Indie Authors Home-Made Book Covers part 1
When self-publishing, the average Indie author wears many hats while transforming the words of a manuscript into an ebook or paperback. This means handling multiple jobs of the publishing biz that would normally be done by specialized pros: editing, interior formatting, cover design, marketing, etc. The Indie dilemma–you can’t just write unless you have deep enough pockets to hire out for many professionals.
Enter discussions in forums and you’ll likely hear energized opinions of what authors should or should not do for themselves. Editing probably stands out the most, but another heated debate is on cover design. Should an Indie author design her/his own cover? Well, the tools exist online to do it for free, so is that reason enough to give it a try?
It was for me. I’ve done it 7 times, and although my covers haven’t been nominated for awards (nor will they), I do sell books. Ultimately the reviews and referrals sell more than the covers, but let’s not get off track. This post is not intended to be an argument for or against doing it yourself; it’s just to give examples from authors I’ve met in cyberspace who made their own covers and are willing to share experiences. This is not a contest nor is it meant to be in any order, and for those who still insist on hiring out… at the bottom are affordable solutions.
Before judging these books by their covers it’s important to recognize that plenty of Amazon best-sellers have less-than-stellar front faces. http://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/books/ is a list of top 100 paper-books, not ebooks, and it may surprise you to find many simple designs (basic photo or graphics with text) on best-selling books. Seems about 20% of the books on this top 100 list are simple enough to be reproduced by the average Indie.
Here are some covers made by Indie authors using (mostly) free resources.
Title: Love of My Life: Memoirs of a Love Lost
Author: Angie Russell
Description from author: Cover was made using Adobe Photoshop CS2. Basic elements were applied like text, cropping of photograph, soft glow, etc. I’m a novice in Photoshop but was still able to make a cover I was proud of. Took me about 2 weeks and 8 drafts.
Author’s blog: www.angienrussell.wordpress.com
Amazon Kindle page: www.amazon.com/dp/B004YQDPR6
Title: Baba’s Kitchen: Ukrainian Soul Food with Stories From the Village
Author: Raisa Marika Stohyn
Description from author: I used a Kodak digital. I brewed a pot of traditional borshch, with hand cut vegetables. As I have no experience in food photography, it took ten days to get the shot! Days 1-9 were frustrating. I got complicated, adding a head of garlic, a lemon slice and bread. I soon discovered that cold borshch looks unappetizing; I heated and washed utensils daily. Lighting, props, even spoon angle had to be precise. Once I was happy, I used Picasa’s free photo editing program to fine tune and add text.
Author’s website: www.ukrainiansoulfood.ca
Amazon Kindle page: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006WPZE6M
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Title: Severance
Author: Shawn Cannon
Description from author: I created my book cover for free. I used an open source program called GIMP. It is very similar to Photoshop, without any cost. Google was a terrific resource to find royalty free images. There was one photo, that I did ask for permission to use. Custom fonts were found online for free as well. After that, it was just trial and error. By no means am I an artist. I was just dedicated to playing around with GIMP until I found some looks and features that I was ultimately pleased with. I did not want a cover that looked like it was created by an amateur, and I was determined to keep my costs down in the process. I probably spent ten hours in all from start to finish.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/shawntheauthor
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Title: Will Love For Crumbs
Author: Jonna Ivin
Description from author: I knew what I wanted for the picture, so I asked a friend to pose and another friend with a good camera to take the shot. The rest I did in photoshop. Found the text on line and downloaded it for free. Painted her sign myself. All free!
Author’s website: http://www.jonnaivin.com/ (Still working on website. I don’t know much about them.)
Amazon Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Will-Love-Crumbs-Memoir-ebook/dp/B006V1KQLU
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Title: The Red Poppy
Author: P. Alan Davis
Description from author: The making of this cover was very simple. I used a photo of a Maui Poppy I took last year. Because I needed a more vertical image for a book, I rotated the image 90 degrees. I posterized it using Nero and adjusted the color from lavender to more of a red hue using the same software. The image was inserted into a MS Publisher file and the title and by-line were added. I saved it as a PDF then converted it to JPG. I did two separate covers–one for Kindle and one for paperback using the same image but different layouts and text.
