Self-Publishing Archives | Page 8 of 10 | Jennifer Lancaster

February 4, 2017

Self-Publishing, Selling eBooks and Media

Security for your eBooks

An enquiry came in today about ‘how do I keep my eBook secure?’ Let’s look at the various ways to help increase its security. The answer depends on whether your ebook is hosted by a retailer, e.g. Amazon or iBooks or Smashwords, or is in PDF form on your own website. The retailers, although letting buyers lend their ebook to friends for one week in the case of Amazon (optional), have digital security in place as much as possible. After all, they want their cut as well as giving you yours. You can also put a message in the front of the ebook, along the lines of “This book was distributed at Amazon, if you received a copy for free, this is not authorised by the publisher, so please return to Amazon to buy a copy”. Or some such. But… you may…

December 13, 2016

Self-Publishing, Selling eBooks and Media

Returns on your Book Publishing Enterprise

Writing a book is no mean feat. It’s easy to get carried away with paying for this and that for its success, to help your business revenue. Regardless, my motto is: “Only spend (on your book) what you can feasibly get back (as a return on marketing).” A higher cash-flow business might put all the costs of a book under marketing — which isn’t a bad idea for direct incentives or in-book bonus offers. What are the Potential Earnings? As a micro publisher, the incomings could include: royalties — see IngramSpark compensation calculator higher lead to client conversions from prospects reading the book/s new leads and JV opportunities greater access to media spots and blogger reviews Since you have to keep your end goals in mind, you may decide to forgo the small royalties from traditional ebook sales to place a higher value on the…

December 5, 2016

Self-Publishing

Choosing a Self-Publishing Platform Ain’t Easy

If you’re in the process of finishing a book and wondering how to self-publish your book or eBook, you might have started doing some research online. Soon you realised that there are so many self-publishing author services, vanity presses, and Print on Demand that you cannot possibly make a clear decision. So it comes back to finding out the opinion of self-published authors who have been through it. CNet’s David Carnoy says: “Royalties are better (with an author services company e.g. CreateSpace) than what “real” publishers offer, but there are caveats, and true self-publishing pros prefer to cut out the subsidy press (which takes a cut) and go straight to a POD printer like Lightning Source to maximize profits.” Note that David chose BookSurge (now CreateSpace) and then shortly after securing an agent (and publicity), went on to get a traditional publisher to…

November 28, 2016

Self-Publishing

Claim your Public Lending Rights in Australia

Many authors are getting their books into libraries, and so can make a claim to make up for lost royalties because of free lending under the Public Lending Rights Scheme 1997. Did you know… almost 18,000 individual lending right payments totalling over $21 million were paid in 2015-16. So, if you meet the criteria, registering for Public Lending Rights (or ELR, for educational libraries) can be worthwhile. If you can handle some online form-filling, there could be a little money in it for you. (They will survey where your book is found and it needs to be found in 50 libraries, which is quite a few, so this may take quite some time). Title claims for books published 2011 to 2016 are now being accepted until 31 March 2017. Creators can be authors, illustrators, editors or compilers of a work – and…

October 24, 2016

Self-Publishing

Why do I need an ISBN?

An ISBN is an International Standard Book Number, and it identifies a book format and title to all booksellers, readers and libraries. It is not a book cost which you should cut from your plans. While you can choose to publish privately for company profiles, client guides, etc, having an ISBN opens up your book to be ready for purchase through traditional book retailers, online bookstores, libraries and book finder tools. (See my favourite book price checker, https://booko.com.au/ – try a book search on your own book.) The Benefits of Using an ISBN Having an ISBN assigned to your title enables you to obtain a CiP (Catalogue in Publication) entry from the Australian National Library. This in turn means that your book can contain data helpful for librarians when cataloguing your book. ISBNs are the global standard for identifying titles. ISBN 13s are used worldwide…

September 21, 2016

Self-Publishing

Things to Spot in your Publisher Assist Contract

In this post, we are talking about self-publishing assist contracts (rather than traditional publishing contracts, which also must be scrutinised). Many self-publisher assist companies deem to take money from authors to cover production and administration, but authors then get caught out on royalties, contract termination and book rights. Don’t let it happen to you! You can either keep your money to yourself and learn yourself (and/or get publishing mentoring), or you can use this list. Essential Questions to Ask on Viewing Your Self-Publisher Assist Contract Check the company name on your contract: is it the same as the public name? Google reviews on them. Also ensure your name is right. What services are being delivered? Typesetting, proofreading/editing, any author copies, and distribution details all should be here. (Does it match what the package said?) Who gets to approve the final…