Welcome to the 21st Century
Publishing Update newsletter. Published about twice a month it is
your source for news and trends in the changing publishing world.
Issue 09 (4 Oct 2001)
In This Issue:
-JD Writes
-New This Week
-Promoting Your Book with Signature
Files
- Author's Q & A
- News & Updates
- Resources
-New Last Time (in case you missed it)
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JD WRITES
Hi,
It's been almost a month since my last issue - and
what a month.
The economic dislocation following the horrendous
terrorist attacks in America has wreaked havoc in many sectors,
including some online publishing ventures such as Contentville (see News
& Updates). However, the writing community is joining other
industries in getting back to work, in a show of strength. It's a tough
time to be writing about more frivolous matters, but it is important to
remember that everyone needs a break from the relentless news coverage.
People need to escape into art, music and literature at a time like
this, and we writers fill an important role in helping people relax and
recuperate.
This issue is coming to you with complete articles
rather than links to articles at the website. If you prefer this form
(or if you hate it and want me to switch back) do drop a line to editor@jdwrite.com
and let me know.
Don't forget you can also see the HTML version of this
at The Update's home online and you can find each individual item or
article by going to the website
Best wishes (and keep writing!),
Julie
NEW THIS WEEK
ARTICLES
Promoting
Your Book - Signature Files
by
Julie Duffy
To
Do:
Include a signature file on every
email, every newsgroup post
What Is A Signature File?
A signature file is a short text
message that follows the body of your message – in emails or in posts
to message boards, newsgroups and email lists.
It is frowned upon to advertise a
product or service in these forums. If you have a product or service
that might interest the other members of the community, the accepted way
to tell them about it is to put some information in a signature file.
The signature file should not be
longer than 50 characters to a line (including spaces). Some email
programs, but not all, break lines at around 50 characters. The best way
for you to determine the look of your sig file, is to introduce your own
line-breaks at fewer than 50 characters.
Examples:
My
signature file currently contains this text:
--
Julie
Duffy
The
21st Century Publishing Update is here!
Articles for authors, small presses and self-publishers.
To
subscribe send an email to: WritePublish@yahoogroups.com
In some email programs it would be
chopped up to look like this:
--
Julie Duffy
www.jdwrite.com
The 21st
Century Publishing Update is here!
Articles for authors, small presses and self-publi
shers.
To
subscribe send an email to: WritePublish@yahoog
roups.com
This renders it unreadable and
u-g-l-y! It also breaks the email address, so that it is no longer a
functioning hyperlink. To avoid this, I forced some line breaks as
follows:
--
Julie Duffy
The
21st Century Publishing Update is here!
Articles for authors, small presses,
and self-publishers.
To
subscribe send an email to:
WritePublish@yahoogroups.com
Length
The signature file I just showed you
has 9 lines, including the divider and the blank line. This is really
too long. The signature should not be longer than 4-6 lines in total
(including dividers and blank lines. Any longer and it takes up too much
space. Any longer and no one will read it.
The shorter version of my signature
file doesn’t give people as much information, but gives them the
basics: my name, my web site address, announces my newsletter and gives
subscription information.
It reads:
--
Julie Duffy
www.jdwrite.com
Get
The 21st Century Publishing Update!
email: WritePublish@yahoogroups.com
Focus
For similar reasons you should pitch
one thing only in each signature file. If you have three books on
similar topics, OK. Otherwise, create different signature files for
different audiences. If you try to advertise everything you do, I blip
over your sig file without taking anything in.
Format
When giving a web address, include
‘http://’ before the ‘www’ part. This will allow older email
programs to identify and represent the address as a hyperlink. This, in
turn, allows readers to click on the link. Otherwise they will have to
copy and paste or, heaven forbid, retype the URL, misspelling and
messing up as they go. Don’t make people work hard to find your site.
Likewise, make sure that email addresses do not flow over line-breaks.
Don’t get too fancy – especially
if you are posting to newsgroups or email lists. ASCII art can be cute
when I’m in the mood but appended to every email you send that rabbit
drawn entirely in Xs and Os starts to bring out the Elmer Fudd in me.
Always remember that different
people look at email in different formats. Me? I always read my email in
Plain Text, because I hate what some people do with backgrounds and
fonts. Other people have their email program set up to boost the
font-size on all incoming mail. Therefore, do not spend too much time
trying to lay words precisely across the page, using spaces or tabs. It
may not look the way you intended when it arrives in someone else’s
inbox.
What
should go in your Sig File?
If you are an author promoting a
book your signature file should contain:
***
Before you finalize your signature file, use the
following checklist to make sure it meets the rules:
Checklist
-
Is each line less than 50
characters long?
-
Is the total sig file fewer than
six lines?
-
Are all web addresses prefixed
by ‘http://’?
-
Are all web addresses and email
addresses unbroken by line breaks?
-
Did you mention how to buy?
back
to top
AUTHOR'S
Q&A
This
week Rod writes:
Hi,
I'm wondering what is the fastest way
to get an barcode for my self-published book.
Also, is the ISBN different from the
Library of Congress number?
………………………………….
Hi Rod,
The fastest way to get a barcode, if
you are creating your cover electronically, is to get a copy of a
barcode font software package like Azalea (http://www.azalea.com).
Make sure you generate a Bookland/EAN barcode, as this is the one
booksellers will scan for.
There is more barcode information
online, for example, The
Barcode Software Center.
The International Standard Book Number
(ISBN) is a separate number from the Library of Congress Card Catalog
Number (LCCN or LOC#). The ISBN is a ten-digit number used primarily by
booksellers to locate and order your title. The first few numbers of an
ISBN are the publishing house's prefix and all books with that prefix
come from that publishing house.
