Archive for Book publishing
Marion’s journey in self publishing
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I first met Marion a little over a year ago, when I limped into an Arizona Book Publishing Association meeting and grabbed a seat in the back. I was just starting to get out and about after struggling with piriformis syndrome. She came over immediately to greet me and welcomed me to the association.
I’ve gotten to know her better since then, and admire her mission and commitment to “giving voice” to others. She told me, “I have always been fascinated by who people are and where they come from, and why they live one side of the street instead of the other. Imagine my surprise when I met a group of women who chose to live on no street at all. What started out as a desire ‘to give voice’ to these women, wound up with a www.togivevoice.com website and an audio CD and then a book.”
Marion is a great example that you can be any age and from any walk of life to write a book that resonates with the public and exemplifies your passion. Over the past few years, she has given voice to these women in a variety of formats, including the book, the website, and through recorded interviews to help bring them alive. She has begun Internet-based marketing with blogs, podcasts and a Buy page on the website. Throughout the journey, she has relied on the Arizona Book Publishing Association to help her understand this new world of self-publishing. Read More→
What you need to know about producing audio books
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In 2008, over a billion dollars of audiobooks were sold in the U.S. They are typically purchased by “educated buyers over the age of 30 who have busy lifestyles,” according to demographic stats.
Here in Arizona, John Mahoney of Ravenpheat Productions specializes in audio books. After listening to him rattle off the ins and outs of turning a print book into audio format, I realized it really behooves authors to work with someone who knows what they are doing. Do NOT try this alone!
If you’re in the market to produce an audio version of your work, visit the studio you’re considering and take a look around. Is it organized? Are all of your questions answered? Are the hours flexible, or fixed? Read More→
The latest in book promotion: video book trailers for only $300
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Just think – what if Margaret Mitchell had a book video trailer for “Gone With the Wind” in 1936? What would it have looked like before the movie trailer in 1939?
Video book trailers are the latest development in book promotion. A company right here in Scottsdale, Master Duplicating Corp., creates affordable video book trailers ($300 – $400 on average). Designed like movie previews, these 30-90 second video clips help sell a speaker, author or entertainer’s talents and promote them to prospective clients.
CEO Janita Cooper works closely with her clients and will create the video clip using non-royalty based music and graphics. The authors and speakers can be featured in the clip, or not, depending on their preference. Unlike a lot of radio talk show hosts, Janita actually reads the book beforehand, to get an idea of what sort of clip would work best. As part of her planning session with an author, she gets them to think hard about their fan base, she says. “What would you tell your fan base about the book? What are the five most compelling words you can tell me so someone will enjoy your book?” Read More→
Is ebook “windowing” a good or bad tactic?
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Author Diana Gabaldon finds that her readers buy both the hardcover and ebook versions of her works
Windowing” is the practice of delaying the release of a digital version in order to deliver the hardcover version first. It has been used with books and ebooks, movies and DVDs. In high-tech, it’s also used to avoid cannibalizing the original product with the release of the later, more feature-happy version.
An article by Ken Auletta in The New Yorker (April 26, 2010) included interviews with representatives from Amazon and publishing houses. There’s a big difference in philosophies in these two cultures about windowing. Amazon doesn’t like the idea of putting up a “barrier” to keep a book out of the hands of “someone who might evangelize it.” Publishers, on the other hand, practice this tactic frequently in order to promote their hardcover sales.
I think windowing will go away soon. At the recent ABPA awards, I was talking with several other people to Scottsdale author Diana Gabaldon. She indicated that her loyal readers buy both the hardcover and ebook versions of her works – they read the ebooks on their Kindle and buy the hardcover as a sort of pristine work of art to keep on their shelves.
Fears of cannibalizing one form of the product with another seem to be moot these days….
Self publishing success story
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New guide features history and details of the trails in the Arizona Superstition Mountains
At the Arizona Book Publishing Association annual Glyph awards event last weekend, I sat next to Jack Carlson and Elizabeth Stewart, authors of the “Superstition Wilderness Trails East.” This hiker’s guide won several awards that night, and here is the story of their road to self-publishing success, in Jack’s own words:
How did the idea for the book begin?
When I left Motorola in 1992, I combined three of my interests–engineering, writing and hiking. Our Hiker’s Guide to the Superstition Wilderness book is somewhat like a technical document with lots of maps and diagrams, calculated distances and hiking times, and research into the historical aspects of the trails. I have a BS degree in Electrical Engineering and also a MBA degree, so the business part of book publishing also attracted me to the project.
