E-Book Karma~ What Goes Around Comes Around

“To write what is worth publishing, to find honest people to publish it, and get sensible people to read it, are the three great difficulties in being an author.”
~Charles Caleb Colton quotes

By Erin Chavez

That quote sums it all up, doesn’t it? The hope, the fear, the feelings that well up inside of you… if only there was a crystal ball to help us all out— to show us how to obtain what we really want for the life of our books. Unfortunately, there is no such thing. You have to pull up your bootstraps and start shoveling through the piles of information that we, as authors, need to sift through to make our most informed decisions.

I am sure you have at least looked into your publishing options . . . traditional publishing, self-publishing, amazon.com publishing and maybe you have even thought about starting your own website to sell your books on your own. It’s a crazy business, isn’t it? You have so many choices—how do you know what the best choice for you will be? That is a decision that is completely up to you. You have to choose how you are going to get your book out to the world, how you are going to get people to actually purchase your book, and ultimately how you are going to profit from your book—your blood, sweat and tears.

I am here to tell you about one option that you may not have heard of yet. I am owner of a spankin’ new online publishing business called, “ebooKarma”. It is designed to allow writers the chance to get their books out to the world with no cost to them, and earn a 50% royalty. Plain and simple—that is all there is to ebooKarma. The process is quite simple:

· You send in the first five pages of your book for approval.
· After approved, you will receive an agreement via USPS to sign. (This agreement is much more for the author’s sake than ebooKarma’s sake.)
· Included with the agreement will be a checklist that I use to make sure all steps are completed. You will even see what steps take place “behind the scenes,” including what emails you will receive after publication, and what efforts ebooKarma makes to market your book for you. (This sheet is purely FYI, so you can check off the requirements for which you are responsible.)
· Next, you send a cover in JPEG (if you don’t have one, we have a graphic designer that can create one for you at a discount price), your book in PDF, keywords, a short description, a long description, and a bio of yourself.

Done. That is all there is to it. Sure, there may be questions and clarifications along the way, but we get those ironed out quickly. When you start selling your books on ebooKarma, you will receive a 50% royalty that is deposited directly into your PayPal account. (You can choose an actual check if you wish.) You can even sign up to be an affiliate with ebooKarma, so if while promoting your own book, somebody goes to the site and buys another book… you earn 20% on that sale.

See, I told you this was simple! You can even still publish your books on other websites (including amazon.com and kindle). All I ask is that you don’t sell your book any cheaper on another site.

There are no hidden agendas here. No surprises. It is a straightforward process where everybody wins in the end! The slogan for ebooKarma is, “What goes around comes around.” It is my goal to provide the best service for you and to help you succeed… and in turn, I hope the same will happen for ebooKarma.

Here are some links you might find useful:

· Sell an Ebook
· Agreement
· ebooKarma (where the magic happens…)
· News & Updates (Check out the stat on ebook sales!)

I truly hope you will find the value that ebooKarma can offer you. You can even call me on my cell at 469-360-6918 if you want. I am an “open book” available to answer any questions and take all comments and suggestions.

Erin Chavez
www.ebooKarma.com
Writing Contest with $500 grand prize. Other prizes too! (All entries eligible for publication.)

Calling for Submissions for August 2009 E-zine

It's time for me to start putting together the next fantastic and information-filled e-zine for August 2009. That means I need you to send me your articles, contest announcements, and brags to be included in the next issue. We have more than enough book reviews, but if I have room for them, I'll include them.

Read our guidelines for submittal here. Remember, the better your piece is written, the better attention and credibility it receives--and the less editing I have to do.

Editor's Corner July 2009

My daughter, Sareya, gave birth to her baby at 12:24 a.m. on June 24, 2009. He weighed in at 9 pounds and 11.8 ounces and measured 21.5 inches long. Baby Liam and his mommy are doing well. Scott is the proud father. Here’s a photo. Amanda, my son’s wife, is due to give birth to Jonas next week! We are a growing and happy family.

I promised you an update on my research about short discounts for printing color books. Thanks to the information I have gathered from Aaron Shepard, Morris Rosenthal, and Dana Lynn Smith, I have discovered that Ingram will not deal with publishers who have fewer than ten books in print, and even then it may be difficult. So, I have opened an account at Lightning Source to make my book The Sid Series of holistic children’s stories available for printing there. They charge about $100 to upload the file and prepare it for printing. The whole process takes several weeks: you upload file, they process it, you approve it, Ingram adds it to their database, and Amazon eventually lists the book. Then, it will automatically become available through B&N.com, libraries, and anyone else who orders through Ingram.

