Microsoft Word Add-In From Kindle: New Self-Publishing Software

Amazon is offering an Add-In for Microsoft Word (beginning with Word 2010).  From Kindle Direct Publishing, the Add-In allows you to do the following:

• Format your manuscript by specifying styles like Chapter Title, Chapter Subtitle and others.
• Save time by using pre-formatted sample pages like book title, copyright, dedication to complete your book.
• Preview your book any time as it would look to customers reading on Tablets, Phones and Kindle E-readers before publishing.
• Work in Microsoft Word and publish your .doc/.docx manuscript as an eBook or paperback with Kindle Direct Publishing.

Beta Testing for Both KDP Word Add-In and Kindle Create

It’s new, and it’s offered in beta, which means some indie publishers may nix using it right off the bat. 

Why?  Beta can be scary.  That’s because “beta” by definition means not all the kinks are ironed out of the product. 

However, if you are beta-brave, then you might like Kindle Direct Publishing’s Microsoft Word Add-In.
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Kindle Create Still Available

This does not replace KDP’s original Kindle Create.  You’re free to choose between them.  In fact, Amazon explains that they are separate tools, and that files cannot be moved between them.  
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The initial Kindle Create has been available for several months.   According to Amazon, Kindle Create allows you to do the following:

• Quickly apply a book theme to match your story.
• Detect and style chapter titles automatically.
• Preview your book any time as it would look to customers reading on Tablets, Phones and Kindle E-readers before publishing.
• Works with .doc and .docx files exported from applications like Microsoft Word, Google Docs, Apple Pages, Scrivener and others.

What They Offer the Writer - Publisher

Amazon explains that both these beta tools offer the writer-publisher a way to compile content into an e-book or paperback format. 

• Each tool provides the writer – publisher with an opportunity to apply “themes” to your content (KDP themes listed are Classic, Modern, Amour and Cosmos).   
• Both allow the writer “preview functionality” for phones, tablets, and e-readers. 
• Either version enables the writer to create a table of contents using chapter titles. 
  

Kindle for Self-Published E-books

For many folk, getting your e-book published for Kindle e-readers and sold via the e-book market on Amazon.com is enough.  

That’s fine.  It may not be the best option for maximizing your exposure and sales, but focusing on the Amazon marketplace isn’t a bad thing. 

Which means Amazon offering a new compilation tool provided within Microsoft’s popular word processing software Word seems like a great tool for lots of writers.

I think I’ll try it out.  It’s on my task list, anyway.
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Word vs. Scrivener

However, my real interest here is how this enhances Word for self-publishing.  It’s making it more comparable to Scrivener.  

Maybe the real news here isn’t the alternative in KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) compilation tools.

The big deal here may be the new power of Microsoft Word to compile content for publication.  For some writers, will this be enough of a temptation to return to Word after they’ve been using Scrivener?

E-Books and Electricity: Do You Really Have a Copy of That Book You Bought?

A couple of weeks before Hurricane Harvey hit Houston (and Rockport and Corpus), a series of huge thunderstorms rumbled through Central Texas filled with lightning bolts and high winds.  Here in San Antonio, we can have storm winds gusting 40-50 mph, so this is serious business.

The lights flickered at 7:15 and we lost power by 7:30.  No biggie: we have candles and flashlights at the ready for this sort of thing.  And it never lasts over an hour or two.

Wrong.  This time, we went 14 hours without electricity.  The CPS website map of local outages looked like the entire county had been colored in by some excited child with a new box of Crayons.

So, sure: I picked up my Kindle Fire to read for a bit.  And here’s where I discovered what I need to share with you, Dear Reader.

I could only access around seven books.  And I have HUNDREDS in my Kindle library. 

Whattha?

Well, I learned that while I had downloaded lots of these books onto my old Kindle, I had not bothered to do so with this newer e-reader.  And the old Kindle is dead.  No workie.

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Electronic Publications Are Not the Same as Paper

It’s just another lesson here in electronic publishing.  There are several that I need to remember:

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1.  License Isn’t Ownership

I have a license to read these publications.  That’s what I am buying really when I purchase an e-book from Amazon.   It’s NOT the same as a paper book. 

Melville House goes into lots of detail on licensing in a piece written by Chad Felix, “”Ownership” and other e-book fallacies.”

