e-Books

The Microsoft e-Bookstore

 

Window

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Are you using a Windows 10 computer or laptop?  Did you try out the Microsoft e-bookstore on your device already?  Apple, Kobo, and Google (not to mention Amazon) have been selling e-books for quite some time.  Now Microsoft jumped in too. 
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After opening last April, the Microsoft e-bookstore – developed in cooperation with the Ingram Content Group – is steadily adding more titles to its offerings.  Titles for the store are supplied via Ingram’s CoreSource digital asset management distribution platform, and the store offers publishers both agency and wholesale business models.  The question is: via LightningSource/Ingram – or IngramSpark too?
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The site launched with titles from more than 750 publishers.  The e-books can be purchased through the Microsoft Store app or on Microsoft’s website.  Customers can read their e-books using the “Edge” browser embedded in the Windows OS, or download them for offline reading.

Since the launch, a Microsoft spokesperson said, the site has seen double-digit monthly growth in traffic and purchases.   The store is designed exclusively! for the users of Microsoft’s Windows 10 operating system, on which more than 600 million devices run, though title pages of books in the store can be retrieved by search engines.  Marcel Garaud, a senior director of business development at Microsoft, said that the e-book store is designed to “offer millions of people a great opportunity to get more value out of their PCs.”

The store, he noted, is “investigating all publishing models, including self-publishing.  Right now we’re focused on bringing our customers a strong and competitive catalog of e-books across trade, professional, and education titles.”  Garaud emphasized that the store is in its early days, and more information will be forthcoming at a later date.
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On a positive note: If their book prices are competitive and a decent revenue for authors, it should work, writes Publishers Weekly.
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How to Use the New e-Book Store in Windows 10
Brian Burgess explains: One of the new features of Windows 10 “Creators Update” now has an eBook section that you can browse through and purchase eBooks.  Here’s a look at what the eBook section in the store, how to purchase one, and then read it via Microsoft Edge. Launch the Windows Store and you will find the new “Books” section at the top next to Movies & TV.

Use the “Search” field to search for book titles, authors, and subjects.  However, that will give you results for the entire store, meaning apps, music, movies…etc. An easier way to narrow down results while browsing through the store is to use the provided filters.  Then you can discover books by top sellers, subject or genres.

Currently, the search feature is somewhat limited.  You can use the Search field to search for book titles, authors, and subjects.  However, that will give you results for the entire store, meaning apps, music, movies…etc.  An easier way to narrow down results while browsing through the store is to use the provided filters.  Then you can find books by top sellers, subject or genres.  Another way to make browsing easier is to open the “Collections” section.
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Selecting a Book
When you select a book you’ll get a description of the story, which devices it works on (think Windows Phone or PC), and if you are ready just click the “Buy” button.
The first time you purchase a book you’ll need to enter your Microsoft account password again for verification.  To make future purchases easier, check the box for it not to remember your password each time.  After you have purchased and downloaded your books, launch Microsoft Edge.  Then select hub icon in the upper-right corner and then the Books icon and the book you want to read.  Your book will open and you can start reading it.  Click on the hamburger menu at the top-left corner to get the table of contents.  From there you can search the book for words or phrases.  There are controls to manage the look and feel of the reading interface such as changing the page theme, font size, and text spacing.

Access your library from any Windows 10 device with the “Windows Creators” update—your desktop, mobile phone or tablet—and with the ability to download after purchase, take your e-books wherever you go.

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Books By Doris-Maria Heilmann:

111 Tips to Create Impressive Videos:
How to Plan, Create, Upload and Market Videos
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BYDH41S/

111 Tips To Make Money With Writing
The Art of Making a Living Full-time Writing
An Essential Guide for More Income as Freelancer
https://books2read.com/u/bWZMjz

111 Tips on How to Market Your Book for Free:
Detailed Plans and Smart Strategies for Your Book’s Success
https://books2read.com/u/bMre1a

111 Tips to Get Free Book Reviews:
Best Strategies for Getting Lots of Great Reviews
plus 1,200+ reviewer contact links
https://books2read.com/u/mZ5nx5

111 Tips to Create Your Book Trailer
How to Create, Where to Upload and How to Market Your Videos
https://books2read.com/u/mVZkjr

Book Marketing on a Shoestring:
How Authors Can Promote their Books Without Spending a Lot of Money 
https://books2read.com/u/mZ5gdp

 

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Did You Write a Kindle Single?

