2. Write a FREE short e-Book About Your Book : )
Include all the sales links and an author biography, and if you will participate in Amazon’s “Matchbox”, bundles of print and e-book, explain your potential readers their benefit of ordering a “bundle“.
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3. Campaign Announcement
Cross promote your campaign: Always post and promote your event on your own website, blog and through email as well, so that non-Facebook/Twitter/Google+ users can learn about it and share your book sales campaign event without having to use these social media sites. What’s more: Use Twitter to generate buzz and use LinkedIn to leverage business communities and post the event to LinkedIn.

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4. Google+ Posts
Add your blogs about your book launch or your book sales campaign – not only on your own Google+ timeline and your author / book page, but also at the dozens of Google+ reader communities where you are (hopefully) a member.

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5. Tweets
At least one tweet per hour, each one in a variety of text and accompanied by a cover image photo of your book or photographs from book scenes or areas where it takes place. Sign up to several Twitter accounts. You can have up to five accounts. But don’t post the same tweets everywhere! And schedule well in advance, using Hootsuite or any other free scheduling service to find the best times to post on Twitter.

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6. Create a Re-tweet Button in a Free eBook
Give away the first chapter of your book as an immediately accessible PDF on your web page or on Amazon. Include a re-tweet button in several strategic locations in the chapter. This allows people who love what they read, to easily share with friends on Twitter.  When someone clicks on this re-tweet button, it shows a pre-crafted tweet that says: “I’m reading @……. new book: … Get the first chapter free here too: http://………” You get the idea?
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7. Announce the Campaign in Your Newsletter
It’s one of the reasons you ask your blog readers or website visitors to sign up for your newsletter: to inform them about specials and sales campaigns or book launches – beside giving them regularely useful and entertaining content.
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8. Most Important is to Have Your Event/Campaign on Google+
Google+ offers a great tool to invite people to your upcoming event. Are you still thinking about joining? Or are you one of the more than 300 Million users of Google+ yet?
Announce the event or book sales campaign on Google+ and also on Goodreads at least three weeks before the date. They both offer a free event function. A site that is very easy and fast to set up. Promote this event (can be real life or virtual) heavily on FB, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, your blog and to your email list. And if your local newspaper, neighborhood paper etc. has an event page, or if they have an online version, get your event in! Search the internet for events/websites in your area and announce it there too.
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9. Create a photo contest
It can be a fun and friendly competition to get people excited about your book. And there’s no better platform than Social Media sites to do just that. You can call it the “Know my Book?” photo contest. All participants need to do, is to take a creative photo with the words “Know my Book?” or “Help Me Launch.” The three best images might receive the book or you can offer an additional first prize for a Kindle or a digital camera.

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Create Your Campaign Well in Advance
Give your event promotion enough time to spare, this also gives you time to notify / invite the people who you know are most likely to attend. With so many book sales to choose from, the key is to know your potential customers. Create your invitations, posts and tweets so as to reach as many individuals as possible with your marketing message.
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A Lot of Work You Say?
Yes, sure, if you see it as WORK. But if you like to write about your book, tell people about it, help your readers to find inexpensive copies of your book and to sell more books and get more reviews.  No one said that having a business involves only laughing all the way to the bank.

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Top 18 Book Launch Tips

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A great reason to celebrate the launch of your new book, which might have taken months or years to write, is a book launch party, actual or maybe even virtual. You will want to thank everyone who helped with the creation of your book and introduce your latest work to your adoring readers. With today’s digital printing techniques it is possible to have a couple of print books to sign at your event – even if your book is officially offered only as an e-book.

