Tag Archives: Publishing

J.K. Rowling’s “Casual Vacancy” Zooms to Top of Lists

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The book was published the last week of September, and already “The Casual Vacancy” has hit No. 1 on bestseller lists.

J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults is No. 1 on the New York Times lists for hardback fiction, combined fiction and nonfiction, and eBook fiction. The three “Fifty Shades of Grey” books have been pushed down to second, third and fourth places  on the lists.

Casual Vacancy also is listed first for in-store hardback sales at Barnes & Knoble. Surprisingly, the book is only No. 8 on B&N’s list for Nook eBooks.

On Amazon, Casual Vacancy is listed No. 3, behind something called “The Mark of Athena” by Rick Riordan, and “Killing Kennedy: The End of Camelot,” by Bill O’Reilly.

On USA Today’s bestseller list, Casual Vacancy is No. 1. The book is also at the top of fiction bestseller lists in the United Kingdom.

– John Hayden

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J.K. Rowling’s “The Casual Vacancy” — Prices Slashed

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Got it! A first-edition hardback of “The Casual Vacancy,”  by J.K. Rowling, published in the U.S. and Great Britain this week. The 503-page tome comes with a cover price of $35 ($36.99 in Canada), but Walmart has it on deep discount at $24.50.

The Casual Vacancy may signal a turnaround for quality in popular fiction. Where can it go but up, after “Hunger Games“ and “Fifty Shades of Grey?”  Talk about your lowest common denominator!

I plan to do one of my serialized book reviews for Casual Vacancy, with updates posted every few days, as I read.

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E-books By Bestselling Authors Priced @ $12.99

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High Cost of E-books

When I bought my Nook last winter, I was hoping to buy e-books at lower prices than hardbacks and paperbacks. But prices aren’t necessarily lower in the digital world.

Despite owning a Nook, I’ve recently splurged on two hardbacks and a paperback. They’re very different novels by three long-established, bestselling authors.

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A Blog By Any Other Name Is Still A Blog

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BLOGGING TIP NO. 101. NO MATTER THE TITLE OR CONTENT OF YOUR BLOG, YOU CAN GET MORE ‘HITS’ BY INCLUDING A PHOTO OF YOUR CAT. HERE SHE IS, LOLA, THE BLACK CAT WITH THE LONGEST WHITE WHISKERS IN THE WORLD. Photo by Lola’s personal staff photographer.

Thanks for reminding me! Yes, besides changing the blog theme (the appearance of the blog), I’ve also fiddled with the name. Again! The old theme, in case you’re wondering, was called “Twenty-Ten,” and the new theme is “Chunk.” Both are great themes, available free on WordPress.com.

When I started this blog back in 2009, I thought I had a great name: “Life After Sixty.”  I was going to focus on — you guessed it — the life and times of those of us who’ve passed the big SIX-OH, with special attention to living simply and cheaply frugally after age 60.

Before long, I started writing more and more about dysfunctional politics and economic meltdown. (I know, “Boring”). I had this inspiration for a new name: “Dispatches from ConsterNation”  It sounded like a cool name. Catchy. Maybe it was just a phase I was going through. At least it was better than “Boring.”

Now, I’ve shifted the focus again. The revolution in publishing — the surge of Indie publishing and Ebooks — fascinates me.   Continue reading →

The Black Swan And The Ebooks Marketplace

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The Black Swan effect, which I’ve written about before, might be the single most consequential concept of the 21st century. Just my opinion. If you’re interested in the phenomenon, you could read all about it in Nassim Nicholas Taleb’s book, The Black Swan. Subtitle: The Impact of the Highly Improbable.

Mr. Taleb suggests that most of the important events in history are Black Swan events, for example, the 09-11-2001 attacks on the World Trade Center in New York. For my other previous posts on Black Swans, click here and here.

Many events of lesser importance, which nonetheless have momentous effects on nations, industries, and individuals, may also be Black Swans.

As Mr. Taleb explains, a bestselling book is a perfect example of a Black Swan, because it’s impossible to predict in advance which book will be a bestseller.   Continue reading →

Selling Ebooks Direct: How To Set Up A Simple E-Bookstore

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Reblogged from David Gaughran:

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Selling e-books direct to your readers has just got a little easier, thanks to a new company called Gumroad.

I heard about them through indie author Sarah Billington on Friday, had my store up and running on Saturday, and fully pimped out by Sunday. (Cost = Zero!)

But before we get to that, should you open your own e-bookstore?

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Is this a great time to be a writer, or what? The title to this repost from David Gaughran's blog tells exactly what the post is about, and the body of the post gives all the details about direct selling. No need for further comment from me. But I do have a question. QUESTION: WordPress.com from the beginning has been almost fanatically opposed to advertising by bloggers. (Sorry WordPress, that's my ONLY criticism of WordPress.com, which is by far the best blogging platform for me.) I believe Wordpress.com has probably always made an exception for selling one's own handmade goods (I might be wrong about that), and I guess handmade goods might include one's own handwritten books. My question, David, is how is WordPress.com responding to this sudden surge in blogging by Ebook authors? Was WordPress.com OK with your recent sale of 99-cent books? I gather that you and many others are Amazon affiliates, and possibly affiliates of other booksellers as well. Do you think Wordpress.com might crack down on this? BTW, I tried switching my blog over to WordPress.org a few years ago, to gain more freedom, but found the technical hassle not worth the benefit. These days, WordPress will handle all the technical details of the switch for a fee, so it's much easier now if you want to pay the fee. -- John Hayden

“You Can Buy Happiness” by Tammy Strobel

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Tammy Strobel blogs at “Rowdy Kittens” about simplifying her life, riding bicycles, and living in tiny houses (or as she puts it, finding “fulfillment in less stuff, less debt and less wage-chasing”). Simplicity! I’m in favor of it.

