Kudos to John Locke who has become the first independently published author to have joined the Kindle Million Club. Locke joins Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, Lee Child, Suzanne Collins and Michael Connelly in the Kindle Million Club. Platforms such as Kindle Digital Publishing, PubIt, self-publishing sites such as Lulu.com, Smashwords.com and many others have given the opportunity to independent authors to compete on a level playing field with the giants of the book selling industry. John Locke said it more eloquently, “Kindle Direct Publishing has provided an opportunity for independent authors to compete on a level playing field with the giants of the book selling industry. Not only did KDP give me a chance, they helped at every turn. Quite simply, KDP is the greatest friend an author can have.”
John Locke has been working at his craft on a daily basis. He has been able to develop it to the point of wanting to help others now. He has released a new how-to marketing guide for self-publishers.
John Locke, of Louisville, KY., is the internationally bestselling author of nine novels including "Vegas Moon,” "Wish List,” "A Girl Like You,” "Follow the Stone,” "Don't Poke the Bear!" and the New York Times bestselling eBook, "Saving Rachel." Locke's latest book, "How I sold 1 Million eBooks in 5 Months," is a how-to marketing guide for self-published authors.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
PotterMore Strikes Out Publishers and Retailers Who Complaint of eBooks Exclusivity
There is much rumbling and complaining in the publishing world with PotterMore's decision to publish J. K. Rowling's Happy Potter ebooks on the new site.
Retailers hit out at J K Rowling’s decision to sell the Harry Potter e-books directly through her Pottermore website, which will launch in October. A Pottermore spokesperson said: “Pottermore is designed to encourage the reading and re-reading of the Harry Potter books in all formats and editions, both print and digital, to both existing and new generations of readers. We think this will have a positive effect on those selling physical books as well as on sales of digital ones.”
Furthermore, the spokesperson added, “The decision to make e-books exclusive to the site was to ensure ease of availability across all reading devices and to the widest possible audience and also to support the ultimate intention of the site to be an online reading experience.”
Retailers hit out at J K Rowling’s decision to sell the Harry Potter e-books directly through her Pottermore website, which will launch in October. A Pottermore spokesperson said: “Pottermore is designed to encourage the reading and re-reading of the Harry Potter books in all formats and editions, both print and digital, to both existing and new generations of readers. We think this will have a positive effect on those selling physical books as well as on sales of digital ones.”
Furthermore, the spokesperson added, “The decision to make e-books exclusive to the site was to ensure ease of availability across all reading devices and to the widest possible audience and also to support the ultimate intention of the site to be an online reading experience.”
Saturday, June 18, 2011
The Kindle Million Club: Michael Connelly Joins Ranks of Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Charlaine Harris, Lee Child and Suzanne Collins: Authors Who Sold More than 1 Million eBooks on Kindle
Who is Michael Connelly?
Mr. Connelly is the bestselling author of "The Lincoln Lawyer," a book that was made into a movie starring Matthew McConaughey. He is a consumate storyteller as his bestselling Harry Bosh series of novels have shown over the years. His next Bosh novel is scheduled to appear in the next few months. The Drop will be his next Harry Bosh novel. He is also the New York Times best-selling author of "The Reversal," "The Scarecrow," "The Brass Verdict," and "The Fifth Witness."
Connelly's books just like any other author's books benefit from Amazon Kindle's famous "Buy Once, Read Everywhere" mission. It is better explained this way, "customers can purchase these books and read them on the third-generation Kindles that start at $114 with the new high-contrast Pearl e-ink display, as well on iPads, iPod touches, iPhones, Macs, PCs, BlackBerrys, Windows Phones and Android-based devices. Amazon's Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off. With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books you purchase from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon, where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.
With the arrival and high sales of e-readers since 2009, we can anticipate that many other writers will also benefit from getting their works published online or self-published.
