Is Print-First Publishing a Mistake in Today's World of Ebooks? #Pubtalk #ASMSG

Reading my morning emails, I noticed a message from Joel Friedlander, Breakthrough Technology Cuts Book Formatting Time in Half. This is an article about a software/service that will format both your print and ebook, together, and give you files for both. This article instantly struck me wrong.

Now, I have no idea if Joel's program handles everything I am about to discuss, but I doubt it.

In my author's group, ASMSG (Author's Social Media Support Group), I see a lot of Indie author-publishers who run a print-first publishing plan.  What I mean by that, they format and publish their POD book (Print On Demand) first, usually via Createspace, and then they download the Createspace digital files to use for ebook publishing to Kindle.

I believe this is a huge mistake.

► The format of the print novel file is not ideal for ebooks, either Kindle or epub or pdf. Ebooks should be formatted with a 'least common denominator' style of simplicity. 

Personally, I write my novels in a universal Smashwords/Kindle ebook format.  The simple formatting is already set into my styles on MS word. I know many people use something other than MS word, for writing, but the same ebook formatting rules apply no matter what program you use.

Ebooks need things that Print books don't:  

► Whereas print has margins and page breaks and page numbers, it also has a dead Table of Contents, 'TOC' dead being that there's no live hyperlinks. Its my humble opinion (and an opinion of most kindle gurus) that the TOC is mostly pointless for fiction ebooks, except for specially named chapters, or non-fiction where each chapter has a themed idea to present. Ebooks, if they need a TOC, must have special hyperlinked bookmarks (epub and pdf) or at the very least they need to use the auto-generated TOC functions of MS word (kindle).

► Kindle ebooks are smarter to move the TOC to the back matter, to maximize the front end sample for book sales. You want very little junk in the way of your book and the reader. Kindle only allows for a small percentage of sampling, and that sample must be enough to 'hook' the reader to go forward with a purchase. And, the ebook front matter needs a short blurb, so that readers who have downloaded the novel, can recall what this book was about (the ebook cover does not have any blurbs--not like the back cover of print).

► Ebooks have color images. They should have full color images of all backlist novels, with live hyperlinks customized for each retailer. Kindle hyperlinks for kindle ebooks, B&N for B&N, Smashwords for Smashwords, etc.. 

Color book cover, description, link to retailer, and review quotes

► Print novels have no  hyperlinks, and you must strip the color out of  your book cover images. If there is any color, Createspace and other POD companies will charge you full price for color interior (don't go there for novels--'how to' books, children's books--those are different).

Big, fat subscribe button for my email list--hyperlinked.

My cheesy grin and all the hyperlinks to my social media!

► Print back matter should have QR codes to give your readers the option of instantly ordering more of your backlist novels once they finish your book. Statistics prove the single best way to sell more books to a reader is to have access to all your novels in the back matter. Print novels need a bridge to the internet:

B&W book covers, with QR codes, descriptions, and review quotes.

► Print back matter and front matter is always going to be a different format and content from ebook front and back matter. Personally, I have separate word files for both back and front print matter, (that's the way I do it, but its not the only way, and it has issues with formatting that I learned to deal with). But, because of these differences, its really not wise to use a print formatted file for ebook, or vice versa.

Now, I am just an Indie author, busting my butt to navigate the labyrinth of digital publishing, but, I have seen that my own sales are about 99% ebook, and about 1% print. 

► I publish ebook first. Every single book I have ever published needed an update within the first week. Ebooks can be updated in a few mouseclicks, and the new Kindle file shows up hours later. Same with Nook (if you're direct). Smashwords takes up to 10 days to update.  But, print novels (via POD) can take weeks, because you must order another proof to see how the book looks in print. You can take your chances and approve the proof from the online file viewer in Createspace, but its a risk. You never really know what you have until the book is in hand.

In this author's humble opinion, publishing should be digital first, print later, after all the kinks and bugs are worked out, and the two should be individually-separately formatted, with specialized content for each format.

I am wary of 'all-in-one' solutions when it comes to print and ebook publishing.

:)

Paranormal Thriller Baddassary ~ COUNCIL OF PEACOCKS #Paranormal #Thriller #Mustread #ASMSG

 

COUNCIL OF PEACOCKS (ACTIVATION)

by M. Joseph Murphy

 ★★★★★

 AMAZON US

AMAZON UK

Add it to your 'want to read' on GOODREADS

THE BLURB:

There is a dark world, hidden in plain sight, filled with vengeful djinn and shadowy demons.

The Council of Peacocks, a group of ruthless wizards, has plans for the human race.

