How these 3 Self-Publishing Tools Help Authors

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Improvements everywhere:  New tools and technology for author-publishers will help to navigate the process from manuscript to finished print book or e-book more easily. Just to make sure you know what’s available for writers now:
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1. Scribd Subscription Service: The “Netflix” of e-Books
Read unlimited amounts of Books: Scribd launched an e-book subscription service for their readers at $8.99/month with unlimited access to books. Everyone enrolled in the subscription program gets e-books in bulk. Readers can try Scribd for free for one month, and are encourage to try unknown authors.
Distributing of your own e-books  is offered in Scribd’s Subscription Program: “Contact us if you would like to make your e-books available via our subscription offering. Our content acquisition team would love to talk to you.”

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2. Bowker offers Self-Published Author resources
Bowker’s database of books in print is huge and their interface sometimes a bit clumbsy. After so many complaints from author-publishers, Bowker offers at least explanations for self-publishers e.g. how to fill out each field in their forms. But that’s not all: Bowker launched the Self-Published Author website, a great source of information with tools, advice, and resources to help authors through the publishing process.
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3. Templates for Book Layout – Interior Book Design
“The Book Designer” Joel Friedlander offers templates in Microsoft Word that look as good as books that are professionally designed in Adobe InDesign. A custom-designed interior book might cost between $1,000 and $4,000 , the print book template is less than $40. There are over a dozen Word templates and counting to choose from and more are coming. Add your manuscript and create a PDF to upload to CreateSpace, Lightning Source, or any printing company. Using the e-book template in this series for another $10 and upload it to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Sony, B&N and others. All you need to know is how to apply styles in Word and how to copy/paste text. You certainly can customize your template. All you need to know is basic Word styles. Or you can hire a freelancer to help creating PDFs, upgrading or modifying templates and other tasks at Elance or Fiverr.
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Read about more tools in the publishing process, for example Dropbox:
http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/13359

For computer / software geeks and publishing professionals
http://voices.yahoo.com/top-5-software-programs-self-publishing-desktop-6465478.html?cat=15

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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
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 1,010 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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10 Tips: How to Sell Your Books to Libraries

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US Libraries purchase books for nearly $2 billion per year. But not only books, also audio books and other forms of publications, such as e-books.  How can authors reach out to this lucrative market? And what about the distribution channels?

Ask the Library:
Ask if the library needs a purchase order for every book it purchases. Many libraries are publicly funded, and a purchase order, or PO, helps them keep track of their budget.
Ask for a current list of books the library needs to acquire. Most libraries put an emphasis on acquiring very new books; however, they may also be in need of replacements for lost or stolen copies. Find out whether they prefer hardcover, paperback or library bound books. Most libraries prefer library-bound or hardcover books.
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Distributor to Libraries
Quality Books Inc.  provides libraries with small press books that are not widely available through other
distributors. Their inventory is devoted ONLY to libraries.They explain:
“For the small publisher, getting noticed, by the appropriate librarian can present an
overwhelming challenge.  Since the vast majority of books and non-print resources produced annually never reach a professional review page, Quality Books Inc. has a stringent review process for all of the
titles we distribute. Our Title Selection Committee is made up of two MLS-degreed librarians and three publishing professionals. The committee uses more than 20 criteria with which to evaluate every title submitted to QBI for possible distribution.”  They give very detailed info what they are looking for at Quality Books’ webpage. They also state clearly how to submit your book, audio-book, CD etc.

Another major distributor to libraries is UniqueBooksInc  and specialist in non-fiction books and DVD’s. “We are a full service library resource providing our customers with newly copyrighted titles. Unique Books Inc. solves the small press dilemma of reaching the elusive, high maintenance library market profitably.”
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How Else Can You Promote Your Book in the Library Market?

• Offer a free (1-2 hour) class in local libraries, where you can certainly mention your book and maybe even sell it.
• Most online retailers, bookstores, and libraries find books through purchasing relationships with large distributors.
• Find out the dates of library trade shows and exhibit through co-operative exhibit programs such as those offered through IBPA, the Independent Book Publishers Association.
• Authors with several books, or those who can join with another small publishers, might try to get a booth at the ALA (American Library Association) Annual Conference in June 14, in Las Vegas, or at their other conferences, to show your books.  See a video about the Publisher halls at the Conference.
• However, such conferences are not a place to sell hundreds of books, it is a place to introduce and take orders or hand out business card and ask librarians for theirs (maybe an iPad as drawing price, when people give their card into a fishbowl.)  It’s more of a PR stunt, than big sales.

