Jo Harrison's Blog, page 3
April 1, 2017
Free: How to Successfully Market Your eBook
It’s been 3 months since I launched my eBook, How to Successfully Market Your eBook, and it’s actually exceeded my expectations. Sales have been consistent and the book has often been in the Top 100 of the Web Marketing and Publishing categories on Amazon.
When I published the eBook I signed up to KDP Select, something that I recommend newly self published authors to do at least once. It offers the opportunity of running a free (or countdown) promotion for up to 5 days in a 90 day period.
Well as I am coming to the end of my 90 days I decided to make my eBook free for 5 days. After this time I will be leaving Amazon KDP Select and publishing on other retailers such as Apple and Barnes & Noble.
I won’t be doing this promotion again, so over the next 5 days please do download your copy and share this with anyone that might benefit from reading it.
If you do download the eBook and find it helpful I would be really pleased if you left a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Reviews are really important, as you’ll find out in the book.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Thanks in advance,
Jo 
January 5, 2017
How to Successfully Market Your eBook
Many of you would have signed up for my eBook Marketing Course back in 2013… well the course is now an eBook, and it’s been massively updated since 2013, with a brand new section on social media advertising!
The eBook is available now on Amazon as a pre-order, the release date is Monday 9th January 2017. It’s at the bargain price of just 99p, so if you want to pick up your marketing again for 2017, why not pop over and purchase a copy. I’ve already had some fab reviews from those who took the eCourse, here are a couple:
It’s a lovely down to earth book with practical no nonsense information that I could have done with a few years ago.
It was so good that I found myself jotting down tips galore. I was in the process of revamping my blog on WordPress and contributing to it far more regularly than I had done for some time so reading your tips have proven both timely and invigorating. I was also enlightened by the advice provided on reviews, social media and promotions.
Do let me know if you purchase the book, I would love to know if you liked it and whether you’ll be putting my advice into practice!
October 4, 2016
Latest Formatted Books
It’s been a very long time since I wrote a blog post on this website, it’s partly because I am really busy formatting books that I don’t have a lot of time to talk about formatting them. So in this very brief message, I am still here, drowning in many books to format… and if you’re wondering what books I have been working on, wonder no longer, here is a bunch of them!
September 4, 2014
Review: New Oxford Dictionary for Writers & Editors
A review of New Oxford Dictionary for Writers & Editors, kindly written by Anne Coates.
Anne Coates is an editor and author who has published seven non-fiction books including Applying to University 2014 (Need-2-Know), Parenting Without Tears Guide to Living with Teenagers and Parenting Without Tears Guide to Loving Discipline (both Endeavour Press) plus two collections of short stories. She is currently working on a crime novel and can be followed on twitter @Anne_Coates1
Subtitled The Essential A-Z Guide to the Written Word, this dictionary was first published as the Authors’ and Printers’ Dictionary in 1905. There have been many versions and incarnations over the years and this is the latest: revised and updated.
New Oxford Dictionary for Writers & Editors (£14.99/ ¢35 is a compact size and is the perfect desk companion for anyone who is writing or editing. So if you often wonder which words are hyphenated, you can see at a glance that ice bucket is two words, ice-cold is hyphenated but icebreaker is one word.
You’ll also find correct spellings of authors’ names together with their dates, and real names if they wrote under a pseudonym as well as the titles of books and the names of fictional characters. Personally I wondered how they chose which authors and book titles to include – Shakespeare and Dickens are included along with Lewis Carroll but obviously modern authors are missing but pop singers like Madonna make the page. With 434 pages obviously editorial decisions had to be made.
Apart from the obvious use of checking spellings of difficult or unusual words, the dictionary also gives alternative and American forms, abbreviations, foreign and specialist terms as well as which words have an initial capital letter and those which should or should not be in italics.
The appendices list Great Britain’s prime ministers since the 18th century and the presidents of the United States of America, members of the European Union, the Greek alphabet, diacritics and accents, mathematical symbols, SI units, metric prefixes and chemical elements.
If you love words, you’ll love dipping into this book and will be returning to it anon (soon) and not anon. (anonymous with a full stop).
I have certainly found a few errors I have been making – hyphenating sitting room is just one – and, as someone who has always loved dictionaries, this one has a special place on my desk.
May 7, 2014
Vote for Freedom from Bosses Forever!
It’s always great when clients of mine are nominated for book awards, and it’s already been a good year with two clients being nominated for some fab awards.
