Are Ebook subscription services good or bad for authors and publishers?

Here is an interesting article about Ebook subscription services. As an ebook self-publisher I haven't as yet decided if this model is going to be good or bad for writers and publishers.

Your thoughts?

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2014/where-ebook-subscription-services-could-have-the-most-success/

Social media is the icing, not the cake!

 I recently chatted to a fellow writer, a former journalist working on a novel but simultaneously attempting to build a business-writing operation.

 "I've tried this social media nonsense and it doesn't work for me," he declared. "I set up a Facebook page opened a Twitter account and told the few people who decided to become friends what I'm doing, informed them of my skills and special offers and...nothing. Just a gigantic waste of time! Social media doesn't work for me as a marketing strategy."

 And he's right. Social media is not a marketing strategy. To use a baking cliche: social media is the icing on the top of the cake that is the marketing strategy.

 So what exactly is a marketing strategy? Naturally it varies from business to business and writer to writer but it's all the other stuff you do to help you get sales. That could include:

•  Advertising in mainstream media (Not recommended!)
•  Your online presence -- ensuring your website is the best it can possibly be.
•  Blogging
•  Presence on Pinterest 
•  Public relations
•  Networking -- online and in person 

 You get the idea. So where does social media fit in? Let's say you post a new blog entry. You would then share that fact across your social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and maybe Linkedin. The idea is not to sell anything on those channels but to inform people of the blog post that, if you've done your job properly, gets them to head on over to read it. If you provide content that is valuable they will likely share it with their friends, followers and colleagues and you are establishing relationships with new people who may become clients/readers and further recommend you.

 And that means social media is working for you. You are using it to grow traffic to your website and blog or possibly to grow your email and newsletter subscriber base. Then it's up to you to convert the increased traffic into sales.

 I am absolutely convinced you can sell nothing on Twitter or Facebook (don't ask me how I know that!!). Simply sending out "Buy me" type messages only irritates recipients and turns them away from you. (If your experience is different, I'd love to hear about it.)

 The role of social media is to build relationships, it is the icing. The selling comes from the cake!

Thoughts on short stories

 I love writing short stories - or to paraphrase Leo Tolstoy, I hate writing short stories but like having written short stories!
 The short story is the 100 metre dash of writing, where, unlike the novel, there is no space to build and develop complicated plots and characters. The short story-author must, by way of broad brush-strokes and subtle guidance, get the reader to build the details in his or her imagination.
 It's enough to say: "He opened the car but not fast enough not to puke on his trousers."
 No need to describe the car, it's colour, make, seat make-up or the fabric of his trousers or - God forbid - the contents and consistency of the vomit.
 It matters not at all, if one reader sees the car in his mind's eye as a silver Lexus and another pictures it a lime green Camaro. A good short story makes everyone's experience unique.
 Short stories are more radio dramas, than television series and I like that.
 But what I like most is they are...short! By nature, the short story is an intense, bite-sized chunk of entertainment, consumed in a single gulp that must release a storm of flavours and emotions. It is the literary get-down-to-business-with-no-foreplay orgasm. The complete package. No coming back next week.

Pondering

 A good short story leaves a reader pondering, hours after it is done. It perplexes, challenges and delights and often works best with an ending that is not all neatly wrapped up.
 What, you may be wondering, has brought about this post?
 I am currently editing my latest Coffee Break Tale that, if all goes according to plan, will be published in the next couple of days. It's a somewhat bizarre account of unattainable love and dreams sold out. The first draft ran to about 6 000 words but I figure by the time I'm done, 2 000 words will disappear. If it were a novel, I undoubtedly would not be so ruthless.
 Writers put great stock in the number of words they produce each day. Readers too, believe more words make a work worth more and that is sometimes true - Tolstoy's "War and Peace" is a good example.
 But the flip side is Hemingway's famous six-word short story that is, in many ways, even more thought-provoking.
 According to Wikipaedia, in a 1992 letter to Canadian humorist, John Robert Colombo, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke recounts it thus: While lunching with friends at a restaurant (variously identified as Luchow's or The Algonquin), Hemingway bets the table ten dollars each that he can craft an entire story in six words. After the pot is assembled, Hemingway writes:

"For sale: baby shoes, never worn" 

on a napkin, passes this around the table, and collects his winnings.
 Food for thought indeed!

