Category: publishing

AI and You

Published on by Michael McCandlessLeave a comment

My favorite self-publishing expert is all over AI as the way ahead to accelerating her writing process and publishing more books faster. I am catching up as fast as I can and you should, too.

But remember one thing as you experiment with AI tools and get them to help you write more books faster. AI is a robot. You are the human. Training yourself as a robot master may be a great way to expand your product line and become the publishing mogul your partner wants you to be, but in the rush to moguldom, don’t forget who’s in charge. To borrow a term from the avant garde movement in filmmaking, you are the auteur, the main artist. The one with the vision for the story, the mission, the final product. You are the Orson Welles, the Da Vinci, the Richard Wagner of your very own art form. The AIs are your helpers. A new way to be more productive, keep control of costs, make more at the end of the day.

That said, AI is fast becoming too many things to many different people and situations. Is it a productivity tool for enterprise workers? Is it a conceptualizer for the graphic artist? Is it an automated ghost writer? Yes. Yes. And yes. How you use AI depends on what you prompt it to produce and how good your prompting. For self-publishers, get your feet, then your knees, then your whole self wet as fast as you can. Your readers are waiting.

Easy-peasy audiobooks, relatively speaking

Published on by Michael McCandlessLeave a comment

Last month, we journeyed from idea to the publication of our first audiobook in three weeks. At no cost. International distribution. Easy-peasy.

Here were the keys:

  • We already had a decent microphone, a Blue Yeti, and a tiny bit of experience using the Audacity free version as our audio studio.
  • The narrator has done some acting and is familiar with speaking lines. He was the co-author and worked for free.
  • We used FindawayVoices.com as our production/distribution platform, and that was very helpful, and free.

The book, 50 Fun Facts About the New York Yankees, was launched in paperback and e-book on Amazon in July. We had the thought to produce an audiobook version once the Yankees were definitely going to the World Series. We didn’t allow quite enough time as it turned out, so we missed that opportunity. But not by much. We’re delighted that the book was available as quickly as it was, and on multiple distribution channels. We can now say that we have started up a brand new arm of Touchwood Press.

Takeaways:

  • Don’t be intimidated at the prospect of producing an audiobook version of your book. Just as with publishing the print book, you can do this, even if you need a little help.
  • However, remember to respect the medium. You’ll need a quiet place to record. You’ll need to be aware that your breathing and other mouth noises (and other noises) will absolutely end up in the recording. It may require multiple takes and some editing to get an acceptable audio files.
  • The two co-authors of the Yankees book are on different coasts. This did not present any serious problem. One author sent production-ready audio files to the other, who merged and did final production on them before uploading to FindawayVoices. There were remarkably few re-tries needed to get an OK from Findaway, and we were off to the races. Within a few days, we were notified that six distribution channels (GooglePlay, Audiobooks.com, others) have included our audiobook in their catalogs. Listeners everywhere can buy our audiobook, and we get royalties (almost) instantly, at rates that vary by channel. Pretty slick.

What about Amazon?

Amazon’s ACX is the kingpin in the audiobook production world, especially for self-publishers. That’s great. However, through my research and what I’ve heard from others over time, ACX offers a more complicated path for self-publishers than say, FindawayVoices, which we use for our first adventure into audiobooks. The complications begin with the ACX Book Posting Agreement, a lengthy contract that is well worth your time if you want to get into the audiobook business. For our purposes, publishing our first audiobook, this was a bridge way too far. Having said that, I look forward to accessing the benefits that ACX can offer as we ramp up our audiobook enterprise.

The Opportunity

The audiobook market is expected to grow about 25% per year between now and 2032. The market was $4.2 billion in 2022 and could be as big as $40 billion in 10 years. It’s not hard to figure out why, in a world where we live tethered to our phones, more and more folks are listening rather than, or in addition to, reading. Decide for yourself if you can bite off the time and effort to produce your own audiobooks and gain another slice of the pie.

The Times, They Never Stop Changing

Published on by Michael McCandlessLeave a comment

It has long held true in publishing that 20% of the titles make for 80% of the profits. Whether the typical numbers are more like 40/60 or 10/90, the principle is the same. In any speculative business such as book publishing (or movies or music or gold mining), the best-sellers carry the rest of the list to profitability and sustainability. But if Lora Kelly, a writer for The Atlantic, is right, even this economic pillar of the publishing business is changing. See Taylor Swift Is a Perfect Example of How Publishing Is Changing for the story.

This may be very good news for other self-publishing authors like Ms. Swift. I’ve always thought that the best way for a self-publishing author to get a shot with an established, aka traditional, publisher is to wait for them to come to you. For years now, savvy acquisition editors have been training their sights on Amazon and other platforms to get a bead on the next best sellers. A single shot to an aspirational writer has sometimes landed a new super-star author. What are the odds? Better than a total shot in the dark, apparently.

So, be ready for that e-mail or letter from an editor at a big-name publisher. Know your rights, and your copyrights. Be prepared to sell some, but not necessarily all, your rights to the first big-game hunter who has their sights on you. In the meantime, dream big, and get back to writing your sequel!