Plan Your Event at Least Two Months Ahead
The date can be well after the book hit the shelves or the Amazon sales pages. Important is that you invite as much people as possible (they won’t all come! Don’t worry) and that you get as much buzz as possible from book bloggers, from your Social Media followers, local book clubs and hopefully the local press. To use this article as a check list, it is set in chronological order.
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TWO MONTHS BEFORE THE BOOK LAUNCH
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1. Order your books
either as Print-on-Demand from CreateSpace or LightningSource or from an Espresso Book Machine or a local digital printer. If you go with a trade publisher, make sure you plan your event for at least two or three weeks after the first editions date.
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2. Rent a place for your book launch
Invite for coffee or wine and cheese:

• at the Starbucks Coffee Shop in Barnes&Noble or Chapters
• at your local library, if you expect a crowd, rent a board room there
• or rent a side room in a restaurant, hotel or in a museum,
• maybe even the foyer of a company (after working hours)

Best days are Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday between 4pm and 8pm
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3. Invite Social Media “Spreaders”
Create a “Spread the Word” page. Set up a special page on your web site called “Spread the Word”, in order to make it easy for people to spread via Social Media.
Create a short story, asking for people’s help. Include some prefabricated tweets that people can share with the click of a button, as well as instructions on how to share the book on Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest or LinkedIn. Add several images of your books cover, so that people can use your images via copy / past to their sites.
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4. Organize a Bloggers promotion
Create a blog posts why bloggers should do book reviews and included tips on how to write a professional book review. Engage them: “Want a chance to review a new book?”  “I am inviting up to 30 bloggers to review my new book on their blog and receive an extra copy that you can give away to your readers. On top of that there is a draw: one lucky person could win a Kindle Paperwhite / iPad.”
It should create a lot of exposure if done right. Bloggers are like the new press. Also ask people from your email list (you hopefully have one): “I would love to get your help spreading the word about this book launch! See how you can help.
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5. Invite the local Press
A book launch is not necessarily a news-worthy event, as millions of books are hitting the shelves every year. So you have to find an angle for the press to write about it and the benefit for readers to learn about your book. Get lots of tips in this short book: Media Training and Presentation Skills.
Write an igniting press release and a separate article about your book, along with images of its cover. Start with a press page on your website, see our blog on how to do this.
Find out the names of editors / journalists from the department that covers literature or local events, and send your invitation and information about your book to the right person. And mark your calender to follow up after a week.
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6. Retweet button in free ebook
Give away the first chapter of your book as an immediately accessible PDF on your page or on Amazon. Include a re-tweet button in several strategic locations in the chapter. This allows people who love what they read to easily share  with friends on Twitter. When someone clicks on the re-tweet button, it shows a pre-crafted tweet that says: “I’m reading @……. new book: … Get the first chapter free here too: http://………”   You get the idea?
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7. Ask for book endorsements from influential people
Want to know how you get famous people to support your Book, eBook, or blog? Well, you ask them! Some will, of course, say no. But some will tell you yes. And you never know until you ask, right?

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THREE WEEKS BEFORE

8. Use Event Pages
Announce the event on Google+ and on Goodreads at least three weeks before the date. They both offer a free event function. A site that is very easy and fast to set up. Promote this event (can be real life or virtual) heavily on FB, Twitter, Pinterest, Google, your blog and to your email list.
If your local newspaper, neighborhood paper etc. has an event page, or if they have an online version, get your event in!  Search the internet for events/websites in your area and announce it there too.
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9. Print invitations
Use your own home computer / printer to write the invitation and include a picture of your books’ cover, the location, address, maybe even a map and the time of the event. Send them out by mail or hand-deliver to those in your area. Print business cards or bookmarks as well.
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10. Verify delivery
Verify that your books delivery is ordered, with plenty of time to arrive. Nothing worse than having a date picked for your Book Release Party, and then having no books to sell! Reserve some copies for gifts to volunteers or the host.
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11. Get help for the party
Get a friend or family member to assist with selling your books. You, the author, need to be free to meet and great, talk, mingle, market and sign your books. Ask several people to bring their cameras and take pictures. Check your own camera and video for new batteries and memory card.
Have business cards or bookmarks to hand out as you talk with your potential.
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12. Order “Catering”
Organize your coffee orders, wine and cheese purchases and water/juice. Don’t forget to prepare a couple of folding chairs, table cloth, napkins, pen and paper for notes or if someone doesn’t have a card, to write down their name, email etc.
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13. Order big posters of your book cover
As bigger as better! Get some inexpensive frames to makes them look like a valuable painting. Avoid to tape them to the wall of your book launch party room, it would look cheap.
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14. Create a photo contest
It can be a fun and friendly competition to get people excited about your book. And there’s no better platform than Social Media sites to do just that.  You can call it the “Know my Book?” or “Help Me Launch” photo contest. All participants need to do was take a creative photo with the words “Know my Book?” or “Help Me Launch.” The three best images might receive the book or you can offer an additional first prize for a Kindle or a digital camera.

