Archive for e-Publishing
Attend 20 Workshops Free at the 4th Annual Digital Publishing Virtual Summit
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I’m extremely honored to be teaching with such an esteemed list of book marketing experts as D’vorah Lansky has gathered under her wing for this year’s 4th Annual Digital Publishing Summit.
You get to attend all 20 workshops for free, or choose those most pertinant from these categories:
- Promoting Your Message
- Book Creation Strategies (that’s where I’m teaching)
- Creating Multimedia Content
- Making Money with Your Message
Can’t make it live because of a conflicting schedule? No worries. Purchase the Full Access Pass and own them all.
But check it out for yourself to get all the details.
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Sign up now to reserve your virtual seat:
Digital Publishing Virtual Summit
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Apple Rejects Books Containing Links to Amazon
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Seth Godin’s book rejected by Apple’s iBookstore?!
They stand to make a tidy sum off Godin’s new book, Stop Stealing Dreams, if his past sales are any indication, and they are. So why would Apple reject it?
RESTRICTIONS OR CENSORSHIP?
Godin explains in his post, Who decides what gets sold in the bookstore? “…because inside the manifesto are links to buy the books I mention in the bibliography. Quoting here from their (Aooke;’) note to me, rejecting the book: “Multiple links to Amazon store. IE page 35, David Weinberger link.”
I hope you will read Godin’s post. As always he stands on the pulpit of principle and his sermons are not only inspiring but thought provoking. But my interest was mostly drawn, and prompted me to retweet his article, because my upcoming book also contains links to purchase at Amazon and elsewhere throughout the book and in the “Recommended” pages at the end.
Will my book also be rejected by the iBookstore? Apparently yes.
Godin wrote, “Apple, apparently, won’t carry an eBook that contains a link to buy a hardcover book from Amazon. That’s amazing to me. It must be a mistake, right?” I’m amazed too. I’m no publishing attorney, but this is disturbing news on many levels.
Godin put some of my own thoughts into words, “First, because the web, like your mind, works best when it’s open. Second, because once bookstores start to censor the books they carry (business reasons, personal taste, etc.) then the door is open for any interest group to work hard to block books with which they disagree. Where does the line get drawn? A key part of the argument about SOPA was that choke points and blacklists break a system that works best when information is allowed to flow freely.”
WORKAROUNDS TO RESTRICTIONS
Mr. Godin spoke of a workaround he provides at his Squidoo site if visited by iPhone or iPad, but one that shouldn’t be necessary because, “These stores can’t have it both ways. The web works because it’s open. The stores (all three of them) need to be too.”
Godin’s workaround is one he admits isn’t an option for all authors, and I would add; especially the technically challenged, like me. But once again twitter comes to the rescue.
There is a much better workaround. And like all great ideas, my reaction was, Duh, why didn’t I think of this myself. In response to my retweet, Mr. John Loughlin, technology prognosticator, replied:
“There’s a simple way around the problem that Seth encountered with his bibliographical links. Seth’s ‘solution’ is less than ideal. Bibliographical Internet links have long been an issue.”
Loughlin pointed me to his site, Ruby White, “Publish eBooks with any links you like!” The Ruby White article also points out other principles that come into play here, but right now because of my imminent publication date, I’m focused on the solution for the everyday how-to writer like me.
How do we circumvent this restriction, get our eBooks accepted by Apple, and still guide our readers to purchase links for resource books?
The Ruby White article points to this being a common problem for academic books for another reason, a problem that begs solutions. It cites broken and dead links. This is something we are all familiar with. As the Ruby White article says, “Files get lost, firewalls change, addresses get shuffled, and Internet resources die. This is known as link rot.”
My books are mostly how-to’s and so links are vital to additional education on the topic and sending my readers to people I recommend. Many of these links lead to purchasing a book, often at Amazon.
So, The Ruby White article says, “eBook authors, or their publishers, should use links they control and maintain.” It recommends creating our own page of links at our own site.
Again, Duh Aggie! I have created a companion website for my upcoming book, Amazon Categories Create Best Sellers, where contests, blog visits from professionals and much more are exclusive to my readers. It makes perfect sense for me to add one more page called “Links From Book.”
And now I am headed, before publication is finalized, back to my manuscript to change every URL in the book to just one permanent link where I can update all URLs in the future without publishing an updated book edition. I now have full control over link rot, without ebook store censorship.