When we consider that many foreign countries have not even started using the technology facilitating epublishing and ereading, we can predict a fertile field of self-publishers. No matter what, the key question will remain whether or not a writer has a story that connects with the reader. Content or story will reign for ever!
Mr. Connelly is the bestselling author of "The Lincoln Lawyer," a book that was made into a movie starring Matthew McConaughey. He is a consumate storyteller as his bestselling Harry Bosh series of novels have shown over the years. His next Bosh novel is scheduled to appear in the next few months. The Drop will be his next Harry Bosh novel. He is also the New York Times best-selling author of "The Reversal," "The Scarecrow," "The Brass Verdict," and "The Fifth Witness."
Connelly's books just like any other author's books benefit from Amazon Kindle's famous "Buy Once, Read Everywhere" mission. It is better explained this way, "customers can purchase these books and read them on the third-generation Kindles that start at $114 with the new high-contrast Pearl e-ink display, as well on iPads, iPod touches, iPhones, Macs, PCs, BlackBerrys, Windows Phones and Android-based devices. Amazon's Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off. With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books you purchase from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon, where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.
With the arrival and high sales of e-readers since 2009, we can anticipate that many other writers will also benefit from getting their works published online or self-published.
When we consider that many foreign countries have not even started using the technology facilitating epublishing and ereading, we can predict a fertile field of self-publishers. No matter what, the key question will remain whether or not a writer has a story that connects with the reader. Content or story will reign for ever!
Why You Should Consider ePublishing Your Next YA Fantasy or Romance Novel
Attitudes have come a long way. Thanks God, they have also changed! Self-publishing no longer has the stigmas attached to it for a long time. Since the arrival of publishing platforms such as Lulu, Smashwords, KDP or Kindle Digital Publishing, BarnesandNoble's PubIt, many writers who would not otherwise be published have taken the plunge. If we count the success of the few millionaires, there is a lot of progress to be made and recognition to acquire in this field. We should not forget either that blogging platforms such as blogger and blogspot, livejournal, tumblr, wordpress, tripod, etc have also greatly contributed to the emergence of new works created and published on the new platforms. Many writers started blogging before taking the eleap.
Here are some of the benefits of publishing yourself:
You own the rights when you self-publish.
• You don’t have to pay an agent 15% of everything you make.
• You earn more royalties. I’ll get about $6 per copy self-published. But just $1-$2 if I had a publisher.
• Publishers decide in advance which books get the marketing dollars, and only 20 percent of any list has a major budget.
• The self-published author has total control.You can choose your own editor, your own artwork. A traditional publishing house will not give you this much control.
An author once said, "Self-publishing used to have a real stigma attached to it. To be self-published meant your work was SO BAD that not one publisher would take you seriously. But that’s just not true anymore. Readers just want a great book to read.”
Now if we look at Amazon's press release, we know that this is just a scratch of the surface
"SEATTLE, May 19, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- (NASDAQ:AMZN)--Amazon began selling hardcover and paperback books in July 1995. Twelve years later in November 2007, Amazon introduced the revolutionary Kindle and began selling Kindle books. By July 2010, Kindle book sales had surpassed hardcover book sales, and six months later, Kindle books overtook paperback books to become the most popular format on Amazon.com. Today, less than four years after introducing Kindle books, Amazon.com customers are now purchasing more Kindle books than all print books - hardcover and paperback - combined.
"Customers are now choosing Kindle books more often than print books. We had high hopes that this would happen eventually, but we never imagined it would happen this quickly - we've been selling print books for 15 years and Kindle books for less than four years," said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon.com. "In addition, we're excited by the response to Kindle with Special Offers for only $114, which has quickly become the bestselling member of the Kindle family. We continue to receive positive comments from customers on the low $114 price and the money-saving special offers. We're grateful to our customers for continuing to make Kindle the bestselling e-reader in the world and the Kindle Store the most popular e-bookstore in the world."
Recent milestones for Kindle include:
Since April 1, for every 100 print books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 105 Kindle books. This includes sales of hardcover and paperback books by Amazon where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the number even higher.
