The Self-Published American

Where Did I Go?

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Thu, 15 May 2008 19:50:00 +0000

Sorry for the apparent inactivity lately, but I've had some personal issues come up, and I decided to move the blog to Wordpress. I love Blogger, but WP has better tracking tools. It will help me write better more informative posts and build more traffic.

Come on over and say high and check out the new digs. http://theselfpublishedamerican.wordpress.com

Amazon.com Widgets

HarperCollins Is Creating Its Own Video Studio

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Wed, 07 May 2008 19:34:00 +0000

How important is video to your book's overall marketing strategy? Well, HarperCollins apparently thinks it’s extremely important. They announced this week that they are starting their own video production studio. Here’s an excerpt from Publishers Weekly:

Showing its commitment to video as a promotional tool for books, HarperCollins has unveiled plans to launch its own in-house production arm. The studio, which will make internet video, will be, according to the house, "modeled on a newsroom environment."

Get on those videos, people! They can do wonders to help you sell books.

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Ali G Tries To Get Book Deal

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Thu, 01 May 2008 02:20:00 +0000

Believe it or not, I actually found a clean Ali G clip that is appropriate for this blog. What are the chances?

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Book Competition - Moonbeam Children's Book Awards

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 11:38:00 +0000

The Moonbeam Children's Book Competition is now accepting entries.

Announcing 2nd Annual Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards

“Celebrating youthful curiosity, discovery and learning through books and reading.”

•Entry now open - early-bird entry fee $85 per category, valid until June 15th
•New categories include Children's Poetry, Environmental Issues and Spanish Language Book

Click here to download complete guidelines and entry form:

Announcing the call for entries into the second annual Moonbeam Children's Book Awards www.MoonbeamAwards.com, designed to honor the year's best children’s books, authors and illustrators. The new book awards program is accepting entries until August 16th, 2008 for books with 2007 or 2008 copyrights or that were released in 2007 or 2008, and is open to authors, illustrators, and publishers of children’s books written in English and intended for the North American market.

Presented by Jenkins Group and IndependentPublisher.com, the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards are intended to bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and to support childhood literacy and life-long reading. Awards will be given in 30 categories covering the full range of subjects, styles and age groups that children’s books are written and published in today.
“The inaugural Moonbeam Awards were a huge success,” says Jim Barnes, Awards Director at Jenkins Group. “We had a great turnout of support from the children’s book publishing community, and we’re going to make this year’s awards even better. Last year we recognized a wonderfully diverse group of authors and publishers, from first-timers to seasoned veterans, and the award-winners make up an amazing ‘must-read’ list of books for kids.”

Click here to view last year's results, photos, etc.

Jenkins Group has been involved in book packaging, marketing and distribution since 1988, and many of its founders and employees now have children and grandchildren who strongly influence the company culture with their youthful exuberance and love of books.

“We all have kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews, and we all recognize the role books play in enriching children’s lives,” says company founder Jerrold Jenkins, father of four children ranging from ages 5 to 15. “As our society has gotten more complex and growing up has become more complicated, children’s book authors and publishers have risen to the occasion, creating books that not only celebrate the joys of childhood, but also help families deal with its challenges. We want to recognize and reward the best of these books and bring them to the attention of parents, booksellers, librarians – and to the kids themselves.”

Click here to enter online:

Click here to download complete guidelines and entry form.

To learn more about the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards visit www.MoonbeamAwards.com
Questions? Contact Jim Barnes, Awards Director
email: jimb@bookpublishing.com
phone: 1.800.644.0133 x1011
Share this message with a friend.

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Oscar winner, Diablo Cody, Recommends Self-Publishing to Aspiring Writers

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 03:53:00 +0000

The Oscar winning screenwriter of Juno, Diablo Cody, began her writing career on the blogosphere and by self-publishing her book, Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper. I located an interview she did on NPR. An aspiring screenwriter called in and asked what advice she had for young writers, and in a refreshing change of pace from the typical “Go out and take your licks,” type of answer, she actually recommended that young writers self-publish. You can listen to the entire interview here: Diablo Cody Pens Sweet, Sassy 'Juno'

Note: It's possible that Diablo Cody is using the term "self-publish" in much broader terms in this context. She may be referring to her blog when she says "self-publish." At any rate, I still think her advice applies to those of us who have decided to self-publish through a POD provider.

