Gumroad, breaking Amazon's shackles!

 There is no doubt, Amazon is the big dog when it comes to online book sales and an indie author has no option but to be listed on the giant's site.
 There are other sales outlets, most notably Smashwords that sells directly from its website but also offers distribution to Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Apple iBooks, Diesel and others.
 When it comes to the royalty-split, Smashwords' deal is often better than Amazon's. But, in my experience, Amazon moves more books.
 I hate dealing with Amazon. They are set up, it seems, to make life difficult for non-US authors. Anyone not in the US, purchasing one of my works, gets slapped with a $2.00 surcharge. For no reason, other than Amazon does so. This means a 99c story gets charged at $2.99, effectively pricing it out of the market!
 That would gall less if, on the off-chance the work sold at that price, I got 30% (Amazon's royalty on books costing less than $2.99) of the total sales price but that is not so. I get 30% of 99c!
 So the decks are stacked against me.
 It is possible a reader may chance across my work while searching on Amazon but, the reality is, most of my Amazon sales are the result of my own marketing and promotion efforts.
 And after doing all that hard work to get a prospective customer there, what does Amazon do? It suggests the reader may enjoy the work of other authors!
 It's little wonder over 90% of authors earn less than $1000 per year!

 Better way

 I figured, there must be a better way, especially for an author living outside of one of the Seattle giant's favoured countries. I wanted to be able to drive prospective customers to a sales outlet where only my work was visible and where I got the lion's share of the sale value.
 Paypal came to mind but was dismissed, as it would mean manually emailing books to customers and, with different global time-zones and constantly having to keep watch, was a non-starter.
 After much Internet searching and posing questions on forums, I found the answer. It's a new kid on the block called Gumroad. Based in San Fransisco, Gumroad looks to be the answer to authors, musicians and software developers who wish to sell directly to their customers. It is, in essence, a secure, online, credit-card payment-gateway and takes payments from pretty well anywhere in the world.
 The process is simple. Sign up (it's free) load up your book and cover image, set a price, then direct customers to the product page. Downloads are automatic once payment is received and the amount (less Gumroad's charges) is immediately credited to your account, from where it can be transferred to a US bank account or Paypal account.
 It works seamlessly!
 I wish I could say I've made thousands of Gumroad sales - I haven't - but I've had a few sales from different parts of the world and every one was absolutely hassle-free. Purchasers' email addresses are automatically captured and there are facilities that make it easy to keep in contact with customers. In addition, Gumroad offers comprehensive analytics showing detailed information about traffic sources, returns, views etc.
 Lest anyone think I have some sort of connection with Gumroad, I do not! I am merely a happy customer.

 Want to see Gumroad in action? Check out this product page for my novel, Hobson's Choice.

You can read my short stories free online at www.hiltonhamann.com

How to sell over 350 000 books on Twitter

 New Zealand author and book marketing coach, Jonathan Gunson, has sold over 350 000 books. He has over 105 000 Twitter followers who eagerly buy his works and subscribe to his newsletter.
 So when Gunson talks about selling books and recruiting readers, it's worth taking note. In his latest website article he writes:

 "There is a doorway to every single fiction reader in the world, and there are MILLIONS of them. Question is, how do you persuade them to open their doors and buy your book?
 "Unfortunately, most of my author friends attempt to solve this in precisely the wrong way. They hammer on one door after another like a old style door-to-door salesman, and in the rare instance a door opens, they immediately shout at the owner: 'Buy my book!'
 "And they do this on Twitter, Facebook, G+, Goodreads , Linked in, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr, forums, their own blog, and everywhere else they can think of.
 "Of course most readers won’t open the door to them, because they don’t know the author, and they don’t know their book.
 "Furthermore, not only do they dislike people rapping on their doors uninvited, there are thousands of other authors constantly doing it.
 "The doors never open. So what does a poor author do?"

 (Sound familiar? Feel uncomfortable yet?)
 Gunson suggests authors take the time to first get to know the people behind the doors before asking them to open them. On Twitter he suggests using the AIDA marketing principle as shown in the infographic.
 Gunson's site is a treasure-trove of tutorials and marketing information for writers. If you are not a regular visitor, you should be!