So far in 2011, the tremendous growth of Kindle book sales, combined with the continued growth in Amazon's print book sales, have resulted in the fastest year-over-year growth rate for Amazon's U.S. books business, in both units and dollars, in over 10 years. This includes books in all formats, print and digital. Free books are excluded in the calculation of growth rates.
In the five weeks since its introduction, Kindle with Special Offers for only $114 is already the bestselling member of the Kindle family in the U.S.
Amazon sold more than 3x as many Kindle books so far in 2011 as it did during the same period in 2010.
Less than one year after introducing the UK Kindle Store, Amazon.co.uk is now selling more Kindle books than hardcover books, even as hardcover sales continue to grow. Since April 1, Amazon.co.uk customers are purchasing Kindle books over hardcover books at a rate of more than 2 to 1.
Kindle offers the largest selection of the most popular books people want to read. The U.S. Kindle Store now has more than 950,000 books, including New Releases and 109 of 111 New York Times Best Sellers. Over 790,000 of these books are $9.99 or less, including 69 New York Times Best Sellers. Millions of free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are also available to read on Kindle devices. More than 175,000 books have been added to the Kindle Store in just the last 5 months.
All Kindle Books let you "Buy Once, Read Everywhere" - on all generation Kindles, as well as on the largest number of devices and platforms, including iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Android-based devices, and soon HP TouchPads and BlackBerry PlayBooks. Amazon's Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off. With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books you purchase from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon, where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle, Kindle 3G, Kindle with Special Offers and Kindle DX are the revolutionary portable readers that wirelessly download books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle 3G and Kindle DX utilize the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so users never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Kindle is the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items sold on Amazon.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, and www.amazon.it. As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
SOURCE: Amazon.com, Inc."
Here are some of the benefits of publishing yourself:
You own the rights when you self-publish.
• You don’t have to pay an agent 15% of everything you make.
• You earn more royalties. I’ll get about $6 per copy self-published. But just $1-$2 if I had a publisher.
• Publishers decide in advance which books get the marketing dollars, and only 20 percent of any list has a major budget.
• The self-published author has total control.You can choose your own editor, your own artwork. A traditional publishing house will not give you this much control.
An author once said, "Self-publishing used to have a real stigma attached to it. To be self-published meant your work was SO BAD that not one publisher would take you seriously. But that’s just not true anymore. Readers just want a great book to read.”
Now if we look at Amazon's press release, we know that this is just a scratch of the surface
"SEATTLE, May 19, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- (NASDAQ:AMZN)--Amazon began selling hardcover and paperback books in July 1995. Twelve years later in November 2007, Amazon introduced the revolutionary Kindle and began selling Kindle books. By July 2010, Kindle book sales had surpassed hardcover book sales, and six months later, Kindle books overtook paperback books to become the most popular format on Amazon.com. Today, less than four years after introducing Kindle books, Amazon.com customers are now purchasing more Kindle books than all print books - hardcover and paperback - combined.
"Customers are now choosing Kindle books more often than print books. We had high hopes that this would happen eventually, but we never imagined it would happen this quickly - we've been selling print books for 15 years and Kindle books for less than four years," said Jeff Bezos, Founder and CEO, Amazon.com. "In addition, we're excited by the response to Kindle with Special Offers for only $114, which has quickly become the bestselling member of the Kindle family. We continue to receive positive comments from customers on the low $114 price and the money-saving special offers. We're grateful to our customers for continuing to make Kindle the bestselling e-reader in the world and the Kindle Store the most popular e-bookstore in the world."
Recent milestones for Kindle include:
Since April 1, for every 100 print books Amazon.com has sold, it has sold 105 Kindle books. This includes sales of hardcover and paperback books by Amazon where there is no Kindle edition. Free Kindle books are excluded and if included would make the number even higher.
