Jason Matthews's Blog, page 17

New Year’s Writing Resolutions?

courtesy http://www.flickr.com/photos/hebe/3160703957/

New Years often means resolutions: this will be the year I lose weight, find true love, make money, quit crack cocaine, etc. For us writers, it usually involves a book.

I’m not so good at this. Mine are three-fold. In no particular order:

-Finish the novel from NaNoWriMo of 2011. It’s been in limbo for 13 months since 50,000 words were created. Bad writer, bad.

-Get my other novels selling as much (or more) as the non-fiction titles. Then I could buy that Kia.

-Do a speaking/teaching seminar where I teach self-publishing methods. I might rent a BMW for curb appeal.

Okay, those are mine but what are your writing goals for 2013? I asked some writing friends and they said this:

-I think mine is to work everyday. From sending a tweet about my book to contacting reviewers to writing five thousand words – it doesn’t matter how big or small, I just want to keep the momentum going.

-I will have my book, Of Unicorns And Pegasuses, made into an ebook for Kindle. Even if I have to pay to have it done. I should’ve done it last year.

-Finish the book that should have been done last month.

-Plan to wrap up The Land of Betrovia trilogy this April and then begin a sci-fi/adventure series for teens!

-I’m at that dreaded 20,000 word mark, where not the ‘block’ but the ‘rot’ sets in. It’s that period where any other writing project seems preferable. So my resolution this year, and I know it sounds like a cop out, or a way to drum up support, but it’s that IF I get into the top twenty on [Authonomy], I’ve resolved to finish Canterbury Warriors within one month. That’s a promise to come up with another 50 – 60,000 words within 30 days. Like I said, it sounds a bit silly, but I operate best like that.

-Finish & then publish my 2nd novel by Sept ’13. Set dates for each milestone leading up to that goal & take those deadlines VERY seriously.

Interesting how some people (like me) have vague descriptions and goals while others are more defined. Hmm, that’s probably a good idea.

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Mark Coker, Smashwords CEO, Ebook Predictions for 2013

I’ve been a huge fan of Mark Coker since the early days of e-publishing (2009)–even asked for his autograph at the SF Writer’s Conference. But this isn’t about my fandom–it’s about Mark’s 2013 predictions for ebooks and the business in general. These are just the bullet points (the actual blog post is longer than some Indie books I’ve read), but you can read the entire article here – http://blog.smashwords.com/2012/12/mark-cokers-2013-book-publishing.html.

Remember, these are Mark’s predictions, not mine. ( I tend to agree except about #13 because I’ve decided B&N is going down since they sell so few of my books.)

1.  In the US, ebooks sales will reach 45% of US trade book market

2.  Follow the eyeballs:  2013 will be the first year unit volume of ebooks exceeds print

3.  The current glut of books will become even more pronounced

4.  It’ll get tougher to sell books

5.  Publishers, in search of Black Swans, will lose authors to self-publishing platforms

6.  Overall ebook prices will decline, though author brands will retain pricing power

7.  Passive discoverability trumps other book marketing methods

8.  Tablets will become the new paper as E-Ink becomes niche product

9.  Global will be the biggest story of 2013 for indie authors

10.  Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble and Kobo will redouble global expansion efforts

11.  Apple iBookstore will be the breakout story of 2013 ebook retailing

12.  Amazon’s global ebook market share will decline

13.  Barnes & Noble will rise again like a Phoenix

14.  In the self-publishing gold rush, more money will be made in author services than in book sales

15.  Pearson/Penguin/Random House/Simon & Schuster will either cut bait on Author Solutions or ride this anchor to the bottom of the sea

16.  The Big 6 will become the Big 4 as bean counters take over the farm

17.  Stigma of Big 6 (or Big 4 or Big 3) publishers will increase as prior stigma of self-publishing evaporates

18.  EPUB 3 will disappoint

19.  Ebook subscription offerings will face uphill slog

20.  Indie authors poised to capture a growing percentage of library ebook market

21.  Indie ebooks will start driving more film & television projects

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Life After NaNoWriMo

Indie Authors discuss the NaNoWriMo experience and what to do after. Featuring host, Jason Matthews, and authors, Lisa Grace, R.M. Prioleau and Samantha Fury.

