What are the writing habits that successful indie authors employs? When it comes to self-publishing what are the hottest genres and is it worth it to engage in pre-orders? Smashwords seeks to address some of these issues in their latest report. Fiction dominates - 89.5% of our sales were fiction titles. Despite fiction's dominance, a number of non-fiction titles were … [Read more...] about These are the key findings of the Smashwords survey
Indie Author News
Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Shortlist Announced
Kobo has just announced the shortlist for its second annual Emerging Writer Prize. The award was created with the goal of kick-starting the careers of debut authors, with a $10,000 CAD cash prize awarded to a book in each of three categories: Non-Fiction, Literary Fiction, and Genre Fiction (Romance). In addition, each winning author will receive promotional, marketing, and … [Read more...] about Kobo Emerging Writer Prize Shortlist Announced
Kobo is recommending these services to indie authors
Kobo knows that there is a large demographic of writers that are not very tech savvy. Writing your book is the first step, but there are lots of hurdles to overcome, such as finding an editor, cover artist or just getting your table of contents formatted correctly. To this end, Kobo has just posted a list of recommended services for anyone wanting to self-publishing with Kobo … [Read more...] about Kobo is recommending these services to indie authors
London Book Fair Does Not Respect Indie Authors
The London Book Fair is the largest publishing event in the United Kingdom. Indie authors are really pissed off at the organizers this year due to the fact that all of the self-publishing companies have been relegated to the very back of the showroom floor. Ben Galley, who self-published The Scarlet Star trilogy, said Author HQ and “indie-centric” stands such as Kobo, … [Read more...] about London Book Fair Does Not Respect Indie Authors
QueryTracker is the best way for self-publishers to find an agent
If you are a self-published author with aspirations to get a traditional publishing deal it is important to have an agent. Major publishers and their imprints normally do not accept unsolicited manuscripts and an agent can assist with getting your book into the right hands. Researching literary agents is complicated enough without having to worry about whether or not the agent … [Read more...] about QueryTracker is the best way for self-publishers to find an agent
Self-Published e-Books With No ISBN Do Not Exist
The entire publishing industry has nothing but scorn for self-published authors who submit e-books with no ISBN number. These titles belong to the shadow realm, because its impossible to track metrics and sales data. ISBN numbers are critically important for an author to claim ownership of their work and support the self-publishing movement. Over the course of 2014, 30% … [Read more...] about Self-Published e-Books With No ISBN Do Not Exist
Kindle Previewer 3 Lets You Experience Enhanced Typesetting
Amazon has just released Kindle Previewer 3. It allows authors and publishers to get a sense on how their e-books will look on Kindles and Fire tablets using the new typesetting engine. Last year Amazon released a new font called Bookerly, which replaced Caecilia as the new default font for the Kindle Fire line of tablets and their fleet of apps. Bookerly is a serif style of … [Read more...] about Kindle Previewer 3 Lets You Experience Enhanced Typesetting
The KDP Select Global Fund for January is $15 million
Amazon has just announced that their KDP Select Global Fund for January 2016 was $15 million dollars. Authors who have enrolled their e-books and gone exclusive with Amazon will get a share of these funds for each page read by a reader. There are also some upcoming changes occurring for February that authors need to be aware of. Amazon is capping the per page read system at … [Read more...] about The KDP Select Global Fund for January is $15 million
Indie Authors Will Love Reedsy Book Editor
The Reedsy Book Editor is going to be released next Tuesday and will be very appealing to indie authors. The Reedsy Book Editor combines a beautiful writing experience with powerful collaboration and typesetting features. Authors will be able to write their book – from start to finish – and then export high-quality ePub and PDF files, ready for both digital and physical … [Read more...] about Indie Authors Will Love Reedsy Book Editor
Kindle e-Book Warning System is Now Live
In January Good e-Reader broke the story that Amazon was going to start displaying warning messages if an e-book had a number of spelling mistakes or formatting errors. Amazon developed this system because that wanted to protect consumers and make them aware that a Kindle book might have some problems. I am proud to report that this new system is live on the main Amazon.com … [Read more...] about Kindle e-Book Warning System is Now Live