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This is something i am curious about as well, but I don't know the answer. LOL
I hope we get an answer! Oh, by the way, Cambria, I think your vote is the one that kicked me up to #2. I'm right behind a fellow Smasher I actually know, Melissa Garrett. She and I "liked" each other's author pages recently in a "Novel Publicity" Karmic Friday Like-fest and then struck up a conversation on twitter. It's such a small world sometimes! I don't mind at all being #2 after Melissa :) Then again, I *am* pretty competitive *hahahahaha*
I think the "advertising" Melissa did on her author "bio" section, so readers see it when they land on her author page, is probably the best idea of all for this!So of course, I immediately did the same! *haha*
Darnit, Melissa still leads me by 7 votes. Excuse me, EIGHT votes!
Hey, someone must have put me on this list! Thank you!Of course, if any of you feel compelled to go there and throw a vote my way, I won't complain :).
Splitter
I stopped at the first 100 and voted also for Splitter and Jonathan Gould (I had already voted for Sarah) - Splitter, you know it's a vote of confidence because I haven't actually read that one! ;-)
Sarah, The Webbiegrrl Writer wrote: "I hope we get an answer! Oh, by the way, Cambria, I think your vote is the one that kicked me up to #2. I'm right behind a fellow Smasher I actually know, Melissa Garrett. She and I "liked" each ..."
Awesome!!!! You are almost to number 1!!!!
that was MONTHS ago and I didn't keep campaigning to get votes on a list--instead I focused on getting readers on Smashwords. The book's dropped from #2 down to (I think) #4 now. Oh well.During the Jewish High Holy Days promo, I got almost 600 downloads and hopefully at least a few dozen of them will actually READ it (LOL) I am MUCH happier to have had hundreds of downloads than to have had 2 dozen "votes" you know? priorities :)
Thanx Barb! Even if the list isn't working for me now I really appreciate your "vote" of confidence in my writing - but I appreciated your reading & reviewing the book WAY more than any vote!
I really need to check out smashwords, everyone talks about it on here and many have recommended it to me however since my book isn't in online form I dont know that Smashwords can help me..nevertheless I shall check it out for sure.
Justin your book isn't offered as an Ebook? With smashwords you upload it and then it is available in all formats for download, including PDF.
I would definitely do that bc Ebooks are very popular now and they are less exspennsive so more people can afford them.
Justin wrote: "I really need to check out smashwords, everyone talks about it on here and many have recommended it to me however since my book isn't in online form I dont know that Smashwords can help me..neverth..."Justin, what do you mean it's not in "online form" ? Is it written out with pen on paper or something? I mean if you typed it up in Word or some other word processor, then it's in online form, maybe just not formatted correctly. Mark Coker (founder of Smashwords) maintains a list of people (fellow authors) who'll reformat your book for you for a small fee--sometimes as low as $25. They're offering the service as a favor not just to make a few bucks, so they keep the fee low. You should definitely consider it. Unlike other "self publishing" options, Smashwords is FREE and you retain complete control over everything.
There are members of this group who can be hired to help you reformat your book for Smashwords and/or redesign your cover art. I'm not one of them but I can tell you there are several here who can do it. I bet Amy (our moderator) could forex.
I was just talking to EC Sheedy (yes, the best-selling romantic suspense author) on Twitter (yes, she's on Twitter! She's awesome on Twitter, too) and she was telling me that in some parts of Asia, eReaders are already as low priced as $35 USD and still coming down in price. She said the articles she's been reading (I didn't ask for links, I believe her) indicated to her that we're headed for a 99c eReader--not just 99c eBooks! I know Amazon's already released a new Kindle for $79 (which is half of what the original version cost) and Nook's trying to do the same--actually the article that got me and Ms. Sheedy talking was talking about Barnes & Noble cutting out shelves in their brick and mortar stores DELETING BOOKSHELVES to make room for more displays of Nooks. Wow, huh? That link is in my Twitterstream from yesterday and I know you're following me, Cambria, so just look for it there ;-)
I am nearly late for work *eep* Today's my 12 hr shift. I don't wanna gooo....waaahhhh
Bye
wow! that is something Sarah. i think we will see changes around BN very soon because they don't want to end up like all the other bookstores...
Justin wrote: "I really need to check out smashwords, everyone talks about it on here and many have recommended it to me however since my book isn't in online form I dont know that Smashwords can help me..neverth..."Hi, Justin,
Let me reinforce what others have said. If your book is self-published, you are missing out on opportunities if you don't put out eBook versions as well. Smashwords will sell your work from their site, distribute it to other online stores like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Sony, and you can download the Smashwords formatting guide for free I also recommend that you publish directly to Amazon for the Kindle. You can download Amazon's formatting guide for free, also.
