People wonder how it is that I (or other authors) can autograph ebooks, well, go to Authorgraph.com and put in a free request and I’ll sign an ebook for you, it gets sent through the cyber world to you! Here is my Author page on Authorgraph.
Category: digital books
Publishing in a bookstore-less world by Catherine Burr
With the closing of many physical bookstores, publishing has entered a new era and it’s time for authors and indie publishers to take a hard look at other options that are available for us for book events.
We need to start by brainstorming. I’ve posted some ideas to get us kickstarted, please add your ideas in the “comments” section at the end of this blog and we’ll see what new ideas are born so we can move forward into the new age of publishing.
Book Groups: Just about everyone knows someone in a book group. Offer to attend
a meeting if the group chooses your book, or offer to attend to pitch your book so they will choose it!
Coffee Houses: There must be a Starbucks on every corner in America. Where else better to have a, “Meet and Greet” with an author. A local event brings customers into buy coffee and Starbucks has those comfy chairs. Ask the manager or area manager about arranging an event.
Work: Perhaps your office would consider an author holding an event during lunch or after hours? I know an author who works at a hospital and they ok’d an event in the hospital gift shop.
Video Chat: Authors can hold events, including book groups via online video chat. Have relatives and friends a thousand miles away? No worries, set up a book or reading group chat and away you go.
Utilize Who You Know: People are intrigued by authors. People want to know more about them and the writing process. Think about everyone you know and figure out a way to get the people you know involved in having an event that features a discussion with you, the author and your books.
Social Media: This is a given. Blog chats, Twitter, Good Reads, Facebook, all the usual places for promotion of your book and online events are plentiful. Use hashtags for an online promotional opportunity so people can follow the discussion and add to it on Twitter. Set up a time and date and get your author friends to support your event in exchange for supporting their events.
Libraries/Indie Bookstores: There are still libraries and indie bookstores around. Most libraries and indie bookstores are enchanted by local authors, set it up. Read my blog about how to get your book into libraries.
Talk up eBooks and tablets: Some people may not want to admit it but they might not know how the process of reading a book on a tablet or cell phone works. Offer to explain it to them at a book group or event. I once arranged for an author to give a demonstration of the Kindle reader at a library. The room was packed and the author got to sell books afterward.
Just because bookstores are closing, it does not mean there will no longer be author events. People love to read, always have, always will. It’s not the end of publishing, just the beginning of a new era.
Catherine Burr is a bestselling author and publisher of more books than she can count. Her first commercial book was published in 1996. In 2004, she started her own publishing house and is now mentoring and guiding authors through the self-publishing maze. Google Plus her +Catherine Burr
Is Smashwords all that? By Catherine Burr
When I first started publishing books, believe it or not, ebooks had not come into existence. There was no Smashwords, no Nook, no Kindle. I published books the old-fashioned way, with a print run with a printer (not print on demand), and had stock of books in my garage until they were sold. Cut chase years later and this thing called Kindle came along. I was instantly intrigued.
Having grown up in Silicon Valley, technology was all around me and being on the forefront of the digital revolution was a thrill. When I started publishing ebooks on Kindle, most people had a confused look on their faces when I mentioned the word, “ebook.” My sister used to explain it to people that I was on the “cutting edge” of books. Still, most people hadn’t heard of ebooks and I must’ve explained a thousand times about ebooks and the new technology called e-readers.I was publishing ebooks before most people knew what they were.
From the beginning, I loved the idea of having thousands of books at disposal in a portable device. And, people bought ebooks. I published a few books to start, and was wowed at the result. I bought a Kindle and took it with me everywhere. It was something that most people hadn’t seen and curiosity abounded.
Now as I look back since my entry into the digital world of ebooks, the many choices for readers are endless, not to mention reading books on our phones. I for one, usually start reading a book on my phone, then switch over to my Kindle. I download a sample book onto my cell and if I read straight to the end and want to buy the book, I can download to both my Kindle and cell phone for the price of one book.
My husband can also download the book onto his cell phone, Kindle, or more likely iPad, since we are on the same account.I started off mentioning Smashwords, and the reason I mention it is because if I were to give a new author advice about where to start, I would probably lean them toward Smashwords, for the simple reason that one can upload a single title and have it distributed to all the same places that otherwise you’d have to open accounts for and upload one by one.
When I started publishing ebooks, Amazon was the major, if only player. Barnes and Noble, Apple iBooks, Smashwords, none of the ebook retailers that are prevalent today, carried ebooks. So when I published an ebook, it was to Amazon.
Then years later, came along the other venues. But now, with Smashwords, the process of publishing to distribution channels is streamlined.I will admit, I have found the Smashwords “meat grinder” very unforgiving as far as formatting ebooks. You must follow the Smashwords guidelines exactly if your ebook is to be processed for their premium channels.
The process can seem daunting, it is daunting, and when I was initially uploading to Smashwords, I had many frustrations, the way they want the books stripped of URL’s, ads for your other books, the list went on and on, as far as what you could have in the book and couldn’t. You had to have the copyright page exactly as they stated or face rejection.
But, the beauty of Smashwords, for all the pain, is that you only have to upload once and if your book passes their regiment, then it’s distributed to most of the same accounts that otherwise you would have to go in individually and upload, channel by channel.
I am aware that Amazon entices authors with their KDP Select program. Be aware, that you are making a commitment to a certain period of time to not have your book on other channels. KDP Select didn’t work for me because my books were already published on other channels when they came out with this program and so I do not have first hand knowledge of using it, but by Google searching, you can find others who have thoughts on the program.
Wherever you begin your ebook publishing journey, the resources and distribution channels extend around the world and bridges readers and authors like never before in this history of publishing.
About the Author: Catherine Burr is an indie publisher, bestselling romance novelist, inspirational blogger, and children’s author. Her books are sold in over 60 countries in both print and ebook formats. She lives in a small country town where she writes books on her cell phone.
Follow Catherine Burr on Twitter.
Visit Catherine’s website at CatherineBurr.com.
Time Flies When You’re MySpacing
Wow. I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since I blogged on this site. After my last posted blog here I made the leap into the murky waters of MySpace, met some great people, wasted a lot of time, listened to some amazing music. Discovered some great bands (Palomine being one), chatted up with people from across the globe, kinda got tired of all the incessant ads that were strewn daily in my face, and here I am, back at this blog, where peace reigns and I can write my heart out without having to check back to answer blog comments or go back to comment on comments I left on someone’s blog, by the way, a blogging protocol that someone told me about, of which I had no clue.
Over at MySpace I was like, “What do you mean I have to go back to someone’s blog to read what their comment was to my comment and then I have to comment again?” I mean when does it all stop? Where does it end? A person could spend a lifetime answering and re-answering and commenting and commenting on the comments.
Sometimes MySpace gets to be a bit much for me, so I’ve leapt back over here where I can blog in obscurity, just the way I like it!
So, here’s to a fantabulous new year coming up.
Oh, and I have had several new books out since my last blog. I’m now writing a new series called, The Marriage Files. Book one in the series was published recently and it’s entitled, “An Inconvenient Mistress.” There’s a very funny video interview I did which is posted on You Tube (search for Catherine Burr).
Life is great. I hope yours is too.
Warmly,
Catherine Burr.
Catherine Burr 