How to Change Your Book’s Categories

iStock_000008515543XSmallRecently I had a problem with the Amazon categories for one of my novels. However, I didn’t realize it until the day my promotion started. I was listed in nonfiction. Ouch. It’s not the first time I’ve been put in the wrong category. Kids can be so mean sometimes. At least with an automated system, I’m willing to forgive a few errors. Amazon has been very nice about it—even though sometimes they’ve introduced new errors in the act of correcting the original ones—but eventually we’ve gotten things squared away. Continue reading “How to Change Your Book’s Categories”

Smashwords Now Offers Preordering, But Is It for You?

When I heard that Kobo was gearing up to let authors upload books on preorder status, I didn’t know that Smashwords would soon be leading the charge on most of its premium channel distributors.

Yes, Mark Coker and company are now offering preorders, but in a public beta test. The big news is that you don’t have to be James Patterson’s staff of assistants or Hugh Howey to make your next book available for preordering. Continue reading “Smashwords Now Offers Preordering, But Is It for You?”

Getting the Most out of Smashwords

Smashwords LogoSmashwords is sort of an enigma. Loved by many, hated by many, and yet still many more who just don’t know what the heck to do with it. And what in god’s name is a meatgrinder, right? Well, despite all the hiccups people have, I’ve been finding Smashwords to be quite awesome lately. Let me tell you why. Continue reading “Getting the Most out of Smashwords”

Check This Out – Borrow eBooks from Libraries

Did you know you can borrow eBooks from your local library? If you didn’t, you’re not alone. Forbes reported in June that 58 percent of library patrons don’t know they can borrow eBooks, and only two percent have ever done it.

That’s not surprising, considering that traditional publishing houses have kept as tight a rein on their eBook sales to libraries as they have on eBook sales in general. Some of the Big Six reportedly don’t sell eBooks to libraries at all. The publishers that allow such sales insist that libraries purchase only DRM-locked books, and they limit the number of borrows for a single eBook copy. Why all the hoops? The big publishers are afraid that if library patrons find out they can borrow eBooks, it will eat into their sales – and, hence, their profits. That’s despite the fact that a large percentage of eBook borrowers are also eBook buyers. Continue reading “Check This Out – Borrow eBooks from Libraries”