Category: Guest Posts

Creating an Indie Author-Bookstore Symbiosis

Author Shaun McLaughlinGuest Post
by Shaun J. McLaughlin

When I began as an indie author early in 2012, I felt an affinity to indie bookstores. After all, we both struggle against the book industry establishment. Because I wanted a hometown outlet for printed versions of my books, I collaborated early with Mill Street Books. It serves Almonte, a town of 4,200 west of Ottawa, Canada, and a surrounding rural community of fewer than 10,000 others. In two years, that one store has sold 115 paperback copies combined of my three books. It is a profitable symbiotic relationship.

Symbiosis n: any interdependent or mutually beneficial relationship

Mill Street Books always supports local authors. Owners Mary and Terry Lumsden showed immediate enthusiasm for the idea of a joint book launch. Continue reading “Creating an Indie Author-Bookstore Symbiosis”

Bestselling Author Donna Fasano Picks Her Top Ten Romance Books

Donna FasanoGuest Post
by Donna Fasano

I’ve been an avid romance reader for years, devouring love stories since my early teens. Listen up, guys! You’ll earn more points by giving your Valentine a romance novel than you will bringing her chocolates. But then, who knows what wonderful things might happen if she receives both?

Many people hear the term “romance novel” and immediately cringe. They believe all romance books are stored on the same shelf as those old-fashioned “bodice-rippers” famous in the 70s. This phrase describes the archetypical scene where a man is so taken with passion he literally rips open the bodice of a woman’s dress. But, come on, we’re all intelligent people. There’s nothing romantic about rape, and these books have since become identified as offensive. Romance novels of today feature strong heroines—independent women on a quest to find themselves. And the sub-genres abound! You’ll find everything from sweet and funny, to tissue-worthy dramatic, from contemporary to historical, from suspenseful to the sweeping family saga. Readers will find two commonalities: a story packed with emotion, and an ending that’s satisfying.

Why are romances so popular? Because these books allow us to revisit that frenetic feeling of falling in love for the first time. We buckle ourselves in for a roller-coaster adventure that fulfills our deep need for enchantment.

Here are 10 of my favorite emotionally-charged romance novels that never fail to charm my socks off. Continue reading “Bestselling Author Donna Fasano Picks Her Top Ten Romance Books”

Short Stories Have Been Priced out of the Market

John PhythyonGuest Post
by John R. Phythyon, Jr.

Ninety-nine cents doesn’t sound like a lot of money. It’s less than a buck. It’s not even enough to get something on the Dollar Menu at McDonald’s.

But 99 cents is a huge number in the world of independent publishing. It’s come to mean so very much to indie authors, and that meaning has changed in the last year.

Ninety-nine cents is the minimum amount Amazon will let you price a book. It also nets Amazon’s worst royalty rate – 35%. However, authors often think it’s worth charging (and making) so little because consumers see a book for 99 cents and figure that’s worth the risk. So you make up in volume what you lose in percentage.

But the market has changed, and the strategy behind deciding which books an indie author should price at 99 cents has to change with it. In particular, individual short stories (not necessarily collections) are no longer viable. Continue reading “Short Stories Have Been Priced out of the Market”

Black Magic – Making your book perma-free on Kindle

Simon GoodsonGuest Post
by Simon Goodson

There’s something strange going on with free Kindle books. You can use KDP Select to make your book free, but only for 5 days every quarter. Yet some books are free day after day, week after week – what is known as perma-free.

Here, in theory, is how to make your book perma-free on Amazon…

a) Publish your book on kindle.
b) Publish the same e-book through another online retailer with the price set to free.
c) Tell Amazon that you’ve found the book at a lower price. Go to the books Amazon page, then to Product Details (third section down). The last line ends with a link titled “tell us about a lower price.
d) Amazon checks the information you provided, then lowers the book’s price to zero.

Easy isn’t it? Well, not quite that easy. There are a few gotchas… Continue reading “Black Magic – Making your book perma-free on Kindle”