The Savvy Self-Publisher, July-August 2009

Happy Independence Day - the right to publish our own books
is among the greatest freedoms we enjoy. Benjamin Franklin was
a self-publisher; so was Thomas Paine... why not you?

Tip of the Month:
Ever wonder why many books have TWO title pages?

It's a tradition retained from the days when books were reserved
for the wealthy (the poor couldn't read anyway) who had private
libraries. Books were custom-bound for each owner's library,
usually in leather, with a family crest.

The first title page, called the 'half-title' (or 'bastard
title') page, was to protect the rest of the pages for the book
binder. It was removed when the binding was completed. The
second title page, or 'full-title' page, remained bound inside
the finished book.

Today, the half-title page isn't really needed, but is often
retained... an interesting artifact of days gone by.

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Lead Story:
New iPhone and Competitors Gain Momentum... BUT...

The new iPhone 3GS was released in June with a TON of buzz.
Competing smartphones like the Palm Pre and the Google Android
are also growing rapidly in popularity.

Smartphones are VERY important to authors and publishers, since
they may very well become the primary way that readers read books
in the not-too-distant future.

A few years ago, they could be overlooked, simply because relatively
few Americans used handheld devices for reading. But there were 17
million iPhones in use before the release of the 3GS... projections
for 2010 range as high as 35 million.

In Japan, where smartphones are nearly universal, five of the
top ten bestsellers of 2007 were cell phone novels:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/world/asia/20japan.html

This is good news for foresighted authors and publishers in the
US, most of whom are already moving rapidly to add electronic
versions of their books.

But the news isn't all good. AT&T still has a stranglehold on
the iPhone; Sprint has the Pre... this means that users are not
just buying a phone, but an ongoing service on which the phone's
functions depend. This is bad news for consumers, and those who
want to reach them:

http://www.freepress.net/FreeMyPhone

In conclusion, if you write or publish books, NOW is the time
to get moving toward electronic distribution. Smartphones will
almost certainly be a big part of the future market for books.
Don't get left behind by offering your book only in printed
form.

There are still many questions about which devices for reading
e-Books will ultimate prevail in the marketplace, the file
formats they use, who will sell them to the public, and more.
Please stay tuned to this newsletter for updates!

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U-Publish.com Freebie:
Smashwords Re-Releases Snow's e-Book

Smashwords has re-released Danny O. Snow's 2002 collection of
articles on electronic publishing, titled 'Steal this e-Book!"

It is available as a FR@E download, in a wide variety of formats
for the Kindle, iPhone, Sony e-Reader and others:

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/2313

For those unfamiliar with Smashwords, it is a new e-publishing
and bookselling site that provides fre@ online file conversion
from Word or RTF to every major e-Book format. It also provides
e-commerce, and online community networking services... also
at no charge to the author. Royalties are a whopping 85% of
net profits.

It does NOT however provide DRM (to deter piracy) of any kind.
Nor is it suitable for books with complicated layouts, complex
graphs, charts, etc.

But if you have written a book that is primarily simple text,
and want a way to make it widely available as a DRM-fr*e e-Book
without spending a dime, Smashwords is definitely worth a try.

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The Write Stuff:

A "quote" is an cost estimate from a vendor or service provider.

A "quotation" is a reproduction of a person's statement.

The phrase "Here is a quote from Shakespeare..." is incorrect.
It should read "Here is a quotation..." instead.

By popular demand, this newsletter will feature a similar tip
in each issue henceforth.

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DOJ Opens Formal Investigation of Google Settlement

You've heard the rumors before, but now it's official. The
U.S. Department of Justice has launched an anti-trust inquiry
of the much-publicized settlement in October 2008 that would
allow the release of MILLIONS of books online by Google:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10278473-93.html

Danny O. Snow's personal POV: Of course, no one wants a monopoly
in the book world, online or offline. Whether Amazon and the
Kindle (or Sony and the e-Reader) can effectively compete is
hard to predict. At the same time, I see no company but Google
with both the resources and willingness to take this historic
step forward in the history of the written word. The current
squabbling makes me imagine that a cure for cancer has finally
been found... but is delayed while pharmaceutical companies
and the FDA jockey for position. I'm sure that some parties
have valid reasons to question the settlement -- and they
deserve answers. But how long do we stall the dawn of a new
age for books? If not Google, who? If not now, when?