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Kindle-Single

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Many writers have taken a strong 70-page idea and stretched it into a weak 300-page book because that was what the industry demanded. Amazon gave short formats – Singles – an identity.
Any writer can approach Amazon directly, as Stephen King, a prominent author, did with Guns,  a nonfiction essay too long, at 8,000 words, for most newspapers or magazines. Another hit was his Single Mile 81, a top seller.

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Amazon’s Sub-Store
In January 2011, Amazon launched a sub-store on its US website to sell something it called a “Kindle Single” : “Compelling Ideas Expressed At Their Natural Length”, as they call it. The internet giant Amazon pays 70% royalties, for Singles priced between 99 cents and $4.99. “Typically between 5,000 and 30,000 words, Kindle Singles are editorially curated and showcase writing from both new and established voices – from bestselling novelists and journalists to previously unpublished writers.”

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The Guardian explained:
“It may not sound like a call to revolution. But Kindle Singles are. Writers can seldom express ideas “at their natural length”, because in the world of traditional print only a few lengths are commercially viable. Write too long, and you’ll be told to cut it (as Stephen King was when The Stand came in too long to be bound in paperback). Worse, write too short, and you won’t get published at all. Your perfect story is 50 pages long – or 70, or 100?  Good luck getting that printed anywhere.  Commercial print publishers have never liked novellas or novelettes, authors always have. Indeed, many writers have done their best work at that length, despite the difficulty of finding publication.  Hence the revolution.  Because the new length exploits this hole in traditional publishing.”

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How Much Do Kindle Single Authors Earn?
The top-ten list of bestselling Kindle Singles includes a number of big-name writers. But how is the format working for writers who don’t have the brand of a Stephen King or Jodi Picoult? Gigaom.com offers well-researched insights from their interviews:

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Author: Oliver Broudy

Bio: Former managing editor of the Paris Review; writer for Men’s Health
Kindle Singles: “The Saint,” $1.99 (3/2011), “The Codex,” $1.99 (10/2011)
Sales: “The Saint”: 41,826 copies, “The Codex”: 5,009 copies (both figures through January 2012)
Estimated royalties ([price * number of copies sold] * 0.70): $65,241.16

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Author: Frank D. Gilroy
Bio: Author of the 1965 play “The Subject Was Roses,” which won the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award
Kindle Single: “Lake,” $1.99 (11/2011)
Sales: 12,500 as of February 2012
Estimated royalties ([price * number of copies sold] * 0.70): $17,412.50

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Author: Mishka Shubaly
Bio: Musician; bassist for The Freshkills
Kindle Singles: “Shipwrecked,” $1.99 (4/2011), “The Long Run,” $1.99 (10/2011), “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” $1.99 (3/2012). “The Long Run” is the ninth-bestselling Kindle Single overall, by units.
Sales: “Shipwrecked”: 21,024 copies, “The Long Run”: 60,567 copies, “Are You Lonesome Tonight?”: 11,406 copies.
Estimated royalties ([price * number of copies sold] * 0.70): $129,544.82

Read the whole story by Laura Hazard Owen in her post: “Exclusive: How Much Do Kindle Singles Authors Make?”

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If You Want to Have Your Single Published
Amazon criteria’s – Submission Policies – are:
• Original work, not previously published in other formats or publications
• Self-contained work, not chapters excerpted from a longer work
• Not published on any public website in its entirety
• Currently not accepting how-to manuals, public domain works, reference books, travel guides, or children’s books
“A Kindle Single can be on any topic. So far we’ve posted fiction, essays, memoirs, reporting, personal narratives, and profiles, and we’re expanding our selection every week. We’re looking for high-quality writing, fresh and original ideas, and well-executed stories in all genres and subjects. You also can write to our editors at kindle-singles@amazon.com”
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The latest Kindle Single Bestsellers in a variety of genres can be found at Amazon’s “Singled Out” page.
If you are an author and already published a Single at Amazon, let us know about your experience and success.

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 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, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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

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Tagged: Earning of Writers, Frank D. Gilroy, how much can you make with Kindle Singles?, Kindle Single, Mishka Shubaly, Oliver Broudy, Stephen King, top-ten list of bestselling Kindle Singles

The Party is Over for Authors – Really?

