Using Word’s Save as PDF option for CreateSpace and Lightning Source

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In The Global Indie Author I counsel against using Word’s Save as PDF option for creating PDFs for submission to CreateSpace or Lightning Source International because the files do not meet the specifications outlined by the manufacturers; instead, you must use Adobe Acrobat Pro. Yet some indie authors are reporting using Word to create PDFs and their files have been accepted. So what is the definitive position of these companies’ submission requirements? Users of Word 2007 or higher have the option to save as PDF; however, the utility only allows Read More …

How to redistribute your ePub with a different aggregator

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If you currently have your ePub listed with an aggregator and are unhappy with the service, or wish to switch to an aggregator with a larger distribution network, do you have to pay all over again for conversion to ePub? If your aggregator does not make your ePub file available to you, then yes. If your aggregator does make your file available to you, then no, but there is a little bit of work involved. When you distribute your ePub through an aggregator, most of them input their company information Read More …

Tips for writing an effective book description

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A well-written book description (also called a synopsis) is an essential marketing tool for your novel. Its purpose is to lure the reader in with just enough of a teaser that they feel compelled to crack open the cover and start reading. An alluring synopsis is the gateway into your book, yet too many authors don’t give their synopsis the respect that it’s due, and as a result they let their novel — and themselves — down. A good fiction synopsis: always starts with attention-grabbing, descriptive words. Avoid beginning with Read More …

Lawsuit and investigations challenge agency pricing

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In The Global Indie Author I discuss the history of agency pricing and conclude that in the U.S. a legal challenge to agency pricing is inevitable; it is already under investigation in the UK. Critics maligned this assumption, arguing that what happens in Europe has no bearing on the U.S. This ignores the mechanics of a global economy, and it also ignores how Apple have attempted to circumvent an individual country’s sovereignty to dictate its consumer laws: Apple’s contract forces price parity across international jurisdictions. It comes as no surprise Read More …

If it’s free, it isn’t a bestseller

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On her blog, MsElenaeous Rants and Raves, fellow indie writer Elena DeRosa asks, If a book is free, is it really a bestseller? She concludes that it isn’t. And I agree wholeheartedly. More importantly, while the sudden rush of downloads of one’s free book provides a lift to the author’s ego, the long-term effects may prove a letdown. DeRosa speaks of free books within the context of Amazon’s new lending library. This is the only legitimate way an author can offer their book for free on Amazon. Other free books Read More …

Amazon add two new Kindle stores, in Italy and Spain

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Amazon have just announced the opening of Kindle stores in Italy and Spain. The Global Indie Author is now available in print and Kindle on both sites. See Buy Now links for direct access. For indie authors, this is good news as it expands the territories that qualify for 70% royalty to now include Italy, Vatican City, San Marino, Spain, and Andorra.

Print-on-demand’s dirty little secret

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[UPDATE: While the following deals with the problems created by CreateSpace’s Expanded Distribution, CreateSpace themselves have increasingly been using third-party printers to fulfill publisher orders. I have had numerous problems with my print orders, losing usually on average about 10% of my order to everything from crooked pages to machine roller smears. Further to CreateSpace, for their E.U. (and likely soon for their Canadian operations), it is not CreateSpace who are printing the books but Amazon themselves at their fulfillment warehouses. With so many potential printers of your product, the Read More …

System-wide mess-up at Amazon affecting Christmas shopping

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In an unfortunate twist of fate for indie writers who sell globally (and for smaller, independent publishers), a system-wide error at Amazon is affecting the display of delivery dates for print-on-demand books. This appears only to be affecting titles sold on Amazon sites outside the U.S. This from my distributor Lightning Source/Ingram: “As Amazon prepares for the upcoming holiday season, they recently implemented a sudden system-wide change on all vendor products, including books. The result had an unintended impact on some POD book stated delivery times on the Amazon site.  Amazon Read More …

ISBNs and the self-publisher Part VI: ISTC and ONIX for books

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(This is abbreviated text from The Global Indie Author.) International Standard Text Code A new identifier is being developed called the International Standard Text Code (ISTC). This number is attached to the work itself and not to the publisher/format. The advantage of this number is that it allows for identical textual works published by different publishers or in different formats to be identified as a group. So if a library, for example, wanted to know who published a specific author’s work and in what formats, they only have to know Read More …

ISBNs and the self-publisher Part V: the advantages (and a few disadvantages) of owning your ISBN

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(This is abbreviated text from The Global Indie Author.) The advantages to owning your ISBNs are: Increased Distribution Options Most vanity publishers and aggregators have limited distribution partners (often only one for print and maybe a half-dozen for ebooks). If you own your ISBN you can contract with as many wholesale distributors as you wish including Lightning Source, which is owned by Ingram, are U.S.-based and have two international subsidiaries, an extensive list of distribution partners, and give you access to the libraries and academic markets as well. Optics If Read More …