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15. Prepare an Event Website
To upload images and videos from your book launch and to introduce your book via a short video (don’t forget to add purchase links!) set up an extra page on your website or even an extra blog. This URL can later be used to blog / post about the event. Don’t stop to promote your book launch several times a day on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Pinterest, your blog and to your email list.
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16. Broadcast live videos
To promote the event party, talk about subjects related to the book, but do not overtly pitch the book. Organize and let someone connect with Google+ Hangouts to show the event in real time. Double check that the person can do both professional: Taking several short videos from an event like your upcoming book launch and knowledgeable with computers to set up the Hangout. Make sure you have WiFi at this location.
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DAY OF THE EVENT

17. Set up early enough
Check once more a day before or in the morning your equipment and the internet connection. Set up tables and chairs if possible and hang up your books’ images. On the big day: come at least an hour or longer before you expect your first guests to place your books, decoration and catering.

18. Gather addresses
You want to stay in touch with people you spend time with at your launch party. Make sure you have a way to capture each attendee’s email address, whether it’s a sign-up sheet, a bowl for business cards, or a laptop or tablet where people can opt into your mailing list on the spot.
These email addresses come handy when you thank every person a day later for coming to your book launch. And don’t forget those who helped you in any way. Write also those that did not make it, kindly tell them they were missed and where your books can be purchased, whether online or in a store. Post your photos and video immediately after the event. Add more images over the period of a week or so, to spread out the fun and reminders.

Enjoy to meet the people who are interested in your book! Have fun at the party! Writing and author-publishing a book, is a great accomplishment and reason to celebrate. Last but not least: Kate Raphael  http://www.kateraphael.com/ “We’re not only launching our books, we’re launching ourselves as authors.”
She gives this advice for your book launch talk:
“An engaging talk can get you invited to be on panels or radio shows. Yet too few are spending enough time planning the book launch talk. People don’t go out to an author event for the reading. They are attending for the value added, which is not the wine or coffee. Write out what you’re going to say. Write about 10 minutes of talk, 5 minutes of reading, 5 to 10 more minutes of talking and another 5 minutes of reading. Time it. Humor is wonderful, but if it’s not your style, don’t use it. Heartfelt is just as good or better.”

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $159 for three months! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
To advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 960 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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How to Get Reviews Before Your Books’ Launch

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Did you ever wonder why brand new books had already reviews?  New author-publishers can learn a lot in book stores:  Check out how professionally published books look like: Many of these trade books have either on their back cover (paperback) or on their binding flap (hard cover) several snippets of the book reviews, as well as endorsements from bestselling writers or other professionals, that were already written before the book was printed.

Pre – Editions
The more work you do to promote your book before the publication date the more people will already know about it, and that means more sales!
Pre-editions include advance(d) reader copies (ARCs), galleys, salesman’s editions, proofs and sometimes manuscripts. Nowadays often digital versions. Some bibliophiles even collect these pre-editions.  AbeBooks , which belongs to Amazon, is a dealer for these rare first prints and on their website you can get an idea how they look like.
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Types of Pre-Editions

