Kingly

  WHO WILL SAFE OUR BOOKS?

"If there are no bookstores, no libraries, no serious publishers with passionate, dedicated, idealistic editors, what will happen to our literature? Who will discover and mentor new writers? Who will publish our important books? What will happen if there are no more books like these?

… “Why are there no impassioned editorials in influential newspapers or magazines? Who will save our books? Our libraries? Our bookstores?"

James Patterson, controversial ad in the NYT

That was a hell of an ad. RT @shelfawareness James Patterson speaks out about his “book industry bailout” ad salon.com/2013/04/24/jam…

— Sarah Weinman (@sarahw)

April 24, 2013

I do a lot of things to try to raise level of awareness of what’s going on in country right now. This is an unusual and different time for books, the most unusual in the history of this country. E-books are fine and dandy, but it’s all happening so quickly, and I don’t think anyone thought through the consequences of having many fewer bookstores, of libraries being shut down or limited, of publishers going out of business — possibly in the future, many publishers going out of business.

My solutions to this point are the other things i’m doing, and it’s a lot. In terms of the big picture, yeah, if I’m gonna see Obama tomorrow — if i could see the president, I’m not sure what I’d say — because he’d say what do you want me to do?

James Patterson. This time, interviewed by Salon.

    BOOKS DON’T NEED SAVING. EBOOKS ARE THRIVING.

Who will save our book? We will. @jakonrath on James Patterson bit.ly/14Rc3Vr

— Joanna Penn (@thecreativepenn)

April 25, 2013

I respect Patterson for his marketing genius. I also like many of his books. But I'm not finding much to agree with here.

"What will happen to our literature?"

Perhaps writers will write it? Aren't they the ones who wrote all of those books on that list?

There are thousands of authors self-publishing. I'm sure some of them are writing great, important literature.

"Who will discover and mentor new writers?"

With ebooks, the readers are the ones who discover new writers. And those readers actually have a chance to discover more books than ever before, because many of them were never mentored by the establishment.

"Who will save our books? Our libraries? Our bookstores?"

Last I checked, books don't need saving. Ebooks are thriving.

J.A. Konrath, A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing

        SERIOUS PUBLISHERS? THEY’RE CALLED AUTHORS NOW.

Dude. Amazon. Biggest bookstore in the world. Growing like crazy.

Serious publishers? They’re called authors now. Nobody more serious than an indie author.

Who will publish important books? Indie authors. Who will publish serious books? Indie authors. Don’t need discovering. Don’t need mentoring. Don’t need babysitting. Don’t need pacifiers. Don’t need publishers.

What will happen to our literature? Publishers don’t create literature. Authors do. They’ll keep doing it.

Authors. Readers. Internet. Call it post-industrial publishing.

P.G., The Passive Voice

    WE’D BE LOST IN VAST AMAZON-LIKE JUNGLE. 

… ‘ the more we talked the more we came around to a general point: literary agents are probably now more important than ever -- for several reasons.

For beginning writers it's tempting to say, "Hey, why do I need an agent? Why pay someone 15 percent when I can self-publish, or e-publish and keep 70 percent of the royalties?" But the real question is, "Fifteen percent of what?" The days of huge advances are over unless you're someone with a million Twitter followers.

Their largest service is a kind of Venturi effect (holding back bad writing, accelerating the good), and if that niche were to disappear we'd be lost in vast Amazon-like jungle of lesser books. Wait a minute -- that's already happened!

An agent's job is to keep you from getting lost-artistically, contractually.

Will Weaver, Huff Post Books blog.

    WAIT, WHAT?

… “his recent ad … proposing a government bailout For failing bookstores and publishers is one of the most atrociously ludicrous ideas I’ve ever heard.

The publishing companies, to which I include Patterson among their ranks, are just like politicians; they hate the idea of regulations. They hate being told what they can and can’t do. … They hate when marketplaces evolve and the people at the bottom start to change the rules of the game.

But yet, as soon as they see things changing (which is always much much later than everyone else), they go running right to the government begging for help.

What’s besieging the industry is the fact that they refuse to evolve, refuse to embrace technological changes, refuse to listen to what the REAL consumers (the readers) are asking for

Just like when iTunes and cheap digital distribution were going to kill the music industry – which didn’t happen. Instead we have more amazing indie and small market bands than at any other time in the history of music.

Just like when piracy was going to kill the movie industry – which also didn’t happen. Now we have new film festivals popping up every year and brilliant small budget films that are being made with D-SLR’s.

Because we all know digital media and technology are the bad guy here. Yea, right.

August Wainwright blog.

    NOW, WHO’S GOING TO WRITE THE EDITORIAL?

I love that James Patterson put this ad on the back of the NYTBR. Now, who's going to write the editorial? twitter.com/ruth_franklin/…

— Ruth Franklin (@ruth_franklin)

April 21, 2013

    JAMES PATTERSON TO THE RESCUE!

James Patterson is worried about the future of books, and he's doing something about it: bit.ly/14jkfxh

— Melville House (@melvillehouse)

April 26, 2013

Patterson is certainly doing his part to promote literacy.

But Patterson believes this isn’t enough. And he says that he’s not the right person who should be speaking out.

So who’s going to step up? If not book publishing company CEOs, then maybe the government. …  If not the government, then maybe the media, who Patterson says is running the same old story about the book business being in trouble.

Claire Kelley, Melville House.

Scott Turow dropped the bomb

The Slow Death of the American Author.

LAST month, the Supreme Court decided to allow the importation and resale of foreign editions of American works, which are often cheaper than domestic editions. Until now, courts have forbidden such activity as a violation of copyright. Not only does this ruling open the gates to a surge in cheap imports, but since they will be sold in a secondary market, authors won’t get royalties.

That culture is now at risk. The value of copyrights is being quickly depreciated, a crisis that hits hardest not best-selling authors like me, who have benefited from most of the recent changes in bookselling, but new and so-called midlist writers.

Take e-books. They are much less expensive for publishers to produce: there are no printing, warehousing or transportation costs, and unlike physical books, there is no risk that the retailer will return the book for full credit.

But instead of using the savings to be more generous to authors, the six major publishing houses, all rigidly insist on clauses limiting e-book royalties to 25 percent of net receipts. That is roughly half of a traditional hardcover royalty.

And there are many e-books on which authors and publishers, big and small, earn nothing at all. Numerous pirate sites, supported by advertising or subscription fees, have grown up offshore, offering new and old e-books free.

Thus, under the cri de coeur that “information wants to be free,” some professors and others are calling for copyright to be curtailed or even abandoned. High-minded slogans aside, these academics are simply promoting their own careers over the livelihoods of other writers.

