I just want to tell you that I’m gathering new info to present on self-publishing!  I think you’ll be interested in guest blogs by people who are successful in this field, and so know what it’s about.   We all can give you tips to save you time, money, and the worst headaches of your life.  No,  you won’t like all of it, but you will learn and you’ll be glad you came to visit!

I’m looking forward to seeing you at this spot!

Best always,

Francine

More About Self-publishing! originally appeared on Francine Craft on April 25, 2013.

Sharon (an interesting person I’ll interview on here when she gets more time), tells me she has always been an omnivorous reader, but found few people to discuss the books she reads with.  She got the idea for an online book club and didn’t hesitate to begin working on it.  She was pleased at  the  camaraderie she found with those who were interested.  It  was a hard, hard slog at first, no matter  how thrilling and satisfying.  These days, she’s more relaxed with an administrative helper, Ms. Prissy Parker, frequently commenting on the various books they talk about. Those two work very well together to bring you great questions you’ll enjoy answering, and other tidbits you’ll enjoy.

You’ll find their material on Facebook daily, and I promise you you’ll soon find yourself very involved.  Their website is https://www.facebook.com/groups/11645043839288.  If you’re like me, you sigh when facing a bank of numbers, but remember you only have to put it in once and it comes up by itself for a very long time.  I double checked this, but should I be wrong, I’ll correct quickly and promise it will be right.

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Now I saved the best for last.  Ms Blount has a little son she calls Lil Man.  I won’t give his age away.  He’s autistic and God surely sent Sharon along as his mother.  She’s that great with him.  He’s cute as can be, a brown bundle of wonder.  I’m so entranced I share many of the photos she runs on FB of him.  In case you didn’t know, the autistic often — usually really — don’t interact comfortably with others, but that is changing through all kinds of therapy and programs.  Autistic people (and yes, there is also adult autism) are more often than not artistic and have been found to be some of the world’s smartest and most gifted in many fields.  It has now been shown to us that God has indeed touched these people.  Lil Man gets his smarts from his Mommy!

So, do check on this book club that I’m sure you’ll love.  And what could be more wonderful than having 555 kindred souls to talk with about books you enjoy — or don’t!  That’s allowed too.  Remember BRAB — Building Relationships Around Books!  Could life ever be sweeter than becoming part of a group like this?

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PICK UP THIS GREAT YA NOVEL BY SHAWN JAMES

If you like first-class reading, please check out Shawn James’ All About Nikki — The Fabulous Years.  It’s available on Kindle and on Nook, and it’s the perfectly wonderful story of a thoroughly spoiled l6-year-old sent to live with her West Coast father.  Willful and full of spunk, Nikkie feels like the queen of all she surveys, is surly, wild, racist   and just about ungovernable.  That is, until Dad steps in with a loving, but truly firm hand.  He wants his teenager to have the best and be the best and he’s pretty sure his way will work.  But will it?  Please do follow Dad and recalcitrant Nikki as they spar, he with great love and understanding and she with a will to hold on to ways she feels best suited to her.  Quite a book Mr. James!  I really enjoyed it.  Shawn is one of our finest writers who always has something worthwhile and better still, something real to say.  It’s just $0.99.

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I’ll be bringing you more info on self-publishing.  Look for guest blogs, and whatever you do, try to begin getting to happy for the Holidays.  But if you have reason not to, don’t fret.  God is as close to you as to anyone on this earth!  Best for the Holidays!

BRAB – Great New Book Club on the Online Block! originally appeared on Francine Craft on December 1, 2012.

The day after Christmas is the biggest day of the year when it comes to e-book  sales.  When an e-book self-publisher is planning a presentation, he or she takes a heavy focus on one date.  December 26.  Why?  Christmas day many people get Kindles, Nooks, Kobos, ipods and ipads and TV shows.

From December 26 to mid-March is one of the biggest periods in the e-book market.  It’s the perfect time for a self-published author to launch a new title or promote an existing one.  With millions of people around the world looking to try out e-books on their new devices, it’s a great opportunity for an author to find an audience of readers for their title.

The second biggest period for e-book sales is the summer.  From late May to early September is the summer reading reason.  It’s the second biggest sales for e-books.  During this period lots of  people go on vacation and are looking for beach books for their e-readers,  It’s a great tine for a self-published author to launch a mystery or a romance novel.

In addition, school is out and lots of kids are looking for titles to read to prepare for the next grade.  So it’s a great time for an author to launch a Young Adult novel (teenagers) Independent reader (pages 7-14)  book or genre fiction like sci-fi or fantasy.

Leave the DRM (Digital Rights Management) off an e-book.  DRM software encryption that prevents readers from taking an e-book from one device to another.  Some authors authorize this software to prevent others from pirating their  e-books and sharing them on a filesharing site.

Customers hate this software because it ties their e-book to a single device.  Many a sale has been lost of an e-book because a title has DRM attached to it.  If an author is self-publishing e-books, they must understand that encoding an e-book with DRM could prevent them from reaching new readers who will refuse to buy the titles because they feature DRM encryption.

Most e-book readers want to be able to take their e-books from device to device like from their laptop to e-reader to their cell phones.  Moreover, they also want to share their e-books with other readers.  This sharing is how an author builds the word of mouth that allows them to build a large audience.