So far in 2011, the tremendous growth of Kindle book sales, combined with the continued growth in Amazon's print book sales, have resulted in the fastest year-over-year growth rate for Amazon's U.S. books business, in both units and dollars, in over 10 years. This includes books in all formats, print and digital. Free books are excluded in the calculation of growth rates.
In the five weeks since its introduction, Kindle with Special Offers for only $114 is already the bestselling member of the Kindle family in the U.S.
Amazon sold more than 3x as many Kindle books so far in 2011 as it did during the same period in 2010.
Less than one year after introducing the UK Kindle Store, Amazon.co.uk is now selling more Kindle books than hardcover books, even as hardcover sales continue to grow. Since April 1, Amazon.co.uk customers are purchasing Kindle books over hardcover books at a rate of more than 2 to 1.
Kindle offers the largest selection of the most popular books people want to read. The U.S. Kindle Store now has more than 950,000 books, including New Releases and 109 of 111 New York Times Best Sellers. Over 790,000 of these books are $9.99 or less, including 69 New York Times Best Sellers. Millions of free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are also available to read on Kindle devices. More than 175,000 books have been added to the Kindle Store in just the last 5 months.
All Kindle Books let you "Buy Once, Read Everywhere" - on all generation Kindles, as well as on the largest number of devices and platforms, including iPad, iPod touch, iPhone, Mac, PC, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, Android-based devices, and soon HP TouchPads and BlackBerry PlayBooks. Amazon's Whispersync technology syncs your place across devices, so you can pick up where you left off. With Kindle Worry-Free Archive, books you purchase from the Kindle Store are automatically backed up online in your Kindle library on Amazon, where they can be re-downloaded wirelessly for free, anytime.
About Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and today offers Earth's Biggest Selection. Amazon.com, Inc. seeks to be Earth's most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible prices. Amazon.com and other sellers offer millions of unique new, refurbished and used items in categories such as Books; Movies, Music & Games; Digital Downloads; Electronics & Computers; Home & Garden; Toys, Kids & Baby; Grocery; Apparel, Shoes & Jewelry; Health & Beauty; Sports & Outdoors; and Tools, Auto & Industrial. Amazon Web Services provides Amazon's developer customers with access to in-the-cloud infrastructure services based on Amazon's own back-end technology platform, which developers can use to enable virtually any type of business. Kindle, Kindle 3G, Kindle with Special Offers and Kindle DX are the revolutionary portable readers that wirelessly download books, magazines, newspapers, blogs and personal documents to a crisp, high-resolution electronic ink display that looks and reads like real paper. Kindle 3G and Kindle DX utilize the same 3G wireless technology as advanced cell phones, so users never need to hunt for a Wi-Fi hotspot. Kindle is the #1 bestselling product across the millions of items sold on Amazon.
Amazon and its affiliates operate websites, including www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, www.amazon.co.jp, www.amazon.fr, www.amazon.ca, www.amazon.cn, and www.amazon.it. As used herein, "Amazon.com," "we," "our" and similar terms include Amazon.com, Inc., and its subsidiaries, unless the context indicates otherwise.
Forward-Looking Statements
This announcement contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Actual results may differ significantly from management's expectations. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, risks related to competition, management of growth, new products, services and technologies, potential fluctuations in operating results, international expansion, outcomes of legal proceedings and claims, fulfillment center optimization, seasonality, commercial agreements, acquisitions and strategic transactions, foreign exchange rates, system interruption, inventory, government regulation and taxation, payments and fraud. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent filings.
SOURCE: Amazon.com, Inc."
Digital Publishing or ePublishing Allows Many Writers and Books to Find Global Audience and Success: The Minting of Self-published Millionaires such as Amanda Hocking, JA Konrath, John Locke...
What is Self-publishing? What are the Self-publishing resources?