The Savvy Self-Publisher, June-July 2009

Tip of the Month:

The title of your book (or at least the subtitle) must include
key phrases used by readers when they use search engines to find
books. For example: "Writing Nonfiction" by Dan Poynter gets
top rankings from all major search engines. The "shelving code"
(such as "Language Arts and Disciplines / Authorship") should
also be part of the title or subtitle if possible:

http://www.bisg.org/standards/bisac_subject/major_subjects.html

Book publicity in the 21st century is increasingly driven by
Web exposure. These tips will help your book get more attention
from search engines. Read our guide for more good ideas about
online marketing.

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Lead Story: BEA Bombshell: Google to Challenge Amazon:

[June 1 -- New York] At BookExpo America in New York over the
weekend, Google announced a program that would allow publishers
to sell digital versions of their books directly to consumers.
According to the NY Times, "The move would pit Google against
Amazon.com, which is seeking to control the e-book market with
the versions it sells for its Kindle reading device." FMI:

http://www.booktrade.info/index.php/showarticle/21477

As brick-and-mortar bookstores struggle, Poynter and Snow pre-
dict that Amazon and Google will capture more and more of the
$25 billion annual market for books. Meanwhile, e-Books will
represent a growing share of the total.

Two trends are intersecting: online bookselling is overtaking
brick-and-mortar bookstores, while e-Books (though still in
their infancy) are gaining ground on tree-Books.

A titanic battle is shaping up between Amazon -- which uses
proprietary hardware and software -- versus Google, which
favors "open platform" reading devices and file formats.

Whatever the outcome, we remind authors and publishers that
2009 and 2010 will be watershed years, as the book industry
follows music (and newspapers) into the digital world of the
21st century. Now is the time to anticipate dramatic changes,
and position yourself to sell books online, whether in print,
digital formats, or both!

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275,232 Books Published in 2008:

A staggering 275k new books were published last year, down 3.2%
from 2007, according to a report this week from R.R. Bowker,
publisher of Books in Print. However, the number of POD books
grew 132% in 2008, further accelerating the boom that began in
2006:

http://www.bookbusinessmag.com/enews/mobile.html

U-Publish.com is a POD book, and it shows others how to use POD
to slash the cost of self-publishing. POD is increasingly used
by mainstream publishers too. POD makes book publishing more
efficient, greener, more democratic and more equitable to both
readers and writers.

Poynter and Snow predicted the POD boom as early as 1999. Now
it is rapidly becoming the dominant technology of the book world.
More changes are on the horizon; please read our books and reports
to keep ahead of the times!

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Snow Joins IBPA Board:

Danny O. Snow has been elected to the board of directors of the
Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA-online.org), the
largest association of independent publishers in North America.
IBPA represents more than 3,500 publishing firms coast to coast:

http://www.newcommreview.com/?p=1425

Snow adds: "Your suggestions for priorities will be welcome.
Please e-mail co-publisher@u-publish.com with ideas, and kindly
include a daytime phone number for follow-up questions."

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The Write Stuff:

The word "media" is plural, though frequently mis-used in the
singular form -- even by members of the media! When a reporter
says "The media covers breaking news..." s/he should be scolded;
the correct usage is "The media COVER breaking news..."

By popular demand, this newsletter will feature a similar tip
in each issue henceforth.

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Help from Bestselling Author:

Afraid that reading is dead? That printed newspapers and
books are doomed?

Dave Eggers, bestselling author of "A Heartbreaking Work of
Staggering Genius," will personally give you encouragement:

http://mobile.booktrade.info/index.php/news/21551