Archives for May 2013

Interview With Author John Hoda

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Today’s author interview is with John Hoda, who wrote Phantasy Baseball, a story in which Joe’s picture-perfect marriage is crumbling, wrecked by his only child’s drug and alcohol abuse. His last days as a little league coach ends with a surprise at the sports banquet. Little does Joe realize the real impact of winning the grand prize.  In a world where second chances are few and precious, follow Joe’s remarkable journey for a baseball season like no other. 

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John Hoda, locker room


John, what inspired you to start writing?
Throughout my life, when I would finish telling a story, people would oft remark, “you outta write a book about that.” I had this Baseball story kicking around in my head for years. I am a fairly good story-teller with award-winning business writing skills. I was not afraid to tackle major projects like running a marathon or playing semi-pro football at age 46. And I am an entrepreneur and have launched four businesses. I wasn’t afraid to write this novel.

How did you get the idea for the novel?
Before I would drift off to sleep some nights, I day-dreamed about a little league coach with an un-hit-able knuckle ball. He somehow made it to the big-leagues, but I couldn’t figure out how. Then one day, I went to a game and saw an advertisement for Phantasy Baseball Camp in the program. Anyone over thirty years old could fly to Florida in January and play baseball with their heroes of yesteryear. That is when it the pieces all fit together. Six weeks later I was starting the prologue.
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How would you describe your book to someone who has not yet read it?
It’s a feel-good book about making the best of your second chances. A little league coach finds out that he has a magical pitch when he attends Phantasy Baseball Camp where he strikes out former major leaguers. Through luck and circumstance, he gets a once in a lifetime chance to pitch for his beloved Philadelphia Phillies.
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Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?
Babe Ruth said it best: “Never let the fear of striking out get in your way.”  What’s more: Pro Athletes can make great philanthropists by leveraging their network and acting as a change catalyst. Alcoholics Anonymous is still as relevant and successful in helping people overcome addictions as when they first started. Baseball is a game and Major League Baseball is a business, do not confuse the two, but both can be played with joy.
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Are your characters based on real people?
Composites of people and ballplayers that I have observed all my life. I am a former police officer and insurance fraud investigator. I am presently a private investigator and missing heir researcher. I am an expert at interviewing people. I have hundreds of great stories from the cases that I have worked on.
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Who is your favorite character and why?
Stew Menke, The sports writer. Boy can he write!
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Are your plots based on your real-life experiences?
Absolutely! Except I don’t know any pitcher dead or alive to throw a no-seam knuckle ball.
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Phantasy-Baseball

Phantasy Baseball

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Give us an excerpted quote from your favorite review of this book:
FEEL-GOOD PAGE-TURNER. LOVED IT!
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If Oprah invited you onto her show to talk about your book, what would the theme of the show be?Second Chances. It would feature people that took a chance and succeeded against steep odds.
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How much of the book is based on real life (either yours or someone you know)?
It tells the story of a magical baseball season much in the way ROCKY is the story of a fighter who gets a fluke chance to fight for the Heavyweight Championship and a second chance to get his respect back.
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Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process? What’s your least favorite?
I start thinking about my next scenes on Thursday and Friday. I like to write on Saturdays and Sundays. When I edit on Mondays and Tuesday, I get to re-read what I just wrote and when I have a scene that gives me goose bumps on the re-read, I know I have a scene that sizzles. That’ the best. The least favorite is the marketing and promoting; that’s when it becomes a part-time business that I have to make time for.
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What scene or bit of dialogue in the book are you most proud of, and why?
I covered most of a fictitious baseball season and  sum up in a compelling narrative, I created a sports writer  that was a compilation of all the great Philly sports writers that I grew up reading. His columns impart information and advance the story on an emotional level almost as well as dialogue.
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John Hoda and his son


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If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your book?
Sure. I was afraid that the baseball purists would say that I didn’t understand the game. I could have written it with a more wider audience in mind.
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What genre have you not yet written but really want to try?
Funny you should ask, the one I am working on now is a suspense novel and I am planning a creative non-fiction to follow.
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If your book would be made into a movie, who should play the main character?
Casey Affleck. Also, I wonder if he is left-handed.
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How did you get published? Please share your own personal journey.
I wrote the words “The End” for Phantasy Baseball on September 21, 2012. After my beta-readers and critique group told me that the rough draft wasn’t crap, I had to decide to go either traditional or self-pub. I had been reading The Newbies Guide to Getting Published a blog collection by J.A. Konrath and my decision was really a no-brainer.