Even though my book will be listed in Ingram’s catalogue, I probably won’t get many sales in bricks and mortar stores because I am not offering the typical “no return” policy and I am only offering a 25% discount to book retailers. Retail bookstores don’t take too kindly to that because they normally ask for publishers to sell a book to them for 55% discount and they want their money back if the book doesn’t sell within a short time period. However, bookstores could place special orders at the request of customers, which is the same deal you get with most POD publishers.

My color-printed, 48-page book will be available on Amazon.com for about 10 percent off the retail price. Since my publicity and 90% of the sales for all my books are transacted online, I will focus on selling the book through my own Web site. I’m still waiting for my illustrators to get finished with the artwork. Once they are done, I’ll compile all twelve stories into one printed book. Target pub date is September 2009.

I hope you enjoy this issue of WITS E-zine. There is a lot of great information from our subscribers.

The Writing Life: Thinking Outside the Box

The universe is still laughing at my plan to spend the lengthening days of June outdoors under the stars. It has rained for all but two days in June.

Since I typically do my best writing after a hike in the woods, the weather has cramped my style on several levels. Even if I were lucky, I’m not immune to writer’s block, which is why I keep several books, like Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones on my bookshelf.

One of my favorite exercises is the one Goldberg calls “The Action of a Sentence.” Here are the rules:

1. Fold a sheet of paper in half the long way
2. On the left side of the page, list any ten nouns
3. Turn the paper over to the right column
4. Think of any occupation (teacher, plumber, mechanic, scientist)
5. List fifteen verbs that relate to that occupation
6. Open the page - you will see nouns listed on the left and verbs listed on the right

Now, create sentences using one noun and one verb (you can change the tense) from each column. Here is what I came up with:

Nouns
pillow
shoe
lamp
brochure
battery
pump
rug
leaf
blanket
basket

Occupation-Carpenter
hammer
drill
saw
cut
construct
stain
install
assemble
build
chisel
plane
pour
finish
mold
erect

Sentences:

Pillows planed the bed sheets until they were flat.
Brochures drilled holes into the desk.
An old shoe chiseled a place for itself on the rack.
A maple leaf hammered at the window.

The idea is not to “make sense” in conventional terms, but to open up creative channels and stimulate new ideas. Try it!
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JJ Murphy is a freelance nature writer, photographer, blogging hiker, forager, locavore, and tree-hugger with more than 50 years of eco-centric living experience. Visit www.WriterByNature.com if you need relevant content that captures your personal style and tone.

Network with Us July 2009

Put your writing career in motion with the yahoo marketing group VBT - Writers on the Move. Promote your platform, yourself, and your books with cross-promotion! We utilize ONGOING tours, Viewpoint segments, mystery site give aways, blog radio spots, and much more to increase visibility and readership. To learn more contact Karen at karenrcfv@yahoo.com. Please put VBT- WITS in the subject box.

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"Always be positive and keep on rolling!"Frankie further expands on her message above in her NEW 28-page activity book that overcoming a challenge can be done by having a positive attitude. This book is filled with activities such as word searches, crossword puzzles, coloring pages, and mazes to teach children that challenges are given to help us learn and grow. $11.95 For a limited time, you can receive FREE shipping on Frankie's Activity Book. Hurry! Expires July 15th, 2009!

Order your copy today!

Another Frankie book is expected out early 2010! Frankie, the Walk 'N Roll Therapy Dog Visits Libby's House is about Frankie's volunteer therapy work at an elderly home where many of the residents have dementia and Alzheimer's.

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Have you ever thought of taking classes to improve your writing? Are you a self-publishing author who wants to work personally with an editor on your book manuscript? Yvonne Perry’s writing mentoring program may be exactly what you are looking for http://writersinthesky.com/writing-classes.html.

