One of the things I really enjoy about being an indie author and editor who works with a lot of other indie authors is being able to share my experiences and knowledge about the biz with others. Case in point is something that occurred the other day. An old kayaking buddy of mine has written the first in a series of science fiction novels and wasn’t fully sold on which direction he wanted to take them: indie or traditional. We got on Skype and chatted about the gamut of things one needs to know and consider when making this decision, and he asked a question that tickled me pink on several levels. To paraphrase, he wanted to know if an author had more credibility to potential readers if they publish via print format, either in lieu of or along with an ebook.The question caught me completely off guard. Can you guess why?That’s right. Most of us have been book nerds for long enough now that we remember the days before ebooks when independent authors were (considered) the guileless, or worse, narcissistic, writer wannabes who used vanity press and print-on-demand services to publish their books. They were frowned upon and condescended because it was assumed that anyone who couldn’t get an agent or sell their books directly to a publishing house was simply not a good writer. And when they sidestepped the traditional route and printed their books on their own, they were considered delusional and even insufferable ego trippers.We’ve come so far, you know? The thousands upon thousands of talents who are now self-publishing are often no different than those early vanity/POD indies (in that many of us are actually quite good writers, just not easy fits into traditional publishing's mold). A few things have changed, true, such as the advent of ebooks, but the spirit of creativity and talent and skill that make a good writer has been among us all along, and now there is nothing to hold it back. The big picture has flipped, and having your books in print is no longer the route of the delusional but just another of the smart business practices of independent authorpeneurs.Most of the indies I know have achieved their success through publishing ebooks, but that doesn’t mean print books haven’t also contributed. So, back to my friend’s question: Do indie authors with print books also available seem more credible to your average reader? My gut says no, but I don’t know of any studies or anecdotal evidence to support this idea. When ebooks exploded, print quickly became a distant consideration that had little to do with most indies' rise to the top. The idea many of us had was to test the waters to see if there was a market for our books through the ebook channel, and if so, printing them became the next consideration. When I did my research, the overwhelming buzz from other indies I talked with who had achieved any success was that print books were still mostly just a fun thing to have but weren't their main income channel by a long shot. You could extrapolate that to mean that readers aren't even the tiniest bit concerned with/or interested in print books (enough to make them profitable), but again, I just don't know.So I want to throw it out to you all. What do you think? Now that indie publishing is a meaningful and permanent part of the overall publishing paradigm, and readers flock to us with nearly the same enthusiasm that was once only reserved for traditionally published novelists, do our major markets (readers) care about print books? Does it makes us seem more professional or credible if we have them? Leave a comment and let us know what you think.
Self-Publishing Paths: Week 4, Creating eBooks
G'day Blogolicioussians. Please join me today at mystery author Susan Spann's blog where the series on self-publishing continues with week 4. This post goes into more detail about things to consider in regard to ebook creation, and why and how to do it. Enjoy!
For someone unfamiliar with HTML or CSS, creating an ebook may seem like black magic. But that doesn’t have to stop you from making ebooks your main self-published medium. Hundreds and hundreds of ebook creators have their shingle up, and a quick web search will find them for you. Better yet, if you’re part of a group of likeminded writers who’ve already gone through the process of having their novels formatted as ebooks, ask them who they used and if they would or wouldn’t recommend this service. Continue here.
Full Series Posts:Week 1: Research. An overview and comparison of the self- vs. traditional-publishing paradigms.Week 2: Business Plans. What an author needs to know to create and adhere to business plans and deadlines.Week 3: Distributing Your Novel. The general considerations regarding distribution sites.Week 5: Plan ahead to hire an editor, proofreader, and cover designer. At minimum, start looking six months before you plan to publish.Week 6: Marketing and Promotion.
eBook Formatting for Non-DIY Types
Please join me today at Where Writers Win, a fabulous resource for all things writing, where I guest post about the ins and outs of ebook formatting, including types of files and what to think about when considering hiring an ebook formatter. See you there! Feel free to post any questions you may have about formatting here or on the WWW site, and I'll be sure to respond.
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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.
Publishing Pains: Part Three, the Final Word
If you read the other two posts in this series, particularly this one, you're aware of the many avenues and bits of software I explored in order to create my first ebook. After considerable trial and error since--I've put out a couple of shorter stories as standalones and my debut novel, Contract of Defiance--I can safely say that I've narrowed down the process to three specific tools. If you have these, you will be able to create your own ebook relatively easily (I'll mention again, I've created all my ebooks on a Mac).