I knew a great artist, who would do my cover, found the content editor and secured a copy editor as well. I spent some real money on getting the cover right and polishing the manuscript until it gleamed. I lined up E-Book Architects for the formatting and Bookbaby for the aggregating. Then I secured a formatter and CreateSpace did the soft-cover. While the final edits and formatting/aggregating was taking place in the beginning of the year, I began creating my author’s platform with 111Publishing. Phantasy Baseball was then available as an e-Book in early February and in print through Amazon and CreateSpace by the end of the month. I had my official book launch on March 23, 2013 as planned, a week before opening day of the baseball season.
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What general advice do you have for other writers?
Write the best damn book you can. Don’t be cheap on the cover or on the editing. Realize that you have to promote and market your book if you want your readers to find it, otherwise you will have have an expensive coaster on your coffee table.
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What do you find is the best part of being an author?
One night at 8 pm, I brewed a cup of caffeine stimulant and let it cool while I started writing. I reached for the cup and it was cold. Strange, I thought. Then I looked at my watch, it was 1am.  Five hours went by in a blink of an eye.
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What is ONE thing that you have done that brought you more readers?
WORKING WITH YOU, OF COURSE!
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What’s one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you?
I tried out and won a roster spot on a semi-pro football team as a 46 year-old punter and place kicker.
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John, thanks a lot for taking the time for this interview. And where can people learn more about your writing and can get your novel Phantasy Baseball?

Phantasy Baseball book trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqnmR9YvzCM
Website: http://
www.PhantasyBaseballNovel.com

Online retailers:
Amazon
Barnes&Noble
Apple

Kobo

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 760 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://pinterest.com/111publishing/
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Celebration and Gratitude for 200.000 Blog Readers!

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Celebrating!

Celebrating!

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A big THANK YOU to all my blog readers of the last two years who learned about publishing and book marketing from almost 770 blog posts!!!  Today, the 200.000th  reader logged into http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com.  A reason to be really grateful! Even if it is only hobby, or better a mission to support author-publishers. Thanks for subscribing, for coming here day for day and for recommending this blog to your friends and fellow writers – or to even re-blog it.
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Thanks for writing these comments
– of which 99% are praise and encouragement. Sorry to all of you who did not (yet) get a reply: I really appreciate your comments a lot! And I am extremely thankful for such a loyal following. Please bear with me : ) even when I am not answering immediately. I really enjoy writing these tips for authors and if I would have the time, I would write even more, and answer your comments faster.

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Soon this blog will invite all readers to sign iup for a newsletter
with even more in-dept information and also news of free or
reduced books. Let us know if you want your book promoted
on free KDP
days or 99-cent promotions.

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Celebrating 200.000 Readers

Celebrating 200.000 Readers

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Again, thanks for subscribing to this blog and for all your comments and your loyalty and I hope, you will gain lots of encouragement from reading these tips and you implement them into your publishing and book marketing career.

Doris

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 760 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
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http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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99% of All Manuscripts Will Be Accepted …

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Stop Vanity Publishing

Stop Vanity Publishing

and will be printed – but only by Vanity Publishers (aka Subsidy Publishers) – as long as the author is willing to pay their totally inflated prices.

The main goal of these vanity publishers is to have their printing company busy, so they are not really into executing the work of a traditional publisher.

A background check reveals in almost all cases that they are either printers or affiliated with a printing company.  I learned that even one of the best Canadian book printing companies went into vanity publishing a year ago.

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You often might have seen these small ads in literary magazines or on the internet:  “If your book deserves publication, send your manuscript now to …”.  And authors do not have to wait long for a response to their submission.
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Money upfront
Authors are certainly surprised when they encounter a publisher who wants money up-front. It should be the other way around shouldn’t it?  After the author, having signed a hefty check, eventually learns that paying for publication is no guarantee that a single copy of his book will appear in any book shop, not even the local ones.

Many vanity publishers will charge somewhere between $8,000 to $20,000 (or even more) to publish a book depending upon its length. Why would an author pay $20,000 when he or she can have the same book printed for $1,500?
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Contract full of (empty) promises
Nevertheless, the contract will be full of promises:  What exactly will be paid to the author for subsequent reprinting, subsidiary, for audio and e-books, mass-market paperback rights, TV & Radio rights, merchandising and commercial rights and even film and foreign rights – to make the author believing that his “publisher” actively solicits his manuscript in Hollywood.

