Kobo rejects 45% of self-published books last year, mostly over AI - TNW

45%

Panzer's next stop was at the TNW site. 

With a little digging in the posts he found one about the Kobo Writing Life's rejection rate for self-published books.

 

Panzer says, "Look at those rejection numbers. I guess this little kitty won't be using their publishing services.

 

Note: This is a short medium length post. Bring a glass of ice tea to drink.

 

To read the post tootle over to Kobo 

2022 Publishing Predictions by Agent Laurie Mclean - Anne R. Allen ... with Ruth Harris Blog

Today, Panzer made a trip to the Anne R. Allen ... with Ruth Harris Blog. With a little digging in the posts there he found one about publishing predictions for 2022 from an agent's perspective. Panzer had a post on Wednesday about publishing predictions from Smashwords founder  Mark Coker's perspective.

 

That Covid thingy again?

The guest post by Agent Laurie Mclean, about publishing predictions for 2022 is separated into twelve sections. Some of Agent Mclean's predictions, self publishing increases, ebook sales increases and audio book sales increases, are in agreement Mark Coker's predictions. The other nine predictions she makes are specific to traditional publishing and not part of the indie publishing realm. The predictions are extensions of how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted publishing in general.

 

Panzer says, "This little kitty loves predictions. I predict there's a nap in my future."

 

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a cup of cocoa and three chocolate chip cookies for today's reading selection.

 

To read the post tootle over to Laurie Mclean publishing predictions

To read the Mark Coker post tootle over to Mark Coker publishing predictions

How to Self Publish a Hardcover Book on Amazon - Kindlepreneur

 When Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere today, our little adventuresome kitty decided to make a stop at the Kindlepreneur site. There he discovered a post about publishing a hardcover cover book at KDP. Panzer already told you about the new hardcover book option at KDP.

The post by Jason Hamilton explains in step-by-step instructions how to publish your book at KDP. While the instructions are simple, the post does include a rather hard sell on a formatting software he recommends. There are no formatting instructions for your manuscript if you don't get the software. The rest of the instructions, however, are easy to follow and can be used to upload your finished PDFs.

My work is never finished.

Panzer says, "Doing a hardback is now next on my list."

Note: This is a long-medium length post. Bring a big cup of tea, a muffin and a brownie.

To read the post tootle over to hardcover book

 To read Panzer's previous post about KDP hardcover books tootle over to KDP

"The ebook is a stupid product. Our business cosists of saying no to three thousand manuscripts and saying yes to one." - Hachett CEO

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he heard booing and hissing outside. Following the cacophony of noise took our brave kitty pilot to The New Publishing Standard site. There he found a post about publisher Hachette Livre.

He sure hates indie publishers.

According to the post by Mark Williams, Hachette Livre CEO Arnaud Nourry doesn't find Amazon (or any other tech company) a problem to the company's publishing markets. While Amazon is the dominant company in the English speaking readers realm, Hachette concentrates their business in the non-English speaking countries only deriving 25 percent of their market from English readers. Amazon's concentration in the self-publishing arena is also part of the mix. As the title of Mr. Williams' post emphasizes, Mr. Nourry doesn't support self-publishing. Since there are no gatekeepers in the self-publishing realm, he believes most of what is in the reading arena should not have been published at all.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... From this post it looks like Hachette controls the paperback and hardback market outside the English-speaking readers in the United States and Canada."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a thermos of tea and half a dozen muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post tootle over to Hachette CEO

The Arrival Of Amazon And The Future Of Australian Publishing - Dr. Beth Driscoll, University of Melbourne

Panzer was tootling around in the Catosphere when he heard wailing and gnashing of teeth. Following all the hullabaloo took our adventuresome kitty to the University of Melbourne site. There he found a post about Amazon's expansion into the Australian marketplace.

This needs looking into.

According to Dr. Beth Driscoll, Amazon has opened their first warehouse in Australia and will now change the Australian publishing environment. With this new fulfillment center, Amazon will be able to cut their delivery times on Australian orders. With the Amazon Prime service members will be able to get free shipping on their purchases. Because of its book ranking system Dr. Driscoll suggests Amazon will be able to negotiate discounted prices from Australian publishers. Dr. Driscoll also speculates there will be an increase in self-publishing as well. There is much more information about Amazon's possible impact on Australia's publishing industry included in this post.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Is Amazon really invading Australia's publishing landscape? This little kitty thinks Australians are a pretty independent group and won't be swayed by Amazon."

Note: This is a h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s post. Bring a thermos of tea, a sandwich and six chocolate chip cookies (biscuits) for dessert.