Freedom from Bosses Forever by Tony Robinson OBE has been nominated for a Small Business Book Award in the category of Start-up. It’s very easy to vote, there are no sign-up pages, no inputting your email address, you simply click the VOTE button.
Here is the link:
Tony will be internally grateful if you could pop over to the voting page and vote for his book.
April 10, 2014
New Release Spotlight: Red Bride’s Noose
Synopsis:
Being a girl in a Sikh family can be a real killer.
Camille Hayer should be preparing for a job interview—not ordered to pack her bags for a cousin’s wedding in rural Orissa. India is the last place on earth she would go to willingly; it’s where her sister disappeared thirteen years ago.
On arrival, Camille’s bag is brutally snatched and her family is more concerned about catching a train. No ticket, no passport, and adapting to third world conditions is the least of her worries when a body is found in the sugar cane stalks.
Without forensic specialists, Inspector Chandra Bhan accepts the monumental task of finding a calculating killer. In the midst of a poisonous agenda, Camille breaks the ban of silence about Samara and a gruesome truth leads her to question everything she knew about her family.
Against this backdrop, Chandra grapples for a motive, but this is a crazy marriage obsessed society and the murder of a stranger is hardly a worthy curiosity. While she treads carefully through ancient rituals, scorching daylight blurs into the night and nothing is as it seems. A second body is discovered, sinister lies unfold and Camille’s father becomes prime suspect.
Then Camille makes a connection, but is she too late to escape the red bride’s noose?
Publisher: Meritaten Press
Author Bio:
Alexandra Swistak has traveled the world in her study of languages, culture and architecture. She has degrees in education and art history, specializing in Early Renaissance paintings. A dream job move to Asia triggered a career change by the time she returned to Canada. She brings art, travel and an interest in the supernatural to her writing.
She now lives with her husband in Vancouver, BC.
You can find out more about Alexandra and Red Bride’s Noose at the following links, as well as her cash giveaway:
Monthly Cash Draw: http://www.alexandraswistak.com
Website: http://www.alexandraswistak.com
Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00IRO1D4S
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Alexandra-Swistak-Author/417723118282017?ref=hl
Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXTOCuv16lE&hd=1
Twitter: @AuthorASwistak
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/AlexandraSwistak
If you’re an author and would like to spotlight your new release on this blog, please get in touch.
March 14, 2014
Author Opportunity: The One Big Book Launch
I shared this on my Facebook page yesterday, but hardly anyone has seen it thanks to Facebook’s algorithm so I decided I would blog about it, that way more people can take advantage of this great offer.
Completely Novel is a print on demand publishing company, they have teamed up with with Literally PR to offer independent authors the unique opportunity to launch their books simultaneously, at a highly-publicised event.
On April 30th 2014, 10 outstanding authors will be chosen to share publicity, readers and celebrations at The Free Word Centre in London, UK, among members of the press, literary scouts and their family and friends.
Read the Press Release.
Here are some things all authors involved in the launch will receive:
Extensive PR and marketing
A dedicated table
A slot on stage
An Author Pack
5 reserved tickets
Hire of a top London venue
There are some rules about who can apply:
This is a unique event open to authors whose books show great writing and commercial potential. Both self-published and conventionally published authors can enter their books for inclusion, and places will be awarded to those books who show the most potential.
Books must have a publication date later than 1st December 2013 in order to be assessed.
You must sign-up before 30th March using this link: https://completelynovel.com/press/one-big-book-launch
March 5, 2014
Promote your eBook for Free with eBooksoda – Limited Time Offer
I sent this great offer out to my mailing list this week, but thought that it would be useful to add it to my blog as well so it gets a wider audience. There is also a press release that goes with this offer which gives further information about the service.
I have signed up to eBookSoda myself, as a reader and an author and have already submitted some client books to the service. Many of my own clients have also submitted their books, free marketing is always great for self published authors. If you’re looking for some more eBook marketing tips, then why not check out my eBook Marketing Mini-eCourse too.
eBookSoda, a free subscription service for eBook readers, is offering authors and publishers the opportunity to promote their titles for free. The time-limited offer allows qualifying authors to have their eBook promoted on eBookSoda.com and sent directly to the inboxes of readers subscribed to the free service.
