We’re deep in winter now, and news in the book business continues to pile up at a furious pace. This week’s reads look at the power of Amazon, how ebooks fail, social media strategies, keeping focused on your work, and one person’s journey on the self-publishing path. Enjoy!
Sarah Lacy on Tech Crunch
First Amazon Took Down Booksellers…Are Publishers Next?
“It’s not that Amazon set out to destroy small book stores. They just offered a better option for a large number of people. Now, Amazon is increasingly offering small features here and there that taken together may start to make a traditional publisher a lot less necessary for authors.”
Elizabeth Carey Smith on The Letter Office
Function Following Form
“The biggest problem with e-readers—which is to say, devices specifically formatted for reading books and publications, since the iPad has other uses as well—is that they are a product designed for the makers’ gain, not the users’.”
Judy Clement Wall on Indie Book Collective
SHY EXPLORER SERIES: Asking the Experts: Bethanne Patrick
“Make sure your website and/or blog are in tip-top shape, and then go ahead and put yourself out there. You never know who might stop by.”
c.anne.gardner on POD People
Thoughts on: Can I Make Myself Any More Mental?
“And authors, if you find yourself saying: “Let me just quick check my stats first…” more than once a day, you might have a problem: that goes double for obsessing over Twitter Followers or Facebook Friend numbers. Shake it off man.”
Robert Shepherd on Marketing Tips for Authors
How I Went About Self Publishing
“You want to share your work with your kin and friends first, the world second and lastly to have a legacy to keep on the shelf long after you have gone.”
And for Something a Little Different . . .
Google Font Directory
“The Google Font Directory lets you browse all the fonts available via the Google Font API. All fonts in the directory are available for use on your website under an open source license and are served by Google servers.”
Photo by Andrew Ciscel
