Digital Pubbing

Exploring the ins and outs of the publishing industry

Self-Publishing

You Should Self-Publish

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Self-publishing is the new business card, or so I'm told. I think this works especially well for non-fiction books, which authors can use to show their authority and get speaking gigs and other jobs. It can also be a great cocktail party conversation starter. What do you do? "I'm a novelist," sounds pretty impressive.  … [Read more...] about You Should Self-Publish

Finding Your Readers

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I recently received an email about the next steps after self-publishing a book. Unfortunately I average about 200 emails a day so I can't remember who sent it, but it contained some interesting tidbits. Self-publishing is great, but it's also important to make sure you reach your readers. … [Read more...] about Finding Your Readers

EPUB3 Read Aloud Code

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Per request, I'm posting snippets of code to use to enable read aloud functionality on an iPad. You usually do this for children's books in EPUB3. Above is a sample of the SMIL file you will need to include. Remember to make a SMIL file for each "page." And don't forget to add it to your OPF! Below is a sample of the extra code to include in the HTML file. You will also need … [Read more...] about EPUB3 Read Aloud Code

11 Tips for Writing

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Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons, by Ildar Sagdejev Author Colson Whitehead wrote an article in the New York Times outlining 11 rules on the art of writing. Among them include showing AND telling, write what you know, and of course, don't worry much about rules. Read the full list here. … [Read more...] about 11 Tips for Writing

Marketing Tips for Self-published Authors

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As a publisher, I send our authors a checklist of things they can do to help promote their book. I think it's important to get our authors as involved as possible, partly because the more people helping out, the more people will be reached, and the more books we can potentially sell. Many of our authors have also published books or are in the process of publishing a body of … [Read more...] about Marketing Tips for Self-published Authors

EBook Conversion for Self-Publishers

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There's a wide range of ebook conversion services out there, from tools to let you do it yourself to companies that will produce the whole ebook for you. Below is a list. (NOTE: I have not used all of these services). Remember: it's important to test your files on all devices you use. Books will look different depending on format and device. Validating is also important. If a … [Read more...] about EBook Conversion for Self-Publishers

Self-publishing ebooks: Why maximizing distribution matters

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New technologies and startups have made it easier than ever to self-publish ebooks. But they don't make it any easier to make a living writing. The most important thing you can do as a self-published author, however, is to make sure your ebook is available through as many retail channels as possible. (FYI, ebook sales accounted for 20% of book sales in 2011, up from 10% in … [Read more...] about Self-publishing ebooks: Why maximizing distribution matters

EBook Design

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Just like regular books, the design, both interior and exterior, of an ebook is important. To see an example of what I mean, see Carolyn Jewel's post, Why eBook Formatting Matters – A Case Study. She includes examples of how her ebook looks on different devices, as well as what a well-formatted ebook looks like compared to some that was converted automatically. Auto-generated … [Read more...] about EBook Design

Self Publishing: Cover Design

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Book covers are the most important marketing aspect of a book. People will make impulse purchases if they like the book cover; the cover is what gets a book attention. Covers that are white backgrounds with large text tend to look amateurish. You also want covers that persuade people to buy the book, with good flap copy. Use the template from Para Publishing to write effective … [Read more...] about Self Publishing: Cover Design