Previewing Your eBook: A Cautionary Tale

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In my “Publish Your eBook Blueprint: Home Study” course, I really get on a soap box about using the preview functions every time you publish an eBook.

You wouldn’t publish a book, or even an article, without proofreading it for grammar and spelling errors, right? The preview functions work the same way.

Now, here’s where I differ from just about every other how-to teacher out there. I tell my students they need to check every single link in their (clickable) Table of Contents. Don’t do the first few links, assume that since they work, all the links will work. But I take my instructions on previewing one step further:

Look at every single page.

Yep, every single page. Is that a huge PITA (pain in the a$$) for large manuscripts? Yep! Do I care? Nope!

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Book Bonuses: Staying On Track

I received an email from a client last week asking my opinion on adding additional content into her book project. Her manuscript is nearly done and she wanted my advice on adding in some additional chapters with resources, tips, and a “plan” to follow.

I suggested against it.

Oh! Did I surprise you? Let me explain:

In the industry where she works (health coaching) it is a very common practice to add several bonuses to the main offer. The thought is that you’ll come for the meat of the topic (main offering) but stay for the potatoes, salad and dessert (bonuses).

However, in the book publishing world, this approach often backfires. Your reader purchased your book for a very specific reason; they were looking for a very specific solution. Offering them more than what they came for usually doesn’t scream “BONUS INFO! This author really knows her stuff!” It says: “This author couldn’t figure out how to stay on topic!”

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Featured in “Happier Healthier Women” Magazine

I’m jazzed to tell you I’ve been published as a Featured Expert for the launch of a brand new online publication: Happier Healthier Women.

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My article titled “Dreams in the Drawer: The Story of Pastarelli Got Out” is featured under the Personal Growth category, along with eight other experts in their respective fields covering the following topics:

  • Money Matters
  • Mind-Body-Spirit
  • Parenting
  • Nutrition
  • Relationships

I invite you to subscribe today to this free online magazine by visiting www.HappierHealthierWomen.com, read my article (it starts on page 20) and let me know your thoughts!

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Amazon Matchbook – Discounted Kindle Version Of Print Book

Introducing “Kindle MatchBook”: Soon Customers Will Be Able to Purchase Kindle Editions of Print Books Purchased from Amazon—Past, Present and Future—for $2.99 or Less

Over 10,000 books already enrolled from authors such as Ray Bradbury, Michael Crichton, Blake Crouch, James Rollins, Jodi Picoult, Neil Gaiman, Marcus Sakey, Wally Lamb, Jo Nesbo, Neal Stephenson, and J.A. Jance, among many others

Today’s announcement is also a call to all authors and publishers to enroll their books in Kindle MatchBook—offering customers great value while adding a new revenue stream

Kindle MatchBook is the latest in a series of customer benefits exclusive to the Amazon ecosystem of digital content

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sep. 3, 2013– (NASDAQ:AMZN)—Amazon today introduced Kindle MatchBook, a new benefit that gives customers the option to buy—for $2.99, $1.99, $0.99, or free—the Kindle edition of print books they have purchased new from Amazon. Print purchases all the way back to 1995—when Amazon first opened its online bookstore—will qualify once a publisher enrolls a title in Kindle MatchBook. Over 10,000 books will already be available when Kindle MatchBook launches in October, including best sellers like I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb, The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein, The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough, A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving and The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Pötzsch, with many more titles to be added over time. Customers can learn more by visiting www.amazon.com/kindlematchbook.

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5 Steps to Develop Your Publishing Plan

1. Clean up your manuscript

Go through and look for idiosyncrasies and inconsistencies. For example, I know I’m a huge fan of starting sentences with conjunctions (and, but, so, yet) and I have an over abundance of phrases in parenthesis. These are my personal writing idiosyncrasies. I don’t want to get rid of them all, but I make sure that each use either furthers the writing or is needed to keep the writing in my “voice”.

I also clean up any inconsistencies. For example, in the cookbook I’m currently editing I find that I’ve used the following:

  • tablespoon
  • Tbs
  • TBS
  • Tbsp.

That’s four different ways to say the same thing! I decided on one standard format and will be keeping it the same throughout the book. (And using the same format for cup, pound, and teaspoon!)

When I edit for clients, this is one of the main areas in which I focus. I don’t really care if you want to say fig. or figure but I want it to be the same throughout the book!

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Amazon KDP Available for Mexico!

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¡Bienvenidos a México!

Amazon announced today the addition of Mexico to the list of countries available for eBook sales.

Amazon Launches Mexico Kindle Store with Over 70,000 eBooks in Spanish and 1,000 titles at Special Prices Starting at MXN$9 (www.amazon.com.mx)—Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite Now Available at Gandhi Stores in Mexico

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 29, 2013– (NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon today launched the Mexico Kindle Store (www.amazon.com.mx), offering Mexican customers the largest selection of the most popular eBooks, the most Spanish-language best sellers, over 1,500 free books in Spanish and a broad selection of titles from leading Mexican authors and publishers. In total, the Kindle Store offers over 2 million titles, hundreds of thousands of which are exclusive, and more than 70,000 in Spanish, including titles from authors such as Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Mario Vargas Llosa, Isabel Allende and Paulo Coelho, among other Mexican and internationally known authors. In addition, Amazon announced that Kindle and Kindle Paperwhite are now on sale locally in Mexico at Gandhi stores. For more details, visit www.amazon.com.mx.

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Free Publishing Advice

I’m sure we’ve all experienced it: we spend hours learning a skill or process, invest thousands of dollars in the education, given up free time and sleep. At the end of it all, we have a deep understanding of the complete process.

Then somebody comes along and asks to pick our brain. If that wasn’t bad enough, they want it for free.

I’ve been guilty of this myself! Now that I understand a little bit more about what somebody may have invested in their knowledge, I don’t expect information for nothing.

Before I got started in independent self-publishing, I spent years working on my writing craft. In fact, I have a degree in Creative Writing. And I’ve invested two years learning everything I could about self-publishing. I’ve spent upwards of $10,000 on classes; fought my way through every in and out of formatting; and figured out how to get titles noticed on Amazon.

Why should you care, though?

Because I want to give you some publishing information for free.

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