Memoirs are still the hottest genre in the publishing industry, according to experts, so if you're asking, "How do I tell my story?" then you're in luck.
Larry Leichman, cofounder of Arbor Books (www.arborbooks.com), a top ghostwriting firm, says that despite recent controversies, memoirs still dominate The New York Times' best sellers lists and consistently rank as top sellers at Amazon.com, a situation Mr. Leichman says is related to our fascination with the lives of others.
The sales figures for the memoir genre support that opinion, jumping from $170 million in 1999 to nearly $300 million today, according to the Bowker Industry Report.
And, in recent years, many of the top memoirs have come from outside of the top publishers, often with the help of ghostwriters.
Mr. Leichman's company, Arbor Books has added more memoirists to its roster of ghostwriters in an effort to support the genre--one that Mr. Leichman's cofounder, Joel Hochman, says is alive and well through the help of self-publishers.
"Self-publishing a memoir used to be looked down upon," says Mr. Hochman, the other cofounder of Arbor Books. "It was once called 'vanity press,' but today that term no longer applies. The big publishers aren't keeping up with people's desires to tell their stories and ghostwriting firms are supporting people who have amazing life stories but who want them professionally written and marketed."
Recent years have seen the rise of the memoir. Barack Obama's "Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance" and "The Mercy Papers: A Memoir of Three Weeks" by Robin Romm are just two examples.
"These stories are very personal, and we want to offer our clients the chance to tell their own stories with help from professional writers who know how," says Mr. Leichman.
Ghosting a memoir is a common practice for public figures, including:
* Athletes
* Politicians
* Actors
* Business leaders
* Celebrities
Elements of most memoirs include the following:
* blistering honesty
* raw, unvarnished story-telling
* a clear theme
* lots of "movie" scenes (don't tell -- show)
* interesting characters
Whether it's the commitment of time or the inability to articulate their feelings, hundreds of authors have used ghostwriters to help tell their stories. Arbor Books believes there are great stories yet to be told--ones the traditional publishers have turned away.
Arbor Books provides an array of publishing services to their clients such as ghostwriting, editing, typesetting, design, printing, marketing and distribution.
Arbor Books is the only publishing firm catering to independent authors that is 100-percent insured against defamation and plagiarism, and it is associated with one of the most prestigious publishing law firms in the United States.
Arbor Books authors have appeared on CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, ABC News and FOXNews and have become columnists for major newspapers and magazines including USA Today.
Cofounders Joel Hochman and Larry Leichman are publishing-industry veterans and are listed in Literary Market Place. Their staff is capable of handling any genre and any size book.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Scribd Signs Deal With Simon & Schuster to Showcase and Sell Thousands of eBooks and Printed Titles
Scribd, the world's largest social publishing company, and Simon & Schuster, a leading global publisher, announced an agreement to sell Simon & Schuster eBooks in the Scribd Store, an e-commerce destination and publishing marketplace launched last month to complementScribd's already-popular platform for users' sharing their written works. At launch, nearly 5,000 Simon & Schuster eBook titles will be available on Scribd for purchase and download, making them readable on Scribd.com, computer desktops and various mobile devices.
The Simon & Schuster storefront on Scribd (www.scribd.com/Simon&Schuster) will include bestselling books from authors such as Stephen King, Dan Brown, Mary Higgins Clark, Chelsea Handler and Steve Martin. In addition, Simon & Schuster will also make thousands of printed titles available for preview with links to purchase from the Simon & Schuster website and other retailers.
All works in the Scribd Store are added to Scribd's Copyright Management System, an industry-leading technology that helps prevent the upload of unauthorized written works. Publishers like Simon & Schuster have the ability to determine how works are read, including settings for "read only on Scribd.com," "download" and "download with DRM." In addition, Scribd provides publishers with the flexibility to experiment with pricing, which can be changed easily and at any time.
Online Readers’ and Writers’ Community Popular
New changes to an already popular website for readers and writers are proving to be a big hit. www.worthyofpublishing.com was created by Kiwi entrepreneur Aaron Cook, to give writers the chance to gain free feedback on their manuscripts from the general public. Book lovers can preview and vote for what they would like to see published and available for sale on bookshelves, and leave comments to help authors improve their writing.
