Tag Archives: Amazon

I’ve Published WIDE!

make your own darn good cookiesIf you’re not already familiar, let me tell you a little about the world of self-publishing.  I’m still learning about this myself, so my details might be a little fuzzy, but here goes PUBLISH

Last October I published my recipe book on Amazon.com.  A month later I followed with publishing the e-book version.  When you release your e-book out with just one self-publishing company that’s referred to as ‘publishing exclusive‘.  When you put it out with multiple companies that’s called ‘publishing wide‘.
(This is a rather good article on publishing exclusive & wide and the pros & cons …. if you can stay awake through it.) PUBLISH

As of TODAY I have published wide! PUBLISH

smashwordsOver the weekend I uploaded my e-book to Smashwords.com.  When your manuscript is formatted correctly — that is when it meets the particulars of Smashwords — they then push your e-book product out to roughly twenty other companies**.  While I uploaded my e-book to Smashwords Sunday, 24-hours later I received noticed I’ve officially published wide! PUBLISH
(** also known as getting accepted into the Smashwords Premium Catalog)

OverDriveKobo Rakuteningram contentAnother great thing about having my e-book go out to these other e-reader entities is libraries.  Many libraries get their e-books from companies other than Amazon.  My understanding is that most draw their e-books from — chiefly — OverDrive and Kobo.  If they don’t have it already, please contact your local library and ask them to purchase a copy of my book (in addition to Amazon it should also be with Ingram) and a copy of my e-book. PUBLISH

I’m glad to be with Amazon.com, and I’m glad to be widening my net so people who enjoy other e-reader devices can access my recipes.  Just think, if I get as many sales per month with these twenty other companies as I do with Amazon right now . . . well . . . I won’t be living rich, but it would be a nice little chunk of change to bring in. PUBLISH

Books & E-book Projects Moving Right Along

Updates On A Few Things I’m Working On!

Lately I have been busily working on a number of book projects.  A few of these have bumped into obstacles, and a few of these have had some  exciting break-throughs!

Here’s the latest…

Bagpipe Sheet Music & Tune History Book

As many of you know I am producing a bagpipe sheet music book. This will serve as a fundraiser item for a veteran’s organization I am a member of along with being the music collection for our small pipe band.  The project features military and patriotic Highland bagpipe sheet music and the history behind the tunes.  The work is going well and I am optimistic about publishing this June.

2 New Things About This Book…
Scotch Eggs
Scotch Eggs — YUM!

To increase the page count I am planning to include some Scottish and Irish recipes.  While I’m already familiar with a few of these, others have required some experimenting. Getting to try new things in the kitchen has been a culinary joy for me!  As for the book … the inclusion of Celtic recipes is great because it furthers the cultural education element of the organization!

Bill Millin WWII D-Day Invasion Sword Beach
Bill Millin landing on Sword Beach during the WWII D-Day invasion — armed only with a set of Highland bagpipes

One section of this book draws on the music played Bill Millin during the WWII D-Day Invasion.  Private Millin played a unique role in D-Day history; I am writing both further his story and to express the significance of this section in the book.  Over the past few days I have connected with his son and grandson online.  Both gentlemen are accomplished bagpipers and they are generously willing to check the accuracy of my writing*. As a Highland bagpiper it is an absolute honor to be writing about the famous D-Day piper — getting to connect with his son and grandson makes it just that much more real.
(*the facts — not the grammar, spelling, etc)

My Recipe E-Book on Smashwords & Etc

SmashwordsI’ve been working to get my e-book — already published on Amazon — additionally published on SmashwordsSmashwords is interesting in-that they will publish an author’s e-book not only on their site but on that of other e-book companies — Barns & Nobel, Kobo, etc.

Make your Own Darn Good CookiesFor this to take place, Smashwords is quite particular as to how an e-manuscript is formatted. Frankly, I prefer to learn how to do things and do them myself, however right now I have Way Too Much To Do … so I’m looking for the services offered by one of the folks on Fiverr.  My preference at this time is to move this project along and do-so at a price my little baking-biz can afford.