Here is the definition in case you did not realize this yet. It is open to anybody who loves to write and can publishing an ebook either on their blog or one of these publishing platforms. Use any of these platforms (listed below) and you are on your way to catch up with the likes of Amanda Hocking, HP Mallory, JA Konrath, John Locke and many others
How is it done? What do you need?
"Self-publishing is done without the involvement or vetting of an established publisher and uses a publishing system such as Lulu, Smashwords, Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing or Barnes & Noble's PubIt! Many traditional media outlets do not review self-published books."
No matter what you do and which novel publishing way you use, a good story remains the central part of the whole thing. Knowing how to tell a story, how to write and market it or promote it is very important too. For this, you can follow the leaders such as Amanda, JA Konrath, HP Mallory, John Locke etc.
What are the current hot genres or categories in self-publishing or romance fiction publishing?
Romance novels continue to sell very well. YA Urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels are doing very well. Sci-Fi continues to do very well too.
This was unheard of in the past. Self-publishing is making new millionaires. Amanda Hocking's goals are to be a billionaire. Believe it or not, she can reach her goals if her books continue to sell like hot pies. Selling they are, based on the recent reports. Amanda is the maker of her own destiny.
The Role of Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter, Popular Genre, and Storyselling skills, Self-promotion (there is no other way)
Hocking credits her success to aggressive self-promotion on her blog, Facebook and Twitter, word of mouth and writing in a popular genre — her books star trolls, vampires and zombies.
And she's making money.
"To me, that was a price point that made sense for what I would be willing to spend on an e-book," says Hocking, who sets her own prices. "I use iTunes a lot, and it's 99 cents and $1.29 a song."
For every $2.99 book she sells, she keeps 70%, with the rest going to the online bookseller. For every 99-cent book she sells, she keeps 30%.
H.P. Mallory, another self-published paranormal e-novelist, has sold 70,000 copies of her e-books since July. Her success caught the attention of traditional publisher Random House, with whom she just signed a three-book contract. "Selling e-books on Kindle and Barnesandnoble.com basically changed my life," Mallory says. "I never would have gotten where I am today if I hadn't."
Others are profiting, too:
• The No. 4-selling Kindle book (it has been as high as No. 1) is The Hangman's Daughter by German novelist Oliver Potzsch.
Here is the definition in case you did not realize this yet. It is open to anybody who loves to write and can publishing an ebook either on their blog or one of these publishing platforms. Use any of these platforms (listed below) and you are on your way to catch up with the likes of Amanda Hocking, HP Mallory, JA Konrath, John Locke and many others
How is it done? What do you need?
"Self-publishing is done without the involvement or vetting of an established publisher and uses a publishing system such as Lulu, Smashwords, Amazon's Kindle Direct Publishing or Barnes & Noble's PubIt! Many traditional media outlets do not review self-published books."
No matter what you do and which novel publishing way you use, a good story remains the central part of the whole thing. Knowing how to tell a story, how to write and market it or promote it is very important too. For this, you can follow the leaders such as Amanda, JA Konrath, HP Mallory, John Locke etc.
What are the current hot genres or categories in self-publishing or romance fiction publishing?
Romance novels continue to sell very well. YA Urban fantasy and paranormal romance novels are doing very well. Sci-Fi continues to do very well too.
This was unheard of in the past. Self-publishing is making new millionaires. Amanda Hocking's goals are to be a billionaire. Believe it or not, she can reach her goals if her books continue to sell like hot pies. Selling they are, based on the recent reports. Amanda is the maker of her own destiny.
The Role of Social Media such as Facebook, Twitter, Popular Genre, and Storyselling skills, Self-promotion (there is no other way)
Hocking credits her success to aggressive self-promotion on her blog, Facebook and Twitter, word of mouth and writing in a popular genre — her books star trolls, vampires and zombies.
And she's making money.
"To me, that was a price point that made sense for what I would be willing to spend on an e-book," says Hocking, who sets her own prices. "I use iTunes a lot, and it's 99 cents and $1.29 a song."