Now many public libraries want to lend e-books, not simply to patrons who come in to download, but to anybody with a reading device, a library card and an Internet connection. In this new reality, the only incentive to buy, rather than borrow, an e-book is the fact that the lent copy vanishes after a couple of weeks. As a result, many publishers currently refuse to sell e-books to public libraries.

An even more nightmarish version of the same problem emerged last month with the news that Amazon had a patent to resell e-books.

Why would anyone ever buy a new book again?

 Scott Turow, lawyer, president of The Authors Guild. 

    Reactions came quickly

  Authors Guild's Scott Turow: The Supreme Court, Google, Ebooks, Libraries & Amazon Are All Destroying Authors

We've written more than a few times about Scott Turow, a brilliant author, but an absolute disaster as the Luddite-driven head of the Authors' Guild.

For the few thousand members of the Authors Guild, it's time you found someone who was actually a visionary to lead, rather than a technology-hating reactionary pining for a mythical time in the past.

Note the implicit assumption: only publishers produce books. Turow, apparently, ignores the fact that these modern technological wonders (which he hates so much) have enabled an entire new world of massively successful self-published authors, who take advantage of this situation to realize that they don't need publishers, and the lower costs and ease of distribution makes things much easier.

Also the idea of a literary culture at risk is laughable. More books are being published today than ever before. More people are reading books today than ever before. More people are writing books than ever before. Books that would never have been published in the past are regularly published today. There is an astounding wealth of cultural diversity in the literary world. Sure, some of it means a lot more competition for the small group of authors (only about 8,000 or so) that Turow represents... oh wait, I think we've perhaps touched on the reason that Turow is all upset by this. But, of course, more competition for that small group of authors does not mean the culture of books and literature is at risk at all. Quite the opposite.

Finally, the 8,000 or so authors (a mere fraction of the number of actual authors out there) who make up the Authors Guild are not served well by having someone as technologically reactionary as Turow leading them.

Mike Masnick

 (Please read the full article, it’s a must! Mike Masnick did a complete analysis of Turow's latest NY Times opinion editorial.)

    Scott Turow and the politics of cowardice. 

In fairness, in misleading readers right from the title, Turow is doing no more than following the lead of the organization he represents, which given its consistent advocacy for the interests of legacy publishing has no business pretending it fundamentally concerns itself with what might be best for authors. But choosing a name that disguises your true purpose can confer certain tactical advantages.

And it's why an organization primarily dedicated to protecting the interests of big publishing calls itself The Authors Guild.

There are countless other examples (who wants to vote against The Patriot Act?), and I won't try to list them all. The point is, when you see a title -- whether for an organization, an article, or a concept -- that's at variance with underlying reality, you should recognize you are being bullshitted.

…another thing to watch for. When someone tries to sell you on a theory but refuses to discuss available evidence that could support or repudiate the theory, it's another classic sign that you are being bullshitted.

Once upon a time, technology was such that the Great Guardians of Rich Culture and All That Is Good (AKA, the Establishment) could pontificate to the unwashed masses and there was no effective way for the masses to respond.

Obviously, the Internet has in many ways leveled the communications playing field, and now, when the high and mighty speak down to the masses, the masses can -- and do -- respond. What's fascinating is watching the reaction of people like Scott Turow, who act as though we're still living in a world where two-way communication isn't a real possibility and the masses can be safely ignored.

When someone tries to pontificate to the masses, actively shuts down commentary, and refuses to respond to his critics, you can be confident you are being bullshitted.

  Barry Eisler

 I don't have much to add to Mike or Barry's posts, other than to be grateful that they did such  good jobs, because Turow's NYT piece was gnawing at me, begging for a response. Turow, like many bestsellers, lives in a gilded cage. He doesn't seem to understand anything about his fellow authors, and doesn't seem to want to learn.

Quit the Authors Guild. Quit right now, with an email explaining that the organization is not looking out for your best interests.

Joe Konrath

  A list of things Scott Turow doesn’t care about.

On reading the latter, my first thought was: if Scott Turow didn’t spend so much time hating Amazon and pretending self-publishing didn’t exist, maybe he wouldn’t be so depressed.

What bothers me about Turow’s obsession with Amazon and his opposition to change is not his blatant disregard for the facts (or the definition of words), it’s that he allows this Luddism to become all-consuming, blinding him to the issues that really matter to writers.

Scott Turow is clearly too afraid of change to keep up with the latest developments. His New York Times piece demonstrates that he’s unaware of this new thing called self-publishing – which is enabling thousands of writers to pay bills and make a living from writing, in many cases for the very first time, thanks in no small part to Amazon. 

 David Gaughran

    This is not the death of the American author.

Oh, woe be unto us, for the American author is an untenable and dying breed. The world conspires against the American author, actively seeking to destroy this noble breed!

Bullshit.

The American literary arts are certainly in trouble, but what’s happening in publishing now is no more the death of the American author than the era of Napster was the death of the American musician.

Look, Turow is very concerned about the erosion of the value of an artist’s copyright, and that’s a valid concern. But the biggest problem for the value of that copyright is it’s initial devaluation by the mainstream publishing houses. The big four (is it three yet? I think it might be three) do not treat authors (who are not bestsellers) particularly well, and are completely opaque about their practices. Authors have to fight tooth and nail to even get accurate sales numbers for their own books.

Yeah, it’s going to suck for a while, and a lot of people with expectations base on the old system are going to be very disappointed, but it’s a change, it's not The End.

    “This is like finding out my mom is marrying that cool dude next door that I’ve been palling around with.”

Meanwhile, most of the people in the cities I visited strolled by bookstores without glancing inside. Most of the people in the airports weren’t reading. We are fighting amongst ourselves while the real battle is ignored.

Amazon and Goodreads have been fighting that war. If anyone thinks the fighting has been between them, I don’t know that they’ve looked up from their books and studied the landscape.

Yes, the publishing industry is going through some changes… It’s good to keep in mind that consumers are driving these changes.  

So many ways this can be good for all involved. I’m still trying to think of a way it could suck.

Hugh C. Howey, @hughhowey blog

    “Amazon’s acquisition of Goodreads is a textbook example of how modern Internet monopolies can be built.”

“The key is to eliminate or absorb competitors before they pose a serious threat. With its 16 million subscribers, Goodreads could easily have become a competing on-line bookseller, or played a role in directing buyers to a site other than Amazon. Instead, Amazon has scuttled that potential and also squelched what was fast becoming the go-to venue for on-line reviews, attracting far more attention than Amazon for those seeking independent assessment and discussion of books. As those in advertising have long known, the key to driving sales is controlling information.”

Scott Turow, The Authors Guild blog

    “Why didn’t someone else buy Goodreads before Amazon?”

The point isn’t that Amazon bought GoodReads. The point is why GoodReads wasn’t snapped up by a publisher years ago.

