Nina Guilbeau's Blog - Posts Tagged "self-published-books"
Independent Reader, Meet Independent Authors
Technology is changing the publishing industry and that’s good news for both readers and potential authors. Self publishing eBooks have opened the door for readers to have more choices of what to read and when to read it. It also allows authors to connect directly with interested readers. With this new publishing revolution, I have a word of advice for both writers and readers.
Writers:
I have taken up the cause for self published authors and have been doing more reading of these books for review purposes, as well as for judging writing contests. Unfortunately, I have discovered that the downside of independent writers going "straight to press” is the lack of editing. Unedited manuscripts/books can be distracting to the readers and make a difference in how your book is received.*
Readers:
Independent authors are often available for online book chats, interviews for blogs or (for the expert author) student papers. They love to hear back from readers, who often make writers “step up their game.” Independent authors also benefit from readers telling them directly what they liked best about the characters and what they found most intriguing about the book. Readers with a book club, invite an independent author to your next meeting. It’ll be a great experience for everyone.
* One thing both writers and reader should keep in mind is that eBook text conversions have been known to create what appears to the reader as grammatical author errors. For example, the word "sometimes" in the uploaded text may appear as "some-times" in the final digital format. The author may not have any knowledge of the extra characters added to words or of the spacing issues frequently seen in text conversions.
One way the author can avoid this problem is to try uploading a formatted .PDF rather than a text file.
Readers who kindly alert authors about these little problems are worth their weight in gold!
Writers:
I have taken up the cause for self published authors and have been doing more reading of these books for review purposes, as well as for judging writing contests. Unfortunately, I have discovered that the downside of independent writers going "straight to press” is the lack of editing. Unedited manuscripts/books can be distracting to the readers and make a difference in how your book is received.*
Readers:
Independent authors are often available for online book chats, interviews for blogs or (for the expert author) student papers. They love to hear back from readers, who often make writers “step up their game.” Independent authors also benefit from readers telling them directly what they liked best about the characters and what they found most intriguing about the book. Readers with a book club, invite an independent author to your next meeting. It’ll be a great experience for everyone.
* One thing both writers and reader should keep in mind is that eBook text conversions have been known to create what appears to the reader as grammatical author errors. For example, the word "sometimes" in the uploaded text may appear as "some-times" in the final digital format. The author may not have any knowledge of the extra characters added to words or of the spacing issues frequently seen in text conversions.
One way the author can avoid this problem is to try uploading a formatted .PDF rather than a text file.
Readers who kindly alert authors about these little problems are worth their weight in gold!
