Submit Your Questions for our Live Q&A Session
Announcing Our First Live Quarterly Q&A Session
At the end of last year, we asked if you would be interested in live Q&A sessions with us where we answered questions on writing, publishing and marketing books – and you responded with a resounding yes. That’s why I’m excited to let you know that we’re gearing up for the first one.
Here’s the scoop:
When: Wednesday, February 19th at 10:00 am Mountain time (11 am Central)
Where: This event will be hosted with a Google Hangout on Air so you can attend from wherever you are. We’ll also have the replay available on our blog for those who can’t make it live. Click here to RSVP on Google +.
Cost: FREE – both the live event and the replay will be available at no cost to you.
What: We’re accepting questions on all topics, but we will focus on the topics that generate the biggest response.
Our busy schedules prevent us from answering a lot of individual questions that come into our site or offering private coaching, but we do want to provide a way for you to get your questions answered. So we hope you’ll join us for this event. This session will be driven by you and your questions. No pitch from us, just open, honest answers to help you reach for success.
What do you want to know?
Please submit your questions in the comments below. We’ll also take questions during the live event, but submitting them in advance will help us determine the focus topics. We can’t promise to answer every question, but all questions are welcome and encouraged.
UPDATE:
Thanks to everyone who attended. We’ll be hosting Q&A sessions like this one quarterly throughout the year. You can be notified via e-mail when the next one will occur by signing up for our newsletter at: https://www.trainingauthors.com/newsletter/
You can watch the replay on the video below, the event page linked above, or download the audio version by clicking here.
Here are the links we mentioned during the webinar:
Posts with Publishing Options:
Other links:
How to Sell Your Self-Published Book in Book Stores
Getting Your Book In Barnes & Noble
76+ Places to Submit Your KDP Select Promotion for Your Kindle eBook
Writing Good Book Titles
650+ Places for Authors to Get Exposure for Their Books through Guest Blogging
What NOT to Post When Marketing Your Book
The Book Designer: Book Design & Page Layout Software
Book Formatting Tools and Resources:
- Microsoft Word
- Open Office
- Adobe InDesign
- Joel Friedlander’s Book Templates
- Kindle formatting requirements
We also have a list of recommended resources for publishing your books here on our website at: https://www.trainingauthors.com/resources/#publishing1
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
My question is:
How do I connect my blog postings with the various groups I belong to on LinkedIn as well as connecting to FaceBook and any other social media outlets? These blogs are not promotions. They are blogs I write that I believe others will find interesting. I am trying to get exposure for my writing skills.
Thanks.
Hey Thomas, we didn’t get to your question today, but just to give you a quick tip – you can use a service such as TwitterFeed to do it automatically (http://twitterfeed.com/) Or there are also WordPress apps or widgets that will do that for you as well and even Facebook apps that will pull them for you.
Hi there, I’m insterested in book distribution channels for paperbacks, ISBNS, Createspace vs. Ligthning Source, etc. Basically, how to get paperbacks into bookstores (online and physical.)
Alana – I think this post will help you. Book Print On Demand offers expanded distribution which includes Christian bookstores as well: https://www.trainingauthors.com/publishing/self-publishing-print-books/
Hi ladies,
Thanks for this. I will listen to the replay as I’m in the UK. However, I have a question. I’m in the process of finishing off an iBook at the moment. It’s aimed at 11 year olds and is about interesting creatures of the sea (it’s going to be called Ocean Oddities). I’ve commissioned some great illustrations and there’s going to be plenty of interaction with videos, quizzes etc.
My question is this: I will obviously want to create a Kindle version of the book and realise that I won’t be able to retain all of the interactivity that I’ll be including in the iBook. However, I know that videos can be included with Kindle Fire. Where can I find out more information about how to embed videos for Kindle, and do you know if there are any other interactive features that can be included?
Thanks and best wishes. I look forward to listening in to the replay!
Jane
Can you develop a step by step way for setting up a system of e-mail and newsletter marketing? Thank you in advance.
Carlos – at the bottom of this post we have 5 steps for starting your e-mail list: https://www.trainingauthors.com/aweber-vs-trafficwave/
We do plan to publish a book with more training on this topic later this year. Thanks!
Hello: I really need as much help as I can get to get my middle grade novel Quicksilver Traveler out into the public. I have zero money to work with. Thank you Nancy
Can I change the title of my eBook only on the KDP site without re-upload a modified eBook?
thanks
Pls advise on the following..
1. Best software to prepare/format a book.
2. General first step suggestion for an obvious newbie.
Grateful and cheerful salutations!
Hi Shelley and Heather.
Do authors err on the side of Giving away too much content during pre-pub promotions or do we withold too much?
That’s a great questions, Barry! We didn’t get a chance to answer it during our live session, but I would say it depends on the author. Every author is different. Every author gives away a different amount of content. I know authors that won’t give away anything, and authors that would give away all of it. So it really depends on you, your goals, marketing strategy, etc.
My question for the hangout: I want to republish one of my books in Spanish. Do I need to file for copyright for the Spanish version.
This document might help answer your question: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ14.pdf
Heather, I would like to know more about enhanced Kindle eBooks. Also have you looked into the new comic program that recently came available though Amazon? I am intrigued by the idea and would love to know more ideas on the subject!