- Adobe InDesign ~ traditionally used to design printable materials such as books, newsletters, brochures, etc. InDesign works beautifully and mostly seamlessly with other Adobe products (such as Photoshop if you're working with cover design or interior graphics). Adobe CS5 has an newly integrated .epub creation function that outputs the entire .epub file structure provided you correctly format your document within InDesign.
- TextWrangler ~ a supremely sweet text editor for Mac. Allows multiple file editing and loaded with features that assist in code development.
- KindleGen (with the Kindle Previewer) ~ Free program from Amazon that does a good job of converting your .epubs to .mobis.
The last post contained a bit of railing against Adobe InDesign as an over-robust tool for a ebook file generation, and that is true. You don't really need it once you are familiar with the required files that an .epub is comprised of. However, since I have it, I find it a useful and quick option for generating my .epub folder structure.The real gem here is KindleGen (er, maybe that's what they should have called it?). There may be wide variance in public opinion about the megalith that is Amazon depending on who you ask, but one thing they can claim nearly all credit for is almost single-handedly laying the foundation of epublishing--at least in the sense of making it available and accessible to us wordophile masses. Their KindleGen .epub converter is easily the most user-friendly and explanatory tool I've seen.I have only used KindleGen in connection with the Kindle Previewer, which I prefer over the Adobe Digital Editions viewer for two reasons: often, I'll find that graphics do not display in ADE correctly, whereas I have not had that problem with the Kindle Previewer. The other reason is simply that the Kindle Previewer is a better, more intuitive user interface. The best news of all, is that once you have both the Kindle Viewer and KindleGen properly installed, when you open your .epub in the Kindle Previewer, it automatically creates a separate converted file as a .mobi. However, if there is anything wrong with the .epub, the application generates a lengthy and explicit detail of what exactly went wrong (down to the line number of whichever file threw your error). You can then fix that in your .epub, and re-convert. It really is an excellent tool for creating both versions of your ebook.For the sake of brevity, I'll just summarize the biggest takeaway for .epub creation, and that is, there are many ways to do it, but take it from someone who's tried a proportionately large number of them, the three tools above are all you need to get you where you want to go the fastest, and hopefully with the least amount of headaches. If anyone has questions about tools, or conversion steps, I'm happy to help. Feel free to send me a tweet @TammySalyer or comment below.
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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.
Debut Novel Announcement: Contract of Defiance
Wow, I don't really know what else to say, except that my novel, Contract of Defiance, is finally out. This little labor of love has been a work in progress since December 12th, 2005 (yep, I remember the day I started working on it), and has gone from a red-faced screaming infant, to a well-mannered (sorta), groomed, and presentable adult. Please visit my blog page to read more about it. For an insider peek at what the process of writing this novel has been like, my very good friend and mystery author, Susan Spann, has posted a conversation/interview between us on her amazingly informative blog. We study the ideas that form and differences between science fiction and speculative fiction, and take a deeper look into genres and how to make them fit.It's a great day! Hope everyone enjoys it and has the time to sink your teeth into whatever it is you love to read!
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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.
Publishing Pains: Part Two
As mentioned in my last post, this post will be a discussion of the steps, software, and distribution sources I used to epublish my first ebook, On Hearts on Scorpions. Isn’t that egreat?Note, everything I’m going to talk about is based on the features and functionality of a Mac computer, but mostly it’ll be the same on a PC. This article also assumes you’re already familiar with the types of files used in ereaders (i.e., .epub, .mobi, etc.), and have a vague idea of their structure. If not, I recommend reading more on that here.The biggest takeaway is that, with a reasonable grasp of HTML and CSS, anyone can design and create their own ebook. This is a great option for someone who doesn’t want to, a) pay someone else to do it, b) lose the flexibility of having control over your own words and art; and who does want, a) to keep the maximum amount of royalties offered through distribution sources like Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and b) to save money and simply know what the heck it’s all about.First, a list of the different types of software I’ve used. Adobe InDesign ~ traditionally used to design printable materials such as books, newsletters, brochures, etc. InDesign works beautifully and mostly seamlessly with other Adobe products and can be the creation tool for extraordinary printed materials. However, as I’ll discuss, using it to create an ebook is a little like using a bulldozer to repot a houseplant.Sigil ~ my new favorite open source software. Sigil works like a text file application and will open everything in an .epub file (except the .ncx and .opf) to allow you to edit. The on-high-awesomeness of it is that it gives you three view options: the actual appearance of your final output file, a code view, and a split view. It updates in real time so you can see if your formatting is working. It’s a beautiful thing.Calibre ~ another handy open source tool that can convert your .epub or .mobi file into