To read the post tootle over to Amazon in Australia

Buying houses in cash and selling millions: meet self-publishing's 'hidden' authors - The Guardian

As soon as Panzer entered the Catosphere today the Panzermobile was buffeted by clapping and cheering. Our kitty pilot didn't need radar to find that The Guardian site was the source of all the racket. It didn't take any digging either to find the post about self-publishing authors that caused all the noise.

That would buy a lot of catnip.

According to Danuta Kean's post, there is a group of 'hidden' indie authors selling seven figure amounts of their novels. Three authors are spotlighted in the post. They are crime thriller writer Keith Houghton, crime/romance/humour writer LJ Ross, and psychological thriller writer Rachel Abbott. Why are they called 'hidden' authors with those kinds of sales numbers? Because all their novels are Amazon ebooks only and their readers are the only ones who have heard of them. Where does the 'buying houses' part of the post title come from? It comes from the fact Keith Houghton paid for his new house in cash using money from the sales of his novels. There's a lot more information about each author included in the post.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Maybe this little kitty should start writing crime/thrillers."

Note: This is a h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s post. Bring two thermoses of tea and two dozen muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to hidden authors

Draft2Digital is Adding Kobo Plus as a Distribution Option, But Not Smashwords - The Digital Reader

Today, Panzer's quiet trip in the Catosphere was interrupted by clapping and shouting. Following all the noise took our intrepid kitty explorer to The Digital Reader site. There he found a post about Kobo Plus. Panzer told you about Kobo's new subscription service yesterday.

According to the post by The Digital Reader site owner Nate Hoffelder, Draft2Digital (D2D) has a new distribution agreement with Kobo Plus. D2D's authors' Dutch language ebooks will be distributed to Kobo Plus. Until this agreement between D2D and Kobo Plus books were required to be published via Kobo Writing Life. D2D is an ebook distribution service similar to Smashwords. The Digital Reader post states Smashwords' Mark Coker said they will not be extending distribution to Kobo Plus.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... Maybe I should find a translator and use Draft2Digital."

Indie publishing is always changing.

Note: This is a shortish-medium post. Bring a cup of tea and half a muffin for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to Draft2Digital

To read Panzer's post about Kobo Plus, tootle over to Kobo subscription service

Books-a-Million Outsourced Its Self-Pub Unit to an Iffy Services Company - The Digital Reader

Today's trip into the Catosphere took Panzer to The Digital Reader site. There our kitty boy found a post about Books-a-Million's BAM Publishing.

Self-publishing really is complicated.

According to a post by site owner Nate Hoffelder, Books-a-Million's BAM Publishing now contracts it's author services through a vanity publisher. Apparently, this isn't obvious at the BAM Publishing site and takes some sleuthing to find out. Mr. Hoffelder quotes a post at the Indies Unlimited site as reporting that although BAM uses the FastPencil software platform, their other services now go through vanity publisher Infinity Publishing. There's a link included in the post to the original Indies Unlimited post.

Panzer says, "Hmmm ... Maybe they just don't want you to know who they use."

Note: This is a medium post. Bring a cup of tea and a muffin to read today's selection or, if you plan to follow the link to the second selection, bring another cup of tea and muffin.

To read the post, tootle over to Books A Million

The State of Indie Audiobooks

Panzer made a short trip into the Catosphere today. Our intrepid kitty explorer made his way to the Book Life site. With just a little digging around he found a post about indie audiobooks.

What's she go planned now?

In a post by Ryan Joe Panzer learned about Audible's Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX). ACX has had  a phenomenal amount of growth in the indie audiobook market. ACX helps indie audiobook authors find narrators for their projects and then helps with the distribution of the finished product to Amazon and other outlets. Also included in the post are other avenues to find narrators and distribution.

Panzer says, "Hmm ... I wonder if that's why Mom got a copy of the Audacity program. I'll have to ask her."

Note: This is a h-u-g-e post. Bring a thermos of tea and a dozen muffins for today's reading selection.

To read the post, tootle over to audiobooks

Is The Self Pub Stigma Gone?

Only the best will do.

Panzer made a hurried trip into the Catosphere today. He was late for his after lunch nap and wanted to get to it before he fell asleep at the controls of the Panzermobile. Our kitty reporter of all things indie stopped in at the Indie Reader site.

According to the IR Staff, because indie publishing has been so easy in the past, a lot of material that was unedited, had bad covers and should have been left in a desk drawer to die a slow death was instead self pubbed. This lead to reader overload of ebook garbage and a bad reputation for everyone who self pubbed.

But, the IR Staff says the self pub stigma may finally be disappearing. The quality of indie books in general is improving. Indie books are being nominated for prizes and even winning some. Indie books are even making it onto some best seller lists.

Panzer says, "Humans should put as much time into self pubbing the best book they can as they put into talking about the book they self pubbed."

Note: This is a long post. Bring a b-i-g c-u-p of tea.

To read the post, tootle over to Indie Reader