IndieBookman & Friends » Selling Books

Give It Away

admin — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:50:46 +0000

Show #14

This week, we talk about Giving It Away! “It” being your book. Many publishers and authors are giving their books away these days. Why would they do that? We were confused too, so we wanted to find out!

Why are they doing it, and is it something that would work for you? Find out this week as:

We talk to Christophe Casamassima of Furniture Press about his PO25¢EM project. He leaves little books of poetry all over the world, free for anyone to pick up and enjoy.
Pablo D’Stair of Brown Paper Publishing explains how he is using the “Give it Away” model to build brand recognition and relationships with his readers
We hear from Neil Gaiman explaining how free ebooks improved his sales… and why he views piracy as a good thing.
And then to get a practical perspective we talk to indie book marketing guru Shel Horowitz to see what he thinks about giving books away. Is it a good idea, or a big mistake?

There is a lot going on in this show. Even if you don’t decide to give your book away, we hope you are at least inspired to think of new ways to reach out to your audience.

Special thanks for music thisweek from Persona.

Coming soon, our 15th episode, “eBooks.” We are going to find out what all the fuss is about, and how you can get on board with your book.

And now, please enjoy Give It Away:

Amazon

IndieBookMan — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 00:05:18 +0000

This week, we take a trip to the Amazon. Well, to Amazon.com, anyway. The book-selling giant, not the South American jungle.

Join us as we explore the ins-and-outs of using Amazon. Is it good for indie publishing, or is Jeff Bezos and his gang greedily enriching themselves on the backs of writers and publishers? To find out, we speak this week to:

Jeff Waxman, founder of Against Amazon. Find out why he is against Amazon and why he is convinced that — once you know what he knows — you will be too.
We speak with a publisher and 2 authors about their feelings about using Amazon’s services to sell their books:
- Christophe Casamassima of Furniture Press
- Deanna Proach, author of the novel Day of Revenge
- Toby Tate, author of the novel Diablero.
Each weighs in on how Amazon is working for them
And we close things out with our weekly call to Karl Brown, who gives us his thoughts on “The Big A,” and if it’s good for an indie author or not.

Special thanks this week to Kenobi for the use of their music.

We will be off next week, but back on March 2nd with our 10th episode, “Guerilla Marketing.” We will explore techniques and tactics for marketing your book using sweat and creativity instead of a huge marketing budget. Make sure you catch us on March 2nd for that.

And now, please enjoy Amazon:

All the better to hear you with…

IndieBookMan — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 16:02:07 +0000

Audiobooks are pretty popular. I listen to them when I am on long roadtrips, but I know many of you listen to them much more frequently. And now that we can podify them to our phones, tablets, mp3 players, netbooks etc. they are even more convenient.

And there a tons of major-label pop titles available in audio. Amazon seems to be making a killing selling them through Audible.com.

But if you are an indie, it’s well nigh impossible – ok, we will say really difficult and expensive – to get your book on tape. Hiring the voice talent, studio time, editor – even if you are going the DIY route, it’s still all-consuming.

Fortunately the law of “find a need/fill a need” has kicked in, and getting your indie book audio-ized just became possible.

The folks who have been running librivox.org have recently created a new site and service called Iambik Audiobooks.

Here is how it works. You submit your book, and a home-based volunteer reader voices your work on their own equipment. It then becomes a part of the Iambik catalog, available for a low-low price.

Easy peasy!

But how does the money work? Well you get a piece, Iambic gets a piece, and the reader gets a piece. No overhead for you, your books gets a voice, and everyone makes a little green.

How can you beat that?

There may be some concern regarding the quality of the audio. After all, these aren’t necessarily professional voice actors. But for the price, I would say take what you can get. And if your book takes off in audio format? Well then you can think about raising the bar and springing for professional talent.

There is also a great article about Iambik over at salon.com. It’s worth a read, for sure.

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By Brad Grochowski
Brad is the IndieBookMan. He is the founder and owner of AuthorsBookshop.com, and his book is The Secret Weakness of Dragons.

“Afternoons With Authors” at Pratt Free Library

IndieBookMan — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 18:17:46 +0000

The Enoch Pratt Free Library system in Baltimore is awesome. I am really glad to see them making a move that will support indie publishing in the area.

If you are a Baltimore-based author, I highly encourage you to get in touch with them (contact info below) and sign up to read as a part of this event!

The Herring Run Branch is hosting a “Afternoons With Authors”
program. The program is a chance for self-published authors or
published authors to showcase and promoting their work. Here is the
general description we use for the program: “Meet real writers–
novelists, poets, children’s book authors–from your neighborhood and
learn what inspired them, what tips worked for them, and what path
they took to publication.” You can even sell copies of your work. We
will provide all the promotion.

If you are an author and is interested or know of someone who might be interested please contact the Herring Run Branch, deadline for
registering is participation is December 1. The program is schedule for January 15.

