Authopublisher first came to my attention last year when owner Ivin Viljoen commented on Get Paid to Write Online and then offered a guest post. Since then he’s become an occasional contributor, so when he asked me to review the site, I was happy to oblige (with the proviso that I could give my unbiased opinion, of course ).

When I visited the Authopublisher site before writing this review, I was greeted by a shiny new theme which really shows off all the great content this site has to offer. I found the sidebar a bit cluttered, but that’s just a personal preference.

About Ivin Viljoen

Ivin says he’s a self publishing expert. With his first book written in three days and published within a fortnight, he just might be right. The blog is intended to help people who are looking to self publish.

The Content

Authopublisher covers a range of topics, including How tos, Blogging, Publishing, Writing Tips and the interesting WWE inspired series of posts on writing. Some of the posts I’ve found most interesting include:

• Writing Tips: How To Write Articles For Online Newsletters
• How to Find Screenwriter Jobs on the Internet and Build Up Your Profile
• Writing For Fun And Profit
• Steps to Publishing Success
• Publishing Tips: The 4-11 On The ISBN

Ivin’s also got a number of interesting videos, as well as links to competitions and interesting freelance events.

The Verdict

English is not Ivin’s first language so you may spot the occasional odd turn of phrase, but that also means that there’s very little waffle. Most of Ivin’s posts get straight to the point. When you read them, you can see that he’s not just giving you directions, but sharing his actual experience, which is important as a reader looking for reliable, tested information on self publishing. I stop by the blog to see what’s new on a regular basis and I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops. If you’re just stepping into writing and self publishing, then it’s worth a look. Check it out for yourselves!

In some ways, the title of this post says it all.  With that said, there is so much more to know about Smashwords, the place on the internet to publish your ebooks.  I discovered Smashwords last spring and so far, nearly 1500 people have downloaded my ebooks.  I’ve not made enough to retire, but having 1500 people read my work does not break my heart one bit.

I’ve written several posts on my site about Smashwords.  In this particular guest post, I’d like to focus on the pay structure and what you can likely expect.

First, you need to know that it is absolutely free to sign up with Smashwords.  There are no hidden fees whatsoever and you can upload as many books as you care to.  The owner of the site is Mark Coker and he has built a site based on transparency and a keen sense of what is important to authors.

The pay structure is brutally simple:  Go ahead and keep 85% of the net proceeds of every sale, every time.  From the Terms of Service:

“Net proceeds” shall mean sales price paid and received less payment processing fees, affiliate fees, retailer discounts, costs due to erroneous or fraudulent transactions, credit card charge-backs and associated fees.

There ya go.  It really is that easy.  Better yet, you get to set the price for your ebook.  You can offer your work for free, you can set a hard price or (and I love this) you can allow folks who download your ebook to choose their own price!

Your royalties are paid quarterly, within 40 days of quarter end.  Payment threshold is $10 if you use Paypal, $25 if you choose a paper check.

A word about rights.  The Terms of Service is very clear on this matter that holds so much importance for authors:

The Author hereby grants and assigns to Smashwords the nonexclusive worldwide right to digitally publish, distribute, market and sell (“Publish”), and to license others to do so, the work identified on the front page of your submission (the “Work”). Since the terms of agreement with Smashwords, herein, is non-exclusive, the Author or Publisher is free to Publish, license, market and sell their work elsewhere so long as the Author or Publisher is not violating someone else’s agreement or violating any laws.

That’s pretty liberal and definitely favors the author.

One of the things I really like about Smashwords is the straightforward approach a very tough market.  They let you know to set realistic expectations in terms of sales.  Just like in the “real” world, the number of sales is a direct reflection of your marketing efforts.  Speaking of marketing efforts, there is a marketing guide full of great information to help you laser focus your efforts for the best results.

I hope this little primer on Smashwords has been helpful.  I’m happy to try and answer any questions you may have.

George Angus (formerly Tumblemoose) writes for a living; He resides in Alaska with his beautiful daughter, Madeline Skye.

I’ve been talking for months about my new free ebook, Getting Started in Blogging, and finally it’s here! Newsletter subscribers got a sneak peek last week, but now I’m launching it formally.