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2. Download to Store on the Device

I have to download the publication onto my device in order to have full access.  If it’s in my “library” it’s on the cloud.  No Wi-Fi, no cloud.

Learn more on this from Carolyn Nicander Mohr’s discussion entitled “How to Delete Kindle Books from the Cloud vs. Your Device,” in a post on The Wonder of Tech.

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3.  Download Isn’t Permanent

And it gets trickier.  I borrow ebooks from the library via OverDrive.  This allows me to go to Amazon and download a book.

But when the time allotted expires, my loan is over and so is my ability to access that publication.  I did download it.  But it’s not there permanently.  It’s a digital library book where I never pay late fees.

For more here, read the February 19, 2017, article “How to back up Kindle books to a computer – step-by-step guides,” by Piotr Kowalczyk at EbookFriendly.com.  He also explains how Amazon keeps access to your downloads, too.  Maybe a publisher wants to change something, etc.

Whew.  

Now, I still love my e-reader.  And I’m going to take the time to download my beloved books onto the new e-reader. 

But this makes me appreciate paper books all the more.  And reaffirms my practice of buying the paper book of anything I read and love as an e-book. 

Because then it’s really MINE. 

Publish Your Book: Self-Publishing or Using a Publishing Service

Today, you can publish your own book. Opting out of the traditional publishing route, you become your own publishing company. Or maybe you hire a publishing service to help you. Here’s some information that I’ve collected which you may find helpful if you’re ready to share your writing with the world.

(Oh, and congratulations to you if you are ready to publish! I think it’s a big (HUGE) accomplishment to write and finalize a book, any kind of book. Getting tens of thousands of words down on paper (well, on the screen) and then editing, organizing, and finalizing that work product is a big deal. No one appreciates that more than those of us who have done it. Kudos to you! I wish you much success!)

1. Self-Publishing 

Once you have your content ready to go, it is possible to take that Word document (or Scrivener file) and turn it into a book on paper or in an electronic format. E-books, of course, are sold in several different formats that depend upon the e-reader that will be used.

Kindles will not read e-books sold on Barnes & Noble, for instance, because Amazon sells the Kindle e-readers and Amazon wants you to buy e-books from Amazon, not its competitor. Of course, Amazon also offers a free downloadable software program so you can read their e-books on other devices.

All this because Amazon e-books are published in one kind of proprietary format. For Barnes & Noble, another format is used. Apple, ditto.

A. The Four Major E-Book Sellers in the United States 

(1) There are four major e-book sellers right now. These are the websites where you want to place your e-book for sale. They are:

• Amazon 
• Apple iBookstore 
• Barnes & Noble 
• Kobo.

(2) Each of these online e-book sellers offers their products in a different format. So you have to provide your book to them in the electronic format they require. Yes, this means that your book will have to be formatted several times, in different ways, if you want to cover all the major selling sites. 

Fortunately, these sellers will guide you through this process for free. Kobo will take your Word document, for example, and convert it to its preferred sales format as part of the steps you take to upload your book to their site for sale. Kindle Direct Publishing guides you through the process as well, converting your document into an .AZW3 format for placement on Amazon.com. Apple really holds your hand, helping you to add images and graphics as you build your e-book for their sales site.
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B.  The Four Big e-Book Formats 

1. .AZW3 

This is the format required by Amazon.com (Kindle Format 8 aka .AZW3). It is used on all Kindle e-readers, and with the new reading apps provided by Amazon, these .AZW3 formatted e-books can also be read on smartphones, tablets, PCs, etc., via the free software provided by Amazon.

2. .iBook 

This is the format used with the free iBooks Author software. It’s based upon the .ePub format but it’s proprietary to Apple Inc. You agree to sell books in the .iBooks format through Apple exclusively.

3. .ePub 

This is an open software format. E-books formatted as ePub works can be read in e-readers like Kobo Readers and Barnes and Noble’s Nook as well as on iPhones and on PCs with things like the Firefox add-on, “ePub Reader.” Sony has changed its e-reader formatting from its proprietary BBeB format to .ePub. Barnes & Noble sells e-books via NookPress in an .ePub format. Kobo will take your content and publish it in an .ePub format, too.