What resources did you use to help yourself along?
Elizabeth was the only source of help at first. Motorola provided editorial assistance on one writing project where we wrote two small pamphlets on engineering techniques. After Elizabeth and I started the Hiker’s Guide to the Superstition Wilderness book project, we joined the ABPA (for publishing help), and the Arizona Authors Association (for writing help). Dan Poynter’s Self Publishing Manual was our guide to everything. Read More→
The soon-to-be lost art of book cover design
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It never occurred to me that with the growing popularity of ebooks, book cover design might go the way of my favorite album covers of the 70s and earlier. Had it occurred to you?
As this recent article points out, if book jackets disappear, something in the total experience of reading a book will be lost. I’ve often picked up a book based on the cover, not so much the topic.
CDs are okay, but I miss buying album covers and spending time reading lyrics that are actually legible instead of point 6 size. It was all part of the “experience” of buying music. I hardly look at CD covers now – they’ve definitely lost something in the translation to a smaller footprint. And as we have more and more ebooks, we may lose the art of intriguing book cover design.
I have a collection of Zane Grey books that belonged to my father. Most have the original dust jackets on them. If you’re not familiar with Grey, he lived in Payson, Arizona for a time, and wrote beautifully of the “Rim Country.” The dust jackets speak to an era in book design that was so rich in complexity.
I don’t know if current book design does it for me. I can’t get excited over the Twilight series covers, for example. But maybe to the target teenage audience, covers don’t matter as much.
How do you think book cover design will change in the next 5 years? I think more emphasis will be on distribution channels and less and less on the artistic component. Pity.
7 questions for Heather Fox, book publicist
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Ever wonder what it’s like to be a book publicist? Here are some insights from Heather Fox, senior publicist for Pearson:
Q: What advice would you give someone in PR who would like to move into book publicity?
The publishing industry is especially dynamic at this time with lots of changes in how customers are purchasing and consuming books, eBooks and other mobile and multimedia formats that deliver learning material in different ways. I would recommend anyone interested in this industry to be an avid reader of the trade publications and informed blogs that cover it, including ones such as Publisher’s Weekly and Mediabistro’s GalleyCat. Read More→
The future of book publishing and ebooks
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Economic Futurist Joan Foltz
Those of us who attended Joan Foltz’ presentation at the Arizona Book Publishing Association luncheon yesterday left the meeting somewhat more encouraged than when we arrived, as the hot button in publishing today is what effect ebooks will have on our beloved traditional, physical book. Her talk was entitled, “What’s Up/Down with the Publishing Industry.” She was the perfect speaker for this topic, as she has a master’s degree in futures studies, is an “economic futurist,” and is in the process herself of putting out two books. She looks at industries and analyzes their cycles and what is changing the behavior and structures of those systems. You can find out more about her background and newsletter at www.edgyeconomics.com.
What’s our pulse now?
We are now in a state of “disequilibrium,” according to Joan, where we are trying to determine which is fad, and which is permanent change. Destruction is scary, she said, and some people will be knocked out, but it also represents new opportunity. Read More→
Apple iPad and a look back at the first ebooks, 1983
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Master's thesis, Boston University, 1984
Steve Jobs demoed the Apple iPad today, which although not available for several months, promises to take us closer to e-book reality.
Master’s Thesis
I first researched e-books in 1983-84 as part of my master’s thesis at Boston University’s College of Communication. The project analyzed what was then an emerging communications technology, driven through the videotext channels at the time. Videotext is a two-way interactive system which transmits information on telephone or cable lines to a specially adapted television set or home computer. Book publishing stood to be affected by videotext because it offered an important alternative to the familiar physical book that we all know. Read More→
A conversation with author Alan Korwin: self publishing and book promotion
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Author Alan Korwin
Book publicity is a talent that a lot of authors don’t possess. However you feel about the controversial topic of gun laws, (and I’m squarely in the middle), you have to admire someone like Alan Korwin. Through hard work and a natural promotional ability, he has taken his Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide through 24 successful self-published editions.
1). How did you first get the idea for your book, The Arizona Gun Owner’s Guide?
Moved here from NYC, where guns in the hands of the public are virtually unknown, and found Arizonans sold guns and ammo in supermarkets. When I asked, ”What are the rules?”, the guy at the counter asked me what I meant by rules. I figured there was room in the market for a book on it. I certainly wanted to know. People started making me offers for copies before I had it written. Read More→