For every $2.99 book she sells, she keeps 70%, with the rest going to the online bookseller. For every 99-cent book she sells, she keeps 30%.
H.P. Mallory, another self-published paranormal e-novelist, has sold 70,000 copies of her e-books since July. Her success caught the attention of traditional publisher Random House, with whom she just signed a three-book contract. "Selling e-books on Kindle and Barnesandnoble.com basically changed my life," Mallory says. "I never would have gotten where I am today if I hadn't."
Others are profiting, too:
• The No. 4-selling Kindle book (it has been as high as No. 1) is The Hangman's Daughter by German novelist Oliver Potzsch.
Amanda Hocking Made It Big at St. Martin's Press: Self-published Queen, Amanda Hocking, Reigned in the NYTimes' 3 Page Article
New York Times's Strawberry Saroyan's article on the star of self-publishing is very interesting. I had a great time reading it. In the story, the NYTIMES writer talked about the major deal that Amanda signed with St. Martin's Press for $2 million. This is a great deal for the self-pubbed queen who hopes to build a $billion empire. If J.K. Rowling did it, why can't Amanda Hocking do it? After all, she is a great storyteller and storyseller. PubIt and Kindle platforms have made it possible for her.
Amanda is going to receive $2 million for her next four books in a new series she calls Watersong. St. Martin's Press will publish and market these books. The author hopes that this deal will rock the publishing world and bring her closer to reaching her goals.
In the article, Amanda Hocking is being compared to the likes of very well established writers/authors such as Nora Roberts, Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, J.K Rowling, and Stephenie Meyer. Many industry insiders and fans are saying that she is a very good writer and storyteller as shown by the series she uploaded to KDP and since sold more than $2 million worth, "Her 10 novels include the paranormal-romance “Trylle,” a four-book vampire series that begins with “My Blood Approves” and “Hollowland,” which kicks off a zombie series whose second book will come out in the fall. Her character-driven books, which feature trolls, hobgoblins and fairy-tale elements and keep the pages turning, have generated an excitement not felt in the industry since Stephenie Meyer or perhaps even J. K. Rowling. “She’s just a really good storyteller...."
You can read the whole article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/magazine/amanda-hocking-storyseller.html
Amanda is going to receive $2 million for her next four books in a new series she calls Watersong. St. Martin's Press will publish and market these books. The author hopes that this deal will rock the publishing world and bring her closer to reaching her goals.
In the article, Amanda Hocking is being compared to the likes of very well established writers/authors such as Nora Roberts, Stieg Larsson, James Patterson, J.K Rowling, and Stephenie Meyer. Many industry insiders and fans are saying that she is a very good writer and storyteller as shown by the series she uploaded to KDP and since sold more than $2 million worth, "Her 10 novels include the paranormal-romance “Trylle,” a four-book vampire series that begins with “My Blood Approves” and “Hollowland,” which kicks off a zombie series whose second book will come out in the fall. Her character-driven books, which feature trolls, hobgoblins and fairy-tale elements and keep the pages turning, have generated an excitement not felt in the industry since Stephenie Meyer or perhaps even J. K. Rowling. “She’s just a really good storyteller...."
You can read the whole article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/magazine/amanda-hocking-storyseller.html
Sunday, June 12, 2011
How to and Where to Selfpub, ePublish Your Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Novel eBooks and Faery Tales Manuscripts
What do writers do? What do Publishers do?
Writers write. For many aspiring authors, that is the hard time. Finding or creating time to write is one of the major obstacles that any aspiring authors have to deal with these days. But the solution lies in sitting down and getting it done. Whether you do not know how to start your story or whether you have a guideline you are following, the most important thing is to start banging on this keyboard. It takes time to chart your story. Eventually, after writing so many stories, you will be able to just sit down and start a story. And whether you are writing romance novels, fairy tales or just a short-short, you will need to have the hook. What's the hook in your story? It could be the setting, the locale, the way you tell your story. It could be that one thing that makes your story or your book come alive in the mind of your readers. Keep in mind that the reader is seeking to be entertained. So go ahead and entertain him or her.