SHAKESPEARE helped Matthew Mather sell over 200K books

 

 Matthew Mather is a self-publishing titan! After being rejected by over 100 publishers, he decided to self-publish and the rest, as they say in the movies, is history.

 Exactly one year after publishing his first novel, Atopia Chronicles, a science fiction epic that has to date sold over 70 000 copies (followed a half a year later by CyberStorm, a present day tech-thriller in the vein of Crichton) he's achieved remarkable success: 20th Century Fox purchased the film rights to CyberStorm, over 120,000 books sold and ten foreign language publishing deals were signed.

 How did he do it?

 "My background as an entrepreneur shaped my thinking in approaching self-publishing," he writes on his website. "In the past I’ve managed my own successful start-ups, as well as helping start many other companies get started – handling everything from writing business plans to raising venture capital. I applied that same structured way of think about starting a new business to the business of marketing a book."

 Some of his methods can only be described as innovative.

 "Craigslist and other free online classified ads are the secret weapon for a new authors," Mather says. "It is incredibly difficult to get outside feedback when you are a new writer. My solution? Post an ad saying you’ll pay someone $10 or $20 to read your book and give you honest feedback.

 "Get 20 people to read your book like this; these people will probably become your biggest promoters and will be happy to write reviews and Facebook and tweet your book when released."

 Mather calls his marketing and promotion method, the SHAKESPEARE system. Some of his advise is diametrically opposed to what I've come to regard as the conventional self-publishing truth but who am I to argue with success!

 For example, he advises authors to initially focus only on Amazon, as this results in reviews that get your book up in the rankings. 

 "By only going on Amazon, you force people to buy from one place and thus drive up your rankings in this one spot," he writes. "Once you have achieved some success there, expand to other platforms."

 Not surprisingly, Smashwords founder, Mark Coker, counsels differently in his free book "The Secrets to E-book Publishing Success."

 Mather also advises new authors to serialize, again completely opposite to much of the "accepted truths" that are out there.

 "As attention spans shorten in the online (and real) world, readers don’t trust a new author enough to read 400 pages to get the point," he writes. "For a new author, a winning approach is to serialize, to create your work as a set of progressively longer stories that connect together through cliffhangers to get a reader hooked."

 

 And so ladies and gentlemen...drum roll...here is SHAKESPEARE in Matthew Mather's own words:

Serialize

As attention spans shorten in the online (and real) world, readers don’t trust a new author enough to read 400 pages to get the point. For a new author, a winning approach is to serialize, to create your work as a set of progressively longer stories that connect together through cliffhangers to get a reader hooked. And speaking of that…

Hook

The first short story needs to be punchy and tell a complete story in itself while leaving the reader wanting to know more. Even more than that, you need to hook the reader on the first page somehow, create a mystery, a reason and need to keep reading.

Amazon

To start, focus only on Amazon. I’m not here to promote Amazon, but the first rule of entrepreneurism is to focus, focus, focus. The large majority of revenue in digital books comes from Amazon, with a small minority coming from all of the other players combined. So when you start, focus on Amazon by itself; getting reviews, getting up in the ranking. By only going on Amazon, you force people to buy from one place and thus drive up your rankings in this one spot. Once you have achieved some success there, expand to other platforms (FYI the easiest way to get on other platforms is just to use Smashwords).

Key networks

Make sure to use your personal social networks to maximum effect. Post on Facebook and ask people to re-post your postings for free book offers. Make sure to email everyone at work on the “internal” email (ask your boss first, of course!) Use your LinkedIn network to mention that you have a book out. What other networks are you a part of?

Try emailing top-selling authors in your category when you release the first installments of your work. Ask them to read the first one (by starting with serialized shorts, it makes it easier for other authors to try reading your work), or just ask them to post on their blog or Facebook. When I released Atopia, I had about five or six top-selling authors who posted to their readers for me!

Empathize

It is critical to create a character that you introduce readers to right away that they can empathize with. People read still primarily because they want to feel an emotional involvement with a character they meet in your writing. Keep this front and center of your mind when writing.

Select Program on Amazon

Use the Amazon Select Program: You can offer your book for $0 (free) for 5 days each 3 months. Used effectively, this is an extremely potent tool for reaching an audience. There are at least 40 websites I use to promote a “free weekend” for my books (email me for a list) – these sites are mostly specific to books that go free on Amazon Select and are mostly free to use for promotion.

