Enjoy!

Books have a way of finding their way into our lives, usually, right when we need them the most.
– Richard Denney

Good books don’t give up all their secrets at once.
– Stephen King

Ideally a book would have no order to it, and the reader would have to discover his own.
– Mark Twain

Never put off till tomorrow the book you can read today.
– Holbrook Jackson

If there’s a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.
– Toni Morrison

Never judge a book by its movie.
– J. W. Eagan

A book is a device to ignite the imagination.
– Alan Bennett

It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.
– Oscar Wilde

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it.
– James Bryce

You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.
– C.S. Lewis

So many books, so little time.
– Frank Zappa

Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.
– Groucho Marx

Tis the good reader that makes the good book.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lord! when you sell a man a book you don’t sell just twelve ounces of paper and ink and glue – you sell him a whole new life. Love and friendship and humour and ships at sea by night – there’s all heaven and earth in a book, a real book.
– Christopher Morley

Nothing ever invented provides such sustenance, such infinite reward for time spent, as a good book.
– David McCullough

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves.
– Anna Quindlen

Life is too short to waste time on books that end badly
– Jayne Ann Krentz

You cannot open a book without learning something.
– Confucius

There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written or badly written.
– Oscar Wilde

Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.
– P. J. O’Rourke

Be as careful of the books you read, as of the company you keep; for your habits and character will be as much influenced by the former as by the latter.
– Paxton Hood

A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return.
– Salman Rushdie

When I read a book I seem to read it with my eyes only, but now and then I come across a passage, perhaps only a phrase, which has a meaning for me, and it becomes part of me.
– W. Somerset Maugham

A good book has no ending.
– R.D. Cumming

You can listen to the podcast, download the MP3 or subscribe via iTunes at the Authors Access website. It’s free.

Reviews can help sell more copies of your books, including Kindle ebooks. However, many authors are unsure about how to send review copies of Kindle ebooks to potential reviewers. It turns out that Amazon provides a simple way to send copies of your ebook to anyone. The above video explains it in more detail.

To send a review copy, get the email address of the reviewer’s Amazon account. Go to your book’s page on Amazon and click on the “Give as a Gift” button near the buy button. Enter the email address of the person to whom you want to send the book. They will receive an email that the ebook has been gifted to them. When they accept it, the ebook will be delivered to their Kindle device or app. One caution: they can decline the ebook and elect to receive a gift certificate instead. Make sure you only gift books to people who have expressed a willingness to receive, read and review your book.

You will pay full price for the book, but you will receive a royalty. That means that your net cost is the sale price less your royalty. If your ebook sells for $2.99 with a 70% royalty, your cost will be just over $.90 (Amazon’s 30% plus a small download charge, usually a few cents). That is a small price to pay, especially when you compare it to the cost of printing and mailing a paper book.

There is another reason to choose this method instead of simply sending a file to the reviewer. When their review is posted to Amazon it will include the notation, “Amazon Verfied Purchase.” There are authors who post fraudulent or paid-for reviews on Amazon, so showing that the reviewer actually received the book from Amazon gives more credibility to their review.

(Note: Paying for reviews is against Amazon’s terms of service. However, providing a free copy to a reviewer is specifically allowed.)

Writing is a solitary endeavor, but not a lonely one. When you write, your world is populated by the characters you invent and you feel those people filling your life.
—Danielle Steel

If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live, I wouldn’t brood. I’d type a little faster.
—Isaac Asimov

The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense.
—Tom Clancy

The role of a writer is not to say what we all can say, but what we are unable to say.
—Anaïs Nin

Everybody walks past a thousand story ideas every day. The good writers are the ones who see five or six of them. Most people don’t see any.
—Orson Scott Card

Hard writing makes easy reading. Easy writing makes hard reading.
—William Zinsser

A writer is a person for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.
—Thomas Mann

I try to leave out the parts that people skip.
—Elmore Leonard

First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!
—Ray Bradbury

I’m not much of a correspondent. My letters are not only uninteresting but sparse. I’m glad I don?t have to write for a living. It?s arduous work and the money is very uncertain. On those rare occasions when I wander into a bookstore it amazes me to see the avalanche of literature and semi-literature that is turned out weekly in this country. The people who write these things are either desperate for money or love starved. Why should anyone on a nice balmy day lock oneself in an office and hit a typewriter for hours on end. I think one of the greatest pleasures in the world is not writing…
—Groucho Marx

Writing is an occupation in which you have to keep proving your talent to those who have none.
—Jules Renard

Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
—Robert A. Heinlein

Write something to suit yourself and many people will like it; write something to suit everybody and scarcely anyone will care for it.
—Jesse Stuart

Writers seldom write the things they think. They simply write the things they think other folks think they think.
—Elbert Hubbard

I love deadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by.
—Douglas Adams

I love being a writer. What I can’t stand is the paperwork.
—Peter De Vries

Writing a novel is like driving a car at night. You can only see as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.
—E. L. Doctorow

Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.
—Scott Adams

Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realize it’s just an illusion, that people are going to bring their own stuff into it.
—David Sedaris

A synonym is a word you use when you can’t spell the other one.
—Baltasar Gracián

