Read Two of Roz Morris’ Novels for Free ~ limited time offer…

I just received these words in my email from my favorite-blogger-to-Reblog, Roz Morris: 

“Hello! Last month I promised you codes to try an exciting ebook subscription service – and they’ve just landed in my inbox! Bookmate specialises in fiction and has a hand-curated collection from the major imprints and also from indies like me. As you can see, they’ve made me a rather strange landing page …

“Anyway, it should be dead simple. Follow the link and if you’re asked for a code, it’s ROZMORRIS. And it will work for any title you want, not just mine!”

I recommend you read Roz’s books—they’re exceedingly good.

Since we live in a global corporate culture, you’ll have to enter information from a credit card—this gives you a month of free reading (I still recommend you concentrate on Roz’s books...); and, they say you can “unsubscribe” at any time—I recommend just before the month is up, unless you want another month at $9.99…

And, you can get Roz’s absolutely fantastic book Nail Your Novel (for a limited time) on Amazon, USA for only $1.99.  This book is worth Way more than that!

Click these two images to read the book descriptions:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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New Year’s Bonus — My Next Publisher’s Year-End Review, with a Look Ahead…

I’ve been published by Lulu and FastPencil and Amazon and Wattpad… 

One of my goals for 2016 is to publish with Smashwords…

My email today had a special article from Mark Coker—Smashwords Year in Review 2015 and Plans for 2016.

If you’re already published elsewhere and/or are considering the Indie route, you may want to study that article from Mark.

Here’s just a bit about Smashwords from an article in the San Francisco Chronicle:

“‘Mark was very forward-thinking, and the way he set the company up appeals to independent publishers’, said Joel Friedlander, a book designer with Marin Bookworks in San Rafael and an expert in self-publishing. ‘There’s no cost, no frills, it’s a quick way to get your e-book into print, and you can do it in a day.’

“Coker, a former Silicon Valley publicist, started Smashwords in 2008 with the lofty goal of using technology to democratize publishing – allowing writers to appeal directly to readers without having to deal with gatekeepers such as agents and editors.

“In keeping with this mission, Smashwords applies no editorial screening. The only e-books Coker refuses to distribute are ones that contain plagiarism, illegal content or incitement to racism, homophobia or violence.”

And, to encourage you to read the full article from Mark, I’ll share just a few excerpts:

“Although we’ve been in business for almost eight years, we still feel like we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what’s possible. We’re looking ten years ahead and laying the groundwork today to enable a better long term future for the constituencies we serve – authors, publishers, retailers, libraries, readers, and book culture.”

“A mere eight years ago, back in the dark ages of publishing and before the advent of Smashwords, publishing was a print-centric business where print accounted for 99.5% of book sales. A few large gatekeeper publishers in New York controlled which writers could become authors, which books could be read by readers, and which books reached bookstores. Bookstores, constrained by limited physical shelf space, could only stock a small fraction of available books.”

“Contrast the conventional print book with today’s self-published ebooks. Self-published ebooks are dynamic, living and immortal creatures, constantly evolving with new metadata, new cover images and new book content, as the author or publisher iterates to make their book more visible and more desirable to readers. Indie ebooks never go out of print. Ebook stores will stock them forever.”

Lots more about the publishing world and Indie authors in that article…

Finally, a special word to any readers who just can’t quite admit to themselves that they want to write and publish:

Now Is The Time :-)
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2016 Predictions for Book Publishing

I’ve featured Mark Coker, Founder of Smashwords, many times on this blog… 

Image courtesy of Tracy Olson ~ http://www.freeimages.com/photographer/designkryt-45681

And, today, I’ll give you some excerpts from an article by him (hoping I encourage you sufficiently, so you’ll take the link and read it all… {Although, readers who are sure they’ll never be writers may want to check out only what’s in this post, to get a feel for what writers concern themselves with…})—2016 Book Publishing Industry Predictions: Myriad Opportunities amid a Slow Growth Environment.

Mark begins his predictions in a very interesting way:

“I went overboard for 2016…I also asked friends on Facebook to suggest additional questions…So in addition to my first 10 below, I take a stab at 29 additional questions. Yikes.”