4.  .PDF

This doesn’t mean that you cannot offer your ebook in a published, professional way that is outside these sales formats. Portable Document Format (.PDF) is a popular format for e-books that many people use because PDFs are so easy to view on so many different devices and platforms. Most e-readers, smartphones, and tablets can display .pdf formatted e-books. You might choose to offer your e-book as a .pdf on your website, for instance, and invite your readers to upload it to the e-reader, smartphone, or tablet of their choice.

C. Print on Demand for Paperbacks and Hardbound Books 

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Some of your readers will want to read your books in print, not on a screen. You can do this without printing an inventory of books (and incur that expense) like traditional publishers do by choosing to “print on demand.”

Amazon.com provides this service with CreateSpace. You can also choose to print your work as a paperback or hardback through Barnes & Noble’s NookPress or through third-party services like BookBaby, IngramSpark, Lulu, or Blurb.

These are not necessarily services where a buyer requests a printed product and then the book is printed for them so much as avenues for you to print your work as a hardbound or paperback book which is then sold on the various web sites. Read the fine print on each site to learn more — and compare the costs! These services aren’t cheap!

2. Publishing Services 

If this seems complicated or overwhelming to you, there are businesses out there ready to help. They will take your raw word count in its Word format (or Open Office, or Scrivener, whatever) and they’ll do everything necessary to convert it into a finished product.  They will also help with marketing your work to readers in various ways.

Some will also submit your work to all the different sales sites (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, etc.) as a distribution service. Some stop before distribution, but still offer help on things besides publishing the book, like marketing your work.

For instance, Lulu.com offers support for things like helping you market your book, including things like press releases and business cards.  Popular publishing services that include distribution, etc., include Smashwords, BookBaby, IngramSpark, and Draft-2-Digital.  

3. Royalties: How Much Profit for You? 

Different places offer different royalties to you. If you are writing these books for profit, then you need to analyze how each seller takes their cut and how much profit you can make at each site. Royalties are the buzz word here.

Compare royalties that are offered both for e-book sales through Amazon.com (and other sales sites) to you directly as well as royalties offered via these publishing service companies.

Remember, if they are helping you with marketing tasks or distribution jobs, then they will need to be paid for their work and you’re choosing less profit here for not doing these things yourself as an indie publisher. So, it’s important in your analysis to keep track of the costs you may have incurred in hiring an editor, paying a designer for the book cover, and other costs you’ve incurred in getting your product ready for sale.

These costs need to be tallied alongside any publishing expenses as well as marketing costs and monies paid to get the book into the marketplace. The hard thing about writing books for sale is that you start at that keyboard as a creative artist, but at the end of the process, you evolved into a business owner dealing with a bottom line.

That’s the choice you’ve made by going the independent route: being both (1) a writer and (2) an independent publisher of books.

Book Covers: Design Your Own Book Cover at Canva.com

THIS POST UPDATED MAY 17, 2017 TO SHOW NEW CANVA BOOK COVER 

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It's important to have a professional book cover.  Everyone says so, right?

Personally, I know when I surf through books on Amazon.com as well as my daily e-mail message from BookBub, those covers matter.

Sure, we're not supposed to judge a book by its cover, but heck.  I DO.  I admit it.

My books all have professionally designed covers ... except for the one that I wrote with Terry Lenamon.

I hate that cover.  I created that cover.  I want to change that cover.

And now, maybe I can because Canva is coming to help me!!

Here are two examples of the FREE book cover designs offered at Canva.com -- there's lots more, and prices for those that aren't free start at $1.00.

Canva's Book Cover Templates

At Canva.com, there is a new offering:  book covers.  Check them out here.  Oh, it's great stuff.

Not only do they have designs that you can use, or that you can change as you like, they also have the basic skeleton to use if you want to upload your own images, use your own fonts, etc.

Some are free.  Others cost you a buck.

Yes, you read that right: one buck.  Uno. 

It's sweet.  And it looks like lotsa fun.  (They have tutorials, too.) 

I'm going to be playing around with Canva's book cover options over the weekend.  Thought I'd share -- and hopefully, I'll have a better cover for the Death Penalty book too!


Gotta love (LOVE) Canva.com....