As the Ruby White article summarizes, “Apple may prefer Uniform links and Seth may prefer Universal links but more important is a Persistent or Permanent link that is under the control of the creative owner of the work.”
Amen.
UPDATE: Victory Against More Censorship
Most of us have been watching and even participating in the fight against PayPal and other credit cards censoring the sale of legal fiction in the erotica genre.
I don’t read erotica, actually not much fiction of any kind anymore, but in light of iBookstore’s censorship, I’m so happy to add this note. Mark Coker, owner of Smashwords, met with Paypal in San Jose this week and as a result Paypal reversed their censorship decision. I can hear your cheers.
You can read the full details at Smashword’s blog.
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Kindle Formatting Made Easy by Carolyn Howard-Johnson
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Kindle Formatting Made Easy
Guest post by By Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Recently I published some quick tips on publishing articles and books on Kindle in my Sharing with Writers newsletter and got tons of feedback, some of it from folks who said they were still worried about “the learning curve.”
They helped me to see that the little secrets I shared may have been too advanced; many writers need something that’s more A to Z. It’s so easy that I thought I’d take the worry out of for those who have been procrastinating.
Just remember, e-book readers don’t have page numbers. The pages change every time a reader changes the size of a font. If you keep that in mind, formatting is mostly intuitive. And if you want those extra little tidbits I published in the last newsletter, go to my Sharing with Writers blog where I posted it for your convenience.
OK. Here goes:
- Use Word. Save your copy as a .doc., not .docx or .rtf.
- Use a simple font, preferably Times New Roman or Verdana. 11 pt works nicely for e-readers.
- Single space your text.
- Make margins one inch all the way around.
- If your book is fiction, change the paragraph indent from .5 to .2 inches. If you write nonfiction, don’t indent at all. Put spaces between your paragraphs instead.
- Remove any headers or footers you may have. That includes text of any sort and page numbers.
- Set justification. That’s the little section in the Word ribbon at the top of your screen that lets you move text all to the left, all to the right, centered, or justified on both right and left. Most suggest you use the latter so the copy looks even on both sides.
- Don’t leave lots of space between chapters or sections. A single space is all that’s needed. In fact, Nook won’t accept more than one blank line.
- You can use formatting in your chapter headlines. Make them bold or larger but don’t use fancy fonts (type faces). Some readers (like Nook and Kindle) don’t support the ornate ones. Arial, Verdana or Times New Roman are safe bets. You can use italics, but I see no reason for the clutter. People will be reading on a screen, after all. Chapter subheads can also be given some attention with bold or larger type face but, again, don’t get too fancy.
- If your book is nonfiction, be sure you mark the headings so you can make a table of contents with them—all automated and courtesy of Word. You should be able to find the heading formatter in the Word ribbon at the top of your screen.
- Your Contents page should have live links so that readers can skip easily to the sections or chapters in your book they want to read. Use the “references” tab at the top of your Word screen to make a Contents page automatically after you’ve formatted each headline.
- You can also use caps for the first three or four words in every chapter. That helps cue the reader that he or she is in a new section or chapter.
- It is acceptable to add information about your other e-books or forthcoming ones to the backmatter of your book. Why not? Be sure to use live links to their sales pages. It’s something I often suggest to my clients. Some authors even charge for a couple of ads in the back to offset the cost of publishing.
- The first page of your e-book is your title page (or the picture of your book cover—but Kindle provides an option that does that for you). Keep it simple. But include the ISBN. If you don’t have one, Kindle will provide one for you—f r e ^.
- Here is a tip that no one seems to tell those of us who love our front matter—you know—our acknowledgments, dedications, etc. Kindle eliminates them if you leave them in the front of the book. Your e-book must start with the cover image/title page/first chapter. So I cheat. I move selected pieces of my front matter to the end of my book. I think it’s important to thank people, and think it would be a shame not to put them somewhere!
- Just repeating here. Find a few additional tips at Sharing with Writers.
- Be sure to proof read the whole book once it’s set up as an e-book. You’ve made a lot of changes, right?
Click to Buy The Frugal Book Promoter: Second Edition.
I just loaded it to Kindle and you’ll get amazing bonuses in the process!
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CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON
Author Bio: Carolyn Howard-Johnson is a multi award-winning novelist and poet. She is also the author of the critically acclaimed and multi-award-winning series of books for writers, How to do it Frugally, including the second edition honored by USA BOOK NEWS, and was named Woman of the Year in Arts and Entertainment by members of the California Legislature. She has been an instructor for nearly a decade at the renowned UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.