Vanity contracts include usually a certain amount of “free” copies for the author; sometimes even as much as 10 books and if he/ she require more, they have to be paid. In reality, the author is paying for them twice…
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The stock of unsold books remains the property of the publisher
so if there is a chance to remainder them later, he cashes the proceeds. In most cases, only a certain number of copies (I suspect not even this will happen) in an edition will actually be bound; the rest will remain in the warehouse as flat printed sheets until required, which is probably never. However the author has paid in advance for complete books!!!  And I have never met an author who goes into the print shop / binder to watch his or her books manufactured or to see them stored in the warehouse.

Vanity / subsidy publishers are not concerned with editing, promotion, sales or distribution – unless the author pays additionally. For most vanity books, neither exists, and should review copies really being sent out: Reviewers are wary of vanity presses because they know that little attention is paid to the editing of the book. Unless the vanity house has a proven distribution and sales organization, the author is going to have to sell it himself and usually the book sells fewer than 200 copies.
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As seen in a Vanity publisher contract:
In the event of bankruptcy or liquidation of the publisher for any cause whatever, the author shall have the right to buy back the publications at fair market value to be determined by agreement or arbitration.” (That means, die author has to pay a second time for all his unsold books).  “If the author does not purchase remaining copies of the book, the representative of the publisher shall have the right to sell same at the best obtainable price without payment of royalty to the author.”
Unbelievable! Unethical! Criminal!
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Beware of these signs:

  • Don’t trust flattering letters concerning your manuscript.
  • Be suspicious of vague promises of quality production. You will not get it in writing…
  • Be wary of promises to sell television and film rights, serial books and other money-making options.
  • Read, read and read once more the contract.
  • Don’t pay a dime, get a copy of the contract and show it to a lawyer that is specialized in contract / copyright law.
  • Watch out for contract clauses, that allow the publisher to renegotiate his initial pitch, and also where the “Publisher shall have the right to license the rights set forth”.

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Beside their over-the-top printing prices, Vanity publishers might cheat you in a contract that expires only 50 years after your death and with worldwide rights, even universe rights – a contract that a friend of mine signed in Ontario, Canada (and paid dearly).

“The author hereby grants the publisher, during the full term of copyright, the sole and exclusive right to manufacture, print, publish and sell and to otherwise use, as set out further in this agreement, including, but not limited to, acting as agent and/or exercising any or all subsidiary rights, throughout the universe the work.” And: “The copyright remains with the author, until fifty (50) years after the death of the author. All covenants and grants of the author shall bind the author’s successors or assigns.
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Vanity Publishers / Subsidy Publishers are not actively promoting books.  Their business is not publishing, but printing and selling authors all kind of over-priced services.  Despite all these warnings, there are still writers who fall into the trap of vanity / subsidy publishing. And as soon as one vanity publisher goes out of business, another fills the gap.  

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 760 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://pinterest.com/111publishing/
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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12 Reasons to Get the Help of a Mentor

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12  Reasons

12 Reasons

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Writing a book and then promoting it, are two different things… Don’t forget: Writing is an art – publishing a business!  You are a very talented author who has written a fantastic book, or even several – but the publishing / promoting process is an adventure and it can take up quite some of your valuable writing time. So it is smart to get professional help, especially when it is so easy and inexpensive, and when you can learn a lot about publishing and publicizing your future books. 

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12 Main Reasons to Choose our Valuable Book Marketing Help:

  1. Introduction of your book on dozens of reader communities with a 50,000+ audience
  2. Unlimited book marketing consultations by email for up to three months
  3. Unlimited social media help for up to three months
  4. Three hours of one-on-one Book Marketing Online Seminar phone-consultations
  5. Instructions / checklist / links for you to use for your book promotions
  6. Advertising of your book on free days /promotions with Amazon KDP to 200.000+ readers
  7. Blog posts including cover image/author bio/book description on both, blog & our websites
  8. Author interview on our blog website – this article stays there forever!
  9. “Book of the Month” recommendation to more than 2,000 readers on Goodreads etc.
  10. Book ads several times/week for 3 months on all sites to approx. 200.000+ readers
  11. Free e-book for you: “Book Marketing on a Shoestring” launch Summer 2013
  12. Plus one surprise gift we will reveal once you signed up!
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We certainly customize our Book Publishing and Marketing Support
directly to your book and your needs!
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What former clients say:
“”Thank you so much. You are amazing, so helpful to all of us who are starting down the road of self publishing. I just printed that blog post off this morning and will start to act on it today. You are an inspiration. Thanks again for everything.”
“Your advice all along the way has been so very valuable to help me make those important decisions, thank you so much for that”
“Boy, you really provide a service. If you ever need a reference, count me in. Anything I can do to promote you back. You rock.”
“I am so happy with 111Publishing for helping me out. If ANYONE is self-publishing a book I highly recommend using her for consulting. Thank you Doris for saving me $3700
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And this is how it works:
It all starts with our purchase of your book and then an evaluation of your book’s sales page, your social media presence and your marketing activities so far. We will explain you the benefits of various steps in building the platform for you as an author and how you can establish a brand without incurring extra cost, such as expensive ads or how to avoid costly POD’s.
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Take advantage of our professional help, we have studied business, marketing and e-publishing and have 30 years publishing experience. We customize coaching to your needs and explain you:

  • researching your possible competition & popularity of genres/positioning
  • how to identify your target readers & plan your blog content & marketing strategies
  • how to find lots of readers, book bloggers & reviewers
  • the publishing and retail possibilities
  • all the pre-publishing book marketing steps
  • how you can establish a brand as a writer
  • blogging & posting of your articles to Twitter, Google+, Goodreads, Tumblr, Chime.in…
  • how to save a lot of time using social media sites for reader contacts
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You just wanted to write – and upload your book to Amazon, Kobo or Barnes&Noble, expecting that it becomes an instant hit. And now a new challenge comes up: book promotion.

Sign up today to take advantage of this limited offer for only a dollar / per day ($98 for 3 months):  http://www.111Publishing.com  and then click on seminar.  Price is valid till June 30, 2013.

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Our blog has had now 220,000 readers/visitors and over 900 subscribers. On Twitter we have more than 40.000 followers, in our Google+ circles & communities are 50,000+ people. On our Chime.in‘s Writing & Publishing Groups are 2,900 followers, on Goodreads almost 2.100 friends, not to mention Pinterest, Tumblr, StumpleUpon, FB with two accounts, StumpleUpon, 111Publishing.com website… and some more … Why do we list all this? To show you how much visibility your book(s) can get when we help you to built a community / network platform and a brand for you as an author. We show your book constantly on all these sites!

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 785 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://pinterest.com/111publishing/
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Top Benefits of Goodreads Author Program

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Goodreads Author Program – use it to promote yourself and your books.  What is the Goodreads Author Program?

Goodreads explains their Author Program: a completely free feature designed to help authors reach their target audience — passionate readers. This is the perfect place for new and established authors to promote their books.

What Can You Do as a Goodreads Author?
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1. Take Control of Your Profile

Make your profile a dynamic destination for curious readers. Here are some of the features you can use on your profile:

  • Add a picture and bio.
  • Share your list of favorite books and recent reads with your fans!
  • Write a blog and generate a band of followers.
  • Publicize upcoming events, such as book signings and speaking engagements.
  • Share book excerpts and other writing.
  • Write a quiz about your book or a related topic.
  • Post videos.
  • Add the Goodreads Author widget to to your personal website or blog to show off reviews of your books.

2. Promote Your Books

Get the word out! Here are some of the promotional tools available on Goodreads:

How do I join?

  1. If you are already a Goodreads member, make sure you are signed in. If not, Sign up for an account.
  2. Search for yourself and click on your published author name. The author name is listed below the title of your book in the search results. If you do not find your book in our database of published works, please see section below (who can join).
  3. Clicking on your name takes you to your basic author profile page. This page has your name at the top and “author profile” to the right of your name. This page is part of our database of books and authors and is separate from your member profile page (which lists your bookshelves and friends).
  4. Scroll down to the bottom of the page. Click “Is this you?” to send a request to join the Author Program. Please give us a few days to process your request. You will receive email confirmation when we successfully upgrade your user account to an author account. Joining the program merges your author page with your member page. The email will also contain further instructions for managing your author profile.
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Who Can Join?

The Author Program is designed for people with published books, or who are in the process of publishing a book. It’s best if your work is on a bookseller’s website, such as Amazon.com or BN.com, but we will accept any author who has published a book. This includes authors from other countries as well as authors who are self-published (such as through Barnes & Noble pubit! or services like Lulu). If your book is self-published and is not yet in the Goodreads database, you may manually add it.

If you are a writer but have not yet published a book, you may want to check out the writing section of your profile where you can post your writing for others to read and review.

Questions? Email us. Already joined? See more on how to use the Author Program effectively at our how to page.

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How To Use the Author Program

Learn more about how to promote your books with special tools on Goodreads. Each slideshow demonstrates a different aspect of our Author Program.

