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Google Offers Direct Publishing for Authors

Publishing News Roundup Series

Authors can now publish directly to Google Books.

Google has upped their market competition with Amazon, offering authors the opportunity to publish directly with them. This opens a whole new mega chain for self-publishing. It leaves many authors thinking, what will if offer to compete with Amazon?

 

The Content Warehouse

Pic; AllAmericanContainers.net

In publishing news this week….


Google has often flirted with opening up the Google Play store to ebooks. It opens for a few months then closes then opens, getting everyone’s hopes up again, then closes. Many authors go through a third party like Draft2Digital or PublishDrive trying to get their foot into the Google Books door. But in publishing news this week Google is kicking the aggregators to the curb, cutting out the middle man and going direct to authors and publishers. But with nothing special on offer Nate Hoffelder has to ask why?


Remember when Patreon decided to stop the small micropayments to creatives? When the bulk of your Patreon income comes from those $1 a month supporters the outcry across the creative sector was loud and strong. Pateron backtracked in 24 hours. Now they have been doing some thinking and consulting with creatives and they have a new tier structure. 


Reedsy has launched a new epub to mobi converter. This is a big deal if you struggle to get your mobi files small enough not to incur a transaction charge. If you are a children’s book author with internal illustrations this is a huge cost that cuts into your royalty. 


Storytel has been making waves again. This time Publishers Weekly has noticed them quietly offering Harry Potter in Arabic and beginning to make inroads into audio publishing. But they are not offering royalties by the listen, as other audiobook publishers do. They are offering royalties by the minute.


Many authors who use Mailchimp as their email provider were dismayed when Mailchimp changed the rules on them this week. David Gaughran, fearless knight defending the little author, asked them to explain. They did. David eviscerated them. This is a must read for any author with a mailing list.


Back Matter… I never thought about how varied it could be. Anybody used a colophon? This is an interesting post on how to use back matter properly. And how even the smallest things in the back matter can enhance or destroy your reputation. 

In the Craft Section,

Style that doesn’t go out of fashion– Anne R Allen


Showing scene through character senses– C S Lakin- Bookmark


500 writing prompts– Bookmark


Creating unforgettable settings– Becca Puglisi


What makes an epic story– Vaughn Roycroft


Avoiding the cliched emotional response– Becca Puglisi- Bookmark

In The Marketing Section,

How to set up your website foundation– Tyler Doornbos- Bookmark


The equation for marketing success– Ingram Spark Interesting!


Defining our brand– Jami Gold- Bookmark


10 book cover design trends in 2019


I’m boring- the author bio – Janet Reid- Bookmark


10 critical book marketing strategies– Penny Sansevieri

To Finish,

Inventory. Have you got one? Kris Rusch is preparing to go to a licensing fair with her husband Dean Wesley Smith. Between them, they have more than 1000 pieces of inventory that could be licensed. If you are wondering what this is, it’s Intellectual Property. Read Kris Rusch’s post on how they are selecting and preparing IP rights for sale. 


Maureen
@craicer

 

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