Everyone’s got to start somewhere with blogging and that’s how this ebook came about. It was based on a series of posts targeting those new to blogging, originally written for PiggyBankPie.

What’s Inside

The collected posts have been edited and I’ve added a few explanations plus a list of useful resources at the end.  Getting Started in Blogging covers:

• Hosting
• Platform Choices
• Free Themes
• Customization
• Getting Ideas
• Planning And Management
• Stats
• How To Improve Your Blog
• Linkbuilding
• Advertising and Promotion
• Monetization
• Blogging as a Business
• Resources

Grab The Ebook

Even if you’re not new to blogging, you’ve got nothing to lose by downloading it – after all, it’s free (though I don’t mind taking donations) . I’m also happy for you to pass it on to anyone who’s curious about blogging as long as you tell them where you got it.

Here’s what one of my newsletter subscribers said about it:

I’d love to get your feedback on it and to find out if there are any questions it hasn’t answered so I can continue to update the book and make it useful for you.

Update: Getting Started in Blogging is also available for the Kindle at 99c.

I’ve produced a number of series on this blog which I know many of you have found useful. Now I’ve decided to make them available in another format.  I now have PDFs of:

• SEO Your Website
• Promotion Is Free
• Making It As A Freelance Writer
• Freelance Writing Questions

That means you can get all the posts in each series in one handy file which you can print or save.  Feel free to share them with others, provided you link back to this post, don’t edit the content and credit me as the author. There is no charge for downloading them, though if you find them useful, you can always come back and make a contribution to help keep the site going.

(And in case you’re wondering, I created them with Zinepal.)

I created an ebook/ezine in about 20 minutes today – and I did it using Zinepal. This handy online tool (which you can try without even signing up) allows you to pull together recent posts from your blog (via the RSS feed) or from any web page to create an ezine. You can download this ezine as a PDF (which makes it a great way to create an ebook too) and you get mobiPocket, Kindle and epub formats as well. I decided to turn my SEO Your Website Series into an ezine/ebook and this was the result.

How I Created An Ebook In 20 Minutes

Here’s how I did it. I navigated to the ‘create’ tab and clicked on the ‘from any website’ link. I then manually added the URLs I wanted in the order in which I wanted them to appear. I clicked ‘ add to zine’, waited a minute or so, then clicked the big ‘I’m done’ button near the top of the page. You can check the stories and order in a drop down menu, and also add new stories at any time before you publish the zine.

Tweaking My Ebook

Clicking the button took me to a list of the stories which I could reorder via drag and drop. I was also able to edit each story individually (doing things like taking out ads and so on) and to make formatting changes. In the middle of the page was a box where I could set delivery options, keywords (space separated), add a logo, add ads and use templates. I chose to save my customizations as a template but since I was creating a new publication, they were not available the second time around.

Useful Features

I thought adding a logo, an introduction and a couple of keywords made sense. Once those were done I hit ‘create my zine’ and it was ready. Attention! Once your zine is created, it’s like a print magazine – you cannot edit it, so you need to be sure you are ready before you press that button. I found it useful to use the preview button, which showed the PDF and also allowed me to save a copy. This came in handy, as Zinepal pulls in everything from the feed, so your end of post subscription options will be included. It’s also worth editing the chapter titles, as you may not want them to appear in the same format in your ebook as they do online.

Still Needs Work …

Of course, there are a few niggles. Occasionally, Zinepal was unable to retrieve my text and I had to copy it manually. And at one point, it had a heart attack and appeared to have lost my entire ezine (but it hadn’t; it was a glitch). Also, your ezine has a created by Zinepal strapline on each page and I’m not sure why some of my ezines were classed as recurring and some not.

What I Liked

Those niggles aren’t enough to stop me from using it.  I love the fact that it creates different versions of my ebooks, that it automatically includes images from the original post, that I can have it sent by email and that people can subscribe to my feed. If you already publish quality content on your blog, this makes repurposing it very easy. Try it and see what you think. Did I mention that it’s free?