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Champagne-for-all

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Aaron Shepard Wrote a Blog: The Party is Over.
“Amazon has been touted as fostering a thriving culture of self publishing with its level playing field for online sales and its promotion of new reading and publishing technologies, particularly the Kindle. Well, much of that is valid. Amazon has made self publishing more and more accessible to writers and for many years supported a good number of them with sales. But with the Kindle, Amazon has also commercialized books to the point that fewer and fewer self publishers can make a living from them.”
“Print-on-Demand (POD) books provided a handsome profit margin even at reasonable prices. But Kindle books, with their lower prices, have decimated POD sales. Meanwhile, Kindle customers expect more and more for the low prices they pay. Many feel cheated if they spend 99 cents or even less on a book that isn’t “full-length.”  And the flood of easily-published books makes it harder and harder for individual ones to stand out—a problem that can only worsen with time.”  Read more on his website.

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A Numbers Game
Nothing fundamental about the process or the business has changed. It’s purely a numbers game. More and more people are attempting to make a living from self-publishing, and that increases the amount of poor products that will never sell well.  Fewer people making a living at it, in comparison to the total number of people attempting it.  A relatively fixed amount of consumer dollars is being spread over a continually increasing number of books.

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Make a Back List of Books First, then Profit!
Too many books and articles with sensational articles have touted the fast, easy money-making opportunity with books / e-books. Sure, it is easy to put your self published work out there – although the process to reach that point and to promote it is hard work – but there is only a finite amount of readers. The best way into a writing career is to build up a back list of books first before seeing enough profits to make a living.  Every book (and also every article / blog / guest blog a writer releases, will increase their return and boosts their portfolio exposure.

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Compare Publishing with a Marriage
You can see it also philosophically: Writing is like a marriage. If you want to get into it solely for the potential monetary payoff, you will probably fail. But if you get into it with your eyes open, and with reasonable expectations, you will probably get a payoff in personal satisfaction.  And in regards of publishing, you might even make some decent money along the way.

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What’s a Writer to Do?
It feels like every other boom we have seen in tech: The Get-Rich-Quicker’s show up, make a lot of noise, get discouraged and declare the party over. One needs to see the reality: There is no successful business that doesn’t constantly create new products – books. And there is no success if no one knows of your products – books. Can you imagine Apple still selling their PowerBooks, and has not invented iPods, iPads or iPhones? And has not created fantastic public launches, nor established their Apple Stores? The company would be already bankrupt, and their party would be over…

The proportion of people who write well – and who are professionally self-publishing and marketing their books well in order to succeed – probably hasn’t changed. Many authors think, writing a book is enough “if you write it, people will buy it”.  But that’s not how it works…  Compare it with a retail business: Setting up a shop with only one single product and don’t market this product will not even bring a handfull of customers. Everyone would agree that this is silly. But some authors do the same in their publishing “business”. It is a long road for author-publishers from having no readers at all, being on ground zero, to start a small base and grow it to a large readership. It takes lots of time and effort to connect with a sufficient reader bases in order to make a living. And it cannot be based on Social Media only, an author’s writing should show up at blogs, guest posts, at newspapers, magazines, through book signings, readings, radio and TV interviews and maybe even speeches. Not to mention lots of reviews from reputable places.

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No Reason for Arrogance
I have heard it too often: “I like writing, but hate to go out in the public and market my book”. “I can post on Social Media, but I am a shy writer, or I am not going to do any book signings”. Compare it with a party guest who doesn’t talk with others, who doesn’t try the delicious buffet or doesn’t listen to music or dance … these is the equivalent to authors who go to the big “publishing party”, without really participating, not being interested to talk with other guests, expecting the whole audience accommodates them (and is buying their books).

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Conclusion:
The party is NOT over at all, it just has gotten more guests. To compete with millions of other writers means for writers to create lots of new books and to market them professionally. If not trained in book marketing – and I am not talking about just having a presence on Facebook or Twitter – then get professional help long BEFORE the book launch (even better before you write it) in order to have a smooth and successful publishing experience and to establish a great author platform. And for the writing part: there are hundreds of websites with writing tips, critique groups and even more writing teachers and classes out there. And even from editors one can learn a lot.
Yes, new authors will likely find it necessary to work harder than ever before. This isn’t the industry for people who expect a quick profit, or who think their single novel is going to make them rich or they can make a living from the first book on.

