Category: Staff Articles

Writing advice and insights from the staff of Indies Unlimited.

Trying Amazon’s New Print Book Options

Amazon.comLate last year, Amazon began offering authors the option of publishing both their eBooks and paperbacks through Amazon. Previously, authors wanting to publish paperbacks had to use CreateSpace, an Amazon-owned company that required a separate login and tax information. Today, we’ll look at how that process works, so you can decide if it’s something you want to try.

While I’m always a bit leery of new things, I was really excited about the idea of seeing both paperback and eBook sales on the same dashboard. I decided to give Amazon’s paperback publishing a try with one of my recent titles, Prophecy of Light-Foretold. Here, I’ll give you the breakdown of the process. Continue reading “Trying Amazon’s New Print Book Options”

Self-Publishing Questions and Answers

self publishing question-1500086_960_720Every so often when I have free time (more likely, when I’m waiting for something to upload or download), I browse through author groups and discussion boards and answer any questions to which I know the answer. The great thing about indie authors and publishers is we like to help each other.

The not so great thing is, the answers given in author groups and discussion boards are often wrong, based on something someone read somewhere on another discussion board. A sampling from my latest foray into the world of author discussions: Continue reading “Self-Publishing Questions and Answers”

4 Reasons not to Push that Publish Button

stop don't push that publish button hand-944306_960_720.jpgSo you’ve written your first book. Or maybe this is not your first, so you feel even more confident. You’ve put your heart and soul into it. It took so long and now you think it’s ready. You’ve even had a few family members and friends read it and they tell you it’s great. You’ve heard about how easy it is to publish on KDP, CreateSpace – even Smashwords.

It’s November and you really want to hit that holiday market. After all, that’s the time the most people buy books for gifts. The timing is perfect and you’re itching to push that publish button.

Whoa! Hold on a minute. Do you really want to take that risk? Continue reading “4 Reasons not to Push that Publish Button”

Oops. That Book Review’s Not Verified

verified review on amazon hook-881444_960_720Way, way back in September of 2013 I wrote an article about verified reviews. In the world of Indie publishing, especially where anything directly related to Amazon is concerned, three-and-a-half years is a lifetime. Much of what I wrote then is either no longer true or suspect. In this article, I’m going to talk about some of the changes and why you, I, or a random reader might care. (Or maybe not.)

At the time I suggested that the only reason someone might care about whether a review was verified was if they thought the review seemed questionable. Then the “verified” flag would indicate the reviewer had actually bought the book or other item from Amazon. For someone looking at reviews and trying to decide on a purchase, the verified flag might still not be that useful. I suspect some people who are more attuned to happenings regarding Amazon might be concerned about fake or paid reviews, and pay a little more attention. But if they’re aware of these issues, they’re probably aware that reviewers who were willing to write a glowing review for a price have options to make sure those reviews showed as verified purchase reviews anyway. Continue reading “Oops. That Book Review’s Not Verified”