Amazon Author Pages:

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

R.M. Prioleau – http://www.amazon.com/R.-M.-Prioleau/e/B008I3ABFU/

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

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

Websites/blogs:

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

R.M. Prioleau – http://www.RMPrioleau.com

Samantha Fury – http://www.samanthafury.com/ – http://samanthafury-authorsden.blogspot.com/

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

G+ Pages:

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

R.M. Prioleau – https://plus.google.com/109039979934042787673/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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Author’s Coupon Code for Ebook Course

The video course for How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free is on a Christmas sale now through Dec 27th. The coupon code is AUTHOR12 and this is the link, http://www.udemy.com/how-to-make-market-and-sell-ebooks-all-for-free/?couponCode=AUTHOR12

Normally $29, now just $15. This course includes a complimentary PDF copy of the book and is a 15-lecture step by step video instruction on how to do everything needed to sell ebooks from major retailers and your own websites with a system that runs on autopilot.

Makes a great gift for any writer wanting to sell more ebooks!

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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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Ghost Stories and The Unexplained with Emily Hill

Emily Hill, author of Ghost Stories and The Unexplained plus many other books shares her fascinating experiences with ghosts,

spirits and entities from the other side. Featuring host, Jason Matthews, and authors, Emily Hill, Alana Woods and Lisa Grace.

Amazon Author Pages:

Emily Hill – http://www.amazon.com/Emily-Hill/e/B004GRK21A/

Alana Woods – http://www.amazon.com/Alana-Woods/e/B0061UWNN0/

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

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

Websites:

Emily Hill – http://www.EmilyHillWriter.com

Alana Woods – http://www.amazon.com/Alana-Woods/e/B0061UWNN0/

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

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

G+ Pages:

Emily Hill – https://plus.google.com/115897756622234367963/posts

Alana Woods – https://plus.google.com/114531688710125871848/posts

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

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

Addicted to Ebooks for Readers and Indies

Victorine E. Lieske knows ebooks. She’s a New York Times Bestselling Indie author, a fantastic cover designer, and an avid blogger for things related to publishing. She has sites dedicated to helping Indie writers achieve success like Why Isn’t My Book Selling? And she does all of this while running a busy household with four kids and a home-based business.

AddictedToEbooks is another Lieske creation, great for Indies to submit books and for readers to find diamonds in the rough. From the author;

I’ve always loved books, and the invention of the eReader was perfect for me. Now I can carry around all of my books in one little gadget. (I admit, I’m a gadget lover.) However, I quickly found out I could spend quite a bit of money on eBooks. This website is perfect for readers like me, who want to watch their book budget.

This website also allows the author to rate some of the content of their book. I want to know before I buy a book, what is the level of profanity, violence or sex within it. I’m excited that authors can now rate their books for the readers.

While we check the price of an eBook when we list it, prices do change quite often. Be sure to check the price before you purchase an eBook.

My novel, The Little Universe, has the honor of being a featured book today. There are some guidelines for submitting a book, namely theses:

1. Books must be$5.99 or less.

2. No Erotica at this time, sorry.

3. If it’s a short story, please be clear about that in the description.

4. Duplicate submissions are not allowed. Just submit a book once, thanks.

5. Books must have at least five reviews on the Amazon US website before you can submit.

6. After submitting your book, please share the website on Twitter and Facebook, and everywhere else you can think of to help spread the word. You’d want people to be sharing the website on the day you’re featured, so do the same for others!

At AddictedToEbooks, you can search for books by Content based on levels of profanity, violence and sex. You can search by Price and there is also a Free Kindle Section. It’s clearly one of the better sites I’ve seen for submissions, probably because it’s run by someone who cares about publishing and already has a large following. Makes sense to me. Stop by and submit a book or find a new gem to read.

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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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Autography, Great for Signing Ebooks

Founder of http://www.autography.com, TJ Waters discusses the latest and best way for authors to sign ebooks. Featuring host, Jason Matthews, and guests TJ Waters, Sherry Snider, Lisa Grace and R.M. Prioleau.