Thanks, both of you, for all you provide for free. That is just heartwarming. You are the best.
i just written my first eBook the Intrepid Explorer and i went through lulu.com to get my eBook distributed on the barns and noble nook and iTunes, everything has been up and running for couple of months now and i’v sold about 12 copy’s, and that was it, nothing else has been happening its as if i ran into a brick wall or something, i have also tried my hand in self promoting by starting a website. guiltystyles.com , posting links on Facebook and twitter, honesty that’s where i think my 12 buyers was from…….please help
Question for Q&A session:
If I were to use Amazon’s CreateSpace for print on demand through them, can I also print the same book through another printer like Lightning Source?
Thanks.
I read about the service that guarantees “10,000 downloads” of one’s ebook during Kindle Select free promotion days. I tried to research it a bit, worried that it might be a scam, and the folks on “Warrior Forum” where the paypal button for the service is located couldn’t come up with answers — in fact, they didn’t seem to know which of their many offerings I was referring to! Can you share more of your experiences (or people’s experiences that you know of personally) about this – is it really legit? Thanks.
Malva,
Thanks for your question. I had the same concern. Here are a few places you can find my answer to this.
General information: https://www.trainingauthors.com/47-places-to-submit-your-free-kdp-promotion-for-your-kindle-ebook/#downloads
Another author who commented with the same concern and my response: https://www.trainingauthors.com/47-places-to-submit-your-free-kdp-promotion-for-your-kindle-ebook/#comment-5331
My case study when I personally used their service: https://www.trainingauthors.com/free-kdp-select-promotion-case-study/
If you would like to contact the company with more questions, just contact us and we can send you their e-mail address. https://www.trainingauthors.com/contact/
Thanks!
Malva,
2/26/14 UPDATE: Previously we recommended a service called, “Free Book Service.” In December I had e-mailed Amazon to make sure it was okay to use a service like this and they said yes. However, Amazon has changed their mind. This was brought to our attention from other authors and we e-mailed Amazon directly to confirm. This was their reply…
“While we support the legitimate promotional efforts of our publishers, we have determined that Free Book Service’s services manipulate Kindle sales rank. We take activities that jeopardize the experience of our customers and our publishers very seriously and may take action against publisher accounts that engage in sales rank manipulation.”
Therefore, we no longer recommend you use that service. However, there are many websites you can get paid advertising and we outline these in our book, Author Publicity Pack.
Great questions, everyone! We’re gearing up for tomorrow and are excited to start giving you answers.
I have questions about publishing a children’s book with illustrations through CreateSpace. Is it even an option? How do I get started?
If CreateSpace isn’t the ideal publisher for children’s books, who would be your next suggestion? The least amount of money upfront, the better!! 🙂
Kristi – there are options to print children’s books via CreateSpace, but they are limited in what they can do. They don’t offer hard back covers yet and the costs tend to be high with full color images. I recommend calling their support and talking to them about your options.
There are great options for eBooks though. Here is a video on a template I’m using for ours: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WV_-61kWvpE
Once our book is published, I will write an entire post on children’s books so be looking for that (hopefully soon).
Hey guys!
First of all thank you so much for your awesome article!
https://www.trainingauthors.com/47-places-to-submit-your-free-kdp-promotion-for-your-kindle-ebook/
I used your suggestions and had wonderful success. I had 14,564 FREE downloads in FIVE days!
I also SOLD 94 copies of my ebook that same month and 7 copies of my paperback! My best month before this was 9 or 10 ebook sales!
Here is my question. I was enrolled in KDP Select. I didn’t auto renew my enrollment because I was planning to add my book to other storefronts (Nook, iBooks, etc.). However, life has been crazy busy and I do not know if I will get the time in the next several weeks to add my book to those other stores.
Do you recommend I enroll in KDP Select again if I am not currently able to add the book to other store fronts? Do you find that your sales on Amazon tend to go lower over time if your book isn’t enrolled in KDP Select?
Thanks for everything!
Travis,
How many borrows are you getting through the KDP select program? That is one factor I use to determine whether to keep a book exclusive with Amazon. If you are getting a decent # of borrows, it may make sense to keep it in KDP select. Another option if you enroll in the second 90 day period is to use the Kindle Countdown Deal this time around vs. another free promotion. You can lower your book price for a certain period of time to help boost sales.
Thanks for asking. I forgot to mention that. During January (the month of my 5 Day Free offer) I had 16 borrows.
In February I have only had 4 borrows, but that is because my KDP Select enrollment ended on February 8, so it was 4 borrows over the course of 8 days.
As you know I am new to this and these borrows I am getting are without any kind of website or real marketing as I am just getting off the ground. So does it sound like I should enroll for KDP Select again?
Also, do you have a post for a list of websites to add your Kindle Countdown Deal to, much like you had the post I listed above filled with pages to add your FREE Kindle book to? That would be an awesome resource. Keep up the great work!
Travis – sounds like it would be the best thing to do right now. We did just publish a post for $0.99 book promotions. So if you offer your book for $0.99 in the Kindle Countdown Deal, you could use these sites: https://www.trainingauthors.com/places-to-promote-99-cent-ebooks/
Thanks so much. Just switched it back on.
I have a WP tech guy who is dragging me out with finishing installing new theme and widgets. Q: He has a mockup of my site up on new theme (old one doesn’t show up when G’d) Can I just go in & change the administrator & PW, and remove him from the action? He’s been paid to date. I don’t want to take a chance in losing my website info, What would you do?
I’m hesitant to answer that without more information. It is your website, so you can remove an administrator at any time. But if it’s just a mockup I would make sure that you have all the rights to leave it up as is. I would recommend contacting him and letting him know you’d like to pull out and see where that would leave you.
I wwas able to fiond good nfo from yor content.