What are the methods for self publishing a book?
The simple answer then, would be to self-publish using the Amazon Kindle platform, why, you ask?Consider the following:It is free to get your Amazon KDP Kindle account, so there is no charge to publish a book on the Kindle platform.You only need two things to upload your book to the kindle platform, one is your book manuscript (can be a simple word .doc) and two is a .jpg image of the cover.I use e-cover templates that let me make a new cover in less than 5 minutes and so I don’t have any costs in outsourcing.It only takes about 7 minutes to upload your new book on the Kindle platform and, once approved, your book will be for sale ,worldwide in about 12 hours. (most of my books have gone ‘live’ in about 3–4 hours)The minute you upload your Kindle book on Amazon, you will be given the option to publish the paper version, this will take about 10 minutes more for you to complete.I always publish both types of books because you can then have two price scales for each. The Kindle e-book I will normally price at around $2.95 and the paper version I will price at $9.95. (“but why two prices for the same book?” ).read on…As soon as I publish the paper version of my book, Amazon will list it on their website along with the Kindle version. Take a look at the photo belowTake a look in the top right hand corner, you will see that Amazon have already put the savings that someone will get if they buy the Kindle version.The interesting thing is, that I still sell lots of paper versions of the book also.Take a look at the following image, I have some spyware that lets me put in a keyword (any keyword-s) and it will look at the Kindle servers in real time and give me the details of each book in the category.This snapshot was taken on 21/12/2018 at 8.30 amLet’s decyper it:The keyword i searched for was romantic fictionIf we look at book No 4. ‘The Girl Who Lived’ we can see that it is 297 pages long, cost $7.10 and is selling about 7,316 copies per month, which is giving its author $51,944.00 usd per month gross income.We can tell from the red light that the competition for this niche is high, the green lights tell us that the potential and the popularity of this niche is very good.I always use this method before I publish a new book, to see if, in fact, that niche is profitable.Hope this helps
What are the steps for traditionally publishing a YA novel?
These days, you will probably need a literary agent. You might be able to find a publisher that would read a non-agented “over the transom” manuscript but likely not. Make a list of your “dream” agents and carefully note their submission requirements. But that’s not step one.Step one is to write the best, most vivid and compelling YA novel you can and have it polished to a fare-the-well before you go agent-shopping.To query an agent you’ll need not only that sparkling manuscript but an equally professional query letter that includes your pitch. Those can be a lot harder to write. Do your research on what should (and should not) go in them. Run the pitch by friends, author friends if possible.Why do you need a finished manuscript before querying? Because (a) it had better be as good as you can make it, especially if this is a first sale, because the market is insanely competitive; (b) you want it ready to send off the moment an agent asks to see it, while the query is still fresh in her mind.The only other thing I’d add is to be prepared to do a lot of your own promotion. Don’t rely on your publisher (or agent) to do that.Good luck!
Can you send lyrics to a record company and that one of their artists will maybe sing them for a new song?
NO... Don't even.The reasons are legal and corporate. There are tons of individuals who wish to make a quick buck by charging some successful artist or songwriter with "copyright infringement", because said artist "used" an idea submitted by them without due recompense. Hey! [the argument goes] .. They sent them that [cassette/lyric sheet] AGES ago!Of course that's totally bogus.So, absolute policy for anyone with a public presence is that all that stuff gets sent back to the originator.Best thing to do if you want to become a lyricist is to hook up with a musician/composer and start working on this.UNDERNEATH that is your personal decision to create something, and say something to the world. What DO you want to say to the world? Work out what that is. Make it your "manifesto". THEN work out what to do with that in the real world.Good luck!
I thought up a really unique “hook” for a song. What stands between me and having a hit record?
You have a hook and what stands between you and a hit song? I’m assuming you’re starting at the beginning…Writing a good song.You’ll need a publisher to pitch the song.An established musical act to record and perform it.Approximately $1 million to publicize the recording of it.There are plenty of incidental steps, but notice that actually writing it is only the first step. These days a hit song requires a ridiculous amount of money and people to shove it to the front of the public eye. That’s how hit songs become hit songs in the 21st century. Record labels pay radio and muzak networks millions to play a song thousands of times in every place you can possibly hear a song. Your car, at the mall, buying groceries, waiting at the dentist, and maybe stick a verse and/or chorus of it into a TV show or movie.This is also assuming your song is written for today’s pop music sensibilities. There is a very real possibility that your song is too good. Pop artists (of all genres) notoriously stick to the middle of the road as far as quality of songcraft goes. They and their record companies don’t want to have to find another just-as-great song to follow it up with in order to keep their fans satisfied.Writing songs for popular consumption is a skill that goes beyond great songwriting. It’s knowing what subject matters to cover, an acceptable chord progression and melody, how to phrase it and tailor it to the needs of the hit-making music machines that exist in Los Angelos, Nashville, and New York.Much like Hollywood, the pop-music industry doesn’t like to take chances. They want a song that’s just different enough to be considered new but familiar enough to not really be too much of a gamble.So you have an ‘idea’ for a great song. Great. Write it. Record and perform it yourself. Put it on YouTube. That’s probably your best bet. Don’t move to L.A. or Nashville. To paraphrase Heywood Banks, they’ll steal your songs and your soul and you’ll take to drinking. But then again, you never know…
Why do newspapers charge money to print obituaries?
I am the daughter of two Newspaper staff members: a Sports Editor/Sports Columnist/Copy Editor/Freelance Writer and the Secretary to the Newspaper Editor, who was also a prizewinning poet!. I remember the our town newspaper contained many "Human Interest" stories when I was a kid, all the way up to the present. When I was in high school and college, I wrote lots of "Feature Stories" about interesting individuals I met, and they were all published in the school newspaper with my byline. I was then given the title of "Feature Editor." I also wrote for the Public Relations Department at my University, for the Student Musical Theatre Company, and for a weekly Suburban Newspaper, as well as a weekly Magazine with Citywide and SuburbanCirculation , and I edited several newsletters for Non-Profits. My sister wrote freelance and published two books. In my home, I have written 4 unpublished novels, l volume of poetry, and have Copyrighted 3 Art-Filled Textbooks.. Recently, I was told that in order to publish an Obituary in the form of a Feature Story, the writer had to "pay money" to the newspaper. I am "in shock!" Every human life has some value. If the story is not told and the family gets smaller and smaller over the years, then nobody will know the story if the newspaper doesn't print it! I am having a hard time understanding why newspapers are having so many financial problems these days! Even if they go "on-line," they have many advertisers.to support them - they don't need our money! The purpose of a newspaper is to provide a service to its customers and not to "rob them" to provide this service! It is supposed to present the news in an objective fashion. Asking the mourner to pay $200 for a half-inch paragraph containing minor information for an Obituary is greedy! And refusing to print a "Human Interest Story" about that individual is ridiculous! No wonder newspapers are going out of business! I can read the news on-line for free, and nobody sends me a bill but the Internet provider!