another format. It’s also useful for just serving as a free ereader for your computer. I primarily thought it would come in handy for converting my .epub to .mobi, but with the new Kindle 8 formatting requirements, I’m not sure it’s still an option.KindleGen ~ fortunately, this free program from Amazon does a good job of converting your .epubs to .mobis.Kindle Previewer ~ also from Amazon and integrated with the KindleGen application for viewing your .mobis. It's nicest feature is that it shows you what your ebook will look like on the different generations of the Kindle platform, including the new Fire.Adobe Digital Editions ~ the most recommended viewer for testing your .epub files. Free from Adobe.com.TextWrangler ~ a supremely sweet text editor for Mac. Allows multiple file editing and loaded with features that assist in code development.MS Word ~ for the epubbing biz, the most widely accepted word processing application.The ProcessI’d heard InDesign CS5.5 could output a book directly in .epub format and naively believed that its *cough* ease of use would make the entire process a breeze. In all seriousness, anyone who knows Adobe products knows that there is a steep learning curve to really grasping how to use all of their infinite features. Once you have a relatively solid understanding, however, things become much more intuitive. And this stayed true...until I saw the .epub output. Yikes!While it is true that, depending on how you format your InDesign document, you’re output is the precise file structure needed for an .epub file, the downside is that the more work you do on styling your document before exporting to .epub, the dirtier and more obscenely overwritten the HTML is. The software writes new HTML for every small stylistic tweak you implement and doesn’t unwrite it if you choose to back out of something. As a consequence, the CSS is loaded with so many generically named classes that it’s like a bowl of badly deformed Skittles. An example of their sloppy HTML is, instead of using block < h1 > type tags, it gives headers a < p > tag and a “Heading” class. o_O As ereading technology is still relatively young, you can imagine the errors and issues this messiness would introduce across the many platforms.I was able to buy the Adobe Creative Suite CS5.5 (with InDesign and Photoshop, plus a couple of other Adobe products) using a generous educational discount, but the average purchaser would have to shell out around $300 bucks for it. It’s not worth it.Biggest Takeaways: Use InDesign, if you have it, to output a very basic, unstyled .epub file, then use Sigil to make changes to and format it with specific focus on bringing the HTML to industry standard. InDesign also outputs to .rtf, which is handy if you’re planning on using Smashwords as a distributor. More on them later. Also, most ereaders do not support drop caps, so don’t waste time creating these.After many trials and errors with the InDesign output, I got a file I could live with and moved on to Sigil. The nice thing about Sigil is that it will open the guts of the .epub without you first having to convert the .epub to a .zip, then uncompress the .zip to get at what’s inside. The downside to it is that you can’t edit the .ncx (table of contents) or .opf (content and manifest) files, or add any new files, such as art or css templates. You can, however, add new chapter breaks (which are new files that you’ll have to then add to your .ncx and .opf files).After doing what I could in Sigil, I used TextWrangler (after the aforementioned conversion to .zip and uncompressing) to make final changes to all the files. The next big step was to recompress and change the file back to .epub, then convert the .epub to .mobi for Kindle. As many of you know, Amazon is the biggest retailer for ebooks, and if you want to be a success at self-publishing, you really have to play in their playground. They bought the Mobipocket reader software when ebooks were still relatively new and are holding onto this file format for the time being. Rumor has it, however, that they will move to the more universally accepted .epub format in time. Cross your fingers.My biggest mistake was reading the documentation for how to create .mobi files a little over a year ago, and technology, being technology, has changed. Therefore, I wasn’t sure if what Calibre once did to convert files from .epub to .mobi would still be viable. Fortunately, as mentioned, Amazon has made the KindleGen conversion and Kindle Previewer software freely available to download, and they worked perfectly. Amazon also provides some of the best instructions going for how to get this step done. I’m not sure Calibre would ever be needed at this point, but it’s still nice to have as a back-up to the Adobe Digital Editions viewer. Here’s why:Your .epub output from InDesign and Sigil work seamlessly with the recommended Adobe Digital Editions viewer. But after unzipping-rezipping the modified .epub originally exported from InDesign, it can no longer be viewed with Adobe DE. I have no idea why this is, and it frustrated me for awhile. After trying a few fruitless ideas, I brought the modified .epub into Calibre and set the conversion instructions to convert from .epub to .epub. It worked fine in Adobe DE afterwards. My instinct is that this may be a problem that’s exclusive to a Mac.Biggest Takeaway: The more tools you have in your toolbox, the more likely you are to get what you want, and the more troubleshooting options you have to draw from.Brief as that rundown of the software is, the fact of the matter is that you’ll have to patiently test-retest-re-retest and re-re-retest your own files before they’ll be ready to submit to Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or the iBookstore. The easiest distributor of all to work with is Smashwords. In fact, they are so simplistic in their standards for submission that they won’t even take an .epub file. With Smashwords, it’s MS Word only.Quick rundown on the