Jason Matthews's Blog, page 15

Indie Authors #45, PTSD and Recovery with Juanima Hiatt

Juanima Hiatt, author of The Invisible Storm, discusses PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) and recovering from it. Featuring host, Jason Matthews.

Amazon author page:

http://www.amazon.com/Juanima-Hiatt/e/B008DGA27O/

http://www.amazon.com/Jason-Matthews/e/B004A8W4BG/

Websites:

Juanima Hiatt – http://www.juanimahiatt.com/

Jason Matthews – http://ebooksuccess4free.wordpress.com

G+ Pages:

Juanima Hiatt – https://plus.google.com/117075757751773835854/posts

Jason Matthews – https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313/posts

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Indie Authors #44, Grant Faulkner NaNoWriMo Exec Director

Indie Authors welcomes Grant Faulkner, Executive Director of NaNoWriMo (National November Writing Month), the best writing  contest in the world. Featuring host, Jason Matthews, with special guest, Grant Faulkner and authors/NaNo winners from the past, R.M. Prioleau, Samantha Fury and Lisa Grace.

Websites:

Grant Faulkner – http://www.100wordstory.org/

Jason Matthews – http://ebooksuccess4free.wordpress.com

G+ Pages:

Grant Faulkner – https://plus.google.com/117075757751773835854/posts

Jason Matthews – https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313/posts

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Click here for the home page of How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free.

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Autharium the British Smashwords? Nope

Hard to keep up with the chaos of all things Indie author/publishing industry these days. Now Autharium has a hat in the ring, dog in the fight, you pick the cliche. At first glance, I thought they were a UK version of Smashwords.

What makes them different aside from being in London? Hard to tell initially because they allow authors to upload ebooks (prefer Word Doc) and then distribute to major retailers while also selling from their own site. They pay 85% royalties for sales directly at their own site and a reduced rate from sales at retailers. They let you keep the rights, give you an ISBN, have a community of readers, formatters, cover designers… I asked how this is different from Smashwords? A representative’s reply :

Autharium is a publisher who curates and publishes books from only the very best authors. I suppose it’s also question of if you wish to self-publish or have your work published by a publisher. Autharium authors maintain creative direction over their work and do receive the lion’s share of royalties as we are a pure digital publisher and have global reach through our retail partners such as Apple, Amazon, Kobo, Waterstones etc. One cool aspect that you might like is that you can preview and edit your book within Autharium before it is submitted for publishing. We also have lots of contact with fellow publishers on the print side so if your book really takes off we can help secure you a print deal, of course it would be totally up to you if you wanted us to get involved with this too.

In their Terms and Conditions this line jumps out:   your Work has not previously been published in any Digital Form anywhere in the world. That’s a problem for me and many others, as we already have ebooks elsewhere and don’t want exclusivity with one distributor but wish to remain free to publish anywhere.

Vive la difference. Autharium is an exclusive publisher and only accepts new ebooks (still feels like self-publishing to me). They claim to take only the very best authors, so it sounds like an approval process with a capable panel of judges (really?). It also has European roots and therefore European partners, which I admit is pretty cool. Their growing list of retail partners include:

Amazon

Apple iBookstore

Blackwells

Books-A-Million

Books On Board

Barnes and Noble

Foyles

Google

Independent Booksellers

Kobo

Papataka

Tesco

Waterstones

WHSmith

You may notice several retailers listed that won’t appear at Smashwords.

So if you have a new book coming out, would you want to upload there? Does this option make more sense for US authors or UK authors or indies living elsewhere, or does it not matter one iota? Would you really feel like a traditionally published author if they accepted your book?

For now I’ll stick with my plan but would love to know if anyone intends to use their services or has had good experience there.

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Google Plus Hangouts for Authors

hanging with best-selling author Hugh Howey

For many people, Google Plus remains the social media step-child yet to be embraced. Often there’s reluctance stemming from the question, do I really need another one? After all, our free time for online marketing is pushed to the limit by Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and whatever else we’re into. Who has time for another social media platform?

The answer is you, especially if you’re an author. Why? For several reasons but primarily for the Hangouts where you can conduct or participate in video conferencing with ten people and accomplish so much for publicity.