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More About This Topic:

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2014/06/15/want-to-write-for-glory-or-for-money/

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/free-brilliant-book-marketing-to-a-million-audience/

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/how-much-do-self-publishing-authors-earn/

 

 

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,100 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, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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

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Tagged: Aaron Shepard, how to professionally publish a book, Kindle publishing, self-publishing boom, The Party is Over

The Secret to Find Readers: Wattpad

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Wattpad-Reader-Community

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In a former blog post we wrote about Brittany Geragotelis’ six-figure-deal offer from Simon&Schuster, which she received after being “discovered” on Wattpad by millions of their readers, who downloaded chapter after chapter of Life’s a Bitch.  Canadian-based Wattpad.com, founded in 2007, was initially providing a mobile platform for public domain works from Project Gutenberg.  Within two years, the Wattpad app had been downloaded 5 million times. Writers post work in chapters, which tend to be short, to make them suitable mobile.

Wikipedia explains: As of April 2014:

  • 85 percent of its traffic and usage comes from mobile devices
  • 3 million stories total, with 250,000 new stories added every month
  • 1.3 Million registered users
  • Over 16,9 Million unique visitors per month
  • Users spend an average of an hour a day on Wattpad

The most frequently voted stories (every day) appear on the “What’s Hot List”. These stats change daily, due to reads and votes by other users. According to the profiles visible on the site, many of
these authors are young adults.
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Featured Story List and Contests
Wattpad also has a Featured Story list, which promotes content reviewed and approved by staff and an editorial review board. Many of these featured stories are written by self-published and
professional writers from different genres.
Wattpad holds several smaller contests a year and one major one. The large annual contest is called “The Watty Awards”. Contests are open to anyone who has a Wattpad account.

During the summer of 2012, Wattpad in collaboration with Margaret Atwood, Canadian poet/novelist/literary critic, held the “Attys”; the first major poetry contest offering a chance to poets on Wattpad to compete against each other in one of two categories, either as an “Enthusiast” or a “Competitor”.
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What is the Real Benefit?
With 16.9 million unique global visitors per month and an average of 30 minutes spent reading per visit, it’s easy to understand why it’s getting a lot of attention.  Authors can upload either the completed or working version of their books for readers to read. It is not possible to upload a book as one single file, it has to be done on a chapter-by-chapter basis.
Wattpad is entirely free for all of its users which means that authors are actually giving their work away for free – no sales on the Wattpad site! However if your readers ask you, send them a list with links to all your sales pages.
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Wattpad is a Social Media Site
Bronwyn Hemus gives this advice: “You have a captive audience. People who sign up to Wattpad are clearly interested in books, there are millions of engaged readers looking for their next great read. The golden rule applies:  Always actively engage with people who are reading your chapters. If someone has left a comment, make sure that you respond to their comment as soon as you can. Take the time to look at your reader’s profile so that you can engage with them on a personal level. Wattpad readers certainly seem very willing to engage with an author and provide feedback as a startling 5 million new comments are posted every month.  If you want to breed reader loyalty, spending a bit of time getting to know your audience will go  a long way to increasing sales. It will also help you better understand your readership which in turn will help you focus your marketing efforts outside of the site.”
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Serialization Keeps Readers Interested
Her second great advice:  “You have to release your content on a chapter-by-chapter basis which in turn encourages continuous engagement with readers. Loyal readers can register themselves as a “fan” and as such, will receive email alerts whenever their favorite author posts something new.  Consistency is crucial to the success of serialization so it is best not to join Wattpad if you don’t have
a completed book (even if only in the first draft) to share.

Readers like knowing that once they’ve invested in a book, they will be able to read the story to the end. And: Chapters that are posted on a Friday afternoon and a Saturday morning have the most visibility.
Dianne Greenlay wrote in Selfpublishing Advice:
Although Wattpad has a high proportion of YA users, it includes readers and writers of every age and genre, including the much-acclaimed Margaret Atwood. Several writers on Wattpad have caught the eye of literary agents and received offers based on the number of “reads” that their writing has accumulated.
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Read more how Wattpad is useful to writers:

http://outofprintwriting.blogspot.ca/2014/02/how-writers-can-build-following-on_6.html

http://www.theliteraryplatform.com/2012/10/wattpad-building-the-worlds-biggest-reader-and-writer-
community/

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/15-million-readers-before-her-book-was-even
-published/

http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2012/10/30/author-brittany-geragotelis-got-a-six-figure-deal/

https://www.standoutbooks.com/6-things-every-author-needs-to-know-about-wattpad/

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,070 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, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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

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Tagged: Brittany Geragotelis, Life’s a Witch, Margaret Atwood, Project Gutenberg, Wattpad, Yahoo! co-founder Jerry Yang