You can read my short stories free online at www.hiltonhamann.com

7 tips to help you write a book

As the author of a number of books and short stories, I am invariably amused when someone says to me, "Oh I plan to write a book some day."
 We all know, that seldom happens. And when I ask, "Why don't you sit down and do it now?" the reply is often, "I'm not sure how to do it."
 I came across an article on a blog called "The Book Lady's Blog," written by Rebecca (there is no last name listed) that offers seven useful tips.
 They are:

1. Start small
2. Write a table of contents
3. Choose a place to write
4. Research
5. Establish a time to write each day
6. Keep a journal
7. Remember, there are no rules when it comes to writing

I'm not sure I completely agree with number seven but her advice is useful.

Read the entire article here.

You can read my short stories free online at www.hiltonhamann.com

Tablets bring new opportunities for authors and marketers

 Any business that ignores ebooks and tablets as part of its marketing efforts, does so at its own peril and will miss out on major marketing opportunities.
 That's essentially the message that can be drawn from a new study by the Pew Research Center.
 Back in September Pew reported 43 percent of people age 16 and up had either an e-reader or a tablet. Following the holidays, a survey of 1,005 consumers aged 18 and up, found 50% percent of the U.S. adult population now has one of the devices.
 After the gift-giving season, about 42 percent of adults now own tablet computers, up from the 34 percent reported in September. And the number of adults who own an e-book reading device like a Kindle or Nook rose from 24 percent in September to 32 percent after the holidays.


Opportunities for Writers

 This is good news for businesses involved in ebook and content-marketing and presents new opportunities to writers. It means maybe as many as half of the people in the US - more if mobile phones are included - are looking for content to read on these devices. Authors can make money money publishing and selling works online and business can increase brand-awareness and add value by offering free guides and ebooks.
 “The percentage of adults who read an e-book in the past year has risen to 28 percent, up from 23 percent at the end of 2012,” the researchers said in a press statement. “At the same time, about seven in ten Americans reported reading a book in print, up four percentage points after a slight dip in 2012, and 14 percent of adults listened to an audiobook.”
 This indicates that half of the people who own tablets use them to read ebooks and that number rises annually.
 Tablets will continue to grow in importance when it comes to internet marketing. Adobe reported tablets account for more traffic to global sites than smartphones. It also found 55 percent of tablet owners make purchases with their device, compared with 28 percent of smartphone users. And even with apps, only 38 percent of smartphone users employed an app to make a purchase, compared to 46 percent of tablet users.
 It is clear tablets are not just a passing fad and marketers and authors need to exploit and make their content available to this growing market.

Pew Research Center study
Adobe infographic

You can read my short stories free online at www.hiltonhamann.com

The Top 10 Books on Apple's iBooks

 No indies feature, it would appear.

 According to the Associated Press the top paid books on Apple iBooks for the week ending  26 January 2014 are:

1. Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell & Patrick Robinson (Little, Brown and Company)

2. Divergent by Veronica RothKatherine Tegen Books)

3. Insurgent by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen Books)

4. Allegiant by Veronica Roth (Katherine Tegen Books)

5. The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown and Company)

6. Sycamore Row by John Grisham (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)

7. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (Penguin Group US)

8. Duty by Robert M. Gates (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)

9. The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd (Penguin Group US)

10. Labor Day by Joyce Maynard (HarperCollins e-books)

11. Flowers In The Attic by V.C. Andrews (Pocket Books)

12. Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn (Crown Publishing Group)

13. Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group)

14. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup (Atria / 37 Ink)

15. The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty (Penguin Group US)

16. Flirting With Desire - Complete Collection by Lucia Jordan (Vasko)

17. Command Authority by Tom Clancy & Mark Greaney (Penguin Group US)

18. Super Shred: The Big Results Diet by Ian K. Smith, M.D. (St. Martin's Press)

19. First Love by James Patterson & Emily Raymond (Little, Brown and Company)

20. Final Vow by Kathleen Brooks (Laurens Publishing)

You can read my short stories free online at www.hiltonhamann.com

Something cool for Mac authors and marketers

1stFlip.com Releases Its PDF to Page Turning Flip Book Maker For Mac - 1stFlip Flipbook Creator

