Struggling Bookstores Turn to Remainders for Help Coping with Economic Slump

Retailers are growing increasingly concerned about a bleak holiday selling season, and booksellers are no exception.

Net book sales decreased two percent in September 2008 to $1.062 billion, according to results reported by 80 publishers to the Association of American Publishers. Net sales for the nine months through September fell 1.5 percent to $7.718 billion.

In a special series advising independent booksellers on how to survive in the slumping U.S. economy, the American Booksellers Association tells retailers that buying remainders can help them get through tough economic times. The advice appeared in the Oct. 30 issue of ABA's online newsletter Bookselling This Week.

Remaindered books are books that have had much of their run and whose remaining unsold copies are being liquidated by the publisher at greatly reduced prices. Because they're often sold for as little as 10 percent of cover price, retailers can usually buy and then resell them for higher margins than they can new titles from the major publishing houses.

"In both good times and bad, many booksellers turn to remainders as a way to supplement and complement their inventory without breaking the bank," says Larry May of Bargain Book Bids, a Knoxville service that auctions remainders.

According to May, remainders in the U.S. are sold year-round by 100 or so dealers. They are also sold at several major trade shows. The first major remainder show upcoming is the Spring Book Show, scheduled for Friday-Sunday, March 6-8, at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta. Information on the show is available at www.springbookshow.com.

Educational seminars being held in conjunction with the show will be held in the Galleria's salon area. Accommodations for the show are being offered by the Renaissance Waverly Hotel.

A New Way For Published Writers To Reach An Untapped Market

Bookscanning.com, a leading provider of highly personalized book scanning services, announced a new service for published writers to reach an untapped market audience through digitization and digital delivery of their books online.

"Writers often come to us because they do not have a backup of their published books on their computer, and publishing companies often cannot provide the writer their books as digitized files" states Timo Jacob, Company’s Vice President and CTO Digitization Line. " Bookscanning.com is excited to offer these writers the possibility to transfer their books into a format with the ability to change or update the content of their books. This service offers the writers also a chance to have a digital backup of their books and manuscripts ready to work on when they need it"

"Bookscanning.com has high expectations for its new service. Today, digital content can be delivered everywhere over the Internet as an electronic book and be published on print-on-demand platforms or exisiting providers like Amazon ®. This offers the writer an new way to extend the market for their books."

Website: www.bookscanning.com

Top 5 Self-Publishing Authors Earn $60,000 in 3rd Quarter Royalties

Outskirts Press announced that its top-five earning authors combined to gross over $60,000 in royalties in the third quarter of 2008. This is on the heels of a first quarter in which five Outskirts Press authors combined to gross over $75,000 and a second quarter in which five authors combined to gross over $50,000.

At a time when many other publishers, both traditional and POD, are downsizing during a bleak economic outlook, authors who self-publish their books with Outskirts Press are finding growing confidence in their decision to follow their self-publishing dreams. Not only can publishing a book be rewarding, these authors prove it can also be profitable if done right.

"Outskirts Press supports our authors before, during, and after publication," remarked Karl Schroeder, Director of Author Services. "For example, our Diamond and Pearl authors receive promotional tips, publicity advice, and marketing suggestions via email for years after their book is published. No other self-publishing company offers anything like it, and these royalty figures speak for themselves. Serious authors have a serious chance to make serious royalties with Outskirts Press."

As a leading force in the rapidly growing self-publishing industry, Outskirts Press provides the most comprehensive marketing services and support for self-publishing authors, although authors still must play an active role themselves. For example, to support his book about the Buffalo Bills football team, titled The Bills are Due, author Rob Thompson states, "I did many signings with former Buffalo Bills and advertised heavily on cable TV in three markets." The result? The Bills Are Due sold over 1000 copies in the first 20 days of its release and Mr. Thompson became one of the top five authors for the 3rd quarter.

