This past Saturday at BAIPA, I led a roundtable about the reasons that every independent author and publisher (as well as every “dependent” author) needed to have an active presence on Goodreads.com. It was one of three roundtable sessions at the time, and I assumed that most BAIPA folks (who are pretty savvy) would already know most of what I had to say. I was surprised to find that not only did they not, but they were very hungry to hear about the world’s largest book review site
Here’s your chance to hear Stillpoint author Lynn Bornstein read from her critically acclaimed debut book, Laura English!
On September 20, Bornstein will read from her novel of romance, glamour, and intrigue, which Readers’ Favorite called “a must read,” at the Larkspur Public Library. Afterward, she will stay to answer questions and sign books. Continue reading Lynn Bornstein to read Laura English at Larkspur Library→
What’s better than a hot new book? How about a chance to win a hot new book for free? This week only, Stillpoint Digital Press is giving away copies of The Law & the Heart, the debut collection by Nebula-nominated author Kenneth Schneyer.
As part of this weekend’s launch festivities, we will be holding a drawing on Goodreads, the world’s largest online site for book readers, reviews, and recommendations. To sign up for your chance to win a new first-of-the-first paperback copy of this exciting collection that science fiction legend Kim Stanley Robinson has called “brilliant and delightful,” go to the giveaway page and click the Enter to Win button!
The drawing will be held on the day of the presentation of the Science Fiction Writers of America’s Nebula Award ceremony — sign up now to get your copy, or join author Kenneth Schneyer and Stillpoint publisher David Kudler at the Nebula book signing event on Friday, May 16 to pick up your autographed copy. Continue reading Giveaway: The Law & the Heart→
Do you know the way to San Jose? Join author Kenneth Schneyer and Stillpoint publisher David Kudler for the official launch of The Law & the Heart on Friday evening, May 16 at the Nebula Awards book-signing!
The signing will be from 8:00pm–10:00pm at the San Jose Marriot. The event is open to the public, so you don’t have to attend the conference to be among the first to get your copy of Ken’s exciting new book — though of course, you’re also welcome to attend. While you’re there, you’ll have the opportunity to meet some of the other best science fiction writers in the world.
So I’ve written about what you should put at the back of your ebook. Over on LinkedIn, Denise Wakeman raised the issue, sparking an excellent discussion. (She suggested a great possibility that I hadn’t thought of: an opt-in link for your newsletter/mailing list.)
The discussion then turned to what should go at the front of an ebook.
You know those pages at the front of a print book that get lowercase roman numerals instead of regular arabic page numbers — the boring stuff that you usually flip through so you can start reading? That’s called the book’s front matter.
Now, tradition has set the front matter of print books fairly rigidly for a while now. According to my trusty Chicago Manual of Style, it runs something like this, with each item given a separate page or section: half-title page, series title or frontispiece, title page, copyright page, dedication, epigraph, table of contents (TOC), list of illustrations, list of tables, foreword, preface, acknowledgements, introduction (unless it’s part of the body of the book). Then you get, you know, the book. (Except for the title page and copyright page, these are all optional, by the way.)
In an ebook, where navigation can be non-linear, we often move some of the less essential, bulkier bits (i.e., TOC, lists of illustrations and tables) to the back, trusting that the reader will be able to find them easily using the Contents button. (I often link to the appropriate entry in the list of illustrations from the image’s caption.) The half-title page (the one often signed by authors and gift-givers) has been jettisoned. Not too many ebook signings.
So I’ve written about what you should put at the back of your ebook. Over on LinkedIn, Denise Wakeman raised the issue, sparking an excellent discussion. (She suggested a great possibility that I hadn’t thought of: an opt-in link for your newsletter/mailing list.)
The discussion then turned to what should go at the front of an ebook.
You know those pages at the front of a print book that get lowercase roman numerals instead of regular arabic page numbers — the boring stuff that you usually flip through so you can start reading? That’s called the book’s front matter.