1. Manuscripts are created by the author, usually be a copy which pre-dates an uncorrected proof or galley, and is often marked, unbound and sometimes handwritten.
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2. Galleys can be digital or in paper, and meant for review by the author, editors and others within the publishing house. They might be even uncut and unbound. The term galley proof comes from the days of hand-set typography.
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3. Advanced Reader Copies: ARCs, or advance review copies, these are produced privately by publishers and distributed to booksellers and journalists prior to the official release date. Because ARCs may not have been put through the entire editing process, the copy will often differ slightly from the standard edition of the book.  Important: always apply the term “Uncorrected Proof” to it, or “Advance Reading Copy”, “Uncorrected Advance Copy” or “Not for Sale”.
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4. Dummy Copies: Sometimes called a salesman’s dummy or publisher’s dummy, these books look exactly like the final consumer edition except they only contain a small amount of text, usually the first chapter.
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Industry insiders are used to these samples of books that publishers send out as pre-publication sales materials.
The key, and this is what traditional publishers do, is to have these ARC’s printed well in advance of your publication date in order to distribute it to book reviewers, at trade fairs, festivals, and at sites such as Goodreads approximately 8 – 6 months! before your publication date. This gives reviewers enough time and you as the author-publisher can add the reviews to the book layout, while the reviewer can add their writing to your book retail websites or author pages, and write an article about your book to their blog or website.  Additionally you can use their original comments for book fairs or book signings.
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As you can see, it is imperative that you plan your publishing endeavor well in advance! Get more tips for the pre-publishing process:

http://www.abebooks.com/books/RareBooks/collecting-guide/what_books_collect/advanced-copies.shtml

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2009/09/self-publishing-basics-how-to-create-arc-cover/

http://finishyourbooknow.com/2012/06/25/creating-advance-reader-copies-arcs-and-galleys/

http://www.booklifenow.com/2009/12/critics-on-rookie-mistakes-and-how-to-avoid-them-when-submitting-your-book-for-review/

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $159 for three months! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 960 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://www.111publishing.com
http://www.e-Book-PR.com/
http://www.international-ebooks.com/
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Comparison of Trade Publishing – Vanity – Author Publishing

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Every writer, no matter if they author-publish (self-publish) or if they have sold their manuscript to a publisher, has to do their own marketing. But how can you promote your book, if you are at the mercy of a publisher – trade or vanity?  What if you don’t own the ISBN and if you have no access to the retailers’ publishing / author pages, such as Amazon, B&N or Apple?  We had clients whos publishers were not able to properly set up the Amazon page, did not choose the proper category, took weeks to make changes to a wrong price and months to add the images and text the author had provided for their Goodreads or Amazon page.
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This is a huge problem (among many others) that authors face after they have given away their work for a pittance – or worse, have paid thousands of dollars to a vanity publisher. So, what’s the difference between both, beside the fact that they make it difficult for their authors to market their books?
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TRADITIONAL PUBLISHERS

• Author needs to have a platform
• Trade publishers accept very few submissions (average: 4%)
• Authors might have to pitch dozens or hundreds of puplishers / agents
• Authors receive a small advance and even smaller royalties
• They do not use POD (single or few books), rather print large quantities
• Authors have barely any say to cover image, publishing date etc.
• Authors cannot decide the sales price, e-book prices are often un-competitive
• It takes very long until the book is published (12-18 months average)
• Publisher pays for printing, editing services and cover image
• Distribution services are covered by the publisher
• Professional marketing services available – but only for celebrity writers
• They own the ISBN for the book

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VANITY PUBLISHERS

• Author needs to have a platform
• Accepts almost ALL submissions
• Author never receives any advance in this “partnership“
• Author contracts are often worse than those of trade publishers
• Author pays for printing or ebook-formatting, editing services, cover image
• Authors have barely any say to cover image, publishing date etc.
• Authors cannot decide the sales price
• Mostly Quick turnaround and Print on Demand (POD)
• Barely any distribution services, compared to commercial publishers
• Vanity publishers don’t live from book sales, they live from printing/author services
• No professional marketing services
• Very few royalties – if any at all
• They own the ISBN for the book
• Your book has only 3 months time in bookstores to sell – before being discarded!
• Bookstores generally are wary of vanity books (except maybe local writers)