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Self Publishing Hall of Fame List
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This blog is not exclusive to Indie authors, but as a traditional author who has gone Indie I just had to share this with you. I get more and more inspired as I look through John Kremer’s Self-Publishing Hall of Fame Featuring Famous Self-Publishers.
This is worth a look even for those who desire to end up with a traditional publisher. As Kremer points out, “POD publishing or self-publishing (Please Note: they are not the same thing) are excellent ways to test the market for a book, establish that market, and even build the market to such an extent that an author can sell the reprint rights to a much larger book publisher for a very good advance.”
Take some time to “thumb” through this list. It will do your heart good.
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You Can Autograph Your eBook: Kindlegraph
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So what the big deal? Stylus pad electronic autographing has been around for years. There are also over 240 free paint apps for the iPad. My grandkids have drawn and written numerous artworks for me with some of them. Many of these programs could serve as autograph apps, just not very well.
The big deal is that those platforms lack the ability to actually insert your autograph into an eBook or add it to a mobile device/e-reader, such as the Kindle or smart phone. But developers are announcing attempts at exactly this and much more. The race is on between developers and also between e-readers themselve to get the easiest, slickest and most attractive signing experience available to lure readers and authors alike.
Thought-provoking new developments for sure. But some still wonder if anyone would really want an autographed eBook since they can’t be displayed as a collectable. Judging from the internet buzz the answer is a resounding YES.
The L.A. Times Blog reports, “On May 2, children’s author Sandra Boynton signed copies of her eBook “The Going to Bed Book” at a Barnes & Noble location in New York, using a stylus and special copies of the book offered for the Nook Color e-reader,” according to CNet.
CNet continues, “Other e-readers, such as the Sony Reader, already make it possible to write on pages. There is also a company named Autography that carries a patent for “inserting an autograph or other salutation into an e-book.” (More on Autography later in this series)
And last May Rich Dad’s Robert Kiyosaki offered the first ever live Kindle eBook signing of Unfair Advantage on Facebook with a groundbreaking application of this popular new technology.
There are many questions and many high tech attempts at answering them. This series of posts covers the newest advancements, inviting you to add your own questions and thoughts. Today’s post concentrates on the only free eBook autographing service I’ve found, Kindlegraph.
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FREE KINDLEGRAPH SERVICE
There’s a handful of exciting betas out there that run the gamut from sending a free personalized autographed document to mobile devices, to expensive high-tech, equipment-heavy programs that create a live virtual book signing experience. The free Kindlgraph online application starts at the beginning, the lower end of this new technology. But sometimes less is more.
KindleGraph is the work of developer Evan Jacobs, a former Amazon programmer. He created the service as part of the DocuSign hackathon. Check out Evan’s media page for more information.
Evan gives some enticing promises. “Kindlegraph is still a very new project and I’ve been happy with the response that it has had from authors and readers. As you might imagine, I will be bringing the service to all e-readers (not just the Kindle) as well as enabling other features which will help connect authors and readers even more closely. Stay tuned!”
And at The Book Pushers he revealed even more, “The next exciting feature will be the ability for authors to deliver sample chapters of upcoming works directly to the reading devices of their fans. Along with that, readers will be able to “subscribe” to their favorite genres and receive a regular digest including samples of new titles in that genre.”
Evan’s Book Pushers interview answered another of my burning questions: are you working on a function where the signature can be placed into the actual eBook? “Yes, although this will likely vary from platform to platform as some e-readers allow better access to the material on the device than others.” 
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SIMPLE TO USE
Author usage is simple even for the technically challenged among us. You must have a twitter account to sign in with, then enter your Kindle eBook’s ASIN (found on your catalog sales page) and follow the few easy instructions. You’ll get a chance to create your signature at this time.
Then you’re all ready to respond when readers request your personalized Kindlegraph. They will receive a one page document sent directly to their Kindle. At this time, the reader is simply collecting author autographs, not the actual eBook with signature. But I prefer the freedom to allow readers to purchase my books from Kindle and then get them autographed later. Books purchased elsewhere aren’t eligible to be tallied for Kindle’s numerous top 100 lists.
I’ve used Kindlegraph, and love it, but still had questions. It seems that each autograph you collect is sent as a separate document. Is there any way to put them all together on your Kindle into an e-autograph album? Can you then organize them into categories such as by genre, musician, artist etc.? Via twitter Evan answered, “Yes, the Kindlegraph is a separate doc but you can create a “Collection” where you can keep them all together.”