Author’s blog: http://padaarch.blogspot.com/
Amazon Kindle page: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00652M1G8/
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Title: From Interviewed to…YOU’RE HIRED! A Short Guide to Interview Success Strategies
Author: Dr. Angela Massey
Description from author: First, I studied some of the book covers on Amazon to get a feel for what’s selling and would probably work. Second, I paid for the cover picture from iStock.com. Third, I created the cover in myeCovermaker.com. Since I’m not a graphic artist, I wanted something easy to use, yet sophisticated enough to provide a nice looking cover. I went through four revisions before settling on the current cover, and I’ll probably change it again! All in all, creating the book cover was the most demanding part of my book writing process.
Author’s website: www.lifeonpurposellc.com redirects to www.drangelamassey.com
Amazon Kindle page: http://www.amazon.com/Interviewed-YOURE-Interview-Strategies-ebook/dp/B006UXUVUK/
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Title: Neverdark
Author: C. S. Einfeld
Illustrator: Aaron Einfeld
Description from author: Aaron designed it originally in pencil, then using CGI, primarily DAZ studio and a bit of Bryce.
Author’s blog: www.authorcseinfeld.blogspot.com
Amazon Kindle page: http://www.amazon.com/Neverdark-ebook/dp/B0069TD5AI/
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Title: Desert Harvest
Author: Wando Wande
Description from author: I used open source software, Gimp. The painting is a public domain image by Federick Remington.
Author’s blog: omnifish.wordpress.com
Amazon Kindle page: http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Harvest-ebook/dp/B006OEVPB4/
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Title: Twilight of the Bald and other stories
Author: Robert Challis
Description from author: I wanted a striking image featuring a smooth cranium, for which I was the ideal model. After taking a digital photo and adding the text, I experimented with photoshop effects rather randomly. The effect I used is from filters/stylize/glowing edges, then adjusting the fine controls to the degree of brightness I wanted. A self photo removes any copyright issue as well as being satisfying to the vanity!
Smashwords book page: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/75022
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Title: Extreme Skiing and Psychedelic Mushrooms: The Art Of Chasing Fear
Author: Jason Matthews
Description from author: Mostly proud of this because I made it in 20 minutes. The photos are freely available from Flickr’s Creative Commons. I used Inkscape for everything including the photo transparency and text graphics. This cover is from a free short story, and it’s the example in my video class teaching e-publishing with free resources.
Author’s website: http://ebooksuccess4free.webs.com/
Amazon Kindle page: http://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Skiing-Psychedelic-Mushrooms-ebook/dp/B005OZJ1JC/
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Now for those who really want some affordable professional solutions, here are some ideas:
- If you email list@smashwords.com, you can get a list of cover designers as well as ebook formatters–experienced, inexpensive and approved by Smashwords.
- Contact Bradley Wind via his Flickr page – http://www.flickr.com/photos/bwind3/sets/72157617997470513/ and see about an affordable cover.
- oDesk.com specializes in hiring out for small jobs with people from all over the world.
- 99desings can have multiple artists competing for your job, though expect to pay more for it.
- Some of my favorite free online programs useful for making book covers include: Inkscape for graphics editing, Flickr Creative Commons for photos, and Picasa for simple photo editing.
- In the comments sections, feel free to either offer your services or recommend a cover designer.
I titled this post part 1 because I believe many other Indies might show up in the near future with covers and stories of their own to feature. Look for an update here if it’s out.
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add me to your Google Plus circles.CreateSpace Pro Plan Discontinued
Heads up to Indie authors with paperbacks using CreateSpace and the Pro Plan, which is something I use too. As of today, Jan-18-2011, the feature is being discontinued. The Pro Plan cost $39/year/book and allowed authors a reduced price when purchasing their own books. It also enabled better royalties on all sales along with Expanded Distribution channels to more booksellers, libraries, etc. For just $39/year, it was something that definitely made sense to do, easily paying for itself after a few dozen orders.
CreateSpace just sent me this letter, which says;
We’ve discontinued Pro Plan and now all authors receive the benefit of lower member order costs and higher royalty payouts previously available through Pro Plan, for free.
Where is the Pro Plan star icon?
Since we’ve discontinued Pro Plan, the star icon has been replaced with a solid blue book icon for all paperback books.
How do I get Expanded Distribution now that Pro Plan is gone?
Expanded Distribution is now $25. To purchase Expanded Distribution and enroll your book through these channels, click “Channels” from your Project Homepage and then click the orange “Add to Cart” button.
What happens to my existing title enrolled in Pro Plan?
Royalties and member order rates will remain the same for titles that were previously on Pro Plan. These titles will also remain available through the channels you selected within Expanded Distribution. If your Pro Plan title is not already enrolled in Expanded Distribution, you can enroll it for free at any time.
