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Smashwords
Attention, indie ebook authors. Mark Coker at Smashwords wants you to know that there’s never been a better time to be you. He writes, “Thanks to an ever-growing global market for your ebooks, your books are a couple clicks away from over one billion potential readers on smart phones, tablets and e-readers. In the world of ebooks, the playing field is tilted to the indie author’s advantage.”
Then, the wake-up call. Coker goes on to report that “the gravy train of exponential sales growth is over,” with indie (self-published) authors seeing “significant” sales decline at Amazon, especially since the July launch of Kindle Unlimited. He had predicted the slowdown and attributes it to the glut of high-quality low-cost ebooks, the increasing rate of ebook supply outpacing demand, and the slowing, much-discussed transition from print to ebooks.
However, all is not lost. He offers tips on how to succeed in this new ebook environment. You’ll want to see his entire piece at Smashwords, as space constraints require editing them down. Here is a short take on Mark Coker’s 20:
1. Take the long view; focus on aggressive platform building.
2. Good isn’t good enough. Are you bringing your best game?
3. Write more, publish more, get better.
4. Diversify your distribution.
5. Network with other indie authors.
6. Publish and promote multi-author box set collaborations; you can build your base.
7. Leverage professional publishing tools, like preorder, to your advantage.
8. Best practices; there are seven, and Mark gives a good summary in his blog. Your fellow indie authors pioneered these practices, so listen up.
9. You’re running a business: be nice, ethical, honest, and humble. It pays.
10. Pinch your pennies; practice expense control.
11. Manage your time.
12. Take risks, experiment, and fail often.
13. Dream big dreams; aim high. Salvador Dali said: “Intelligence without ambition is a bird without wings.”
14. Be delusional.
15. Embrace your doubters.
16. Celebrate your fellow authors’ success. Their success is your success.
17. Remember that past success is no guarantee of your future success.
18. Never quit.
19. Own your future.
20. Know that your writing is important.
I’ll just repeat that last one: Know that your writing is important.
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Smashwords founder Mark Coker has created an infographic called, “The Indie Author Manifesto,” based on his blog post defending self- publishing.
In the post, Coker discusses how the perception of self-publishing has evolved over the last six years and identifies the 10 dominant beliefs and values that characterize the indie author movement. He has turned that list into an infographic. The infographic will soon be translated to French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian.
We’ve embedded the graphic after the jump for you to explore further. continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Mark Coker, the founder of the self-publishing site Smashwords, believes that indie authors should be proud of self-publishing their work. To help encourage these writers, he has created the ‘Indie Author Manifesto.’
In the post, Coker discusses how the perception of self-publishing has evolved over the last six years. He identifies the 10 dominant beliefs and values that characterize the indie author movement in a move to explain the philosophical mindset behind the rise in self-publishing.
Check it out: “Where once self publishing was viewed as the option of last resort – the option for failed writers and an option marked by stigma and shame – self publishing is increasingly viewed as the option of first choice for many writers. Over the next couple years I think we’ll reach a point where more first-time writers aspire to indie-publish than traditionally publish. Indie authors are the cool kids club.”
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Struggling to finish your book?
No matter where you live, Mediabistro has a new online course designed to guide independent authors through the final and most important steps of the publishing process.
Smashwords co-founder Mark Coker, bestselling self-published author Melody Anne and WeGrowMedia.com founder Dan Blank will help you complete your book in Mediabistro’s Self-Publishing Intensive.
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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Struggling to finish your book? No matter where you live, Mediabistro has a new online course designed to guide independent authors through the final and most important steps of the publishing process.
If you want to see one of our course speakers in action, bestselling author Matthew Mather will unveil his new novel on Facebook tonight. In addition, Smashwords co-founder Mark Coker, bestselling self-published author Colleen Hoover and seasoned writer Guy Kawasaki will help you complete your book in Mediabistro’s new Self-Publishing Finishing School.
For a fraction of the cost of a self-publishing package, our online instructors will walk you through this daunting process in a six-week workshop. As part of the course, you will get writing advice, editing support and ultimately, an online spotlight for your work.
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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Struggling to finish your book? No matter where you live, Mediabistro has a new online course designed to guide independent authors through the final and most important steps of the publishing process.