Top-five author Lynn Galli points toward the importance of her website and fellow top-five co-authors Adam and Stanley Marianski agree. "I intend to increase web traffic even more by answering questions on sausage making forums," Mr. Marianski says, co-author of three books through Outskirts Press, including the most recent, The Art of Making Fermented Sausages. "This allows me to leave a link leading to my site. In time, a few thousand people will see the link, some will visit my site and will discover my books. Besides, all those links are highly valued by search engines."

To support efforts like these, Outskirts Press offers two applicable marketing options – a free author webpage with every publishing package, or a more robust, customizable author website for an additional cost.

"This is an outstanding testament to the efforts of our authors so far this year," concluded Author Services Director, Karl Schroeder. "Write a good book, utilize the professional services offered by Outskirts Press for copyediting, cover design, and unlimited wholesale distribution through online markets like Amazon and Barnes & Noble. And then market aggressively for results like these."

Top-five author and attorney Myles Alderman concurs. "For the past 90 days Chapter 11: Business Reorganizations has consistently been ranked one of the 10 best selling titles on Bankruptcy Law on Amazon.com."

Information about Outskirts Press Marketing support and services can be found online at their website: http://www.outskirtspress.com/marketing.php

New Book Review Gizmo Accurately Suggests Books for Any Personality

BlueRectangle.com recently launched the company's new web-based book review suggestion generator, The Bookulating Suggest-O-Mometer, a free application which suggests books for all interests and personality types, available at http://bluerectangle.com/

Going beyond the typical product suggestion formula of "if you like book A, then you're simply going to love book B," The Bookulating Suggest-O-Mometer factors in gender, personality traits, hobbies, age, and even politics when suggesting the best reads for each individual. "When we designed The Bookulating Suggest-O-Mometer, our mission was to create a much more accurate way of recommending books to our visitors. After much research, and several tested algorithms, we're quite pleased with the results," said Michael Johnson, owner of Blue Rectangle.

According to Blue Rectangle, The Suggest-O-Mometer is a fully-interactive, web-based application that is quick and easy to use. With a retro look coupled with the curious sounds of bursting steam and mysterious clanks, using the book review generator gives one the feeling of fidgeting with an old and fanciful steam-powered scientific calculating machine. "At Blue Rectangle, we want reading to be fun. That's why we've added the creative elements that make The Suggest-O-Mometer a unique and very enjoyable experience," said Johnson.

Under the hood, the Suggest-O-Mometer is a high-tech creation that blends photo-realistic design, a complex suggestion algorithm, and video output—all with hands-on functionality, to create an entertaining and productive web experience.

To enter their unique blend of personal and demographic factors, users operate the machine's switches, buttons and dials. The Suggest-O-Mometer's calculation results in a "completely accurate" list of three book review videos for users to watch online. "The response of our customers has been tremendous. Many have considered entirely new genres and subject matter based on the book reviews returned by The Bookulating Suggest-O-Meter," Johnson said.

BlueRectangle.Com is owned by Pacific Book Exchange LLC. The website offers hundreds of book reviews, and a convenient online book buyback program. 

Bookstores Facing Bleak Holiday Selling Season In Depressed Economy

Retailers are growing increasingly concerned about a bleak holiday selling season, and booksellers are no exception.

Net book sales decreased two percent in September 2008 to $1.062 billion, according to results reported by 80 publishers to the Association of American Publishers. Net sales for the nine months through September fell 1.5 percent to $7.718 billion.

A number of independent bookstores are being threatened as a result of the national economic crisis. Among the recent casualties closing their doors in the Southeast are Windows, a Bookstore in Monroe, La., and the Book Basket in Wetumpka, Ala.

In a special series advising independent booksellers on how to survive in the slumping U.S. economy, the American Booksellers Association tells retailers that buying remainders can help them get through tough economic times. The advice appeared in the Oct. 30 issue of ABA's online newsletter Bookselling This Week.