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Looking for writing contests? Krista Barrett has a listing athttp://www.writergazette.com/sendstudio/users/link.php?UserID=11140&Newsletter=183&List=1&LinkType=Send&LinkID=8616

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The Dream Quest One Poetry & Writing Contest is open to anyone who loves expressing innermost thoughts and feelings into the beautiful art of poetry or to write a short story that is worth telling everyone! And, to all who have the ability to dream. Write a poem or short story for a chance to win cash prizes. All works must be original. http://www.dreamquestone.com/

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For over 20 years, NABE has honored some of the finest independently published books on the market today. NABE is now accepting books for its 2009 Pinnacle Book Achievement Awards. Get your Entry Form and complete details at http://www.bookmarketingprofits.com/PinnacleAwardsEntryForm.html
Winners of the 2008 Awards are in the current issue of Book Dealers World which is now available online You can check it out at http://www.scribd.com/doc/16164973/BDW-Spring-2009-PDF
While you are there, you can also sign up to sell your book in PDF Format at this site as well. You keep 80% of the profits. Or, you can even give away a free chapter to garner interest in your printed book. All the details can be found at the link above.
Al Galasso

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Sharing Books Online Children's Library--http://www.sharing-books.com/ is a wonderful online library dedicated to promoting literacy for children all over the world. Sharing Books now has 184 e-books available FREE for any child to download & enjoy. Sharing Books also provides Reading Rooms in countries that do not have traditional schools and libraries. Special thanks to donations from Abe's Books, Alibris Books, librarians, and parents. I am honored to be a member of Sharing Books.
Irene Brodsky

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Sightlines Internet Tour Offers Free Audio Book at Each Stop

Janet Grace Riehl's four-disc audio book Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry and Music (http://cdbaby.com/cd/janetgraceriehl) is reviewed on Story Circle Network's book reviews.
The top post on the Riehlife blog-magazine (http://www.riehlife.com/) lists the calendar for that week's posts in the nine-week internet tour for Janet's audio book. You'll also see the featured video of the week in her series on how to produce an audio book. These videos feature key players on the audio book production team and guests at the Nashville audio book launch dinner including Suzy Bogguss, Nashville music star.

Follow the Sightlines blog tour in June and July by signing up for updates at http://www.riehlife.com/ where you'll find a 10-minute sample audio clip. As part of the internet tour, Janet offers a free audio book for the right answers to the Treasure Chest contest clues presented at each stop in the tour. Often these answers can be found in the featured video of the week.

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FREE VIRTUAL TOUR

Win a FREE VIRTUAL TOUR for your latest nonfiction or historical fiction title. Eligible titles will have release dates between 9/15/08 & 7/15/09 and be available in print format. To enter, email information below to http://www.blogger.com/Local%20Settings/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/Content.Outlook/VC3P2OIB/Work%20Tools/steffercat@austin.rr.com no later than 7/15/09:

- Author’s name, address, phone # & URL
- Book’s title, release date, genre, publisher, editor, # pages, & price/format
- Name of site or newsletter from which you learned of this contest
Winner will be notified on 7/16/09 by Stephanie Barko, Literary Publicist. www.authorsassistant.com/Barko.htm

Winning title will be toured Fall ’09. Entrant information will not be sold or shared.

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TC McClenning's recently released book, All in a Day's Work for Real Estate Agents: Humorous & Heartwarming Stories (Work Like A Dog Books, 4/09 copyright, softcover, $14.95) was named a finalist in the Humor/Comedy category of the 2009 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. The book contains more than 100 real-life stories of Realtors in 44 states and Canada about the many hilarious, odd, and touching things that have happened in the course of selling real estate. It also received a recent positive review from Midwest Book Review, which called it "hilarious and much worth the read, even for those with little interest in real estate, just for the human story that is laid out."To check out excerpts of the book, see the media section of the publisher's website, http://www.worklikeadogbooks.com/.

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Cherie Burbach is doing author interviews on her writing blog http://workingwritersblog.blogspot.com/. Any writer who would like to be interviewed may email her at cherieburbach@wi.rr.com.

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The second edition of Cold Coffee Magazine, showcasing some of the finest writers and poets around. My article “A Testament To Poets” is now available at http://magcloud.com/browse/Issue/20706.

My novellas Behind the Red Door and Thorns of an Innocent Soul are now available in hardback through the publisher, http://www.publishamerica.com/. My collection of selected short stories, Nightmares & Daydreams is due for release from Mythica Publishing in July. Until then, you can visit http://www.mythicapublishing.com/ and learn more about my work, and the work of some other extremely talented writers.

Thanks to everyone who has voted for my book video trailer, Nightmares & Daydreams and if you have not voted yet, I would greatly appreciate your support. Voting ends July 19. The link to vote is, http://www.thenewcoveytrailerawards.blogspot.com/ and my book is #5 on the voting poll.