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When is the Best Time?
Many libraries make the majority of their acquisitions at the beginning of their fiscal year, whatever this might be. This is a good time to buy books. If you want to approach Libraries directly: The best time to approach libraries might be in early December and early June (also mostly quiet months there) – as this is when they typically do their purchases.

More tips

https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/11/19/myths-and-truth-about-selling-to-libraries/https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/04/05/how-to-sell-your-book-to-libraries/

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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 $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 970 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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Myths And Truth About Selling to Libraries

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Imagine, you sold your $15 book at 50% discount to only 10% of the 100,000 libraries in the USA, you will earn more than $75,000. But how can you tap into the lucrative library market?  And what do you need to know about libraries before you start to offer your book to them?
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Facts About Libraries
According to statistics from the American Library Association and the Book Industry Study Group, libraries yearly purchase books for nearly $2 billion. But not only books, also audio books and other forms of publications, such as e-books.
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On the downside: Many of the more than 100,000 public, university and specialty libraries throughout the United States have been forced to scale down their budgets and have to use creative means to update their book collections. They even take advantage of online bargains through Amazon.com, eBay and discount book sites.
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Consider These Steps:

• Librarians read reviews — at least those in Library Journal and Kirkus or Publishers Weekly. It is not easy to get your book reviewed in these journals; however, it is possible. Sometimes librarians even check out the Amazon’s Bestseller Lists.
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• Ask others to request your book via the libraries website. Libraries usually take requests seriously, so it’s a great way to get them to put your book on the shelves. Ask some friends and family members to request your book.
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• Your book has to be available through major wholesalers – and it has to be available in print too.
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• Apply to work with a library distributor such as Quality Books, Ingram Distriburion or Unique Books, if you have a non-fiction book.
• Consider to sign-up for a library trade show. Publisher Organizations, such as IBPA offer co-op participation.
• Librarians prefer hardcover books and soft cover perfect-bound books with the title printed on the spine. The cover on a perfect-bound book must be sturdy. Librarians particularly like reference books. If you are writing or compiling such a non-fiction book, be sure to include an index, a bibliography and/or a resource list.
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• Books for library-use need a Library of Congress Catalog in Publication block or, for a self-published book, Publishers Catalog in Publication block and / or a listing with Bowker world wide. See also a blog post we wrote how to get your book listed for free in Bowker’s listing of available books.
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• A note, printed on the upper left back cover should indicating the type of book this is and the topic: reference/book publishing, writing/reference, history, autobiography, parenting, mystery etc.
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Try to Sell Books Directly to Libraries

To find their addresses, use  Gale’s Directory of Libraries or the Online Library Directory.
You can also buy mailing lists from a Library Marketing List. You can get listings for 25,000 university libraries or 18,000 public libraries, or 400 listings for community college libraries. Some libraries give instructions and guidelines on their websites, such as this in Tucson, Arizona: Pima County Library.
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Some libraries highlight local authors or will host regular book events like fundraisers that will accept donated books. However, you can’t just walk into a library and hope they will take your book, not even if you are giving it away! Librarians are happy to get books, but they also have constraints on what books they can accept.  One of those constraints is the written or unwritten “acquisitions policy” at each library, which is depending on what that library is collecting. Space and the high cost of storing and/or distributing their books to library patrons is another huge limitation. Time is another issue for librarians – they have little time to spend reading about books.
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Each kind of library: academic; public, school, and special, has different purposes. And they buy different kinds of books. Choose the right type for your book selling efforts. For example: Young Adult and Children’s authors: The largest library market are school libraries (grades K-12).  However, the budgets of academic libraries and public libraries are much larger than those of the typical school library.
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Send a press release to the contact name via e-mail or snail mail. Describe your book and the binding and list any amenities such as index, color photos, resource list and/or bibliography. Be sure to include all your ordering information in detail. Add a list of wholesalers / distributors that carry your book.
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Selling to libraries as an author-publisher (and signing up with book whole sale) works best when you have at least three quality print books to proof you are a serious writer .