For centuries they have plotted and schemed. Now, the moment of Activation draws near.

Wisdom, an immortal sorcerer, has gathered a band of hybrid youths with extraordinary powers. They are trained to stop the Council. But there’s something that Wisdom doesn’t know.

The Council is no longer working alone.

If Wisdom and his students cannot stop The Council, the world as they know it will cease to exist.

This is the first installment of the Activation Series. Grab your copy now.

THE REVIEW ★★★★★:

I read this book twice over, as a beta ~ critique reader.  The thriller intensity sucked me in, hook, line and sinker.  My inner scifi/paranormal/horror geek was thoroughly satisfied.

This is precisely the kind of book I enjoy reading.  It hits all the buttons: Epic battles, epic moments of self-discovery, epic tales of heroes and villains, and of course there's loads of angst ridden teenagers with badass paranormal/psychokinesis abilities, trying to find their way through horrific scenes of violence and callous disregard for human life.  

Can I get HELL YEAH?

Its X-MEN meets CLASH OF THE TITANS directed by Quentin Tarantino. *cue the cheesy surfer music*

We begin the story with this enigmatic character named Wisdom.  He’s just been through a vicious brawl, but he won.  Wisdom isn’t exactly human, he’s something else:  a demi-god, so powerful he can move through space-time to restart the battle in an attempt to balk fate. This isn’t the first time he’s fought this battle.

But something has changed.  Some other party is mucking about in the timeline, the outcome is no longer certain.

As the tale unfolds, we meet a series of gifted people Wisdom has collected over the years, the Anomalies.  They are being trained for the showdown.

A secret society of sorcerers known as The Council of Peacocks is plotting their return to power.  Once a thriving religious group, they are now led by one of Wisdom’s mistakes, Propates, a man transformed into an immortal.  The Council intends to use humanity as a bartering chip in their deals with demonic entities from other dimensions who want a piece of Earth. 

With his army of ragtag teenager Anomalies, Wisdom intends to stop the Council, at all costs.  But these kids are freaks of nature who don’t even know how they came to be, let alone how to harness their wicked powers.

And how can a band of kids who have more in common with demons than angels become heroes when they barely understand what the hell Wisdom is asking them to do?

In the end, we are securely lined up for the next installment of a very promising series. 

M. Joseph Murphy raises concepts of faith, religion, an insightful view of human history, and a couple of philosophical questions.  

Is there really such a thing as fate?  And if we could move through time, could we change it?

Stalk M. Joseph Murphy at all his social media haunts:

Goodreads http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7163595.M_Joseph_Murphy 

Blog http://councilofpeacocks.blogspot.ca/

Twitter  https://twitter.com/windswarlock

GIVEAWAY!! #NewRelease 'ROGUE GENESIS' by CERI LONDON #SciFi #Paranormal #Syfy #ASMSG

Now Available on Smashwords, Amazon US & Amazon UK

ROGUE GENESIS (SHIMMER IN THE DARK)

by CERI LONDON

 Genre: Epic SciFi/Paranormal

One man. Two worlds separated by a universe. Space-time warped by black holes. In the passing of seconds on Earth, Major Niall Kearey has witnessed the birth and death of generations on Astereal. His mind shortcuts light years to visit a fantastical world of floating sky cities populated by telepaths.

Astereal is in decline, the dueling forces of black holes threaten extinction. Ancient prophecy predicts their interstellar visitor brings salvation. As Niall faces the staggering truth – that his alien dream world is real – he and his family are targeted by secret societies, scheming politicians, and the US military.

Time is running out as Astereal races towards annihilation and temporal alignment with Earth. Power brokers vie for control of his capabilities. Niall must act, balancing the needs of Earth, his family, and the alien civilization he has come to know and love.

The fate of two worlds rests on his shoulders.

Add it to your 'want to read' on Goodreads HERE

What readers have to say about Rogue Genesis:

★★★★★ "The plotting is seamless, the story very exciting, the writing superb and you won’t be able to resist falling in love with the characters. This is the best SF story I have read in thirty years and it’s the first of a series."

★★★★★ "First, I love military-covert ops, strictly classified, GI-Joe, dirty politicians, shoot-em up stories - love em! I also happen to live for fantasy and science fiction especially... so the two married and had this beautiful child of a book."

★★★★★ "I found myself completely enthralled with the beautiful, mystical landscapes that she creates, along with the realistic feel she gives everything in the novel." 

★★★★★ "One of the most powerful science fiction/fantasy novels I have read since Dune."