MAY 2017 UPDATE: MY CANVA BOOK COVERS 

Someone asked me about this post and I realized that I didn't share my new cover for the Death Penalty book I created using Canva.com.  So, I'm doing that now.

The first one (no pix in background) is the one I uploaded to Amazon for the Kindle E-Book.

The second one (death chamber pix in background) is the alternative cover I created using Canva.  I liked it, but it seemed too busy for a thumbnail.

Amazon 1099 for EBooks on Kindle and Books on CreateSpace in 2015

Your Amazon Books and Federal Income Taxes

If you made money publishing books on Amazon.com in 2014, then you're right to expect a form from them to include with your 2014 income tax return that's due in April.  You should be getting an IRS Form 1099-MISC that tallies the amount of revenue you received from publication sales on Amazon.com during the tax year 2014.

However, things are messy this year.  Like you needed more headaches at tax time, right?

3 Things to Know About Your Amazon Book Sales for Your 2014 Income Taxes

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Here's the scoop:

1.  You cannot download your Amazon 1099.

First of all, you cannot go online and grab the 1099-MISC from your Amazon Author Central site.  It's not there (although you can download these things from other sites, like Smashwords).  Your forms are coming to you via the United States Postal Service, mailed to the address you've given to Amazon.  So, if you've moved in the past year or so, check your Amazon account to make sure they have your current address.  

2.  There's more than one Amazon 1099.  

Second, you won't get just one 1099-MISC from Amazon.  Nope.  You'll get one for your ebook sales from Kindle Direct Publishing and you'll get a separate 1099 from CreateSpace.

3.  Amazon is sending out corrected 1099 Forms.

Third, they are being sent late and some are being sent twice because the first round of IRS 1099s had mistakes in them.  Amazon should have sent you an email advising you to disregard the first form and that an amended version was being sent out in mid-February.  

More Information From Amazon

Questions?  Email Amazon at 1099 [at] amazon.com if you have specific issues. There's also lots of information about taxes and your Amazon publications at their Tax Information resource section.

And, remember: this may be a hassle, but the silver lining is that you've made money from your own writing if you're dealing with 1099 issues here -- so congrats!  

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Removing EBooks from Amazon: It’s Not That Easy

Here’s something of interest to anyone that is self-publishing e-books out there.

Recently, one of my clients decided to take down an e-book we had worked on together a few years ago and published on Amazon.com. The e-book was specific to an area of the law that I won’t rabbit trail here; suffice to say that things had changed in federal law and what was being shared online was out of date.

My client is shown as the sole author. I worked with her on editing, fact-checking, cite checks, etc., along with getting a nice cover, moving the content from Word to the Kindle format, and getting the final e-book listed on Amazon.com.

She didn’t care about other sites; her goal was to share this stuff with non-lawyers who needed an overview and Amazon served that purpose. ("Hey, client, great question.  I've published a short e-book with that answer and a lot more that may be helpful to you.  Why not pick that up and read it -- it's faster for both of us and lots cheaper than my hourly rate?")

 This worked well for everyone for a long time. Then the law changed and the book, as written, wouldn’t be helping anyone any more.

Makes sense that she wanted to remove the e-book from Amazon and get it off the shelf, right?

Here’s where I enter the story. Seems that my savvy, smart, sophisticated attorney-client wasn’t finding a way to get the darn thing offline. Nope, it’s not that easy.

First off, you have to enter the author section of Amazon (authorcentral) to work on your stuff. Going to basic Amazon.com or looking at your official author page from your e-book's page won’t get you there.

So, you enter the special world of authorcentral and guess what? You still cannot simply take the book off the shelf.

Surprise, surprise. At least we were both surprised.

What happens next is that Amazon asks why you want to remove the book from the site. You must give Amazon a reason to remove the book from its sales catalog. And after you explain why, you get a message where Amazon replies that someone will get back to you on it.

Now, my client had an obvious reason, who could argue with not selling a law book that had old law in it?  Turnaround was short: the book was offline within 48 hours.

Thing is, what I’m wondering … what about if you have no good reason except you’ve changed your mind? You just don’t want to sell that e-book any longer because, well, you don’t feel like it? Or the cover is ugly? 

Or it’s a fiction piece and your cousin just now figured out that the blithering idiot in chapter three is based on him, and you’d rather not have the ebook available for reading during the family reunion next month?