Remaindered books are books that have had much of their run and whose remaining unsold copies are being liquidated by the publisher at greatly reduced prices. Because they're often sold for as little as 10 percent of cover price, retailers can usually buy and then resell them for higher margins than they can new titles from the major publishing houses.

"In both good times and bad, many booksellers turn to remainders as a way to supplement and complement their inventory without breaking the bank," says Larry May of Bargain Book Bids, a Knoxville service that auctions remainders.

According to May, remainders in the U.S. are sold year-round by 100 or so dealers. They are also sold at several major trade shows. The first major remainder show upcoming is the Spring Book Show, scheduled for Friday-Sunday, March 6-8, at the Cobb Galleria Centre in Atlanta. Information on the show is available at www.springbookshow.com.

Breeni Books Launches Resource to Connect Authors/Bloggers

Internationally recognized book reviewer Sabrina Williams, of Breeni Books (www.breenibooks.com) has launched The Book Bloggers (http://breenibooks.today.com), a tool for authors and bloggers to connect for marketing collaboration. Authors will have the ability to familiarize themselves with reviewers before submitting a book for consideration, ensuring a more amiable audience for their work.

The Book Bloggers will feature an ongoing series of interviews with book bloggers from all backgrounds and areas of expertise. The interviews will be based on a standard set of questions, compiled to extract information pertinent to review submission. Each blog will be categorized based on types of books reviewed and services offered. Authors, publicists, and publishers are encouraged to browse categories for potential reviewers that will be best suited to the needs of a particular marketing campaign.

“Increasingly, authors and publishers are recognizing the impact viral marketing can play on a book campaign,” says Williams. “Consequently, the internet has become saturated with reviewers, eager for the opportunity to become a part of this fabulous new partnership. Often, authors are forced to submit countless blind review queries due to lack of submission guidelines or time constraints placed on the ability to research and seek out these reviewers. The Book Bloggers can remedy this problem by providing one centralized database of potential candidates.”

It can also ease the strain of flooded inboxes for reviewers. Often, reviewers must sort through misdirected queries for books and services not relevant to their scope and audience. Giving authors tools to familiarize themselves with a particular reviewer before a wasted query is sent can provide relief to both parties.

Interested book bloggers can obtain an interview by emailing breenibooks@gmail.com. The standard interview questions are also posted on The Book Bloggers "About" page for speedier processing. One blog is featured per day, and interview scheduling is based on the order in which answers are received.

From Screenwriter to Author, From Not In Control, to In Control

Seasoned writer Christopher J. Moore burst onto the literary scene with his gripping debut novel, "God's Child." He is now releasing his eagerly awaited second novel, "Waiting For Mr. Right."

After winning the Nickelodeon fellowship award in 2001, and launching his screenwriting career, Christopher J. Moore did something different than most screenwriters. He wrote a novel based on his award-winning screenplay. He said that it was a story that he had to get to the masses, and didn't want to depend on Hollywood to bring his story to fruition. So he published the book himself and took it to the streets, hitting book fairs, fraternity and sorority conventions, beauty salons, and anywhere readers were.

His book God's Child was a success, selling over 35,000 copies, and fans demanded more. So while writing for different Hollywood producers, and selling a screenplay to Our Stories Films, and working with Tyler Perry on his television show House Of Payne and Meet The Browns, writing a total of fifteen shows, he penned his second novel Waiting For Mr. Right. Talk about being busy. He says he writes all the time, working on several projects at the same time. He is a man on a mission, and says that he is more focused now than ever in his life.

Chris says he is more excited about his new novel then anything he has done so far. The book is about a smart and sexy woman named Dolores. And at the age of thirty-two, she is still a virgin. Just when she is about to commit body and soul to her fiancé Brad, she catches him cheating. After years of Waiting For Mr. Right, she says the hell with love and calls on her promiscuous best friend Liz to help her get laid. But in her journey to discover carnal knowledge, Dolores finds out what life, love, and sex are all about.

