August 13th, 2010 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in ProjectPublishingWriting
Going along with the previous post on the kinds of stories you can expect to see on Indie Aisle, this time I’ll talk about how the tool will allow you to publish your story. While mainly focused on digital stories, Indie Aisle is designed to ultimately let you decide the form you want your story to be in:
- eBook – Upload your file and it is converted to a number of standard formats, set your own price for purchase through the website and earn 85% of all digital sales
- Physical Book – Use various service providers for print versions of your story
- Work in Progress – Post information on a story before you release it with options for fans to follow your updates on when it becomes available
- Series – Ability to add multiple eBooks or physical books under the same story
Additionally, stories will also be categorized based on content format:
- Primarily Text – Basic text formatting with or without accompanying illustrations
- Styled Layout – Mainly text but with specific formatting and illustrations
- Illustration-based – Full-page artwork with text being layed out around it
- Comics – Artwork with specific areas for text
With each format there will be tips for how to lay out your story for outputting it as an eBook. It will also allow Indie Aisle to figure out how your story can be distributed and promoted in other venues outside the site. I will talk more about how that will be done in a future post!
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June 9th, 2010 | By Ovi Demetrian Jr | Posted in DistributionPromotionPublishingWriting
As we all know being a successful writer means more than just writing. People have to also be made aware of your work. There are many factors typically involved in publishing a successful book, including:
- Writing Process – Write and revise, work with an editor for polish and get feedback from people you know
- Illustration – Work with a graphic designer for a good cover and/or a more stylized layout, and/or an illustrator for accompanying visuals
- Publishing – Work with someone to meet certain technical preparations required for printing and digital output
- Sales and Distribution – Work with brick and mortar book shops for print, and online marketplaces for eBooks
- Promotion – Work with someone knowledgeable of marketing, get reviewed by professional critics and get interviewed in various publications
Besides the writing part, it’s everything else that can make going with a traditional publisher still a viable choice. However, technology and the internet have given us tools that change the entire process. It’s paved the way for the independent self-published writer. But going the indie route isn’t necessarily about doing it all yourself. Even though you could, collaborating with other people can give you an edge to compete with books still published by big companies. In fact there are services available that offer different approaches to doing this.
But beyond all the tools, the one greatest asset, the internet, allows you to choose how you want to do things every step of the way. As companies try to reinvent the publishing model, ultimately it’ll be the writers that will be in control of the process. Because that’s the best part of being indie, doing things your own way!
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