distribution channels I’ve explored (I'm sure there are others that I haven't):Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP) for Kindle ~ author royalties at 70% (for this and all following, these figures are as of this writing and will certainly change as ebooks become more the norm).Barnes & Noble’s PubIt! program for Nook ~ author royalties for ebooks with a list price at or between $2.99 and $9.99→ 65% of the list price. For ebooks with a list price at or below $2.98 or at or greater than $10.00 (but not more than $199.99 and not less than $0.99) → 40% of the list price.Apple’s iBooks ~ author royalties at 70%.Smashwords ~ author royalties at 60% if sold through distribution partners such as Amazon, 80% if sold through Smashwords.Bookbaby ~ 100% royalty to authors after an up-front fee of $99 and up.More discussion on the royalty wars can be found here, here , and here.Though on the surface Book Baby seems to be the best deal given it’s 100% royalty return, I decided not to use them for simple reasons: loss of control on the book creation, and they charge more for every incremental additional feature. For instance, should you go with their basic $99 package, if the first file you give them doesn’t turn out right, you must then pay for revision. If you require multiple revisions, you automatically go up to the $199 premium plan. So, before you even get your book published, you’re out $200. Also, you pay them $19 for an ISBN, which is a requirement to distribute with Apple or the Sony Reader, but this price only applies if you use their services to create the ebook. A single ISBN costs $125 and a batch of ten is $250. So, for approximately the same price as Book Baby charges for a premium plan, you get ten ISBNs instead of one, plus retain all the flexibility and control of each of your books’ creation and modification.I should mention that there is, of course, an ample time commitment for learning all of the tools and standards, but once you’ve done it, you’ve done it. And think of all the geeking out you get to enjoy! You’ll only add to your knowledge as the technology changes and advances, but it will always cost you the same: nothing.Once I had my .epub and .mobi files, Amazon and Barnes & Noble were quick and painless to upload, test, and distribute through. They each had my book on their sites within twelve hours.After getting those two going, I turned my attention to Apple. Apple is the least helpful, and I have not yet succeeded in getting my book up in the iBookstore catalog. The error messages delivered through their proprietary uploader are painfully vague. Instead of beating my head against them, and knowing that Smashwords is an approved Apple iBook aggregator and part of their distribution network, I decided to move onto the task of reformatting my book for Smashwords, and just accept the 10% reduction in royalties from any book sold through the iBookstore.Smashwords is a little like that mothball-smelling, blue-haired, high school math teacher that you had to be polite to because your parents taught you to be nice to your elders, and if you didn’t, you’d flunk ninth grade. It is a great option for authors who want to self-publish thanks to their nearly Luddite technological requirements, but their website is clunky and their service is slow, slow, slow. It’s been almost a week since I submitted my book file to them, and it still sits in the review queue. Additionally, emails to their help department have gone unanswered. Thus, I have no idea what the finished product will look like.The reason I call them almost Luddite is because the only type of file they will convert from is MS Word .doc (not .docx). Therefore, none of the work you did to create your .epub file for other distributors can be applied, and you have to completely strip and reformat your document—including things like complex MS Word styles, and even italics or bold fonts—then reapply them using Smashwords’ strict guidelines. Going from MS Word to an .rtf text file to strip out all of Word’s under-the-hood code, and then putting the document back into Word to employ Smashwords’ guidelines is the most reliable option. If you’re handy with Word, this isn’t too terribly bothersome, but if you’re using Open Office or other word processing software, or are not even sure what a Word style is, it could get very cumbersome.Then there is this: all ebook distributors require an interactive table of contents (understandably). Smashwords has guidelines for how this must be created in your Word file using bookmarks and hyperlinks, but (I don’t think they know this) you must have MS Word for Windows. Word for Mac does not have the required features for accomplishing their requirements. This is the issue I’ve emailed them about and not received a response. Fortunately, I have access to a PC that would allow me to complete this step.The really nice thing about Smashwords is their coupon feature that allows you to reduce the price or make free copies of your book for special people or for promotions. They are also very flexible as to how you want your book distributed; for instance, you can set it up to distribute to Sony, Kobo, and Apple, but continue to manage your own distribution to Amazon and B&N. Sweet.This is a giant bombshell of a post and I commend anyone who got all the way through to the end. There is so much more that can be discussed for each of these points, but it would be an endless conversation. I encourage anyone who wants to know more about self-publishing in general, and epublishing specifically, to visit the blogs of JA Konrath, Bob Mayer, David Gaughran, and Barry Eisler (whose name always makes me think of Bernie Eisel, but that’s a whole ‘nuther topic). I hope folks get some helpful information from this post, and feel free to continue the discussion, point out any mistakes I may have made, or post questions in the comments.**For an update and the Final Word on the process, please visit this more recent post.