She has a print book scheduled for release in September.  The title is: “You Can Buy Happiness (And It’s Cheap).”

If we had a Pulitzer Prize for book titles, that would be a winner. You can see the cover and read a little more about her book here.  It’s nonfiction, and already listed for preorder in paperback on Amazon.com and Barnes & Nobel. I can’t wait to read it. I think I’ll probably order some happiness as well, since it’s cheap. Maybe I’ll buy happiness in large quantities, enough to share.   Continue reading →

The Write It Forward Author Marketing Plan

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Reblogged from Write on the River:

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I don’t really like calling it a marketing plan. It’s more of an organic strategy for connecting to readers. However, if we don’t map out where we’re going, we’re going to get lost. And, during the journey, it’s always good to evaluate where you have been and adjust course accordingly.

Content=Sustainability

Promotion=Discoverability

Notice the order. Content is the number one key to success.

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A fellow writer-blogger asked about marketing. Viola! I immediately happened upon a highly informative piece posted today by Jen Talty over at Bob Mayer's Blog, "Write It Forward."   You can find a ton of valuable marketing information at Bob Mayer's sites, and if you want, you can buy his books. Social media seems to be a huge marketing factor, and I would recommend Kristen Lamb's blog and her book "We Are Not Alone." David Gaughran at "Let's Get Digital" has posted a lot on his personal experiences with marketing, including his sales numbers. On St. Patrick's Day he ran a marketing experiment (a 99-cent sale) featuring a variety of books in different genres and by different authors. He's already posted about the results, which were encouraging. The Self-Published Author's Lounge is another blog with great marketing info by a number of authors. What do all these blogs have in common? You can find them all listed under "Books & Publishing" at the top of my sidebar, which you will see to the right. Click on one or all to be enlightened about marketing and other subjects near and dear to the hearts of Indie writers. -- John Hayden
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Ebook and Indie Book Self-Publishing Services, Confusing Choices

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I’ve run across a handy chart comparing the leading Indie Ebook self-publishing services. It provides royalty rates for each service, but beware: Some services are free, but keep a percentage of the author’s gross sales. Others charge fees.

You might also want to start by reading the post, “Digital Book World Self-Publishing Guide,” which is very concise, but probably doesn’t include any new information. The accompanying chart, which I found most helpful, is here.  

I broke through the 50,000-word barrier on my WIP (that’s Work in Progress, for the uninitiated) a few days ago.   Continue reading →

Writing My First Ebook, A Work In Progress

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WORLD HEADQUARTERS OF ‘CONSTERNATION,’ THE BLOGGING, WRITING, AND EBOOK PUBLISHING CONGLOMERATE. Note the unfinished manuscript and miscellaneous research piled on the desk at the bottom left; various diabetes testing stuff on the top shelf, with the dictionary; a bunch of unpaid bills in envelopes on the shelf at top center; a few reference books and family photos on the same shelf to the right; and last but not least, my trusty but obsolete Apple laptop, sitting on a pile of phone books.

Hello again, patient readers. Yes, I’m guilty of neglecting this poor blog. My other blog is a virtual orphan.

My excuse: I started writing an Ebook around the first of November, and the project is about to consume me. Progress has been slower than my unrealistic expectations. I’ve been working almost constantly, sometimes forgetting to eat. Living and working in the same one-room apartment is not the ideal situation. It’s easy to lose perspective and hard to self-regulate. On the other hand, it helps me keep focused on the book.

To answer the obvious question: It’s a work of fiction, approaching novel length. It doesn’t fall into any particular genre. I’m hoping it will be a fast-moving, suspenseful story of political and economic crisis. That’s all I’m going to say about that for now.

Writing a book is more daunting than I thought.

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Ebook and Indie Book Revolution Is Reflected in Blogs

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English: Latest Kindle (2011) showing Esperant...

Image via Wikipedia

Greetings, patient readers and friends. Yes, I’ve been neglecting ConsterNation while I work on writing an e-book. Thankfully, the end is in sight.

E-books might be the new blogging. Writers flocked to blogging when it became popular about six years ago, and now writers are flocking to e-books. I’m not suggesting that e-books will replace blogging. I’m sure that won’t happen. However, I think e-books have already affected the evolution of the blogosphere. At the height of the blogging craze, many of the most successful and popular blogs were blogs about blogging. Many gurus offered advice on blogging, and some even suggested that a lot of money could be made in blogging, if one followed their advice.

Something similar is happening now with blogs about e-book publishing.  Continue reading →

eBooks and Indie Books Might Be the Greatest Revolution Since Printing

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Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of moveable type and the printing press, in the 15th Century, was the most revolutionary development (my opinion) in the history of technology, the history of communication, the history of everything.

Using moveable type, a printer created lines of words and sentences. Wikimedia Commons photo

Mr. Gutenberg could never have imagined offset printing, the printing revolution of the 20th Century, so he definitely would not understand or believe the advent of the eBook, which could be a defining revolution of the 21st Century.

After all the technological revolutions of my lifetime (** See “A Personal Perspective,” below), I do not understand — and can hardly believe — the sudden rise of the eBook. Nonetheless, this week I purchased my first eBook.

Just another stack of books. Wikimedia Commons photo

I had associated eBooks with the development of digital book readers, starting with Amazon’s Kindle. (The price of the Kindle has dropped like a rock as competitors emerged, putting the technology within reach of even frugal folks like me.) With a Kindle or one of its imitators, you can download books, newspapers, magazines, etc., and carry them around in a small, handheld device, to be read at will. Amazon boasts that the Kindle could hold a small library of books.     Continue reading →