What happens to my existing title not enrolled in Pro Plan?
Your member cost for book orders will drop and your royalty earnings will increase. Use our order calculator and royalty calculator to determine your rates. These titles can be enrolled in Expanded Distribution for $25. Confirm your title’s Expanded Distribution before purchasing.
Guess my only question is if they’ll reimburse us the $14 difference? Probably not, but I still love CreateSpace as my preferred method of making paperbacks for free and selling them on Amazon.
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?rel=me ?rel=author ?rel=really, Google?
?rel=me and ?rel=author has left some of us asking, rel=wtf? This should be easier as my solution in the final paragraph reveals.
For authors who write blogs, articles or just have plain old websites, understanding these tags and their association to a Google Plus profile can be confusing to say the least. In my attempt toward comprehension, it seemed every lesson had slightly different variations on the same theme, sort of like the Gospel’s account of Christ’s life but on a smaller scale. Even watching top brass, Matt Cutts and Othar Hansson, explain in a 10-minute low budget whiteboard video presentation–there seems to be something… uh, lacking. Hey Othar, I need a telescope and a degree in handwriting to read your scribbles. (And I thought my videos were lame.)
For sites and blogs with single authors, it’s extremely important to jump through the rel=author hoop for verifying webpages to your Google Plus profile page. The tag, rel=author, defines authorship. Okay, so what’s in it for me, you might ask? Answer: your photo may get listed next to the search results of your page, may being the operative word. Aha, that’s what this is all about: getting your smiling mug on page one so surfers will click your link!
This tag can feel elusive especially since Google seems to continually tweak their instructions on how to make it, but it simply means that anyone who is a contributor to a website or blog and also has a Google Plus profile can follow a few steps to make Google aware of the connection. Since they’re the king of global internet search, as soon as I learned of this feature I raced to all of my sites and added the ?rel=author code (though not correctly the first time).
How do rel=me and rel=author tags get inserted? There are actually a few ways to accomplish the connection and then one main way to check that it’s working. The first thing you’ll need to do is create a Google Plus account with a recognizable face shot as your main profile image. Sorry, no dogs, family reunions or animations for the main profile photo.
On your Google Plus profile page (click your name from the home page), you can Edit to insert information about yourself, upload photos/video, as well as add URL links for websites and other social media profiles. When Editing, notice the section that says Contributor To where you can add the URL for all of your websites and blogs. It’s most common to use the “About me” page of your sites, or you could use the Home page. For newbies, I recommend copying and pasting the URL from another browser tab to confirm the URL is spelled correctly. Once that is done, you need to go to the corresponding “About me” or Home page of your websites/blogs and input your Google Plus profile URL followed by the tag, ?rel=author. For example, my G+ profile URL is https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313/ so when I add the rel=author tag, my G+ profile link could be any of the following and even a few more variations:
<a href=”https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313/” rel=”author”>Jason Matthews</a>
https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313?rel=author
https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313?rel=author+JasonMatthews
Notice if you click on either of the latter links they direct you to the same G+ page, https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313/.
These tags can go anywhere on the site that is crawled, even invisibly to visitors like in the <head> section:
<link rel=”author”
href=”https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313/about“
title=”+JasonMatthews”/>
Of course, in all of the above examples you’ll need to substitute your profile number and profile name where I have inserted mine.
This rel=author tag can be added to the <head> section, or a sidebar widget (like a G+ badge) or to signature text, or to the footer, pretty much anywhere. My form of overkill was to add some everywhere just to be on the safe side. All that really matters is the “Contributor To” links point from your Google Plus Profile page to your websites, and the rel=author tags from your sites point back to your Google Profile page. That’s how Google sees the connection and verifies that you are both the webmaster and person behind the Google Plus profile.
Next you can check your work to see if the link is being recognized by Google by visiting the Rich Snippets Testing Tool – http://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/richsnippets. Enter the URL address and click the Preview button. If you see your profile photo and a green line that says, “Verified: Authorship markup is verified for this page,” then you’ve got it and it should appear as this image below. If not, you can redo the previous steps or try some other methods.
Now, what about this rel=me business? Fortunately, all 10 of my sites were verified (I’ll explain below) without even adding rel=me, so this tag still feels elusive and delivers some of the more varied explanations by the experts. (However, rel=me has been around for quite some time as an element of XFN, which is a solution for identity consolidation.) From the consensus, rel=me seems most important for people who contribute to websites but are not the sole contributors to the sites, or for active bloggers who post with the rel=me tag that points to their “About me” page which points to Google Profile page. Confused? Perfect, you must be paying attention.
