Category: product development

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Author of Self-Publishing Manual, Dan Poynter, has died…

The author of the best-selling Self-Publishing Manual, Dan Poynter, has died. We were “in the trenches” writing friends and I already miss him, in part because it was Dan’s turn to buy lunch. So will thousands more whose lives he touched and changed. He had been quite ill for a while, seemed to be improving, […]

Monday November 9th, 2015 in Amazon Author Central, Amazon.com, article writing, articles, blog, blogging, digital publishing, e-publishing, keynoting, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, magazine articles, niche marketing, niche publishing, open publishing, product development, public speaking, publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, speaking, writing | Comments Off on Author of Self-Publishing Manual, Dan Poynter, has died…

The most important / most profitable reason to self-publish

I enjoy and learn a lot from Bob Bly’s frequent missives. (See www.bly.com). We sort of walk and work the same side of the street regarding professional writing and publishing, and we both agree on the importance of strategizing first, then following up with processes that work. So the other day when Bob offered five […]

Tuesday June 30th, 2015 in articles, Blurb, Bob Bly, book title, digital publishing, e-publishing, empire, empire building, iBook, iPad, keynoting, Kindle, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, niche marketing, niche publishing, Nook, Nook Press, open publishing, pre-testing, product development, public speaking, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, speaking, webmarketing, Word Press, writing | Comments Off on The most important / most profitable reason to self-publish

Trees and Kids (from Teachers Change Lives 24/7)

[I’m a publisher and I read all the mail that our readers send. Sometimes (not very often) we have a story or a section of a book that brings lots of spontaneous letters of joy and praise from readers. “Trees and Kids” is the hands-down winner. It’s by Jim Burgett in his 2007 book (in […]

Wednesday January 7th, 2015 in ancillary publishing, articles, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, English teachers, fiction, Jim Burgett, K-12, K-12 administrators, K-12 school boards, K-12 school districts, law and the school board, new school board members, niche publishing, novel writing, product development, publishing, school board, school board members, school board president, school superintendents, self-publishing, writing | Comments Off on Trees and Kids (from Teachers Change Lives 24/7)

Find a new, streamlined website domain among 600 choices!

Trying to find a grabber website domain ending in “.com” that contains less than an arm’s length of letters is a near-fruitless treasure hunt. You probably can’t use “.org” and will anybody come if it ends in “.net”? The hunt is over. Last February, the ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers), an international […]

Saturday November 29th, 2014 in article selling, article writing, articles, book title, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, fiction, first draft, K-12 school boards, newsletter writing, niche publishing, open publishing, product development, publishing, school board, second draft, self-publishing, seminar promotion, seminar title, Seminaring, small publishers, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off on Find a new, streamlined website domain among 600 choices!

The new Nook Press isn’t an “open” publisher

Nook Press just announced its new paperback and hardback print service. Its features look similar to those of “open” publishers, like Create Space, Kindle, Smashwords, and others (including Nook ebooks). But here you simply build your book, prep the files, and upload the print-ready PDFs for the interior and cover. They print the book and […]

Wednesday November 12th, 2014 in Blurb, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, niche publishing, Nook, novel writing, open publishing, product development, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off on The new Nook Press isn’t an “open” publisher

14 key ebook publishing tips

Mark Coker started Smashwords when a quarter of 1% of U.S. books sold were ebooks. Now it’s 35% of the total, and he’s a top spokesman in the field. Last year Smashwords authors sold ebooks worth $30-million at retail. Last Saturday (11/8/14) Coker spoke to BAIPA (Bay Area Independent Publisher Association) in Novato, CA (near […]

Tuesday November 11th, 2014 in book title, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, fiction, novel writing, open publishing, product development, proofreading, publishing, self-publishing, Smashwords, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off on 14 key ebook publishing tips

Submitting a final first draft manuscript to an editor…

Let’s say you have a super book, a novel or a dandy nonfiction winner, that you have shopped to a publisher—and to your horror they said “yes, get it in final form and send it to us.” Or you have a book in final first draft form and you are having a firm prep the […]

Monday August 4th, 2014 in ancillary publishing, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, first draft, Lightning Source, LSI, niche publishing, product development, proofreading, publishing, self-publishing, writing | Comments Off on Submitting a final first draft manuscript to an editor…

12 little things that publishers should know

These are question answers from grizzled veterans during the opening Q-A part of the BAIPA meeting in Novato (near San Francisco) on 7/12. BAIPA is the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association, meeting in Novato the second Saturday of every month. Unfortunately, I didn’t write down who said what, so there goes the source! (But I’ve […]

Monday July 21st, 2014 in articles, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, newsletter writing, niche marketing, niche publishing, Nook, open publishing, pre-testing, product development, proofreading, publishing, self-publishing, small publishers, Smashwords | Comments Off on 12 little things that publishers should know

Are you selling your ebooks to libraries?

Last 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 on Are you selling your ebooks to libraries?

5 kinds of consulting (and mentoring) for nonfiction writers and publishers

I’ve been an editor and nonfiction consultant for writers and publishers for at least 20 years, so I was grateful when an association client asked me to break down in greater detail the kinds of consulting I do. I guess it was much clearer in my head than on my services data! Then when I […]

Monday April 14th, 2014 in Blurb, book title, digital publishing, e-publishing, editing, empire building, first draft, iPad, Kindle, Lightning Source, LSI, Lulu, niche publishing, Nook, open publishing, pre-testing, product development, proofreading, publishing, second draft, self-publishing, small publishers, webmarketing, writing | Comments Off on 5 kinds of consulting (and mentoring) for nonfiction writers and publishers