The obvious reason is that based on the rumors of a purchase price in the “low eight-figures” as some are confidently whispering, most publishers weren’t really in a position to buy Goodreads. 

The solution to keeping up with digital disruption is to have a customer relationship, one that digital tools and platforms make incredibly cheap and increasingly powerful. Goodreads is one such tool. 

And so I’ll offer this one piece of advice to publishers who may now feel like they should back away from Goodreads for fear that they are sleeping with the enemy: Don’t do it.

James McQuivey, Forbes

    Goodbye Goodreads – How Amazon will ruin a Good thing.

Really, Goodreads?  You’ve forsaken all the other opportunities to partner with independent bookstores, Kobo, even Barnes & Noble & the Nook?  How about iPad?  Also, who at Amazon has a love of books or authors?

Jarek Steele

    “Amazon just locked up discovery for the next couple years.”

When it comes to which website’s pages come up first upon searching Google for a book, Amazon and Goodreads vie for dominance. Now, the former has bought out the competition.

“Brilliant move by Amazon,” said Mark Coker, an outspoken digital publishing commenter and founder and CEO of Smashwords, one of the the largest distributors of self-published ebooks. “Amazon just locked up discovery for the next couple years.”

Jeremy Greenfield, Digital Book World

    The Simple Reason Why Goodreads Is So Valuable to Amazon

Today, the publishing industry survives on super fans -- book worms who read far more than most Americans, and who tell their friends what to read as well. By picking up Goodreads, Amazon gets to tap into those super fans. Simple. 

So Amazon has just bought the ecosystem where many of America's most influential readers choose their books. How exactly they'll use it isn't entirely clear yet.

Jordan Weissmann, The Atlantic

    Amazon Acquires Social Reading Site Goodreads, Which Gives The Company A Social Advantage Over Apple.

This type of social integration could give Amazon a major advantage over e-sellers like Apple, who have no social components to their product whatsoever. With people actually discussing and sharing the books that they’re into, having an Amazon direct connect makes complete sense. The site can offer special deals to Goodreads users, which in essence is now Amazon’s book-reading social network.

Drew Olanoff, TechCrunch

  Good reads for all

The acquisition of Goodreads by Amazon serves as a reminder of how bifurcated the book business now is.

As Porter Anderson details in his fine column at Publishing Perspectives: "The Amazonian Apocalypse indeed was upon us. We were up to our digital derrieres in that greatest of all booky community blessings: reach out and share the hysteria."

The acquisition struck a nerve because for many Goodreads had come to be seen as the antithesis of Amazon. A website for book lovers that held your hand rather than rifled through your pockets looking for small change. It was also exploring a bit of the world that Amazon was NOT doing well, the area we now define as discoverability. As Goodreads founder Otis Chandler put it in his blog about the sale: "Our team gets out of bed every day motivated by the belief that the right book in the right hands can change the world."

There are millions of books sold each year without the commercial intervention of Amazon or the guiding voices at Goodreads. Odd that we keep forgetting this.

Philip Jones, Future Book

  For all the reasons and tools outlined in this previews post ‘Goodreads for Authors. Promote your books’, I’m a Goodreads fan.  To name some: 

  You can find your next book to read.

You can qualify a book

You can comment or review and recommend (or not) a book,.

You can create or join groups.

The Author Program has great tools to help readers to find your book.

It’s great to interact with readers, to create a community.

Writers can ask for reviews.

Writers can announce an event or launch of a new book.

You can connect your Goodreads account with your Facebook or Twitter accounts.

  So when I first read the words Amazon and Goodreads together -‘Exciting news about Goodreads: We’re joining the Amazon family!’-, it sounded like a strange noise to me; specially marked by the term Family. My first reaction was: they chose a group, they left the independence side. What a pity!, because independence was one of Goodreads great values.

But, as they announced that ‘Amazon supports us continuing to grow our vision as an independent entity, under the Goodreads brand and with our unique culture’, I hope I’m wrong. I hope nothing will change and I can still be a Goodreads fan without needing a Kindle in hands or feeling influenced.

We’ll see. It needs time.

  NEW DISTRIBUTION MODEL FOR SCHOOL LIBRARIES.

“One ebook, one device, for one child. It makes sense if you’re a parent looking to provide reading material for your son or daughter. But this model is not always practical for K-12 schools and their libraries.”

  Streaming ebooks: a new distribution model for schools bit.ly/YEjq0b

March 27, 2013

    LIBRARIES RISK BECOMING IRRELEVANT IF THEY DO NOT  START LENDING DIGITAL BOOKS.

"It is plain that an inability to offer digital lending will make libraries increasingly irrelevant in a relatively short time. Library services therefore do not have the luxury of waiting any longer to expand, or in many cases start, their provision of digital lending," wrote the head of the review William Sieghart, publisher and Forward prize founder.

  Digital library loans get government backing gu.com/p/3en7p/tf

March 28, 2013

      LIBRARIANS CLOSE TO SATAN.

“In publishers’ eyes librarians are “sitting close to Satan”, declared Phil Bradley, president of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Some publishers have refused to sell their e-books to public libraries, made them prohibitively costly or put severe restrictions on their use. Although 71% of British public libraries lend out e-books, 85% of e-book titles are not available in public libraries. In America the average public library makes available only 4,350 e-books (Amazon, an online retail giant, stocks more than 1.7m).”

  "This raises big issues: must libraries buy many copies of an #ebook, or just one?" ow.ly/jtoVV via @theeconomist

March 27, 2013

    ASKING FOR A BOOK BENCH.

“We wind up apologizing: for getting an Adobe ID; for having several separate ebook systems; for the number of steps involved in getting an ebook onto a reading device. And that’s just to the 38% of library users who even know we have ebooks.

“We want to suggest a new app. We’re calling it Book Bench. It’s an aggregated ebook reading app that would bring books from all library ebook vendors together in one place. This would allow libraries to promote a single service with a consistent user experience.” 

Great Article! Social Reading and an Aggregated eBook Reading App for Libraries - inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2013/building-…inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2013/building-…

March 28, 2013

Short time, really short; only 6-seconds are enough to turn this app into a great tool for twitter fans.

To add a 6-second video to 140 characters, as Vine describes itself, you need to ‘found abbreviation –the shortened form of something larger; share something in motion in 6 seconds’. It’s really –really!- easy to use. The hard part is finding a creative way to show your ebook.

So, if you use your imagination and sharpen your creativity, it’ll be great to use this new art-form to share your book. You must download the app, available -up to now- for iPhone and iPod touch. And it’s free; yes, free. Just like in Twitter, upload your photo, write a few words about yourself (bio). Remember to include your site, Twitter, Facebook and all the data you can to make yourself available for readers.

There’s an Explore section where you can get inspired seeing others activity on Vine, search people or tags, see the editor’s picks, the most popular videos and tags. Here, you also have Followings and Followers, and there’s a Profile section to add some simple data and connect with your Twitter and Facebook account.