Whatever its present limitations you’ll want to keep an eye on this one. Even with only the present functions, this application is fresh and innovative, and thankfully free.
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PRESENT KINDLEGRAPH FUNCTIONS
- Receive requests from your readers and send your digital signature directly to their Kindles. You’ll receive an email every day that you have requests waiting.
- Your own author page on Kindlegraph where your fans can go to see a listing of all of your available books so they request your signature on all of them. Kindlgraph links directly to your Kindle sales pages so viewers can purchase them immediately.
- Readers don’t need to own a Kindle (or any e-reader) but can enter a regular email address at the time of their request and they will receive your personalized Kindlegraph in their inbox as a PDF attachment.
- Until Evan adds other mobile device compatibilities, readers using e-readers other than the Kindle, can “sideload” the emailed file onto their pdf-compatible e-readers.
- Many handwriting fonts to choose from for your signature. I found one that really does look a lot like my own handwriting.
- Write your signature yourself. This only looks good if you own a stylus and pad, at least for me. I tried it very unsuccessfully with my mouse. But the stylus pad is worth it. I plan on purchasing one ASAP so I can utilize this function. I know I can use it often for similar online tasks.
- Shows you the twitter name of the autograph requests so you can connect with them. Great way to build a fan base you know already loves your work.
SUGGESTED USES
- The next time you are interviewed, either live radio or live in print at a blog etc. post your author page link (my Kindlegraph author page). Then announce repeatedly that all attendees can get your ebook autograph sent directly to their Kindle. Since this is fairly new it’s a rousing draw to increase attendance.
- Host a live Facebook eBook signing. This can be applied to any site(s) such as Goodreads or your own blog.
- Author book chat on Google+‘s free hangout feature. Face to face with you is so much more personal. Comb your hair, start “hanging out” and give instructions how to get your personal digital autograph while getting to know each other. Limitation: allows only 10 at one time. But you can do this often, either scheduled ahead of time, or impromptu open chats when you just have a spare hour. Unfamiliar with Hangout? See Emlyn Chand’s Googl+ informative article with even more usage tips.
- Announce your Kindlegraph author page to your social media followers periodically to set your your eBook apart.
- Create your own critique groups (maybe on Google+) hand chosen from the authors you most respect. And during the sessions get each other’s autographs.
We’d love to hear how YOU use this new technology.
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Will Google Editions Put an End to e-Publishing Piracy?
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Will Google Editions (Google’s own digital book store) be a new ally in the e-Book market? Google pushes into the eBook market later summer 2010 with Google Editions. And this is totally separate from Google Book Search which is still in litigations.
They haven’t revealed much, and I’ve included some quotes and links to articles delving into various ramifications only guessed at right now, but I want to focus on the fact that this may be the genesis that frees our people (readers) from the slavery of proprietary e-reader formats. Kindle has already eliminated their proprietary formats with their Kindle app for the iPad) but many still enslave us where you can read the eBook you buy from them on their reader only. For more about this issue see The Truth About eBook Piracy: And the Truth Shall Set Them (Customers) Free.
Since I took a strong stand against what amounts to e-publisher book piracy (in my books anyway, pun intended) I’ve been involved in many rousing discussions through the comments boxes at the above article, and LinkedIn discussions in my favorite groups, and elsewhere across the Web. And now I’m hopeful to hear things are changing, and Google may be one of the harbingers of the change.
“The company has revealed little about the venture thus far, describing it generally as an effort to sell digital books that will be readable within a Web browser and accessible from any Internet-connected computing device.” Stores See Google as an Ally in E-Book Market byBrad Stone, The New York Times.
But here’s where I get excited folks!
“People who buy Google eBooks will not be locked into any particular reading devices or book formats,” the company said. “Books bought from Apple’s iBookstore, by contrast, can be read only on Apple devices.”
And there’s more…
“I don’t think anyone who has bought an e-reader in the last several years has really intended to only buy their digital books from one provider for life,” said Tom Turvey, Google’s director of strategic partnerships, who heads the Google Editions project.
“Google would allow us to play completely outside the device-centric game,” said Darin Sennett, the director of Web development at Powell’s.
This “means any device that can surf the Web is fair game: your laptop, your computer, even your Kindle, Nook, or iPad. No separate apps or interfaces will be required.” says JR Raphael, PC World, Google Editions: Bringing E-Books to Your Browser.