Barbara Watkins

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AWARD FOR: THE LEGACY OF THE CHOSEN ONE
Last November, Masomeh Fritz and Ray Brennan were interviewed on WITS Podcast regarding their non-fiction book, The Legacy of the Chosen One, which is the true story of a spirit transfer (walk-in). Ray and Masomeh entered their book in the Book Expo of America where more than 30,000 publishers, agents, writers, librarians, and book lovers attended the event held at the Javits Center in New York City between May 29 and 31. On June 8, 2009, the Book Expo of America awarded its Silver Prize for the Best New Release to Ray Brennan and Masomeh Fritz The Legacy of the Chosen One.

For a metaphysical book to win 2nd place was quite an accomplishment. It was up against hundreds of books by large publishers, which had a great amount of publicity and promotion behind them. The Legacy of the Chosen One was called, “Inspirational.”
Ray Brennan and Masomeh Fritz operate the Spiritual Science Center of the Mountains in Shawnee on Delaware, Pennsylvania. You may purchase The Legacy of the Chosen One on Amazon.com.

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Read free books and best-selling excerpts in page turning format, just like a real book! Authors may upload an excerpt from their books at http://bookbuzzr.freado.com/ and get free exposure at http://www.freado.com/

BookBuzzr is a page-flipping application that is well suited for marketing books online.

BookBuzzr comes with the built-in ability to share book-extracts on over 60 social networking and bookmarking sites such as Facebook, Orkut, MySpace, Digg, Delicious, etc.

BookBuzzr also carries a lot of details regarding your book (media mentions, videos, praise and reviews, sales Web sites, etc.) in a compact form. This means that no matter where you place the widget on the Internet, readers can get all information about you and the book from this small widget.

We are in beta right now and are gearing up for a new release. Hence, we'd like authors to use our tool so they can give us feedback for the new release.

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Barbara Watkins is an author from Southeast Missouri. Her genre includes, but not limited to, paranormal/thrillers. She has two novellas in publication Behind the Red Door and Thorns of an Innocent Soul, available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other retailers.

Mythica Publishing has accepted her manuscript selection of short stories titled, Nightmares & Daydreams, and it is due to be released in e-book form June 30, 2009 with the print edition to follow. In addition, Mythica Publishing accepted her short story “Mortal Abomination” for their anthology titled, Another Time, Another Place due to be released 2009 in e-book and print edition. For more info, visit http://www.mythicapublishing.com/

Cold Coffee Magazine accepted her article, “A Testament To Poets,” for their second issue released in print and available online. She is also proud to announce that the Linda Chester Literary Agency requested a sample of her manuscript novel titled, Hollowing Screams for their review.

For more information you can visit her website at http://www.barbarawatkins.net/

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The Power of Words Conference, Sept. 3-7, Goddard College, Plainfield, VT. – Explore how we can use our words — written, spoken or sung — to make community, deepen healing, witness one another, wake ourselves up, and foster empowerment and transformation. Organized by the Transformative Language Network, and founded by Goddard College, this conference features experiential workshops with over 20 presenters, including John Fox, Lewis Mehl Medrona, Dovie Thomason, Kyahan Irani; performances, open readings, and celebrations, plus special tracks in Narrative Medicine, Right Livelihood and Social Change.Beautiful setting, reasonable conference fees, room and board available on campus, work-study positions and scholarships available, including the Roxanne-Florence Scholarship for people of color. coordinator@TLANetwork.org. See www.TLANetwork.org for more information.

Podcast Schedule for July 2009

July 3

WITS owner Yvonne Perry will be interviewing Janet Riehl about her audio book Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry & Music. This four-CD compilation is a follow-up to her book Sightlines: A Poet’s Diary, which was published in 2006. Through these new CDs, Janet shares her works of poetry in her own voice. Intertwined with the poetry are musical selections performed by her father and others. The components of Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry & Music come together to form a beautiful testimony to the love of family. Janet will be discussing the inspirations behind her work as well as the reason that she decided to create this audio book. For more information about Janet Riehl or to purchase Sightlines: A Family Love Story in Poetry & Music, please visit CD Baby.