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Promote Your Book to Libraries

• Offer a free (1 hour) class in local libraries, where you can certainly mention your book.
• Find out the dates of library trade shows and exhibit through their co-operative exhibit programs such as those offered through IBPA, the Independent Book Publishers Association.
• Consider donating a copy of your book to a few top library systems, to encourage purchases for branch libraries.

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Read Carefully the Instructions Marketing to Libraries
ALA, the American Library Association gives generous information and tips for authors and publishers,a valuable resource:

• The Library Market in General
• What Do Libraries Buy?
• How and When Do Libraries Buy?
• Reviews
• Direct Mail/Library Mailing Lists
• Connecting Authors & Libraries
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The best time to approach libraries might be in December and June (also mostly quiet months there) – as this is when they typically do their purchases. If you deliver directly to the library and not through whole sale, you may want to offer the same discount to entice them to purchase your book. And last but not least:  It’s always good to become acquainted with your local librarians and ask them for advice.

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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.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/book-promo/ to advertise your new book, specials or your KDP Select Free Days.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,150 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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ISBN Numbers and How to Get One

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ISBN

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Selling your e-book on Amazon, Barnes&Noble, Apple or Kobo doesn’t require an ISBN, but it will be necessary, as soon as you start your books print version. Any book on your book shelf, library or in book stores has an ISBN.

ISBN is the International Standard Book Number, a 13-digit number that uniquely identifies books published anywhere in the world. Parts of an ISBN are:

• group or country identified
• publisher identifier
• title identifier
• and the check digit

ISBN numbers are assigned by a group of agencies worldwide coordinated by the International ISBN Agency in London, England. In the United States, ISBN’s are assigned by the U.S. ISBN Agency: R.R. Bowker is the independent agent in the US for this system.  You can order an ISBN online – or even better, a block of ten. On average it takes about two weeks for ISBN’s to be assigned.  In addition to their ISBN prefixes, every  publisher can also register their titles for free with Bowker to be included in the “Books In Print” worldwide databases. See also a former blog post here on this site:
https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/important-expose-your-book-to-the-world/

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Author Beware:
You may encounter offers from other sources to purchase single ISBN’s at special offer prices. Companies that provide limited services such as distributing, retailing, bar code services, printing, such as aggregators or print-on-demand companies, should NOT assign ISBN’s from their company to your publications – unless you allow them to also hold the publishing rights. If you use one of these reassigned ISBN’s, you will NOT be correctly identified as the publisher. The result may be extensive costs to apply for a new ISBN and the application of stickers to books already printed and in circulation.  Remember: The one who ordered the ISBN from the official agency is listed as the publisher!

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ISBN’s are assigned to publishers as follows: 1, 10, 100, or 1,000 numbers.  The publisher registration fee is US $24.95 plus a service fee that starts at $250.00 for 10 ISBN’s.  There’s also a $25 annual fee for each publisher, so whether you have one ISBN or a thousand, you’ll have to pay that additional amount too.  For a new publisher to get an ISBN – or better ten – will cost (in 2013) US $250 (or US $25 per ISBN). Since you can get 10 ISBN’s for the same price as one, it is worth applying for books you have in mind too, rather than just the one you are right now going to publish. You can also get the bar code for your book from Bowker.

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Bar codes
ISBN’s are emailed to publishers.  Once a publisher has been assigned ISBN’s, they should be placed on the copyright page, encoded on the bar code, and the bar code placed on the back cover of the book. When a title is ready to be sold, it can be registered at “Books in Print” a worldwide book registry. “Books in Print” is the main directory that bookstores, online retailers, and libraries use when looking for books for their customers.
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Where to order ISBN’s in major English-speaking countries:

USA
http://www.isbn.org/standards/home/isbn/us/secureapp.asp
see prices above

United Kingdom & Ireland
http://www.isbn.nielsenbook.co.uk/controller.php?page=121
10 ISBN = £118.68

Australia
http://www.thorpe.com.au/isbn/
Single ISBN=Australian $40.00 and a block of 10 ISBNs=$80.00

Canada
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ciss-ssci/041002-2000-e.html

Good news for Canadian authors and publishers: the ISBN application process is simple and free  of charge – but only if you are living in Canada and your publishing company is registered in Canada.  For all other countries check out the worldwide listing at “National ISBN Agencies“.
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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 1,060 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:

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

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

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Is Your Book Listed Worldwide?