We can not only read our eBooks from Google Editions on our computer, but any device that accesses the Web. Finally, when we buy a book we will truly own it. As with print books we’ll have the right to read it anywhere, give it away, loan it out, donate to a library.
Well, maybe we won’t yet have all the freedom we have with print books, but this is a huge step forward, and one that many like me have been calling for. Imagine what this means for writers. Let’s watch this one closely.
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Authors Spin Your Own Single With Kindle Singles, a New “Shorts” Publishing Platform
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Killer Idea: Kindle Singles
Just like in their music store, now you don’t have to buy the written whole record, get (or write) the single. Until recently authors had two choices, write it short enough to fit into a magazine/newspaper/blog or long enough for a whole book. Kindle Singles changes all that. It’s a store unto itself now.
Amazon pointed out in their news release October 12, 2010, “…in many cases, 5,000 to 30,000 words (roughly 30 to 90 pages) might be the perfect, natural length to lay out a single killer idea, well researched, well argued and well illustrated — whether it’s a business lesson, a political point of view, a scientific argument, or a beautifully crafted essay on a current event (or literary short fiction). Today’s announcement is a call to serious writers, thinkers, scientists, business leaders, historians, politicians and publishers to join Amazon in making such works available to readers around the world.”
Kindle is the First
Kindle is the first of the e-readers (but not of the mobile publishers) to implement this short publishing form. They most likely established this to keep pace with the vanguard success of mobile publishing — publishing short stories and non-fiction installments for downloading to mobile devices such as the iPhone. If I were Kindle I wouldn’t want my eBooks left out of this colossal market either.
The rapid ascension and near domination of mobile devices probably birthed the Kindle Singles concept of reading things at their “natural length.” I’ve checked into using this type of serialized publication myself, through mobile publishers, since my how-to type writing fits the mold. And now, with the launch of Kindle Singles I’ll definitely be checking into publishing there too.
And “Like all Kindle content, Kindle Singles will be “Buy Once, Read Everywhere”–customers will be able to read them on Kindle, Kindle 3G, Kindle DX, iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC, BlackBerry, and Android-based devices.” Are they trying to replace the small mobile publishers just getting off the ground?
Amazon goes on, “In addition, with the Kindle Worry-Free Archive, Kindle Singles will be automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.”
DTP Newly Renamed to Accommodate New Platform
Amazon’s Digital Text Platform is now Kindle Direct Publishing and allows us to publish Kindle Singles also, but you must submit your Singles once you’ve published it to Kindle Direct and wait for acceptance.
Speaking of the changeover of DTP to Kindle Direct Publishing, you’ll notice that no longer will you have the choice of five categories for your book. Now you get the same two category choices allowed as for the print books. When I asked them about this, and would this affect my previously published five-category Kindle titles, they answered:
“The number of browse categories allowed for Kindle titles was changed from five to two in order to provide our customers with a more relevant searching experience and achieve parity with our guidelines for physical books.
“Books published before this change will retain their original category assignments of up to five. However, if a publisher chooses to change their category assignments after this change was implemented, their title will be restricted to two categories.”
70% Royalties Option Enabled for Singles
Amazon used to give the 70 percent royalty option for books priced between $2.99 and $9.99. They’ve changed that royalty option now to include Singles so the authors can get 70 percent even for books priced between 99 cents and $4.99.
A few Questions
Short non-fiction such as I write needs updating when technology changes/enhances our options. I had two question for Kindle Singles:
- Can I easily remove the title and replace it with updated versions?
- Can I change my Singles title price after it’s published?
Here is Kindle’s answer:
“The answer to both your questions is yes. Once you submit your titles they will become unavailable while they go through a review and publishing process. Once this process is complete (usually 24-48 hours) you book will become live. When your books is live you will be able to adjust your price and or title names as you see fit.
“Please keep in mind that once you submit these changes your title will go through the publishing process again and will be unavailable for edits. However it will remain available for purchase.”
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What are your thoughts and questions?
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To be considered for Kindle Single digital-publications@amazon.com
You can also email your pitch & outline to kindle-singles@amazon.com
Check out Kindle Singles page
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Resource Articles Concerning Kindle Singles
Not a Full-Length Book? Write a Kindle Single Instead by Debbie Weil
Publishing with Kindle Single for not quite full length Books by Rebecca Lacko at The Written Word