A few nights ago I looked at the Smashword instructions anyway.  I quickly sorted out how to re-format the pictures in my e-book.  That alone shrunk the size of my manuscript file down to half of the Smashword’s maximum! I’m checking with a number of Fiverr folks and waiting for them to get back to me about taking this on.  With all the font characteristics in a recipe book, they tend to take more work than novels … so fingers-crossed that I’ll gain their support.

THE ADDITIONAL GOOD NEWS ABOUT THIS IS …

Once I have my manuscript back from whomever re-formats it for me I should be able to post that on Smashwords — obviously — and also copy that MSWord doc and re-work it into the free little recipe e-book I nearly had completed and published lately.  So, while I’ve had to restart this little free e-book project having already completed it …

… Things Are Moving Right Along!

Gotta go ~ Keep an eye here along with my Facebook and Twitter profiles for announcements ~ Don

New Endeavour – Audiobook Narration?

Make Your Own Darn Good Cookies
My 1st recipe book — available on Amazon!

As I began the ‘sprint to the finish-line’ completing my book in 2017, an odd thought came to mind …. “I have a voice, and digital recording gear — I could produce my recipe book as an audiobook!”  Frankly, at the time, I thought it was kind of funny — who would listen to a recipe book?!?  And then that idea grew into a new-possible endeavour — that I could become an Audiobook Narrator!  And then I found a few recipe books that had been produced as an audioboook … apparently I’m not so weird.

Excited at the prospect, I dove into to information gathering — while Batman runs off to The Batcave, I of course go to the ever more humble internet.  I found LOADS of links and reading*!  What more was that I largely found consistent information on how to do the work, how to get gigs, how to price jobs, the standard industry pay range.  In fact, it was weird, because all the information was so consistent — as though all the articles I found were written from the same source!  I dug a bit more and found an article that ‘pulled away the curtain’ and told what everyone else wasn’t telling me — and that truth didn’t look bad either.
(* see links below and/or embedded in this post)

The single-most helpful information source I found was from blogger and veteran audiobook narrator Karen Commins.  Her blog offers numerous experience-based straightforward posts — more than I had time to go through, so I targeted those that would give me the bootstrap information I needed to assess if this was viable for me.

Audiobook recording, reading (narration), and professional jobs have a fairly short list of requirements and ins-and-outs.  I’m not getting into that detail today, however you can put those elements together for yourself reading the various articles I linked below.  I’m not claiming to be an expert on this topic by any means, however I have a pretty good initial understanding.  In short, you need a decent voice but don’t actually have to have a great voice — but you do need to be able to read out loud well … and when you think about reading aloud professionally you suddenly become much more self-conscious!  Obviously you need a microphone — while there are very expensive voice microphones available, for most people something lower-end is more than adequate.  You also have to be literate …. and considering I’m typing this post and I’ve written a book, I think I have that covered.

All that said … now that I have my book published in paper and e-book forms — available on Amazon — and I’ve completed a few other priority tasks on my dreaded To Do List …. I’m going to give it a go and make my recipe book into an audiobook!

Studio Gear I Have

  • Recording — My impression is that most people working in the industry are recording directly into a computer using a microphone interface.  Coming from a music and field-recording background, my approach is a little different.  I have a Zoom H4n with the extras pack, which I purchased from zZounds.com.  This is essentially a 4-channel digital studio that fits in the palm of your hand.  Zoom is known for making products that are good quality, affordable, and intuitive — and in my experience that description is spot on!  To me the H4n is also good for audiobook narration because, unlike my computer … no fan noise.  I also own a Zoom H2n, which is what I use for most of my field-recording projects.  This unit alone could replace many of the gear-pieces I could otherwise use.
  • Voice Microphone — I have both an AKG Perception 200 and an Electro-Voice RE10.  These were purchased used and I paid under $100 each — and they work like CHAMPS!  I’ll do some experimenting with each, but I predict I will use the AKG mic.
  • In-Ear Monitors — Monitors are a must!  In my various music experiences as a Highland bagpiper I have seen all sorts of approaches to audio gear — and all price ranges.  The Shure SE-215 in-ear monitors are lower cost, however they are by no means lower quality.  I have seen many respected stage performers using this product, and so far I have been nothing but happy with it.
  • Studio Software — There are many options on the market, and many that do and cost far more than the needs of most audiobook narrators’ needs (ProTools, CueBase, etc).  For years I have been using Adobe Audion (which is looked-down upon by many musicians, works fine for me).  Audacity is free, relatively easy to learn if you are accustom to noodling around and figuring out software for yourself, and plenty robust for most audiobook narrators’ (and podcasters’) needs.

