|
|
|
|
 |
News: |
 |
|
Publisher
seeks new writing
Dorchester Publishing is
launching a new line in mystery,
romantic suspense, and
"woman-in-jeopardy" fiction,
and is seeking suitable submissions from
writers. See http://www.dorchester
pub.com for details, or send queries
to acondon@
dorchesterpub.com (no submissions by
email).
|
Advertisement |
50
FREE POETRY CONTESTS
Get
access to Winning
Writers' online guide,
The Best Free Poetry
Contests, when you
subscribe to our monthly
email newsletter. The
guide is free and the
newsletter is, too.
We've found over 50
quality poetry contests
that cost nothing to
enter. We'll keep your
email address
confidential. Subscribe
today at:
http://www.winning
writers.com/?f0401 |
|
eBook
explosion continues
OeBF (the Open eBook Forum) has
released figures for Q3 2004 showing
strong growth in the eBook market. Sales
of eBooks are up 64%, and for the first
time more than a million units have been
sold in one year.
Whispers
from Heaven closes to submissions
Whispers from Heaven magazine
has been bought by Guideposts, and is no
longer accepting submissions of short
fiction. Writers may instead submit
their material to Guideposts
magazine, which features "stories
of inspiration and hope".
For more
information visit www.guideposts.com
|
|
|
New online
store for authors
In the last issue of
firstwriter.com's Free Writers' Newsletter Christopher
Willitts' article on self-publishing discussed the increasing
trend for new authors to bypass traditional publishing processes
and bring their books to the masses themselves; a trend which
has been facilitated by the growth of the Internet (http://www.go-publish-yourself.com).
Whether authors choose to publish themselves in hard-copy print,
or opt for the more cost-effective choice of e-publishing, the
Internet provides a vital means of distribution.
The only problem
with trying to sell your book through your own website is
getting the necessary traffic. Even if you're on a popular
search engine like Google, the only searches you're guaranteed to
be returned for in one of the top positions are searches for
your book specifically – and that only reaches people who already
know about your book – it doesn't help you reach a new
audience. With tens or even hundreds of thousands of sites being
returned for more general searches (Google returns a staggering
3,340,000 results for "small press books"), what are
the chances of anyone finding your little site in your isolated
corner of the Internet? Getting visitors is hard –
and when you consider that the industry-standard conversion rate
for visitors to customers is only 0.05% (that's one sale for
every 200 visitors who visit your site), getting enough traffic
to make a decent amount of sales can be a difficult task, to say
the least.
Fortunately, this is
where online stores can help. While your book may not find a
home in the large online stores like amazon, there are
plenty of online stores who specialise in small press works, and
who can offer your publication a much higher profile than it
could gain on a website of your own. For instance, firstwriter.com's
online store allows people who already sell their work
mail-order to sell their goods for free online, and (of the
3,340,000 results for "small press books") ranks 22nd
in the world – within the critical first three pages of
results.
For those of you who
don't mail out direct, or who don't want the hassle of dealing
with payments, a new online store has just been launched which
will take care of all this for you. The Robin's Nest Books (http://www.therobinsnestbooks.com)
is a new website to be launched on January 1, 2004, and is
seeking books from small-scale or self-published authors to sell
on the site. As a new site, it doesn't have the same level of
exposure as firstwriter.com, but unlike firstwriter.store
The Robin's Nest Books actually handles your books for you;
taking a quantity of books from you and then delivering them to
customers, writing you a cheque for all sales the following
month. Authors are paid 45% of the publisher's list price,
meaning you get significantly less than you would selling
through the firstwriter.store
(where you receive more than 95% of the sale value), but the
time and expense you save may well make it worth it –
especially since as a writer you'll want to spend your time
writing, not posting and packaging!
Of course, for
maximum exposure, you should try and get your publication listed
on as many online stores as possible. You can apply to join the firstwriter.store
at https://www.firstwriter.com/store/apply.shtml.
For details on The Robin's Nest Books visit http://www.therobinsnestbooks.com.
Another long-established outlet for small press books and
magazines can be found at http://projectpulp.com.
Opportunity
for comedy screenwriters
British TV channel
ITV has launched a new TV show called Shoot the Writers.
Despite the apparently writer-unfriendly title the company is
seeking submissions of scripts for short comedy sketches, and
has a refreshing approach. Rather than bemoaning the flood of
unsolicited material as most agents and publishers do, An
Acquired Taste (the production company behind Shoot the
Writers) recognises how tough it can be for writers to break
into TV, and is actively seeking "as many scripts as
possible".
A pilot episode has
already been broadcast, but the first series will not be shown
until May, and a second series is already in the pipeline. There
is therefore no fixed "deadline" for submissions, but
the sooner scripts are received the better chance they have of
making it into the first series. For an entry form send an SAE
to An Acquired Taste TV Productions, 51 Croham Road, Croydon,
CR2 7HD.
Resources for
writers at firstwriter.com
Visit firstwriter.com
for the following invaluable resources for writers:
To advertise
on this newsletter for as little as $30 / £20 click
here
©
firstwriter.com 2003
|
|