 January 26, 2014 --

(PRWEB) January 26, 2014

 1stFlip.com, the supplier of advanced PDF to flipbook creator software products, has announced the release of a professional flipbook maker - 1stFlip Flipbook Creator for Mac, with which users can easily make flash flipping books (magazines, brochures, catalogs, presentations, eBooks, etc.) with PDF files.  Users can now create elegant flipbooks to promote goods and services, or make digital magazines, eBooks. 1stFlip Flipbook Creator comes with amazing features to make flipbooks more attractive. To see more information, please visit http://www.1stflip.com/.
 The interface of 1stFlip Flipbook Creator for Mac is a 3-step wizard that lets the users get from the PDF file page selection (all pages or custom pages) to convert to local flipbooks in 3 formats: .html, .zip, .app or upload to the 1stFlip Online Library directly. From the Online Library, users can manage all upload flipbooks easily, including control who can read the flipbooks online.
 This PDF to flipbook creator contains multiple pre-designed dynamic swf scenes and customizable templates. Besides, the background file option allows users to choose any local images or swf files as scene. Users can also add logos, background music, hard cover, bookmarks and multiple languages to the flipbook or change the appearance of toolbar, icons and text.
 Users can upload flipbooks online, share via social networks or embed flipbooks to web page easily with the flipbook creators publishing function. The flipbook creator can also create flipbooks compatible with mobile devices, making it is possible for readers to view flipbooks on iPad and mobile phones.
 In addition, this flipbook creator for Mac allows users to track the traffic of online flipbooks with Google Analytics. Enter Google Analytics ID in the publishing flipbook, then user can monitor statistics form flipping book pages in the Google Analytics account.
 The trial version of 1stFlip Flipbook Creator can be freely downloaded from the official website. http://www.1stflip.com/download.html. The installation package is thoroughly checked with the most reliable anti-virus tools and 100% safe to download.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/01/prweb11522457.htm.

You can read my short stories free online at www.hiltonhamann.com

Tips from a New York Times best-selling novelist

  Boston-based best-selling author of "The Art Forger", B.A. Shapiro, failed to find overnight writing success. As a novelist, she wrote five books but sales were dismal, causing her to give up fulltime writing and seek work in business and academia. But eventually she returned, determined to follow a blueprint laid out in a how-to book on "how to write blockbuster novels". Three more failures followed before she decided to dump the rules and write about something that interested her.
 The result was her New York Times best-seller, "The Art Forger."
Shapiro offers good advice to aspiring novelists:

• Avoid “eye bumps,” or things that disrupt the reader. These can be unusual words, unnecessary digressions or even too much information.
• Don’t let your research show. An author may have to read countless books and build a database of information in order to be knowledgeable enough on the topic of a novel in the works, but that doesn’t mean the reader needs to have any clue about this. While Shapiro was fascinated by art forgery, she said she only “sprinkled in” information about the practice in about five places throughout “The Art Forger.” In other words, only include the necessary information, no matter how many notecards, sticky notes and spreadsheets of research has been compiled.
• Work from a plot. Shapiro says she needs to know the beginning, middle and end of the story she is about to embark on, despite the fact these will change, sometimes radically.
• Join a writer's group where the members critique each other’s work. This allowed her to make the necessary tweaks and cuts that made “The Art Forger” such a hit with readers.
• Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, pick a topic you love. This is a must, when you consider an author must spend several years with these characters and subjects.

Visit B.A. Shapiro's website 

You can read my short stories free online at www.hiltonhamann.com

Don't let your daughter become a writer, Mrs Worthington!

 

 So your kid wants to be an author? It would be better, it seems, to persuade him or her become a plumber! There'll at least be food on the table, something by no means certain in the case of self-published authors.
 According to a new report from Digital Book World, most self-published authors make less than $1,000 from their writing efforts and almost 80% of self-published authors and more than half of traditionally published authors, earn less than $1,000 a year. A little more than 40 percent of hybrid authors (both traditionally published and self-published) made less than $1,000 a year and not surprisingly, 90 percent of the aspiring authors made nothing.
  Digital Book World interviewed almost 10,000 traditionally published authors,self-published authors, authors who are both traditionally published and self-published, along with aspiring authors for the report, “What Advantages Do Traditional Publishers Offer Authors: A Comparison of Traditional and Indie Publishing from the Authors’ Perspective,”
 The research revealed that only 10 percent of traditionally published authors made more than $20,000 a year and 5 percent of self-published authors made more than $20,000 a year.

