OK, for a change of pace here – from owls to self-published e-book millionaire at the ripe old age of 26! She was rejected by major NY book publishers, but that didn’t stop her.
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Mind-Blowing Synchronicities
aliens in the bsckyard
The Shift: Reports from the Mystical Underground
White Crows
Mark uses e-lance for a lot of his graphic design, video editing and programming.He swears by them. We also employ a professional internet marketer.
I have several friends who have self published with lulu.com, with great results. (print and ebooks) It's an 80/20 split, with the author keeping 80% and they promote your work on their site, as well as Amazon, B&N., and other sites.
The guy who is doing the Kindle book for me knows quite a bit about how to put up the books on various sites. It is easy to put the Kindle version on Amazon, so i did that part myself – just takes an hour or so, max, and the second time would be much shorter than that, I'm sure. From there, I will sell it via my blog and web site. However, these are not good ways to sell books from my experience, so I will have to think about how to promote it. I might even put a bid up on elance to find a promoter. I work full time as well as do the futurist stuff, so I don't have a lot of free time. Marcus
Great info, Marcus. Thanks! Next question.Do you plan on selling the book on your website? If not, then how do you get paid?
For those like me who are to busy to do the formatting or final editing, I recommend a site called elance.com. There you can place a "job" and people will make bids. The good thing is that you get to see their profile and reviews from previous clients of theirs. You also have power because if you give them a bad rating it is very bad for their business. For jobs that don't actually require native English speaking ability – like formatting a Kindle or i-Book, you can use bidders from India and developing nations – they are very good and inexpensive. Like I said, my Kindle was done for $50.
Food flirt – how're you doing it? We would all love to know!
Vicki – both of your books sound like great ideas!
Wow! This is a whole new exciting way to publish our books. I'm in the process of formatting my latest novel, Taking a Chance on Love, for Kindle.
Very interesting and informative I have also wondered about publishing myself.
I have one novel based on a personal experience of speaking with a best friends son after his suicide and how it helped all. It was an amazing few weeks and really opened my eyes to how the bereaved heal with contact.
My other book is based on my experiences growing up in 2 haunted houses in particular. It is a good old ghost story in which I put several real experiences in.
Computer issues here, gang. Will try to keep going.
WV may speak volumes: "chapheed"
chap heed ? as in "pay attention"?
Really fabulous. This makes me happy. Great post.
Keri
alwayscurtsywhenyousneeze.com
I LOVE this story!
The potential is mind blowing – as with all things it's about finding what people want and filling that need / niche.
wv: tableat
That is very exciting! The new technologies are changing the game all the way around.
Sansego – Marcus has the answer on the hows with ebooks. I was trying to figure out last night when I read this story how this woman advertised/distributed her books. And who pays her? Does she sell them directly from her website? I love my nook and love reading books that way. But I also love the feel and reality of an actual book.
As for advances: 50K is a lot these days for a novel. Publishing is in real turmoil
Love this story – and so great for this young woman and all other talented writers. New technology and the internet offers so many new opportunities to all kinds of creative talents. And I agree there is not such thing as can't as long as you believe in it.
Love the way the wv's often tie in with the subjects being adressed 🙂
I have two novels coming out this year – Time Catcher and Double Heart – that were both sold to digital publishers. The novels will be available in both print and digital formats.
I'm looking forward to seeing what happens. It certainly would be nice if one or both caught ala Amanda Hocking's novel.
Double Heart is a young adult novel, the follow up to Prophecy Rock, which won the Edgar Allan Poe award and Hawk Moon, a finalist for the same award.
Both novels take place on the Hopi reservation. Time Catcher moves ahead 20 year and my protagonist, Will Lansa, is an anthropology professor called back to the rez where he searches for a missing artifact and delves deeply into the legendary tale of Pahana, the Hopi's savior returned. – Rob
wv: demant
(print on demand)
that it is
On Monday, a friend of mine posted Borders Bookstore eBooks link and suggested that I put my novel up. I kind of dismissed it because I want a literary agent and a major publisher. Then you post this link. So, as published writers yourself, what would you advise? I'm open to anything. I want my novel published and I don't need a million for it. My goal has always been to sell it for $50,000.
One of my hesitations about publication is the number of trees that go into the paper and I find it wasteful when publishers decide to publish books by non-entities like Britney Spears, Bristol Palin, Snooki, Meghan McCain, Jenna Bush. These books end up in the remainder bins eventually…meaning that they overprinted copies, which is a waste. eBooks would solve this problem. Yet I believe my novel says something important about the sexual culture of the Navy and would love to see it spark a public debate if it snagged a major publisher. Choices, choices.
Her story is very inspiring.
Yay for her!
Very relevant story. I awoke about three months ago and the word “Kindle” came straight into my mind’s eye. I ordered one straight away, and it is very good. Now I realise that this is the way to go with book publishing, especially those who want to write and sell their own books. I’m just getting some of mine put into eBook formats, including Kindle and iPad. It’s very cheap to do so – it costs me only $50 per book. The problem then is how to sell/publicize them. Marcus
Great story! It's the wave of the future, for sure. And not only an evolution, but a revolution, too!
I think this is the wave of the future! I love the I-Pad for downloading books instantly. I just bought the new book, The Twelfth Insight, by the author of the Celestine Prophecy in about 30 seconds. My daughter and I were just discussing Kindles today – we can swap some books for 14 days (you can't keep them permanently.) But self publishing is the way to go. Books are not dead – people are still reading like crazy – it's the middle man – the publisher – that will hurt with this new technology.
Does this mean there will be a Nook version of all your books,now?
I must say though,that I will always buy paper books (I just wish they would make them out of hemp paper) over electronic books.
It just doesn't do it for me unless I can turn a real page.
Then again it's good to see the younger generation reading,no matter what format.
This lady appears to be living proof of that!
No such word as can't. 🙂