Amazon Author Pages:

TJ Waters – http://www.amazon.com/T.-J.-Waters/e/B001IU4U7U/

Sherry Snider – http://www.amazon.com/Sherry-Snider/e/B007UB1L7S/

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

R.M. Prioleau – http://www.amazon.com/R.-M.-Prioleau/e/B008I3ABFU/

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

Websites:

TJ Waters – http://tjwaters.com, http://www.autography.com

Sherry Snider – http://www.sherrysnider.com, http://www.whatdoebookauthorssign.com

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

R.M. Prioleau – http://www.RMPrioleau.com

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

G+ Pages:

TJ Waters – https://plus.google.com/107808803823341085785/posts

Sherry Snider – https://plus.google.com/108317787671487955745/posts

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

R.M. Prioleau – https://plus.google.com/109039979934042787673/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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Smashwords Updates November 2012

Mark Coker and Smashwords have long been the best thing going for Indie authors even if you don’t sell a ton of books directly through them. Why? Because they distribute to just about everywhere possible (except Amazon) plus they also educate and keep you informed of all the major developments.

The following text is written by Mark Coker, not by me, as the juicy tidbits from the Smashwords email newsletter that just came out:

1. Apple iBookstore expands to 50 countries; B&N enters U.K. market–Apple last week added 18 new countries, which means they now operate iBookstores in 50 countries. I blogged about Apple’s news here: http://blog.smashwords.com/2012/10/apple-ibookstore-expands-global-reach.html The new countries include Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Venezuela, and New Zealand. Over 122,000 Smashwords ebooks participated in the launch on day one

2. View the slides for my 5-hour ebook workshop–In late September, I presented an intensive 5-hour e-publishing workshop in Sacramento sponsored by the California Writers Club. I uploaded the slide deck to Slideshare this week for your viewing pleasure. View or download it here: http://www.slideshare.net/Smashwords/mark-cokers-ebook-self-publishing-workshop Slideshare has a cool embed function, so if you like it, feel free to embed it in your blog and share with fellow writers. The workshop was divided into multiple sections, covering everything from beginner to advanced topics.

3. What’s new at Smashwords, plus a look ahead–Thanks to the tremendous effort of our authors and retail partners, 2012 is already another record year for us and our authors. We just celebrated our 25th consecutive month of profitability, and we’re continuing to invest the profits back into the business so we can serve you better. Smashwords is now 19 staffers strong. In recent months, we’ve beefed up our vetting team so we can provide you faster Premium Catalog approvals. We expanded our service team to provide you faster answers to your questions sent in over our “Comments/questions” support form. We’ve also expanded our engineering team with new developers focused on making our systems and infrastructure faster, more scalable, more reliable, and more feature-rich. We’re working to build a platform that will one day support the release of one million books a year (and once we approach that goal, we’ll raise it).

4. Q3 earnings are out–We processed record Q3 earnings payments this week. If you’re configured to be paid via PayPal, and you were owed more than $10.00 as of the last day of Q3 (September 30), then you should have received an alert from PayPal. If you’re configured for paper check payments, you’ll receive it soon if you haven’t already.

5. R.L. Mathewson today hit #1 in the US, Australia, U.K. and Canada iBookstores–As I write this, the #1 book at Apple’s US, Australian, UK and Canada iBookstores is Checkmate, published by R.L. Mathewson, a Smashwords author. The book is priced at $2.99. She uploaded this new contemporary romance to Smashwords on October 29, just three days ago. We delivered it to Apple in under 24 hours. Next, our merchandising friends at Apple sprinkled a little pixie dust, and R.L.’s fans took from there. It’s been at #1 almost all day, which is a great place to be heading into the weekend, because weekend sales are always stronger (Sunday is the strongest day of the week). R.L. tells me she didn’t do any marketing. She announced the upcoming release to her fans, then released it earlier than expected and it took off. These breakouts don’t happen entirely by accident. Behind every breakout is an author who’s working their butt off to write great books, and their readers are rewarding them with enthusiastic word of mouth and great reviews. This is her ninth title at Smashwords. With each book, she builds a larger fan base. She writes full length. She writes series. We first interviewed R.L. a few months ago at http://blog.smashwords.com/2012/07/author-r-l-mathewson-on-some-of-secrets.html and then about a week later, Apple named her a “Breakout Author” and gave her some heavy promotion. We covered that here:

6. Following the eyeballs – Why indie authors are the future of publishing–Above, I mentioned how ebooks will probably represent 30% or more of the US book market this year, with print around 70%. Much if not most of the 70% of those print sales are happening at brick and mortar bookstores, a distribution channel most indies cannot access. As ebooks as a percentage of the market increase, print will become less important, thereby diminishing the value of traditional print distribution. Furthermore, the ebook market share stats are based on dollar sales. Because ebooks are priced dramatically lower than print books, it means the dollar-based data understates what’s actually happening on the unit sales front. I don’t think anyone in the publishing industry is talking about this right now. If the same data was calculated based on unit market share, where units equal the number of paid + free books that are actually read, it’s quite possible that 2012 will be the year in which more ebooks are read than print books. If not this year, certainly we’ll see it tip over in 2013. Follow the eyeballs. Unit share is a leading indicator for where this market is headed. Unit volume is the strongest measure of which authors are building the largest platforms (readers, and ability to reach those readers) the fastest. Here, indie ebook authors have a significant advantage over traditionally published authors. Put another way, traditionally published authors are increasingly *disadvanged* when they must compete against indies.

7. Preparing for a record Christmas holiday–This coming Christmas/New Year holiday period is set to become another record-breaker for our authors, so it’s important you get your new and existing titles distributed to stores in advance of the holiday rush. Most of our retailers are operating under compressed holiday schedules. To ensure you have time to get your book into stores in advance of the Christmas rush, please aim to upload new titles by or before December 2 to allow time to achieve Premium Catalog approval and delivery to bookstores. As I mentioned in the October 5 Site Update at https://www.smashwords.com/about/beta Apple, for example, is recommending we deliver new books no later than December 7. Of course, we and our retailers will do everything possible to get the stragglers in as well, but please plan ahead to reduce the stress all around.

8. Will there be a December surprise from Amazon?--No, I’m not talking about full distribution of Smashwords titles to Amazon, though I remain hopeful that one day we and Amazon will consummate a proper distribution relationship. We could benefit Amazon customers and Smashwords authors by working as partners. We treat each of our retailers as partners, and we’re committed to their success. It’s fair to say we and Amazon have had a somewhat contentious relationship since that fateful day in early December, 2011, when three weeks before Christmas, they launched their KDP-Select program. KDP-Select is an opt-in program that requires authors to make their book exclusive to Amazon for three months at a time. It was a direct assault against our retail partners, and as such I considered it a direct assault against Smashwords. My conviction has only grown stronger since then. Immediately after their announcement, I blogged my opposition to the program at http://blog.smashwords.com/2011/12/amazon-shows-predatory-spots-with-kdp.html and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mark-coker/amazon-ebooks-kdp-select_b_1139260.html

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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 #34, Essential Writing Tips for Fiction with Alana Woods

Indie author and editor, Alana Woods, shares advice from her book, 25 Essential Writing Tips: Guide to Writing Good Fiction. Featuring host, Jason Matthews and guest, Alana Woods, with authors, Lisa Grace and Samantha Fury.

Amazon Author Pages:

Alana Woods – http://www.amazon.com/Alana-Woods/e/B0061UWNN0/

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:

Alana Woods – http://www.amazon.com/Alana-Woods/e/B0061UWNN0/

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

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

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

G+ Pages:

Alana Woods – https://plus.google.com/114531688710125871848/posts

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.

add me to your Google Plus circles.



+Jason Matthews author

NY Times Bestselling Indie Victorine Lieske Interview

This interview of NY Times Bestselling Indie author, Victorine Lieske, is packed with helpful information as Vicki shares the secrets of her success. Featuring host, Jason Matthews, also joined by R.M. Prioleau and Samantha Fury.



Websites:

Victorine Lieske – http://www.indiebookcovers.blogspot.com/ http://booknotselling.blogspot.com/

R.M. Prioleau – http://www.RMPrioleau.com

Samantha Fury – http://www.samanthafury.com/ – http://samanthafury-authorsden.blogspot.com/

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

G+ Pages:

Victorine Lieske – https://plus.google.com/105046030519207908520/posts

R.M. Prioleau – https://plus.google.com/109039979934042787673/posts

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

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

Amazon Author Pages:

Victorine Lieske – http://www.amazon.com/Victorine-E.-Lieske/e/B003J4VTKO/

R.M. Prioleau – http://www.amazon.com/R.-M.-Prioleau/e/B008I3ABFU/

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

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

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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.

add me to your Google Plus circles.



+Jason Matthews author