Here are some reasons why Hangouts on Google Plus are the way to go:

Facebook doesn’t currently have group chat directly through its site; instead it must be accomplished through applications or plugins with secondary vendors. And what FB currently has is inferior with fewer features.
Skype charges monthly for group video chat, while G+ is free and has more features.
Hangouts can become YouTube videos with the check of a box. No tech skills required, simply begin your hangout by checking the Enable box and it automatically becomes a YouTube video on your account (Google owns YouTube). Remember that YouTube is also the world’s 2nd largest search engine.
You can create an Event for the Hangout, where you invite the public or people from your circles ahead of time. Participants who want to attend will get a reminder before the show and a link for viewing.
Instead of just seeing each other’s face on camera, you can also share photos, screenshots of webpages, documents, videos, links, chat box and more during G+ Hangouts. Once the process is familiar, your hangout can resemble a well run newscast by a production crew.
It’s easy to design Google Plus purely around your business needs while leaving Facebook for friends and family. This is how it works for me and many authors I know since most FB accounts are already established for friends and family. Now there’s a social media site with so many great features that can be all about business.
Google Plus posts carry higher weight with Google’s search engine than Facebook posts. If you have a post or Hangout that gathers much discussion, it will do well with search engine results for that topic. In fact, it could be the best way for you to reach page one results for a competitive keyword term in the shortest amount of time.

There are many ways for authors to utilize G+ Hangouts. Probably the most common is conducting interviews. I do this regularly on a weekly Indie Authors show and the results are fantastic. Or you can delve into a specific topic–chat with people about politics, sports, dieting, relationships, etc. Book club discussions are another great way to share a book with the world.  Readers from multiple countries could discuss your book with you, the author, in the virtual room with them. Non-fiction writers may want to create tutorials this way, something I do frequently. It’s so effective because there can be students asking live questions and the finished product becomes a YouTube video that gets viewed for years to come. Here’s an example where I show the step by step method for getting this done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYEnQAGTTec.

The uses for G+ Hangouts are endless. If you’re an author, check out this great social media feature.

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Click here for the home page of How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free.

Subscribe to this blog for updates on what Indie authors can do to sell ebooks.

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Indie Authors #43, author Madeline Sharples Leaving The Hall Light On

Indie Authors presents Madeline Sharples and her memoir, Leaving the Hall Light On, the harrowing but ultimately uplifting tale of the course of years from her son Paul’s diagnosis with bipolar disorder, through his suicide at her home to the present day. It details how the family weathered their worst nightmare.

Amazon Author Pages:

Madeline Sharples – http://www.amazon.com/Madeline-Sharples/e/B0053J3THY/

Jason Matthews – http://www.amazon.com/Jason-Matthews/e/B004A8W4BG/

Websites:

http://madeline40.blogspot.com/

G+ Pages:

Madeline Sharples – https://plus.google.com/100413092263428985593/posts

Jason Matthews – https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313/posts

Follow her on Twitter @madeline40

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Click here for the home page of How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free.

Subscribe to this blog for updates on what Indie authors can do to sell ebooks.

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Indie Authors #42, Erotica with Shoshanna Evers

Download free pdf of Successful Self-Publishing: How We Do It (And How You Can Too) http://www.selfpubbookcovers.com/

Indie Authors presents erotica author and teacher, Shoshanna Evers. Learn the ins and outs of erotica romance from one of the best in the business. For mature audiences. Featuring host, Jason Matthews, and guest, Shoshanna Evers.

Amazon Author Pages:

http://www.amazon.com/Shoshanna-Evers/e/B0045J2EJ2/

http://www.amazon.com/Jason-Matthews/e/B004A8W4BG/

Websites:

Shoshanna Evers – http://www.selfpubbookcovers.com/ – http://www.ShoshannaEvers.com

Jason Matthews – http://ebooksuccess4free.webs.com

Twitter:

http://twitter.com/ShoshannaEvers

http://twitter.com/Jason_Matthews

G+ Pages:

Shoshanna Evers – https://plus.google.com/106328032708197418926/posts

Jason Matthews – https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313/posts

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Click here for the home page of How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free.

Subscribe to this blog for updates on what Indie authors can do to sell ebooks.

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CreateSpace Marketing Plan Webinar 3-21-2013

Need some ideas to sell more CreateSpace paperbacks? Listen to a live webinar hosted by CS featuring book marketing consultant, Brian Jud. It’s on Thursday, March 21 at 4pm EST. From CS:

In this webinar, you will discover unique and practical ways to increase your book sales through marketing planning. Brian Jud will show you how to create effective promotion strategies that are especially effective for authors who are marketing books while still working a “day job.” Brian also will describe strategies for those interested in creating or growing their own publishing business. Join us to learn actionable tactics to reach new markets and promote your books economically in a competitive environment.

