December 16th, 2011 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in PublishingWriting
Since pen and paper, new tools have come along the way to help the writing process. The ultimate tool, the computer not only allows you write, but brings additional options that for the modern author to publish on their own and make their work available to the world via the web.
Here are some of the best writing apps I’ve come across that make it easy to export your manuscript to standard ebook formats:
- Pandamian – a new web app dedicated to writing and publishing to standard ebook formats
- WordPress - originally a web app for blogging, has become a great tool for writing and publishing on the web and has an ePub ebook export plugin
- OpenOffice - free word processing app that has an ePub ebook export plugin you can add on
- Apple Pages - for the Mac only, has a built in option to save out to ePub
- Calibre – converts to various ebook formats including ePub and Mobi for Kindle
- Sigil – open source app for fine tuning ePub ebook options
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November 3rd, 2011 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in Project
The month of November marks a year since Indie Aisle launched to the world. During this past year, we’ve learned a lot and have made a number of improvements and upgrades. Many indie authors and comic creators have posted great stories. And we’ve received great feedback.
To celebrate, we’re doing a webcast on November 17th at 8pm pacific time zone. The webcast will be lead by me and include fellow Indie Aisle authors talking about their experiences as indie authors. Our special guests will be:
The webcast is open to everyone but will be on Google Hangouts, so you will need a Google Plus account to join in. You do not need a webcam, you can just chat and watch the webcast.
Mark your calendars for November 17th at 8pm pacific time zone. If you’d like, you can RSVP on Facebook here.
A year isn’t much for a startup company, so keep checking back with us, because we’re just getting started!
UPDATE – 11/17: Watch for the Hangout starting tonight at 8pm pacific on the Indie Aisle page on Google Plus.
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October 21st, 2011 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in PromotionPublishing
There’s no doubt ebooks are changing the way we enjoy our books, so of course publishing, the process by which an author gets their work to their readers, is completely changing as well. If the term ‘self-publish’ means essentially having control over all aspects of the publishing process, then it’s never been more accurate than with digital publishing. Let’s look at what’s involved in the publishing process and how you can handle it on your own as an indie author using the same methods as traditional big publishing companies:
- Get funding upfront – big publishers provide this when you sign the rights to your book away to them, you can essentially do it on your own using your circle of friends and ‘crowdsource’ your funding with tools like Kickstarter and RocketHub
- Package your story – either in print or digitally, you have to figure out the proper way to format and output your work; this includes having someone edit it and someone to design a good cover; the way big publishers do it is they find and outsource to freelance agencies and individuals; you can do the same with sites like Elance and Behance
- Build a reputation – as companies, big publishers develop a presence; you can do it with your own online presence by using social networks and various community-based platforms like GoodReads and LibraryThing
- Market your story – as you build your reputation, leverage your social networks, plan out a tour by finding and contacting venues to do readings at, send out review copies, get a table at a convention; the web is a great communication tool for finding these opportunities the same way a big publisher would do it
- Sell – make sure you have a proper site setup where people can buy your book; big publishers usually outsource this to someone else and you can do the same; you can also use the same online marketplaces big publishers use like Amazon and Barnes & Noble; or get a better cut with Smashwords and Indie Aisle
Start small and build up little by little, repeat the write and promote cycle with every story you release and you’ll get better at it along the way. The publishing process used to be so complex only a big company could handle all its moving parts, but with new tools and communication methods that the web has brought and continues to bring, it’s now possible to do it on your own, and become your own publishing empire.
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September 29th, 2011 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in DistributionPublishing
There’s another new tablet, this time from Amazon, the Kindle Fire. This doesn’t appear to be a typical tablet though. It doesn’t have a camera, or all the extra hardware features other tablet makers are competing on. The thing that sets it apart is what it has on it and what you would use it for: media. Amazon has been building a platform of digital media throughout the years and it turns out books were just the beginning.
So what does this mean for indie publishers? It means storytelling in all forms of media, is opening up even more potential for independent publishing and distribution:
- For authors who are currently selling in the Amazon marketplace, this expands readership
- If you’re a comic book creator who’s been hesitant about the Amazon marketplace because the Kindle doesn’t do color, then this is your answer
- For independent filmmakers, this could be a sign that Amazon will start including independent films in its streaming library, the way Netflix currently does
- For video game makers and interactive storytellers, this is a new marketplace to sell on along with all other Android-based tablets and smartphones
As the original Kindle changed distribution for independent authors to sell in the Amazon marketplace, so will this version of the Kindle, going beyond books to comics, movies and interactive games.
However, you may notice that this appears to be a closed platform similar to Apple’s iTunes. But there is an additional feature the tablet has that I think is a glimpse into the true potential for indie publishing and distribution: the web. Amazon has created their own enhanced web browser, called Silk, dedicated to being fast and playing media well. And this is where it opens up to any indie publishers to provide access to their work since in a web browser, access to anything online is a link away.