The ?rel=me tag can be used from any article and ultimately points back to the Google Plus Profile even if indirectly. If you post an article on another site and have an “author bio” on that site, your post can contain a rel=author tag that links to your “author bio” page that links with rel=me back to your Google Plus Profile (as in <a rel=”me” href=”https://plus.google.com/117850331447734054313/”>). Hence Google sees the connection has been made. Good for bloggers who write multiple posts pointing to their own “About me” page or writers who moonlight and have an “author bio” page at someone else’s site. Still confused? It’s okay; I was too. Support for this from Google can be found here – http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1229920.
Google has recently added an email version to verify for those of us who still don’t quite get it:
Sign in to your Google profile.
Click Edit profile.
On the right-hand side, click the Contributor to box, and add all the sites you write for.
Next, click the Work box.
Click the New contact info box (the last in the list, and type the email address you use for the sites you write for.
In the list to the left of the email address you just added, click Email.
Click Save, and then click Done editing.
Repeat for every email address you want to add.
On your profile, click Verify next to the email address you just added.
Once you’ve finished and also Verified Authorship Markup with the Rich Snippets Testing Tool, fill out this form to complete the procedure – https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHdCLVRwcTlvOWFKQXhNbEgtbE10QVE6MQ&ndplr=1.
In my opinion, this could be a whole lot easier because Google has long perfected the method of verifying that we are webmasters of our sites by simply giving us a unique ID to insert in the site with either meta data or html code and then click the verify button at Webmaster Central. Boom, done, it proves we’re the webmaster. Couldn’t this be how they do our “Contributor To” option? Google could simply generate a long and unique ID number for our Google Plus “Contributor To” page. Then we could simply add that unique ID (or hyperlink to it for invisibility sake) to any article, blog post or website that we contribute to and tah-dah. If our “Contributor To” ID is unique, and since we’re the only ones who can Edit that section for adding the sites that we contribute to… then anywhere we put that ID and also add the site to our “Contributor List” would solve this problem. My solution is similar to what they’re doing, just with a few less steps involved, namely eliminating the need for both rel=author and rel=me. Hopefully this solution would also eliminate a lot of rel=wtf?
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Authors on Show, Indies Recommend Other Authors
Indie writers should know about Authors on Show, which was nominated as one of the best writing sites in the world last year and finished in the top twenty. The site makes a real effort to showcase talented new writers, those hidden gems flying under the literary radar, and help them achieve any publishing goal.
A description of their mission from the source;
We are a site that promotes unpublished authors looking for an agent and those who are unpublished or self-published and seeking to secure a traditional publishing deal. We have recently also been promoting self-published authors to give them a helping hand in being seen, but are now reverting back to the original role of helping those who are unpublished.
We have two sites; Authors on Show is the main one and AOS is the Blog for daily postings and the archives of all the authors we have promoted over nearly two years.
Indie authors are renown for their altruism with other writers, and this site exemplifies the Indie spirit. The focus of its members is primarily recognizing the talents of others and sharing publishing tips rather than self-promoting at all costs, which is the aspect of the site that makes it so unique (in my opinion). Who are the fine authors behind the scenes?
Lorraine Holloway-White is the founder of Authors on Show and currently promoting MM Bennetts. Now busy with her spiritual work, which has taken off in a much bigger way than she anticipated, Lorraine has handed over the general day to day management to Ian, Emmett and Lori.
Born a natural medium and healer in the UK and a Roman Catholic, Lorraine is not a spiritualist and disagrees with most spiritualist teachings about mediumship. On her blog, she answers questions from anyone who wants to learn more.
Lorraine is the author of A Guide’s Guide to Mediumship and Healing, A Sceptical Medium and How To Know If You’re a Medium, available as paperbacks or Kindle through her Amazon page – http://www.amazon.com/Lorraine-Holloway-White/e/B004PW4YLA/ and in the UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lorraine-Holloway-White/e/B004PW4YLA/.
Ian J. Smethurst is a British science fiction novelist, with two published titles under his belt, E.D.F Chronicles : The Krenaran massacre and its sequel, E.D.F Chronicles : E.D.F Resurgent. He’s currently promoting Tish Thawer.
With the help of the other staff members, Ian intends to take Authors on Show back to its essence, championing the new writer working hard to hold that coveted publishing contract in her/his hand.