ALLi

Published on by Michael McCandlessLeave a comment

I’ve watched and waited for a really good association for independent author-publishers to develop, and I’m happy to report that one has. The Alliance of Independent Authors, or ALLi (pronounced ally, appropriately). It’s not that ALLi is brand new, far from it. But in my opinion, they have now reached escape velocity and are orbiting the indie author ecosphere sustainably. I’m sure the folks at ALLi, if they read this, will be saying, “So, where have YOU been?” Answer: lurking for 7 or 8 years to see when it would be worth the time to join and engage with your staff, members, and resources. That time has come.

ALLi has just put on a first-class online conference comprising presentations from top-notch experts and pundits in indie publishing. I want to encourage everyone looking for current info and a deeper dive to check out ALLi and seriously consider becoming a member.

The Alliance for Independent Authors

How do I know if my book is ready for publishing?

Published on by Michael McCandlessLeave a comment

A wise friend reminds me that “Done is better than perfect.” Sometimes it is better to go ahead with a new venture and just see what happens. Counting the benefits and costs of this is important.

Be kind to yourself and realize that having your book live on Amazon or wherever will have several immediate bonuses:

  1. There is no substitute for “seeing your name in lights,” as it were. Pressing the “Publish” button in KDP will produce a live product page for your book on amazon.com. Since this is familiar territory for Amazon shoppers, you should feel a mild rush of pride or maybe apprehension (Am I an imposter?) about see your book suddenly for sale in the world’s largest store. Savor the moment and then get on with promotion, because just having your book on Amazon does not mean automatic best-seller status.
  2. Your book on Amazon plants a stake in the ground of your writing/publishing career. This is a forever milestone. Use it to get a new sense of what you’re about with this writing thing.
  3. If you’ve created an effective title, description, categories, and key words in your KDP setup process, you may make some sales, especially if your book is nonfiction and well-aimed at a specific reader group.
  4. With your book on Amazon, you now have someplace to send friends, family, well-wishers, Facebook friends, LinkedIn connections, etc. to show them what you’ve been up to. Send them an email, message, or tweet and ask for their feedback and if they’re inclined, a positive review. This can help kick-start your book’s marketing.

Having made the case for self-publishing on KDP, I will balance my enthusiasm for this with the caution than wile done is better than perfect, perfection is a variable concept. Make sure to edit out typos, spelling errors, bad grammar, and obvious mistakes. In other words, respect the process and make sure to do a creditable job of editing and formatting. While KDP will make sure your book and cover meet their manufacturing standards, it won’t tell you that you have mistaken “there” for “their” or split your infinitives. Publish a creative product you will take pride in.

All in all, I strongly recommend self-publishing using the Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) service. It will introduce you to publishing as something you can do yourself at very low cost. You won’t tie yourself forever to one publisher or process, which means maintaining your freedom of choice down the road. Most important, self-publishing with KDP will get your book out there, pushed gently out of its nest, ready for the world to take notice. After all, done IS better than perfect.

Contact us at Touchwood Press if you’d like to talk through your project, get some coaching, or use us as your project manager.

Best tools for my project? There are so many!

Published on by Mike McCandless1 Comment
A_logo

Is this your first self-publishing project? Assuming it is, I say, “Keep it simple!” Lucky for us, we can start at the top, as it were, by starting our self-publishing journey in Amazon-land, using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP). Why lucky? Because Amazon already sells more than 70% of all e-books and can give you access to just about any market or reader audience segment. So, the tool/platform I recommend, especially for starters, is Kindle Direct Publishing.

This doesn’t really answer the question, though, does it? As you already have seen, there are dozens, at least, of tools, platforms, distribution channels, and publishing services providers to choose from. I’m just saying if the leading provider of just about everything is free/cheap and easy to use and you get all its massive marketing machine working for you, why not start there? There’s plenty of time to get deeper into the marketplace and engineer the perfect set of capabilities and resources for you. Whatever you decide, best of luck to ya’!

How do I copyright my book?

Published on by Mike McCandlessLeave a comment

The right to make copies of any creative work belong automatically, naturally, and legally to its creator. There is easy-to-access information about copyright basics available at copyright.gov. Get started on this page. Briefly, you do not need to file a form or pay a fee to claim and hold the copyright to your work. At your first opportunity, you should simply add a copyright notice to your draft manuscript. That is enough to claim your copyright. Make sure that all copies of your work carry your copyright notice. The standard form for this is “Copyright [year] [name of copyright owner].” The copyright symbol (which can be rendered as (c) if you can’t insert the fancier version, ©) isn’t necessary but is normally used. Later, if you want to register your copyrighted work, you can do so starting at copyright.gov.

Self-publishing reads

Published on by Mike McCandlessLeave a comment

Get some help and learning from the folks who track with the latest in self-publishing news about people, tools, and technologies. How much time is enough to stay current? You need to be selective. I follow these experts:

  • Mark Dawson: The Self Publishing Formula and Self Publishing Show podcast. Lawyer turned best-seller author, Mark and his partner and former BBC producer James Blatch produce a best-in-class podcast worth a weekly hour. 
  • Joanna Penn is, fair to say, the fount of everything worth knowing about self-publishing with her books, courses, Kickstarters, and podcast.
  • The Independent Book Publishers Association: professional association for self-publishers and small presses. A great community for engaging with publishing peers.
  • Jane Friedman: author, speaker, teacher, and professional publishing veteran Jane has long reported on the publishing industry via her newsletters and courses. A quality read/listen from an insider.