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Most Unique Book Trailer I've Ever Seen

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:58:00 +0000

Not my type of book, but I like the book trailer. I may buy this book as gifts for my nephews. The book trailer sold me.

Stephen G. Bucher's Daily Monster

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The Bad Review Train

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 10:52:00 +0000

I wrote a few weeks ago about what to do with bad reviews. We all get them. Some of them are constructive. Some of them aren’t. John Scalzi, author, blogger and all around contrarian (I mean that as a compliment), has posted a collection of his Amazon one star reviews. Why? Because he’s of the mind that you should embrace your bad reviews. All my bad reviews have been in blogs, and they talked about my appearance and mental prowess so I can’t join in the fun, but give Scalzi’s reviews a read. You’ll suddenly realize you’re not alone.

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Author Scores with April Fool Caper

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:08:00 +0000

Author of Beyond September, George Vickery catapulted into the top 100 of the Contemporary Literature & Fiction category on Amazon.com on April 1, 2008. How did he do it? Well, you’ve probably heard me refer to Scott Sigler’s strategy of enlisting fans, friends and family to purchase his book on April 1, 2007. A strategy that helped him secure a very nice publishing deal (It doesn’t hurt that Scott is a great writer). I talked with George about this strategy months before his book was published, and when his book was available for sale, he decided to incorporate a similar strategy. Here’s George’s email (reprinted with his permission):

Thanks for the idea. Let's see if I can remember how it happened:

When it appeared that my book, Beyond September, would be print-ready and on Amazon.com some time in March, I chose April 1 as my target date. First, it is one of the few celebrated days (such as 4th of July) that has the date in the title. So then I decided to call it "The April Fool Caper" so as to have it more memorable. I was trying to get my audience to have a reason to buy the book other than the usual. In this case, they would join in the conspiracy--be part of a back-door move on the monstrous publishing industry. Also, it was a Tuesday, and maybe a light sales day on Amazon.com.

Having once owned my own Public Relations firm in Miami, I then wrote a press release which I pedaled locally. I also got my POD company’s PR writers to put a paragraph in the regular press release that I had purchased as part of my package.

I had a bunch of business card blanks, so I printed the book's cover on one side and on the other side I teased about The April Fool Caper and listed my website. My wife Kitty and I passed these around a lot. She got some results from her beauty salon and other commercial sites we visit.

But my biggie was email. On March 15, I alerted my regular list that this would happen. Then I began to collect email addresses. You'd be surprised how many people do not use "Undisclosed Recipients." Some of my "too-much-time-on-their-hands" friends forward a forwarded forward...ad infinitum. Thousands of names. Email attached.

I had created a website, www.georgelvickery.com through WebforAuthors, and I used my homepage to promote the April Fool Caper. With the help of Marshall Turner at WFA, I installed a direct link to my book's page on Amazon.com.

The hard part was to keep the book out of the hands on local bookstores until after April 1, and also hope that people didn't click in to buy too early. Some did, but Hey, that's a sale!

George

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NPR’s The Economics of Book Publishing

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 15:19:00 +0000

I found this 13 minute clip on NPR of African American publishing professionals talking about the industry. I found it very educational and I think their wisdom is universal.

The Economics of Book Publishing

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This Week in Donating Books - Better World Books

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 18:02:00 +0000

Here's my latest installment in "Donating Books to Increase Your Sales!" "How?" you ask. It's all about recruiting mouths for your "Word of mouth" campaign.

This weeks orgnization: Better World Books

From their "About Us" Page:

Our story began with the dream of three college friends who formed a social venture, a business with the mission to promote literacy. A single book drive at one university has grown into a nationwide effort with thousands of people involved, all looking to improve the quality of life for people through literacy.

We believe that literacy gives people water to drink, imparts knowledge to eliminate disease, and develops self-esteem that enables people to make their mark on the world.

Our story has taken us to places we had never seen. Our dream is to continue to work for those whom we have never met.