Thriller set in International Oil Markets: To Steal a Sea

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To-Steal-a-Sea
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About the Author Simon D. Reagan:

Simon D. Reagan lives in London and has lectured and presented on financial crime, money laundering, and international finance for more years than he’d care to say. He holds a doctorate in financial innovation in the global shipping sector. He’s fascinated by world politics and conspiracies, both real and imagined, and loves the beaches of Trinidad during the later cooler days of summer. Quite a paradox since he prefers rain and wind-swept umbrellas, and thunderstorms across seascapes.
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To Steal a Sea in Print and e-Book:

Russian oligarch Petr Damyanovitch had amassed his fortune through ruthlessness and charisma. His war record had been exemplary: as one of the most talented snipers in the Russian Army he had survived the blood-soaked killing fields of Stalingrad, and been present at the fall of Berlin.
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But after the collapse of the USSR his obsession became to restore his nation’s place in the world, using the untamed destructiveness of the international bond markets to wreak havoc upon those he blames for its demise. New-found allies on Wall Street and in a pragmatic White House would collaborate in his conspiracy, by supreme irony assisted by an Islamic fundamentalist with a vendetta against a modern secular world.
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Only three men stand in the way, with exceptional talents in law and finance but character flaws in equal measure. This would be a battle which would engulf many in its path, with the oil riches of a sea and the survival of nations as prizes. As panic floods the markets, a figure from the past emerges who holds the balance of power in his hands, seeking justice for a crime hidden from the world for a lifetime.
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The theme of closeness between friends, between lovers, and between father and daughter, pervades the book, as a terrifying conspiracy tears its way through the international oil markets. But it is the haunting of a war criminal, and the unfathomable self-guilt of a survivor, which drive forces which would clash across countries and continents in a remorseless quest for revenge and retribution, and an insatiable need for spiritual salvation.

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Paperback: 566 pages, great reviews

Kindle Edition $3.99 
http://www.amazon.com/Steal-Sea-Simon-D-Reagan-ebook/dp/B00FRSKGO0

Paperback     $19.80
http://www.amazon.com/To-Steal-Sea-Simon-Reagan/dp/0957526709/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,050 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, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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

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Tagged: International Oil Markets, money laundering, oligarch, Simon D Reagan, snipers in the Russian Army, Thriller, To Steal a Sea

Selling Audio-Books and E-books to Libraries

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Sarasota-Library

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How Do Libraries Get Their e-Books?
OverDrive, the main distributor to libraries has more than 1,000,000 e-book titles available and growing. They were the early pioneers in the digital lending space and developed the e-book lending systems used by most libraries today. Overdrive uses the same Adobe DRM (Digital Rights Management) system as Kobo, Sony, B & N and Google Books to protect files from piracy and manage the lending period of library e-books. Overdrive also offers a program called “Advantage” where individual libraries and library systems buy extra titles or copies to fill local demand.
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Audio-Book and e-Book Lending Exploded
In these statistics you can see the tremendous growth in circulation numbers from just one library during the last years. In the meantime the numbers are much higher!

Audio-books
August 2005 – 231
August 2009 – 16,680
Ebook
Nov. 2009 – 17,521 ——— 776
Jan. 2014 – 57,672 —– 191,303

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Technology Challenges
Libraries face many challenges from setting up their internet infrastructure to the actual ebook license acquisitions. In regards to e-Books the initial problems were: staff training and learning how to use and upload e-Books to different devices. Integrating the titles into the library system’s online catalog took some time. Getting a download link from the catalog took even more time.
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Trade Publishers are the Problem
Acquiring the ebooks, is a problem for most libraries because e-book licensing from trade publishers can cost as much as or more than a print book. Several publishers still refuse to sell to the library market. Other publishers are taking advantage on cost and “metering.” Random House will charge $83 for an eBook and Harper Collins has a 26-time checkout limit. Libraries “buy” the books, but ownership is determined by the vendor/publisher agreements. If a contract is not renewed will the library still own the titles?