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Few authors have ever heard about BowkerLink:  a source for publishers and distributors seeking to update or add to title listings, found in Books In Print, Global Books In Print, and the Publisher Authority Database.  How can readers, bookstores or librarians in Japan, Australia, UK or Belize find your book and read, buy or lend it? Books In Print helps you search the market place, find the right titles, and explore all known format options, including eBook sources. 

Free Listing of Your Book
This  FREE portal allows you to market titles through Bowker products to many sectors of the book industry including wholesalers, distributors, retail chains, independent retailers, online retailers, schools, libraries, and universities.  You may know Bowker from ordering your ISBN numbers, but they are also the provider for Books In Print and Global Books In Print that contain listings of bibliographical information for international book titles available in the USA or any other part of the world.

 

In addition, Bowker sells its products worldwide to retailers and libraries, so your titles are exposed to many facets of the book industry through a single web application including other Bowker products like inventory status checks, library catalogue information, and sales data reporting services. Your data is circulated to all of these customers free of charge. To market you book successfully worldwide you need to have it listed worldwide! Their website http://www.bowker.com/en-US/products/servtitlesub_default.shtml

Setting Up A New Book on Bowkerlink is easy, just fill in:

ISBN
Title
Subtitle
Translated title
Number of pages
Number of illustrations
Binding type
Language
Subject (1 or 2)
Contributors names and functions
Length, Width and Height
Weight
Year of copyright
Year of original publication
Library of Congress Card Number
Annotation (description)
Country of Sale
Imprint
Title status
Publication date
Price
Price type
Currency
Target market
Age range of the readers

Items in bold are required, the others optional. You should try to fill as many of these fields as possible, as completely as possible, in order to be found easily.

Why register with BowkerLink?
Listing your titles is absolutely free. The BowkerLink Publisher Access System allows you to announce your new release titles, as well as price and status updates to a wide audience of book, audio and video buyers. Your titles are WORLDWIDE exposed to many facets of the book industry through this single web application.

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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 less than $2 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminars

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,140 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, Chime.in, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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How to Sell Your Book to Libraries

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According to statistics from the American Library Association and the Book Industry Study Group, libraries yearly purchase books for nearly $2 billion. But not only books, also audio books and other forms of publications.

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Imagine, you sold your $15 book at 50% discount to only 10% of these libraries, you will earn more than $75,000. But how can you tap into the lucrative library market?
.
On the downside: Many of the more than 100,000 public, university and specialty libraries throughout the United States have been forced to scale down their budgets and have to use creative means to update their book collections. They even take advantage of online bargains through Amazon.com, eBay and discount book sites.

.

Create a Library-Quality Book

• Librarians read reviews — at least those in Library Journal and Kirkus. It is not easy to get your book reviewed in these journals; however, it is possible.
  .
• Your book has to be available through major wholesalers.
  .
• Apply to work with a library distributor such as Quality Books or Unique Books, if you have a nonfiction book.
  .
• Librarians prefer hardcover books and soft cover perfect-bound books with the title printed on the spine. The cover on a perfect-bound book must be sturdy. Librarians particularly like reference books. If you are writing or compiling such a non-fiction book, be sure to include an index, a bibliography and/or a resource list.
  .
• Books for library-use need a Library of Congress Catalog in Publication block or in advance of publication in the Publishers Cataloging in Publication  and / or a listing with Bowker worldwide.
  .
• A note, printed on the upper left back cover should indicating the type of book this is and the topic: reference/book publishing, writing/reference, history, autobiography, parenting,
  .

Sell Books Directly to Libraries

To find their addresses, use  Gale’s Directory of Libraries or Online Library Directory
You cam also buy mailing lists from Library Marketing List. You can get listings for 25,000 university libraries or 18,000 public libraries, or 400 listings for community college libraries.
.

You can’t just walk into a library and hope they will take your book, not even if you are giving it away! Librarians are happy to get  books, but they also have constraints on what books they can accept. One of those constraints is the written or unwritten “acquisitions policy” at each library, depending on what that library is collecting. Space and the high cost of storing and/or distributing books to library patrons is another huge limitation. Time is another issue for librarians – they have little time to spend reading about books.
.