The video appears on a clean screen, there’s no title bars or bottom menu (!). Abbreviate something by the motion technique here is simple because it is ready to capture motion. Press the camera icon to start. When you see the image you want to film, press the screen. Ready?, filmed?, release the screen. Choose another image, press the screen, film, release the screen and… so on till 6 seconds.

When your video is ready, add a few words and share it on Twitter and/or Facebook. You can write multiple characters but remember that if you tweet it, only 140 will appear legible.

6 seconds. It’s not much, so here is when creativity and imagination get the best part. If you fall into cliches and your video is one-more-video, you better upload a photo of your book cover. Remember, for instance, that these 6 seconds are repeated again and again; then creating something cyclical is a good option.

Oops! We couldn’t find yet great examples of ebook promotion. If you have one, please leave the link on the comment! But here are a few ideas to get inspired and adapt into an ebook promotion.

  Imagine your words going from paper to digital 

The balloons from paper to digital. #art #animation #fun #drawing vine.co/v/brpKAXPpp39

February 16, 2013

Show your ebook (or a free giveaway or a discount promotion) in a funny way. 

TaTPerfect!! “@rtthebest: @leezagibbons Check out this #vine #video #Take2Book take2book.com vine.co/v/b626duj7Q6i”

February 22, 2013

      Thank your readers. 

ThiNThtME book of the year! thankyou readers! vine.co/v/bXOEAElWZur

February 28, 2013

    This is how Simon & Schuster CA recommend books. 

It's a long weekend! Pick your #Fridayreads with a game of Reading Roulette. vine.co/v/brbbPp9KOY0

February 15, 2013

Or show the cover, first paragraph and the last sentence of your ebook, filming an ereader screen in motion.

You may follow vine blog to be aware of its news. 

And remember you need to create something that draws attention to get it retweeted, to capture word-of-mouth, because that’s what you’re chasing with Vine. It never fails to appeal to humor or feelings in a creative way.

Photo Credit: seeveeaar (Creative Commons)

  The best of being a writer in the self-publish era is the sense of freedom of knowing you can publish any book you want, when you want to and without waiting for any approval. But for some writers, the excitement lasts until they begin to get lost in social media and sale tips that jump (attack?) from internet every time they turn on the computer.

The only certain and proven task is that it is convenient to create presence before the book is published; or, in other words, start building a platform just at the same time you write the first paragraph of the book. You need to be ‘there’; your books would need to be ‘available’. As Joe Konrath wrote, ‘I believe it is all about being seen. Once you are under a reader’s nose, some will buy.’

Everything else is subjective, personal. ‘Do this’, ‘Say that’, ‘Don’t tweet this because…’, ‘You need help, enter here’, ‘You don’t need any help, do it yourself!’. How can anyone say that THESE TIPS work exactly to engage THESE READERS and you’ll sell thousands of books?

If you want to scare a writer, tell him that in order to advertise his book he has to become a ‘marketer’. Like a horror story, he feels in the middle of a forest, trees are growing taller, the vegetation becomes increasingly dense, it’s getting dark and he barely sees the sky or the exit; a sinister echo repeats:  marketing, marketing, maaaakerting… And he wakes up scared, assuming he has not the slightest idea where to start.

What if he changes the nightmare, forgets the marketing and advertising words and simply remains a writer in direct contact with his readers? It cannot be proved that people choose a book through Twitter or Facebook, to name some. In fact, according to this toc.oreilly post, ‘a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll revealed that four out of five Facebook users have never bought a product or service as a result of advertising or comments on the social network site. In addition, researchers at the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute found that less than 1% of fans of the 200 biggest brands on Facebook actually engaged.’

What we can assure is that Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc., are places to start conversations, engagements. Nobody knows the book better than the author himself so maybe he can just interact with readers on Twitter, write a blog, answer some mails (yes, still effective!) or encourage creating a community on Goodreads –which, by the way, as reported in the last TOC Conference in New York, it’s gaining more and more weight on the decisions of the over 15 million registered users. No one needs to be a marketing genius to do that. 

Just stay active and found your niche, your tribe.

Don’t convert ‘promotion’ into an obsession or translate it into something impossible, only for experts. There is no formula for success or bestseller secrets. If you decide you want to learn something more about Twitter, which are the best images for Pinterest or study something about metadata, good for you! But if you decide not to publish a book because you’re scared with all the promotion tasks you’ve read you must do, you are missing out self-publishing opportunities.

A writer’s job is to be a good writer interacting with his tribe. A good marketer could sell many copies of his first book; a good writer can sell many copies of all of his books.   

He started the discussion

Libraries 'have had their day', says Horrible Histories author

Libraries "have been around too long" and are "no longer relevant", according to Horrible Histories author Terry Deary, an apparently lone literary voice to believe that libraries have "had their day".

 "Books aren't public property, and writers aren't Enid Blyton, middle-class women indulging in a pleasant little hobby. They've got to make a living. Authors, booksellers and publishers need to eat. We don't expect to go to a food library to be fed."

What other industry creates a product and allows someone else to give it away, endlessly?

Librarians are lovely people and libraries are lovely places, but they are damaging the book industry. They are putting bookshops out of business, and I'm afraid we have to look at what place they have in the 21st century."

    They answered

  The case for librarieshuff.to/12LJrqe #welovelibraries

February 19, 2013

Why Terry Deary is Wrong: The Case For Libraries - If someone too poor or otherwise unable to buy a specific product is given that product for free, has the product's creator lost a sale?

In most instances, I'd argue, the answer is no. You can't lose money that doesn't exist in the first place, or which your potential customer is unable to spend on whatever it is you're selling. What you've lost, if anything, is a specific product, and therefore the opportunity to sell it to someone who can pay. 

    25 Writers on the Importance of Libraries bit.ly/XiujOB

February 17, 2013

We gathered a few passionate statements from 20 writers that emphasize why libraries aren’t “sentimental” institutions. See what Neil Gaiman, Judy Blume, Ray Bradbury, and other writers have to contribute to the conversation.

 (Ok… many of them didn’t live in the ebook era) 

    @neilhimself With very few exceptions, nearly every book I've bought was borrowed first, from a friend or a library.

February 13, 2013

        Some fresh new air

  It's not what a library stocks, it's what it shares gu.com/p/3dyh4/tf

February 17, 2013

It's not what a library stocks, it's what it shares - The first digital-only library in the US raises key questions about the broader purpose of a library - 

It will retain all the important features: more than 100 e-readers available to borrow, with more than 10,000 ebooks – and visitors can bring their own devices, too.