Ian’s books can be seen at his Amazon page – http://www.amazon.com/Ian-J.-Smethurst/e/B005GVUYAO/ and in the UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ian-J.-Smethurst/e/B005GVUYAO/.
Lori has written The Wrestling Babe internet column part time since 2003, is a former music reviewer for Indie Music Stop, and pens several other works which appear in both print and web media. She’s currently promoting Alisa Statman. One of her recent freelance articles, An Overview of Causes of Hearing Loss and Deafness, was licensed by Internet Broadcasting, the leading provider of Web sites, content and advertising revenue solutions to the largest and most successful media companies.
Lori resides in the Pittsburgh, PA area, where she writes as a guest blogger for Slush Pile Reader and Paparazzi Publishing. She is also the Pittsburgh Examiner’s etiquette columnist and a book reviewer for Free Press (an imprint of Simon & Schuster).
Lori wrote The Cruiserweight, seen at her Amazon page – http://www.amazon.com/L.-Anne-Carrington/e/B0055STQL6/ and in the UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Cruiserweight-ebook/dp/B0049U4VSY/.
E M (Emmett) Delaney is a freelance writer, historian and soon-to-be self-published Indie. His novel, The Write In, will be available for purchase on Amazon as a paperback in January 2012 and from his site – https://www.sites.google.com/site/emdelaneyauthor/.
E M spent most of his professional life as a Collateral Recovery Agent (Repo Man). His memoirs, in which he has based another book, The Take-Back Man: The True Life Story of the Repo Man, are currently being shopped through traditional means for agent representation. Delaney refers to himself as a graduate of ‘The University of Hard Knocks,’ often making the claim that it was his unique life experience that contributed to his ability to tell the stories he tells. Emmett is currently promoting Kellie Wallace.
Sue Roebuck is from the UK, now living in Portugal with her husband. She taught English at colleges in Portugal and has recently creating e-learning courses, also known as “teaching in your pajamas.” These days writing has become her full-time occupation which, Sue says, is a dream come true.
Her first novel, Perfect Score, is a finalist in the 2012 EPIC e-book Awards. It also had an honorable mention in the 2011 Rainbow Awards. Her horror short story, An Act of Kindness, has recently appeared in a charity anthology called After Dark. Her latest novel, a dark thriller, is to be published by Etopia Press in early 2012. Sue’s personal blog – http://www.susanroebuck.com/ aims at authors helping other authors.
See more at Sue’s Amazon page – http://www.amazon.com/Susan-Roebuck/e/B0050B2O3U/ and in the UK – http://www.amazon.co.uk/Susan-Roebuck/e/B0050B2O3U/.
For Indie authors interested in submitting work to Authors on Show, see the submission policy at http://authorsonshow.com/2011/12/28/submissions/.
To promote another worthy author on the site (or maybe even yourself), email ian@authorsonshow.com.
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Udemy, Online Education Opportunities
For authors who write non-fiction or teach subjects, Udemy might be a great way to boost sales and exposure. It’s an online tool for continued education where students come to learn, and instructors can design then upload courses utilizing Power Point, video, screen-casting, PDFs, audio, and zip files. Could authors of fiction use it? Perhaps. Some of their subjects (like Hobbies and Crafts) could be a fit to establish a video presence beyond a simple book trailer at YouTube.
The attractive thing about Udemy is that it offers a similar payment platform to content creators as many ebook retailers like Amazon; free to join and upload courses while paying 70% of any sales to the author/producer. Courses can also be priced free, which might be a smart way to brand or network. The paid lectures typically range from $19 to $99 and more, some are even priced over $1,000. Udemy also has an Affiliate program for those interested in making extra money and selling courses as well as a discount Course of the Week. Plus they have an abundance of categories including:
- Featured Courses
- Technology and Internet
- Business and Professional
- Academics
- Creative and Performing Arts
- Health and Fitness
- Language
- Lifestyle
- Music
- Test Prep
- Hobbies and Craft
- Games
It’s headquartered in Silicon Valley, founded by Eren Bali and Gagan Biyani, launched in May 2010. Within the first few months the site had registered over 10,000 users and is going strong today. Udemy isn’t the only site doing this, but they may have one of the best platforms from the producer’s perspective (i.e. free entry and no monthly fees). Sclipo is a similar site and has been around longer, but they charge either $14 or $19 per month to list a course (depending on the specifics) and WizIQ plans start at $10/month. Myngle and Live Mocha are just for learning languages. eduFire is primarily for languages and exam prep, and their platform is designed for live tutoring, teacher-student interaction.
