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Do you give books for Christmas?

Geri Clouston
  There is a misconception that a book is not a great gift for Christmas.– how wrong that is!No, perhaps they don't light up or shoot darts, and most don't play music (although some do!). But here are some reasons that a book is the perfect gift- 1. A book is a very personal gift. What better way is there to show that you really care about someone than to spend the time to find a gift that you think they will like. There is a book for every interest and every age. By putting a little extra thought into your gift the recipient will be moved by your thoughtfulness. 2. Books last a life time. Every time someone picks up a book, opens it and reads your Christmas message, they will think of you. 3. Books are inexpensive and easy to buy- especially online. 4. There are no batteries to buy, no sizes to know, and no color to worry about! 5. A book can entertain, teach, and share your interests and experiences. 6. There is a book for every age, race, religion and educational level. 7. And don't forget that books are a great gift to donate to…

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The World of Reading , ,

Hi everyone-Getting Ready For The Holidays?

Geri Clouston
Hi everyone- Getting ready for the holidays? Don't forget to add books. Kids like me love books!   Here are my answers to some questions I have been asked lately- What do kids your age like to you read?Well, right now The Lemonade Crime, Harry Potter & Diary of a Wimpy Kid are very popular.But it seems that most of my friends are interested in books about kids like themselves in real life Do most of your friends read books?Yes. We are required to always have a book in school. In school, do you get to pick books you like to read or do they tell you which books to read?In my grade, we are not told what books to read but must bring a book to school every day. We read the books we like and that makes it more fun! Do many kids you know have eBook readers?No, not really. Some kids do have them but not many. Our school doesn't care if you bring a book or an eBook reader. Do you think having an eBook reader such as a Kindle or Nook encourages children to read more?Most certainly! All of us love electronics and for those…

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indieBRAG Kids , ,

SPBE Blog #4- Grab The Audience!

Geri Clouston
  Over 70% of our readers told us they either downloaded a free sample of an eBook or perused the print book in a bookstore before making their decision to buy it. As this next slide shows an indie author had better grab a prospective buyer quickly.   Slide 17 indicates that only 23% of potential buyers will read several chapters when they consider a book, whereas 35% will only read a few pages. And 27% make their decision based strictly on a paragraph or two, or the synopsis on the back cover. Clearly an opening hook is vital. It doesn't matter if an indie author has written a great book, he or she won't sell many copies they don't get a reader interested from the very first paragraph or the first few pages at most! Buying a book is a commitment of money and time and to be successful an indie author had better make sure that they have made their book worth that commitment. Beyond having a powerful opening hook, an indie author also needs to have an eye-catching cover. Slide 15 shows that while genre and author are the most important factors in a person's decision to…

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Words of Wisdom

Blog # 3 – The Best Format And Price For An eBook

Geri Clouston
      Continuing our discussion of our presentation at SPBE this slide shows the formats that our readers prefer.     As you can see, 56% of the readers we surveyed prefer the eBook format. This is not surprising. According to amazon.com during the past two years eBooks have outsold print books. The convenience of eBook readers and the lower cost of eBooks are the main drivers of this trend. Slide 7 also shows that if an author also wants a print book, a trade paperback is the most desirable format. We believe that an indie author should offer both but if he or she only publishes their book in one format, it should be as an eBook.This next slide shows the best price points for an eBook.   The above chart shows that 32% of the readers we surveyed will pay up to $4.99 for an eBook while 39% are willing to pay up to $9.99. The slide also indicates that 92% of readers will pay more than 99 cents. This is very important because there is anecdotal evidence from other sources that pricing a book at $.99 does not generate sufficient sales to warrant the loss of…

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Words of Wisdom , ,

SPBE Blog #2- Editing a Self-Published Book

Geri Clouston
    As I said in my previous blog, copy editing errors are the reason that most self-published books are rejected during the indieBRAG screening process. An indie author must not edit his or her own book. Although professional copy editing can be expensive, it is the single best use of an author's money. There are also other less expensive ways of doing this such as by using beta readers or joining writers' groups. Here are two slides from our presentation that address this issue: As you can see in Slide 19, our readers ranked copy editing as fourth in importance of the characteristics in their liking a book. BUT as Slide 20 shows, it is the number one reason why readers dislike a book. In other words, good editing alone will not make a book but bad editing will certainly kill it! In conclusion, we cannot emphasize enough that an author rarely gets a second chance at a good first impression!