(Photo: Clarita)

The Women’s Millionaire Club, by Maureen G Mulvaney, is being offered beginning on March 17th, 2009 at 12:01 am. We invite you to go to this page - http://mgmsuperstar.com/wjtc/exclusive.html – to access the order page and then go back to this page to access the bonus page. On the Exclusive Private Invite page, enter your order confirmation code. That will allow you to gain entry to the FREE Pot o’ Gold Bonus Items.

I’ve been thinking a lot about ebook publishing recently, so it was a moment of serendipity when I happened to talk to one of the writers I work with, only to learn that he’d just started an ebook publishing company. Co-founder Garry Pierrepoint says that Ebook Library will ‘revolutionise the way online books are marketed, promoted and read.’

What made you start the new venture, Garry?

Through our parent site, www.writeitclearly.com, we received a lot of enquiries from talented writers who wanted to get their books and newsletters to a large target audience. Having read these books, we realized the enormous talent that is out there, but which for one reason or another, has not been recognized and published by mainstream conventional publishing routes. So we devised www.ebook-library.net, where contributors can submit their writing on whatever subject they like. We format it and provide a site where readers can browse through and immediately download what they like!

What books do you have so far?

We have an excellent self help book on how to beat gambling which is ONLY available online and the demand for that has been unprecedented. We have The Truth about Sales, which is THE invaluable guide on understanding the truth behind the sales mask. We also market fiction books; One Dog and his Man is an extremely humorous volume with illustrations by the late cartoonist, Larry, a view of the world through the eyes of a Labrador called Oberon. It’s coming soon.

Are you looking for writers in particular genres?

We are looking for contributors on ANY subject; that’s the beauty of the site! If you have something to contribute, then someone, somewhere will want to know! www.ebook-library.net is the ONLY place where such a diverse range of subjects can be accessed at the click of a button!

Is this the future of book publishing?

We see e-book publishing as the way forward; the vast majority of people have access to the internet now and rather than browsing through a physical library to find the right information, we can offer it through an easy to navigate and accessible medium.

This is going to be expensive, isn’t it?

The beauty of it is that it doesn’t cost the author an arm and a leg! Through www.writeitclearly.com, we can offer unbelievably competitive pricing for proofreading and editing that works out at 1p (approximately 2 cents) a word! After that formatting and marketing of the book is FREE! We publish the completed manuscript and 80% of all sales of the fully formatted e-book will then go directly to the writer! It really is as simple as that.

Will you publish absolutely anything?

We are confident that this innovative concept will attract interest and with a bank of experts working behind the scenes, we can offer the very best in grammatical accuracy and content for every book that is submitted. Of course we have to have editorial integrity and if we feel that the content is not suitable or there simply isn’t a market for it, then we will be honest.

www.writeitclearly.com was founded in 2005 by three UK based freelance professionals. Since then, the business has grown globally to include proof reading, editing, translation and now e-book publishing.

If you want to get paid to write, then get some inspiration from someone who has. Nikki Leigh is a published author, who is currently promoting her latest book, Lady Lightkeeper, with a blog book tour.

I’ve interviewed her today on my Writing Lab. Nikki answers questions on her writing process, her sources of inspiration and also has details of a brand new offer that she’s making available to people who comment on the tour.

One of the most baffling, and disappointing aspects of novel writing is the rejection letter. Many new writers are frustrated after receiving 5, 10, and even 20 rejection letters.

Writers are told not to be disheartened, or quit submitting their manuscript to publishers.There is a better way to become published, but it is difficult, so few writing instructors tell writers abut the art of selecting a publisher.

Writers

Both editors of my Are You Ready to Submit series asked the same question, Why do you spend so much time explaining the publishing industry? The answer is simple, so writers know how to win a publishing contract before they start writing their book.

Publishers

There are more than 5000 publishers. The annual book sales in the US average about 26 million a year. Thousands of books sell each year.Thousands of books sell well.

This is because publishers find a niche they can service, and give bookstores a stable product they can market.In the publisher’s eye, a book is nothing more than a commodity to sell, like a house, a jewel, or a chair.

Each publisher looks for something different. Even if they are not formula novels, there are similarities in the books published by different publishers.