Computer software developers have been moving to exclusively develop web apps because of ‘cloud’ capabilities. And as companies implement more cloud-based features into their devices, having your ebooks and media work using the web browser as a reader is the way to go. Not to mention that it’s also the best way to provide new forms of storytelling using multimedia and interactivity. The web will become the primary method for providing content for the future of distribution: web-based digital devices.
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September 8th, 2011 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in ProjectPromotion
As we did with our story and profile pages, we’ve redesigned the Account interface to make it easier to use and to highlight the most important aspects of what you can do.
There are now four main tabs to start with: Updates – your stream of updates of people you follow; Publish – where you post info about your story and upload when you’re ready; Tools – ways to promote your stories (I’ll talk more about this shortly); Read – your library of titles you’ve bought or started reading; Profile & Settings – your account info. A fifth tab, Stats, is added when you upgrade your account.
Which brings me to our new upgrade options, Author Plus and Author Pro. Here’s how they compare to the basic, free account you get when signing up:
- Author Basic – free account with 80% earnings and a 3 story limit
- Author Plus – $9 per month with 90% earnings and a 5 story limit
- Author Pro – $19 per month with a full 100% earnings and no limit on stories
But there’s more to the Plus and Pro plans. Signing up for either plan gives you stats of how visitors are viewing your story along with access to additional promotion tools. These new tools are specifically designed to help with what is often the hardest part of going indie and self-publishing: the marketing of your story. There are only a few to start with, but we have many more planned.
We think we’re on to something here with the new account options and marketing tools. Figuring out the ins and outs of promoting has its challenges. By providing you with the right tools to work with, you’re able to better focus your promotional efforts which means maintaining the business-side of being an author is easier. And that means you can spend more time on creating your stories.
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August 11th, 2011 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in PromotionSales
You’ve probably heard about Google AdWords. Companies use the tool for getting what they call ‘leads’ for their products or services. But you probably never thought about how this can work for selling your book. All you need to know to get start is the basic concept behind how it works.
Adwords is a small ad in Google search results which consists of a short headline and a sentence. You specify which keywords you want the ad to show up for when people search and set your budget. That’s it really! The cost for the ad comes in the amount you’re willing to pay for the keywords you want. The tricky part is optimizing your ad and measuring your results to make sure you’re getting ROI, which is a fancy business term for actual sales based on the amount you spend.
Tips for using Google Adwords
There are quite a few options when setting up an ad with Google Adwords. The best way to figure out what they do is by experimenting and fine tuning what works and what doesn’t. Here are a few tips to get you started:
- Set a daily budget for your new campaign so it doesn’t exceed that amount, you can start with just 2-3 dollars
- Set a low cost per click limit to get the maximum clicks for your money and give you room to play with
- Make keywords very specific, don’t be afraid to do 3-4 word keywords
- Include ‘book’ or ‘ebook’ in the ad to set proper expectations for people clicking through
The goal of your ad should be to target exactly the kind of people you’d expect to read your book and since you’re paying for each click, you want to get your money’s worth by making sure you get just the right people. The exact way this works is based on how you word your ad and what keywords you decide to target. You probably won’t get it right the first time so make tweaks as you start getting some hits going.
Optimizing your landing page
Once you start getting clicks for your ad, make sure the clicks go to a page that leads people towards your goal, which is selling you book. This page should include the following:
- A good description of your book
- An excerpt from the book or link to it
- Reviews of your book
- A prominent button to buy the book
- Links to your other work
- Info about you, the author and how to keep up with your updates
At this point we’d like to toot our own horn a little and let you know that our story overview page was designed with all these aspects in mind. We also make the order process as painless as possible to encourage return visits.
Now you’re ready to give it a try. The worst that could happen is you lose a few dollars you experiment with, a coffee out of your Starbucks funds. You’ll definitely learn something from having done so though! If do try it out, let us know how goes in the comments below. And for more marketing tips, have a look at our new self-publishing promotion guide.
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July 21st, 2011 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in ProjectPromotion
I realize it’s been a while since our last blog post. We’ve been diligently working on some pretty big updates to the app. Some of these updates have been going up this past week and are primarily on the story info and author profile pages.
We’ve cleaned up the layout to focus on the most important aspects of each page. To start with, we’ve hidden the top orange bar so full attention goes to the author and their stories. We’ve also added a few new features worth highlighting:
Embed widget – We’ve previously announced the download widget authors can use on their site, we’ve updated the design of the widget and brought it to the author page so anyone can freely post it
Sample widget – Along with the download banner widget, we’ve added new widgets including a sample widget which allows anyone to embed an excerpt of your story on their site
Easy to start reading – The cover now links directly to the sample so visitors can easily start reading, they are now also given the option to buy at the end of the excerpt
Other titles by the author – each story page now lists additional titles if the author has them making it easier to see all of an author’s work
We’re now working on a redesign of the author Account area which you can expect to see changes to in the next couple of weeks. The updates will make it easier to use and provide a basis for future updates we have planned. So stay tuned as Indie Aisle continues to get even better!