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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.
Publishing Pains: Part One
It happened. The book thing. Finally. Happened. And wow, believe me when I tell you, the easiest thing about self-publishing is doing the writing. Think of all the work a publisher does that you, as a writer, never have to worry much about. Typesetting, image and cover creation, editing, ISBN purchase and assignment, distribution, and *gulp* marketing. This writing gig is definitely a full-time occupation, and that’s for everything BUT the writing.But, it’s a labor of love. Why else would anyone do it? Don’t answer that. Love can be defined in many different, and let’s be honest, surprisingly crass and distorted ways. One of the genres I read and write in is horror, so I have a truly deep appreciation for these distortions. Which brings me to my first book.Just a quick history. I wrote a novel that was inspired by two of my favorite genres, science fiction and action, and completed it (as much as any book can ever be complete) about three years ago. It’s a really good story, you can take my word on that (wink, wink). I did the traditional things: submitted it to a contest (which it won o/), and shopped it out to a few agents with all the naive certainty of a fledgling writer. This resulted in a booming, yet polite, silence, to my utter shock.As I was going through this process, I tapped into the publishing world and tried to learn as much as I could about it. It is a bit soothing to the ego to realize that the reasons a book doesn’t get picked up are not completely based on the quality of the writing; it’s also very much about what’s “hot,” what can sell, what grabs an agent’s attention in the first place based on their subjective preferences, and many and sundry other factors. Almost no one read Moby Dick until a hundred years after Melville’s death. Perhaps he’d have had better luck if he’d taken the...um...whale by the horns and done the job of marketing and promoting himself. It’s possible.So as you can see, inevitably the arguments for epublishing began to work their way into the dark recesses of my brain, plant roots, and grow. The DIY punk in me could not resist the overall control that comes from being solely responsible for the babes of my own creation. Anyone who writes knows how far your own words sink into your psyche, and letting any giant, faceless, impersonal company twist them for their own ends feels a bit like pimping out your soul. Or maybe I’m being melodramatic. And maybe there’s nothing wrong with pimping out your soul. Who can say? Suffice it to say, after hearing the arguments in favor of being the master of your own publishing fate from such successful mavens of epublishing as Amanda Hocking, Barry Eisler, Bob Mayer, and Joe Konrath, I was convinced it was the right way. Which, again, leads me to my first epublished book.Patience! You knew I’d get here eventually. Anyway, my first epublished book was supposed to be the science fiction novel, but getting it ready has been a collaborative effort with Mr. Universally Talented, who is creating the cover, and who is also far more of a perfectionist than I previously realized. (The good news is that it will be out next month!) In the meantime, a writer friend, the zombie connoisseur Mark Morehead, put out a selection of his works as single shorts on Amazon and Barnes & Noble, and the light of inspiration went on! I have a number of short stories sitting around, some previously published (which have matured past the exclusive rights clause), some not. I’ve always felt a bit sorry for these little gems languishing in anonymity, and began to explore the idea of epublishing a few of them in a sort of trial run, a way to get my feet wet in the DIY process of creating my own ebooks. As I revisited my archive, I realized that I had four stories that shared a central theme: love and romance.Those of you who know me are laughing right now. The thought of me, the girl who makes gagging sounds at the mere mention of Drew Barrymore films or Nicholas Sparks books, actually writing lovey-dovey stories is pretty much a knee slapper. Never fear, I have not been possessed by naked, cherubic, arrow-slinging demons. These stories are about the aforementioned kind of romance: distorted, dark, and decidedly not chocolate-hearty-and-red-rosey.With the help of a number of friends, especially Jeannie Stevenson, and Mr. UT, these separate stories coalesced into my ebook On Hearts and Scorpions. It may not be Hemingway or Dante, but the blood, sweat, and tears that went into first writing the words, then turning them into a published work is very much a universally shared agony for all writers (okay, Ernie and Dante may not have had quite the same experience in regards to ebooks). In my next post, I will regale you with the details of the specific trials and tribulations of my process for getting the ebook in publishable format. I’ll discuss the software I used, including the pros and cons of each, the different distribution organization’s I explored, and what I learned along the way. For those of you considering going this route, maybe you’ll be able to take away a few helpful tidbits that will lessen the leakage of your own systemic fluids.