For more information please email the branch @ hrr@epfl.net, or call
410-396-0996 Lynne Distance or Poonam Mukherjee are the contact
persons for the program.

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By Brad Grochowski
Brad is the IndieBookMan. He is the founder and owner of AuthorsBookshop.com, and his book is The Secret Weakness of Dragons.

AuthorsBookshop gets Murdered

IndieBookMan — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 14:01:00 +0000

I would like to welcome a new indie Publisher Partner to AuthorsBookshop – and the IndieBookMan realm.

Magic 1 Productions has published a series of mystery novels, each with a “murder” themed title. Titles such as Magic Murders, Made-for-TV Murders and Talk Show Murders cover the more staid who-done-it bases, while the likes of Vegas Showgirl Murders, Dominatrix Murders and Mistress Murders seem to angle more along the lines of who-done-what-to-who.

Owner and authors Bob Moats is a true (and prolific) indie publisher. He is demonstrating excellent use of the author-owned publishing company model that I am so fond of. His books are great, poppy and fun – and he is working hard to create his own market for them. He is even doing the printing and binding himself (as I did with my book.) That’s indie dedication.

Bob wrote to me,

When I first started writing I was looking at the options to get my books to the public. I have no illusions that a publisher will ever pick me out of the crowd and already have a few rejections, so I am going the “indie” way of publishing. If you have visited my website you’ll see how far I have gone, even to printing and binding my own paperbacks.

And as for demand? Well, I have already started shipping out orders for the Murder series, even though they have just gone live… so there is definitely a market for Magic 1 Production’s books. Perhaps the rejection letters Mr. Moats received were a little short-sighted?

You can see list of all the books at AuthorsBookshop.com, here.

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By Brad Grochowski
Brad is the IndieBookMan. He is the founder and owner of AuthorsBookshop.com, and his book is The Secret Weakness of Dragons.

Gizmodo explores authors selling directly with ebooks

IndieBookMan — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 17:14:36 +0000

Think what you will about ebooks and electronic publishing (and it’s getting harder every week to be bearish on it,) people are buying ebooks, and publishers are making money off of them. For the first time ever, ebook sales outstripped hardcover sales last month, and the trend is only going to continue. Someday, ebooks will outstrip printed books of all types.

Like it or not, we are heading that way.

In an article yesterday, gadget blog Gizmodo.com explored best-selling authors that have started to publish and sell their work directly to readers via ebook format. This is a good read, as many of the benefits that these best sellers are experiencing can be had by indie authors as well. In fact, I think there are benefits that indies may realize that the big guys aren’t even effected by… or would have access to otherwise. Instant global distribution comes immediately to mind.

The post covers five reasonse why these top-selling authors are going “e” with their new books and I have to say… some of these overlap nicely with reasons we have been urging would-be best-selling authors to go indie in general. You know, things like, “You’re the Main Honcho” are right up our alley, but adding ideas such as “You’ll Have a Book Published in No Time” and “Epublishing is a More Cost Effective Route” aren’t too shabby either.

So take a look, but here is a quick-cut summary. Definitely worth your time to read the whole post.

Just recently the Association of American Publishers reported that ebook sales have increased by 176 percent in 2009, while print-book sales continues to decrease. The list of benefits for ebook writers is endless, but one major upside is that the authors are taking home more of the book sale profits. Not to mention that the editing process is simplified and that ebooks are produced much, much quicker. It also helps that authors have more control during the entire book production process and access to a whole new audience. The publishing industry is paying attention to the major move, including traditional publishers. More and more literary agencies, such as Andrew Wylie’s agency, have plans to start agencies that deal exclusively with epublishers. It’s no wonder why more authors are going direct.

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By Brad Grochowski
Brad is the IndieBookMan. He is the founder and owner of AuthorsBookshop.com, and his book is The Secret Weakness of Dragons.

IndieBookMan Radio Show #14: Distribution!

IndieBookMan — Wed, 19 May 2010 00:32:55 +0000

What: IndieBookMan Radio Show #14: Distribution!
When: Wednesday, May 19th 8PM
Where: http://umbrellaradio.org
Who: Anyone who is interested in writing, reading or publishing indie books

NOTE: This is an online broadcast… you don’t even have to leave your house! Just tune in at http://umbrellaradio.org, relax and listen…

HOW do I get my book into bookstores? How do I get the big-box chain stores to notice my book? How to I get the attention of the hip indie book stores across the nation?

You want to know how? Here is how: Distribution. A funny little word that means so much in the publishing industry, and is so often misunderstood.

Well, we’re going to clear up a lot of the mystery behind distribution on The IndieBookMan this week. Our guest is Davida Breier. Davida knows more than anyone I know about how distribution works, why you would or would not want to mess with it, and how you can make it work for you.

We will be talking about:

- What you would need to do to line up major distribution
- Is distribution right for you and your book?
- How to get by if you decide to forgo formal distribution channels
- And SO MUCH MORE!