Ebooks and libraries don't always mix well. Many libraries still mark a borrowed ebook as "out" (and therefore unavailable to other readers) just like a paper book, despite the electronic copy's infinite reproducibility. Others insist readers visit the actual building to download and "check out" ebooks.

There are obvious problems with applying the traditional library model to ebooks; but there are also very good reasons for retaining libraries. They are not just places to read books, they are public spaces providing a range of services. These are essential to people on lower incomes, beneficial to all, and they are adjusting to different roles. 

The physical institution remains essential.

Inspiring: When Our Local Libraries Closed, Here's How We Designed Our Own bit.ly/XW7u4D

February 16, 2013

    'A new platform to access ebooks by subscription.' Is this the new library concept? actualidadeditorial.com/telefonica-cir… via @actualidad_ed

— Kingly (@Kinglyhq) February 21, 2013

Luckily, fun never lack

  So Harry Potter gets an invisibility cloak.. Does he sneak in and watch Hermione getting changed? No, he goes to the library

February 18, 2013

London readers continue to browse in a bombed out library, WWII. twitter.com/writingNSW/sta…

February 19, 2013

Photo Credit: flattrcom (Creative Commons)

We can keep on talking about which is the most convenient price of an ebook, the struggle between the Big 5 or 6, if indie and self-pub authors set very low prices that discredit their work; OR we can begin to assess some concepts that are already hovering the universe of indie ebook authors and can give this matter a twist.

Pay What You Want. Doesn’t this sound like the end of piracy? The one who downloads an ebook without paying a cent, will continue doing it even if the book is protected, even if the PDF version is awful and even if the book costs 0,99-cents. He is a “pay-zero-reader” and he won’t affect sales or royalties books. Instead, he can increase downloads and ebooks circulation if he reads it legally. You need to focus on the rest of readers, the ones who pay for the ebook, and empower them to decide how much they would like to pay for it. Perhaps they will pay U$1,5 for the first book of a series but, if they liked it, they will pay U$5 for the second one.

This phrase toured tweetland last week: ‘The PERFECT way to make love to an author:  READ their book, write a REVIEW...and PASS it along to another friend.’ Did you notice this author says nothing about paying a fortune for his book? Read, review and pass along. Payment will be a consequence.

PWYW, but within a price range. If you aren’t willing to give a free ebook -although we could discuss that in another post!- you may let readers decide but within a price range, or simply set a minimum price. ‘Dear Reader, between 0,99 and 5, how much do you want to pay?’

Pay-As-You-Go. This is incredibly useful for textbooks, study books, researches, etc. We all know that ‘transfer and reproduction without authorization is strictly forbidden’ but we all use photocopies or free printouts textbooks fractions. If we could buy a particular chapter, just the pages we need or half of the book, why would we pay for an illegal reproduction when we could directly pay to the writer and download an optimum version?

Take a look at the student friendly ValoBox startup.

Pay what you read. An Israeli company, Total Boox, is already using this system. Readers get free access to all books and pay for what they actually read… when they read it. It’s a great service for “I-rarely- finish-a-book” readers.

Ads or sponsorships inside ebooks: yes or no? This doesn’t seem to be something that readers will appreciate or thank. By now, most advertising are in the devices and no one dares to include them within the text. The idea is still unsuccessful, but…. Who knows what will happen? Magazines and newspapers are full of advertisements and we are all used to read them that way. The clear advantage would be a cheaper or even a free ebook. May be it’s more appropriate for non-fiction books. Fiction writers can advertise their other books by linking to their sales site.

We, the readers, appreciate the trust and responsibility that the writer puts in such decision. None of these options will result in a drop of sales or profits.

Photo Credit: khalid Albaih (Creative Commons)

A lot of concepts tweeted from the Bookseller’s FutureBook 2012 Conference #fbook12 smell good for self/indie-publishing and digital content!

Publishing is changing, no doubt about that. Changing to where? Changing to small teams -of authors or the author himself- focused on their consumers rather than big publishers focused on their own business; changing to writers having the control of their work rather than delegating it to a third party.

‏@Porter_Anderson #fbook12 @rebecsmart @OspreyBooks: "Specialize... in the customer...the future will be small teams focused on their consumers."

Writers engaged with their work and their readers. Not obsessed with social media and marketing, still ‘obsessed’ with improving their writing, but involved with these tools as part of this publishing revolution. Email lists and word of mouth, still leading.

@thecreativepenn #fbook12 email marketing still #1 for repeat shoppers & brand retention. Totally agree. Authors must focus on list building as priority!

New ideas, new formats, audience is changing. Audience isn’t looking for new books; it’s looking for new experiences WITH books. Something else to enrich the content.

@TheLitPlatform Pottermore is not an e-book sales business, these only represent 40% revenue as a business. Charlie Redmayne #Fbook12

@PublicityBooks#fbook12 our children will have new experiences with books,more interactive. We must grow new ideas and break downboundaries. #Raccah

@TheLitPlatform Shift to creating books for audience rather than finding audience for our books via crowdsourcing & conversation

Not so sure about this. It’s time to use one of the advantages of self-publishing and digital formats. Write what you want, every niche has it readers. This sounds better:

@Profwriting #fbook12 Joanna Penn- as a micro publisher I don't have overheads you guys have, therefore I can write what I want and make. Living.

Something has to change in the pricing models. Free content and e-lending are shouting: NOW! Movie ticket sales haven’t decline since movies can be downloaded for free, watched at home or in the seat of a plane. Ebook sales won’t fall if an e-lending model without boundaries becomes reality.

“The crux of the matter is that the paid content ecosystem is getting very fragmented.” … “Such fragmentation is inevitable given the breadth of the content industry, but it is a pain for consumers and publishers alike. As a consumer buying a book I have a lot of decisions to make – where to buy it, what version I want and which platform I want to commit to. After purchasing a number of books I can end up searching through a number of different apps and websites to find the book I bought a few months ago.” Oliver Brooks in Buy once, sync anywhere blog post. 

‏@Goodereader: Pricing panel: big frustration to publisher is a customer who wants to buy ebook & can't because in wrong country.#fbook12

‏@matteoberlucchi Ebooks aboard by RCS is pretty much the same as movies on planes. It's a value added service and also a way to discover new books #fbook12

And last but not least: agents and middlemen will have to find their place without trying to give the impression that they have to stay where they are to avoid that the publishing industry losses prestige.  

@Porter_Anderson #fbook12 "The Future Editorial Product" @kreeve "I'd like to propose that we need a new role in #publishing for editorial."

‏@thebookseller Geller: we are no longer an 'agent', we are 'copyright managers'#fbook12

@TheFutureBook #fbook12 Johnson: everything has changed about the gaming industry in the past five years: the change in publishing has barely begun.

Is it easy for a writer to choose a genre? Are their readers always expecting his new book to be faithful to it? Should an author be tied to one genre?  What if that genre is not selling?

