Indie Aisle

Amazing time to be a writer, how great it is #livinginthefuture

Ovi Demetrian Jr — Sun, 06 May 2012 18:44:44 +0000

The following post is essentially a rant to reminder us of just how great of a world we’re living in and what that means for the modern indie author.

Finding your writing groove

The process of writing involves a lot of mental energy. To clearly put your thoughts into words takes focus. It’s no problem nowadays, just take your laptop, find a nice comfortable spot with a cup of coffee or tea, put on your earbuds (with music from your iPhone) and you’re all set. The typewriter may have been a monumental invention for writing, but it’s not as portable to carry around as a netbook!

Telling a story in the digital age

There are so many great tools to not only capture ideas and organize them for a story, but also for adding elements that can accompany your story like artwork or video. It’s all available and right in front of you on your computer, or even your iPhone. If you need help, you can connect with anyone in the world to collaborate with. Remember when there were no laptops or cell phones or the internet? Now they are as common as a TV, the internet is now like electricity, available anywhere you go. I’ve been seeing the hashtag #livinginthefuture on Twitter (another great tool), it’s such a true sentiment.

Chore vs labor of love

I posted the tweet above the other day and I’m starting to feel this way about everything I do. When you have something you’re dedicated to and are working towards and you know what’s involved along the way to make it happen, none of it really feels like a chore anymore. And in this modern age when you’re able to do your work so much more easily than ever before, you can enjoy the process as much as the results.

Back to basics

Ovi Demetrian Jr — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 16:52:57 +0000

The goal of Indie Aisle is to help authors publish on their own. There are of course many ways an author can do this. We know because we’ve explored many of them. So many in fact that since we launched our initial version we started diverging down paths that seemed to stray away from our core vision for what Indie Aisle is for. So recently we decided to take another look at our primary goals and streamline the design and functionality to fit them. These are the conclusions we’ve come to:

What we really offer – In a sentence: a process for turning your story into an ebook and giving you a method for selling it. We’ve revised our info page for authors to make it as clear as possible how we do that.

Designed for simplicity – We use a lot of fancy technology but present you with only the essentials needed to make that fancy technology work for you. You can take a look at the tour page to see exactly how simple it is.

As much for readers as it is for authors – We’ve added an option in the main navigation to ‘browse stories’ for readers and we’re looking at distribution options to extend the reach of author’s stories.

What makes Indie Aisle unique – Sure there are other ways to sell ebooks online (have you heard of Amazon.com?), but Indie Aisle gives you your own personal store and tools that tie in with it so you have control over the full shopping experience for your fans.

Of control and ownership

Ovi Demetrian Jr — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:55:08 +0000

Self-publishing or traditional publishing is not a goal. The goal is to get a great story out to the world. As an author, you write and collaborate with a team of editors, cover designers, illustrators, marketers, distributors, stores, etc in order to get your story to your readers. Whether it’s through a publishing company or on your own, the same elements are required one way or another. What it really boils down to is managing this process so you have control over your work.

In the traditional publishing model, the publisher has to be very choosy with titles they decide to publish because of the amount of effort and great costs involved in the process of getting a book from the author to the reader. Because of this, the publisher feels they needed to take ownership away from the author in order to effectively run their model for getting books out. With ebooks and print-on-demand, the amount of effort and costs plummet. And since the investment is so low, authors no longer need to give the rights to their work away to the publisher. It’s the key factor to why authors are going indie now more than ever before. They realize the traditional model is broken and that they can take care of many of the aspects involved in publishing a book themselves for total control over their own work.

The best approach to publishing a book is to treat the process much like its own business startup. When a product is invented, its creation, manufacturing and consumption goes through the process of starting and managing a business. The writing, publishing and reading of a book works essentially the same way. It’s in fact how a different form of storytelling, Hollywood films, are made. Each production legally forms a company and hires people to fill different positions.

Being an indie author means having an entrepreneurial mindset and becoming a publishing empire of one. It means understanding the process and making it work your way instead of going by someone else’s model. Tools like Indie Aisle are available to help you accomplish this by giving you full control over how you get your story out to the world. It’s the future of how all of publishing will work, the shift in control from the publisher to the author.