Library of Congress numbers represent a
separate cataloguing system and are used primarily by librarians. The
first two digits of the LCCN indicate the year in which the book was
released (i.e. a book published in 1999 would have a LCCN that looks
something like this: 99-12345).
The ISBN is incorporated into, and
printed above, the barcode (as well as being printed on the copyright
page). You will need a different ISBN for each edition or binding of
your title (including electronic editions). This ensures that a
bookseller can order the correct edition or binding, since each has a
unique identifying number.
Conversely, your title will only ever
have one LCCN, no matter how many editions or different bindings you
get. The Library of Congress will expect you to send them two copies of
the best edition of the book (preferably hard back) for their stacks.
Just to keep things interesting: The
Library of Congress number should not be confused with the Library of
Congress Cataloguing-In-Print information, which is a series of
categories under which your title can be filed. This is printed on the
copyright page. Nor should it be confused with the Copyright
Registration number, which the Library of Congress also issues - but
only if you specifically apply for it. Applying for one of these numbers
or services does not automatically mean you get the others.
For information on obtaining an ISBN go
to the
ISBN Agency's website.
For information on obtaining an LCCN to go the Library
of Congress website.
Hope this helps!
Julie
NEWS
& UPDATES
Contentville is Ghost-town
4 Oct 2001
Steve Brill's attempt to provide a
home for electronic content has been closed. Contentville was launched
in early 2000. It offered magazine articles, dissertations, short
content and electronic books. Like Fatbrain before it, Contentville
suffered from the reading public's current unwillingness to convert to
electronic documents. Contentville also briefly ran into copyright
problems when it displayed content without compensating the
copyright-holders.
Interestingly, Inside.com, the
publishing news site, doesn't seem to have a story on this - or maybe I
just missed it. (Contentville's founder Steve Brill is Inside's
CEO.)
more:
Reuters
Article
Associated Press Article
Contentville's Homepage & Announcement
Penguin dives
into e-publishing
4 Oct 2001
Venerable British publisher, Penguin,
has launched e-Penguin with some best-selling novels and non-fiction.
Books are available in Microsoft Reader and Adobe Acrobat formats.
more:
e-Penguin's
home page
RESOURCES
New
this week:
new!Writer's
Online Marketplace Updates
Debbie Ohi is back! Debbie, founder of the late,
much-lamented site Inkspot is back in the market for freelance writing
jobs and is trawling the job boards and guidelines for leads.
Characteristically, she's sharing the information online. This page
serves as a companion to her print book: Writer's Online Marketplace
(Writers Digest 2000).
Now isn't this how Inkspot got started...?
new!Speculations
Speculations is an online
resource for writers who wish to break into or increase their presence
within the science fiction, fantasy, horror, or "other"
speculative fiction genres
new!The
Book and The Computer
A Japanese site about the Future of the Printed Book.
This links to the English version of the site
new!The
Writer's Lounge
A site for essayists and creative non-fiction writers.
Contains articles, interviews, markets and more
new!Helicon
Plus
Finally, a POD solution for those wishing to
publish in Russian (or in Russia). Helicon's POD program is an outgrowth
of a traditional, royalty-based small press.
new!Neighborhood
Press
A new entry into
the field (judging by the fact that some of their links are still under
construction). Seems to be operating on a rights-based traditional
publishing model
new!On-Demand
Press
If you are a self-publisher who doesn't want
to give up control of distribution to a POD firm, On-Demand Press might
be the best solution for you. Operating more like a printer than a POD
company, they quote you a production price for books (sample price for a
300 page book: $5.28 each). You can order short runs to be shipped to
you or your preferred distributor or elect to have On-Demand
Press take orders and drop-ship as the orders come in. Also offers
'total solutions' (design, editorial etc.).
new!PageFree
Publishing
Another company using Lightning
Source for its printing. Doesn't take rights and does allow you to set
the price of your book (within certain limits, of course). Seems to
offer page design, cover design, ISBN and distribution support.
Publishing Agreement talks about a 20% wholesale discount. This is
smaller than the standard discount wholesalers and booksellers prefer.
new!Podium
A
Swedish "cultural-political project aimed at investigating how
print on demand technology can be used optimally to broaden the range of
quality Swedish and foreign literature."
NEW LAST TIME
THE 21st CENTURY GUIDE TO PRINT ON-DEMAND PUBLISHING
Part IV
Fourth in a series
This article, "Which Company?"
*introduces the different business models,
*defines the most commonly-offered services,
*helps you analyze the services of POD companies,
and more...
PROMOTING YOUR BOOK
ONLINE
This article is full of tips for:
*promoting online without getting 'flamed'
*making sure your message doesn't get ignored
*finding online communities for your subject
and more...
AUTHOR'S Q & A
This author's question focuses on starting an e-zine.
NEWS & UPDATES
Xlibris Raises Book Prices...
MWA partners for POD...
Oxford American Magazine pleads for its life...
ABOUT JDWRITE
JDWrite is the online home of writer, journalist and former Xlibris Director of Author Services, Julie McCarroll Duffy.
Julie has expert knowledge of the new world of publishing: Print On-Demand, self-publishing, online publishing, eBooks, the
evolving publishing industry and more. Her role at Xlibris was
to work with authors to help them understand these developments, to listen to authors' needs and communicate those to the
company. She has been a speaker at writers' conferences around the US and seeks to continue to educate authors to understand
their ever-increasing opportunities in the publishing world. After following her husband's career from their native Scotland
to the US, Julie is working on a book about Trailing Spouse Syndrome,
and a book about Print On-Demand Publishing.
All content copyright 2001 Julie Duffy.
For permission to reprint articles, contact the editor at
jd@jdwrite.com.
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