Promotion makes a huge difference to the success of an eBook. Authors have the potential of increasing their sales by getting involved in advertising and marketing, but these usually come at a price. Without extensive promotional work authors can find their work is lost in the thousands of other listed titles, even when featured on top eBook platforms such as Kindle, Nook, Smashwords and Kobo. This is bad news for authors and for their potential readers who can easily miss out on what could be a new favourite read, which is why eBookSoda is offering authors the opportunity to promote their eBooks using their dedicated author services.
eBook Promotions Sent to Targeted Readers
Once readers have joined the free subscription service they are sent a daily email offering details of the latest free and cheap eBooks available across all formats, based on their personal choices. With this tailored service it’s possible for authors to have their promotions sent directly to the inboxes of targeted readers all over the world. Interested authors simply need to send their title for review using the online submission form found on ebooksoda.com. If a title is selected, eBookSoda will create a unique promotion to be featured on the website and emailed directly to their subscribers. Currently eBookSoda is not charging authors for this service, but it won’t remain free for long.
For further information please contact:
Email: contact@ebooksoda.com
Website: http://www.ebooksoda.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ebooksoda
Twitter: https://twitter.com/eBookSoda
February 13, 2014
Review: Writing your Nonfiction Book
Anne Coates is an editor and author who has published seven non-fiction books including Applying to University 2014 (Need-2-Know), Parenting Without Tears Guide to Living with Teenagers and Parenting Without Tears Guide to Loving Discipline (both Endeavour Press) plus two collections of short stories. She is currently working on a crime novel and can be followed on twitter @Anne_Coates1
Just like fiction, non-fiction covers a variety of genres from the memoir to the how to… from biography to travel. Trish Nicholson covers them all in her latest comprehensive and informative work, Writing Your Nonfiction Book. So whether you are an expert wishing to share your knowledge or someone who just wants to set down a family history, this book should be your first port of call.
The book has three self-explanatory sections:
Part One: Planning and Researching
Part Two: Writing and Editing
Part Three: Publishing and Marketing
If you follow these guidelines meticulously you should have your own nonfiction tome at the end.
You may find you know some of the information in earlier chapters especially but don’t skip them, you could well discover invaluable tips that will assist you later in the process. (I have had seven nonfiction books published and still learned something new.) This is absolutely true of the “Good working habits” and “Your computer and basic settings” sections. Tips here will make life a lot easier when you get to the editing and/or formatting stage.
This book is brimful of practical guidance and feasible tasks. Much of the advice in later chapters such as editing and proofreading is applicable if you are also writing fiction so extra value for your money!
Writing your Nonfiction Book is essential reading for anyone considering producing a nonfiction work and I would also recommend the early chapters for students undertaking their dissertations and theses.
Trish Nicholson writes with authority and from experience. She is the author of many nonfiction works including four other titles for Collca one of which Inside Stories for Writers and Readers I reviewed recently. Writing Your Nonfiction Book has been selected as the set text for a writing course at the UK Writers’ College as well as for colleges in New Zealand and South Africa.
Personally I would make the time to read the book through from beginning to end to give yourself a good overview and then go back to the start and make Writing Your Nonfiction Book your step-by-step guide. Trish Nicholson is there for you every step of the way.
January 31, 2014
5 Tips: Using images in eBooks
Generally speaking fiction books don’t use images, although I have formatted a few that do. The majority of non-fiction books have images of some sort, whether they are diagrams or photo’s for a memoirs style book.
If you’re planning on formatting your book yourself then there are some things you need to be aware of regarding images. These points refer to using Microsoft Word to format eBooks which I successfully use for clients and have done for the last 2.5 years. I have recently started formatting in a .docx file, as this provides the option of compressing images (see point 4).
© kovaleff – Fotolia.com
Firstly the images will need to be inserted ‘inline with text‘ rather than with text wrapping. This means you can’t freely move them round the page and have text surrounding the image. The image can only have text above and below it, many people don’t realise you can’t wrap text around images in eBooks.
I find it is more aesthetically pleasing to centre an image, it keeps things symmetrical, especially if your images are all different sizes. You should ideally use a style to centre the images, as this is more likely to stick after conversion.
I have had some issues in the past with JPG’s showing with black lines around them once converted to Mobi/ePub. I got round this by using PNG images instead, but these do tend to be larger in size, which leads me onto my next point…
Once you have inserted all your images, ideally you should compress them all to 220 dpi or smaller. That way they are still good enough to be read on a screen, but also keep your file size down which means your Amazon delivery charge will be less and your royalties more!
There are more detailed instructions about images, see the Smashwords Style Guide (Step 13).
Do you have problems with formatting your books into eBooks? Comment below and I’ll create blog posts with some advice.