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Words of Wisdom , , ,

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

Geri Clouston
Blogs from the Self-Publishing Book Expo Our trip to the Self-Publishing Book Expo, held in New York City on November 9th, was a huge success! Our presentation, titled "THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY" of self-published books was well attended and well received. We were the only panel (out of seventeen) that was filmed by C-SPAN's Book TV and we will let you know when the segment will be aired, likely later this month. indieBRAG team members Robert Clouston and Stephanie Hopkins joined me in the presentation and over the coming days we will blog about what we covered. This will include the results from the surveys we conducted among our readers and B.R.A.G. Medallion authors, the findings of which formed the basis of our presentation. We think you will find it all very interesting. We will also discuss some of the things we learned from other presenters at the expo, which further support our survey findings. So here we go- To begin our presentation, I shared some rather stark statistics that out of the over 1,500 books we have considered since indieBRAG began in April of last year, 50% were rejected during the initial screening process. Strictly for…

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Words of Wisdom , ,

The Importance of Imagination

Geri Clouston
  With Halloween just past and Christmas soon upon us, I am intrigued by the world of fantasy that children delve into at this time of year. Childhood specialists know the importance of a child developing a healthy imagination. Imagination enables a child to be better at problem solving and more capable of handling stress and emotion. It is also critical for future personal and academic success. It is the dreamers in history who have given us some of our greatest technological advances. And having the free time to daydream, create fantasies, read, or just sit and think is vital to building the future leaders of society. But sadly this is becoming rare as children are barraged by a host of other activities that place heavy demands on their time including homework, music lessons, sports, school clubs, TV, video games, computers and the Internet. These are all important in small doses but should never take the place of free time to play and dream.Great thinkers have always known about the importance of imagination: "They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night."- Edgar Allan Poe"You see things and you say Why?…

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indieBRAG Kids ,

Have you ever added song lyrics to your story?

Geri Clouston
  Have you ever added song lyrics to your story? Popular songs can set a mood or even a time. Beatles music puts you into the Hippy days of the 60's. But, can you include these lyrics in your book? Here is some important information from Jason Boog, writer and GalleyCat editor- Have you ever quoted song lyrics in your book? Music can set the mood, evoke a certain setting or channel a particular emotion.However, writers need to be aware of copyright issues surrounding music in books. We caught up with Copyright Clearance Center's author and creator relations director Christopher Kenneally, discovering the key questions authors should ask before including a song. Kenneally explained:Consider not quoting the song. Lyrics, like all creative expression, are copyrighted. Copyright gives the author or creator the exclusive right to republication of the work. Any writer who wishes to quote lyrics, or for that matter, passages from another's book, must obtain permission first. It's probably worth asking how necessary or vital such quotation is to any particular creative work.Kenneally added:If it's used to set a mood or establish a period, it's easy enough to refer to song titles, which, under U.S. law, are not copyrighted.…

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Words of Wisdom , ,

A LAST SHOUT OUT!

Geri Clouston
Saturday, November 9th We're just weeks away from the 2013 Self-Publishing Book Expo and the excitement is contagious! This year we are proud to report that C-Span's Book TV will be attending and filming the event! Some of the amazing incentives offered this year include: • A terrific line-up of 18 workshops, lectures and panels, led by some of the biggest and brightest names in publishing, including: a Keynote speech on how a leading traditional publisher views the rise of self-publishing, panels on crowd-funding and social media, workshops on creating ebooks, uploading and creating image-rich books, how to make money from audiobooks, the importance of good book design, and much, much more. indieBRAG will be presenting - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of self-publishing Stop by ouR table in the exhibition hall and enter to win a Kindle or Nook! • FREE professional author photos for every attendee. • FREE 15-minute publicity consultations for all ticket holders. • A chance to win an Amazon Kindle Fire HD, an iPad mini and a Nook HD. • A chance to win a publishing package valued at $1,999. The Exhibition room will showcase the many goods and services available to all,…

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The Self-publishing World

More Halloween Fun with Too Many Witches!

Geri Clouston
Join us for more Halloween fun with Too Many Witches!   IndieBRAG Kids Blogger, Ava, would like to introduce you to Bobby (6years old) Bobby, Thank you for sharing your interview with Mr. Lee Davis and Mr. Scott Nicholson, illustrator and writer of Too Many Witches. Hello Mr. Davis and Mr. Nicholson,My name is Bobby and I am 6 years old and I liked your book Too Many Witches. Your pictures are pretty and the story is fun. LEE: Thank you, Bobby! I'm glad that you enjoyed the book! Mr. Davis, are you an artist and do you paint other things or just books? LEE: I like to consider myself an artist! It's what I love to do. Most of my artwork lately has been for comics and children's books. It's taken up a lot of my time and space for creating, but I'm looking forward to getting back to painting single pieces when I can make the time, maybe with oils or water colors. Last time I did that I wasn't very good, so I'd like to see how I may have (or not have) improved with some new pieces! Mr. Davis & Mr. Nicholson, how did you come…

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indieBRAG Kids

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