One of the most recent upgrades to the website was the message centre, which allows members to communicate with each other directly to share tips and ideas. This compliments the already popular comments section, where members post comments about a writers work for the public to view.
The website has also been made more transparent, so when a reader rates a book their rating is displayed beside the comment they have left for that book.
Cook says the new upgrades have proved to be very popular amongst members, and has definitely brought a more community feel to the website.
The overall concept originated from China around a decade ago. Since the establishment, it has helped numerous authors become recognized by the public and achieve dramatic success. It was mentioned at the most recent Frankfurt Bookfair that the world's eyes are on the growth of China's publishing industry, which has been driven by the internet.
Last year twenty percent of China's bestsellers originating from the internet, many of them have been previously unheard of authors discovered on similar types of websites to worthyofpublishing.com in China.
Just one of the many examples of a Chinese author becoming a huge success through the internet is Tian Xia Ba Chang, who wrote a book called “Candles Blown by a Ghost" which is a thriller/adventure novel. Over time this book reached over 3.6 million hits online and once finally published sold 500,000 copies in one year.
The highest rated manuscript currently on worthyofpublishing.com is Daniel Williamson's popular fantasy trilogy Magician, Man and Beast.
With most publishers cutting back on new titles due to the recession, authors must seek more ingenious ways to sell their manuscripts. New Zealand is famous for cultivating a 'can do' attitude towards opposition, often creating industry leaders. I feel the website serves to fill an important niche in the publishing process. Williamson says he often felt frustrated with the shortage of options available for emerging authors. It was surprising to me that although New Zealand has an international reputation for creating hit fantasy film franchises like 'The Lord of the Rings,' and 'The Chronicles of Narnia,'we don't publish any working fantasy titles of our own.
Since its inception, Williamson's book has attracted international exposure, providing honest 'real-time' critique. This is creative democracy at its best, giving the power of choice back to the people, and allowing authors invaluable feedback from potential readers.
Staying true to New Zealand's pioneering spirit Williamson has created a press-ready novel, complete with interior illustrations and cover. The distinctive, full-colour cover which he personally illustrated brings the time-honored elements of craftsmanship to his literary work. The cover can be viewed below, whereas several sample chapters can be viewed online for free at www.worthyofpublishing.com . Become directly involved in the publishing process and read tomorrow's bestsellers. The future of publishing is in your hands.
One of the most recent upgrades to the website was the message centre, which allows members to communicate with each other directly to share tips and ideas. This compliments the already popular comments section, where members post comments about a writers work for the public to view.
The website has also been made more transparent, so when a reader rates a book their rating is displayed beside the comment they have left for that book.
Cook says the new upgrades have proved to be very popular amongst members, and has definitely brought a more community feel to the website.
The overall concept originated from China around a decade ago. Since the establishment, it has helped numerous authors become recognized by the public and achieve dramatic success. It was mentioned at the most recent Frankfurt Bookfair that the world's eyes are on the growth of China's publishing industry, which has been driven by the internet.
Last year twenty percent of China's bestsellers originating from the internet, many of them have been previously unheard of authors discovered on similar types of websites to worthyofpublishing.com in China.
Just one of the many examples of a Chinese author becoming a huge success through the internet is Tian Xia Ba Chang, who wrote a book called “Candles Blown by a Ghost" which is a thriller/adventure novel. Over time this book reached over 3.6 million hits online and once finally published sold 500,000 copies in one year.
The highest rated manuscript currently on worthyofpublishing.com is Daniel Williamson's popular fantasy trilogy Magician, Man and Beast.
With most publishers cutting back on new titles due to the recession, authors must seek more ingenious ways to sell their manuscripts. New Zealand is famous for cultivating a 'can do' attitude towards opposition, often creating industry leaders. I feel the website serves to fill an important niche in the publishing process. Williamson says he often felt frustrated with the shortage of options available for emerging authors. It was surprising to me that although New Zealand has an international reputation for creating hit fantasy film franchises like 'The Lord of the Rings,' and 'The Chronicles of Narnia,'we don't publish any working fantasy titles of our own.