Author Profile, Author Dashboard, and Widgets

All members of Goodreads have regular reader profiles where they can review books, add friends, and post information about themselves. When an author signs up for Goodreads, he or she begins with this basic user profile.
For any book listed in the Goodreads catalog, you can click on the author’s name to find the author profile. This page lists all of the author’s published work, whether he or she is a member of Goodreads or not. When an author joins the Author Program we merge his or her user profile with the author profile. Becoming a Goodreads Author carries special privileges, such as the ability to

  • edit profile information,
  • add book cover images,
  • post events,
  • write a blog,
  • upload videos,
  • and start featured author groups.
After you’ve signed up for the Author Program, your log-in process does not change: You’ll still use the same username and password, but now your user profile will point to your author profile. You’ll also have access to a special Author Dashboard that contains useful links and statistics about your books.
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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 760 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://pinterest.com/111publishing/
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Are You Looking for a Publisher?

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Amazon.com recently announced Kindle Worlds, a digital publishing platform devoted entirely to fan fiction.  It is a broadly-defined term for stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator.  Unlike when you self-publish your book and load it up to Amazon as seller, with Kindle Worlds Amazon is the publisher and you are selling your work to them forever.
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From Amazon’s Web site:

Get ready for Kindle Worlds, a place for you to publish fan fiction inspired by popular books, shows, movies, comics, music, and games. With Kindle Worlds, you can write new stories based on featured Worlds, engage an audience of readers, and earn royalties. Amazon Publishing has secured licenses from Warner Bros. for Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, and The Vampire Diaries, with licenses for more Worlds on the way.
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Kindle Worlds for Authors

Kindle Worlds is easy to use. When the Kindle Worlds Self-Service Submission Platform opens, you will be able to upload your story easily—along with a title, editorial description, and other information. Sign up to be notified when we launch the platform.

  • Kindle Worlds will accept novels, novellas, and short stories inspired by the Worlds we have licensed.
  • Using our Cover Creator, you will be able to design a cover for your Kindle Worlds story.
  • World Licensors have provided Content Guidelines for each World, and your work must follow these Content Guidelines. We strongly encourage you to read the Content Guidelines before you commit the time and effort to write.
  • Stories will be available in digital format exclusively on Amazon.com, Kindle devices, iOS, Android, and PC/Mac via our Kindle Free Reading apps. We hope to offer additional formats in the future.
  • You will receive monthly royalty reports and payments for all copies sold.

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Here are the details that will help you get started:

  • All works accepted for Kindle Worlds will be published by Amazon Publishing.
  • Amazon Publishing will pay royalties to the rights holder for the World (we call them World Licensors) and to you. Your standard royalty rate for works of at least 10,000 words will be 35% of net revenue.
  • In addition, with the launch of Kindle Worlds, Amazon Publishing will pilot an experimental new program for particularly short works (between 5,000 and 10,000 words). For these short stories—typically priced under one dollar—Amazon will pay the royalties for the World Licensor and will pay authors a digital royalty of 20% of net revenue. The lower royalty for these shorter works is due to significantly higher fixed costs per digital copy (for example, credit-card fees) when prices for the entire class of content will likely be under one dollar.
  • As with all titles from Amazon Publishing, Kindle Worlds will base net revenue off of customer sales price—rather than the lower industry standard of wholesale price—and royalties will be paid monthly.
  • Amazon Publishing will acquire all rights to your new stories, including global publication rights, for the term of copyright.

Prachi Gupta from Salon.com

“Through these licenses, or “Worlds,” as Amazon has named them, approved fan fiction pitches will be published by Amazon Publishing, who will pay royalties to the rights holders and the writers. Works of at least 10,000 words will yield 35 percent of net revenue, while stories ranging between 5,000 and 10,000 words will yield 20 percent of net revenue. Titles will go on sale in the Kindle store, priced between $0.99 and $3.99. A note of caution to writers, however: Amazon will retain the copyright to the text.”

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 760 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://pinterest.com/111publishing/
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http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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Did You Use Fiverr Already?

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fiverr_logo

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Big corporations do it – and so can you as a small publisher: out-sourcing tasks to one of th many freelancers. I am sure you have heard or maybe even used Fiverr already.  With several hundred-thousand active listings on the Fiverr site you might find a quick and inexpensive fix for many challenges in self-publishing, website and computer issues and even graphic design jobs. For me, it turned to be a great help for the tiny amount of $5 that I spent on each small gig, ordered at Fiverr. This now 3-year old global online marketplace is offering tasks and services, referred to as ‘gigs’ and micro-jobs, beginning at a cost of $5 per job.