You can read my short stories free online at www.hiltonhamann.com

Free reading online! Madness or genius?

I would imagine most authors and indie publishers constantly seek new ways to promote their work and find new readers.
 Self-promotion for today's writer is a way of life. And being discovered, is like the well-worn cliche "finding a needle in a haystack".
 As authors, we are confident that, if readers will simply read one of our works, they'll be persuaded to plonk down their cash and buy more.
 But there are millions of books competing for the same eyeballs and it's a buyer's market out there.
 I continue to search for new ways to get my books and stories read.
 In my internet travels, I came across Canadian author, Corey Doctorow, who's long been a champion of giving away ebook copies of his work. In fact, he encourages readers to copy and distribute them and maintains the practice has encouraged a huge spike in the sales of printed copies of the same works.

Free Reading Online

 I do not (yet) offer printed versions of my indie-published work but figured why not offer something similar - allow readers to read online for free and if they wanted a copy of their own, or preferred the convenience of reading on a mobile device, give them the opportunity to purchase the work at a nominal rate.
 I've put this facility in place on my website ( http://www.hiltonhamann.com ) and will see how this pans out.
 We are always advised to "think outside the box" but the internet has effectively "destroyed the box". Letting readers read books, for free, in the hope they will then buy them, would be considered madness in the mainstream publishing world and maybe it's the same online.
 Heck, I don't know! Time will tell and I'll keep you updated.

You can read my short stories free online at www.hiltonhamann.com

E-readers gain ground but print holds steady

Good news for digital publishers. A new survey by the Pew Research Center shows e-reading is on the rise, as more people buy e-reader devices.
The survey shows:

• 76 percent of Americans aged 18 or older, read at least one book in 2013 in some format,     
• About 69 percent read a book in print while at least 28 percent read an e-book, up from 23 percent a year ago,
• While reading e-books has grown in popularity, the number of people who read print books has remained steady. Of all the people who read an e-book in the last year, 87 percent said they also read a print book,
• 67 percent of U.S. children aged 2 to 13 read an e-book last year,
• Adults aged 18-29 showed the highest rate of reading e-books with almost half who responded saying they read e-books,
• While e-readers such as Nook or Kindle contributed to the rise of in e-reading, a greater number of people use their tablets for e-reading. The study showed 42 percent of adults own tablets, and 78 percent of them said they use those tablets for reading.

The increasing sales of ebooks has seen publishers devote more attention and resources there than on traditional paper-and-ink books and publishing giant, Simon and Schuster launched a pilot program Jan. 16 where 31 US public libraries have access to many digital books published by the company. Library members can borrow e-books for a period of 12 months or buy them if they prefer.
According to Joshua Brustein of Businessweek the ebook publishing industry will eventually evolve into a subscription-based business like Netflix and Spotify.

View the Pew Research Center survey

Only the final version matters

 

  I couldn't even begin to guess how many words I've written over the past 50 years - 40 of which have been writing in some form or other to earn a living. I've been a journalist, speech-writer, web-content provider, corporate writer, novelist and short-story writer.
 Some of what I've written has been very good but none of the exceptional stuff started out that way. Pretty well every first draft of anything I ever wrote was crap. Stilted, wordy, unorganised, mistake-filled drivel. I now accept that as part of the process but in the past it bothered me and had me often question my ability as I writer. But I've come to realise, only the last version, that which is flung to the public, matters.
 Writing is mining. The diamonds are in there but you have to extract and spread out a lot of useless dirt before you find them! The secret to becoming a successful (however you choose to define "successful") writer is simple: sit down and write! It does not matter if that writing is bad. Excavate the dirt, spread it out finely before you and then begin sifting for diamonds. Give yourself permission to write badly. Get it all down first then fix, reshape, reorganise, rewrite and polish.
 Almost all great writing starts with a bad first draft and that's okay - you have to start somewhere. Get it down, move the dirt, it's an inescapable part of the process.
 But don't run the pump dry. Ernest Hemingway said: “Never pump yourself dry. Leave a little for the next day. The main thing is to know when to stop. Don’t wait till you’ve written yourself out. When you’re still going good and you come to an interesting place and you know what’s going to happen next, that’s the time to stop. Then leave it alone and don’t think about it; let your subconscious mind do the work."