Since its inception, Williamson's book has attracted international exposure, providing honest 'real-time' critique. This is creative democracy at its best, giving the power of choice back to the people, and allowing authors invaluable feedback from potential readers.
Staying true to New Zealand's pioneering spirit Williamson has created a press-ready novel, complete with interior illustrations and cover. The distinctive, full-colour cover which he personally illustrated brings the time-honored elements of craftsmanship to his literary work. The cover can be viewed below, whereas several sample chapters can be viewed online for free at www.worthyofpublishing.com . Become directly involved in the publishing process and read tomorrow's bestsellers. The future of publishing is in your hands.
Monday, July 13, 2009
2.25 Million eBooks at World eBook Fair
The Fourth World eBook Fair will provide over 3 million digital items from July 4 - August 4, 2009. This includes approximately 2.25 million eBooks, with a further 1,000 new items being added per business day during the month long celebration of the birthday of eBooks. EBooks were first realized by Project Gutenberg on July 4, 1971 at the University of Illinois.
The first day of the Fair saw over 1 million downloads, including popular titles such as Jane Austen's "Emma," Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women," and Joseph Conrad's "Nostromo."
New high speed Internet connections and Web servers are in place to handle the vast reponse expected from the public, seeking free access to much of the world's great literature. This year, many readers will use their iPhones, Sony Readers, Kindles, MP3 players and a host of other devices, in addition to desktop and notebook computers.
New software and converstion programs have been in place for months of testing to encourage reading a book any time, any place, day and night, wherever people might want to read, research, or otherwise enjoy their library of eBooks at www.worldebookfair.org
"This is a fantastic use of the new $80 terabyte disk drives, as each terabyte will hold about 2.25 million compressed eBooks," says eBook inventor Michael S. Hart, co-founder of The World eBook Fair. "Never before has the common person had the ability to create their own `personal library,' just as a few decades ago common persons never had the capability of owning their own computer."
These sentiments are shared by John Guagliardo, of The World Public Library, who co-founded the Fair and supplies much of the infrastructure, websites, and support for The World eBook Fair. Guagliardo also hosts a .pdf eLibrary of Project Gutenberg content, online at http://www.gutenberg.cc/ and http://www.worldpublic.library/
Brewster Kahle, of The Internet Archive, has donateed an eLibrary of about 1.5 million eBooks to the effort and these can be found year round at http://www.archive.org/ . All told, over 2.25 million eBooks, and another half-million other items such as movies and audio recordings, will be available.
Another contributor to the World eBook Fair is EBooksAboutEverything, which has provided over 130,000 titles. When combined with content from other contributors, 2.25 million eBooks in myriad languages and formats will be available. These are readable on computers, cell phone, Kindles, and virtually every other device for displaying digital content.
The World eBook Fair is a celebration of freely available literature, accessible worldwide. These eBooks and other content will enrich, educate, and empower their readers.
Websites: http://http://www.gutenberg.org/
http://www.worldpubliclibrary.org/
http://www.ebooksabouteverything.com/
http://www.archive.org/details/texts
The first day of the Fair saw over 1 million downloads, including popular titles such as Jane Austen's "Emma," Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women," and Joseph Conrad's "Nostromo."
New high speed Internet connections and Web servers are in place to handle the vast reponse expected from the public, seeking free access to much of the world's great literature. This year, many readers will use their iPhones, Sony Readers, Kindles, MP3 players and a host of other devices, in addition to desktop and notebook computers.
New software and converstion programs have been in place for months of testing to encourage reading a book any time, any place, day and night, wherever people might want to read, research, or otherwise enjoy their library of eBooks at www.worldebookfair.org
"This is a fantastic use of the new $80 terabyte disk drives, as each terabyte will hold about 2.25 million compressed eBooks," says eBook inventor Michael S. Hart, co-founder of The World eBook Fair. "Never before has the common person had the ability to create their own `personal library,' just as a few decades ago common persons never had the capability of owning their own computer."