So if you have ever wondered how all of this “Getting my book in bookstores” business works – and if you have a book you’d better be wondering about that – than this is exactly the show for you.

Davida Breier is the Manager for Hopkins Fulfillment Services (HFS), the distribution division at Johns Hopkins University Press. She’s worked for National Book Network (NBN), where she was the Marketing Director and oversaw NBN Fusion, a digital publishing and distribution initiative. Prior to that, she was the Sales and Marketing Director for Biblio Distribution, managing over 500 independent presses. She is also a board member for the non-profit publisher, No Voice Unheard and is a contributing writer and photographer for their new book Ninety-Five: Meeting America’s Farmed Animals in Stories and Photographs.

Davida has been involved in small press since 1994 and has published 70 zines with two more planned for this summer.

You really really don’t want to miss this show.

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The IndieBookMan Radio Show covers all aspects of literature, writing, books and indie publishing in the Baltimore region and far beyond.

If you are interested in literature, books, writing or publishing, if you know you have a book inside of you and want to find out how to get it out into the world and into the hands of readers, then The IndieBookMan Radio Show is just what you need.

Hosted by AuthorsBookshop.com founder Brad Grochowski (a.k.a. the IndieBookMan) each show features an author, publisher or mover-and-shaker in the indie book world. We explore their history, walk through the steps they took to success, and find out a bit about their project.

Join us May 19th at 8:00 PM est at http://umbrellaradio.org for the live broadcast, listen to the archive at http://indiebookman.com or subscribe to the podcast at http://bit.ly/ibm_podcast

Hello, it’s Amazon. Did Apple call you? What’d he say about us?

IndieBookMan — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:22:11 +0000

I saw this over at Gizmodo today, and thought it was interesting. Apparently, Amazon spent time calling publishers to see if it could find out what Apple had been promising them.

I’m sure it’s sound business practice or whatever, but it kinda seems a little… junior high. Rick likes Susan but Susan kinda likes Bill so Rick calls Susan to find out what Bill said about Rick.

Anyway, according to Gizmodo,

Amazon started calling publishers before Steve Jobs had even left the stage at the iPad event, according to the NYT. They wanted to know what Apple promised them—and more importantly, what they promised Apple.

You see what I mean? How is Amazon lame? Let us count the ways…

That incredible backlist

Deborah Emin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:00:20 +0000

The real wealth of the traditional publisher is their backlist. What they have published over the years and kept in print.

Yet today’s traditional publisher does not seem to value this wealth or perhaps does not understand it. Much of it is going out of print.

Out of this travesty a new form of publishing is taking place. Part of it is the resurgence of the self-published author who reclaims his or her work and puts it back in circulation as an e-book.

This is the health and future of our culture. It is going to generate sales for the out of print author and make us much more keenly aware of what we are in the process of losing if we allow the traditional publishers to stay in charge of who gets published.

How many of us have heard the awful words from a well-respected publisher that they would like to publish our work but, and this is a huge moment of truth they think they are pronouncing, there is no market for what we write?

My answer to them is they are fools and clowns masquerading as publishers. The role of the publisher is to find that market, to be inventive and creative in opening up the audience for a vast array of work that needs to be read.

When and if you hear a publisher say those nasty words to you, do not despair. It is truly their loss, your gain and you can find and will find the best way to have the work published. They just won’t be able to seduce you with that awful soul destroying hope that you can cash in on casino publishing and your book too will make millions.

We are really the majority here, we indie folks.

What do you think about that?

Deborah Emin is the Publisher of Sullivan Street Press, www.sullivanstreetpress.com

Are you stupid?

IndieBookMan — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:36:00 +0000

Here is actually a pretty cool post over at Publetariat. Michael A. Stackpole is discussing how some authors are against the ePub format because they think it will hurt repeat sales – as in, a reader might wear a paper book out, but love it so much that she will go out and by it again. So, you are missing that second sale, because ePub books don’t wear out.

Um, yeah. If you are worried about that, well then I think Stackpole has a point and the right label for you.

He demonstrates how you make more money selling 1 ePub book than you would several paper books.

2) A repurchased book, right now, nets the author 10% of the cover price. Let’s say that’s 80 cents on an $8.00 paperback.

3) Under the current agency model, that same $8 epub book will net the author $5.60. (And even with the publishers taking half the electronic money if they’re selling the book, It’s still $2.80 due the author.)

And, that’s argument enough for me.

But beyond that… I mean, come on, really? If someone loved my book so much that they wore it out, then they have likely told all of their friends and family about it. They have probably boosted it online and at work. If someone loves your book that much, for crying out loud they deserve a free copy!

I know it’s hard to make a buck selling books, and indie books even more. And I know that every dollar counts… but please, let’s focus on the problems that are not great to have because frankly, if having fans that love my book that much is a problem? Then I don’t have enough real problems.