If you can plan it ahead of time, write out all of the parts of your serialized work ahead of time, and then each two weeks release one of them, promoting it on Amazon select for free and on the promotional websites. I can usually get 4000+ downloads of a free book when I do this.

Perceived Value

Create perceived value by offering a deal. For instance, try and divide your ‘whole’ work into 6 parts, and sell each for $0.99, and then offer the whole ‘collection’ at half price, e.g. $2.99 for all six. This creates perceived value on the part of the buyer when you start to sell the whole collection

Editing

If your work is not edited well, you will get killed in the reviews and in word of mouth. As a first pass, make sure to find some friends or family to have a look. If you can’t afford a professional editor, trying going on Craigslist and find some just-graduated English lit major to edit your book on the cheap. A “real” editor can be quite expensive, but there is no excuse to not get an external editor of some kind, and not getting one will kill your chances of success.

All free posting websites

Craigslist and other free online classified ads are the secret weapon for a new authors. It is incredibly difficult to get outside feedback when you are a new writer. My solution? Post an ad saying you’ll pay someone $10 or $20 to read your book and give you honest feedback. Note that this is not for line editing, but for high level feedback to make your story more engaging in an iterative process.

Bonus: Get 20 people to read your book like this; these people will probably become your biggest promoters and will be happy to write reviews and Facebook and tweet your book when released.

Free PR – When you release your book, create several press releases about different aspects of the book, what it is about, why people would like it. When you release each of the story segments, put these press releases up on the free press release websites. There are about a dozen high quality free release sites out there. Highlight that the short story that is free that week.

Reviews

It is critical to get reviews as this has a direct impact on the Amazon ranking and recommendation system. YOU CANNOT do fake reviews. Apart from the ethical issues, Amazon has an impressive array of technical tools to make this very difficult. Instead, be honest and creative; use friends, family, co-workers; and see my point regarding Craigslist and getting people ready to punt for your project.

Engage

Find any and all ways to engage with your audience once you start to get readers. Do a video blog on YouTube about the process, do a regular blog showing progress on next books and stories, get people to your Facebook page. Just get engaged with them somehow!

Be cool and share this.

Why not just bring back the rope?

 Judicial executions evoke strong public emotions. You are either for capital punishment or against it - there is no middle ground!
 The recent execution in Ohio, of convicted murderer, Dennis McGuire, once again focused attention and public debate on the matter. According to witnesses, McGuire after receiving an experimental cocktail of two untried (for executions) drugs, took more than 26 minutes to die, apparently, the longest ever for any Ohio execution.
 McGuire was put to death at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville with an injection of midazolam, a sedative and hydromorphone, an analgesic.
Columbus Dispatch reporter, Alan Johnson, witnessed the event, his 19th. "This one was different," he said in a posting on the newspaper's website. "After three to four minutes, Dennis McGuire began gasping for breath, his stomach and chest were compressing deeply, he was making a snorting sound, almost a choking sound at times.
"And I didn't notice it at first, but his left hand -- which had been waving at his kids -- had clenched into a fist."
 For about 10 minutes, McGuire appeared to be straining against his restraints, Johnson recalled. "Obviously, he couldn't get up, but he appeared to be trying to get up or at least raise up in some fashion."
 McGuire family lawyer, Jon Paul Rion said they plan to file a lawsuit in federal court seeking an injunction against the state's use of the drug combination, alleging it represents cruel and unusual punishment and, as such, violates the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution.
 The controversy has seen Ohio delay its next scheduled execution, to complete a review of a new two-drug combination. Gregory Lott, 52, was scheduled to die on March 19 by a lethal injection of the same drug-combination Ohio had used in the January execution.
 Ohio Governor John Kasich delayed Lott's execution date to November, to give the state prison department time to complete a review of that execution, spokesman Rob Nichols said.
 Ohio and other states with the death penalty are increasingly being forced to look for alternate drugs and sources of drugs for executions, as pharmaceutical companies raise objections to their products being used in capital punishment.

Why not simply bring back the rope?

