Friends –
Pardon the light post today. I’m in a race to finish my third Marty Singer mystery, Signs, before next week when one of my redoubtable beta-readers has asked for it. But I’ve recently stumbled across three interesting links and services that deserve a gander.
1. KB Resource List
The Writers Cafe over at Kindleboards.com has recently compiled a list of resources of all types for writers. While there are links to cover artists, e-book formatting tutorials, etc., many of the links are applicable to all writing (editing resources, for instance), not just self-publishing.
You may have to be patient, as several of the areas seem to be a work in-progress (like “Legal”). Find it here.
2. KB free-ebook promotion
Back to Kindleboards! For self-publishers: Kindleboards has also gotten into the free e-book promotion game. Much like E-reader News Today and Pixel of Ink, KB will send out a blast to their subscribers when you run a free promotion. It requires a registration, but there’s no cost.
I should note that it does not appear that the promotion goes to KB’s 60,000+ registered users; the promotion is targeted to their Facebook subscribers, Twitter followers, blog subscribers, and newsletter subscribers. This is still a substantial promotional push–they have almost 9,000 Likes on Facebook alone–just not the small-American-city of users you were licking your chops over.
Find out more as a forum topic or as a stand-alone page…same information.
If you lose these links, they are also “sticky” posts at the Writes Cafe sub-forum of Kindleboards.com. Just check the top of the page. If you want more info about Kindleboards and its uses, I wrote a post about it a few months ago.
3. Payhip
A recent issue of Smashing magazine high-lighted an e-book fulfillment service located in the UK called Payhip. This London-based startup allows you to upload your books, create pages for them, and sell them directly to readers with no cut…100% profit for the author. They handle hosting, delivery (by email and dedicated link provided to the customer), and payment directly to you via Paypal. They have preview capability (like Amazon’s “Look Inside”), batch upload (you can upload .zip file of all your book’s many formats), and a simple Order and Download History page to track sales.
There is no fee; they suggest there will be premium services available for purchase in the future, but that standard e-book sales will always be free. I’ve asked if coupons and discounts are one of those services and will let you know what I find out. Also, note that Payhip isn’t an e-book retailer, only a transaction service, so there’s no browsing of books, etc.
Direct fulfillment isn’t anything new, but Payhip’s approach seem to be more professional than most. I’ll be investigating their services further, for certain.
As with any service provider, please do your own due diligence before using. I don’t endorse these products…I’m just reporting on them!