Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Self-Publishing Times

Self-Publishing Times 1 1
21 May 2013

For all those self-publishers out there - here are some interesting notes from news and information sources. Is there a theme? Publishers deriding self-publishers; editors calling for more editors; celebrities loving it; and self-publishers still making their mark.

Cheers
MS
NOTE: Items headlined in are drawn from a number of sources. The source of the item is quoted, either by publication or organisations in line with the practice of fair reporting. Every effort is made to ensure use of paid wire service material is avoided at all times. Should users wish to utilise items on their own web sites, we request that this is done to accurately reflect the current layout to ensure attribution is appropriate.)

Stephenville Empire-Tribune
"Nobody should self-publish," says Philip Corbett, the standards editor of
the New York Times. "Everything should go through an editor. Ideally, it
should go through two editors." Corbett was speaking in January 2011, after
the Times mistakenly reported that Rep. Gabrielle Giffords had been killed by a gunman in her Arizona district.

Folio prize: a level playing field for self-published authors
The Guardian (blog)
We often hear about the commercial success of genre-writing self-publishers
such as Hugh Howey or Amanda Hocking, but that doesn't remove the
frustration felt by those of us who would like to see our works talked
about alongside Will Self or Hilary.

Writers' Union of Canada to vote on admitting self-published authors
CBC.ca
Writers' Union of Canada to vote on admitting self-published authors.

What's the best price for a self-published ebook? $3.99, Smashwords research says ...
One of the biggest decisions that self-published authors have to make is
how to price their ebook. What's the sweet spot? Self-publishing platform
and digital bookstore Smashwords analyzed 11 months' worth of sales — $12
million, 120,000 ebooks sold.

Provincetown author crests self-publishing wave with how-to e-book
Wicked Local
Last month, Shabott released her how-to book, “Confessions of an E-book
Virgin: What Everyone Should Know Before They Publish on the Internet,”
simultaneously on three online sites and launched her self-published work
with a reading at Napi's.

The future is no fun: Self-publishing is the worst
Salon
I've written many books but only three have gotten published — the others
are either somewhere under my bed or somewhere on my hard drive. “West of
Babylon,” I felt, did not deserve that fate. So we decided I should
self-publish the book in electronic [format]

Partnerships Help Self-Published Authors
Good E-Reader (blog)
One of the great paradoxes in the recent growth in digital and
self-publishing is that as more and more authors take advantage of the
opportunities for publication that come about, it becomes even harder for
one's work to get the attention of readers.

Too Famous to Write: Patti Davis on her Self-Publishing Journey
Good E-Reader (blog)
As the digital publishing revolution continues to turn the publishing world
on its collective head, new changes to the existing models come every day.
Ebooks made headlines around the world when they finally began accounting
for sizeable chunks of [the market].

Self-Publishing A Hit
BlackburnNews.com
Sue Perry is the Self-publishing Facilitator and says April as been unlike
any month since the machine's installation back in July of last year. She
explains they've printed over 550 books in the last 30 days, generating
roughly $5,000 in revenue.

Seinfeld 2000 eBook Rises on Self-Published Bestsellers List ...
By Jason Boog
A mysterious writer named Seinfeld 2000 has steadily climbed our
Self-Published Bestsellers List these past few weeks with a Smashwords
eBook that picks up where the Seinfeld show ended–The Apple Store.