The e-book library market is split between vendors and devices. Costs of content and administrative fees are increasing which can make e-books more expensive than print. Library users persevere because the rewards of checking out e-books from a library are tremendous with the ever-growing inventory of e-books. Yet there are usually a couple extra steps between checking the item out and loading it onto a device. Using an app does seem to solve a lot of this trouble.
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Selling e-Books to Libraries
The Washington County Library System in Minnesota, United States, has been growing their e-book collection in the last few years. Their entire system is using an innovative method to develop their ebook portfolio. Local authors are encouraged to submit their own novels in electronic format to add to the existing library system using “Library Local Connect.”. A similar initiative is currently in place in Douglas County, Colorado, USA. This helps libraries to increase their online e-book portfolio and gives exposure to local authors.  Ask your library if they have a similar program.
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Small Publishers
Overdrive downloads into the library catalog. However, as an author, if you’re interested in getting your ebooks into libraries, you have limited choices. They are explaining on their website:  “OverDrive delivers BEST-SELLING digital audio-books, eBooks, music, and video for download directly from a custom-built ‘Virtual Branch’ website. The world’s leading libraries, including New York Public Library, Toronto Public Library, and Singapore National Library, use OverDrive to deliver content to their patrons.” 

Which means dealing with the wholesaler/distributor OverDrive works only for authors who can proof great sales numbers. Hopefully sales to libraries will one day be commonplace.

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,050 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, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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

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Tagged: ebook and audiobook lending, how to get your ebook into libraries, libraries, OverDrive, selling ebooks to libraries, trade publishers block ebook lending, Virtual Branch

How these 3 Self-Publishing Tools Help Authors

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Improvements everywhere:  New tools and technology for author-publishers will help to navigate the process from manuscript to finished print book or e-book more easily. Just to make sure you know what’s available for writers now:
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1. Scribd Subscription Service: The “Netflix” of e-Books
Read unlimited amounts of Books: Scribd launched an e-book subscription service for their readers at $8.99/month with unlimited access to books. Everyone enrolled in the subscription program gets e-books in bulk. Readers can try Scribd for free for one month, and are encourage to try unknown authors.
Distributing of your own e-books  is offered in Scribd’s Subscription Program: “Contact us if you would like to make your e-books available via our subscription offering. Our content acquisition team would love to talk to you.”

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2. Bowker offers Self-Published Author resources
Bowker’s database of books in print is huge and their interface sometimes a bit clumbsy. After so many complaints from author-publishers, Bowker offers at least explanations for self-publishers e.g. how to fill out each field in their forms. But that’s not all: Bowker launched the Self-Published Author website, a great source of information with tools, advice, and resources to help authors through the publishing process.
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3. Templates for Book Layout – Interior Book Design
The Book Designer” Joel Friedlander offers templates in Microsoft Word that look as good as books that are professionally designed in Adobe InDesign. A custom-designed interior book might cost between $1,000 and $4,000 , the print book template is less than $40. There are over a dozen Word templates and counting to choose from and more are coming. Add your manuscript and create a PDF to upload to CreateSpace, Lightning Source, or any printing company. Using the e-book template in this series for another $10 and upload it to Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing, Apple iBooks, Kobo, Sony, B&N and others. All you need to know is how to apply styles in Word and how to copy/paste text. You certainly can customize your template. All you need to know is basic Word styles. Or you can hire a freelancer to help creating PDFs, upgrading or modifying templates and other tasks at Elance or Fiverr.
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Read about more tools in the publishing process, for example Dropbox:
http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/13359

For computer / software geeks and publishing professionals
http://voices.yahoo.com/top-5-software-programs-self-publishing-desktop-6465478.html?cat=15

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/ to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,010 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, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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

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Tagged: Adobe InDesign, book layout template, Bowker, ebook subscription service, Scribt, self-publishing tools, TheBookDesigner, Toolbox

Book Sales Plateau – 13 Tips What You Can Do!

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First-time writers are often puzzled when after a very successful book launch and many book sales, their ranking on Amazon drops and their sales numbers dwindle over time – which is a totally normal process, even for bestseller authors. So what can you do as a writer – besides writing your next manuscript:
Your book has been launched months ago or even last year and you had great sales numbers. NOW readers need to see something NEW from you. It doesn’t need to be a whole new book:
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The three main assets you have already

  • your writing skills
  • the content you already wrote
  • the research you have done for your book(s) can be used to write at least 20 – 30 articles or blog posts – and if regularly posted on Google+ it is raising your Search Engine Ranking on Google tremendously.
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1. Use the manuscript text from your “old” book to split it into tiny portions and write lots of short blogs / articles from the content – along with a two sentence bio and a link to your webpage or Amazon author / sales page. Make use of your assets! Which means not only your book, but using all the research notes and text, you have compiled to write it. Make it a habit to post/publish content at least two – three times a week!

