Self-publishing is not for everyone. It’s not for the impatient. It’s not for those dreaming of great successes. Self-publishing is one of the hardest gigs to get into—that has been proven by hundreds (if not thousands) of authors who have self-published books. That’s not to say you cannot have great success, or even quick success, if you self-publish. It just won’t happen for most. Ted Heller recently wrote an article for Salon complaining about his own self-publishing experience. Heller had three previous books published the traditional way. When his latest book West of Babylon, didn’t get a bite, he decided to go the self-publishing...

BookLikes has been in beta version for quite some time, but the website has now launched its full release. The site seems to combine different aspects of social media sites such as Tumblr and Goodreads to become a place for readers to share thoughts and reviews. BookLikes is not just limited to reviews. Users can create different posts about anything. You can also follow other users, read their posts and discover books they've read. Social site I tested the site out briefly and uploaded a review I had previously written. It really reminds me a lot of Tumblr in different ways. There are “Dashboard”...

The numbers of e-books sold every year continues to rise, and publishers are making more money from them, too. Data from the annual BookStats study released by the Association of American Publishers and the Book Industry Study Group on Wednesday May 15 showed 457 million e-books were sold last year, accounting for 20 percent of all book sales reported by publishers. That’s up from 15 percent last year. Sales of fiction e-books rose by 42 percent in 2012, while the growth in sales of nonfiction e-books was just 22 percent. Perhaps most telling, however, was the fact the "e-book sales in the children’s...

MediaShift and PBS are getting into the e-book business. The first line of e-books will focus on topics within the MediaShift realm. The books are Your Guide to Cutting the Cord to Cable TV and How to Self-Publish Your Book. Both books provide a ‘how-to’ on the respective topics with the ‘Cutting the Cord’ book also including essays on the topic. MediaShift says it plans to roll out more books in the coming months. These two topics seem like safe choices in first releases. However, these topics (especially self-publishing) have been covered so much with dozens and dozens of books on the marketplace. The more...

If you're looking for new reading material this summer, Amazon Local might have what you need. The discount site is offering a free voucher to purchase specific Kindle books for just $1.00 each. The voucher is only good for 37 titles, which are all part of a series. Some of the books include The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch and subsequent tales; The Dead Man volumes by Lee Goldberg; and The Mangel Series by Charlie Williams. Some of these books already seem popular with readers. Potzsch’s books have thousands of reviews; whereas books in the Simply Sarah Series range from one review to...

As self-publishers gain legitimacy, the Writers’ Union of Canada is considering membership for the indie authors. The story was first reported on CBC (and linked to on The Passive Voice). The union represents more than 1,900 authors in Canada. The voting will take place at the end of the month in Ottawa. “I think it's been bubbling under the surface for a few years," John Degen, TWUC's executive director, told CBC. “There are a lot of young writers who are sold on the idea of having that level of control over their careers, which has nothing to do with their success in...

Studying data can turn up surprising information, but it's important to get the best results in what you do. Smashwords CEO Mark Coker recently released the results from data that was mined during an 11-month period from May 1, 2012 to March 31, 2013. This data studied trends of more than $12 million in sales for 120,000 Smashwords e-books. One of the more interesting findings that came out of the study was that longer works actually sell better. “The top 100 bestselling Smashwords books averaged 115,000 words,” Coker wrote on his blog. “When we examined the word counts of books in other sales rank...

Magazines have taken a hit over the years on sales in the marketplace. But we’re talking about physical magazines, the ones where you leaf through actual pages. Companies have moved toward digital magazines as a way to get consumers back, and even find new ones. According to research by Adobe, which produces the software that most professional print and digital magazines are created with, the outlook is positive. “The momentum we’re seeing in digital publishing is that publishers are actually able to make money off these magazines,” Lynly Schambers-Lenox, Adobe’s group product marketing manager for digital publishing, told TabTimes. “They are coming...

Penguin Group’s self-publishing service, Author Solutions, is being sued, Courthouse News Service reported earlier this week. The complaint by three authors states that Author Solutions cheated them out of royalties and charged them for typos that were inserted by the company. There was an interesting passage in the Courthouse News Service article that gave financial and statistical information about Author Solutions. "Author Solutions' revenues are estimated at $100 million per year," the complaint states. "Of the $100 million Author Solutions earns as revenue, approximately one third of that amount, or millions annually, comes from book sales. The rest of its revenue is derived from...

Piracy is the dirty word that companies like to throw around when it comes to digital rights management, or DRM. Many publishers and even retailers use DRM in an effort to avoid having their books stolen on the Internet. One year ago, Tor, a sci-fi and fantasy imprint of Macmillan, dropped DRM from all its books. Besides receiving positive reactions from authors and readers, something else occurred that just might break the hearts of other retailers and publishers. “We’ve seen no discernible increase in piracy on any of our titles, despite them being DRM-free for nearly a year,” UK editorial director Julie...

Tumblr has millions of active users, creating 90 million new posts a day. There are informative sites, funny sites and reflective sites. Throughout the years, some of Tumblr’s sites have become so popular some have even gotten book deals – well, 70, to be exact. Tumblr CEO David Karp revealed that number at the paidContent Live event earlier this month. “What’s even more interesting to me than people going through traditional paths are people who are using those new emerging platforms,” he said. “What’s so exciting to me about Tumblr as a media network today is this new generation of creative commercialization...

The Lawrence (Kansas) Public Library found an innovative way to celebrate Banned Book Week last fall when it produced art trading cards. Lawrence Library picked seven books to put on its trading cards from 46 submissions. Books included 1984 (pictured), Animal Farm, and Little Red Riding Hood. The cards gained national attention, and they’re still receiving more. Lawrence Library became one of eight libraries to win a 2013 John Cotton Dana Award, which comes with a $10,000 award, the Lawrence Journal World reported. Locals got free packs, but the library sold others online and sent packs around the world, including to England, Canada and...