Your story’s landing page

Ovi Demetrian Jr — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 19:45:55 +0000

As an author trying to promote your story, the link you send out to your readers should serve a very specific purpose: To sell. It should have all the information a reader would need to make their decision and make the buying process simple and straightforward. This has been our goal for authors and readers, making story pages as focused as possible.

However, we’ve noticed that other ebook stores seem to distract the reader from the main goal of selling your story with a lot of extra content that can easily steer them away in other directions. You can see what I mean in the screenshots below of Cheating, Death by Teel McClanahan across different ebook stores compared to Indie Aisle at the end. You can click on each one to view the actual page.

Amazon.com

Barnes & Noble

Smashwords

Indie Aisle

The Indie Aisle screenshot is the only one that shows the entire page, the rest are only the top portion with much more as you scroll down.

Now, I’m not saying not to sell in these stores. In fact, you should sell in as many as you can because each has potential for readers to come across it. But when you send a link to your own readers, which page do you think they’ll respond to the best?

Discounts and review copies with promo codes

Ovi Demetrian Jr — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 17:20:17 +0000

Our new Promo Codes feature will allow you to send out custom codes for discounts and generate one-time use codes for giveaways and review copies. It’s been one of our most-requested features and we think we’ve figured out a great way to use it.

Under your published story options, you’ll now see a tab for ‘Promo Codes’.

The first option, Discount Codes, allows you to set a code phrase along with the amount of the discount to apply and a date for when the code should expire. Once a code is added, it shows up in a list showing live data on when it gets used and how much time left until it expires. Expired codes will be archived at the bottom of the list.

The second option, Free Copies, lets you provide individual copies with a secure, generated code that expires within 30 days of activation or if canceled manually. These codes can be used to send out review/galley copies of your ebook or for free giveaways.

These new options are an extension of our goal to help authors better promote their ebooks and reach new readers.

Send ebook to your device

Ovi Demetrian Jr — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:17:16 +0000

Readers can now choose how they want to read ebooks in a new way, by sending them to their preferred ereading device. The way it works is with a special link that is sent via email which is then opened on the reading device.

On the story page, we’ve moved the Read Sample to the right side panel with the new Send to Device feature added. Anyone can quickly send a sample of a story which opens in their reading device’s browser using the Indie Aisle Reader.

When a story is purchased, there are additional options for device types where a specific ebook format is sent based on the reading device chosen.

This simple feature is quite useful since it removes the need for readers to have to transfer ebook files manually to their devices.

Ebook-ready writing apps

Ovi Demetrian Jr — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 18:47:26 +0000

Since pen and paper, new tools have come along the way to help the writing process. The ultimate tool, the computer not only allows you write, but brings additional options that for the modern author to publish on their own and make their work available to the world via the web.

Here are some of the best writing apps I’ve come across that make it easy to export your manuscript to standard ebook formats:

Pandamian – a new web app dedicated to writing and publishing to standard ebook formats
WordPress - originally a web app for blogging, has become a great tool for writing and publishing on the web and has an ePub ebook export plugin
OpenOffice - free word processing app that has an ePub ebook export plugin you can add on
Apple Pages - for the Mac only, has a built in option to save out to ePub
Calibre – converts to various ebook formats including ePub and Mobi for Kindle
Sigil – open source app for fine tuning ePub ebook options

Indie Aisle 1-year anniversary

Ovi Demetrian Jr — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 22:29:40 +0000

The month of November marks a year since Indie Aisle launched to the world. During this past year, we’ve learned a lot and have made a number of improvements and upgrades. Many indie authors and comic creators have posted great stories. And we’ve received great feedback.

To celebrate, we’re doing a webcast on November 17th at 8pm pacific time zone. The webcast will be lead by me and include fellow Indie Aisle authors talking about their experiences as indie authors. Our special guests will be:

Jamie Noguchi - Creator of the Yellow Peril webcomic, now a collected edition
Daniel M. Davis – Conjurer of monsters such as Klawberry and the Monster Commute webcomic
Maija Barnett – Author of Black Waters Young Adult series

The webcast is open to everyone but will be on Google Hangouts, so you will need a Google Plus account to join in. You do not need a webcam, you can just chat and watch the webcast.