More benefits of writing content:
- it is a subtle way to promote your book
- you receive valuable back links to your website or blog
- you will have lots of possibilities to post on Twitter, Google+, Pinterest, Facebook….
- include links to your articles in email newsletter (that you hopefully send out regularly to your readers)
Post these articles on your blog or contribute guest blogs to other sites that are focused on the same topics as your book.

Content is used to draw in your ideal readers / reviewers, it will link to your book sales page or your website and it helps a lot to build a platform. Last but not least it gives you a lot of material to post and to tweet. The result: you will increase your exposure, show your writing skills, grow a loyal following and attract reviewers – in one sentence: you will achieve success with your writing – and in many cases, even get paid for it.

Read more here:
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/prequels-authors-benefits-of-writing-them/
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2014/01/03/a-new-way-of-book-marketing/
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/free-brilliant-book-marketing-to-a-million-audience/
http://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/smart-authors-get-paid-for-marketing-their-books/

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2. Rewrite these articles a bit, add more material and offer them to magazines, newspapers etc., starting with Airline Inflight Magazines, Huffington Post and Salon.com etc., even The Atlantic could be interested if it is a longer article with great content. Focus more on discoverability rather than selling. Your work is important, so help readers to find it.

World-famous bestseller writers, such as Ernest Hemingway, Margaret Atwood, Tom Chiarella, Gloria Steinem and Stephen King did it: Writing occasionally short stories and magazine articles – before blogs became fashionable. In several former posts I explained in detail how easy it is for writers to create content, such as blog articles and sell them to magazines and newspapers or write guest blogs. Read more about brilliant book marketing and content writing, check out the links below.
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3. You Need More Potential Readers
Are you really adding at least 25 new followers per day to your Social Media networks? You often can add more, 25 is the restriction on Goodreads, but Google+ for example allows you to follow up to 5,000 people. However, don’t choose just anyone: type into the search function: booklover, avid reader, reviewer, book blogger… you get the point? These are the folks who might be interested in your book – and tell other about it. Make it a habit to add EVERY DAY new followers to each one of your Social Media sites. Future book campaigns will only be successful if you have enough fans!

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4. Post and Tweet more about borrowing your book for Prime Members.  After all you earn money with each lending (approx. $2 per book).  Every day new customers sign up for Amazon’s Prime membership program.
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What’s More:

5. Post something new on your website at least once or twice a week

6. Plan and create an email campaign to potential readers

7. Book Signings end Readings bookstores, museums or literary cafes

8. Readings at libraries & book clubs or Meetup Groups

9. Participate in Writing Contests (national and international)

10. Write a prequel for your next book and add a link to the first one

11. Join HARO (Help a Reporter out) to make yourself a name as an expert in your field
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12. As soon as your next book is written, contact the library distributors, read the useful blog article from SavvyBookWriters.com/blog with lots of tips and links how to sell your book to libraries.
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13. You Might Need More Distribution:
Use BookBaby or .eBookpartnership for example, to place your book on all Amazon’s Kindle Stores: US, UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain, Brazil, Japan, India etc .  In North America: Apple, Baker & Taylor, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Ingram. In Europe to: Askews & Holts, Blackwell’s, BlioBook, Depository, Kalahari.net, Waterstones, Whitcoulls, WH Smith. Their yearly fee is less than $100 and you can save LOTS of hours for uploading your book, for accounting with these retailers and if you work on Windows, to use a Mac computer (for upload to Apple).  Best of all, they do not take commissions, such as with Smashword for example. You keep 100% of the revenue from online retail. However, you should buy your own ISBN’s, preferably a block of ten, and don’t forget to register your book worldwide with Bowker’s database, which goes to all bookstores and libraries in the world.
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Don’t forget:
If you have only one book there is nothing that readers can actually buy from you, after they have read your book! The only benefit is the lending program for Prime Members that gives you some revenue – but only if you have priced it higher than $2.99, as readers usually prefer to borrow higher-priced books. And: marketing means not only sales campaigns … so do everything to show your potential readers a bit of content that leads to your book. The key to success is confidence in yourself, persistence, and also knowing what you want!
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SECRET:
Your first book will very often increase in sales as a result of a successful launch of your second book. Every time you launch a new book, it has an impact on past titles, if they are written for the same audience.

