You might think that the discrimination that is rife in the traditional publishing world would be reflected in the fact that readers are simply more interested in books by white, male authors. But a new study published in PLOS One suggests that’s not the case.
What Should Authors Expect To Earn?
Don’t for one second think all you have to do is to keep writing. You have to treat your writing as a business. Take a course. Read up. And then you keep writing, yes, but also keep producing, keep learning, keep growing, keep up. Good advice from Brooke Warner
Sofanauts releases Jeff Lane’s “Message across the Universe” sci-fi short story, designed by Unbound Stories
Jeff Lane’s “A message across the Universe”, another in a series of eBooks designed by Unbound Stories, has been launched by sci-fi premium website, Sofanauts
Sofanauts launches sci-fi eBooks designed by Unbound Stories
The first in a series of eBooks designed by Unbound Stories, has been launched by sci-fi premium website, Sofanauts
Step by Step Guide to Evaluating Your eBook Files on multiple devices
An absolutely awesome, must-read, truly comprehensive guide by Jeff Bach, describing the process for checking what your eBook files look like on multiple devices and giving some valuable hints to avoiding common pitfalls.
The Key Book Publishing Paths v2.0
Jane Friedman updates her excellent infographic explaining traditional, community and self-publishing paths for authors to follow. An invaluable resource to print out and stick on your work desk, it includes useful tools, services and resources.
Smashwords: reviewed
Comprehensive review of Smashwords by Mick Rooney. A must read for all authors looking to self-publish .
Publishing paths: it pays to think outside the box
Michael J. Sullivan has a great guest post at the BookwormBlues blog about the various paths he has followed in his publishing career: small press, self-publishing and traditional publishing, as well as audiobooks, and he details the main pros and cons of each. Authors need to “take control and think outside the box” and pick the path that best suits them.
Do book retailers need to set up a ghetto for self-published works?
In the wake of the recent moral panic surrounding the “questionable” content of some self-published works, Michael Kozlowski of Goodereader argues that the leading e-tailers should set up dedicated self-publishing sections.
The “solution” is perhaps not as simple as all that. The book publishing industry is going through a major upheaval (some call it evolution; others evolution), but ultimately book e-tailers are dependent on being able to offer and sell what people are looking for, and this is not going to be accomplished by hiding a significant proportion of their potential revenue in the digital equivalent of a dark and dusty corner.
Female readers drive 59% increase in self-published titles
According to Bowker, 71% of self-published books in the past 12 months were bought by women, with romance titles the most popular category, followed by literary fiction.
More than 80% of last year’s self-published ISBNs came through just eight self-publishing houses. Amazon’s CreateSpace had the biggest year-on-year increase, followed by Smashwords, Lulu and, in fourth place, the Random House imprint Author Solutions.
These figures refer to self-published books with an ISBN, so are likely to be an under-estimate of the overall DIY market.