 Which brings us to the question: why not simply bring back the rope? If done correctly, it is by many accounts, quick and supposedly painless - although I guess, no one successfully hanged has ever confirmed the lack of pain or otherwise.
 While writing my novel, "Hobson's Choice"  that deals with a man on death row, I got to peek behind a thick veil of secrecy. Unlike is the case in other countries, when executions took place in South Africa, no outside witnesses were allowed to be present and secrecy was legally enforced.
 Before the abolishing of capital punishment in South Africa, in the 1990s, hangings took place regularly. In 1967 a purpose-built, gallows was built at Pretoria Central Prison and and it became a well-oiled death-factory where over 2 000 convicted people died at the end of a rope by the end of the 1980s. In the 1980s alone, 1 123 prisoners were hanged there.
 Seven condemned prisoners could be hanged at the same time and executions normally took place on a Tuesday and/or Thursday.
 I was able to find the best possible source about the facility and the process - a former death row warder who was present at over 200 hangings. He joined the Correctional Services right after school and was only 19 when he escorted his first prisoner to the gallows and ensured the condemned man's feet were correctly positioned on the white, painted, footprints located on either side of the dual trapdoors.
 So when Thinus (let's call him that to protect his privacy), says he would choose to be executed by hanging, I figure he knows what he's talking about.
 Looking back through my notes, he had this to say.
 "It's over in seconds. The hangman, an old police sergeant called Oom Barries (Uncle Barries), who hanged around 1 500 people in his day, calculated everything precisely. Based on the condemed's weight and the thickness of his or her neck, he usually made the drop about one and a three quarter times their height. So a six-foot tall man would drop around 10 feet. They would drop, twitch for a few seconds and then nothing. They didn't shit in their pants. There heads didn't come off and the only blood I ever saw was where the rope tore the skin on the neck. I am convinced it was over instantly and completely painless."
 So why do Ohio and other states no longer use hanging as a method of execution?
 It seems they consider other methods more humane.
 A report on the Death Penalty Information Centre website reads:
 "The prisoner's weight should cause a rapid fracture-dislocation of the neck. However, instantaneous death rarely occurs. (Weisberg, 1991)
If the inmate has strong neck muscles, is very light, if the 'drop' is too short, or the noose has been wrongly positioned, the fracture-dislocation is not rapid and death results from slow asphyxiation. If this occurs the face becomes engorged, the tongue protrudes, the eyes pop, the body defecates, and violent movements of the limbs occur. (The Corrections Professional, 1996 and Weisberg, 1991)."
 Who is right? I don't know. I would put a great deal of faith in the accounts of a man who quite literally stood right beside the trapdoor abyss and watched 200 people drop to their deaths. But, at the same time, I accept he was not a doctor and maybe Oom Barries was just that good - he certainly had enough time and practice to hone his skills.
 I also read about the 43 botched executions listed on the DPIC website and noted, not one involved a hanging.

No sympathy

 But whatever the case, there appears to have been little sympathy for Dennis McGuire. Most comments about McGuire's execution, it would seem, are, he got what he deserved and so what if he suffered at the end?
 For example, Dudley Sharp commenting in the New York Daily News writes:
 "Dennis McGuire anally raped/tortured/murde­red Joy Stewart, a 22 year old newlywed who was 30 weeks pregnant. There is no indication that McGuire was conscious at any time after the first 30 seconds of the 24 minute execution process, as pharmacological realities dictate.
 "There is every indication that Joy Stewart was conscious throughout the eternal horror of her savage rape and murder. McGuire forced Joy from her car, choked her, attempted to rape her vaginally, raped her anally, slashed her throat so deeply it severed both her carotid artery and jugular vein, all the while Joy realizing the horror of her own death, as well as that of her unborn child.
 "McGuire had more time on death row than Joy had in life. McGuire's children have threatened to sue the state over their father's just execution. So foul. They have learned so very little. Their only comments should have been:
 "'We are truly sorry for the horror and suffering that our father has caused to Joy, her unborn child and to Joy's family and friends. Our thoughts and prayers will be with them, always.'
 "Do folks gasp, wheeze, moan, etc. while in their sleep? Of course, which is all that happened with McGuire. Possibly, someone in the media will look up the overdose properties of the drugs involved and tell us how McGuire could, possibly have been conscious. He couldn't have been. The properties of the drugs and their overdosing effects are very well known - by no means an experiment."
 It may appear I support the death penalty. I do not. But my position is not based on liberal, "all life is valuable" sentiments. The world is indeed a lot better off with people like Dennis McGuire permanently removed from it.
 My objection rests with the principle that the Government, State, judicial authorities - call them what you may - declares killing is illegal but that it's okay for them to do the same, albeit in some sort of ritualized form. I naively believe, laws should apply equally to all, including the government. If it is wrong to kill (excluding circumstances like self defence etc) then it is wrong to kill...period...and the State cannot be exempt.