In self-publishing e-books, an author doesn’t have to worry about piracy.  Most customers would rather pay to own a legit copy of an e-book they got from a retailer like Amazon or  itunes than a copy they got from Rittorent or a filesharing site where they could get an e-book that may be a corrupted file.  With a little hard work and some online marketing through social media, authors can establish a platform where they can buuild an audience that anticipates their next title.

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Watch this space for additional information about e-books.  You’re always welcome back, and I invite your comments and appreciate them.

More Tips for Mastering E-book Publication originally appeared on Francine Craft on September 28, 2012.

The more venues a title is available at mean more places for readers to discover an author’s work.  And each e-book has its own niche audience and some titles in certain genres will sell better in some venues than others.

An author may think after self-publishing an e-book their work is done.  It’s just started.  Formatting and publishing an e-book is only the first part of reaching the reading audience.  In order for readers o find an author’s e-books, authors have to promote them.

There are many avenues that work in getting sales from customers.  These approaches include -

Alwas offering free e-books throughout the year.  A self-published author should always offer a few e-books throughout the year.  Free e-books allow new readers an opportunity to sample an author’s work and gives them a reason to try other titles in the author’s catalog.  A variety of free titles during busy periods like summer and the holidays can often lead to sales of other titles in the future.

Some authors have found success by offering one book for free in a series and then charging for subsequent volumes.  Others have found success by splitting longer novels into smaller volumes and offering the first few chapters for free.  When the customer is hooked, they pay to read the other parts of the novel.

Offering more than one title – An author who is self-publishing e-books should always have more than one title in their catalog.  After buying your title, some readers will want more.  Give them a reason for ccome back for more!

Offer titles at 99 cents. -Authors can make their e-book prices anything they want.  However, most self-published authors should set their price at 99 cents.  While this price seems low,  it’s a price where most customers feel  enough incentive to take a risk and try an unproved author’s work.  At this price, an author can build a word-of-mouth among readers,  It’s usually those referrals that will get more readers to buy an author’s books on a regular basis.

Tie two books together. – One of the most successful strategies I’ve had in selling e-books is to serialize them.  Readers who enjoyed the first book will probably take a chance on the second in a series.

And serialiing doesn’t have to be direct.  An author can feature supporting characters from one story as main characters in another.  Or lightly reference events from one story in another.  Readers who loved the first story will defnitely give that new title a try.

Smart authors aggressively utilize social media in promoting self-published e-books.  E-books spread their word of mouth in cyberspace.  And the way people know about new e-books is through posting links on social media such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Pinterest.  A smart author self-publishing e-books aggressively promotes their titles on all these social media forums every day.

The best time to promote an e-book on social media during the day is from 11 AM – 2PM when most people are at lunch.  After people visit social media websites during these breaks.  At night, an author should place ads  from 8 PM to 1130 PM.

In the nex six weeks or so, Mr. James gives several more hot tips that will help you greatly in mastering ebook publishing.  That will be the third and final segment.  I would suggest that you copy these three parts and keep them in your master file.  I haven’t found anything on the market that is more helpful, and he has my deepest appreciation for letting me use this material.

Have a pleasant rest of the summer, write to your heart’s content, and read, read, and read some more!  Here’s hoping I see you in a few weeks in the space.

Tips to Help you Master E-book Publishing originally appeared on Francine Craft on July 25, 2012.

Self-publishing e-books isn’t expensive nor is it difficult.  All an author needs to create an e-book is Microsoft Word, some photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop Elements for their covers, an e-mail address and a bank account to deposit royalty payments in.  Most e-publishing websites such as Amazon or Pubit  will convert the Word Files to e-pub or Mobi, the two leading formats used by the markeetplace.

However, before an author self-publishes, he or she needs to understand that the formatting of an e-book is different from a traditional paperback or hardcover.  E–books don’t have front matter.  So they don’t require title pages  or blank pages in between l like the paperbacks or hardcovers have.

Nor do they need multiple returns to create “white psace.”  Since text shifts from device to device in an e-book, keep the formatting of an e-book is simple.  Small indentations, (0.3″) works best along two returns on the first page when a chapter starts and no spaces between the lines of a paragraph.

A PDF e-book like the Smashwords Style Guide will help an author format e-books that will look great on any e-reader.  (Available for free on Smashwords.com.)

After formatting their e-books an author has several venues they can self-publish and sell e-books from.  An author can take their work to Amazon’s Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Pubit or Smashwords.

An author should use as many venues as possible to sell their work.  Using all the e-book venues possible ensures an author can have maximum exposure for their titles.  Plus venues like Smashwords allow an author access to popular e-book sites like Sony and Apple bookstores.

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This is the first part of a truly useful three-part article that gives you an overview of just about anything you want or need to know about the e-book publishing field.  Once you master this, you can not only put author after your title, but publisher, if you so desire.  The next two parts will run approximately three-four weeks apart, and three to four weeks after this one.

Treat yourself to this info for free because  it’s among the best you’ll find, and I trust you’ll come back for the other two parts that give you more of the nuts and bolts of e-pubbing.  Youll be glad you did.

The author of many books, Shawn James gives you this article.  Mr. James is a graduate of Monroe College, and has many years of experience in as author, illustrator and publisher.  If you wish, you can contact him at sjsdirectamerica@gmail.com.  He’s a very accomplished man and knows something about just about anything you want to ask about the publishing field.  He is available for professional guidance.

Doing Your Best with the E-book Market originally appeared on Francine Craft on June 3, 2012.