Category: fiction

2014 tax tips for writers and publishers

For years I spoke about tax tips for writers/publishers in my “How to Sell 75% of Your Freelance Writing” and “Writing Travel Articles That Sell” seminars in CA. Since I often had taxfolk in the audience (even the IRS auditor I was requested to visit every six years or so), I had to keep up [...]

Thursday February 13th, 2014 in 1 Shopping Cart, articles, Blurb, digital publishing, e-publishing, fiction, Gordon Burgett, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, Nook, open publishing, product development, public speaking, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, speaking, travel writing, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off

How to share the heart of your book 35 ways in Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin each!

Sometimes you write a book or some copy that lends itself to being edited into

Thursday January 2nd, 2014 in articles, Blurb, book title, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, fiction, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, niche publishing, Nook, novel writing, open publishing, product development, proofreading, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off

Your book needs final, professional proofreading…

What will kill a reader’s fervor fastest? Misspellings, punctuation errors, endless paragraphs, no flow, and nonsense. If somebody asks another, “How was ____ (your) book?” and they respond, “I couldn’t get into it. He can’t spell.” Or they say, “It didn’t make any sense…,” you probably lost that potential reader forever. So you need a [...]

Saturday December 28th, 2013 in 1 Shopping Cart, articles, Blurb, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, fiction, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, newsletter writing, niche publishing, Nook, novel writing, open publishing, proofreading, publishing, second draft, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, travel writing, writing | Comments Off

Why would you change a book’s title once it’s out for sale?

Our newest book was printed 10 weeks ago and about 400 copies were sold within a few weeks, most to attendees at two late fall 2013 conventions in Illinois, for school boards and K-12 superintendents. We had finished the book under some time pressure because its author, Jim Burgett, was attending or speaking at the [...]

Thursday December 19th, 2013 in articles, Blurb, book title, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, fiction, Gordon Burgett, iPad, Jim Burgett, K-12 school boards, K-12 school districts, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, new school board members, niche publishing, Nook, open publishing, product development, publishing, school board, school board, school board members, school board president, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off

What’s so special about your book’s second draft?

This is what I consider the final-write draft, with (almost) all of the last changes inserted in the file so it can get its final proofreading. Be generous with changes, improvements, double-checked research, interviews, and so on. Last chance to make your book hum. (But don’t dally forever either.) I recall reading Dick Perry (in [...]

Saturday December 14th, 2013 in 1 Shopping Cart, ancillary publishing, articles, Blurb, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, fiction, first draft, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, niche publishing, Nook, novel writing, open publishing, product development, proofreading, publishing, second draft, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, webmarketing, writing | 3,071 Comments »

Which sells best: major houses, ebook, or self-publishing?

“What kind of book do you want to sell?” has to be the first question. I’m interested here in nonfiction. That’s because self-publishers don’t publish fiction. It’s almost impossible for them to sell, and I want to compare all three since we can now dip into all three ponds, two directly and the third by [...]

Monday December 9th, 2013 in 1 Shopping Cart, ancillary publishing, articles, Blurb, digital publishing, e-publishing, fiction, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Nook, novel writing, open publishing, pre-testing, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, speaking, writing | Comments Off

Test your book with experts after you’ve finished the first draft

Your book has been written, you have given it a no-nonsense proofing, and it’s just about ready to go to your paid (final) proofreader so it will be properly and correctly written before you submit it for printing. Letting others read your book at this stage is controversial, but probably wise if it’s your first [...]

Saturday November 23rd, 2013 in 1 Shopping Cart, articles, Blurb, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, fiction, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, newsletter writing, niche publishing, Nook, novel writing, open publishing, product development, proofreading, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off

What you must do to properly finish your book’s first draft…

In most of the past dozen or so posts in this blog we have been talking about writing and publishing your own book quickly and properly. And we’re near the gathering, formatting, and end-road prepping of your tome before it is given a last-step review and is submitted to print. It’s like a new home [...]

Sunday November 17th, 2013 in 1 Shopping Cart, articles, Blurb, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, fiction, Gordon Burgett, introductions, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, newsletter writing, niche publishing, Nook, novel writing, open publishing, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, travel writing, writing | Comments Off

Do you need or want artwork or illustrations in your book?

Artwork is a general term that includes the whole range of illustrations, like photos, line drawing, images, graphs, charts, diagrams—those things you add to make the text more interesting, less dull, or more clearly understood. Or to add beauty or visual clarification to the pages. There’s an issue with some forms of open publishing and [...]

Wednesday November 6th, 2013 in articles, Blurb, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, fiction, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, niche publishing, Nook, open publishing, product development, publishing, Smashwords, travel writing, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off

7 solutions for submission snarls for ebooks and CreateSpace

For the past couple of years I’ve been trying to eliminate all the expenses one encounters when compiling and publishing an “open” book. Those are the books that CreateSpace, Nook, Kindle, Smashwords, and Scribd will accept from you, prepare, and market. Their part is free ($25 or so for CreateSpace). As I’ve found free-arounds I [...]

Monday October 28th, 2013 in 1 Shopping Cart, articles, Blurb, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, fiction, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, niche publishing, Nook, open publishing, product development, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off