Now, tradition has set the front matter of print books fairly rigidly for a while now. According to my trusty Chicago Manual of Style, it runs something like this, with each item given a separate page or section: half-title page, series title or frontispiece, title page, copyright page, dedication, epigraph, table of contents (TOC), list of illustrations, list of tables, foreword, preface, acknowledgements, introduction (unless it’s part of the body of the book). Then you get, you know, the book. (Except for the title page and copyright page, these are all optional, by the way.)
In an ebook, where navigation can be non-linear, we often move some of the less essential, bulkier bits (i.e., TOC, lists of illustrations and tables) to the back, trusting that the reader will be able to find them easily using the Contents button. (I often link to the appropriate entry in the list of illustrations from the image’s caption.) The half-title page (the one often signed by authors and gift-givers) has been jettisoned. Not too many ebook signings.
Stillpoint Digital Press has released Laura English, the debut novel of glamour, intrigue, and heartbreak by author Lynn Arias Bornstein.
A fairy tale of Hollywood glamour that shows that even the most blessed lives may not have the happily-ever-after that we would expect, Laura English follows the life and loves of a young British actress who rises to fame and yet struggles to find what she actually needs. By turns heart-warming and heart-wrenching, funny and tragic, this novel takes you on a journey around the world and into the deepest recesses of the human heart.
This is a book of joy, loss, rejection, as well as fear and happiness. The author weaves a complicated web of intrigue, passion, and profound loss, which I found captivating. Definitely a must-read. — Patricia Day for Readers’ Favorite
Laura English is available in trade soft-cover and ebook formats through Stillpoint Digital Press, through IndieBound and independent bookstores, Amazon, Barnes and Noble. Apple’s iBooks Store, and wherever else you buy books.
Last week, I gave an interview to Inkspokes, a website dedicated to independent authors and their readers. The interviewer, Nelson Suit, who is one of the editors at Inkspokes, asked me a number of questions about my own experiences as an author who published his own work, but then asked me — as both a writer and a publisher of others’ writing — what would be my advice for folks who were looking at self-publishing. Well, a lot of people who are smarter than I am have given thought to that subject, but after considering the question for a bit, here’s what I came up with:
DK: My two biggest pieces of advice will both seem a bit heretical.
The first is that self-publishing doesn’t mean that you have do everything yourself — or that you should. The chairman of Penguin/Random House doesn’t copyedit every book, nor does he try to design his own covers. He’s your competition. Budget in the time and (if you can) the money to outsource the parts of the work of publishing that you really can’t (or as I said shouldn’t) handle yourself.
The places where you will really serve yourself best by finding someone else to help out? Highly technical processes like print layout and cover design. It’s possible to create your own ebooks if your work is narrative and doesn’t include much in the way of complicated formatting or images.
You should absolutely have editors at each of the three stages of editing — development (before the “final” draft is finished); copyediting (after you’re done developing the book but before you’ve had it laid out); and proofreading (after layout/conversion and just before publication). Do you have to hire professionals? I’m not unbiased, I recognize, but I highly recommend it.
I had the opportunity to talk recently with Inkspokes, a site for indie authors and their readers — we discussed some of the joys (and pitfalls) of independent publishing. The interview is out, and I think it’s pretty interesting, if I do say so myself!
Here’s a snippet to whet your appetite:
Books are infinitely perfectible. The traditional publishing process and a bazillion MFA writing programs have conditioned us to think that no book is ever ready — that they must be workshopped and rewritten and workshopped again. And again.
It may surprise you to know that Joseph Campbell (1904–1987) has come out with a new book: Goddesses — Mysteries of the Feminine Divine. The story of how this book came to be is a testament both to the enduring power of the late American scholar’s work and of the power of the subject itself.
In 1980, Campbell and his editor, Robert Walter, were in the process of creating Campbell’s magnum opus: The Historical Atlas of World Mythology(a work Campbell sadly never completed). The book would be published by a new company that they were setting up for the purpose; Alfred van der Marck, the publisher with whom they were working, pointed out that you couldn’t have a publishing company with just one book, and so Campbell and Walter sat down and drew up a list of books that they felt should be part of this new venture.
The first book on the list was a book on a subject that Campbell’s friend and colleague Marija Gimbutas had brought to the academic fore: the study of the feminine divine in all of its historical and cultural forms. Continue reading The Journey to Goddesses→
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