Smashwords co-founder Mark Coker, bestselling self-published author Colleen Hoover and seasoned writer Guy Kawasaki will help you complete your book in Mediabistro’s new Self-Publishing Finishing School. The six-week, interactive course will include a number of features to help you complete your project, including:
*Keynote speeches by world-class publishing experts, with interactive Q&A sessions.
*Practical how-to sessions that show you how to put big ideas into immediate practice.
*Homework designed to get your eBook formatted, published, marketed, and sold.
*Peer interaction: Work closely with a small group. Get feedback from an advisor. And make meaningful connections with the entire attendee roster.
*Author showcase: Participate in our ongoing community forum where your book will be posted for feedback and readership by your classmates.
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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
In his 2013 Book Publishing Industry Predictions, Smashwords founder Mark Coker included this warning for aspiring writers: “In the self-publishing gold rush, more money will be made in author services than in book sales.”
All independent writers need to remember this advice as we head into the new year. We asked How Much Should Self-Publishing Cost? in November and received a wide-range of responses. Indie authors can pay everything from nothing to $50,000 in an effort to publish their work.
Here’s more from Coker: “With the shift to self-publishing, writers must carry the publishing burdens once borne by traditional publishers, such as the cost of editing, proofing, book production, packaging, and distribution, as well as backoffice tasks such as accounts receivable, accounts payable and year-end tax reporting … With this burgeoning demand for professional publishing services, thousands of service providers will open up virtual author services shops in 2013. The challenge for writers is to procure the highest quality services at the lowest cost. Plenty of scamsters and over-priced service providers will be standing by to help.”
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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Ever since Penguin bought purchased the self-publishing company Author Solutions, the industry has been abuzz talking about what it means for self-published authors.
Author Carla King examined the acquisition and and compared the service to other tools out there in the industry. She wrote about her findings on PBS:
Should you consider purchasing ASI’s iUniverse, Author House, Xlibris, or another package? Besides the ISBN issue, it is very difficult for a committed do-it-yourselfer like myself to be convinced. I’ve never taken a hands-off approach to publishing, and I like to work directly with editors, designers, and formatters, instead of throwing it into a mill and seeing which cubicle it lands in. I may get lucky with a riffed senior editor from Random House, but I might also be working with a recent college graduate. But the bigger question may be, will Penguin provide a much-needed publisher’s touch to organize the confusing array of products and soften ASI’s hard-sell approach?
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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Self-publishing site Smashwords has updated its platform adding a new pricing tool and a new library feature.
AppNewser has more: “The “Pricing Manager” feature lets authors and publishers set the retail price of their books within the dashboard of Smashwords. The second new feature is called Library Direct, which enables libraries and consortiums to place large orders with Smashwords and license eBooks in bulk. Smashwords expects these orders to amount to about $30,000 for the set. Authors and publishers will earn 70 percent of the library price, which is higher than the 45 percent earned aggregator partners.” continued…
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Mark Coker, founder of self-publishing platform Smashwords, criticized Pearson’s acquisition of self-publishing company Author Solutions in a recent post.
He suggested that the purchase was an investment in a business that makes money off of authors, rather than an investment in self-published authors. Coker wrote:
Does Pearson think that Author Solutions represents the future of indie publishing? Author Solutions is one of the companies that put the “V” in vanity. Author Solutions earn 2/3 or more of their income selling services and books to authors, not selling authors’ books to readers. Does Pearson think so little of authors that they’ve decided they can earn more money selling them services than selling their books? Don’t get me wrong, I have no qualm with indies investing in professional editing, proofreading and cover design. I encourage that. There’s just something about this that feels icky.
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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
Self-published fantasy novelist Brian S. Pratt earned more than $18,000 in a single quarter while selling 17 eBooks on Smashwords. According to Smashwords founder Mark Coker, Pratt is on track to earn $25,000 during this quarter.
Meet the author in this interview with Coker at Smashwords. Before publishing his novels (they average around 150,000-words apiece) Pratt confessed, “I was a single dad living with three kids and boy, was I poor (under the poverty level).” His earnings are projected in the chart embedded above; click to enlarge.
Here’s more from the interview: “He’s on track to earn over $100,000 in 2011 at Smashwords, and up to $200,000 total when he includes his projected Amazon sales. Not one to count his eggs before they’re hatched, though, he’s fast at work on a next series … Pratt started writing because the series authors he enjoyed reading weren’t completing their series fast enough.” (Via Publishers Lunch)
New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.