Write For Publication

When teaching the online course, ‘How to Write and Edit a Novel,’ I ask students to look into publishers before finishing their novels. Many writers have a list of five favourite publishers they want to handle their books.

I then tell writers to ask themselves why they want that publisher to handle their manuscript.There are several good reasons. The writer may like the stories, the characters, the interesting plots, how easy the story is to read, the level of escapism, etc.

There are a few bad reasons.The publisher pays advances, they appear lenient on their guidelines, or the genre is reputed as being ‘easy.’

Then, I tell the writers to write for publication. Do not write away, without aim or form, and then hope some publisher wants the novel.

The Marketable Novel

One reason why writers should pick a publisher before finishing their novel is so they can write a marketable novel.

There are two types of novels. The artistic novel is one born in the writer’s creativity with little thought of the reader’s desires or publishers needs. These receive the most rejection letters. Writers must randomly submit, hoping one publisher is looking for their particular novel.

The second is a marketable novel. It is similar, and hopefully better, than what their favourite publisher is currently selling.Face it, publishers are in business to make money. Hand them a book they can sell, and they ‘will’ accept it, even if it needs work.

Genre

Genre is vital to writing a marketable novel.There may be 1000 romance publishers, but they do not all publish every sub genre.There are dozens of subgenres for the romance genre. Each of these are divided by types of character development, intensity of conflicts, and plots.

Submitting to a publisher, on the single merit that they handle romance novels, or fantasy, or erotic, is an exercise in futility that will result in dozens of rejection letters.

Submissions

Writers who do not research publishers, looking for the one house where they belong, are forced to play ‘submission roulette’. This is a game where the writer submits, to publishers just because they publish romance, or thrillers.

I honestly believe that there is a publishing house for every manuscript. Knowing which publishers handle the type of story, character, conflicts, and plots that you are writing, or changing your novel to fit their needs, will reduce the number of rejection letters a writer will receive.

*******

Suzanne James is a writer and publisher. She runs Inspired Author, a free resource for writers, and WritersOnlineCourses.com.

I didn’t always want to be a freelance writer. When I was little I wanted to be an architect. I loved creating new things out of nothing, putting pieces together and changing them around so they made more sense. My favourite toy was Meccano, which I liked for the same reasons – a girly girl I definitely was not. As it turned out, I couldn’t draw, which is a major disadvantage in the architectural field.

Luckily, right about the time that my art teacher was trying to disown me, I discovered that I was good at something else – languages – and that’s how I got to know the people who would join me on my first publishing venture. I was already hooked on reading (and really enjoyed English Lit classes), and this would get me hooked on writing (in spite of my English teacher’s criticisms of my poetry).

When I was 16/17 (in lower sixth, which for my American friends is the class before your final year of high school), a friend and I took over the defunct school newspaper. When I say defunct, I mean that it had appeared sporadically throughout my five years at that school. C and I decided to take it on and run it. We learned the hard way what it takes to create a publication:

• We had to commission writing from other students
• We had to edit it
• We had to rewrite it if it didn’t meet the brief or write it if someone missed a deadline
• We had to arrange for illustrations
• We had to learn to price the paper to recover our costs

Now these were the bad old days before desktop publishing, so putting together a school newspaper meant using a Gestetner machine. It was time to outsource. We drafted my mother and anyone else who could type to type the content we had on stencils. Where that wasn’t possible, we got someone with excellent writing to copy the content onto the stencils. We found a way to incorporate the drawings (don’t ask me how; I can’t remember) and then we began the messy business of inking the machine, attaching the stencils and getting the number of copies we needed. In the process we got covered in black ink, but that didn’t detract from the thrill of our first publication. Once we had stapled it all together, we were able to sell our first issue of Breakthrough for a paltry sum.

This experience got me hooked on connecting with readers through writing and publishing. It was kind of like early blogging, without the technology. We put material out and got almost instant feedback, which we used to improve the next issue. We were in touch with our readers – heck, we were our readers! I can still remember the thrill of seeing my name in print for the first time – and I still love it now. And even though a lot of my freelance writing is ghostwriting, I still get satisfaction from writing something that others want to read.