The BookExpo America has come and gone, and the statistics on eBooks look stronger than ever. Amidst the uncertainty about the future, there’s lots of books to publish. And that means lots of books to sell. A look at special sales, an “Author-services Index,” CreateSpace, hiring an editor, Amazon’s John Fine speaking out, and Apple opening the iBookstore to self-publishers. We’re on a roll. Enjoy.

Jonathan Fields on Tribal Author
How Sell 1,000s of Books to Giant Discount Stores and Groups
“Enter the relatively secretive world of what’s known as ‘special sales’ (with Brian Jud). Massive, non-returnable bulk order for either retail or internal distribution.”

Mick Rooney on POD, Self-Publishing and Independent Publishing
POD Index for Author Solutions Services – Coming Soon
“In the autumn of 2010 we will be posting all our reviews with a rating, and any new reviews since February 2010 have automatically had a posted rating at the bottom of the review.”

Christy Pinheiro on The Publishing Maven
CreateSpace is NOT Subsidy Publishing
“I attribute part of my success to my ability to manipulate Amazon and CreateSpace. I think that Amazon has a vested interest in promoting books that generate more revenue for them, and I think they do it.”

Linda Lane on Blood Red Pencil
What Is an Editor?
“So how do you find an editor who will take your gem in the rough and shape it into a Hope Diamond? The following is an excerpt from my writing/editing workshop manual.”

Erin L. Cox on Publishing Perspectives
Amazon’s Jon Fine on Self-Publishing, Plans to Publish in Translation, and More
“At the end of the day, we want to provide more books for more people in more ways, and we are constantly innovating to achieve those goals. It is a really exciting time for authors.”

Jeff Smykil on Ars Technica
Apple opens iBookstore to self-publishers
“Apple has opened the floodgates for aspiring authors by revealing a system that allows for self-publishing on the iBookstore without having to sign up with a publishing service like Smashwords or Lulu.”

And for Something Completely Different . . .

Darren Rowse on Digital Photography School
How to Get Your Camera Back When You Lose It
“Most of us photographers have a few ‘worst nightmare scenarios’. One of them is losing our cameras. Andrew McDonald has a strategy just for you that will increase the chance of getting your camera back.”

Image: Flickr.com / Nancee_art