Welcome to your E-book education

There is no use kicking and screaming like a 2 year old in the throes of a marathon tantrum, the ebook revolution is here for better or worse. While every author’s ultimate dream is to sniff the glue binding the crisp, off-white pages of their very first glossy covered masterpiece, the reality is that most of us will never write a book that exactly fits a publisher’s idea of a main stream, sellable novel. However, with almost 9 million searches per month for ‘e-books’ on Google and 2.5 million searches for ‘free e-books’, we would be out of our minds not to capitalise on this digitisation of our industry.

Now, I’m one of the first to admit I’m a bit iffy about reading a novel off a screen. The weight, the buttons, the multiple formats it just doesn’t seem, well, natural. But with the fall of bookstore greats like Borders and (in Australia) Angus and Robertson, and the gates of publishing houses firmly closing on unpublished authors, it’s ridiculous to believe the old model of getting published is going to work in this digital age. So I decided it was time to part the fingers I had been holding vice like across my eyes and start figuring this mess out.

And it IS a mess. All new and scattered, the information is there IF you have a lot of time to trawl and you look in the right place. Fortunately I have been lucky enough to have time and direction. I have researched and gathered, join courses which have cost the better part of three around the world plane tickets, and come up with several bags full of golden notes. But as all writers know a bag full of notes is about as useful as a Mardi Gras parade without lady boys; without organisation (or lady boys...) it just doesn’t make sense.

So this blog is all about making SENSE of the MADNESS. Over 31 days I am going to put it all together, one puzzle piece at a time, so I can sort things out and see if it makes sense not only to me but to YOU. And I want you to learn as I learn, you to discover as I discover, because let’s face it, we all need a path and without a light to guide us we are lost.

This blog will cover everything, from readying your manuscript, to e-publishing, to marketing and social networking. EVERYTHING! All in 31 days. A breakdown of the general topics I am hoping to sensibly cover is below.

                                                                  Get ready writers.

                                            THE EBOOK REVOLUTION IS HERE.

                                 The first brick in the path to EBOOK SUCCESS will be laid

                                                               APRIL 10^th 2011.

    

So join me, April 10^th for the month long education we ALL need but NOBODY has been able to teach us!

THE 4 UMBRELLAS – Under which we are going to discover HOW TO MAKE THIS WORK!

1: The Situation – What is the reality of publishing in the 21^st century? What are the advantages of e-books and the perceived disadvantages (which really, aren’t that bad!).

2: The Opportunities – To new, emerging and published authors. Even to agents and the traditional publishers themselves!

3: The Creation - How to mould your book into one that is the best it can be! Create your ‘Proposal’(authors who want to be accepted in publishing houses, this is also a BIG one for you). Here you will learn how to apply self editing and how to use the FREE e-publishing software with me.

4: The Hype – For traditional and e-book authors!!! How do you market, or create a community around your work? How can we capitalise on social media? How do we make our book offer irresistible? Unique?

5: MYSTERY BONUS INFORMATION for subscribers (Register in the top right hand corner of the blog!) at the end of the 31 day blog. Not quite sure exactly what it will contain, but the journey of discovery is what this blog is all about!

 The first brick in the path to EBOOK SUCCESS will be laid APRIL 10^th 2011.