Chris hopes that this novel will spark conversations about relationships and sex. And make young people especially think about the choices they make when it comes to intimacy. He believes life is all about choices, and some of them we have to live with for the rest of our lives. His books are available at www.Clairvoyantbooks.com

Bestselling Book Reveals Secrets of Those Who Prospered During Great Depression

Which books inspired people to dig their way out of the Great Depression of the 1930s and what can we learn from those books today?

One of them was called That Something, a perennial bestseller that inspired million to get back on their feet and accomplish great things, even in the worst of times. That Something sold over three million copies in the first half of the twentieth century, inspired leading thinkers and writers such as Thomas Edison and Napoleon Hill, and was one of the source texts of Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich.

That Something tells the story of a man who graduated at the top of his class and had a bright future ahead of him. Then came the Great Depression of the 1930s, and like so many of his generation, he hit hard times. He found himself sleeping on the cold hard floor of a homeless shelter, with a hundred other men. His future looked grim.

While begging for food, he met a rich man who refused to give him even a bread crumb. Instead, he told him of a special formula for success, which he called "that something." Our hero used this formula to quickly move up the ranks of the largest business in town. Eventually he became one of the great success stories of his time.

The book explains very specific and practical secrets of success that readers in the Depression used and readers today can still use to get back on their feet and achieve great success despite their circumstances. The secrets are listed at the end of this article.

Executive Books has just published the first ever illustrated gift edition of That Something, which includes masterworks by Rembrandt, Rubens, Raphael, Leonardo, Michelangelo, and others. It is an inspiring quick read and the perfect gift for someone who has lost their job or home, struggling to make ends meet in a difficult economy.

The book can be purchased here.

Success Secrets From A Businessman Who Made Millions During the Great Depression

The secrets of success, even during a Depression, can be explained as follows. First, develop mental strategies, which include a clear sense of direction, confidence, self-control, will power, and courage.

Next, develop lifestyle strategies, including the purchase of a new wardrobe, moving to the right neighborhood, and making the right friends and contacts.

Next, develop work strategies, such as taking initiative and doing more than is asked, helping your colleagues after hours, being a team player, and above all, a giver. Whenever facing obstacles at work, embrace the challenge because life is a "marvelous adventure."

Never lost your sense of awe and wonder. Cultivate the child within, even in difficult moments. Laugh whenever you can. And when all else fails, practice gratitude, and focus on all the good things, including the gold, that everywhere surrounds you.

Eventually, through hard work you will master your craft. "Nothing is ever perfect," the hero says, "but nothing is impossible, either. Always do your best, and have faith that things will work out."

Omaha Author Launches Free Fiction Podcast

A new historical fantasy novel offers a glimpse of a world seldom seen in American fiction, ancient Japan. It is now available as a free audio fiction podcast for fiction listeners and readers worldwide.

Omaha-area author Travis Heermann launched his upcoming hardcover novel, Heart of the Ronin ($25.95, Five Star Publishing, February 2006), in free audio podcast format. The novel's setting in 13th-Century Japan is unique in American fiction and draws upon the author's extensive research and experiences living in Japan. The book tells the story of a young ronin samurai, a masterless warrior, and his quest to learn the truth about his father's mysterious magical sword and to save himself from the devilish machinations of an underworld crime boss known only as Green Tiger.

Heermann produces the podcast on his own time and budget, employing the voice talents of UNO student Danielle Steen to read the text. The podcast is being released in serialized weekly installments and is available through iTunes, Podcast Alley, Podiobooks.com, and RSS feed from the author's website, http://www.travisheermann.com/podcast/.

Heermann conceived the idea to release this novel in podcast form because of his strong belief in the explosion of "new media" publishing.