Good luck,
Richard
Sarah, The Webbiegrrl Writer wrote: "Justin wrote: "I really need to check out smashwords, everyone talks about it on here and many have recommended it to me however since my book isn't in online form I dont know that Smashwords can h..."It's not in online form. I wrote it out on the computer yes but i switched computers and lost any format or copy of it on here and my publishing company will not send me another copy. Until I can somehow get one(which may be me writing it out) I cannot do Smashwords or any other program.
Richard wrote: "Justin wrote: "I really need to check out smashwords, everyone talks about it on here and many have recommended it to me however since my book isn't in online form I dont know that Smashwords can h..."It's not self published, god if it were id be in even worse shape then I am now lol. My publishing company makes me feel like I mind as well be a self publisher. I have Amazon for PC and im looking to get it in Kindle form but again my publishing company lacks in letting me know.
Hey, Justin, not quoting because I'm lazy (and honest!)Sounds like your book's not in electronic/digital form anywhere, as in you have NO BACKUP COPY? On behalf of all authors everywhere, I have to say a heartfelt Oh. My. Gawwwd. if that's true. How horrible that must've been for you when the computer it was on became a non-starter (no pun intended)
So I have another suggestion, though it's going to cost you money. There are people who stay at home and transcribe things. Like SAHMs who put up a card at the laundromat and try to make cash under the table off students who need papers typed or something. If you go to a college area, you'll find lower rates. All you need is a paper copy of your book. If you're super duper lucky, you can get the person (male or female, student or SAHM or whomever, might be a retired secretary!) to type the stuff into MS Word using the correct/ eBook-compliant formatting.
Then you just need to keep a copy of it on disk, USB stick AND I'd suggest emailing a copy to yourself so it'll be on your mail server :) I do that with some really important documents sometimes because Gmail keeps everything forever.
I think you can probably get someone to type the book in for you for really cheap since it's not from longhand but actually already printed and they just need to transcribe it. If they're a retired secretary or some kind of actual transcription freelancer, you might find they just "automatically" use correct Styles/formatting. Talk to them. I suggest you invite them out to a cup of coffee--your treat--to discuss the project. They have to give up the time but your payment of coffee (and a danish?) might make them not mind so much and the social setting for a "business negotiation" makes a typist feel more relaxed about doing business with you. I'm not sure why but when businessmen try to be super professional with women we somehow get our backs up and draw a hard line in the sand on rates and worth and value and such. I think it's some kind of emotional trigger, ironically backfiring b/c I think the men trying to be super professional is actually intended as a sign of respect and instead it evokes some kind of negative response.
Anyway, that's just my read and I'm not a typist though I did work as a secretary for 10 years in the 80s before I went to college. I never freelanced but that's only because I worked 70-80 hrs a week and moonlighted as a bartender already. Or I would've. Typing at home is an awesome way or a typist to make money! We get to work in our PJs and slippers! :-)
If you can't find a student or secretary or SAHM via your local laundromat or college campus student union, tap Mark Coker to see if he can send you his list of low-cost eBookers. One of them might be willing to type your book in for you--for a fee but at least it'd be guaranteed to be correct.
-sry
Sarah, The Webbiegrrl Writer wrote: "Hey, Justin, not quoting because I'm lazy (and honest!)Sounds like your book's not in electronic/digital form anywhere, as in you have NO BACKUP COPY? On behalf of all authors everywhere, I have ..."
Okay I appreciate the suggestion..that got really long lol. But if i want a copy i'll just type it out myself chapter for chapter, it wont take me too long. then I'll format it into the way it is in the book to make it the book.
Hi, Justin,If your ultimate goal is to make an eBook to upload to Amazon and Smashwords, then formatting the document as it is in the printed book won't help you. You will need to follow the formatting guides for Amazon and Smashwords. As I mentioned previously, the good thing about this is that you can download the guides for free.
Best,
Richard
And I would add that formatting as you type it in (in other words, doing it right the first time) makes way more sense than touching the text twice. Less opportunity for errors the less you handle it. Just my 2 cents. In addition to the $5 earlier (LOL)-sry
Thanks for all the advice guys! Its really helpful!