Each kind of library: academic; public, school, and special, has different purposes. And they buy different kinds of books. Choose the right type for your book selling efforts. For example: Young Adult and Children’s authors: The largest library market are school libraries (grades K-12). The budgets of academic libraries and public libraries are much larger than those of the typical school library.
.
Send a press release to the contact name via e-mail or snail mail. Describe your book and the binding and list any amenities such as index, color photos, resource list and/or bibliography. Be sure to include all your ordering information in detail. Add a list of wholesalers / distributors that carry your book.
.
Selling to libraries as an author-publisher (and signing up with book whole sale) works best when you have at least three quality print books.

.
What else can you do to promote your book to libraries?

Offer a free (1 hour) class in local libraries, where you can certainly mention your book.
.
Find out the dates of library trade shows and exhibit through co-operative exhibit programs such as those offered through IBPA, the Independent Book Publishers Association.
.
Consider donating a copy of your book to a few top library systems, to encourage purchases for branch libraries.
.

The best time to approach libraries might be in December and June as this is when they typically do their buying. If you deliver directly to the library and not through whole sale, you may want to offer the same discount to entice them to purchase your book.

.

<><><><><>

If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn, how to navigate Social Media: 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

If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 700 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 on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article, where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks for following:

@111publishing

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

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CreateSpace, Lightning Source – or Both?

CreateSpace, Lightning Source – or both?
a guest blog by author Linda Austin
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Most authors are familiar with CreateSpace (CS), Amazon’s self-publishing arm. With little financial outlay, authors can upload their formatted manuscripts to CreateSpace and post their own cover, or perhaps one made using a free CS template or one designed at extra cost by one of CreateSpace’s designers. CS also offers editing services for a fee. CS will provide an ISBN for free or allow you to use your own.

Their program is easy to use, and Amazon takes control of all sales and shipping and will direct-deposit monies earned, minus its cut, to the author’s bank account each month. Authors can purchase copies of their own print book at a discount, and can choose to pay for an Amazon service that creates an e-book from the CS print version if the author doesn’t want to do it herself. For those who choose to go the self-publishing route, what’s not to like?

For one thing, CreateSpace books are found only on Amazon. This in itself is not necessarily bad as Amazon owns the lion’s share of print book sales. What about selling to libraries and real, physical bookstores? Libraries and physical stores don’t buy from Amazon unless a customer requests a book that is available no other way. Libraries and physical stores purchase through their favorite wholesaler-distributors, usually Ingram and/or Baker & Taylor, who give them an industry-standard discount rate. They will not buy from your website, either, as they like to keep their accounting simple.

Many experienced self-publishers use Lightning Source, Inc. (LSI), as their printer because of its connection to Ingram. Ingram opens up distribution of their books nearly worldwide, including on Amazon, and offers industry-standard discount rates to book buyers –the LSI author has total control of his/her book pricing and can set the discount sales rate to standard 55% with returns allowed.

LSI requires an author to have her own ISBNs registered to her own company. LSI also requires a high-quality pdf book file, such as those created by Adobe In-Design or other professional publishing software program, and there is an initial set-up cost. Not quite as simple or inexpensive as using CreateSpace for your MS Word file, however this Ingram connection is important for authors who expect their well-written and well-formatted books to be attractive to libraries and booksellers because of subject matter or popularity due to their determined marketing efforts. For $25 per year, your book will appear in the Ingram online catalog.

Cherry Blossoms in Twilight

But, have you heard CreateSpace has an expanded distribution option for only $25 per year? Yes, it does, making your book available through Ingram and most other online bookselling sites, including Barnes & Noble within the United States.

The Amazon-Ingram connection, though, does not allow Ingram to offer the industry standard terms expected by libraries and physical bookstores, so these entities will likely not want to buy books this way unless necessary, by customer request. Again, perhaps this is not a concern, depending on type of book, quality of writing and book production, and the author’s marketing determination.

Unfortunately, since last summer, Amazon has taken to posting availability times for LSI books coming out as anywhere from 2-8 weeks, even though the digitally-printed books ship almost immediately, as usual. For this reason, many serious authors have taken to loading their books to both CreateSpace for online orders from the general public as well as to LSI for its professional-level, low-cost worldwide distribution. And the same (author-owned) ISBN is used since it is the same book, just through different printers. The same author-provided cover should be used to avoid confusion.