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AUTHOR-PUBLISHING

• Authors needs to have a platform in order to build a brand
• Needs to learn about the publishing / book distribution industry
• Needs to plan the publishing / marketing process
• Authors have to find / compare author services (POD, distribution, formatter, designer)
• Authors pays for printing or ebook-formatting, editing services, cover image
• Authors can decide everything: cover image, publishing date, retail price etc.
• Authors can do their own or hire marketing services
• Authors get up to 70% from the books retail price (or 100% if sold from own website)
• Authors own their ISBN – which is FREE in Canada! and low-cost in other countrie
• Bookstores generally are wary of author-published books (except maybe local writers)

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Conclusion:
If an author has all these challenges, waiting times (or costs to cover, in the worst scenario) – and cannot even do the necessary marketing without huge problems, what is the point in having or even paying a publisher?  Why not author-publish / self-publish in the first place, and be totally independent when it comes to your marketing?
Whatever you will decide, take your time, don’t rush in anything and don’t let you sell any services, before you have thoroughly evaluated them. It does not matter if your book launches a month or a year later – important is that you have a platform as a writer and that you find a way of publishing that suits you and that gives you the freedom of your own decisions. If you decide to go with a publisher, don’t forget: Real publishers sell to readers – vanity publishers sell to writers!

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites:  We offer all this and more for only $ 179 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.international-ebooks.com/book-promo to advertise your new book, specials or KDP Select Free Days.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 900 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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How Do You Plan Your Future as a Writer?

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Where will you be as an author in one, three or five years from now? How do you plan your writing career? Do you want to write just for your own pleasure – just as a hobby – or do you want it as a profession and sell your books?  Which route will you go, and why? Questions that some writers really take by surprise…  Even more than the question:  “What’s the benefit of your novel for your readers?”

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Let’s Have a Look First at Your Overall Vision:

What hopes do you hold for yourself as a writer in the future? Would you like to:

• become a successful writer
• write more books full-time
• sell your work to a (real) big publisher
• author-publish your work and stay independently
• learn to become a freelance writer

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What fears and obstacles do you currently face that you wish to overcome?

• don’t know how to pitch publishers
• don’t know how to start self-publishing
• don’t know how to market your books

Not having a clear idea of writing queries, of starting out as an author-publisher, or the promotion methods for you & your book, you might be tempted to avoid the subject entirely. Don’t!  Start learning about all these subjects, one step at a time.

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What resources could help you to overcome these obstacles?

• attend as many writers conferences / seminars as possible
• hire help to teach you all the marketing strategies
• read books and blogs about pitching publishers, starting author-publishing and how to write   content in order to market your books
• join writers groups to learn from others

Great Ideas are not longer enough. Thomas Nelson, former CEO and current Chairman at one of the largest publishers in the world, met hundreds of hugely talented writers with outstanding books. He says: “Unfortunately, most of them couldn’t get published. Why? They didn’t have a “platform.”

We are often so immersed in our daily lives – and in writing, that we forget to think about the big
picture, about our goals and why these goals matter to us… Do you believe in your own strength
as a writer (and as an author-publisher)?  Cigdem Kobu, a business growth coach, gives dozens of examples, often from people in desperate situations, “who made it”. Read these stories, they are very empowering. Don’t forget: “If you can imagine it – you can do it!”  

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only $ 159 for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.international-ebooks.com/book-promo to advertise your new book, specials or KDP Select Free Days.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 900 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Must-Read for Every Author!

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How Writers Outsmart Big New York Publishers

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Hugh Howey: Self-publishing is the future — and great for writers

“The new top-down approach for authors is to self-publish and retain ownership. The course of last resort would be to sign away your rights for the rest of your life.”