Register today

P.S. Space is limited, so plan to arrive early to secure your spot. Can’t attend live? Don’t worry – we’ll be recording the presentation and posting it in CreateSpace Resources. For an update on when it will be available, register for the webinar.

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Click here for the home page of How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free.

Subscribe to this blog for updates on what Indie authors can do to sell ebooks.

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+Jason Matthews author

Is Amazon Abandoning Indie Authors?

courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/icypics/

It seems doubtful that Amazon would abandon indie authors. After all, the company has done so much for us over the last 5 years–KDP publishing, 99 cent books, comparative shopping recommendations, author profile pages, featured indies, KDP Select, court battles over price fixing, meet our authors forum,  the list goes on.

Logically and financially, it doesn’t make sense as Amazon and indies are the two biggest thorns in the side of traditional publishing houses, and we make such a natural pairing with common goals–to revolutionize publishing and dominate sales.

But then Amazon did change the rules on reviewing and deleted many indie reviews (some without integrity, some with) along with product tags (prone for abuse but also helpful), and just recently the “like” button has also disappeared (another indie favorite for boosting favorable presence).

Speculative abandonment? Perhaps a bit paranoid, but it does sound to some as Amazon subtly saying, “We’ve scratched your backs, you’ve scratched ours, thanks for the quid pro quo but we’re moving on.”

What are your thoughts? Is this overreacting to slower sales the past few months? Is it time to work harder selling on Kobo and Smashwords? (I shudder to think more sales need to come from Barnes & Noble. ) Is it time for innovative ways of standing out from the millions of other books, both traditional and indie alike? For me, predicting the future of this business is harder than getting through an episode of Pretty Little Liars, my daughter’s favorite show.

To read a fantastic summary of these events, check out Anne R. Allen’s blog post on this subject. I, for one,  hope my relationship continues to be strong with the hand that’s been feeding me the past few years.

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Click here for the home page of How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free.

Subscribe to this blog for updates on what Indie authors can do to sell ebooks.

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How to do SEO for Amazon

Indie authors use SEO for Amazon and Google search engines to sell more books. Tips for other authors. Featuring host, Jason Matthews and guests, Lisa Grace and Samantha Fury.

Amazon Author Pages:

Lisa Grace – http://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Grace/e/B003H8CMBW/

Samantha Fury – http://www.amazon.com/Samantha-Fury/e/B00418GSVC/

Jason Matthews – http://www.amazon.com/Jason-Matthews/e/B004A8W4BG/

Websites:

Lisa Grace – http://www.lisagracebooks.com/

Samantha Fury – http://www.samanthafury.com/

Jason Matthews – http://ebooksuccess4free.webs.com

G+ Pages:

Lisa Grace – https://plus.google.com/103935289635198255908/posts

Samantha Fury – https://plus.google.com/101015850943623419980/posts

Jason Matthews – https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313/posts

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Click here for the home page of How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free.

Subscribe to this blog for updates on what Indie authors can do to sell ebooks.

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+Jason Matthews author

Amazon Reports Growth, Barnes & Noble Closing Stores

Recent reports indicate what many Indie authors already know as vendors dealing with retailers: that Amazon thrives while Barnes & Noble struggles.

Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, said, “After 5 years, eBooks is a multi-billion dollar category for us and growing fast – up approximately 70% last year. In contrast, our physical book sales experienced the lowest December growth rate in our 17 years as a book seller, up just 5%. We’re excited and very grateful to our customers for their response to Kindle and our ever expanding ecosystem and selection.”

The company does not give exact data on Kindle sales although the Kindle Fire HD, Kindle Fire and Kindle Paperwhite have all been top sellers since their releases.

One of their historical competitors, Barnes & Noble, plans to close roughly 200 stores, about 30% of their brick and mortar locations, over the next decade. Barnes & Noble also reported a decline in Nook sales for the last quarter of 2012.

Notice that Amazon reports a growth rate even for print books, while B & N reports a decline for the Nook devices. Not good. Perhaps Microsoft needs to invest another 300 million in this fight?

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Click here for the home page of How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free.

Subscribe to this blog for updates on what Indie authors can do to sell ebooks.

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+Jason Matthews author