In summary, an author who plans to be a serious contender in the book market, and has a book that will pass muster with librarians and store book buyers, should consider going beyond the Amazon experience.

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Linda Austin wrote and published her mother’s story, “Cherry Blossoms in Twilight,” a WWII Japan memoir of history and culture. She is owner of Moonbridge Publications, encouraging life writing and educating authors on the art of successful indie-publishing. She is a board member of the St. Louis Publishers Association.

http://moonbridgebooks.com

Twitter @moonbridgebooks

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out all previous posts (there are more than 500 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.

Follow on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr or StumbleUpon – or other social networking sites of your choice) – other writers might also enjoy this blog and find it useful.

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52 Top Websites to Post Your Book for FREE

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For your book to sell, you need to create the demand. You need an audience, a platform – which you will get when your book is showing up on many websites, visible to readers.

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1. Goodreads
Use your free membership to promote yourself and your books. Reviews are essential and reviews on Goodreads site help your book to really stand out to millions of visitors.

2. Wattpad
Wattpad has experienced explosive growth since its inception and has become the world’s most popular destination to publish and read e-books. Wattpad delivers billions of pages from its library of works created and published by the Wattpad community.

3. On BookTalk,
You’ll find an online reading group and book discussion forum that can help you discover new books. If you’re an author or publisher looking to promote your books, you are welcome to use BookTalk.org as a tool to reach a vast audience of book lovers. They have a Google Page Rank of 5, over 14,000 members and close to 700,000 site views per month. Book discussion forums are free and open to anyone including authors and publishers. Create a free account and write about your books in either the Fiction Book Forum or Non-Fiction Book Forum. Mail a few copies of your print book and it will be advertised. They will advertise your book on the Home page for 15 to 30 days and on the Featured Book Suggestions page permanently.”

4. And then, there is another Booktalk
Booktalk.com is an online booklovers’ community composed of many of today’s bestselling and popular authors. Personalized author home pages contain excerpts from bestselling novels as well as information about upcoming releases, author notes and personal hobbies and interests as well as publisher, literary agent and book industry information. Writing related articles by Booktalk authors and others in the writing community and upcoming literary events are also included.

5. KindleBoards
Authors are always welcome to post about their books in the Book Bazaar.

6. Library Thing
Social networking site and forum for book lovers. Free profile where each book contains tags, reviews and links to conversations about the book.

7. Shelfari
Enables you to build a virtual book shelf, that include book reviews from Amazon and to interact with your Shelfari community.

8. Authonomy
Features weekly top rated books, top talent spotters. You can join the forum, upload books and post reviews.

9. WritersNet
List yourself at this writers and authors directory, sorted by genre or location. Various resources for writers, agents and publishers.

10. Bibliophil
Forum about books. Offers: profile with books appearing in signature, list of favorite and wished books.

11. Booksie
Share Your Poems, Short Stories, Novels, and more with the world. Sign up, it’s free.

12. BookBrowse
Selected book listing, authors interviews, link to authors’ website; Reviewed by humans, not all books accepted, check submission guidelines.

13. Nothing Binding
Upload and manage your book cover image & book promotion materials. Showcase your work for free: writings, books, articles, short stories, essays, poems and more.

14. Book Buzzr
Has a 30 days free trial listing and a paid listing with monthly payment of under $5.

15. Filed By
Kind of “Twitter” for authors , platform for books, have your own author site, post short blogs.

16. Bookhitch
Free Listing : a 60 words description and 5 keywords per book. Premium listing : $19.95/year – 120 words description and space for book reviews.

17. Jacket Flap
For children books only. Directory of children books, publishers and professionals related to children book publishing. You can create your own profile to add your book and blog for free.

18. Scribd
Find out what others are reading on Scribd. This service is somewhat comparable with Wattpad. Authors upload their PDF, Word, and PowerPoint docs to share them with the world’s largest community of readers.

19. WhoWroteWhat
Authors can advertise free for thirty days. Submit a portrait photo (jpg), up to fifty words inviting readers to your website and your URL where your book(s) are for sale. After thirty days it is as low as 27 cents a day.

20. SavvyBookWriters Blog
Our Marketing clients’ books and author bio are posted here on this blog as well, plus we will have an interview with them, published here too.  Both articles will stay forever on our site, free of charge.