Infographic Credit: Hiptype

Lyla Sinclair (author of Training Tessa) confessed: ‘I was a single mom who needed more income. After I complained about my problems selling my outside-the-box romantic comedy novels, the man I later married asked a ridiculous question. He said, “Why don’t you just write what’s selling?” … Was it possible I could nudge at least some of my inspiration in a more lucrative direction?’ It seems she could. 

Last week, a post from The Guardian wonders why horror hasn’t the same growth as other genres such as crime and SF. ‘…horror – the third aspect of "speculative fiction" – has had markedly less success. Yet it might be the genre most tractable to our contemporary concerns. … Nevertheless, I'm convinced horror can raise its game. Our postmodern, capitalism-in-crisis, media-saturated world is ripe to describe it anew. Our very language seems to demand it.’

Maintaining its structure and conventions, genres get updated. Do they have their own ‘fashion and trend’ to follow?

The NaNoWriMo team created a Genre Lounge that allows authors to connect with others who are writing the same genre (each has a brief description that is worth reading!). The most popular seems to be fantasy, followed by science fiction, historical fiction, romance, horror and supernatural, mystery/thriller/suspense, young adult and children lit, erotic fiction and fanfiction. Also, but with fewer threads: adventure, literary fiction, chick lit, mainstream and realistic fiction, religious/spiritual/new age, satire/humor/parody. 

The new adult fiction -a genre that was born only a few years ago- is gaining ground. It is described as “books with protagonists who are slightly older than YA and can appeal to an adult audience.” Find a free sample list of books of this genre at this post from Galleycat.

After the unveiling of the erotic genre (let’s say, after Fifty Shadows of Grey), many authors of romance scenes have peppered the pages of their books with high voltage. Marketing? Want to increase sales? Have they invented the new-romantic genre? or… Mr. Grey gave them permission? 'Yes, you can also write about; no one will burn you at the stake, baby'.

James Taylor said that "The motivation of an artist is to seek attention of some kind." That doesn’t mean you have to choose the genre that sells, but understanding who are you writing for and studying properly the genre you have chosen (let’s say: when you are sure of the genre you want to write) it’s 100% easier to plot your book.

Be careful with the genre-mix. As Kristen Lamb wrote, 'In writing as in food, some combinations are never meant to go together.' Take her overview of some genres at this post (tips and great links!)

How do you choose the genre of your next book? Or is it something that comes naturally? Do you follow the trend? Do you think that by choosing that genre-in-vogue you’ll be closer to writing the next best seller books? 

                                      Truly indie authors.  We are working on that! Keep in touch: www.king.ly

Photo Credit:  numberstumper (Creative Commons)

There is much talk about whether ebooks will replace printed books, if they will coexist, if ebooks have reached their maximum growth in sales… Numbers show that ebooks are climbing, but firm conclusions could be drawn only in some years. Nowadays the only truth is that ebooks haven’t reached their ceiling simply because they have infinite possibilities which have only been exploited   in a 10%.  In most cases they are only a transfer of the printed book on a screen, with the same typography, layout or design which sometimes is wrongly displayed.

As ebooks are gaining sales, one thing is sure: ebook readers (especially young adult ones) are looking for new books; let’s say a different kind of books, new formats. It’s not just transferring the printed page into a simple black-and-white screen. They know, for instance, that audio and video can coexist in perfect harmony with the text within the screen.

Pages fasted along one side and encased between covers is not the complete definition for the word book today; and the most interesting thing is that with all the technology and tools that are easy to reach and use, every author can define his own book! They are free to create content just in the way they like.

Books are changing, evolving. Readers are asking for something different; something that -luckily!- ebooks can meet.

  New ebooks

As devices are technologically growing and competing with each other, letters and drawings should only be a part of the blank page. Are writers ready to use all these ‘benefits’ ebooks have with respect to printed book?

Here are some ‘revolutionary’ ebooks compiled by the Wall Street Journal in which readers can, for example, enlarge images, watch videos or 3-D images or hear the voices of it characters.

The serialized fictions are another good example: episodes delivered to readers in scheduled installments.

If they operate as ebooks (we mean, no app required), could we call them interactive books?  Enhanced books? Some argue that they are something else but definitely not books; that they should be named differently. Or they just need to accept the evolution of the book and get on it?

New writers?

What does being a writer mean today? Writers are also… (yes, the ‘e’ word again!) evolving.

Authors writing on line, asking for reviews, adding videos, links, interacting, enhancing ebooks… Elle Lothlorien, for example, offers her readers the possibility of changing the end. If some don’t like the ending of her book Sleeping Beauty, they can choose another one. 'Real communication — dialogue — takes place when the author is not only able to listen to the reader, but has the ability to respond in a meaningful way.‘Now, “making something public” is different. It’s easier, cheaper and possible for anyone. So writers must look ahead, evolve.’ 

Change the end or try with alternative storyline. Remember how revolutionary seemed the Choose Your Own Adventure printed collection? How much easier it would have been to publish them as ebooks!

A concept repeated at the Books in Browsers 2012: the power of this evolution is infinite. Besides leaving the ‘power’ in hands of the author, and the possibility of direct writer-reader connection, ebooks can be linked to other ebooks and your website so you can update information about new ebooks, add tags, categorize ideas and characters… and so on. 

How many times have you heard “The future is here”? Nice slogan, but we must tell you… that is impossible! If it is here, it is called present. Books, writers and also readers are evolving; they are looking for new books, new formats. Are writers prepared?

How do you think a book will look like in some years? 

EVOLUTION (Image Credit: HikingArtist.com -Creative Commons-)

A post made a lot of noise last week: Are self-pubbed authors killing the publishing industry? And the first paragraph is categorical: Self-published authors have created a devaluing of the written word, and, some of them are scrambling to see how low they can go to get noticed. 

The argument is that indie authors do not value their works and therefore offer their ebooks at 0,99-cent or free; that all ‘this’ didn’t exist before the ebooks and self-publishing era. And the post adds: ‘Some writers are now afraid to self-publish because of the reputation that self-published works are garnering.’

Wow and… double wow! To respond and correctly argue the answer, let’s separate two issues of this post.

First concept: authors are afraid to self-publish because of the bad reputation it’s garnering. Who? The bad-reputation-of-a-book is not waiting at the border that separates traditional published of self-pubbed books to jump over the latters.  The author and his work  are the ones that can reach good or bad reputation, not the way in which the book is published.

A publisher saying NO, doesn’t represent all your potential readers. There are for sure great, amazing writers from whom we’ll never read a single line if they are only waiting for a publisher to say Yes! (Beside the fact of loosing royalties like crumbs along the way!)

