I like Goodreads. It’s a nice little site. Come visit if you’ve never been. Readers talk about books without all that pressure of having to put on pants and brush their hair. We form book clubs, discussion groups, have a little chat around the virtual fireplace. Literary movements have been and continue to be born there. Even though every time I log in, it reminds me that I’m a slow reader who is not living up to her ill-considered 2013 Reading Challenge Goal, as a reader, I like the place. And if, as an author, you don’t hard-sell or spam (you don’t, do you?), it’s a good place to launch a new book with a giveaway and interact with readers. Unless they are clearly abusive, no vague, Big-Brotherish policy steps in and strips away your reviews. Continue reading “Could the “Amazon Family” Actually Be Good for Goodreads?”
Tag: createspace
Createspace’s Expanded Distribution – Yes or No?
[For an update on Createspace’s Expanded Distribution program, please read Lynne Cantwell’s article here. – the admins]
Createspace is Amazon’s print-on-demand company. They’re the same guys but they’re run as a separate company. Amazon is in Seattle and Createspace is in Las Vegas. I self-published two ebooks through Amazon (KDP), and the same two books in print form through Createspace. Unfortunately, when I had to contact them to deal with different issues that sometimes come up when you publish your own book, I had to speak to each company individually. So, that means emailing Amazon for your ebook queries or contacting Createspace by email or talking to them on the phone. Yep, they’ll talk to you. You instant message them from their website and ask them to phone you. I’ve done the phone deal five or six times and each time my phone has rang within five minutes of messaging them. It’s a great system and they’ve been very good in helping me.
I was asked recently whether I utilized Createspace’s Expanded Distribution feature and paid the $25 fee. I did-both times. This is the blurb from Createspace’s website detailing what Expanded Distribution means and how it expands the reach of your book to their additional outlets and distributors: Continue reading “Createspace’s Expanded Distribution – Yes or No?”
My Journey to the Center of CreateSpace
Last weekend, I formatted my new novel for CreateSpace in MS Word, and survived mostly unscathed. This is my story.
First, I did the easy part: formatting the book for Smashwords and Kindle. But then – oh, then. Then I had to dust off my high school yearbook staffer hat, and tackle the paperback.
When formatting for print, you have to think in terms of two-page spreads. Your even-numbered pages will be on the left, and your odd-numbered pages will be on your right. That means you want your title page, your dedication (if you have one), the first page of your table of contents, and page 1 of your story all to be right-hand pages. You will need to insert blank pages to make this work. So: Title page, copyright page, dedication page, blank page, Table of Contents. If your ToC is an even number of pages, you’re good; if it’s an odd number of pages, insert another blank page. Then put in a “next page section break.” Continue reading “My Journey to the Center of CreateSpace”
The Portable Advertisement by David Biddle
One very important inexpensive marketing tool indie bloggers don’t talk about enough is the simultaneous publishing of both electronic and paperback versions of books – ebooks and pbooks.
A study by The Pew Center indicates that 19% of adults in this country now have tablet computers and 19% have dedicated ereaders. These numbers are up from about 5% in 2010. That’s remarkable.
But these statistics still mean that the bulk of the population doesn’t own technology designed to optimize the digital book reading experience. For this reason, indie writers should seriously consider making their next novel available as a paperback as well as an ebook. Such a move expands the reading market significantly. There are dozens of Print-On-Demand (POD) companies out there offering a variety of support services (to get started, check out one list here) to support indie writers who are so inclined. Continue reading “The Portable Advertisement by David Biddle”