Category: fiction

Are you selling your ebooks to libraries?

OnLast week this blog was the core item in my newsletter. I had so much response from it I’m sharing it as a (long) blog too. Two questions: (1) Why would you even care about selling your books to libraries, much less their lower-priced digital versions? (2) And what’s so different about it anyway? Don’t […]

Tuesday June 24th, 2014 in digital publishing, e-publishing, fiction, Lightning Source, LSI, niche publishing, Nook, open publishing, pre-testing, product development, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, webmarketing | Comments Off

Non-fiction books should shout with benefits and authority

OnWhat do you want your book to do? Probably (1) get bought–or at least read; (2) make you money; (3) if self-published, get snagged by a “big house” and do more of [1] and [2]; (4) establish you as an “expert” or “authority” in its topic field; (5) get potential readers to want to know […]

Monday June 2nd, 2014 in ancillary publishing, article selling, article writing, articles, Blurb, book title, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, empire building, fiction, freelance articles, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, Nook, proofreading, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, writing | Comments Off

Writers: ideas for creating top-selling nonfiction books

OnI think of top-selling two ways. The most obvious is to sell more copies of your book than any other book like it in the market. If you sell 10,000 copies of the book, you outsold a person who sold 5,000. Duh. The less obvious way is to measure the effectiveness of your book’s sale. […]

Monday April 21st, 2014 in articles, Blurb, book title, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, empire building, fiction, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, niche marketing, niche publishing, Nook, open publishing, pre-testing, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, speaking, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off

25 blogs about Kindle, Nook, Create Space, LSI, Smashwords

OnI was asked what blogs I had about “open” publishing. Here they are, below, and I’m certain there are more too so if you have a specific word or topic you are hunting for, please type it in the search box to see if it pops up! The publishers mentioned in the blogs are Kindle, […]

Thursday March 13th, 2014 in 1 Shopping Cart, articles, Blurb, digital publishing, e-publishing, fiction, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, niche publishing, Nook, novel writing, open publishing, product development, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, travel writing, writing | Comments Off

How to convert your book file into ePub format—fast and free!

OnSo here you are with a dandy book that millions of hungry readers want to buy and hide on their tablets, readers, or computers—but you can’t get it from Word (.doc or .docx) or other formats into .ePub. You probably want to use .ePub to post your book with an “open” publisher like Kobo or […]

Monday March 10th, 2014 in articles, Blurb, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, fiction, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, Nook, novel writing, open publishing, product development, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off

2014 tax tips for writers and publishers

OnFor 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!

OnSometimes 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…

OnWhat 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?

OnOur 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?

OnThis 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 »