Claiming that self-published works are garnering bad reputation is putting everything in the same box without distinction; is denying that publishing process is evolving

Second concept: delivering free or 0,99-cent ebooks means that the author is not appreciating his work. Using books for promotion increase sales of other books (or of the same book once the promotional time is over), simply because word-of-mouth is still the best marketing tool.

Jason Kong could not have said it better in his post 2 Ways Fiction Authors Can Start Using Social Media: You’re already putting most of your time and creative energy into your stories. What’s the return for giving away something good enough to be paid for? Answer: earning attention and trust. If your books aren’t suffering from a quality problem, then perhaps not enough of the right people know about your work. You are not discrediting your work; you are promoting it.

Let’s take a look at some examples:

*Jim Kukral offered his book for free for 2 days. He gave away 8,000 copies in 48 hours. ‘After the first free promotion, the book stayed ‘on the charts’ in Amazon’s top seller list for about 6-days, bringing in just over 100 downloads at $6.17 a piece.’

*John L. Betcher gave away one of his books for free during 2 days, willing to increase sales of all his books. And? He increased Kindle sales 3600% in one week. “If you feel moved to give this marketing strategy a try, I’d say, ‘Go for it’.”  

*”Want more readers? Freebies. This isn't new around here but giving your book away is another tool to grow your reader cult.” (Thriller author Jeff Bennington’s post)

*Author David Meerman Scott’s secret was to release his first ebook for free. 50,000 free copies were downloaded and nearly a million books (across eight titles) were sold.

Yes, it seems incredible, but it is not. If you liked that free ebook, you’ll surely want the next book of that author, and you’ll also recommend it to a friend.

But suppose you’re not willing to give all your work for free, because you invested a lot of time in it, because ‘I’m not so famous yet’… for any reason you may have. Still there is more than ‘and’ between everything and nothing.  Try with:

  *The first chapters, free.

*A previous book, free.

*The first book of a series, free.

*The first 10 who want your book have a free version.

*Only a 2-days free download promotion. If it is your first book, use this tool to increase followers.

  Do you need more to get convinced that by giving something for free you will receive benefits? I’m almost hearing you: ‘What do I get in return?’

 *In exchange, ask for an e-mail and some basic (basic, please!) data of your reader to create a database.

*Your book will spread more quickly, whether you are a star writer and much more if you are not well known yet.

*Take advantage of the best propaganda: word-of-mouth.

*Create expectation and increase communication with your readers while writing the book by giving away its’ preview.

*You might know what readers think about the books or stories in series you are writing, by giving the first for free and asking for their opinion. “Check out the first book of my next series.  I’ll be glad to have your opinion”.

*Let’s repeat this once again: whoever downloads your book for free, could be a potential customer tomorrow (or friend of someone who prefers to pay for it!).

*Because there are things you share for the simple joy of… sharing! And that doesn’t mean they were made of poor quality or that you are discrediting your work.

  We value your opinion! 1. Self-publishing, really discredits the author? Are they killing the publishing industry? 2. Have you ever given away your ebook for free? What was your experience? Would you be willing to do it or repeat it? 

                                    Truly indie authors.  We are working on that! Keep in touch: www.king.ly

Image Credit: Pew Internet

It’s a matter of time. There are some predictions about digital book surpassing physical books in a few years. No one can know the exact date in which that will happen, but while books continue to lead when it comes to reading with a child (100% tradition matter) and sharing them with other people (current big ebook mistake that need a solution!), ebooks are gaining ground and that’s a fact.

Imagine two guys admiring the way their ancestors read: ‘How uncomfortable! Do you imagine carrying all those books to school and having entire walls at home designed for their storage?’ Will we hear something like this in the future? Who knows…

We’ll not refute the arguments. Let’s not make a battle where there is none.  Let's just check the advantages of ebooks. Writers in love with your printed books, you'll see you have nothing to lose and a lot to gain by trying your sales also in digital formats.

Direct writer-reader relationship. ‘But we can also have it by publishing a book.’ It’s much easier with an ebook and you even have the opportunity to offer discounts, previews, etc., but… ok! Keep forward to the next advantage then.

Short timeline. Physical book lovers, we are sorry, but you haven’t many arguments to shoot. Discounting that the interior and cover design times are the same for both, while a book passes test prints, get printed, assembled, delivered, etc… the same reader might have read it 3 times in it digital format during that time. We are not talking about speeding up the creative process (it should be as professional as a printed book!), but its publication.

Low costs, more accessible to readers. Costs of each version are clearly different. An ebook can be up to 0 (yes, zero!) cost for publishing and distribution. Lower cost -> lower price -> grateful readers!

Every niche has its readers. There are books for small niche of readers: expensive-to-publish books. Even POD or short running prints acquire unthinkable prices. In digital format, any book can be published at low costs. And that is exactly the best thing to happen. Every writer should have the right to publish what he likes writing and not just what sells thousands of copies.   

‘Always ready’, like a Boy Scout! Have you ever gone to a bookstore and received an ‘is out’ answer? Surely. So here we have another advantage: an ebook does not require republications, reprinting or re anything.

Sale limits: ‘to infinity… and beyond!’ But here, it does fly! An ebook is unlimited in quantity of sales. Tempting, don’t you think?

We have a date, anytime, anywhere. He is comfortable in his sofa, just finished reading 50 Shades… Ok! She is comfortable in her sofa and just finished 50 Shades of Grey. Obviously (obviously!), she wants 50 Shades more. It’s raining, it’s cold, and it’s 10 pm. But she has an ereader! Issue resolved: more shadows for the lady! And the best part is that the writer didn’t lose a single sale.

More space in my room / suitcase. Although you can argue that you like to have a library at home, if you have limited space, consider that an ereader can hold hundreds of books. Not to mention if you are traveling and want to take the five or six books you are reading or those you need to study. A wide book selection, right in your hands.

Digital resources. Just to mention a resource, if you like to read books in another language, to have the dictionary into the book, is priceless! (I can swear that!)

Fairer royalties. Since the arguments of publishers to pay lower royalty rates to the author are the high costs of manufacture and distribution of the book (let’s call them ‘intermediaries’), ebook royalties should be fairer. Moreover, if you consider to self-publishing it, you may received up to the 100% of your sale!

We are just climbing the steps in the evolution from physical books to digital books.

Sure you have more advantages to comment. Or may be you want to defend physical books. Want to know your thoughts!

                                    Truly indie authors.  We are working on that! Keep in touch: www.king.ly

Photo Credit: MissTurner (Creative Commons)

Read carefully the rules before playing this game. Take it seriously if you want to reach the goal.

Roll the dice: 4. ‘Ups! You wrote something only to impress others. Next time write something you and your readers like. Back off 2 squares.’

After working for a big publisher and seeing the submission process from inside, Nayia Moysidis -author of writersbloq.com- thinks that “publishers are so overwhelmed that they aren’t discovering enough new talent.”