Well, apparently, that’s not necessarily your call. It’s Amazon’s.

Now, I realize that Amazon is competing with other sites for e-book dollars and that Amazon may be worried that authors will be trading around e-books like baseball cards, trying to place their work in the spot where it may reap the biggest revenue return for them. (There’s even a suggestion in the Amazon response about not republishing on another site within 30 days.)  If this is all to avoid some kind of musical chairs marketing strategy, then I get it.

Still, I found it interesting that an author cannot take down their own work whenever they choose to do so.

And I wonder if there are scenarios where that turnaround might be harmful to someone, where they need to remove something immediately and are damaged by the delay.

Thought I’d share.

Infographic: DOJ's case against Apple for price fixing of ebooks

This image is from a series of slides presented by the DOJ at trial today.

Books on Your Blog or WebSite: PDF or eBook? Why You Should Choose PDFs.

There's lots of chatter right now about adding books (eBooks, booklets) to blogs - particularly law firm blogs.  Usually, this talk is accompanied with a discussion of coordinating those publications with an offer for the book at no charge in exchange for the reader signing up to a service like Aweber.

More and more law firms are doing this.  A nice book cover image appears in the sidebar; it's a free offer for in-depth information on an important topic like tips on avoiding foreclosure; tips on making end of life decisions; ways to limit risk in alternative investments, etc.  Click on the image and the reader usually has to provide an email address in order to get the freebie, and afterwards that email address may receive a series of follow-ups: more free information, etc.

Choosing to Build a Book for Your Blog or Web Site  

Along with the chatter about books on blogs comes lots of confusion and I've had several calls from clients and colleagues that are overwhelmed about the process (or options) once they start investigating this stuff.  Once they understand their state's bar regulations on the issue, and they've got a game plan on what they want to accomplish, then comes the practical decisions to be made.  How to get this done - it's not as easy as it may first appear. 

Offering a free book on your blog is not a bad idea -- it's a good idea -- but you need to know at the get-go that it isn't all that easy to get from start to finish.

Right now, self-publishing eBooks are trendy.  These are coded documents that can be read on specific devices (e-Readers) like Kindles, Nooks, Sony eReaders, as well as IPads, Kindle Fires, etc.

This is usually the first kind of document that the lawyer envisions.  Maybe the only one, because many aren't considering PDF formatted documents as something that can create snazzy books for their sidebar.   All this talk about self-publishing means many lawyers don't understand the different options open to them. 


PDF Books for Your Sidebar

For lots of lawyers and law firms, the formatted eBook alternative of using a .pdf document, formatted both for security and for a professional appearance, is the preferred option.  Surf around and you will find that PDF documents are appearing quite often in blog and site sidebars as the chosen format for that free book offering.

Why a PDF?  

1.  PDF books are easy to create: you can create your book using Microsoft Word or Open Office.  No need to learn fancy coding like you need for a self-published eBook for Kindles or IPads.  

2.  PDF books can be full-color with sophisticated graphic design.  This format allows a glossy, magazine-like product that self-published eBooks cannot provide now with their coding limitations.  Kindles and other eReaders don't like images very much, and they are hard to insert into the reader-approved format. 

3.  The PDF option gives you lots of number-play.  With a PDF book, you can include all sorts of graphs or tables or pie chart images that the Amazon/Smashwords/etc. coded eBook cannot include now.  Footnotes, no problem.  E books coded for Kindle or the IPad or the Nook are best left to words alone, black on white text, with hyperlinks.  No footnotes, please.  Check out various magazines, blogs, and other graphically-oriented publications on the nearest Kindle or Sony E-Reader and see what you find.  

4.  Most readers are familiar with the PDF format; additionally, these documents can be read on almost every device.  You can even upload a PDF document onto a Kindle, for example.  However, you cannot read a Kindle eBook on any device other than a Kindle eReader or a computer that has downloaded the free Kindle software onto its hard drive.  

  

What I Suggest You Consider Doing For Your First Publication

For law firm clients ready to place books on their blogs or web sites, I proposed that they review their blogs or newsletters to find a series of posts or a single theme that can serve as the springboard for a .pdf document.   