These sentiments are shared by John Guagliardo, of The World Public Library, who co-founded the Fair and supplies much of the infrastructure, websites, and support for The World eBook Fair. Guagliardo also hosts a .pdf eLibrary of Project Gutenberg content, online at http://www.gutenberg.cc/ and http://www.worldpublic.library/
Brewster Kahle, of The Internet Archive, has donateed an eLibrary of about 1.5 million eBooks to the effort and these can be found year round at http://www.archive.org/ . All told, over 2.25 million eBooks, and another half-million other items such as movies and audio recordings, will be available.
Another contributor to the World eBook Fair is EBooksAboutEverything, which has provided over 130,000 titles. When combined with content from other contributors, 2.25 million eBooks in myriad languages and formats will be available. These are readable on computers, cell phone, Kindles, and virtually every other device for displaying digital content.
The World eBook Fair is a celebration of freely available literature, accessible worldwide. These eBooks and other content will enrich, educate, and empower their readers.
Websites: http://http://www.gutenberg.org/
http://www.worldpubliclibrary.org/
http://www.ebooksabouteverything.com/
http://www.archive.org/details/texts
Monday, July 6, 2009
Book Publisher Reinvents Industry, Inspires 60 Million With Viral Movies
A small, young company in Naperville, Illinois is quietly reinventing the traditional book publishing model in three innovative ways: by publishing gift books for the corporate market, translating viral marketing into a profitable business model and delivering directly to customers who order online. The company, http://www.simpletruths.com/, is Mac Anderson's brainchild. A long time presence in inspirational and motivational circles, Mr. Anderson is the founder of Successories, the leader in motivational and recognition products. After selling Successories, Mr. Anderson started Simple Truths in the fall of 2005. Today, the company emails Mac Anderson's Simple Truths newsletter, with inspiring stories and short inspirational videos, to over 900,000 people. Anyone that is in need of a shot of inspiration may subscribe to Simple Truths' free newsletter.
Publishing Corporate Gift Books by Best-Selling Authors
Simple Truths' books weave photography, words and art work together into compact gift books that can be read in about 30 minutes. Featuring more than 40 gift books with over 600 stories on a variety of topics including leadership, customer service, ethics and goal-setting, Simple Truths' author list reads like a "best of" business list: Brian Tracy, Ken Blanchard, Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, General Hal Moore and Andy Andrews. Best-sellers include: 212: the Extra Degree and The Dash: Making a Difference with Your Life and The Simple Truths of Service: Inspired by Johnny the Bagger.
Translating Viral Marketing into a Profitable Business Model
In 2006 Simple Truths produced a short movie based upon their best-selling inspiration gift book, The Dash [ http://www.thedashmovie.com/ ], as a test. If people liked reading the book would they want to watch a free movie about it online? With over 30 million views worldwide, The Dash is one of the Internet's most-watched movies. Every day, 55,000 people tune into http://simpletruths.com/movies to watch the company's collection of over 30 inspirational movies (the movies have generated over 60 million views to date).
Publishing Corporate Gift Books by Best-Selling Authors
Simple Truths' books weave photography, words and art work together into compact gift books that can be read in about 30 minutes. Featuring more than 40 gift books with over 600 stories on a variety of topics including leadership, customer service, ethics and goal-setting, Simple Truths' author list reads like a "best of" business list: Brian Tracy, Ken Blanchard, Zig Ziglar, John Maxwell, General Hal Moore and Andy Andrews. Best-sellers include: 212: the Extra Degree and The Dash: Making a Difference with Your Life and The Simple Truths of Service: Inspired by Johnny the Bagger.
Translating Viral Marketing into a Profitable Business Model
In 2006 Simple Truths produced a short movie based upon their best-selling inspiration gift book, The Dash [ http://www.thedashmovie.com/ ], as a test. If people liked reading the book would they want to watch a free movie about it online? With over 30 million views worldwide, The Dash is one of the Internet's most-watched movies. Every day, 55,000 people tune into http://simpletruths.com/movies to watch the company's collection of over 30 inspirational movies (the movies have generated over 60 million views to date).
Talk Radio Wants You: An Intimate Guide to 700 Shows and How to Get Invited
Francine Silverman, publisher of Book Promotion Newsletter, a bi-weekly ezine for authors, has just debuted a new book designed to help authors land radio interviews. Talk Radio Wants You: An Intimate Guide to 700 Shows and How to Get Invited (McFarland & Co. 2009, ISBN 978-0-7864-4033-7).The book includes what most radio websites fail to do - provide the theme of each show and guest criteria. It also provides the host's opinion of the best and worst guest, the preferred method of contact, what potential guests should do if there is no response and how they determine who gets invited back.