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May 31st, 2011 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in DistributionPublishing
Indie Aisle attended it’s first convention this past weekend, the Phoenix Comicon. It was a great event and I talked to a lot of people about reading digitally including how comics fit into the various options that are available. I also did a panel, Indie Publishing for E-Reading, that talked about the process of authors and artists making their own work available as eBooks. Below are my notes from it.
- eBooks and e-reading devices – Available through various platforms like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Comixology, etc. and via digital files downloaded to devices like Kindle, Nook, iPad, tablets, smartphones, and PCs. A newer option is to also read online – no e-reading software required except a web browser available on most devices.
- Traditional publishing vs digital ePublishing – Traditional publishing requires printing and delivery. Digital makes the process easier, with the internet for distribution and delivery made straight to e-reading devices. Even the payment process is easier for both the seller and buyer.
- Going the self-publishing route – Because the distribution and delivery to devices can be made the same way, it’s essentially a level playing field for publishing companies and those doing it on their own.
- What to use when writing your story – Apple’s Pages and Scrivener for Mac, OpenOffice with ePub extension for PC, Photoshop for comics to scan clean and export as JPEGs.
- Converting to eBook formats – Use Sigil to manually format ePub files, then Calibre to convert to Kindle, and Adobe Acrobat for PDF files. Files require certain software to read, but there is a lot out there to use.
- Publishing platforms/online stores – Amazon and Kindle device, Barnes & Noble and Nook, Smashwords, Comixology for comics. Platforms typically lock readers into having to use their software to read eBooks. Or they provide files that are encoded by DRM which can only be viewed by certain reading devices and software.
- Promoting – Both traditional publishers and going indie still requires promotion. But even that’s simpler with tools on the web. Including Indie Aisle.
For highlights from Phoenix Comicon follow the Twitter stream, and be sure to check out some photos.
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April 28th, 2011 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in Promotion
Digital publishing has made the publishing process much easier for an author to publish on their own. If you’re an author, you can now focus your attention on your writing without worrying about what you’ll do with your work afterward. However, for people to find and read your story, you will have to do some promoting to let them know about it. Promotion is really what traditional publishing companies do. They’re successful because they have processes in place that they have fine-tuned for many years.
And that’s the secret to promoting well, having a process for it. To do it yourself, it should be a part of everything else you do. Here are some ideas of ways to integrate some promotion during the writing and publishing process:
- Write – As you do research or get ideas for your story, explore concepts you come across by talking to people about it, either via online forums or by attending related events. Why not make the whole process a journey and start a blog about it.
- Talk about it – Before your story is finished, give a sneak peak with a summary of what it’s about and post it to your site or online profiles. Or find blogs and user forums that might be interested in your idea.
- Publish – Once you have your story ready, send review copies to zines or blogs that would be interested in your kind of story and would post a review about it. Make sure it’s easy to point people to buy it; the Indie Aisle marketplace can help with that.
- Interact – Setup events either in-person or online on forums or via a live chat to interact with people who want to talk about your story; hold contests; find niche websites that might be interested in your genre and would want to interview you.
- Repeat
While there are many ways you can promote, you ultimately figure out what works and doesn’t along the way. As you continue to do it, you improve and figure out your own process. And by using tools on the web, you’re on the same playing field as publishing companies. Here are some ways to get started online:
- Start using social media networks
- Keep links of relevant websites you can submit to
- Regularly check and participate on blogs and discussion forums
- Keep track of contacts you make that can help you later on
- Experiment with techniques and keep notes of outcomes
You enjoy writing because it’s a creative process, so use the same formula for promoting: be creative and have fun with it!
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March 17th, 2011 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in DistributionPromotion
Since the launch of Indie Aisle, we’ve been getting a lot of feedback. Our recent improvements to the tool have been made with that feedback in mind. And today we’re announcing a feature we think will be a perfect tool for authors to get their eBooks to their fans. Our new eBook download widget allows an author to post a button for anyone to download their eBook, directly on their own website. Indie Aisle takes care of the rest, making the order process quick and easy.
You can see an example of the widget in action on the right. There is also a square size available as an option. The eBook Widget is now available in the account area under ‘My Stories’ and the title of the eBook you’ve published.
If you’re interested about some of the other updates we’ve made, here’s a brief overview:
- Whole lotta fixin’ and tweakin’ – functionality is cleaner and more responsive, including on the online Reader for reading stories across mobile devices
- Improved interface – layout adjustments, a simplified download/order process
- Upgraded publishing process – option to convert your ePub to Mobi/Kindle and PDF automatically or to upload only specific file types
- Easier to sign up – You can use your Twitter or Facebook accounts to sign up
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