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10 COPIES AVAILABLE FOR A LIMITED TIME  

FREE 4 REVIEW

 

REVIEWERS >>> LEAVE A COMMENT WITH EMAIL ADDRESS AND GOODREADS PROFILE LINK

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#NewRelease & #FREEbook BABYSITTER EXTRAORDINAIRE #Erotica #Menage #BDSM #ASMSG

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Amazon & Goodreads: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

I have been following this issue very closely since it was first announced. 

There are many stances on it from many different angles.

Lets talk about a few of them here.

The latest posting from Digital Book World brings some interesting points to light:

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/the-future-of-goodreads-under-amazon-ownership/?et_mid=610276&rid=234558344

Amazon's systems are consumer-focused.  This has many potential ramifications for Goodreads.  If that consumer focus bleeds over into Goodreads, how will that change the system for authors?

And a good part of Goodreads is built to cater to Authors in social media, events, group discussions, giveaways.  If Amazon no longer cares to devote resources to this kind of activity, will we see the Author-centric aspects of Goodreads drop off in favor of the reader/consumer focus?

http://bestsellerlabs.com/amazon-buys-goodreads-the-impact-on-authors/

Jonathan Gunson has found something positive about this merger, Kindle libraries will find integration with Goodreads "shelves".  This is wonderful for authors, because all of a sudden, a whole ton of "read" or "owned" or "want to read" shelving will register for all these books.  That kind of activity is a major big deal, adds a lot of popularity to a book in Goodreads.

But there are also a great deal of concerns about privacy.  Many a reader who buys on Kindle, using their real identity, yet keeping their Kindle collection private in this neat little device, is willing to write reviews on Goodreads under a pseudonym.  Goodreads allows this privacy.  People also discuss books in group conversations under their pseudonym. 

If Kindle starts connecting the dots between the device/purchaser, and the Goodreads pseudonym, privacy is out the window.  This has far reaching implications for readers of the more risque erotica material.  Privacy has enabled readers to buy and enjoy these books on their kindle devices.  One might say that ereader privacy has contributed to the explosion of the erotica ebook market.

If that aspect of privacy is lost due to Amazon-Goodreads integration of Kindle libraries and Goodreads "shelves", will there be a drop-off in purchases of the more risque-controversial reading material? 

Not everyone wants their entire Kindle library broadcast to the world.

http://thenightlifeseries.blogspot.com/2013/03/amazon-goodreads-holy-shit.html

And finally, there is another issue for consideration, Amazon's monopolistic control of book sales, discovery, and the discussion forums for talking about books.  In addition to Amazon's own Kindle forums, unbeknownst to many, Amazon is also a major shareholder/partner in Librarything, a Goodreads competitor.  AND obviously, Amazon runs Shelfari, the other major Goodreads competitor.

We, the world of book readers and authors, have very little places left to go, to talk about books, where Amazon does not own/control the discussion format and have full access to all that data.

The megagiant bookseller is positioning themselves to control all the platforms where people go to find and talk about books.  Control of discovery, control of word-of-mouth, control of reviews and ratings.

That's just plain creepy, and it screams of a monopoly.



Additionally, Amazon is infamous for censorship of certain kinds of novels.  They will simply remove a book from their system, as if it had never existed.  That removal reaches straight into Kindle libraries.  Kindle ebooks you have purchased that Amazon deems unworthy will disappear without warning.


Traditionally, Goodreads is a place where everyone is free to discuss every kind of book, to rate and review those books.  There are books discussed, rated, and reviewed on Goodreads, that are not sold on Amazon, have been banned by Amazon.  Will Amazon bring their brand of intolerance and arbitrary book removal to Goodreads?

Comments anyone?

Amazon + Goodreads = ????

The world's largest bookseller, Amazon, just signed an agreement to buy Goodreads.

Goodreads:  Over 14 million book lovers.

Amazon:  Multibillions of dollars in book sales worldwide. (Not counting the Kindle devices)

This is a merging of the two most influential forces in the world of books.

I snagged this image from DigitalBookWorld.com.

Antitrust litigators, where are you when you're needed most?  This is a new kind of monopoly unlike anything ever seen before.  

But what will it mean?

Well lets look at Amazon's attempt to cater to bibliophiles with reviews and recommendations:  Shelfari.  Goodreads has been kicking Shelfari's ass all along.  Will we see a merging of Shelfari and Goodreads systems?  Maybe some linking back and forth?  Maybe a few widgets here there and everywhere?

And what of Amazon's position to control content sales via the Kindle tablet line?  How will they integrate Goodreads into the book-buying experience on Kindle tablets?