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Fiverr originally started out as a new and very unique concept. There were only these well-known large freelancer sites, such as Elance, Guru and Freelancer in the past.  Fiverr brought in a refreshing change with its flurry of practical micro tasks like CSS micro bugging, social marketing, resume revising and PowerPoint editing help. The site grew to the top 200 in the world since the beginning of 2013.
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Here are some samples of “I will”:

• Will place 40 Delicious, 40 Diigo and 40 StumpleUpon bookmarks for you website/video for $5

• Will write original and effective content up to 500 words for your website for $5

• Will tweet your product, services, or link to my 16,000+ twitter followers for $5

• Will translate any text from 50 to 200 words from English to Spanish and vice versa for $5

• Will draw a cartoon with your messages or sentences for $5

• Will post any message on my Facebook wall of 4,000 friends for $5

• Will convert ANY of your files from one format to another for $5

• Will edit, proofread and provide feedback on any document up to ten pages for $5

• Will audit your website design and usability from a DESIGNERS point of view for $5

• Will make a nice logo design for your business and deliver the LOGO within 3 days for $5

• Will do Performance Testing of your website for $5

• Will teach you how you can Set Up a Database in Excel for $5

• Will edit CSS for you for $5
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http://www.Fiverr.com is really easy to use, give it a try. Snippets from the Wall Street Journal: “Although buyers pay $5, sellers receive less than $4, after PayPal payment-processing and Fiverr fees, which is the primary way the site makes money. PayPal is the payment method and posting or finding a gig is free.  Fiverr.com, is a site that allows you to buy and sell (business) tasks for $5 and the site is a good match for this economy. Buyers are looking for cheap prices and sellers are often unemployed or underemployed, seeking freelance income. There is a bizarre joy to browsing the sometimes hilarious user-created content on the site.”

There are a lot more sites where you can find inexpensive and professional freelancers for all kind of jobs, also not for $5.00. 

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 760 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

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Interview with Lara Fawzy, Business Author

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Today’s author interview is with Lara Fawzy, a global marketing specialist and business writer. She authored together with Lucas Dworsky a non-fiction guide book to “Internet B2B marketing in emerging markets” worldwide. It is not only a valuable source for economists and businesses, but also an amazing textbook, describing marketing models, and concludes with detailed case studies showing the ebocube model at work, driving real profits.

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Internet-B2B-marketing-in-emerging-markets

Internet-B2B-marketing-in-emerging-markets

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How would you describe your book to someone who has not yet read it?

It’s the first comprehensive guide to Internet B2B marketing in emerging markets, introducing ebocube model, a framework and methodology business leaders can implement with low-risk and high reward to penetrate the world’s fastest-growing markets, and create significant value where it never existed before.

  • The book begins with an up-to-date introduction to emerging markets, including economic potential, languages, culture, time zones, economies, politics, and Internet/mobile penetration.
  • Next, the book covers best practices for branding, distribution, segmentation, and collaboration in emerging markets. Then, in the heart of the book, the powerful, three-phase Internet-based B2B marketing and sales model “ebocube” is introduced.
  • Readers will learn how to establish metrics and dashboards to stay on track through the entire B2b buying cycle; how to plan and manage campaigns, from selling propositions to media mix; how to utilize email, webcasts, websites, social media, and banner ads in emerging markets; how to mix in offline media and channels; how to budget and manage marketing operations and much more. The book concludes with detailed case studies showing ebocube at work driving real profits.  Emerging Business Online brings together powerful lessons and techniques that are being applied successfully by Cisco and other global leaders.

Is there a message in your book that you want your readers to grasp?

Don’t struggle with trial-and-error approaches to Internet B2B marketing in fast-growth emerging markets. Begin with a blueprint that works: ebocube!  The model is called ‘ebocube’, which stands for emerging business online, with cube referring to the visual framework of the three-phase model.