Writers write. Once you have a manuscript, you are able to start thinking about where to get it published, which famous publishing company is going to publish it. Well, my first advice to you would be to get familiar with the writings of JAkonrath.blogspot.com published on this blog. JA Konrath's blog, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing eBooks and Self-Publishing has become the blog to read, the blog that gives you tips and everything you need to know about the publishing industry's change.
Now that you have your manuscript, think about the selfpublishing and ebooks publishing opportunities that exist in the world these days:
Kindle Digital Publishing (kdp.amazon.com)
Barnes and Noble Pubit (bn.com/pubit)
Lulu.com
smashwords.com (highly recommended by most writers)
Your own website where you can sell your books using a Paypal account
Your own blogs where you can blog about your books. Use blogger.com or blogspot.com or wordpress.com or Tumblr.com or typepad.com etc.
Now sit down and write the greatest story that the world has ever had!
Good luck sitting down to start writing the best American novel or short story.
Writers write. For many aspiring authors, that is the hard time. Finding or creating time to write is one of the major obstacles that any aspiring authors have to deal with these days. But the solution lies in sitting down and getting it done. Whether you do not know how to start your story or whether you have a guideline you are following, the most important thing is to start banging on this keyboard. It takes time to chart your story. Eventually, after writing so many stories, you will be able to just sit down and start a story. And whether you are writing romance novels, fairy tales or just a short-short, you will need to have the hook. What's the hook in your story? It could be the setting, the locale, the way you tell your story. It could be that one thing that makes your story or your book come alive in the mind of your readers. Keep in mind that the reader is seeking to be entertained. So go ahead and entertain him or her.
Writers write. Once you have a manuscript, you are able to start thinking about where to get it published, which famous publishing company is going to publish it. Well, my first advice to you would be to get familiar with the writings of JAkonrath.blogspot.com published on this blog. JA Konrath's blog, A Newbie's Guide to Publishing eBooks and Self-Publishing has become the blog to read, the blog that gives you tips and everything you need to know about the publishing industry's change.
Now that you have your manuscript, think about the selfpublishing and ebooks publishing opportunities that exist in the world these days:
Kindle Digital Publishing (kdp.amazon.com)
Barnes and Noble Pubit (bn.com/pubit)
Lulu.com
smashwords.com (highly recommended by most writers)
Your own website where you can sell your books using a Paypal account
Your own blogs where you can blog about your books. Use blogger.com or blogspot.com or wordpress.com or Tumblr.com or typepad.com etc.
Now sit down and write the greatest story that the world has ever had!
Good luck sitting down to start writing the best American novel or short story.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The Growing List of Urban Book Publishers and Agents, Paranormal Romance Publishers, YA Urban Fantasy Publishers
More and more writers are writing YA urban fantasy books. They can not keep up with the young readers who are reading them. Finding a list of good and trusted publishers is getting more and more difficult as the agents become publishers and publishers are in a period of great change. The current solution is to build a business from the ground up. Self-publishing, made possible by great algorithm and current tech gives a great solution to writers and established authors.
You will find a lot of ethnic publishers, specially black/African-American publishers, Asian publishers, Hispanic publishers and Native American publishers who are interested in receiving all kinds of submissions. Obviously, you have the large group of other publishers who accept and review all submissions. Make sure you follow their submission rules.
Here is a sample of the growing list of urban/YA/Paranormal Romance/Horror publishers. Please just know that there are many more who will be added to this list. If you want to make a recommendation of a nice publisher, write it down in the recommendation section below or the "comment area" below this post. Some of them do not accept unsolicited materials. Get familiar with their open submissions dates and deadlines.