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Jack Handey, Of Deep Thoughts Fame, Is A Real-life Writer

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 14:13:00 +0000

The line “It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man,” was not written by the fictitious Jack Handey. It was written by the real Jack Handey. He’s a real, living, breathing human being. No kidding! I thought he was a figment of some member of the Saturday Night Live writing staffs’ mind. But no, he’s alive and well and living in New Mexico where he still pens Jack Handey witticisms and long form writings. In fact, his latest book What I'd Say to the Martians and Other Veiled Threats is now available on Amazon and bookstores everywhere. Yahoo News has a great story on him. You can click here, Jack Handey's Thoughts Get Deeper to read it. Here’s an excerpt:

"What I'd Say to the Martians and Other Veiled Threats," published by Hyperion with a first print run of 25,000 copies, contains a few of his favorite "Deep Thoughts" and a handful of "little tiny stories," such as the dinosaur tale. But the meat of the book is shaped by short pieces such as the title story in which a caged narrator rants to his alien captors…

"Instead of going one leap forward, he goes about three leaps forward," says (Steve) Martin of Handey's humor. Martin happily recalls jokes Handey wrote for him, like for one bit called "What I Believe" that was rattled off as a list. One entry: "I believe that robots are stealing my luggage."

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There is no more Internet!

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 18:04:00 +0000

I realize South Park can be really offensive, but this is actually pretty funny.

South Park: The Day The Internet Stood Still

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Inside the Mind of a Publisher

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:58:00 +0000

Ever wonder what a publisher thinks? I could be really weird, but I do all the time. Here's a great interview with Morgan Entrekin, president and publisher of indie press Grove/ Atlantic done by Publishers Weekly Editor-In-Chief Sara Nelson. Pay close attention to what he says about word-of-mouth and ask yourself where you've heard that before.

Click here to watch video.

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More Books Are Sold Online Than Any Other Product

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:06:00 +0000

Nielsen Online recently conducted a survey of 26,312 people in 48 countries and discovered that 41% of people surfing the web bought a book online. Here’s the link to the story: Books 'most popular online buy'

Bottom line, if you’ve got a book and your primary marketing strategy isn’t built around an online approach, you’re missing some great opportunities to sell your book.

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This Week in Donating Books

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 14:39:00 +0000

In my continuing segment on donating books, I am highlighting the I AM Foundation. Here’s an excerpt from their website:

Founded in 1998, The I AM Foundation is a registered 501c3 educational non-profit whose mission is gifting books and music to children and adults worldwide. We stand for children and building their self-esteem and literacy. We believe every child in the world is important and valuable regardless of who they are or where they live. We know that when children discover their value, they bring their value to the world.

They have a lofty goal of giving 1 million books a year to children and adults. Click on over to their website and find out how you can help. Remember, this isn’t totally selfless on your part. You are looking for readers for your word of mouth campaign. Help a child or adult in need, and help yourself. It’s a win-win.

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A Big Book Advance for a ‘Last Lecture’ - My 100th Post

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 20:39:00 +0000

Wow, it seems like just yesterday I blogged my first post or posted my first blog or however the young people are putting it these days. This is post 100! Very exciting!... or just a very geeky thing to acknowledge!

In a follow-up to my previous post about the Avon Walk For Breast Cancer, I watched Carnegie Mellon Professor Randy Pausch “Last” Lecture online, and it is one of the most inspirational videos I've seen. You can learn more by clicking here: Randy Pausch

To bring this back to publishing, I just found out he got a huge book deal.

Here's an excerpt:

Citing unnamed sources, Crain’s said that Hyperion offered $6.7 million for the book, beating HarperCollins in a bidding war.

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Curing Cancer

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 11:24:00 +0000

Unfortunately, like most people, I have seen friends and family members battle cancer over my 42 years on this planet. Happily, treatments and survival rates are getting better every year, but that's not enough. It's time for a cure. To that end, a friend and coworker is participating this years Avon Walk For Breast Cancer. She and her husband are going to walk 40 miles in two days to raise money for breast cancer. Here are the details:

For 2 days and 39 miles, you have the opportunity to dramatically impact the lives of millions affected by breast cancer worldwide. By participating in the Avon Walk, you’ll allow medically under-insured women and men to receive the screening, support, and treatment they require. And leading-edge research teams will be powered by the cure all because of you. Take the first step. Register today!