Think like a sniper to sell more books

Successfully marketing a book requires the mindset of a sniper rather than that of a machine gunner. It's about choosing and focusing on single targets, then firing carefully-aimed, precise shots, rather than blazing away at everything in sight and hoping to score a hit.
 "If you’re interested in marketing your book (and let’s face it, who isn’t), you need to think small," that's the word from Alexander Hemus, founder at Standoutbooks.
 "Think smaller than having a review in a daily newspaper; think smaller than an interview on a morning radio show; think smaller than a feature in a magazine column. Give yourself an edge by developing a bespoke online book promotion campaign that reaches a targeted audience interested in listening to what you have to say."
 A bespoke book-marketing campaign is the sniper equivalent. It is designed to target readers who are actively engaged in your genre, who are willing to buy your book and personally engage with you. These audiences are far more likely to buy your work than a reader who skims over your book in the reviews section of a newspaper.
 Consider the following example:
 You are a writer of women's romantic fiction and are delighted when your book is reviewed by a large metropolitan newspaper with a daily readership of 150 000. You can already picture taking occupation of the new beach-house you plan to buy with the proceeds of the flood of sales that'll undoubtedly result from the coverage. But of those 150 000 readers, only 5% (750) read the book reviews and half of those are men (375). Of the 375 women, 50% have no strong interest in your genre, leaving 188 (actually 187.5) who enjoy reading romantic fiction.
 Let's now assume each one of those women decides she will indeed buy your book and makes a mental note to do so when next at a bookshop because, at that moment, there is no way to make an instant, impulsive, purchase.
 Some will buy it but my guess is, that will be a tiny minority, as everyday life tends to create diversions and other things to think about. In the end, for most, it'll be a case of "out of sight, out of mind."
 But if you think small and target, for example, a blog with a readership of only 10 000 that is specifically dedicated to women and romantic fiction, your chances of success increase dramatically. If only half of the readers read the review that is still 26 times more than was the case with the bigger, supposedly more prestigious newspaper. And the review will link directly to your book's sales page, allowing for immediate purchase.
 In book-marketing, smaller definitely can be bigger!

How not to produce a crap ebook

 An article headline on the Business 2 Community website that reads "Most E-books Are Junk: How You Can Make Yours Exceptional" naturally caught my eye.

 Author, Pamela Wilson writes: "You’ve seen them before, and you may have downloaded them, too. They’re free “eBooks. Except they don’t look like books at all. They look more like Word docs saved as PDFs.

 "They’re about as appealing as a 6th grade book report."

 She's right!

 As tablets and e-readers become more important to business marketers, so ebooks are increasingly being used to promote businesses and brands. And while an ebook can provide wonderful marketing opportunities, if done badly it can cause great harm.

 "After all," as Ms Wilson points out, "this document represents your brand. It’s the face of your business out in the world."

 She offers a number of useful tips for creating an ebook that will represent a business as a polished, professional, brand ambassador.

• Orient your page to fit your reader
• Set wide margins
• Use unique fonts
• Add images and call outs
• Remember your headers and footers
• Create an eye-catching cover
• Proofread, proofread, proofread

She discusses each of these tips in detail in the article and it's definitely worth the read.

Read my short stories free online at www.hiltonhamann.com

Call for entries for online publishing awards

 The Association of Online Publishers has announced that entries are now open for the 2014 Digital Publishing Awards.
 Now in its 13th year, the awards celebrate excellence in all aspects of multimedia publishing and includes categories for best editorial teams, best commercial teams and best digital advertising teams.
 The ceremony will also feature two new categories for best Digital Commercial Individual and best Digital Marketing Campaign.
 AOP’s chairman of judges Michael Nutley said: “The AOP is dedicated to setting and applauding the incredibly high standards in the online publishing world – and this is precisely the passion that these awards encapsulate.”
 The closing date for entries is 14 March and the awards will be presented at a celebratory award dinner on 3 July at the Roundhouse in Camden, London.

To view the full list of categories and how to enter click here.