Those who completed National Novel Writing Month last November – wrote at least 50,000 words in 30 days – received the offer of a free proof copy from CreateSpace, an Amazon company. We had 6 months to take advantage of it. I looked at it early this year and was overwhelmed with all the terms…
Tag: Publishing
Responding to Self-Publishing Comments by House of Anansi
CBC News interviewed House of Anansi’s Sarah MacLachlan about self-publishing today after a discussion with big-name authors and established publishers at Luminato on the same subject. I think it’s a bit disingenuous to have the big guns talk about something they don’t need and/or they’re in direct competition with. But OK. As I read what…
The DRM and Price of eBooks
There has been much discussion between publishers and between pundits about DRM: digital rights management. DRM allows “copyright holders to prevent unauthorized duplication of their work, either to maintain artistic integrity or to ensure continued revenue streams.” (Wikipedia) A book with DRM on it controls where an eBook can be read, how many copies —…
Lifeliner, the eBook, Launched on Smashwords!
“A compelling story.” “Shireen Jeejeebhoy has written an extraordinary account of Judy Taylor and her fight for life starting in the 1970’s when medical science was not as it is today.” “When (Judy) was drugged up, she’s going, ‘I can’t die cause there’s no way that Cliff can raise those three girls by himself. He…
Prepping Manuscript for Smashwords: Tedium Personified
In an attempt to get the eBook version of Lifeliner out to more markets without paying iUniverse a fortune, especially since they are non-responsive to author concerns other than filling up the inbox with marketing e-mail, I’ve decided to use Smashwords. Smashwords will take your MS Word document and convert it to many eBook formats,…
Ditching iUniverse, Going in a New Publishing Direction for “She”
I wrote my second book — my first novel She — during National Novel Writing Month last November, revised it and got reader feedback and revised it again during Christmas and January, and then I had to decide: head down the traditional road this time and seek an agent or go back to iUniverse? It…
Publishing in Transition: Amazon, Apple, Macmillan Duke it Out
There’s been much talk about Amazon, Macmillan, and Apple’s iPad in the last couple of weeks. Amazon has been increasingly aggressive towards publishers. First they forced companies that support self-publishing and that use POD (print on demand) technology to give them more piece of the pie — at the expense of the author. Second, Amazon…
Imagining “Lifeliner: The EBook” on the Apple iPad
Back in the late 1990s when I was envisioning the different ways of publishing Lifeliner: The Judy Taylor Story, I had an idea for an electronic version. Back in the computer middle ages, the only way I could’ve does this was on a CD, a bit clunky as a medium I had to admit. But…
My First Walk Down Word on the Street
This year I’m going to The Word on the Street, I vowed. And so I did. I started my foray down the street on the northbound lanes of Queen’s Park where the Fringe Beat was. There I found two people I’d met through the Internet: Lorina of Five Rivers, and Paul Lima, whose e-mail course…