Mark your calendars for November 17th at 8pm pacific time zone. If you’d like, you can RSVP on Facebook here.

A year isn’t much for a startup company, so keep checking back with us, because we’re just getting started!

UPDATE – 11/17: Watch for the Hangout starting tonight at 8pm pacific on the Indie Aisle page on Google Plus.

The publishing empire of one

Ovi Demetrian Jr — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 19:08:30 +0000

There’s no doubt ebooks are changing the way we enjoy our books, so of course publishing, the process by which an author gets their work to their readers, is completely changing as well. If the term ‘self-publish’ means essentially having control over all aspects of the publishing process, then it’s never been more accurate than with digital publishing. Let’s look at what’s involved in the publishing process and how you can handle it on your own as an indie author using the same methods as traditional big publishing companies:

Get funding upfront – big publishers provide this when you sign the rights to your book away to them, you can essentially do it on your own using your circle of friends and ‘crowdsource’ your funding with tools like Kickstarter and RocketHub
Package your story – either in print or digitally, you have to figure out the proper way to format and output your work; this includes having someone edit it and someone to design a good cover; the way big publishers do it is they find and outsource to freelance agencies and individuals; you can do the same with sites like Elance and Behance
Build a reputation – as companies, big publishers develop a presence; you can do it with your own online presence by using social networks and various community-based platforms like GoodReads and LibraryThing
Market your story – as you build your reputation, leverage your social networks, plan out a tour by finding and contacting venues to do readings at, send out review copies, get a table at a convention; the web is a great communication tool for finding these opportunities the same way a big publisher would do it
Sell – make sure you have a proper site setup where people can buy your book; big publishers usually outsource this to someone else and you can do the same; you can also use the same online marketplaces big publishers use like Amazon and Barnes & Noble; or get a better cut with Smashwords and Indie Aisle

Start small and build up little by little, repeat the write and promote cycle with every story you release and you’ll get better at it along the way. The publishing process used to be so complex only a big company could handle all its moving parts, but with new tools and communication methods that the web has brought and continues to bring, it’s now possible to do it on your own, and become your own publishing empire.

A Fire for indie media

Ovi Demetrian Jr — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 22:01:07 +0000

There’s another new tablet, this time from Amazon, the Kindle Fire. This doesn’t appear to be a typical tablet though. It doesn’t have a camera, or all the extra hardware features other tablet makers are competing on. The thing that sets it apart is what it has on it and what you would use it for: media. Amazon has been building a platform of digital media throughout the years and it turns out books were just the beginning.

So what does this mean for indie publishers? It means storytelling in all forms of media, is opening up even more potential for independent publishing and distribution:

For authors who are currently selling in the Amazon marketplace, this expands readership
If you’re a comic book creator who’s been hesitant about the Amazon marketplace because the Kindle doesn’t do color, then this is your answer
For independent filmmakers, this could be a sign that Amazon will start including independent films in its streaming library, the way Netflix currently does
For video game makers and interactive storytellers, this is a new marketplace to sell on along with all other Android-based tablets and smartphones

As the original Kindle changed distribution for independent authors to sell in the Amazon marketplace, so will this version of the Kindle, going beyond books to comics, movies and interactive games.

However, you may notice that this appears to be a closed platform similar to Apple’s iTunes. But there is an additional feature the tablet has that I think is a glimpse into the true potential for indie publishing and distribution: the web. Amazon has created their own enhanced web browser, called Silk, dedicated to being fast and playing media well. And this is where it opens up to any indie publishers to provide access to their work since in a web browser, access to anything online is a link away.

Computer software developers have been moving to exclusively develop web apps because of ‘cloud’ capabilities. And as companies implement more cloud-based features into their devices, having your ebooks and media work using the web browser as a reader is the way to go. Not to mention that it’s also the best way to provide new forms of storytelling using multimedia and interactivity. The web will become the primary method for providing content for the future of distribution: web-based digital devices.