BookShift
Authors these days are more than authors. Our days are fragmented with tasks that more resemble those of publishers and marketers, journalists and speakers. We must not only write, but edit, organize, blog, friend, tweet, connect, converse, advise, recripocate, share and share again. These five apps (and I mean “apps” beyond the mobile-only kind) help [...] more »
I recently self-published an e-book based on my blog, and I want to share what I learned. This post focuses on the editorial process; in subsequent posts, I’ll share tips on coming up with a design for your e-book cover, choosing a publishing platform (I went with Kindle, for now) and marketing your e-book. A [...] more »
At every writers conference or self-publishing panel the question that almost always inevitably comes up is: “How much will self-publishing really cost me?” Because the book publishing industry is one of the last industries to go digital, it’s going through a quick transition. As a result of this shift, authors no longer need to go [...] more »
The Digital Book World E-Book Best-Seller list tracks e-book sales ranking and price data across five major e-book retailers with the goal of providing the most accurate picture of which e-books are most often purchased by consumers and at what price point. The full methodology is available here. Here is the latest top 10 e-book [...] more »
Are the French really an exception? Are they going to be the ones to hang onto paper longer than anyone else and scorn e-books with an Inspector Clouseau-like “non”? Or are they going to be really French about the whole thing and pull an e-revolution on the rest of the unsuspecting world? A recent study, [...] more »
If you are self-publishing, then proofreading your manuscript is a really challenging task — and you’ll kick yourself if you find a mistake after you’ve told everyone about the book. No matter how many times you’ve read through your work, it’s amazing how often errors can sneak through to the final stages. The problem: You’re [...] more »
Wrap your mind around this: One of the most important factors that traditional publishers use to decide whether to acquire a book is the marketing platform of its author. You’d think that the main reason for approaching a traditional publisher is to reap the benefits of the publisher’s marketing, and you wouldn’t have to bring [...] more »
In 2012, multimedia micro-blogging service Tumblr was the hub for not only viral memes, but also creative book deals. The blog-based book or “blook” is hardly new. Post Secret and Stuff White People Like kicked off the blog-to-book movement in the mid-2000s. Book deals for the Tumblr generation — Garfield Minus Garfield and Hipster Puppies [...] more »
The reading public is torn now. There is the undeniable convenience of e-books, downloaded at the click of a button; and you can load dozens of them onto one small lightweight device. But who can deny the pleasure of unplugging completely from technology and enjoying a print book at a cafe, at the beach or [...] more »
Welcome to the 66th episode of the Mediatwits podcast, with Mark Glaser and Rafat Ali as co-hosts. Sadly, this marks the last episode with Rafat Ali as co-host and our last episode of the year. Click to read the whole series. In the new year, Mediatwits will be revamped as more of a weekly roundtable [...] more »