Luckily, nowadays all talents have their chance. No writers should wait for someone to tell him what can and what can not be published. Writers have changed of client. If in the past they reported to an industry, nowadays they report directly to readers. They do not have to attract publishers’ attention. They just simply have to understand who are their readers and reach them (in all senses). Who are you writing for? Then write the story you and your readers want to live; recreate the place where they want to be.

Roll the dice: 6. Nice shot! ‘You have already understood how to interact with your readers. Go forward 15 squares.’

It’s time to take advantage of “writer-reader direct relation”. It doesn’t mean that writing is left in the background in order to use most of the time in your book’s marketing as they intend to make you believe. It means interacting with readers, helping them to find you and your books by means of a “shy” tweet or by writing live.  The writer Silvia Hartmann gave grounds for criticism with her live and in real-time story writing. You can follow her in a public Google document as she writes her new novel, The Dragon Lords.

You do not have to use such tools if you do not feel comfortable with them (or you can use another one to gain popularity) but interaction with readers is an important part of self-publishing.

Roll the dice: 2. ‘Someone told you: as with indie-publishing anyone can publish whatever he or she wants, literature quality is worsening… and you believed that! Back off 5 squares.’

It happens everywhere, changes are difficult. But if we all have the same thought, we will only delay this change and keep our minds in a false calm: ‘Indie-publishing is worsening literature quality, every day they publish worse things.’ ‘It is difficult to self-publish; you have to know a lot about marketing.’ ’If you have a good book, it won’t be a problem to find a publisher.’

It is not true that indie-publishing has worsened literature quality. There is more offer, but be sure that readers are qualified to choose what they like. You don’t need to show publishers that your work is worth publishing or to share your profits.

Roll the dice: 3. ‘You have managed to get rid of the gatekeepers. You will report and be judged directly by your readers. If you understand this, you go forward 6 squares.’

Now that we know that in these times of indie-authors writers can be their own gatekeepers with their pros and also its responsibilities, you have to take both of them to remain in the game.

Roll the dice: 5. ‘You wrote a great book. You took time to correct and edit it. It has a great cover and inside design. You have understood that self-publishing a professional book was important.  You’ve reach your goal!’

                                   Truly indie authors.  We are working on that! Keep in touch: www.king.ly

‘Meet your next favorite book’. This easy-to-use site is not just a place to choose your next book but also helps you organize such  information.

First you must create a free account or sign in using your Facebook, Twitter or Google account. Then you can search for friends who are already using Goodreads. What for? For example, you will be able to see what they are reading and interact with them.

Also if you wish, you may start adding new ‘friends’ at Goodreads. Once you read a book you can qualify it, write your comments, recommend it or not.

  But what if you are writer? That’s the best part! This ‘free website for book lovers’ can also be a good alternative to promote your books.

You may try the Author Program to create your profile, sync your blog with Goodreads (and your friends will be noticed when you post something new!), ask for reviews… Help readers to find you!

How to start? To join the Author Program, check if your book is already listed on Goodreads by typing the title into the search bar. Yes, great! No? Do not get discouraged, you can include it yourself. If the latter was the case, you will be redirected to another page where you will be able to click ‘Manually add a book’ (on the right side of the screen). Load all the book information and do not forget to upload the cover. Take your time to include all information that can help readers to find your book. Click the ‘Create book’ button and… ¡Listo!

Moreover, as a writer or reader, you can create or join groups. Click Groups at the top bar. You can search for a Group by entering a key word on the search bar, or choose between one of the Recently Active Groups list. And if you don’t find the exact group you were looking for, just create it. Click again on Groups and then Create a Group (on the right side of the screen). Give your new Group a name, a description and choose if it will be Public, Private, Restricted or Secret. Explore this page for a while before creating the group because you can add tags, select topics and subtopics, etc.

The Discussion section is a good chance to publicize your book. Look for the Discussion flap in the middle of the screen at the home page. Check that your book does not already have a Discussion. If not, you can create it by clicking Start a new discussion topic. You must enter the name of the book to which the discussion refers to, the topic of discussion and create a Discussion Question (if you allow Members to vote the answers; answers will be ordered by the most positive votes) or just enter the Comment you want to discuss.

If you are planning an event for your books, announce it also at Goodreads; create an Event. Choose Explore at the top main bar, Events, Add an Event (on the right side of the screen). Enter the date, hour, name of the event, address and its description. You can ask for rsvp and choose to include the event in the public listing. You may also plan a giveaway list of your books. Get advantage of this promotion tool!

If you are about to publish a new book, you can post it so that it can be read and receive its reviews. Try it by clicking Explore and then Creative Writing. You can search the posted stories by tag or gender. Add a new one by clicking my writing and then get started. Please read carefully the right side of the screen (Copyright, Fan Fiction, etc.) before you write something.

If you have a Facebook or Twitter account to promote your books, don’t forget to connect them with Goodreads. And if you have a blog or website, you can also add a Goodreads widget to it and allow your readers include your book on their Goodreads accounts. Choose the Widget flat on My Account and explore it.

There is a brief presentation of the Author Program that may help you.

Too much work? Want to have some fun? Test your knowledge with their Trivias and Quizzes. Click Explore at the top main bar and choose one of the Fun topics.

Are you using Goodreads Author Program? Do you use Goodreads as a reader? Please add your tips here!

                               Truly indie authors.  We are working on that! Keep in touch: www.king.ly

Photo Credit: Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious (Creative Commons)

At this point of the road, with a good distance walked in the ebook world and some reliable surveys, it is clear that communication between readers plays an important role in the sale of books and ebooks. When you ask readers How do you choose what to read next? Why did you choose that book?, their top answers are: someone lent it to me / someone recommended it. And we might even add: I like the author / everyone is talking about this book.

Leaving aside the ‘I like the author’ option, word-of-mouth would be the sum of all other ones, and casual sharing is an important part of the discovery process.

What stops the word-of-mouth? Having no presence in social media; having no platform to interact with readers. What stops casual sharing? DRM, no doubt. It is difficult to understand that sharing and lending books do not affect sales. A reader that shares your book with friends is not a problem, it is just the opposite. He helps you to generate more presence and therefore more sales.

When did a book-lending-club or borrowed books threat physical book sales? Why then casual sharing is being seen as a threat to ebook sales? Perhaps because we were led to believe Big Publishers’ speech that DRM would protect author incomes and piracy (and when we hear 'protect your income', we off course prefer a secure closure in our pocket!). But they were just preventing casual sharing with friends, protecting their own interest and not the author’s interest. You will share an ebook only between people you know, just as you do with physical books. Which is the difference?

As an indie author, do you see casual sharing as an extra value of your ebook? Or ebook lending is still a taboo for you?

                                Truly indie authors.  We are working on that! Keep in touch: www.king.ly