Paranoia, fear and loathing

 

 I saw a bumper sticker once that read: "Just because you say I'm paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me."
 We are all the victims and the products of paranoia at times.
 Not a day goes by where there is not a grisly murder perpetrated by someone from a particular race group or a crime committed by a faction of society different from the one with which we identify.
 And left unquestioned, our prejudices and paranoia grow bigger and more terrifying every day.
 I am not immune. I grew up in apartheid, South Africa and have prejudices. I am not proud of it, it's just the way it is - or hopefully was.
 In a few hours I will attend my beloved father's funeral memorial service. He died last week after a long period of illness where he suffered terribly and, in the end, required 24/7 home care, as he was incapable of speaking, moving or even swallowing. Aged 80, my mother needed assistance but simply could not afford the exorbitant fees that professional nursing services wanted.
 And then help came, from the most unlikely of sources. The people who arrived to care for my father, in the last weeks of his life, wanted nothing in return. They washed him, they fed him, they slept beside his bed, they comforted my mother, and they hugged me when I was overcome with emotion and though they only knew him for a few weeks they shed tears when he took his last breath at 18h00 last Sunday.

Guardian Angels

 They were indeed guardian angels -- and they were also the subjects of my personal paranoia and prejudices that've accompanied me throughout my life.
 I felt, ashamed, ridiculous and incredibly stupid and will forever be grateful to them, not only for what they did for my father but for forcing me to look within myself and ask questions.
 My latest short story "I Know You Plan to Kill Me" examines these questions.

You can check it out here:

Amazon Kindle Format

Most other e-readers. mobile phones and tablets

2014 Digital Book Awards Winners

PRESS RELEASE

January 14, 2014 – NEW YORK – During a gala event tonight at the Digital Book World Conference & Expo in New York City hosted by LeVar Burton, Actor and Co-Founder of  Reading Rainbow, the Digital Book World team announced the winners of the Digital Book Awards, celebrating innovation in apps and Ebook publishing. The awards recognize innovation, creativity, design and production excellence in 15 distinct digital publishing categories. http://bit.ly/2014DBAs

“The Digital Book Awards were created to recognize the best in the burgeoning market for digital reading experiences,” said David Blansfield, President, Digital Book World (F+W Media).  “The winners we celebrated tonight were certainly that. The range of titles we evaluated, from large technology and media companies to self-published authors, was impressive, but they all had one thing in common – in their own way they’re all great stories well told, using the latest digital technology to go beyond print.”

The winners by category are:

Ebook Flowable – Adult Fiction
Eversea: A Love Story, Natasha Boyd
Ebook Flowable – Adult Non-Fiction
Cooking Light  Lighten Up, America!, Oxmoor House
Ebook Flowable – Children
Can You Survive the Titanic?: An Interactive Survival Adventure, Capstone Press
Ebook Flowable – Reference/Academic
Scotland’s Marine Atlas, On Behalf of the Scottish Government by APS Group Scotland

Ebook Fixed Format/Enhanced – Adult Fiction
Mistress of France, Emma Boling, Beneath the Ink
Ebook Fixed Format/Enhanced – Adult Non-Fiction
Isa Does It, Little, Brown and Company
Ebook Fixed Format/Enhanced – Children
The Man with the Violin, Annick Press Ltd.
Ebook Fixed Format/Enhanced – Reference/Academic
Cracking the GRE: Interactive Prep & Review for the GRE Exam, Random House Children’s Books and The Princeton Review
Ebook Fixed Format/Enhanced – Illustrated/Comics/Graphic Novels
The World Atlas of Wine iPad Edition, Octopus Publishing Group
App – Adult Fiction
Steampunk Holmes: Legacy of the Nautilus, Noble Beast
App – Adult Non-Fiction
The Pocket Scavenger, Penguin Group (USA) Katherine McCahill, Executive Producer; Meg Leder,
Executive Editor