“But I only want to write,” you might say. “I don’t want to be a publisher.”  “Well, good luck. Even if you land with a major publishing house, the success of your work will depend on you knowing this business and embracing all the challenges that a self-published author faces.”

“Promotion will be up to you anyway. Your publisher will want to see your social media presence before they offer you a book deal.”

“I have been shocked to discover, having worked with major publishers, that many of my self-published friends know more about the current publishing landscape than industry veterans with decades of experience.”

“The more authors learn and the more they keep an open mind, the better their chances for success.”

Read Hugh Howey’s complete article on Salon.com 

Starting on Monday, we will run a series of blog posts how writers can became REAL self-publishers, becoming totally independent and eventually run their own publishing endeavor and maximize their writing  income.

Stay tuned! If you have not already, sign up to not miss any of these articles.

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

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Writing is an Art – Publishing is a Business!

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British Columbia, Canada

You might belong to these talented authors who have written a fantastic book – or several, but you just don’t have the sales numbers your book(s) deserves.

You realized that selling and marketing is a completely different process to writing and publishing your book. And you are not alone:

Very few writers have a degree in marketing / business or experience in publishing and selling on- and offline.

Barely any author is really planning their book and its promotion. Only when frustration sets in, they think about getting help.

However, throwing lots of money into advertising is very costly and in the best case, might be only a rather short-term solution.

Creating a brand long-term, and a platform from where you can communicate with your readers is more efficient, almost free and a solid base for future books and their sales numbers.

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The Internet is full of bogus stories.
Writers claim to have sold hundred-thousands of their books in short time or claim bestseller status, and cash in on these stories.  When you look behind the scenes, they have either paid for hundreds of reviews or a service company bought ten-thousands of their own books (which these authors had to advance), catapulting them to New York Times bestseller status.  All this false hype brings writers to think their book is a failure if not showing up in bestseller lists. Wrong!
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Becoming an author-publisher is a long-term commitment and requires hundreds of small steps on the path to success!
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An increasing number of authors gets book marketing help from us. You might already know that we

• offer weekend classes, 
• individual, yet very inexpensive online seminars, targeted to your needs, 
• help authors with ads for KDP FREE days, Countdown Deals and Goodreads Giveaways
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What is included in this marketing training and help?
You might have seen the long list of support URL , we give authors. But what really is included in the marketing planning, the creation of a platform and your brand as an author? There is so much behind the scenes what’s involved, have a closer look at some of what we do:

We evaluate your current publishing situation:

• What is the market for your book, your competition, your audience? Is it a popular genre, or more of a niche? Is your book in the right genre? Did you tap the full potential of categories – which can be boon or bust for your book?
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• What is your publishing situation: traditional publishing, author-publishing or God forbid, vanity publishing or contracting with an aggregator? Do you own your ISBN, do you have access to your online retailers’ publishing account? How long lasts your publishing contract?
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• Did you create separate author/book pages on Goodreads, Google+, Pinterest, Facebook and other communities? Does your author page at online retailers need improvement?
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• What was your previous marketing strategy? What worked, what not? Did you have a book launch, re-launch, any special promotions? How often and how well was your book reviewed? In which promotion did your publisher invest? Is it positioned properly?
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• What is your following on social media – and your involvement? Do you have at least 1,000 Goodreads friends, 2,000 twitter followers and the same on Google+, 500 Facebook friends and did you add your book to your Pinterest account? These might be numbers only, but did you choose the right keywords to find quality followers, such as readers, reading, book lovers, bookworms?
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• Do you show off your writing skills? Are you writing regularly blogs? Does your website have a prominent button to your sales pages? Did you write guest blogs on influential book bloggers pages?
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• What are your activities in getting book reviews? Have you sent out press releases in order to get interviews, radio / TV appearances or features in magazines / newspapers?
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• How do you approach reviewers? And have you joined reader / writer communities on Goodreads or made friends with their most popular book reviewers?
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• What are your long-term goals? Where will you be as a writer in 3 years? What will be your author brand and how will you be different from other authors in your genre?