If you want to help, click here: Sarah and Bret's Avon Walk For Breast Cancer

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A Very Unique Writing Contest

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 10:39:00 +0000

I pulled this off of Youtube:

The Tube arts contest is an open call to all artists and writers to help figure out how the arts fit into YouTube. And there are two $500 prizes up for grabs.

Contest runs from 2/28 - 4/29

For full instructions for visit:

http://www.fracturedatlas.org/youtube
for the art section

http://www.carmun.com/tubearts
for the writing section

If you need help creating an account, uploading a video, or posting a response, visit:
http://www.google.com/support/youtube/

please direct all inquiries to youtubearts@gmail.com

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Bad Reviews - How Do You Survive Them?

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 10:41:00 +0000

As authors, the one thing we can expect without fail is bad reviews. It doesn’t matter how well written, how thoughtful, how impeccably edited your book is, you can count on someone not liking it enough to tell the world. I love Stephen King’s book, Bag of Bones, and I was totally blown away to read some vicious reviews of the book on Amazon. How could that be? Simple. Everyone has minds of their own, and a need to express their opinions.

National Public Radio did a program not long ago on bad reviews in the age of the Internet. Its 30 minutes long, but if you have a book for public consumption, it is extremely educational. If you’ve ever received a bad review, you are not alone. That which does not kill us, only makes us stronger.

Click here to listen: The Web and The Rise of Rotten Reviews

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Taylor (Sometimes referred to as Charlton Heston) Died!

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:36:00 +0000

Star of some of the biggest blockbuster films in Hollywood history (The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, Planet of the Apes), Charlton Heston died yesterday at the age of 84. Despite what you may think of his politics (although, people forget he was at the forefront of the civil rights movement in the ‘60s), he was a great actor, and bona fide movie star. To the Science Fiction geeks (of which I’m one,) he will always be Taylor. He also won a couple of Grammy’s for his work in the audio book industry. Phil Hartman did a hilarious spoof on this in a Saturday Night Live skit. Hilarious! At any rate, if you’ve never heard a Charlton Heston audio book, do yourself a favor and run out and get one. I particularly enjoyed the Ernest Hemingway Audio Collection CD. I can still hear Heston’s voice as he reads The Snow Of Kilimanjaro.

RIP Mr. Heston. Thanks for all the great movie moments.

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What Does It Mean To Have a Bestselling Book?

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:14:00 +0000

I found this interesting clip from National Public Radio on the state of Bestseller lists. There are dozens of bestseller lists, and all of them seem to be different. What makes a bestseller a bestseller, and can having a bestselling book make your career? Like most authors, I hope to find out someday.

Bestseller – What Does It Mean To Be One?

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HarperCollins to Take a Crack at Ending the Liberal Return Policy in the Publishing Industry

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 02:17:00 +0000

According to the Wall Street Journal, HarperCollins Publishers will start a new imprint that will not pay authors advances, will not accept returns from retailers, and will focus their sales efforts online. Sounds suspiciously like a print-on-demand model. You can try reading it by clicking here, but be warned WSJ is a fee-based site. I’ll just give you a brief synopsis. The new imprint is as yet to be named. It will be headed by Steven S. Miller (His band won’t be joining him). Miller doesn’t think major authors who receive large advances will be interested in the new model, but he does expect that some bestselling authors that have manuscripts in a drawer that are outside of their normal genre may be interested and it will be great for up-and-coming writers. Again, this all sounds very familiar.

The big news here is that HarperCollins is refusing to participate in the archaic liberal returns program that retailers now enjoy in the book world. I’ve never understood it, and it’s hurt a lot of small publishers. This is a very positive development.

Here’s an excerpt (Written By JEFFREY A. TRACHTENBERG):

The new venture is aimed at improving the economics of book publishing, which has long been hobbled by the need to pay for space in stores and take back unsold books from retailers at full price. The practice of paying authors advances -- offset against future royalties -- also can be costly for publishers when books bomb.

NOTE: The WSJ actually got something wrong. The CEO of the new imprint's name is Robert S. Miller. I'll keep the Steve Miller Band reference in, if you don't mind.