I recently uploaded a video training course for the subject of How to Make, Market and Sell Ebooks All for Free. It’s an extensive 14 lecture, 8 hour video training guide made of screen-casting and Power Points. The program covers everything from cover design to formatting for retailers to selling from your own sites on autopilot, marketing, utilizing social media and more. My experience with the Udemy system felt quite user-friendly and professional. Time will tell if the course sells (which I hope it does since the entire presentation took a couple of weeks to put together), but regardless of the final numbers it was a great experience. My feeling is this; it’s always smart to create new avenues for selling product or programs (especially revenue streams that run on autopilot), and this was a new one my book needed. This course is also available for Affiliate sales, where anyone can sell the program and receive half the profits on each sale.
http://www.udemy.com/how-to-make-market-and-sell-ebooks-all-for-free/
Content providers can also rest assured that they retain all rights to programs uploaded to Udemy. If it makes sense to promote a course at another venue, you have the right to do so. Have an experience with Udemy or any other venue for selling (or giving away) lengthy video presentations? Share it in the comments.
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Ecwid, Online Shopping Cart can Sell Ebooks too
Thanks to one of my authors, Cindy Kennedy, who sells amazing gluten free cakes at http://oraravalleycakes.com.au/, for making me aware of Ecwid.
Ecwid is a shopping cart software that works with physical and digital goods, like ebooks, and is very simple to use. It has both free and paid versions, but the free version should be good enough for most any author. Ultimately, it works a bit differently to the way I describe using PayPal to send a customer to a download page after purchase. With Ecwid you may upload the ebook file (pdf for example) and have its link be attached to the purchase confirmation email to the customer. Might need to explain ahead of time that’s how they will receive their book, but not a problem. Another nice feature, it has a shopping cart appearance and is so easy to use–works in just minutes–plus the appearance can be customized in many ways. You can see Cindy Kennedy’s use of Ecwid at her website’s Store. Just click on any of the items to see pricing and checkout.
For many authors, it might be easier to use Ecwid than creating a download page and a PayPal button with customized features for being sent to the product after purchase. Ecwid does look nice and requires less work for set up. Of course, when sales happen your small percentage to PayPal will still be the same, so it’s great that the free version of Ecwid doesn’t skim anymore of the profits from the author. It’s easy to use, fast, free and set up for mobile devices–works with any web browser. (If PayPal is not your choice of online bankers, it also works with Google Checkout, Authorize.net and 2CheckOut.)
Ecwid is compatible with most sites and blogs, although it contains Javascript so it doesn’t work on free WordPress.com blogs, like this one you’re reading now. For other sites, all you do is add the HTML code for the products you register with Ecwid. Perhaps the easiest way is to create a blank page on your site or blog and make that a Bookstore. Your Ecwid account will contain a Dashboard that has the HTML coding for all of the widgets. Then you just copy and paste them to your site in HTML edit mode. Easy–peasy. Customers can pay with credit card or PayPal accounts, etc.
Authors can add their ebooks and paperbacks to the Ecwid Control Panel through their Catalog Menu and Add New Product. For digital goods you’ll select the File tab and follow the prompts to name the product and select its image, description, price, as well as upload it. Then you can include the file’s link in the purchase confirmation. For paperbacks, the author would need to send the book to the buyer after purchase.
They also have a Facebook application, which allows you to integrate the shopping cart items to Facebook pages. That seems pretty cool. There’s not much customer support since it’s so user-friendly. From their site; There is no manual, nor will there be one in the future. We believe that if a product requires a user manual, then it’s not user-friendly enough already. We want Ecwid to be obvious to the user. So if you have found something complicated and need information, please ask a question on the Community Forums or search our Knowledge Base.
Will I make the change to Ecwid from how my present system is set up? Probably not since I can’t say one method beats the other, more of a preference thing. But I will use it as an example. I must admit, it does have a nice look to it. Maybe aesthetics will make a convert out of me. It also would be ideal for new sites… if I make any more.
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Ccebooks, Brand new Site promoting Indie Authors and Their Ebooks
Ccebooks is a brand new site dedicated to promoting Indie authors and their books. Now is a great time to get in at ground level and establish a bookmark for your ebooks and links to retailers for purchase.