21. Bookreportradio
A lively mix of author interviews, audio book previews and chats with those influential in the literary world, The Book Report has become appointment listening for bibliophiles and book clubs alike.

22. Tim Greaton Forum
Tim Greaton is presenting the most talented authors & artists, living and working in our world today.

23. Figment
Figment is a community where you can share your writing, connect with other people who love to read, and discover new stories and authors. (In a nutshell.) Figment was co-founded by Dana Goodyear, a staff writer at The New Yorker, and Jacob Lewis, the former Managing Editor at The New Yorker and Condé Nast Portfolio.
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24. Bowker
You may know Bowker from ordering your ISBN numbers, but they are also the provider for Books In Print and Global Books In Print that contain listings of bibliographical information for international titles available in the USA or internationally.

In addition, Bowker sells its products worldwide to retailers and libraries, so your titles are exposed to many facets of the book industry through a single web application including inventory status checks, library catalogue information, and sales data reporting. Your data is circulated to all of these customers free of charge. To market you book successfully worldwide you need to have it listed worldwide!

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FREE (e)-book listings:

http://www.kindlemojo.com

http://flurriesofwords.blogspot.ca/

http://blog.booksontheknob.org/

http://authormarketingclub.com/members/submit-your-book/

http://addictedtoebooks.com/submission

http://thekindledailydeal.com/contact.cfm

http://www.freebooksy.com/about/

http://thefrugalereader.wufoo.com/forms/frugal-freebie-submissions/

http://digitalbooktoday.com/join-our-team/

http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/

http://www.canadianbookclubs.com/forums

http://www.ebookforum.info

http://www.friends4brandt.com

http://www.bookgrouponline.com/forum

http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums

http://forums.onlinebookclub.org

http://www.bookandreader.com

http://thebookmarketingnetwork.com/forum

http://www.reading-forum.co.uk/forum

http://www.online-literature.com/forums

http://www.writing.com

http://forums.onlinebookclub.org

http://spssmessageboard.com

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Send the cover image and short book description:

http://www.thebookdesigner.com
for a monthly competition of the best cover design

http://www.Pinterest.com

http://www.Flickr.com

http://www.etsy.com

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If you enjoyed this blog post, please feel free to check out previous posts (there are almost 500 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 – and then on “Like” next to it.

Follow us on Twitter: @111publishing

And don’t forget to spread the word on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, Chime.in or StumbleUpon – or other social networking sites of your choice) – other people might also enjoy this blog and find it useful.

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Author Beware: Unauthorized Resellers of ISBNs

An Important Message Bowker which is the exclusive U.S. ISBN Agency source of publisher prefixes and ISBN numbers for eligible publishers:

“Please be aware that there are unauthorized re-sellers of ISBNs, and that this activity is a violation of the ISBN standard and of industry practice. Only companies you designate as your publisher should assign ISBN’s to your publications from their block of ISBN’s.”

“Bowker provides information and advice on the uses of the ISBN System to publishers and the book trade, and promotes the use of the Bookland EAN bar code format. In addition to their ISBN prefixes, publishers also register their titles with Bowker for inclusion in the “Books In Print” databases (worldwide). See also:

https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2011/08/31/important-expose-your-book-to-the-world/

You may encounter offers from other sources to purchase single ISBNs at special offer prices. Companies that provide limited services such as distributing, retailing, bar code services, printing, and/or marketing should NOT assign ISBN’s from their company to your publications – unless you allow them to also hold publishing rights. If you use one of these reassigned ISBN’s, you will not be correctly identified as the publisher of record in “Books in Print” or many of the book industry databases. The result may be extensive costs to apply for a new ISBN and the application of stickers to books already printed and in circulation.”

For the correct address to obtain your ISBN number in the USA and Great Britain & Ireland, Australia or Canada (where ISBN numbers are free!) go to:

https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/isbn-numbers-and-how-to-get-one/

“If you are a new publisher, you should apply for your own ISBN publisher prefix from the US ISBN Agency. Assigning ISBNs from your own ISBN publisher prefix will identify you as the publisher of your titles, and link your contact information to the specific publisher identifier. This will ultimately aid in circulating your books properly in the industry supply chain.
If you have any questions about re-sellers of ISBNs, do not hesitate to contact the US ISBN Agency for further advice. If you are a self-publisher who has already purchased an ISBN from a re-seller, and you are experiencing problems or need advice, please contact the US ISBN Agency at isbn-san@bowker.com.”