I especially like this:

“You’ll see I back each prediction with copious background on my thought process.  I invite you, my dear reader, to add your insights in the comments…”

Then he makes a prediction I can fully agree with:

“Here’s one thing I’m absolutely certain of:  Indie authors are the future of publishing.  The decisions indie authors make today will continue to reshape the future of publishing for better or worse.  You’re in control.  Now let’s have some fun.”

Now, Mark’s 10 Major Predictions ( I’ll only list the Headings—the really interesting stuff happens when you take the link up there to the full article :-) :

1.  Indie ebook authors will gain market share at expense of large publishers

2.  The overall market for ebooks will shrink in dollar terms, but unit volume will increase

3.  Kindle Unlimited will gut single-copy sales and drive greater ebook commoditization

4.  The ebook subscription model will experience a backlash in the indie author community (but will it matter?)

5.  Print will remain steady, though those sales are the sole domain for authors of traditional publishers

6.  Many full time indies will quit or scale back production in 2016

7.  Preorder usage will experience a dramatic increase

8.  Library ebook sales will increase for Smashwords authors

9.  More series writers will adopt perma-free series starters

10.  Wattpad will be acquired

And, here are the questions from Mark’s Facebook friends (Answers at the full article…):

Will Amazon do something more to monopolize the market?

Will Amazon’s brick and mortar stores add or detract from their success in general and/or affect book sales?

What genres/subgenres will get a boom [in 2016]?

Will more authors go hybrid, and will the ones that are currently hybrid stay that way or lean more toward one route or the other

What will happen in the world of indie short story sales?

Subscription services. Where are they going?

Will this author win the Nobel Prize this year? Or a million dollar contract? ‘Cause that would be awesome

World peace: Possibility or writing device?

It’s difficult to get noticed. Is there any hope for us small time authors to actually make a name for ourselves in this industry?

Any idea what’s going to happen in the romance market? KU appears to have gutted sales there

Will brick and mortar stores continue to decline, or will they fight back?

Will the other retailers grow in a way that that will help us counter Amazon/KU?

Will Barnes & Noble survive or go out of business in 2016?

Will B&N drop all ebooks and/or implode and go under?

Will Amazon relax the exclusivity requirements for Kindle Unlmited in 2016?

Will Google Play introduce a subscription model in 2016?

Will Google Play put their significant weight toward becoming a big force in eBooks, and counterbalance to Amazon?

Will Disney call me?

Will Kindle Worlds go international and multi-lingual?

“Digital refund policies… will [Amazon’s policies] be reworked to prevent [their liberal return policies from ] being used as an ebook library?”

What’s happening with China and India with ebooks over the coming years?

Will iBooks try to take on the Zon by releasing a multi-platform app?

How much will the standard agent/publisher cut shrink in the face of the superior economics of self publishing?

What percent of new authors will decline a standard agent/publishing deal and go it alone?

Will new promotion-oriented businesses emerge to help new authors, and what will these look like?

Will Smashwords introduce a POD offering in 2016?

Predict when indies will be allowed into brick and mortars

Is there a place where I can see all your past predictions altogether?

And, for writers (and readers who just might, one day. become writers…), I’ll excerpt Mark’s closing comments:

“Things change in this industry every day.  If you’re like me, you probably find it bewildering at times.  But take heart.  Some things never change.  The most important thing that will never change is that books are magical containers for delivering stories and knowledge.  You create magic.

“The industry will change – players will go out of business and others will rise and fall and rise again – but books will always remain.  Authors will always remain.  You are the captain of your personal adventure in publishing, and the course you chart is rife with opportunity.

“The global book publishing is a $100 billion market. Despite anemic growth, and even if the market shrinks, there’s still incredible opportunity for every new, future and veteran author alike to reach thousands if not millions of readers.  Best practices will separate those who reach a lot of readers from those who reach few.

“Luck plays a factor as well, but only for those who implement best practices first.  Best practices prepare you to capture lightning in a bottle when luck strikes.  Luck strikes all the time.  It’s word of mouth.  It’s a blog post or a tweet or a Facebook mention or a review that recommends your book.

“The books you have in you are important. Your books are important to the future of book culture and humanity.  Don’t let anyone or anything discourage you from putting your book out into the world.”