July 10

Yvonne Perry interviews Marlive Harris—the owner of GRITS.COM Literary Service, which is a company that offers online promotional campaigns for authors. Her website also features reading communities for adults and children. As a former teacher and school librarian, Marlive brings a wonderful perspective to the literary world. Over the six years in which GRITS.COM has been in existence, Marlive has helped many authors through book clubs, podcasts, virtual book tours, and other outlets. During this interview, Marlive will discuss what her company can offer to authors, bookstores, and small presses. To learn more about Marlive Harris and her services, please visit http://www.thegrits.com/.

July 17

Yvonne Perry will be conducting an interview with Dana Smith. Dana is the “Book Marketing Maven” who specializes in book marketing for nonfiction publications. She has published a series of e-books that form the Savvy Book Marketer Guides. The featured topics are Selling Your Book to Libraries, Successful Social Marketing, and Promoting Your Book Launch. Dana brings fifteen years in the publishing industry and a degree in marketing to her writing and consulting. Therefore, she has the experience to help authors cater a book marketing plan to their specific publishing, marketing, and distributing. To learn more about Dana Smith and her business, please visit her website.

On July 24

Sarah Moore will discuss the book New and Selected Poems with poet John Yamrus. This collection includes work that dates back to 1985, as well as sixteen pieces that are being published for the first time. Over his forty year career as a poet, John Yamrus has had over 1000 poems published. He also has produced sixteen books of poetry and two novels prior to the release of New and Selected Poems. This year marks his second consecutive nomination for the Pushcart Prize for Poetry. His poetry has been discussed in classrooms at both the high school and college level. Please join this conversation as John Yamrus shares some insight into his poetry, which takes an honest look at the world in which we live and challenges other writers to think outside their comfort zone. To learn more about New and Selected Poems, please visit the Amazon website.

July 31

Join a conversation between Sarah Moore and author Aaron Taylor, who will be sharing information about his book Alone with a Jihadist: A Biblical Response to Holy War. This book stems from a meeting Aaron had in London with a jihadist named Khalid. For Aaron, who had been raised in charismatic church and was already an experienced missionary, this one encounter transformed his perspective on religion and world affairs. Aaron uses Alone with a Jihadist: A Biblical Response to Holy War to share his belief that Christians are taught by Christ to follow a path of pacifism when dealing with earthly disputes. During the interview, Aaron will discuss his ideas in more details as well as share the work he is doing to put this theory into practice. Alone with a Jihadist: A Biblical Response to Holy War will be available for purchase in August 2009. Please visit Aaron’s website at http://www.aarondtaylor.com/ to learn more.

Write from the Heart

No one engages the art and craft of writing unless they have a passion and commitment to either entertain or inform. Dedicated writers learn the creative and technical aspects, work with an editor, and involve themselves in every action that gets them published and read.

Let’s say you’ve done all of the above. The other part of this is promotion. This can get tricky for many people. Whether you write your own promotional materials or work with someone who’s an expert, what’s key to long-term success is to build a relationship with readers. The best way to build a relationship is to write from the heart.

A first step is to identify who your ideal readers are. New writers wish their audience included everyone, but it doesn’t happen that way. If you know your niche, you have a starting place you can expand over time.

People want to know why they should engage with you. When you write from the heart, you shift from telling to being. People get to know and interact with the real you, not a commercial version. When you’re clear about who you are and what you offer (what’s unique about you), and if you understand what your people look for and how you provide it, finding the right words to reach them is far easier. Write from the heart and you shift from selling to serving. This creates connection, and this connection creates relationship.

Here are some key questions to ask when you’re creating or approving promotional materials:

What are your ideal readers interested in?

How can you serve, benefit, co-create, or co-partner with them?

What do you feel when you think of them?

How do you want them to feel when they think of you?

Do you appreciate and value them? Do they feel this way about you?

Writing, just as creating true connection with others, is an outer-level experience, but both start at the inner level. You can ask yourself right questions to get clear about every aspect of being a writer and promoter. You can get clear on how, who, and what your ideals are then never settle for less from yourself and others based on this understanding.

When you approach your ideal readers from the heart of who you are, they’ll respond. Trust gets established. A relationship starts and grows, right from the heart.

Make Shift Happen! Joyce Shafer, LEC (jls1422@yahoo.com) is an author and creator of the Reinvent Yourself: Refuse to Settle for Less in Life and Business coaching program: http://www.freewebs.com/coach4lifebalance. Want the program materials, but not the coaching? Reinvent Yourself eCourse available at lulu.com (discounted at her Web Store).