From their site; Welcome to ccebooks. We are a new venture aimed at promoting the best of contemporary fiction and non-fiction. We allow you to access any number of ebook publishers and their authors from one central site. We are a brand new site presently looking for new authors to populate our pages. If you are already published on a eBook site but find that you are struggling against the big names to get noticed then this is where you can beat the rankings!
Here’s a list of the current genres, and my guess is that this list is expanding.
- Action and Adventure
- Adult Fantasy
- Fantasy
- General Fiction
- Romance
- Science Fiction
- Supernatural
- Thrillers
If you are interested in submitting your books to the site, there aren’t a lot of hoops to jump though. This is what they tell you to do:
Send the relevent details to submissions@ccebooks.com;
1.) The title of the work
2.) A description of up to 4000 characters in length
3.) A thumbnail cover page in jpg format, 200x140px
4.) Copy and paste the link to your book at its hosting website
For example,
http://www.amazon.com/The-Valley-of-Lesbos-ebook/dp/B006AAQEHM/
You may have several of these if your ebook is published on multiple sites. You are welcome to include them all.
You will be sent a notification by email when your entry goes live.
Please note that you should NOT upload the work itself. This is because ccebooks.com is an indexing and promotional site whose purpose is to bring readers attention to works which would otherwise would be ranked too low to show up in searches of the publishers’ own sites.
You can also register as user with ccebooks.com and submit content from your contact page. Once you have registered, select Admin> My Account>Contact. Send to the email address below.
There are no charges of any kind for submitting work to ccebooks.com.
No Charges? Sounds good to me.
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KDP Select for Amazon Kindle Exclusive Authors
KDP Select has just been created for Amazon Kindle authors who are willing to have their ebooks be exclusively available on Amazon. Authors who participate must keep their ebooks in the program for at least 90 days to be eligible for a rewards sharing bonus through the Kindle Owners Lending Library and can earn a share of the $6 million fund in a year’s time. Both Indie authors or those traditionally published can enter a single book or multiple titles, but they can’t distribute them elsewhere as ebooks. They can, however, sell them elsewhere as paperbacks. December’s monthly fund is $500,000. KDP Select just launched today with many top authors already enrolled including; J. Carson Black, Gemma Halliday, J.A. Konrath, B.V. Larson, C.J. Lyons, Scott Nicholson, Julie Ortolon, Theresa Ragan, J.R. Rain and Patricia Ryan.
The way it works sounds similar to how some waiters “pool their tips” in that the greater sales for the whole group creates greater money for each individual although there are ratios involved and not every author makes the same bonus. Amazon monitors the proceeds from the collective revenues of the group and then distributes the extra money made to all participating authors with a sharing percentage factored in.
From the press release; The monthly royalty payment for each KDP Select book is based on that book’s share of the total number of borrows of all participating KDP books in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. For example, if total borrows of all participating KDP Select books are 100,000 in December and an author’s book was borrowed 1,500 times, they will earn $7,500 in additional royalties from KDP Select in December. Amazon expects the fund to be at least $6 million for all of 2012, in addition to the $500,000 allocated for December 2011. Enrolled titles will remain available for sale to any customer in the Kindle Store and authors will continue to earn their regular royalties on those sales…. …With KDP Select, authors and publishers will also have access to a new set of promotional tools, starting with the option to promote their enrolled titles for free for up to five days every 90 days.
Have to admit, it sounds tempting. But what if an author already has multiple titles for sale at Barnes & Noble, Apple iTunes, Smashwords, Sony, Kobo and other retailers? Those authors will certainly be reluctant to pull their ebooks from those shelves. Additionally, many Indie authors will not appreciate this move by Amazon to attempt to get authors to list books with them and nowhere else. (Although I’ve always been a huge supporter of Amazon, it appears this idea could really backfire in public perception.) And how might Barnes & Noble and Apple respond? Probable there are some intense board room meetings happening right now to counter attack this effort from Amazon to further dominate the market. It wouldn’t surprise me if other retailers come up with a similar fund-sharing scheme or some new ideas altogether.
Feels like the battle for ebook supremacy just went into overdrive and makes me very interested to know how the others will respond.
More from Amazon on this announcement at their site;
- Reach a new audience – Distribute books through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library and reach the growing number of US Amazon Prime members.
- Earn a whole new source of royalties – Earn your share of $500,000 in December and at least $6 million throughout 2012 when readers borrow your books from the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
- Promote your book for free to readers worldwide – The newly launched Promotions Manager tool will allow you to directly control the promotion of free books.