"The internet is producing a tremendous shift in the way readers enjoy books and how publishing works," Heermann says. "The tremendous success of podcast fiction authors such as Scott Sigler, Mur Lafferty, and J.C. Hutchins proves that tens of thousands of readers and listeners are subscribing, downloading, and enjoying fiction podcasts. Short fiction podcasts like the sci-fi-based Escape Pod have been noticed by mainstream publishing and sci-fi readers alike. And it's about time. I created this podcast to reach readers, and I have to say I enjoy the learning and creative aspects of it tremendously. It's a unique opportunity for authors to connect with their audience."

Travis Heermann is a freelance writer/author and a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the English Department at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He spent three years living in Japan and teaching English there in public schools, during which time he also researched and produced Heart of the Ronin. His goal with this novel was to harness his passion for Japanese history and culture and introduce a largely overlooked milieu to Western readers.

Packt Publishing seeks authors for new Beginner's Guide series

Packt Publishing has launched a new series of Beginner's Guide books designed to make open source tools and other advanced software accessible and usable for beginners. They are seeking authors to write these books.

"There are thousands of tremendous software tools out there," says series editor David Barnes. "The way they are designed, built and documented means they can often feel like they are created by experts, for experts. Newcomers often don't know what the software can even do, let alone how to do it."

Packt Beginner's Guides aim to overcome this problem. They teach newcomers a technology by presenting realistic, useful examples with clear step-by-step instructions.

Packt has already announced two Beginner's Guides on their web site: Moodle Course Conversion, due out next week, and WordPress Plugin Development, due out in January.

"If you're trying to teach a new application to somebody sitting next to you, you won't just give them loads of facts about it." Barnes continued, "Instead you'll guide them through some simple, useful operations before explaining them and then gradually moving on to more complex tasks. Beginner's Guides work like this. They feel more like a hands-on 'lab' than a lecture" he concluded.

Beginner's Guides are especially suitable for tools that aren't completely geeky, and aren't completely mainstream either. Tools such as Moodle, WordPress, Joomla!, and Drupal all suit this kind of 'learn by doing' approach.

Beginner's Guides take Packt's approach a step further by providing friendly step-by-step books on topics and tools that are just starting to be adopted by mainstream users. Not long ago, if you used a computer for anything more than typing a letter, sending email and using Google you were considered an expert. But now anybody can use a computer in a wide range of creative and interesting ways – from building web sites to making videos and music.

The need for friendly Beginner's Guides on a wide range of topics and tools is greater than ever. Packt is looking for authors to write books in the Beginner's Guide series.

"A good Beginner's Guide author thinks like a teacher," says David. "They need to be well versed and comfortable with the topic, so that while writing they can focus their attention on leading the reader into the topic area. We have plenty of editorial resources, templates, and guidelines that will help authors do just that." If you are well versed with the technology you want to write a book on and are keen to train new comers, you fit the bill.

Good English skills are also a big help of course! If you are interested in writing these Beginner's Guides please approach Packt at author@packtpub.com. Website: http://www.packtpub.com/authors

Book Publishers Slam Shut The Door On First-Time Authors

It is the old story of David and Goliath - only this time Goliath is standing on top of a 40-storey New York building. Sadly for a first-time author the pavement is the closest they're ever going to get to ever meeting an executive of big six book publishing conglomerates.

Want proof? Go to any of their websites. Random House, Penguin Putnam, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster all say 'Sorry we do not accept unsolicited submissions, proposals or manuscripts of any kind'.

That's fine if you're already in the door or you're the latest winner of Donald Trump's 'Apprentice'. But where does it leave everyone else?

Dale Beaumont, creator of http://www.getpublishedsecrets.com/, is one such author that proves there is hope. After months and months of struggling with the big end of town he decided to go down the path of self-publishing.

"It just got to the point where I realised that if I was ever going to get my book published I was going to have to do it myself", says Dale Beaumont.

Two years after making that decision Dale Beaumont is the author of fifteen published books which have collectively sold 250,000 copies. Not a bad effort considering he funded the entire process himself.