Studio Gear I Need

  • pop filter
    A pop filter …. yeah, I know, it kinda looks like a fly swatter.

    Pop Filter — A pop filter serves a couple of purposes, right now let’s focus on the noise-issue it helps with.  Pop filters help to “reduce or eliminate popping sounds caused by the mechanical impact of fast-moving air on the microphone during recorded speech and singing.”  In other words, it helps to keep the recording from spiking — especially with words starting with B and P.  They don’t cost much, but I need to con$erve right now, so I’ve done some online research and rigged one up using a piece of spandex.  If that doesn’t work I have a few other things to experiment with.  In time, I would prefer to get a proper pop filter.

  • Studio — Many people in the industry work from home.  If your abode is in a relatively quite place, most rooms with carpet, furniture, and curtains (etc) will suffice.  You want to cut-down the noise and any echos.  One way to do this is to cobble together a recording booth.  This can be done with a number of things including surplus cubicle walls.  If you have the money, the products made by WhisperRoom.com seem to be the leader.

OTHER LINKS … in no particular order

TIME TO TAKE CARE OF SOMETHING

Something that came to my attention earlier today… FREE

Make Your Own Darn Good CookiesBefore the Fall 2018 launch of my book I redundantly and obnoxiously told everyone about a link on my website — a link where you could get FOUR FREE RECIPES that were going to be and are in my book. I found out today that not everyone caught that.

Yes — if you go to WhidbeyIslandBaking.com and look under “Products” for “Free Stuff” you can download these FOUR FREE RECIPES — better yet, OR JUST CLICK THIS LINK.

FOR FREE (or FOUR FREE)

You can download my recipes for…

Please try these recipes. Please enjoy these recipes. Please share these recipes. If you have questions about these recipes please ask me. If you don’t have questions then I did my job right in writing these recipes. If you like these, then please buy my book on Amazon. If the book is bigger than your budget, it’s also available as a save-a-tree e-book for about a quarter of the price.

ENJOY!
~ Don

PS — Thank you Rachel for bring this to my attention 🙂

Podcasts For Authors

click-click clickedy click-click Click!

I’m fortunate to be friends with other folks who are budding authors — and since publishing I have also come into contact with some established authors (like Craig Gordon, whom I recently blogged about). Something that’s really cool is that everyone is asking everyone questions and loads of people are happy to help with what they know!
(See my “PPS” below — I’ve even gotten into it!)

Recently I asked Nick Marsden a few questions and he suggested podcasts by Joanna Penn. This was a wonderful suggestion and I’m grateful to Nick for making it! Since Nick’s suggestion I have only heard 2 of Joanna Penn’s podcasts.  The content fit my needs well, and looking at the list of her other podcasts I want to listen to all 400+ shows ASAP! Interesting interviews and all sorts of topics that speak to my writing interests.

By The Way …
Here are Nick and Joanna’s important links

If you’re a new author, an author who is already on their way, or someone who is questioning if they should write ‘that first book’, I encourage you to check out Joanna Penn’s podcasts — and take off on your journey!

PS — If you have suggestions of other podcasts for authors on the topics of writing, publishing, marketing, and more, please let me know 🙂
PPS — I’ve been contacted by new authors across the country and around the world for information on self-publishing — how cool is that?!?  I’ve directed them to the presentation I did with Tom Trimbath — which is coming up again …)

The Creative Penn Podcast: Writing, Publishing, Book Marketing, Making A Living With Your Writing