Next, prepare a Word (or Open Office) document with text that flows, pulling together those blog posts or newsletter articles into a cohesive document that will serve the reader well as a PDF book.  Make sure to include a table of contents and an "about the author" section.  

Work with a graphic designer if you choose to do so, or just use a Word template.  Get your Word document looking like a professional product, then convert it to a PDF document.  

Make sure that you have your security features in place (no cutting and pasting, limited sharing or printing, etc.) and you're done.  

Now you have a very nice offering, in a format that most recognize and can read on whatever screen they choose to use, that can be:

             a.  placed on the blog;

             b.  sent by email to whomever you choose; and

             c.  used in an email marketing campaign;

             

Considering Book Covers: Different Needs for Print and EBook

I'm in the process of getting a series of books published and it's crazy how many details there are in what appeared to be a pretty simple path.  One thing that has been a bigger stumbling block than I had planned for:  the ebook cover. 

How the image appears in a thumbprint on Amazon's website is very important, and has very different demands than an eye-catching book cover on a shelf or table at the local brick and mortar. 

Very Different.

Here's a great blog post that not only discusses these differences but gives some nice covers as examples, with a critique of them: 

15 Ebook Covers: Success and Failure in the Kindle Store by Joel Friedlander at The Book Designer. 

Twitter Nuts & Bolts 4 Lawyers: A How-To Guide for Law Firms - My New Free E-Book

Twitter Nuts & Bolts 4 Lawyers: A How-To Guide for Law Firms is my first complimentary e-book.  And yes, complimentary is a nice word for FREE.

Ten Step Twitter Primer for Lawyers. 
I'm offering this short primer on how attorneys and law firms can get started on Twitter for free on the web; you can download it or print it here.

Why bother with Twitter? 
Not only are leading law firms already adopting sophisticated tweet strategies as part of their online marketing campaigns, more and more law firm clientele are using Twitter in their daily operations.  Jackson Walker, Fulbright, and Vinson & Elkins are just three big firms that are heavily involved in the Twitter Universe.  Large corporations like Ford Motor Company actually employ workers to do nothing but keep up with daily social media conversations (@ScottMonty). 

Why read this e-Book?
Many attorneys and law firms still have not opened a Twitter account (much less more than one -- Jackson Walker had 14 at last count).  And while there are numerous materials available online and in print that explain advanced communication methods and marketing techniques using Twitter, there are very few that take a professional step by step through the process of opening an account, adding the appropriate background, finding followers, and initiating dialouge via Twitter. 

Be Tweeting in 15 Minutes or Less.
Which is exactly what Twitter Nuts n Bolts 4 Lawyers: a How-To Guide for Law Firms does.  From Step 1 (Join Twitter) to Step 4 (Plan Your Tweeting Strategy) to Step 10 (Scheduling Tweets), this e-book gives lawyers the basic information they need to become proficient on Twitter, in a time-efficient way. 

Hopefully, my short (12 page) complimentary e-book will help meet that need.  Please feel free to read and use Twitter Nuts n Bolts 4 Lawyers: A How-To Guide for Law Firms with my compliments.

E-book Sales Increase 252% in First Quarter of 2010

Shown: Amazon's Kindle

E-book sales increased an astonishing 252% during the first three months of 2010, according to Publisher's Weekly.  This news comes from the industry analysis performed by the Association of American Publishers which keeps track of the publishing industry, and releases its statistics in periodic reports to its membership. 

And this, even before Google Edition debuts with it offering of e-books that can be read without the need for any specific e-reader (Nook, Kindle, etc.).

Google Book Search Settlement Issues Organized in Downloadable Report

New York Law School professor James Grimmelmann, working with a group of his dedicated law students under the banner of "The Public Index," is providing an excellent synopsis of the Authors Guild v. Google litigation - particularly, to the objections raised regarding its settlement via a free online 55 page pdf download. 

By first organizing the arguments into 76 distinct issues and then sorting those issues into 11 categories, their work is an excellent tool for those interested in this pending matter, particularly since they are organizing the arguments made and not providing their analysis of these issues.  Very helpful.

As for what happens next, who knows.  The case awaits its third federal judge, since the previously presiding Judge Chin was appointed to the appellate court and the first judge to hear the case, John Sprizzo, passed away.

For more on the pending Google Book Search settlement, check out the Public Index website. 

