Book Essentials Blog

Have you ever declared:

"I Don't Tweet", or "I Don't Text", or "I don't use Facebook"?

We've all had friends and family say those words to us.

Today I want to perform an intervention. You simply can't say "I Don't" to any of these things and expect to remain relevant, or informed.

Here's why.

Twitter is the new oxygen of information. Let me explain.

Radio isn't about a kind of content - it's just a pipe that brings sound to your radio. It can be Classical Music, or News Radio, or Howard Stern. But you don't say - I don't use 'audio' or I don't consume content that comes from a satellite.

The pipe doesn't matter.

So, with Twitter here's a quick primer. [Read Full Article at mediabizbloggers.com]

A number of things have converged right now to provide self-publishers with much greater opportunities than ever before in the history of book publishing. This article provides a bit of history, then goes on to cover many of these exciting new avenues that are opening up.

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iBooks on the iPad. It's a huge book market, and getting bigger. Learn how to format your book so that you can take advantage of this expanding book sellers market.

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The Association of American Publishers said late Thursday that e-books had surged and established a foothold as the most popular format for reading in the US.

Do you wonder if you have what it takes to compete in the social media marketplace? Who, after all, has the time or the budget to mimic Disney or Starbucks? Certainly not a small business!

Well, maybe that’s the wrong set of questions.

Read the full article at 

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/

In many ways, it comes down to the simple equation of which is more important: your overall revenue or stopping piracy. For some reason, many in various legacy industries have trouble separating those two questions, and often think that it's the same question. They assume (incorrectly) that "stopping piracy" automatically increases revenue, and that allowing infringement to continue automatically decreases revenue. But that's not the case. There are all sorts of other variables and unintended consequences. That's the point that Boezeman is making:

Read the full article at http://www.techdirt.com

Although there are different technologies that will make reading a whole lot easier and more convenient, books have never really lost their functional way of delivering content. It’s very simple — books don’t need anything apart from themselves to operate and they provide a unique multi-sensory experience that gadgets have yet to emulate.

Read the full article at http://thenextweb.com

Money is a touchy subject for many authors. If an author gives a public “whoo-hoo!” about the money he/she has gotten from writing, it can often be perceived as tasteless bragging. If an author gives a public lament about money he/she’s gotten from writing (as compared to their bills, perhaps) it can be perceived as ungrateful complaining. So, as an author, it’s sometimes best just not to talk about money.

Read the full article at http://jeanienefrost.com

The Self-Publishing Coach is a great resource for self-publishers of all types. This article has some tools of value to authors and book self-publishers.

These days even if you have a publisher, they will want to know how you will promote your book. If you don't have a book puboisher, then it's obvious why it's wise to begin filling your arsenal with great tips. This article is another packed full of great info for the author or self-publisher needing to promote thier books. The first part is on creating a Virtual Book Tour. Learn how to go on tour with your book from the comfort of your home or office. Many more ideas are offered as well.

The exploding universe of self-publishing is among the most profound forces influencing our worldly affairs today. It will change world economies, topple legacy empires, fertilize new ones, and fundamentally alter the; way in which our species thinks, learns, and communicates.

Read the full article at http://mattgartland.com/

Order Built to Sell: Creating a Business That Can Thrive Without You this week and take advantage of one of the offers below.(Offers expire April 30; Q&A at the bottom of the page).
Be sure to check out the slideshows to see details about the gifts you'll receive.

Read the full article at http://www.builttosell.com/

We always hear about the things public relations pros are doing wrong. But what about all the stuff they’re doing right? Why don’t we hear about that? 

Here are 10 things you’re doing right as a PR pro.

Read the full article at http://www.prdaily.com/

The new world of e-book publishing promises almost-instant gratification at virtually no cost. It seems that authors with a manuscript in hand can glide nonstop to great sales,wealth and fame, probably before lunch.

Read the full article at http://www.thebookdesigner.com/

OpenMargin aims to provide a social platform for readers and publishers alike. The idea is that readers’ engagement in titles will increase and the open discussion around titles helps expose new customers to the books. The company also plans to allow publishers to extend the life of their books by launching additional content within margins after the initial publication date. For example, authors or celebrities could provide their own notes for titles, creating additional value. OpenMargin also plans to offer an open API to allow developers to innovate on top of the platform.

read the full article at http://thenextweb.com/

The publishing industry is finding itself in a similar position that the recording companies struggled with a decade ago.  The explosion of self-publishing has created an entirely new cottage industry that is capable of selling and distributing titles around the world with the click of the mouse.  Affordable vehicles like Kindle, Nook and (to a lesser extent) the iPad have made eBooks a viable option for many people who are avid readers and hate lugging books around.  The combination of these two huge trends created muddy waters that traditional publishers have been traversing cautiously.  In these questionable times, what is an author to do when they want their book published?  Is the dream of The Great American Novel dead?

Read the full article at http://www.bruceasarte.com/

I know, I know. This is a column about cutting-edge electronics. So, apologies to gadget-heads as I take a brief so journey into the land of self-publishing, which has become a lot more high-tech than a lot of people realize. 

Read the full article at http://reviews.cnet.com

With the popularity of Kindle, iBooks and other eBook formats, there's a growing interest in just how to get the format right. This article provides some good resources for how to publish your book to the Kindle format.

So, you’re ready to publish your book? Great!! Regardless of what you may read across the web, it’s not as tough as you might think. Marketing your book and actually achieving a reasonable amount of sales, on the other hand, is pretty tricky. Having gone through the process a couple of times – and doing things entirely the WRONG way at the start – I hope I can offer you some help in streamlining the self-publishing process! Just remember not to panic. While the big picture can easily seem overwhelming, if you break it down into bite-sized chunks, it’s really not so bad. One of my favorite tools for project organization is Personal Kanban, a system that requires moments to learn and no cost to implement! If you are searching for a better method to organize your chaos, I highly recommend checking it out. Now, on to the good stuff…

Read the full article at http://epmarcellin.com/

Research published yesterday by IHS iSuppli reveals that the US book publishing industry has reached a “major inflection point” in which there will be a long-term decline in revenue, as e-book sales fail to reach the levels required to compensate the fall in physical book sales.

Over the period of 2010-2014, the book publishing industry will face a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) decline of 3% for both e-books and paper books. This reflects a fall in revenue from $25 billion between 2005 and 2010 to $22.7 billion between 2010 and 2014. Driving the decline is a 5% fall in the CAGR of physical book revenue, which far outweighs the 40% CAGR in e-books. This is mostly due to the fact that the selling prices of e-books are on average 40% lower than those of paper copies.

 

Read the full article at http://www.macstories.net/