  1. Phase One: The Dashboard and the Datacube.
    This phase focuses on reporting on marketing, sales, and company or contact data for the businesses being targeted in emerging markets. It measures what’s working (or not working) and which market is generating the highest return on marketing investment (ROMI). The datacube also represents the quality of contact data to leverage an eCRM strategy. These reports mean business decisions are not based on instinct or assumption, but on numbers and business intelligence.
  2. Phase Two: Campaign and Data planning
    Using the ebocube commercial cycle (contact buying cycle/decision-making process and data life cycle), phase two discusses the proposition, messaging, the incentive, localization, budgeting, and integrating the media mix (online and offline) to achieve ebocube commercial cycle goals.
  3. Phase Three: Marketing Operations or mops.
    Phase three covers budgeting, planning, executing, tracking, and measuring campaigns to feed the dashboard with meaningful metrics. It also demonstrates how  to feed your company database, with contact and company data, which can be represented in the datacube. Phase three closes the loop on marketing, data, and sales in global markets.
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    ebocube

    ebocube

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What inspired you to start writing ?
A new-generation technology prompted us to write this book that technology is telepresence, the next generation of videoconferencing technology. Telepresence uses the Internet to transfer conference calls as well as high-definition images and presentations. It can provide life-size images and surround sound and can thus create the illusion that all the attendees are in the same room.

Holographic videoconferencing is an application that appears to beam three-dimensional images of people into a room. This is but one example of existing and emerging technologies that present an effective and responsible alternative to world leaders and business executives who currently fly around the world and ride in limousines to meeting locations. Digital and information technologies are allowing businesses in emerging markets to dramatically upgrade their business processes and operations.

As billions of people now access the Internet, emerging nations and markets are increasing their investments in these technologies to give people greater access (and speed) to information. This book explores how and why the Internet and related technologies are redefining how we all conduct business globally. We identify the most salient new ideas shaping the global information marketplace, and explore how these offer government and private sector managers a new generation of digitally based management and communication tools and how businesses in developed markets can develop, emerging, fast growth markets.

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Thinking way back to the beginning, what’s the most important thing you have learned as a writer from then to now?

***** Start marketing before you publish the book, at least prepare some mailings lists, live events, start a blog, build a platform. If you want a bestseller – learn how to market and sell !!! *****
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Considering a book from the first word you write to the moment you see it on a bookstore shelf, what’s your favorite part of the process? What’s your least favorite?
My favorite part was seeing the book cover design for the first time, and editing the book content. Typing: did not enjoy this part so much, probably the most tiring part, oh and receiving manuscript rejections, however, it was all worth it in the end when we received a contract from the FT Press Pearson 

 

If you had to do it all over again, would you change anything about your book?
Probably the title would need to be changed, although I like it, I could play with it forever as a marketer. My publisher has a lot of control over the book, pricing, design etc, there are a few things I would have liked to have changed that were advised to us by the publisher. Perhaps I would consider self-publishing in the future.

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How did you get published? Please share your own personal journey.
We good published by a major publishing house in New York, the FT Press Pearson, ironically Pearson UK rejected our manuscript. The formula included persistence, a very good proposal, targeting the right people at the right time and having a marketable content.
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What general advice do you have for other writers?
Start with a good structure and then write when you can, in the evenings, after work on the weekend, don’t give up if you feel you have viable idea or good business idea or novel. Your vision is totally realistic even if no body else shares it.

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What do you find is the best part of being an author?
Being an author for the FT press gives me a lot of credibility in the business world and has opened doors for me, more importantly, I believe anything is achievable if you commit and persevere.

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What is ONE thing that you have done that brought you more readers?
Writing blogs and sharing on social media, mainly LinkedIn.
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What’s one thing that your readers would be surprised to know about you?
I’ve climbed the highest mountain in Southeast Asia, Mount Kinabalu half the size of Everest, it’s my second biggest achievement after publishing my first book!

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Learn more about Lara Fawzy and see her remarkable posts @LaraFawzy, for everyone interest in marketing, digital business and geo-politics.

https://twitter.com/LaraFawzy

http://www.amazon.com/Emerging-Business-Online-Internet-Marketing/dp/0137064411

 www.Larafawzy.com

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 750 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

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James Altucher: Why Did I Self-Publish?

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James Altucher

James Altucher

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James Altucher, Author of “The Happiest Person Alive” or “Trade Like Warren Buffett”, formerly published by such traditional houses as Wiley and Penguin wrote in one of his blogs:

Publishers claim they do a lot of marketing for you. That’s laughable. Publishers do nothing to help 95% of their authors to build their platforms and their own brands. This would increase author loyalty and make the lack of a meaningful advance almost worth it.

I’ll give you a quick example. I have published seven books with major publishers. The majority of books now are sold through Amazon. Not a single one of my former publishers told me I can log into:

  • Amazon’s Author Central
  • create an author’s page
  • link my author’s page to my blog
  • upload a Video
  • have my Twitter feed in there
  • have an FAQ in there

and all the other basic tools Amazon uses to market your book.