Stories may well be lies, but they are good lies that say true things, and which can sometimes pay the rent.
—Neil Gaiman

You can’t say, I won’t write today because that excuse will extend into several days, then several months, then… you are not a writer anymore, just someone who dreams about being a writer.
—Dorothy C. Fontana

Amazon.com has announced the KDP Select program for independent and self-publishers who offer their books for the Kindle. Let’s take a look at the terms of this new program and see if you might benefit from it. In a nutshell:

Ebooks offered through KDP Select with U.S. rights will automatically be included in the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library where they can earn a share of a fund totaling an estimated $500,000 monthly. The publisher’s share is based on the number of times the book was loaned as a percentage of all books loaned in that month. The Kindle Owners’ Lending Library is a collection of books that eligible U.S. Amazon Prime members can borrow for free once a month with no due dates.

Books available for loan will still be available for purchase. That means that people who are not eligible to borrow ebooks through the Lending Library, or those who borrowed the ebook and loved it, can buy it.

Publishers may choose to offer books in KDP Select free for up to five days every 90 days. This is not something that has been available to independent Kindle publishers before now (at least not officially). Although you do not get paid for books downloaded for free, your book gets lots of exposure and downloads when it is free. Offering one title for free can be a good way to get attention for a series, for example.

To participate in KDP Select, your ebook must be exclusive to Amazon for a period of 90 days. That means the ebook may not be sold in other ebook stores or available on your website or blog.

New books as well as books already available for Kindle may be enrolled in KDP Select. You click “Enroll” from the Bookshelf for existing titles.

Should you enroll your Kindle titles in KDP Select? Here are some things to consider:

If your ebook is one that readers will want to own, either in digital or print format, making it available for loan allows them to preview it and discover that it is a book they should buy. Although this is not likely to happen with fiction, it may with at least some non-fiction titles. Will readers want to refer to the book often? Giving them a taste through the loan program may convince them to buy the book.

Although fiction titles may not sell better as a result of the loan, other titles by the same author may benefit. For example, currently many fiction authors offer one title for $.99 and others for $2.99 and up. The idea is that readers will sample the $.99 ebook then want everything else the author has written. Enrolling one title in KDP Select allows them to try that book for free as a loan or by making it available for free to everyone for a five-day promotional period.

The loan program also offers the opportunity to make money. The monthly fund will be divided among eligible KDP Select titles based on how many times they were borrowed by Prime members. The example given by Amazon is that if the fund for a particular month is $500,000, your Digital Book is borrowed 1,500 times, and all participating Digital Books are cumulatively borrowed 100,000 times, your Digital Book will earn $7,500 ($500,000 x 1,500/100,000 = $7,500).

Although it is unlikely that the typical book will earn thousands of dollars a month through lending, it is another source of income from your book. As long as the lending program does not cannibalize your sales, it is extra money.

You may want to give KDP Select a try and see how it works for you. Keep in mind that you can not sell the digital version of your book elsewhere while it is in the KDP Select program, and you are committing to an enrolled book being in the program for at least 90 days. This is the biggest negative I can see with KDP Select; however, at this time the majority of ebook sales for most books are made through Amazon, so not selling through Barnes and Noble, Apple, et al for 90 days may not be a problem. However, if you want your ebook to be available everywhere right away, KDP Select will not be an option for you. It also may not be prudent to enroll all of your ebook titles in KDP Select. You might try one title, or one title at a time, and see how it goes.

Amazon wants to be the ebook leader and KDP Select gives them an edge by giving them an exclusive on many books. Can you benefit from KDP Select, too? Maybe. Although it will not be right for every publisher and every book, KDP Select will definitely help many authors find an audience and make more money with their books.

Here are some ways you can make your book a hot gift idea for the holidays:

Hold a sale. Everyone loves a bargain, especially around the holidays. Discount your book for a limited period (e.g., a day or a week) to create excitement and a sense of urgency.

Build a gift basket. Are there other products that are a good match for your book? For example, a cookbook could be packaged with food and cooking supplies. Other how-to books could be bundled with materials and supplies readers will need to do what you teach them about. But be a little creative and you can probably come up with gift basket ideas for any type of book. Package your romance novel with a selection of teas, chocolates and other treats, or with bath products and candles.

Offer autographed books. An autographed book makes a special gift, particularly when it is personally signed to the recipient.

Combine the previous two suggestions by offering a set of autographed books. If you have a series you might offer all of your books, personally autographed of course, for one price. Even better, get a group of authors to create a package and market it to all of your fans. Not only will it help each of you to sell more books this holiday season, new fans will discover you and buy past and future titles.

Use your annual Christmas letter to remind friends and family that your books are available as gifts. Offer a special “friends and family” discount.

Think outside the bookstore. This is a good suggestion all through the year, but it can be especially effective when everyone is actively shopping in the stores. Where will the people who should be buying your books be shopping? Can you get your books in front of them there?

Are there businesses that could purchase your book as a gift for their employees or clients? Contact them to suggest your book as the answer to their gift-giving dilemma.

Set up events where shoppers will be. That means bookstores, craft shows, the mall and elsewhere.