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this customized Online Seminar / Consulting for writers: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars  Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 1,010 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, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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

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Tagged: book launch, book signings, BookBaby, content writing, eBookpartnership, HARO, Prequel, research you have done, sales plateau, Writing Contest, Writing skills

Free Books: 100 Legal Sites to Download Literature

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Amazon, Google, B&N and Apple all offer free eBooks in their stores, but there are lots of other sites to find free e-books.  No registration is required to download free e-books on the sites that JustEnglish.me compiled, it’s a great list of webpages for your convenience.  It contains among others a wide range from classics, who’s copyright expired, all the way to mysteries and even textbooks for students:

  • Classics: Browse works by Mark Twain, Joseph Conrad and other famous authors
  • Featured books about celebrities, movies, fashion and more
  • Mystery books from Sherlock Holmes to more contemporary authors
  • Refresh your memory of world history, the classics and U.S. history
  • Download books in a foreign language like French, Spanish and even Romanian
  • Websites that boast collections of graphic novels, romance novels, fantasy books and more
  • From Shakespeare to George Bernard Shaw to more contemporary playwrights, visit these sites
  • Textbooks: If you don’t absolutely need to pay for your textbooks, save yourself a few hundred dollars by reviewing these sites.
  • Even children’s books are now available online. Find illustrated books, chapter books and more

For even more free book sites, check out this list:
http://justenglish.me/2012/09/01/free-books-100-legal-sites-to-download-literature/

… and if you like to listen to audio-books get some of them for free here:  http://www.librophile.com/#!/ebooks/popular/free

Where do YOU download free e-books?

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars
Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days or the new Kindle Countdown Deals.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 980 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, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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

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Tagged: books for free, copyright expired, download a free e-book, free e-books, public domain, websites that offer free e-books, where to find free e-books on the Internet

TILT: 7 Solutions To Be A Guilt-Free Working Mom

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TILT

TILT


Juggling work and family has never seemed more possible than in Marci Fair’s parenting guide, TILT.

It was written out of the difficult struggles and unexpected answers that Fair has found on her journey through the TILT of life, work, and motherhood.

A working mother of four children, Fair shares her decades of insight in an enlightening way that weaves in quotes from her children along with more than one hundred practical, guilt-free parenting tips for the challenges working mothers face.

Fair shows how mothers can live imperfectly on purpose. She inspires them to determine what matters the most for themselves and their families, and then to focus on what lasts beyond childhood.

The wisdom of more than 80 other working mothers also demonstrates how moms can grow through their journeys to find happiness and success along the way. Balance is impossible; Fair teaches us how to TILT instead.
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She encourages that helping our children dream, without giving up on ours, sets an important parenting leadership example. Through TILT, we learn how to choose, in the nucleus of our families, to set the example by shining our own light, so we can love, guide, and empower those little lights we brought into this world.

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Marci-Fair

Marci Fair


A practical parenting guide that brims with real life suggestions, 
to continue to reach for their own. It is filled with over 70 quotes
from the author’s children, over 100 practical guilt-free tips and
the wisdom of over 80 other amazing mothers.  

In 2005, Marci fulfilled one of her lifelong dreams and started a non-profit for kids in need – Kares 4 Kids. The NPO has since served over 15,000 children, through backpacks and school supplies, food for local children in need, summer camp sponsorship, holiday gift cards to overlooked teens and much more. 

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TILT: 7 Solutions To Be A Guilt-Free Working Mom Paperback, 318 pages,
$14.29 http://amzn.to/1dKsRMB - and the e-Book Version: $7.99 http://amzn.to/MnyAkV

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If you would like to get more support in all things publishing, have your book intensively promoted and learn how to navigate social media sites – or to learn how you can make yourself a name as an author through content writing: We offer all this and more for only $179 for three months – or less than $2 per day! Learn more about this individual book marketing help: http://www.111Publishing.com/Seminars   Or visit http://www.e-book-pr.com/book-promo/
to advertise your new book, specials, your KDP Select Free Days, the new Kindle Countdown Deals or Goodreads Giveaways.

Please check out all previous posts of this blog (there are more than 980 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, Facebook, Tumblr and StumpleUpon.
Thanks a lot for following:

@111publishing

http://www.111publishing.com

http://www.e-Book-PR.com/

http://www.international-ebooks.com/

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

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Tagged: career moms, Kares 4 Kids, Marci Fair, new book launch, parenting, TILT: -7 Solutions To Be A Guilt-free Working Mom, working moms