What's more, Dale Beaumont believes that he can now teach any first time author to duplicate his book publishing success any where in the world through a new program available at http://www.GetPublishedSecrets.com He bases his new program on the knowledge that he learnt from his experiences and journey as a self publisher as well as the expertise from world renowned book publishing experts from all over the world such as Dan Poynter and Mark Victor Hansen.

"Since releasing my books I've had literally hundreds of calls from writers, totally frustrated after years of rejection from big book publishers. So I interviewed every book publishing expert I could find and put together http://www.GetPublishedSecrets.com," say Dale Beaumont.

"The program teaches aspiring authors how to get through the back door of any book publisher or how to do-it-your and self publish like I have" he explains.

The program starts from the real basics, from actually writing your manuscript to editing, proofreading, choosing between book publishers or self publishing, distribution, marketing and other strategies to become not just an author but a best-selling, successful author.

Dale delves into unique strategies such as the internet and re-purposing that he has used to achieve great levels of success and openly shares how people all over the world can duplicate the implementation of these strategies.

"Thank you Dale for providing such in-depth information on how to get your book published. Some very important things I learnt were the ideas about producing a series, the pros and cons of publishing and self publishing, giving bonuses in your book and getting bookmarks done at the same time as printing. It has to be the most informative program I've been to. You gave us your all" says John Bates, one of Dale's publishing students.

So if you every dreamt of becoming a published author, you can download a free information kit containing a publishing CD and guide at http://www.getpublishedsecrets.com/

Scholastic Unveils One of Only Seven Original Copies of J.K. Rowling's "The Tales Of Beedle The Bard"

Scholastic unveiled one of only seven original copies of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," created, handwritten and illustrated by J.K. Rowling. The volume will be on view from December 4 through January 4 in a free exhibit at The New York Public Library's Humanities and Social Sciences Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street. The display coincides with the international publication of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." Besides the once in a lifetime opportunity for Harry Potter fans to view the interior and exterior of the original book the exhibit also includes a video of the owner reading one of the tales, and visuals of several pages of the book.

In addition, to celebrate the launch of the exhibit and the publication of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," Scholastic will donate 3 copies of the book to each of The New York Public Library's 87 branches, which are located throughout the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island.

The original copy, 157 pages bound in brown Moroccan leather and embellished with five hand-chased hallmarked sterling silver ornaments and mounted moonstones, is made available for public viewing with the permission of Arthur A. Levine, Scholastic co-editor of all seven books in the Harry Potter series. Arthur was one of only six people to receive an original edition of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard" as a personal gift from J.K. Rowling.

The seventh copy was given to the Children's High Level Group, a charity co-founded in 2005 by J.K. Rowling and Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne, MEP to make life better for vulnerable children. CHLG auctioned off its copy which was acquired by Amazon for $4 million in December 2007. The limited run New York Public Library exhibit is the only planned viewing in the U.S. of any of the seven original books created by J.K. Rowling.

In response to the many requests from fans who sought copies of "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," The Children's High Level Group will publish three versions of the book in cooperation with Scholastic, Bloomsbury and Amazon. These books will hit stores in the U.S., U.K. and online on December 4, 2008 and all net proceeds will go to supporting the work of the charity.

"The Tales of Beedle the Bard" is a wizarding classic which first came to Muggle readers' attention in "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows." One of these tales -- "The Tale of the Three Brothers" -- is recounted in the seventh Harry Potter novel. The remaining four stories are revealed for the very first time in "The Tales of Beedle the Bard." Thanks to Hermione Granger's new translation from the ancient runes, Scholastic proudly presents this stunning edition with an introduction, notes, and illustrations by J.K. Rowling, and extensive commentary by Albus Dumbledore.

For images and footage of Arthur Levine and J.K. Rowling reading from "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," visit http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/beedlethebard