- Instant feedback – Check real-time performance of your books in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.
For Indie authors who want to enroll in KDP Select: You can enroll existing books by visiting the bookshelf. You’ll be able to enroll a single book or easily enroll multiple books at the same time.
In my opinion, this makes the most sense for authors introducing new titles. New books can be enrolled during the publishing process. Simply select the “Enroll this book in KDP Select” option and proceed to publish the book as you normally would.
Interested? Visit the website at http://kdp.amazon.com or get more info at http://kdp.amazon.com/self-publishing/KDPSelect.
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Biblio Connection Passion for Books Social Site
Biblio Connection is a great site for anyone with a passion for books. It’s literally brand new, launched less than a month ago on November 13th of 2011, and quickly gaining members comprised of readers and authors doing what they do–sharing the love of the written word.
Their mission: Biblio Connection is a social community for collectors of antiquarian, rare, first edition and signed books, and all book lovers alike. Our goal is to connect and encourage interaction between readers, authors, book sellers and collectors… By connecting bibliophiles–collectors, readers, authors and sellers–the experience is truly enhanced. Collectors can post listings in the classifieds, locate, trade and find information about books. Authors can introduce their latest works, post listings and participate in giveaways. Sellers can network with readers and collectors. Maybe you offer specific restoration, binding or location services that may be useful to collectors. The various features provide all book lovers a way to share the passion.
It’s designed to be so much more than just a place to talk about what you’re reading. It’s the site for everything related to books under one roof.
For Indie authors interested in promotion, simply fill out a Featured Bookseller Application.
You can meet people like Mark Cotter, co-founder of Yeoman’s in the Fork, a rare book and document gallery located in historic Leiper’s Fork, TN. Mike has over a decade of experience and has been featured on several TV spots including regular appearances on Discovery Channel’s hit show, Auction Kings.
There are posts written by featured authors, like Eileen Schuh and yours truly, discussing the ins and outs of the publishing business as well as tips for self-publishing.
Sections of the site are dedicated to forums and even classified ads to go along with the expert articles. They’re also developing a Just 4 Fun zone with giveaways, book quizzes and quotes by authors. Members can join existing groups and even create their own. I just started a group for Indie authors and readers who support them called I Love Indie Books. Feel free to join the group and post links to your own books or Indie works that you enjoy.
I’m impressed by the unique things Biblio Connection is doing as a social media venue. Remember, since the site is less than a month old, now’s the best time to become a member and contribute at the ground level. As new members join, your forum posts and articles will be the first things people see.
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Kindle Italy and Kindle Spain, Amazon Europe Expansion Continues
Kindle expansion in Europe continues with the latest additions of Amazon Italy and Amazon Spain. My KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) report now shows sales for the new comers with designations of amazon.it and .es to go along with .com, .uk, .fr and .de (Germany). It’s also in Japan with .co.jp as the suffix. Coming soon to a nation near you.
How to check if my Kindle ebooks are already available in these countries? Simply find your book’s URL, like this one for example – http://www.amazon.com/Make-Market-Sell-Ebooks-ebook/dp/B003CJU49I/ and change the dot com to the appropriate country suffix, like Italy’s and the link becomes http://www.amazon.it/Make-Market-Sell-Ebooks-ebook/dp/B003CJU49I/. That works for all countries where Amazon exists. Keeps it easy.
As an American Indie author, what do I need to do to make my books appear on Amazon at all these other nations? Absolutely nothing. That’s the best part. The retailer automatically takes care of this so if your book is not showing up, contact customer support at KDP Publishing right away.
If you live in another country and write in English, then your books should be made available everywhere Amazon exists. If you write in a language other than English, then probably not.
Last I checked, Italians speak Italian and Spaniards speak Spanish; why would they want to read my English language Kindle book? Many won’t of course, but some will as English is the most common second language on Earth with over 600 million non-native speakers, some of whom also read English.
What’s the chance of sales in other countries if my book is written in English? Well, sales likely won’t be great. My sales in France and Germany have been rather dismal, but they have occurred. Even my sales in the UK are pathetic compared to those for the US so it might be a matter of time to “break in” to another country.
This is why I love Amazon so much. This company has done more for Indie authors than any other retailer. They give 70% royalties to the author (provided your ebook is priced $2.99 to $9.99), they take care of all transactions and make direct deposits to bank accounts, and they continually expand and offer our books to readers all over the world.
Now I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for that first sale in Italy or Spain.
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