Nate Hoffelder at The Digital Reader takes a look at the first set of submissions to Kindle Scout and finds the writing quality surprisingly high, especially when compared with the quality of some of the covers
Getting a unique illustration for your book cover
Joanna Penn used the 99designs community of designers to have multiple artists provide competing designs for her next book cover. She describes the process and illustrates some of the finalists’ designs, as well as that of the eventual winner, in this interesting post.
The Indie Author Power Pack
Incredible value. Three great eBooks on self-publishing plus an exclusive audio interview for less than the price of a cup of coffee. A must for all indie authors.
Kindle Scout – a good deal for self-publishers?
Jim C Hines takes a look at Amazon’s latest hybrid publishing venture Kindle Scout – is it a good deal for self-publishing authors?
Why Self-publishing Is So Good For Literary Culture
Orna Ross, founder of the Alliance of Independent Authors writes: Throughout cultural history — Renaissance Italy, Elizabethan England, Literary Revival Ireland — where new forms and formats allow creativity to flourish, overall standards rise. As the means of expression become available to more people, more tyro and aspirant books — “mountains of crap Mi Lyfe Storeys” — are facilitated, yes, and also more accomplished and virtuoso work. More masterpieces rise to the top, the expanded tip of an enlarged mountain
Why You Should Care About Ebook vs Print Formatting
I get asked this question a lot: “Can I use my CreateSpace PDF for the ebook version?” The simple answer is ‘no’. Well, you could, but I doubt you’d be very happy with the finished results — and more importantly, neither would your readers. Frankly, a PDF is the last format you should use to create an ebook from as it does so many things that you just don’t want an ebook to do.
Everybody Wants a Netflix for Books
Joseph Esposito writing at The Scholarly Kitchen: “Some things seem self-evident–until they are not. One self-evident notion is that just as we have a Spotify and a Pandora for music, just as we have a Netflix for video, we should indeed have something akin to these services for books. It seems obvious to many people that only the sluggishness if not outright stupidity of publishers would get in the way of the inevitable.”
SHAKESPEARE system for helping authors figure out self-publishing
Matthew Mather shares his useful mnemonic to help authors achieve self-publishing success
The Writers’ Union of Canada votes to admit self-published authors
Quill & Quire reports increased recognition for Canadian self-published authors, as The Writers’ Union of Canada announces that it will expand membership criteria to accommodate them. “When TWUC started 40 years ago, selfpublishing was called vanity publishing, and it was an entirely different thing. Now it is the choice of many professional writers. [The decision] means we will not just survive, but triumph as the national organization that accommodates the changing publishing scene,” said TWUC chair Dorris Heffron
Hugh Howey: “When the People of Publishing Are Set Free”
Hugh Howey in a piece by Porter Anderson at Writer Unboxed: From the very beginning, my agent Kristin Nelson and I saw signing with Random House UK as a way to experimentally partner with a major publisher. It wasn’t the people in publishing that my agent and I were trying to change; the people were magnificent. Without exception, they love books, love readers, and want to play matchmaker by the millions. Sometimes, they just aren’t allowed to. We had turned down offers from publishers in New York, where ideas like changing the title and taking the ebook off the market seemed not to be in the readers’ best interest. Overseas, I was working with people who wanted to experiment, be bold and creative, and win readers over any way possible.