THE SELF-PUBLISHING MANIFESTO
The Bookseller’s section “FutureBook” has been publishing a series of manifestos for new types of authors in the modern era. Now, the founding director of the Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi), Orna Ross adds a new manifesto to this list: the one for self-publishing authors.
“I am proud of my self-publishing status,” Ross says, in a list of declarations about self-publishing life. “I do not ask anyone for permission to publish, or for a pat on the back, or for a contract that insults my skills and existing readership.”
Ross’ manifesto recognizes the importance of digital publishing for self-pubbed authors: “I consider that print may, for now, be most usefully treated as a subsidiary right.” Her manifesto talks about taking pride in self-publishing and working to do the best you can as an author in a non-traditional format.
FutureBook is looking for more “Five-Minute Manifestos” about the future of the book business, so be sure to check out the link above if you are interested.
KINDLE SCOUT NOW AVAILABLE TO READERS + WRITERS AROUND THE WORLD
Amazon’s reader-powered publishing platform, Kindle Scout, is a useful tool for indie authors to get their books out to potential readers and for readers to choose what they want to be published. And now, it’s become available to readers and authors around the world.
Amazon announced yesterday that Kindle Scout is expanding to countries across the globe. In addition to the U.S., authors from Europe, Canada, Australia, India, Brazil, and more can submit their never-before-published manuscripts to be considered for publication. Readers from these countries also have access to these manuscripts to nominate which ones should be published.
Manuscripts on Kindle Scout need to be novel-length, previously unpublished, and written in the English language. Publishing on Kindle Scout is an excellent opportunity: so far, 75 of their titles have been selected for publication, including one that became a Kindle Top 100 Best Seller. “Publishing contracts include 5-year renewable terms, a $1,500 advance, a 50% eBook royalty rate, easy rights reversions and featured Amazon marketing,” says Amazon’s description of the program.
“Expanding our platform to authors and readers outside the U.S. has been one of the most frequent requests we’ve received since we launched,” says Gina Hill, general manager of Kindle Scout. With this expansion, Amazon is hoping that more authors will get more opportunities to be published. More information can be found here.
UPCOMING INDIE-FOCUSED BOOK EVENTS IN THE NORTHEAST U.S.
Self-publishing and indie publishing are becoming increasingly mainstream, and as such, events for writers are increasingly including indie authors. Here are two upcoming events for indie authors in the northeast United States:
The Independent Publishers of New England (IPNE) are holding their annual conference on September 25th and 26th in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The event costs $170 for members and $195 for non-members, which includes a yearlong membership. Keynote speakers and panelists from Publishers Weekly, the Independent Book Publisher’s Association (IBPA), Shelf Awareness, and Ingram Content Group will conduct workshops for beginning and experienced indie authors and publishers.
For authors living in New Jersey, SCOREBergen is hosting a workshop called “Self-Publishing in the Digital World: e-Books and Print-on-Demand” at the Bergen County Administrative Building on September 30. Presented by author Ally Nathaniel, the workshop will cover topics such as how to use Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, e-publishing vs. traditional publishing, cover design, pricing, and more. Advance registration costs $20 and more info can be found here.
THE LIST WHERE INDIES COUNT
When we tell regular civilians (ie media and readers and even booksellers not directly involved in indie publishing) that self-published titles regularly appear on the venerable bestseller lists of The New York Times and USA Today they look at us like we have three heads. Nevertheless, every week at IndieReader we take the time to go through the lists and pick out the rather large list of indie books and create a list of our own: The List Where Indies Count.
So if you’re looking for something to read this weekend, be sure to check out our bestseller list because frankly, once titles make the list they don’t stay indie very long. Take for example The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep, written and illustrated by Swedish author Carl Johan-Forssén Ehrlin’s. It’s #3 on IR’s this week and was quickly picked up by Random House Children’s Books in the U.S. and by Penguin Random House Children’s U.K. Two audio editions also will come out on Oct. 2, one narrated by a man, the other by a woman. So be sure to get them while they’re still indie!
Have a great weekend, Indie Readers!