And what about the reviews, the lifeblood of popularity and discovery?  What of Amazon's reviews vs. Goodreads reviews/ratings?  Will Amazon forgo reviews for Goodreads plugin widgets or vice-versa, will Goodreads now feature Amazon reviews on each book page?

And what about discovery for us unknown Indie authors? In Addition to publishing with Amazon, many Indies use multiple retailers, blogs, social media, and Goodreads to find avenues of discovery.  Mark Coker of Smashwords nailed it:

“Brilliant move by Amazon ... Amazon just locked up discovery for the next couple years.”

And now, via Goodreads, Amazon is able to dip their fingers into other retailer's sales figures and affiliate commissions.  Goodreads has a thriving affiliate business, and massive tracking systems for affiliate links leading out to book retailers (Amazon and all its competitors).  Amazon can now track who's buying what books from what retailer through Goodreads.

A monopoly of information and book buying habits.

These are just a few of the questions/thoughts in my mind.  This is HUGE.  This is the biggest thing to happen in the world of publishing since ebooks.

Authors & publishers beware.

Here's just a few links to articles on the merger:

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2013/amazon-acquires-goodreads/

http://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/413-exciting-news-about-goodreads-we-re-joining-the-amazon-family

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/pageviews/2013/03/amazon-buys-goodreads

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffbercovici/2013/03/28/amazon-buys-goodreads-take-that-bookish/

Leave some comments below.  I would love to hear thoughts and ideas on what this will mean for Indies and the world of publishing.

Amazon puts FREE ebook promotion sites out of business?

Drinking my coffee, going through a ton of email & social media crap, I happened upon an email from Amazon.  The Associates Operating Agreement has changed.

Now normally, this would bore me to tears, and I would probably ignore it for the moment. I don't really make any money as an Associate.  I'm in the business of selling my books as a publisher (Indie).

So I clicked on it anyway, and it had some seemingly innocuous stuff about counting up items sold and the kinds of items.  As you may know, the number and type of items sold affects your Associate's commission.

Then I noticed a section about FREE ebook promotions:

Associates Program Advertising Fee Schedule – Limitations on Advertising Fee Rates for Certain Products

March 1, 2013 version
The following is added at the end of the sub-section:
“In addition, notwithstanding the advertising fee rates described on this page or anything to the contrary contained in this Operating Agreement, if we determine you are primarily promoting free Kindle eBooks (i.e., eBooks for which the customer purchase price is $0.00), YOU WILL NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO EARN ANY ADVERTISING FEES DURING ANY MONTH IN WHICH YOU MEET THE FOLLOWING CONDITIONS:
(a) 20,000 or more free Kindle eBooks are ordered and downloaded during Sessions attributed to your Special Links; and
(b) At least 80% of all Kindle eBooks ordered and downloaded during Sessions attributed to your Special Links are free Kindle eBooks.”

Again, this doesn't really affect me.  I don't worry about selling other stuff through Amazon.  But then it occurred to me who it might affect, all those wonderful websites that promote FREE kindles.  I use those websites weekly to promote my FREE novel The Nightlife New York, the first in the Nightlife Series.

These freebie sites don't make money from free books.  They sell ads. But they do make a fair amount of Amazon Associates commissions from people entering Amazon to catch a free ebook, who then shop for something else. If all these free kindle sites can no longer collect Associates commissions because they are disqualified by virtue of promoting free kindles, can they afford to stay in business based on their ad sales alone?

Maybe.

Maybe not.

I have a strong suspicion the promotion of free kindles is about to see a severe drop off.  It kinda looks like maybe Amazon is shooting themselves in the foot.  Many people who enter their system via a freebie site, who pick up a freebie, go on to shop for something else.  It's a logical procession that less freebie promotional sites = less downloads of freebies = less impact of free promos = less sales boost to novels, and less sales of other items through impulse shopping.

I suppose I can understand Amazon might think its unfair that guys promoting free stuff can make a commission from other stuff just by virtue of a simple link.  But then I realized this is the fundamental basis of Amazon's Associate Program, when someone enters via your link, you get commissions for anything they buy.

Not really making sense anymore.  Not to me.  I'm sure there's a department of bean counters somewhere in Amazon who thought it made sense.

Now we could do the conspiracy theory thing: It's a conspiracy to smack down all those upstart Indie authors who were making huge leaps and gains competing against traditionally published novels via free promos.  I'm not going there.  Not yet anyway.  But it kinda begs the question....

It will be interesting to see how this affects free kindle promotion.  It most certainly will be negative for us Indie authors, indirectly.

Until next time,

Travis