New Year’s Bonus for those who got this far :-)

Mark’s Free Books:

The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success

Smashwords Book Marketing Guide

Smashwords Style Guide
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To Leave A Comment, Use The Link At The Top-Right of The Post :-)
For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com

In Memoriam ~ Dan Poynter ~ Thanks for Helping This Writer . . .

No re-blog today………

Image Courtesy of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:StormyNighttime

Many folks who’ve self-published had never heard of Dan Poynter until he’d already passed from this earthly realm…

I’m one of those folks—only knew of Dan’s death and his legacy because of an article in my email today from the Smashwords blog by Founder Mark Coker: Dan Poynter, The Father of Self Publishing, Passes Away…

Mark’s article is worth reading in full; but, here are a few excerpts:

“Dan led the indie author movement long before the movement had a label, and long before many of its current beneficiaries were even born.”

“Dan was a mentor to me, long before he even knew me.  I first read his Self Publishing Manual about 12 years ago, before Smashwords was even a glimmer in my eye.”

“He provided writers the tools to think, act and publish like professional publishers.  If you’ve followed Smashwords at all over the last eight years, you’ll see the DNA of Dan pervades much of what we do at Smashwords.”

“Dan changed the world.  All of us — Smashwords and every indie author — are operating in a world that Dan first envisioned and, more than anyone, helped to encourage in his multiple decades of self publishing advocacy and education.”

“Above all, Dan was an incredibly nice guy.  He made himself available to every writer any time, whether at a writers conference or on email or when they called him at home.  He wanted to help writers achieve their dream.”

And, finally (with Underlining by me):

“In many ways, the rise of ebooks helped Dan realize his vision too.  Ebooks enabled every major retailer to stock self published books, so it was this democratized distribution that finally helped the world realize, appreciate and enjoy the extraordinary talent locked between the minds and fingertips of ordinary writers around the the world.  Dan believed in the potential of every writer when the rest of the industry thought most writers weren’t good enough.”

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To Leave A Comment, Use The Link At The Top-Right of The Post :-)
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9 Reasons You Should Self-Publish (even if you don’t think you’re a writer…)

>>> CLICK to VISIT

This post appears at the top of the first page of my 31 articles that include information about the Publishing-Aid Company, Fastpencil.

There are way more than 9 reasons to use Fastpencil in this particular post but I really like the number 9 and most folks probably don’t need more than 9 reasons to do anything…

But, let me explain the other part of the title of this post, “even if you don’t think you’re a writer”…

Fastpencil has free book-writing software that lets you invite friends to help you with the tasks of building a book.

And, if you talk to enough of your friends, you could find someone who could be an Editor for your project and they can use the software to help you hone and craft your effort to………

…what in the world would you write about if you don’t consider yourself a writer?

Well…

Perhaps the world would love to hear about your strange family…

Or, you once did something that others could learn from…

Or, you have a weird hobby that lots of other folks would love…

Or, you spend all your time sitting quietly and figuring out solutions to the world’s problems…

In other words, if you think about it long enough and let your true feelings surface, you would have enough material for a book; and Fastpencil will let you gather a team of friends to create that book—which means that the whole creation process is FREE…

Here’s a summary of what you can do with Fastpencil:

*Write a book on their site, while inviting Beta-Readers and/or editors to work with you
—> Free

*Revise, edit, check multiple proofs, upload a cover, work-out front and back matter, etc.
—> Free

*Publish (Print & E-book editions) and have the book distributed to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple iBooks, and Ingram
—> $300

However, if you have the book available on only the FastPencil Site, publishing costs as little as $9.99…

They also give you a very cool sales-widget you can use on your own WebSite or Blog.

And, royalties are 80% net profit.

So, in case you missed some of the best reasons,  you can:

Share Ideas for FREE

Write for FREE

Re-Write for FREE

Proofread for FREE

Collaborate about the structure of your writing for FREE

Do Interior Layout Design for FREE

Choose Your Layout and Preview a Digital Proof of Your Book for FREE

Publish Your Book for as Little as $9.99

Naturally, FastPencil has many professional services you can pay for (but, only if you want to…).

And, in case you didn’t yet find your own 9 particular reasons to self-publish, check out this video series:

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To Leave A Comment, Use The Link At The Top-Right of The Post :-)
For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com