Two more sources for this story popped up since yesterday:

New HarperCollins Unit to Try to Cut Writer Advances

Bob Miller's New HarperCollins Unit Is Totally Going To Revolutionize Publishing!

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The Truth About Kirkus Discoveries

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:56:00 +0000

I’ve read a lot of misinformation lately about Kirkus Discoveries. Some of it is innocent misunderstanding. But a lot of it is stubborn ignorance. Some people are convinced it’s a scam because it’s a paid review system. I get that. On the surface that does seem like a conflict. But Kirkus’ reputation is worth far too much to risk it by selling “glowing” reviews through Kirkus Discoveries. It just doesn’t make good business sense on their part to sully their reputation by conducting their business in such a manner. They use the same review criteria for both services.

Why take the risk by offering the paid service at all? Simple. There was a demand for it. There were 290,000 books published in this country last year (stats come from Bowker). Kirkus can not possibly review every one them. Small press books and self-published books were being edged out of the “legitimate” review industry. Kirkus Discoveries was created to give those authors an opportunity to be reviewed by professional reviewers. Does this mean it was an altruistic move on their part? No, this was a move to make money. That’s what business’ do. But that doesn’t mean it’s not a great opportunity for independently published authors.

Does Kirkus Discoveries give bad reviews? Yes, yes and again, yes! I’ve read them, and I felt awful for the author’s who received them. A bad review for a self-published author is perhaps more painful because we often times feel like it’s us against the world anyway. A bad review is just confirmation of that fact. You are not likely to find these bad reviews posted on Kirkus Discoveries website. They give the author the option to opt out of publicizing the review. What author in their right mind would have their negative review made public if given the opportunity not to?

A lot of people are looking for collusion among publishers and black op conspiracy theories designed to rip off authors. And some of the concerns are very real. I know because I’ve been submitting manuscripts to mainstream publishers and agents for 15 years. But some of my fellow writers, bloggers and authors are way off base on this one. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.

Why am I defending Kirkus Discoveries? Because I used the service in 2006. And I got a good review, and that review helped me sell books. I’ve seen the value of the review. Some have pointed out that I may have a conflict of interest on this particular subject because the company I work for started selling the Kirkus Discoveries review service this year. Again, that’s fair to assume. It’s not the case. On that, you’ll have to believe me. Some of you will. Some of you won’t. Hey, but that’s the fun of conspiracy theories. You can ignore statements to the contrary and have the time of your life spreading rumors and innuendo.

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Another Source for Donating Books

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 11:41:00 +0000

Here’s this week’s installment of “Donating Books.” The concept here is one we’ve talked about many times before. Giving a book away creates a reader. This week Friends of Libraries USA is our foundation of choice. This is from their website:

The mission of FOLUSA is to motivate and support state and local library support groups across the country in their efforts to preserve and strengthen libraries, and to create awareness and appreciation of library services by:

• Assisting in developing Friends groups in order to generate local and state support.
• Providing guidance, education, and counsel on issues and concerns relevant to Friends, Trustees, Foundations and Libraries.
• Promoting the development of strong and effective library advocacy programs.
• Serving as a clearinghouse of information and expertise.
• Establishing locations of historical literary significance around the country as Literary Landmarks.
• Promoting reading and literacy through our national Books for Babies program.

You can check out their website here: FOLUSA

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COOLEST BOOK TRAILER EVER!!

noreply@blogger.com (R.W. Ridley) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 04:07:00 +0000

I’m not kidding. I’ve watched this book trailer at least a dozen times, and I still can’t get enough of it. The music is excellent. They video is simple and feels very organic. I love this thing! I have had the pleasure of speaking with the author, and I know a little bit about his passion and commitment to helping businesses building great teams, but who knew he could take that passion and make such a cool book trailer. If the video is this innovative and creative, it leads me to believe his book and concepts are equally as compelling. Nicely done and Semper Fi, Skipper. Kudos to your entire team.

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Self-publishing, print-on-demand, POD, getting your book published, writing, making your book a bestseller, book promotion, book marketing, selling books online, book trailers, video promotions, youtube, skipper pitts, team building, business books, Booksurge, Amazon
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