App – Children
COWZAT!, Colour Me Play
App – Illustrated/Comics Graphic Novels
Go Big or Go Home: Taking Risks in Life, Love and Tattooing, HarperCollins/Harper Design
App – Reference/Academic
Disney Animated, Touch Press/Disney
Digital Cover Design
A Shiver of Sharks, Little Bahalia Publishing
Transmedia (Any Format)
The Niantic Project: Ingress, Niantic Labs at Google
The Digital Book Award for Inkling Habitat
Modernist Cuisine at Home, The Cooking Lab

“We want to thank to our sponsors, Kobo and Inkling, and our esteemed judges for their expertise and critical eye,” Blansfield said. “And a special thank you to LeVar Burton for making the first annual Digital Book Awards Gala an event to remember for our nominees, winners, and everyone in attendance.”

To view the full list of Digital Book Award winners and finalists, as well as the winners of Digital Book World’s QED (Quality, Excellence, Design) designations, please visit http://bit.ly/2014DBAs

About Digital Book World

Starting with the only conference designed to address the radically changing commercial publishing environment, Digital Book World (www.digitalbookworld.com) has evolved into a year-round platform offering news, analysis and educational and networking resources for consumer publishing professionals and their partners – including agents, booksellers and technology vendors – online and in person. Digital Book World is a division of F+W Media, Inc. www.fwmedia.com

Papa's advice on writing and reading for writers

 Ernest Hemingway was undoubtedly one of the greats of US and world literature. His body of work and 'hard-boiled' style, along with his larger-than-life machismo, influenced and continues to influence generations of young men.
 One of which was 22 year-old  Arnold Samuelson. In the spring of 1934, the young man, who desperately wanted to be a writer, hitchhiked and rode freight trains to Florida to meet Hemingway and seek his advice. Samuelson was born in a mud house in North Dakota and completed a course in journalism at the University of Minnesota but refused to pay the $5 fee for a diploma.
 In April 1934 he packed a knapsack, gathered up his violin and set off on his journey south. The story of Samuelson's journey is a wonderful tale in itself. (Read the full story here.)
 Surpisingly, Hemmingway agreed to see him and offered some advice.
 Samuelson later wrote:
 “The most important thing I’ve learned about writing is never write too much at a time,” Hemingway said, tapping my arm with his finger. “Never pump yourself dry. Leave a little for the next day. The main thing is to know when to stop. Don’t wait till you’ve written yourself out. When you’re still going good and you come to an interesting place and you know what’s going to happen next, that’s the time to stop. Then leave it alone and don’t think about it; let your subconscious mind do the work. The next morning, when you’ve had a good sleep and you’re feeling fresh, rewrite what you wrote the day before. When you come to the interesting place and you know what is going to happen next, go on from there and stop at another high point of interest. That way, when you get through, your stuff is full of interesting places and when you write a novel you never get stuck and you make it interesting as you go along.”
 Hemingway advised Samuelson to avoid contemporary writers and compete only with the dead ones whose works have stood the test of time. “When you pass them up you know you’re going good.” He asked Samuelson what writers he liked. Samuelson said he enjoyed Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped and Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. “Ever read War and Peace?” Hemingway asked. Samuelson said he had not. “That’s a damned good book. You ought to read it. We’ll go up to my workshop and I’ll make out a list you ought to read.”

Hemingway's list:

• Blue Hotel - Stephen Crane
• The Open Boat - Stephen Crane
• Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
• Dubliners - James Joyce
• The Red And The Black - Stendhal
• Of Human Bondage - Somerset Maugham
• Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
• War And Peace - Leo Tolstoy
• Buddenbrooks - Thomas Mann
• Hail And Farewell! - George Moore
• The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoevsky
• The Oxford Book Of English Verse
• The Enormous Room - E.E. Cummings
• Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
• Far Away And Long Ago - W.H. Hudson
• The American - Henry James

Links to Hemingway's recommended books.