Category Archives: Self Publishing

Writer Reference

Baker & Taylor’s Axis 360 in Pilot with Simon & Schuster to Make eBook Titles Available to School Customers Read more about Baker & Taylor’s Axis 360 in Pilot with Simon & Schuster to Make eBook Titles Available to School Customers

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Baker & Taylor has put up a press release:

Baker & Taylor, the world’s largest distributor of digital and physical books and entertainment products, announced today that through a pilot program it will now be able to make available more than 450 popular ebook titles from Simon & Schuster imprints to classrooms and school libraries using the Axis 360 digital media circulation platform.

The pilot allows Baker & Taylor’s K-12 customers to purchase access to many popular, classic and award-winning Simon & Schuster ebooks for school-aged readers. Simon & Schuster titles are now available from Baker & Taylor via Title Source 360, the company’s new, comprehensive collection development and ordering tool for library and educational customers.

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Dead Tree Books, eBook

Ricoh, a company specializing in print commissions a study that finds people like print books

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

SHOCKER! Ricoh Americas Corporation – a company that specializes in production print equipment – commissioned a ‘study’ that discovered that people like print books.  It would have been news, probably, if the study discovered that consumers preferred anything else.

The study was interesting in it’s scope.  It says that 60% of ebooks downloaded are never read (no mention of how many dead-tree books purchased are never read), that consumers “have an emotional and visceral/sensory attachment to printed books, potentially elevating them to a luxury item,” and that “college students prefer printed textbooks to eBooks as they help students to concentrate on the subject matter at hand” because, y’know, you can’t study using a tablet that has an internet connection that could allow them instant access to more – and focused – information about what they’re studying.

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Success Stories

How I Do It: Super Successful Indie Authors Share Their Secrets – with Joanna Penn

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

Focus, long term commitment and sheer hard work, every day, are what have enabled Joanna Penn, bestselling author, professional speaker, entrepreneur and UK ALLi advisor, to pack so much into the five years since she entered the sphere of self-publishing.  The remarkable achievements of this authorpreneur have just earned her a place among The Guardian’s Top 100 Creative Professionals 2013, so it’s a timely occasion to ask her to share the secrets of her success.

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Dead Tree Books, eBook, Writer Reference

How To Design The Best Book Cover for Online Sales

Posted on by Shawn E. Bell

ALLi Partner member Simon Avery, book designer at idobookcovers.com, explains the most important principles of cover design for books to be sold online.

From ALLi Self Publishing Advice:

The rise of online book retailers such as Amazon have changed the rules of book cover design. And authors who realise this stand to do much better in their sales.

I’m always surprised to see how many books’ covers are not optimised for online sales – which means authors who do so can grab a huge advantage. A cover designed with Amazon in mind can put you firmly above the competition, including books by trade publishers.

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