Plan for after the holidays. Many people will be getting ebook readers as gifts, and they will be looking for ebooks to buy. Plan some book and ebook promotions for late December and January to catch these new e-readers.

Blog commenting can be a good strategy for getting links and traffic to your blog. Commenting is most effective when (1) you comment on blogs in the same niche as your blog and (2) the links are do-follow, meaning that the search engines give you credit for the links. The problem is finding the blog posts on which to comment.

The CommentLuv Enabled Blog Search Engine makes it easy to find blog posts that are in your niche. Even better, all of the blogs that turn up in the search results use the CommentLuv WordPress plugin. That means many of them offer do-follow links from comments, and they may even give you a link to your choice of up to ten of your recent posts.

Just go to the search engine page and enter your email address. You will have to confirm your email address the first time. Then enter your keywords and find quality blogs where you can leave comments and get links. Easy as pie! (Actually, it’s easier. Have you ever baked a pie–it’s a lot of work. But I digress.)

There is another side to this blog search engine that may be even better. When you install CommentLuv Premium on your blog, your posts will be included in the search results so you get more readers and more comments. How cool is that? (Very cool, right?)

Go to the CommentLuv Enabled Blog Search Engine.

Download CommentLuv Premium for your WordPress blog.

I have had versions of the conversation that follows with many authors and publishers over the years. What you see below addresses many of the issues you need to consider when trying to determine what music may be available in the public domain. (Note: I am not an attorney and this should not be considered legal advice. I am just someone who spends a lot of time dealing with copyright issues and researching the applicable laws. I may not have all of the answers, but I at least know most of the questions.)

I am turning my book into an audio book, and I want to add music to it. I have an English-language recording of a traditional German folk song from the 1800s that fits my book perfectly. Because the song is so old, there would not be any copyright issues with using it, would there?

There are several issues that must be considered before you use the song. First of all, copyright laws in other countries are not necessarily the same as in the United States. This song is old enough that it is probably in the public domain both in the U.S. and Germany.

However, the recording you have probably is not. The performers of the song would hold a copyright on the recording of the performance. Unless the copyright has expired or otherwise does not exist (e.g., the copyright holder chose to place the work in the public domain), you would need permission from the artists to use their work.

It would be more work, but I guess I could record the song myself. I have sheet music my band can use.

Not so fast, Sparky. The arrangement in that sheet music may be covered by copyright. Performing and recording the song, as written in the sheet music, may require permission from the arranger.

<Sigh> OK, so my band and I will come up with our own arrangement. Do you see any problem with that?

At least one. You mentioned that you are planning to use an English-language version of a traditional German song. Is the translation of the lyrics copyrighted? Even if the original work is not covered by copyright, the translator may hold a copyright on his or her translation.

These points may seem like nitpicking, but they matter to the copyright holder. As someone who creates intellectual property, you would not want someone using your work without your permission. Extending the same courtesy to others is not just the friendly thing to do, it is the law.

There are lots of copyright, public domain and other intellectual property law issues that require consulting with an attorney to understand how the law applies. However, having a basic understanding of copyright law can avert many problems and help you figure out what questions you need to ask and when you need to get an attorney involved. If you want to know more about determining the public domain status of a work, my favorite reference is The Public Domain: How to Find & Use Copyright-Free Writings, Music, Art & More by Stephen Frishman. Get your copy now at Amazon.com.

Right now, Amazon has several books of interest to writers available free in the Kindle store. They will not be free forever, so go download them right away. Here is a list of the free Kindle ebooks for writers that I found today (November 8, 2011):

The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing: Everything You Need to Know to Write, Publish, Promote and Sell Your Own Book

Getting the Words Right

Write That Book Already!: The Tough Love You Need To Get Published Now

How to Be a Writer: Building Your Creative Skills Through Practice and Play

The Complete Handbook Of Novel Writing: Everything You Need to Know About Creating & Selling Your Work (Writers Digest)

Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One & Never Lets Them Go

Add these ebooks to your collection now, while they are available at no cost, then use them to become a better, more successful writer. After reading these books, you may want to add others from these authors to your library or purchase the print versions to keep handy for reference. Enjoy!

Although it may seem impossible to write an entire novel in just 30 days, in 2010 more than 200,000 people participated and 37,500 of them met the challenge of writing at least 50,000 words. How many of those words were crap? Probably quite a few. But the way you become a writer is to write. And the way you become a better writer is to write more. Even if a lot of what is produced in 30 days isn’t very good, there will also be some brilliant plots, characters and turns of phrase. After all, you don’t have to complete a ready-to-publish novel in 30 days. The idea is simply to get words on the page–a solid first draft that forms the starting point of your first (or your next) novel.

According to Baty, “The 50,000-word challenge has a wonderful way of opening up your imagination and unleashing creativity. When you write for quantity instead of quality, you end up getting both. Also, it’s a great excuse for not doing any dishes for a month.” (That works for me!)

Want some help getting your novel written during NaNoWriMo? Take a look at these books about NaNoWriMo and writing a book in 30 days. Then get ready to start writing on November 1st.