Archive for the ‘Book Publishing’ Category

This landed in my mailbox today, so I thought I’d share….

Greetings,

As an author who has used the Amazon’s Digital Text Platform, we want to let you know about an exciting opportunity for authors at Amazon. Amazon.com and Penguin Group (USA) announced the third annual Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA), an international competition seeking fresh new writing voices. One of the great new aspects of the contest is that self-published novels are now eligible to be submitted. There will also be two categories this year, Young Adult Fiction, and General Fiction. One Grand Prize winner from each category will receive a full publishing contract with Penguin including a $15,000 advance. Contest details are listed below, and further information and official rules can be found at www.amazon.com/abna. To get tips on how to enter or sign up, visit www.createspace.com/abna

What is the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award?

The Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award is an opportunity for emerging fiction writers to join a community of authors on Amazon.com, showcase their work, and compete for a chance to get published. Sponsored in partnership with Penguin Group (USA) and CreateSpace, the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award first launched in October 2007 and received more than 5,000 initial entries. In the inaugural contest, Amazon customers voted and named Bill Loehfelm the winner with his novel, Fresh Kills. Several of the other Top 10 finalists also received publishing deals with Penguin.

The 2009 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award started out even bigger than the first contest, with over 6,500 authors signing up. After narrowing the field, the top 500 excerpts were available to Amazon customer to read and review while Publishers Weekly reviewed the full manuscripts. From that information, Penguin selected 100 semifinalists that which were then reviewed by a group of Penguin editors who the three finalists. Excerpts from Ian Gibson (Stuff of Legends), James King (Bill Warrington’s Last Chance), and Brandi-Lynn Ryder (In Malice, Quite Close) were voted on by Amazon customers, and in a ceremony in New York, James King was announced as the 2009 winner.

What are the grand prizes?

The grand prize winner in each category will receive a full publishing contract with Penguin to market and distribute the Grand Prize winner’s winning manuscript as a published book, including promotion for the published book on Amazon.com and a $15,000 advance.

How do interested authors enter?

The Submission period is now open, and will stay open until February 7th, 2010 at 11:59 p.m. (U.S. Eastern Standard Time), or when the first 5,000 entries have been received in each category, whichever is earlier. There is no entry fee.

Author websites are much like other websites, right?

Well, yes and no. Here are some sections that your author site should have.

1. About the Author
   This probably sounds obvious, but it’s important to let visitors to your website find a connection with you. Don’t just include the little blurb that’s on the back of your book. Add some unique information about your pets, or where you live, or where you like to spend your vacations. Little things like that can create a connection with book buyers who will remember what they liked about you when it comes time to buy a book to read.
2. About the Book
   Whether you’ve got one book or twenty, each title should have it’s own page with a cover image, a description of the book, review excerpts, and of course, a way to purchase.
3. Events Calendar
   You are busy promoting your books, aren’t you? Well, for every single thing you do, mark it in an events calendar, blog about it, tweet about it, post it on Facebook… do it all! Even if it’s something as simple as guest posting at someone’s blog, or attending an industry event. Make sure people who want to find out more about you and your books can follow you wherever you are promoting…both online and off.
4. Questions for book clubs, teachers, or whoever else might be using the book.
   Make it easy for educators, parents, book clubs, or anyone else who might be using your book in a discussion setting. Post questions, activities, or other printables that are appropriate for your book.
5. Email Newsletter
   Sometimes just posting on your website isn’t enough.  Ok, it’s rarely enough. People have short memories. Let them sign up to receive monthly updates from you. Entice them to sign up to your newsletter with a special offer like a video or short story available only to those who subscribe. Maintaining an email list ensures you can contact your readers when you need to, not just when they remember to stop by your site.
6. A Blog
   While you don’t need blog software necessarily, you do need a section or two of your website you update very frequently to keep people coming back. A blog is the easiest way to do this. You can call it a blog, a diary, or even a weekly online column. Just keep it updated with interesting stuff.
7. Videos and Photos
   While the current fad in the book industry seems to be book trailers,  you don’t have to get a professionally produced trailer to post video to your site. You can post video of yourself answering reader questions. Show cute videos of your pets. Post pictures or a slideshow of your last book signing. People love to look at things, so give them things to look at.
8. Special Offers
   You’re going to want a place on your site to sell or give away things like signed copies of your books, book plates, tote bags, t-shirts, etc. Check out CafePress.com for more ideas. Just because you’re an author, don’t think that the only thing  you’ve got to sell is books.
9. Press Room
   If you’re busy promoting your book, you’ll want to create a press room so any journalist who is looking for information, press releases, high res photos, and previous clippings can find them online no matter what time it is.
10. Contact Me
    While it’s nice to be left alone to write, it’s essential that you have a way to contact you on your site. Whether its the press, or a publisher who wants to buy your next book, or a fan who really wants you to know how your book has changed her life, you need to be accessible.

Ninety-five per cent of authors don’t think about the marketing of their book until after it is printed. Book publishing expert and best-selling author Dale Beaumont shares why this is a big mistake! Discover how to develop a killer marketing plan for your book, which will help you to sell tens of thousands of copies.

Who is today’s book consumer, what are they buying, where are they shopping, what motivates their purchases, and how successful are we at reaching them?

If you’re interested in finding out, you might want to register for the hour-long webinar for industry professionals offered by Bowker and the Association of American Publishers on Thursday, October 22, from 2:00 p.m – 3 pm EDT.

“A program that sheds some light on the mindset and purchasing behavior of book buyers is particularly timely in light of the recession’s impact on retail markets, the rapidly growing demand for e-book content and burgeoning interest in devices and formats, and the real need for a better understanding of book consumers as we head into a critical holiday season,” said Tom Allen, President & CEO of the Association of American Publishers. “We hope the program is informative and provides useful insight for all members of the book trade.”

Attendees will be able to follow the audio presentation and ask questions in real time. Bowker’s Kelly Gallagher, Vice President, Publisher Services, Bowker will present, with the virtual audience Q&A facilitated by AAP Vice President Tina Jordan.

The October 22 event is the first of what is expected to be a series of webinars the two organizations will host in the coming months. A second webinar, “Emerging Book Trends for 2009,” is scheduled for 2 PM ET on Wednesday, December 9. That program will provide an overview of the changing climate of book buying in 2009 including e-book buzz, online social networks and marketing, changing channels, buying versus library patronage, as well as highlight the connection between what publishers publish and what consumers buy.

To register for the October 22 webinar ($49 per individual participant; $99 multiple participants using one login at a company), visit www.bookconsumer.com or email PubTrackInfo@bowker.com.