For a cursory explanation of what this is all about, check out "Google Book Search Lives On as Google Revised Settlement with Authors, Publishers."

My E-Book Road -8: Bob Jensen Is the EBook Guru

Bob Jensen of Trinity University (here in my hometown, what luck!) has studied e-books for years, and he's sharing his information over at his website, Electronic Book, e-Book, eBook, eJournals and Electronic Journals Watch.

Lots of info here, going back many years -- Prof. Jensen's attitude may seem slanted toward academic usage of the publications, but that's certainly understandable. He's very generous with his knowledge and he's kept his website current for several years. Good place to surf thru when pondering e-books vs print ....

My E-Book Road: 6 - Amazon Looking Good

Well, well, well.

Amazon seems to have a method in its madness, and maybe self-publishing through Amazon makes more sense than ebooks ...
check out my post over on Rebecca Kennedy.

In a nutshell, Amazon is looking to cut out all the middlemen with a future where it's just Amazon and its authors. Means lots more money in the author's pocket.

And, Amazon purportedly will be targeting self-publishing authors first -- get them into the Amazon fold, and then Amazon is allegedly going to go head to head with the traditional publishing houses.

Now, all the BookSurge and CreateSpace and Kindle information is making much more sense ....

My E-Book Road: 3 - Amazon's Booksurge for Print on Demand, The Only Choice Now?

Well, I'm learning.

Print on Demand ("POD") through Lightening Source was coming highly recommended (see My E-Book Road post no. 2), and POD sure seemed to make sense to me for my purposes (see My E-Book Road intro post).

Today, however, I learn that Amazon.com is demanding that its own Print On Demand service, BookSurge, be used for any books sold on the Amazon site.

MediaBistro is reporting on the public backlash that appears to be growing: apparently, the American Society of Journalists and Authors has issued a press release relaying its "disgust" with Amazon's move, and the Authors Guild is mentioning that big, scary word of "antitrust" (which wouldn't be the first time that someone used "monopoly" and "Amazon" in the same sentence).

In fact, this story is building by the minute - so much so, that Writers Weekly has devoted a specific page on its site to this issue, with continous updates. Go here to read the latest.

There's talk of boycotts. Lawsuits. Anti-Amazon blogs are popping up. It's a big deal today.

Post I like best so far? Angela Hoy's personal take on the story over at Media Mensch -- she's the co-owner of BookLocker.com (a POD company) and the publisher of WritersWeekly.com.

My E-Book Road: 1 - ISBNs & Barcodes

Sure, you don't have to have an ISBN when you are self-publishing -- but I think it's wise to have one, and I'm investigating how to do so for my E-Books.

What the heck am I talking about? Well, ISBN stands for "International Standard Book Number" and I suppose it's analogous in its own way to a Social Security Number these days for most folks. You can manuever through the world without one, but it's a ramble.

ISBNs

ISBNs are very official, and they are assigned by a very official organization: the US ISBN agency which is run by a private firm, RR Bowker -- the publishers of Books in Print. Nice, tidy market niche they've got there, huh?

Their website offers lots and lots of information, including this list of fees:

REGULAR PROCESSING
(15 business days turnaround)

ISBN price list (the categories below include the combined processing fees and registration fees):

10 ISBNs: $275.00
100 ISBNs: $995.00
1000 ISBNs: $1,750.00

They also offer a warning about "unauthorized resellers of ISBNs", which states in part:

"If you use one of these reassigned ISBNs, you will not be correctly identified as the publisher of record in Books in Print or many of the book industry databases. The result may be extensive costs to apply for a new ISBN and the application of stickers to books already printed and in circulation.

"If you are a new publisher, you should apply for your own ISBN publisher prefix from the US ISBN Agency. Assigning ISBNs from your own ISBN publisher prefix will identify you as the publisher of your titles, and link your contact information to the specific publisher identifier. This will ultimately aid in circulating your books properly in the industry supply chain."

Who are these scandalous resellers? I'm not sure.

Meanwhile, I found BarCode Graphics has a good deal -- $55 for an ISBN and a Bookland EAN barcode -- promoting itself as:

"Bar Code Graphics, Inc. is not related to R.R. Bowker, but does have an agreement by which the Publisher Services division can act as an agent for small publishers and facilitate single ISBN assignments through Bowker with the publisher's name listed as the registrant (Personalized Publisher Program)."