Justin - and indeed anyone else - I suggest you also check out Dropbox as it's completely saved me a couple of times! It's a thing you download onto your computer that makes a file called Dropbox in My Documents that syncs with a website. Anything you save into the Dropbox file onto your computer gets backed up online. So far, so sensible - but the really excellent thing is that it saves subsequent versions so if, for instance, you have three Word files open at once, and stupidly save your Character list over your ENTIRE novel (if it sound awfully detailed for a theoretical situation, there's a reason for that) - and if, without then checking what you've done, you also save the mistake over your backup copy, and only then realise you just disappeared a hundred thousand words....Well when you've stopped rocking and muttering and swearing in a corner, that's when you go to the Dropbox website, log on, go to "Versions" and simply open the penultimate one. Save it over the mistake, and hey presto! Your novel is back as it ever was, leaving no trace of its brief absence but a couple of scars to the psyche....
Best of all, it's free if you only want the basic one and unless you want photos and videos on there, that should be plenty. App for smartphones, too.
Damn, I wish I got a commission for sending people to Dropbox! But it's been an absolute star for me.
JAC
JAC, I completely forgot about Dropbox but you're right, way better than just emailing yourself a copy and not just because of versioning (though that alone does make it a worthwhile tool)Dropbox is available for multiple platforms! That means you can share files, like you would in an actual "Dropbox" or "light box" In fact, I think it started with the graphics community's concept of digital light boxes as seen at sights like Corbis Images and Getty Images. You can save a file from one operating system and then open it on another. While this sounds like it shouldn't be an issue anymore, with Word files especially it's still an issue reading between OS's, at least moving files between OS's. Reading them not as much as the file manager part of it--which is why Dropbox is vital a bonus here.
But the fact it's free to use on the iPad, Android, Windows and MacOS -- and can translate itself between them all -- is probably the best reason. Or right after versioning (grin)
JAC, if you lose a 100,000 novel, you just write it again. If it was the "right" 100,000 words, it'll come out the same. If it doesn't then it wasn' tthe right words in the first place! *haha* Yeah, I'm probably the only one who shrugs and sees a chance for improvement at typing in a 100,000 word novel again. I would KILL for a 100k novel. Mine are usually in the 120-150k range (like the average paperback). I don't know how people write entire books in 60k-100k words. That sounds like "half" a book to me!
heheheh that was only book 1, Sarah - so far it's at 200k and I haven't hardly started yet! That's why I like fantasy - one book just isn't enough for me, if I like the characters, and my writing habits are like my reading habits...JAC
Yes, I'm a series writer, too, and for just that reason. I really love my characters and don't want to leave the "world" I created....so I just write another book ;-)
Yeah...it's kind of legitimised stalking if you think about it.Possibly best not to, though!!
heheheheh
JAC
J.A. wrote: "Yeah...it's kind of legitimised stalking if you think about it.Possibly best not to, though!!
heheheheh
JAC"
ROTFLOL at that one JAC :) Thank you.
Cambria wrote: "wow! that is something Sarah. i think we will see changes around BN very soon because they don't want to end up like all the other bookstores..."And the irony abounds, eh? In the months since this thread went dormant and you made this comment, Cambria, BN went down, nearly out and got bought up by Microsoft so now we'll see Windows phones and Windows Tablets replacing Nook eReaders. I don't honestly know if that'll be better or worse but Microsoft has already breathed new life into BN just by spending a few hundred million to make an offering ;-)
I'm glad Amazon will not continue an unfettered attempt to monopolize the market here in the US. They are NOT dominating outside the US. We Americans are just so self-centered (literally) we are oblivious to what's going on in the rest of the world, even with regard to eBooks and eReaders!
I don't know if iTunes still holds the #1 spot for eBook sales worldwide but Kobo Books (also EPUB format) is catching up fast! Best of all (IMO) when you go to a Kobo Books page, you see a "live feed" of the Goodreads reviews.
Yes! Kobo is linked directly to Goodreads! I think that alone will give Kobo a boost over iTunes *yippeee* I love Goodreads. Glad to see those reviews and stuff transferring over. Oh and it gives Amazon/Shelfari another nail in the coffin ((grin))
-sry
@webbiegrrl
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/12...
My book, Coming Home (Dicky's Story) is actually at #3. It was fairly exciting to enter the list at 49 and rise in just one day of rallying my "fans" to vote.
In addition to mentioning the list here or in my other groups (which I'm sure is good), are there any ways that Goodreads has "built in" to share a Listopia list, and request people vote on their favorites?
I've seen lists like "Best cover art" or "Worst cover art" *grin* and similar concepts so I know there must be some way of publicizing them. I just don't have a clue what it is. At last, I can say:
Ah must reh-lie on the kahnd-ness of strangers, y'all
OMG, my Bahstongrrl accent will never be the same! *haha*