My comment:
There are “aggregators”  or “POD publishers”, how they call themselves, that are purchasing ISBN numbers in bulk for $1 a piece! and sell them to authors for a “special” of $25! for one ISBN – a mark-op of 2,000 percent!  I wrote about this unethical practice already month’s ago, just search under “Writer Beware” on this blog.
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E-Books More and More Popular Among Seniors

According to market researcher Bowker, older age groups’ e-book consumption continues to grow: more than a quarter of 45- to 55-year-old and a fifth of over-55s bought an e-book in the six months to March 2012, up from 17% and 15% last November. All this while younger people’s e-book consumption is plateauing.

A OnePoll survey last year found the over-55s were more likely to own an e-reader than 18- to 24-year-old. No wonder: older people tend to be heavier book-buyers and e-readers have qualities that could make them indispensable to an ageing population. An obvious plus is the option to adjust text size and contrast. Until recently, people with increased eye-sight could only buy large-print books, which are hard to find. Now, not only can they read erotic books without anyone noticing, they can read these books in an 18-point font.

For the elderly, e-readers have even greater potential. They are light, which is handy for arthritis sufferers, especially those with poor vision as large-print hardcovers are pretty heavy. Devices with 3G are perfect for people who find it hard to get about, letting them download new books – and thousands of free classics – from the comfort of the armchair.

Perhaps the British government could issue pensioners with a Kindle instead of a free TV licence? Not only would this add up to a saving of £56.50 per person, it might end up bailing out our sickly publishing industry. Older readers have a distinct advantage over younger ones: they are more willing to pay for what they read.

Excerpt from an article in the Guardian

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Important: Expose Your Book to the World

Sell your book worldwide

FREE LISTING: How your book or e-book will be exposed to international markets.

A great chance for self-publishers and publishers alike is to attach metadata to a new book is through BowkerLink, and it’s incredibly important to use it.  You may know Bowker from ordering your ISBN numbers, but they are also the provider for Books In Print and Global Books In Print that contain listings of bibliographical information for international titles available in the USA or internationally.

In addition, Bowker sells its products worldwide to retailers and libraries, so your titles are exposed to many facets of the book industry through a single web application including other Bowker products like inventory status checks, library catalogue information, and sales data reporting services. Your data is circulated to all of these customers free of charge. To market you book successfully worldwide you need to have it listed worldwide! Their website http://www.bowkerlink.com

Setting Up A New Book on Bowkerlink is easy, just fill in:

ISBN
Title
Subtitle
Translated title
Number of pages
Number of illustrations
Binding type
Language
Subject (1 or 2)
Contributors names and functions
Length, Width and Height
Weight
Year of copyright
Year of original publication
Library of Congress Card Number
Annotation (description)
Country of Sale
Imprint
Title status
Publication date
Price
Price type
Currency
Target market
Age range of the readers

Items in bold are required, the others optional. You should try to fill as many of these fields as possible, as completely as possible, in order to be found easily.

Why register with BowkerLink?
Listing your titles is absolutely free. The BowkerLink Publisher Access System allows you to announce your new release titles, as well as price and status updates to a wide audience of book, audio and video buyers. Your titles are exposed to many facets of the book industry through this single web application.

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What is Meta Data?

 

Search by Metatags

We are in an age of search.
The riches of the internet (and our own wealth) are built on search. If you want to be sought as an author, you first have to make sure you can be discovered. Metadata is the way we do that on the most basic level. 

When you publish a new book or e-book, assign metadata to your work that will travel with descriptions to:

 

• libraries
• book catalogs
• book listings
• book sales pages
• any place books are displayed
• In search results in response to a search query

Metadata is all of the information associated with your book or publication that is used to produce, publish,distribute, market, promote and sell your (e)book. This includes very simple things, such as

• author
• the title
• cover
• format

to much more complicated data, such as the rights information, print run, sales data, reviews, etc. It is usually  a database file that contains all this information.

Metadata is a tool that everyone can use to help make a book a success.  As a self-publisher or author with just a single book you can deliver your Metadata directly to Bowker’s Database, this way your book will be exposed to international markets. The best thing is is FREE and easy to set up. How you can do it will be explained in one of the next blog posts. Stay tuned!