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Getting a clear picture about your situation as an author
and that of your books, we can meet you by phone / skype and discuss details, including publishing possibilities, if your book is not yet finished, before we start customized promotion of your book through a series of articles, interviews and book recommendations.
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An important focus will be on support for Social Media communication:
Where and how can your presence be improved? How can you get more followers? How to implement your blog posts? This includes also lots of individual tips and links for your book project, explained in person or emailed to you regularly.

We certainly help you through our very well-established social media presence on all major sites to get the word out about your book and you as an author – as well as support for free KDP Select days and other promotions. Which means we tweet to our 40,000+ followers on these days, we place additional articles on social media sites and do everything for your book’s success

Most important:

Advertising your books, as well as the article and the interview we did with you and all the postings on our Social Media sites stay there FOREVER! This way it will have a long-term effect on your book sales. More details in a blog post or on http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar.
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And this is what former clients say:

“This was the best choice I have ever made! I have learned so very much from a person that has 30 years of experience in the book publishing industry!”
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“I’ve gotten more than my money’s worth with the great publicity you’ve already given me. I cannot stress enough just how grateful I am – I don’t think too many service providers are anywhere near as diligent as you are.”
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“This service is truly a one-on-one feature in that she works directly with the client, fine-tuning your social media platform contributing to the success of your business.”
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“Thank you so much. You are amazing, so helpful to all of us who are starting down the road of self publishing. I just printed that blog post off this morning and will start to act on it today. You are an inspiration.” Thanks again for everything.”
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“If ANYONE is self-publishing a book, I highly recommend using her for consulting. Thank you Doris for saving me $3,700”
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“Boy, you really provide a service. If you ever need a reference, count me in. Anything I can do to promote you back. You rock.
J. H.”
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“Doris “Thank you so much. You are amazing, so helpful to all of us who are starting down the road of self publishing. I just printed that blog post off this morning and will start to act on it today. You are an inspiration. Thanks again for everything.”

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We will show you how to market your book on a consistent and ongoing basis – for only a token fee of $159 for three months – less than $2 per day.  As you can see from the amount of time we invest for every author, we are not making money, rather see it as a service for like-minded folks. How can we help you as an author of a marvelous book – and hopefully many more to come?

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What Should Writers Do: Begging or Selling?

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Dean Wesley Smith

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Dean Wesley Smith wrote a great, although somewhat blunt post:

“If you follow an old model, you send your manuscript to either an editor or an agent: Imagine yourself standing at the door of a restaurant in ragged clothes, hat-in-hand, begging for some food. You have no bargaining power, no position to try to get a decent contract (meal). And if you are with a slush-reading agent, imagine that you now only get a part of what little bit of food they are willing to toss you.

If you follow the new, indie-publishing model: Imagine you own your own business. You have money coming in the door, have customers, and a growing list of products. A representative of a major corporation shows up in your store and asks to buy some of your product for their company. You know what the product is worth and you know you can get decent contract terms. They have come to you, into your business, and it is an even bargaining position for both of you, business to business. They want what you are selling. You can decide if the money and terms are worth for you, selling it.”
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He writes (in a nutshell):
“I have no idea

• why any writer would spend so much time writing a book and then not allow that book to earn for them while it was being looked at by traditional publishers.
• why any writer would send any manuscript into a traditional, old-style slush pile.
• why anyone would even think of sticking with the old model of begging at a publisher’s door with a manuscript in a  slush pile.

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Just as we had to learn how to do cover letters and synopsis of novels that would help our books sell, the writers of today need to learn how to do covers and cover blurbs and tag lines that will help their books sell.”
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Read the whole story, in which he explains where the word “Slush pile” comes from and how publishing / author-publishing evolved in the last 70 years. Very interesting read for authors, new and established:  http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=8787

Dean Wesley Smith is also the Author of The New World of Publishing  A Hard Look at the New World of Indie and Traditional Publishing among dozens of others in a variety of genres.

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