Digital Pubbing

Exploring the ins and outs of the publishing industry

books

An Interview with Jeffrey Bennett, author of Math for Life and The Max Science Adventures series (part 1)

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Note: I've broken this interview up into two parts. This is the first part, and it focuses more on Jeffrey Bennett's work as a non-fiction author. Click here for part two, which discusses Bennett's children's books, and how his books were the first children's books read in space! Jeffrey Bennett is a researcher, educator, author, and one of the most inspiring people I've … [Read more...] about An Interview with Jeffrey Bennett, author of Math for Life and The Max Science Adventures series (part 1)

5 Ways Gaming Can Help Indie Authors Increase Sales

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I recently wrote an article about the similarities between self-publishing and being an indie game developer (soon to be up on IndieReader--stay tuned). It's pretty cool actually, how the process of creating, marketing, and selling games is so close to the process of writing, marketing, and selling e-books (both even have a few big platforms to focus on). Anyway, this got me … [Read more...] about 5 Ways Gaming Can Help Indie Authors Increase Sales

Kindle, Kindle, Kindle: Amazon’s Latest Publishing Tools

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In the last week, Amazon has made three big announcements, all of which I think have the potential to greatly help indie authors. Kindle Countdown Deals The first, and most exciting in my opinion, is the Kindle Countdown Deals. What this means is that authors who publish e-books on Amazon have an easy way of price pulsing/discounting their books, and then advertising it. The … [Read more...] about Kindle, Kindle, Kindle: Amazon’s Latest Publishing Tools

McDonald’s, the Book Distributor

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I couldn't resist. When I heard that McDonald's planned to give away over 20 million books with their happy meals during the first two weeks of November, I knew I had to see for myself. So on the first day, I bought my first happy meal in like 20 years. To be completely honest, I was excited to get The Goat Who Ate Everything, just because it sounded like the cutest of the … [Read more...] about McDonald’s, the Book Distributor

Books in Browsers 2013

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I went to my second Books in Browsers last week (see last year's recap day 1 and recap day 2), and was not disappointed! For those who many not know, Books in Browsers is "a small summit for the new generation of internet publishing companies, focusing on developers and designers who are building and launching tools for online storytelling, expression, and art." It takes place … [Read more...] about Books in Browsers 2013

iDreamBooks, A Book Review Aggregator

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iDreamBooks is a site that aggregates reviews of books. The goal of the site is right in the tagline: Never read a crappy book again! Founded in 2012 by Rahul Simha, Vish Chapalamadugu and Mohit Aggarwal, iDreamBooks moved to San Francisco as part of 500 Startups. Patrick Lee, co-founder of Rotten Tomatoes, was an early investor, which works out since the site is like the … [Read more...] about iDreamBooks, A Book Review Aggregator

Student-Managed Book Publishers

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Student-run presses are not a new concept. Most MFA programs for creative writing publish literary journals, which MFA students work on while in school. And many universities have student-run newspapers, such as UCSB's Daily Nexus. But not many schools have student-run book publishers. A couple weeks ago, I met an author whose book had been acquired and published … [Read more...] about Student-Managed Book Publishers

Writers, Readers, Publishers: Present Tense, Future Bold #3

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Last night's meeting was actually more like the 15th meeting, but I don't often get the chance to attend anymore, so this is only my third post about the group. The speaker was Jeffrey Sussman, president of Jeffrey Sussman, Inc., a marketing public relations firm in New York City.  The email I received about the event said that "Jeffrey has represented virtually every kind … [Read more...] about Writers, Readers, Publishers: Present Tense, Future Bold #3

Immersive Storytelling

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Transmedia, apps, and other forms of immersive storytelling are getting more and more popular. For large worlds like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones, to name a few well-known examples, immersive storytelling can be a great extension or better way to connect with readers. … [Read more...] about Immersive Storytelling

6 Tips to Successfully Crowdfund a Project

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Crowdfunding is hard. To do it successfully, and to be like the high profile projects on Kickstarter, Indie Go Go and other platforms and raise thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even millions of dollars means treating the crowdfunding process like a full-time job. Here are some tips I've learned the last couple years, both from experimenting with crowdfunding myself and … [Read more...] about 6 Tips to Successfully Crowdfund a Project

What Self-Publishing and Internet Marketing Have in Common

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For those of you who don't know, ClickBank is an affiliate marketing website. People can sign up to either sell their information products, or to promote products and receive a cut of the sale. Recently I was looking through ClickBank's site, and I stumbled across their tips for Internet marketers. Many of their tips can also be directly applied to self-published authors, or … [Read more...] about What Self-Publishing and Internet Marketing Have in Common

What’s Going on With Readers Today?

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What's Going On With Readers Today from Goodreads A while back, Goodreads asked publishers what questions they would like to ask readers. The results of the Goodreads survey from December 2012 are now up, and there are some interesting finds. I do wonder, however, how accurate these findings are. Yes, Goodreads has a huge base of readers, but the ones who decided to answer … [Read more...] about What’s Going on With Readers Today?

Polishing a Self-Published Book

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I read a couple really helpful articles on Digital Book World that can help indie authors. The first gives some tips on how to design a cover optimized for Amazon, and all the other retailers where readers only see a thumbnail image. The second article gives a list of front matter and other tips on how to make a book look more like a traditional publisher made it.  … [Read more...] about Polishing a Self-Published Book

Trends and Startups in Book Publishing

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The last couple years have been a time of change for the publishing industry, and I expect this year to be the same. Every few weeks I've been hearing about new startups and ventures that expect to--and probably will--disrupt publishing. I think it's worth sharing some of them here, and what their success could mean for publishing, both traditional and indie. … [Read more...] about Trends and Startups in Book Publishing