About Those Barcodes ...

The Agency offers the official Bookland EAN format while Bar Code Graphics offers something else:

"The Bookland EAN barcode is a standardized format which is accepted by trading partners worldwide. Our experience with bar codes enables us to provide our customers with symbols which comply to the GS1 guidelines and offer assistance with providing the appropriate format. Click here for an example.

"If you require only a Bookland EAN symbol, we encourage you to purchase ISBN Bookland barcodes files from www.createbarcodes.com for only $10 each."

(Go to www.createbarcodes.com, and you find this site owned and operated by Bar Code Graphics, as well.)

The Bottom Line

$55/1 ISBN is a lot better than $275/10 ISBNS (not including barcodes). On the other hand, I am intending on writing more than one e-book, and the idea of being a real, life publisher listed in Books in Print sounds so darn - well - cool.

So, is this a good deal? What does RR Bowker say about Bar Code Graphics? I don't know yet, but I've asked them.

My E-Book Road: Introduction

For all those snoots who look down their noses at self-publishing, hey - I understand. My first thought is visualizing the horrid yellow backwater paperback offered up by a proud "author" at a local writer's group: 340 pages of a rambling, rhyming epic detailing the life of his beloved, and very dead, cat. Nine lives and all that, you know.

Meanwhile, over at my simplicity blog (Everyday Simplicity), I get lots of traffic going to the same subject matter -- and lots of email asking questions -- on basically three or four topics. Over time, the requested information has delved into a lot more detail than a blog post can - or should - handle.

The answer, I've decided, is an E-Book. I'm expanding these high-traffic topics, compiling a lot more information into a hopefully helpful publication that meets the needs of these readers in a way that Everyday Simplicity cannot.

Little did I know that this decision, once made, isn't so simple to implement. I'm learning all sorts of things as I undertake this endeavor - and I thought this blog post series would be a good idea. I'll share what I learn, as well as keep track of my progress and what info I've accumulated.

My E-Book Road. Here goes.

Kindle Unveiled Today and I Don't Want One

Amazon debuted its three-year old project today -- Kindle gives you e-books, as well as lots of newspapers and blogs and Wikipedia and other stuff automatically uploaded to the device.

It's priced a little over $300 bucks. There's lots of hoopla about it, seems like a lot of people are very excited about replacing books made of paper.

Why?

I like books. I like dog-earing pages, I like making notes in margins, I like flipping back and forth -- didn't he leave the gun in the car? -- and I like carrying paperbacks in my tote and having hardbacks on my nightstand.

I like bookmarks. I like cover art.

I like the feel of paper, and the way a book feels in my hand.

Kindle is a cool toy but it's not friendly like a book. Just look at it. And it costs too much, too.

And then, there's bookstores. I like bookstores. I like roaming the aisles, I like ....

May 2011 Update:  Prices went down.  I got a Nook Color for Christmas - it didn't work, so I returned it.  Now, I have a Kindle 3G with WiFi and I like it.  I like paper better, but I do find uses for the ereader.   For more, please refer to the posts under the label "e-books."

Choosing A Digital Marketplace: Is It Zipidee?

The New York Times is reporting today on Red Herring's story of the upcoming debut of Zipidee -- a type of E-Bay site which will let folk sell ebooks, software, games, and the like through its marketplace.

The NYT comments thus far are interesting: David Mitchell writes that Tradebit.com has been doing this for years already, and Kram urges content creators to sell from their own sites, avoiding these marketplace hubs.

Meanwhile, it's Nick Gonzalez at TechCrunch that gives the real skinny on Zipidee: he compares more than just Tradebit.com -- he brings in Payloadz, e-Junkie, Lulu, Edgeio, and eBay. He also discusses horizontal versus vertical, pointing to DocStoc, Scribd, AmieStreet, 5Min, and Snocap.

Gonzales does address several items that distinguish Zipidee from the rest of the pack: more control over pricing; the ability to create your own little virtual store (akin to E-Bay); etc. An important feature: Zipidee will offer its own proprietary DRM protection function.

Meanwhile, over at the Wall Street Journal -- they just like the name.