Doris-Maria Heilmann's Blog, page 18

Another Trap: Agent-Curated Self-Publishing

Lobster Traps

The New York Timesreported once: “A new Perseus unit, called Argo Navis Author Serviceswill be available (only) to authors who are represented by an agency that has signed an agreement with Perseus.

Perseus emphasized that while Argo Navis provided distribution and marketing services, the author remained the publisher. While authors get a higher share of the revenue under this arrangement, they’ll receive fewer (or almost none) of the services, and financial support, provided...

Who is the Best? Book Distributors Compared

“In my experience, it’s almost always advantageous to go direct where you can. Benefits include faster payments, up-to-date sales figures (crucial for measuring the effectiveness of any marketing), more direct control of which categories you appear in (important for both discoverability and visibility), and the ability to make changes to your metadata quickly, e.g. to change price for a temporary sales price campaign. But there are roadblocks: Barnes & Noble only allows US self-publishers to...

Canadian Writers Celebrate!

Very few countries in the world are offering such a welcoming and generous climate for authors and publishers than Canada. Benefits for Canadianliterature starts already with free ISBN’s in Canada:

The Government of Canada is committed to ensure that readers everywhere have opportunities to connect with a broad range of Canadian-authored books by providing funding and support to the Canadian book industry, professional writers, Canadian periodicals and small publishers (You!).
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Grants for P...

Author Interview with Samita Sarkar

Samita Sakar, freelance writer and editor from Toronto, Canada, is today’s guest for an author interview. We asked her about her debut travelogue:

Samita, how would you describe your book to someone who has not yet read it?

I Am the Ocean is a spiritual travel memoir about a solo trip I took along the east coast of the United States in my early twenties. Limited by budget, I travelled by bus, slept on couches, and stayed in hostels. I packed very light, bringing mostly just clothes, a trave...

Watch Out for these Legal Contract Terms

Copyright Lawyer Helen Sedwick, author of the Self-Publishers Legal Handbook wrote in an article at Bookworks

“What is the worst mistake an indie author can make?
A bad book cover? A poorly edited manuscript? A hokey website? No. It’s LOSING CONTROL over your work.”

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DO READ the Fine Print!
She explains that an author’s manuscript is a valuable asset, “just like your car or home. You wouldn’t hand over your car keys to a stranger you met on the internet. You wouldn’t let someone with a slic...

Amazon’s Crackdown on Book Influencers

Goodreads, owned by Amazon, has recently startedits own Discount eBook Service. As Amazon hasn’t left any major e-book competitors – obviously the retailer has decided that it does not need the help of e-book ad campaign sites. Websites such as Pixel of Ink helped in the past to drive sales through massive email lists and users who browse their sites.
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In 2013 Amazon discouraged these sites from promoting the download of free ebooks by not paying affiliate fees (which is somehow logic) – b...

Secrets of Successful Author-Publishers

Dreaming of becoming a successful writer? In writing and publishing are certain steps that will help you to tremendously to improve your chances of success.

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Start With Maximizing Your Foreign Presence – For FREE.
To maximize your presence in overseas Amazon Kindle stores, set up an Author Central account in each of those country-specific sites where your book is available. As Amazon divided the world in single countries, announce your Countdown Deals, new book launches or Free Kindle KDP D...

What are Twitter Lists?

Similar to the Google+ Communities, Twitter has its lists where you can follow or being followed by people with the same interests. A list is a curated group of Twitter users – for example readers in your book’s genre.
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You can create your own, or subscribe to lists created by others. Following a select group of users can be very useful, and a great time-saving feature. But tweets from your lists don’t show up in your primary feed.
Marketing Specialist Whitney Zelmer: “The process of gener...

How the Last Pages Sell Your Next Book

111 Tips on How to Market Your Book for Free

Short Excerpt from 111 Tips on How to Market Your Book for Free

The moment a reader finishes your book is the perfect time to sell them more of your writing. Use this opportunity to promote all your other books.

Not only the content of your e-book is crucial to win a long-term reader, but the very last pages are equally important – not only to say thank you for purchasing and reading your title, but to invite your readers for more books, to join...

Who Offers the Best Value for Your Dollars?

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Fantastic Tool for Authors: Promotion Service Reviews.
Ever wondered where to advertise your KDP free days or any other book promotion? John Doppler fromSelfPublishingAdvicecompared mailing lists, readership numbers, and the cost for e-book discovery services: “Free and discounted e-books can be a powerful tool for increasing sales, but only if readers know about the deal. We have gathered the data on eight popular services so you can compare pricing, audience, and features to find the rig...