List of Publishers You May Want to Consider: The following is only a suggestion list. You do not have to go with any of them. Read their submission guidelines and make sure you are comfortable with them.
www.smashwords.com (where ePub, industry's standard platform, reigns)
www.kdp.amazon.com (Think about the power and easiness of publishing your works on your own terms without any control from a legacy publisher. You will get %70 on books priced at $2.99 and %35 on books priced at 99 cents. Examples: Michael Connelly, Amanda Hocking, JA Konrath etc)
www.lulu.com
www.bn.com/pubit
www.scribd.com
www.decadentpublishing.com
www.blackbooksdirect.com/
www.urbanbooks.net
www.streetfiction.org
www.triplecrownpublications.com/
www.blackbookplus.com
www.kensingtonbooks.com/
www.doubleuppublishing.com/
www.blacknews.com/
www.avonromance.com/
www.hachettebookgroup.com/
www.simonandschuster.com/
You will find a lot of ethnic publishers, specially black/African-American publishers, Asian publishers, Hispanic publishers and Native American publishers who are interested in receiving all kinds of submissions. Obviously, you have the large group of other publishers who accept and review all submissions. Make sure you follow their submission rules.
Here is a sample of the growing list of urban/YA/Paranormal Romance/Horror publishers. Please just know that there are many more who will be added to this list. If you want to make a recommendation of a nice publisher, write it down in the recommendation section below or the "comment area" below this post. Some of them do not accept unsolicited materials. Get familiar with their open submissions dates and deadlines.
List of Publishers You May Want to Consider: The following is only a suggestion list. You do not have to go with any of them. Read their submission guidelines and make sure you are comfortable with them.
www.smashwords.com (where ePub, industry's standard platform, reigns)
www.kdp.amazon.com (Think about the power and easiness of publishing your works on your own terms without any control from a legacy publisher. You will get %70 on books priced at $2.99 and %35 on books priced at 99 cents. Examples: Michael Connelly, Amanda Hocking, JA Konrath etc)
www.lulu.com
www.bn.com/pubit
www.scribd.com
www.decadentpublishing.com
www.blackbooksdirect.com/
www.urbanbooks.net
www.streetfiction.org
www.triplecrownpublications.com/
www.blackbookplus.com
www.kensingtonbooks.com/
www.doubleuppublishing.com/
www.blacknews.com/
www.avonromance.com/
www.hachettebookgroup.com/
www.simonandschuster.com/
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
EroticRomancePublishers.com Comments and Reports on the world of Erotica and Romance Publishing: Great Resource and Updated Source of Info for Romance Writers and Authors
EroticRomancePublishers.com is doing a great job reporting and commenting on the Erotica and Romance Publishing markets. It presents the markets and the publishers with related comments on what they publish. If they are accepting new manuscript submissions, you can read about them on eroticromancepublishers.com.
If you are in the Erotica and erotic romance field, this site is a great resource you should check from time to time. There is a good chance you will find what you are looking for. On EroticRomancePublishers.com, there is a resource waiting for your attention.
If you are in the Erotica and erotic romance field, this site is a great resource you should check from time to time. There is a good chance you will find what you are looking for. On EroticRomancePublishers.com, there is a resource waiting for your attention.
Monday, June 6, 2011
HP Mallory's Great Spring Deals: Hurry Up, Tell Others About Her Great Books, ONLY .99
If you know somebody who has not purchased a copy of HP Mallory's books, here is your chance to inform him/her.
Here is what she posted on her blog:
"Hello everyone!
I've decided to run a Spring sale! LOL
For four days only, all of my books are priced at just .99 each (for both Kindle and Nook!)
So, if you can think of anyone who might enjoy them, please spread the word!!
Thank you in advance,
HP"
So tell others about her books now
Here is what she posted on her blog:
"Hello everyone!
I've decided to run a Spring sale! LOL
For four days only, all of my books are priced at just .99 each (for both Kindle and Nook!)
So, if you can think of anyone who might enjoy them, please spread the word!!
Thank you in advance,
HP"
So tell others about her books now
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