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All content copyright unless otherwise specified © 2008-2013 by Tammy Salyer, writer. All rights reserved. Permission is granted to use short quotes provided proper attribution is given.
You're In For a Treat
Oooh, put your best erotique fantasy fan face on because next week I'll be posting an interview with author Carmilla Voiez whose first novel Starblood was just released in Amazon. Yes, it's okay to be titillated.
Book Description from Amazon
In a seedy Goth club, a beautiful woman dances, waiting to be set free. Along an unlit street, another woman stumbles,fleeing her pursuer. In a darkened room, a man speaks to demons.Starblood, the debut novel by Carmilla Voiez, is a tale of magic and horror. Blinded by love, Satori, a young magician, attempts a spell that goes horribly wrong, resulting in the demon Lilith returning to Earth. Satori knows he must send Lilith back. The dark goddess, brimming with power, makes it her mission to wreak havoc on Satori's life by ensnaring Star, the woman he loves, and her friends in a web of chaos and deceit.Lust, obsession, terror and humiliation storm into the lives of Star and Satori, proving the age-old maxim – be careful what you wish for.
The Trend in Publishing
I have a few friends and acquaintances who've asked me if I've thought about self-publishing or considered putting my books into e-format. There's a genius author and blogger named JA Konrath who writes a suspense/thriller series with maybe the most clever motif for titles I've ever seen: “Whiskey Sour,” “Bloody Mary,” “Rusty Nail,” “Dirty Martini,” “Fuzzy Navel” and “Cherry Bomb.” His genius is the finger he keeps on the pulse of the sea change going in on the publishing industry, most particularly on Amazon and the Kindle. Here's the press release for his newest book and the latest information he's shared involving Amazon's new imprint publishing branch, Amazon Encore. A Newbie's Guide to Publishing: Shaken by JA Konrath Press ReleaseI've mentioned to a number of people how the world of publishing is in flux with all the new types of technology being introduced, and basically what it boils down to is: digital is cheap and anyone can do it. With the Kindle, absolutely anyone with a tiny bit of tech-savviness and something written with a word processing program can make their writing available for sale, and set their own price. Seems like a great idea, right? It tempts people to imagine that their writing is just as available to the world as if it were for sale on a shelf in Barnes and Nobles. But the reality is that this is just not true. What publishers offer is marketing, leverage in the industry, and the requisite built-in network to get your name known to everyone and their mothers. You know, things like the New York Times bestseller list, you absolutely don't get there without a publishing house backing you.So when it comes to self-publishing, it's a question of your goals. Do you just want something out there that you can hand to friends and family and say you've got a book in print? Or do you want people to know your name, and give you money?There's that saying that selling one apple for only five cents is still five cents more in your pocket than selling no apples for fifty cents. With so much material now available in e-book format, most of it for pennies, people with readers are like kids in candy stores. Why pay $29.95 for a new hardcover book you might like, when you can pay $1.99, or even nothing, for something else to read until that book comes out on paperback, or even better, Kindle? Most people, especially those who read voraciously, have enough books on their list they want to get through that they have plenty to do until that spendy hardcover is cheaper, or for resale at their local bookstore. The big publishing houses are now trying to figure out how to deal with that, and still make money, and still make the authors money.Amazon may have the solution. With its own proprietary e-reader and its built in consumer base, the marketing practically does itself. With their own publishing branch, people with e-readers can get the books they want for the low price they expect (it costs less than pennies to format an e-book for the Kindle, as opposed to the large print costs to create a traditional book), and those without readers can still get their hardcopy book. It's a win-win for Amazon, and according to JA Konrath, for the author too. This is the trend folks, and Mr. Konrath is proving it.