Both Internet and terrestrial shows are featured in 40 categories, along with contact information for more than 80 top radio shows not included in the categories. The list is based upon Talkers Magazine's Heavy Hundred and from its top 101-250 -- everyone from #2 Sean Hannity to Mike Malloy. (Rush Limbaugh, #1, is not included because he does not have guests). The Appendix contains three articles, "33 Radio Interview Tips" by book marketing expert and book publicist Scott Lorenz of Westwind Communications; "Top 10 Telephone Tips" by Joe Sabah; and "Getting Invited Back" by Judith Sherven and Jim Sniechowski.
An Authors Access reviewer says: "Imagine being able to sit down with a coffee and discuss with hundreds of radio hosts what kind of guests they'd like to book. You can do just that with Francine Silverman's new book Talk Radio Wants You: An Intimate Guide to 700 Shows and How to Get Invited. I have paid $300 or more for talk radio show databases that had far less information than Francine presents in her highly-competitively priced book"
A discount is available by ordering directly from the author. http://www.talkradioadvocate.com/
Monday, June 29, 2009
Tate Publishing to Create iPhone Applications to Market Authors' Books
Tate Publishing announced today the creation of a new service for Tate Publishing authors. The company will create an iPhone application so that users can connect with Tate Publishing authors and buy their books directly from the Tate Publishing bookstore.
The new Tate Publishing application can be used on computers and iPhones and will allow the user to connect directly to the author to learn their motivation behind the creation of their favorite books. In addition, these applications will link the users to the Tate Publishing online store to purchase the electronic versions.
Tate Publishing is the first book publisher to offer connectivity through an iPhone application. Company President and CEO, Ryan Tate, commented on the impending service, “We offer more opportunities, services and distribution than any other publisher.
While most would be content with this position, we never are. We want to always press to deliver more for our authors and the publishing industry and continue to distance ourselves from everyone else.”
Tate Publishing is an industry leader in sales and volumes and is known for their remarkable history of helping more first time authors succeed than any other book publisher. Ryan Tate credits their large scale success to their drive to ‘accomplish the impossible.’ Tate says, “Accomplishing the impossible is our calling, it is who we are. At Tate Publishing we wake up every morning and work harder than anyone else to see our authors, titles and this publishing house succeed. We not only consider our work a blessing, but to serve authors and have the opportunity to see lives changed and entertained by our products is amazing.”
Tate Publishing is expected to launch the iPhone application mid-summer.
Consumers who would like more information on the iPhone application can read Ryan Tate’s blog at http://www.tatepublishingblog.com or visit the main site, http://www.tatepublishing.com .
The new Tate Publishing application can be used on computers and iPhones and will allow the user to connect directly to the author to learn their motivation behind the creation of their favorite books. In addition, these applications will link the users to the Tate Publishing online store to purchase the electronic versions.
Tate Publishing is the first book publisher to offer connectivity through an iPhone application. Company President and CEO, Ryan Tate, commented on the impending service, “We offer more opportunities, services and distribution than any other publisher.
While most would be content with this position, we never are. We want to always press to deliver more for our authors and the publishing industry and continue to distance ourselves from everyone else.”
Tate Publishing is an industry leader in sales and volumes and is known for their remarkable history of helping more first time authors succeed than any other book publisher. Ryan Tate credits their large scale success to their drive to ‘accomplish the impossible.’ Tate says, “Accomplishing the impossible is our calling, it is who we are. At Tate Publishing we wake up every morning and work harder than anyone else to see our authors, titles and this publishing house succeed. We not only consider our work a blessing, but to serve authors and have the opportunity to see lives changed and entertained by our products is amazing.”
Tate Publishing is expected to launch the iPhone application mid-summer.
Consumers who would like more information on the iPhone application can read Ryan Tate’s blog at http://www.tatepublishingblog.com or visit the main site, http://www.tatepublishing.com .
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