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James-Altucher-Book

James Altucher Book TRADE LIKE WARREN BUFFETT

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Why? These are the world’s biggest booksellers. Why wasn’t I told about a basic marketing platform that I could use? I just learned about it last week after writing books for eight years. Now I have it all hooked up and I have a feeling I have only begun to explore the Author Central area and what Amazon can do for me.” Read all the other reasons why James Altucher self-publishes:

http://www.problogger.net/archives/2011/11/18/why-bloggers-should-self-publish/

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing,

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have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 760 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Reddit, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

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Do You Know How Much Royalties You Will Get?

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Royalties

Royalties

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What are your royalties?  10%-30% from the list price, 10% of the wholesale price, 20% of the payments received by the publisher, 30% of the price as it’s listed on our website, 50% of net receipts, 45% minus printing costs, 60% from gross…  One of the most confusing aspects you must face when choosing a POD service printer, is trying to figure out what they mean when they speak misleadingly of “Royalties”.
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POD printers that are paying a percentage of the retail price as “Royalty” are straight forward and you have the advantage of knowing where you stand and what to expect. You get what they say, usually 10% from wholesale sales, 25-30% from retail sales – hopefully more…
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There are other printers who are a little less straight forward. For example, they might pay you 20-40% from your retail price, but they won’t pay you any royalties at all for the first three copies sold each quarter. Is this a fair “hidden” charge? It depends on the number of copies you are selling each quarter. If you sell less than 10 books, then it’s very high, if you sell 1,000 it becomes almost negligible.
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Don’t Lose Money
You might get an offer for a fixed percentage of the retail price that seems to be extremely attractive (30-35%)… before you jump on board, make sure that they work through Ingram, Lightning Source and other distributors. If they can afford such royalties because they only sell their books through their site you could end up losing money…

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POD Direct Book Sales
Some POD printers offer you a percentage of your retail price, but only for direct sales. When it comes to wholesale sales they give you a percentage of the wholesale price. Infinity Publishing is such a company, they will pay you 20% of your retail price on direct sales, and 10% of the wholesale price on books sold through other channels.  For a $15.00 book with a 40% wholesale discount it would be $3.00 on direct sales and $0.90 on wholesale – not acceptable!
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Other Charges
Even if you can buy your paper book at a discount in order to resell it, you’ll still have to pay other charges, and how can you offer it for a competitive price to bookstores?  But why do you have to buy your own book? You already paid for the printing, didn’t you?  It means you pay TWICE for your book… and on top of that bookstores can return books if they are not sold within a certain time.
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CreateSpace / Amazon
offers do-it-yourself publishing packages for free upload of your paper book but you need to create your own cover and interior and submit it correctly edited to CreateSpace. CreateSpace recommends its free do-it-yourself packages for people with design experience (or you just hire a graphic designer).  CreateSpace offers packages that are similar to publishing packages offered by other self-publishing / POD companies, but starting for only $299.
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CreateSpace eStore
20% of list price per sale, this means if someone orders it from CreateSpace’s e-book store on your authors page, you will receive 80% (minus the production / printing cost, mines tax and shipping).
40% of list price per sale means: you will get 60% of the list price per sale (minus the production / printing cost, minus tax and shipping).  Expanded Distribution Channel:  60% of list price if ordered by bookstores, libraries etc.

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But as with almost all POD companies, you pay for printing and then you have to give them a percentage of your sales for the distribution and the rest that is left is wrongly called a “royalty”.
Read how you can cir-cum-navigate this and become your own publisher without (or with less) Print-on-Demand / “Royalty on Demand”.

More on royalties:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royalties#Book_publishing_royalties

http://www.rachellegardner.com/2009/11/how-book-royalties-work/

http://www.shawntellemadison.com/book-royalties-calculator/

http://writerunboxed.com/2011/11/28/11-frequently-asked-questions-about-book-royalties-advances-and-making-money/

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If you would like to get help in all things publishing, have your book heavily promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites: We offer all this and more for only a “token” of $1 / day for 3 months. Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/seminar

Please feel free to check out all previous posts of this blog (there are 750 of them : ) if you haven’t already. Why not sign up to receive them regularly by email? Just click on “Follow” in the upper line on each page – and then on “LIKE” next to it. There is also the “SHARE” button underneath each article where you can submit the article to Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Chime.in, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.

Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing
http://pinterest.com/111publishing/
http://on.fb.me/TvqDaK
http://bit.ly/VmtVAS 111Publishing @ Google+

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