Today, I am proud to offer a guest blog by my buddy
and fellow author, Silas Payton.
He makes some interesting points, so please read!
I think you’ll agree!
Authors have always enjoyed hearing from their fans, but now, they appreciate feedback more than readers may realize. I regularly encounter both readers and new writers who haven’t heard of self-publishing. In the last six years there has been a massive shift in the publishing world. Modern technology, the easy availability of knowledge, and the platforms to sell directly to customers, have allowed an alternative for people who want to write a book but are overwhelmed by the hurdles of traditional publishing. This alternative is self-publishing. There are many advantages to self-publishing, but one that is seldom mentioned has totally changed the author’s appreciation of reader feedback. This advantage is the ability of an author to almost instantly make changes to their book.
Publishing your own work has a number of perks, the biggest being that the author retains all rights to the work. In addition, the author calls all the shots. Cover design, picking a title, back cover, editing, marketing, promotion and price are all under the control of the author. The price, in fact, is one of the easiest ways to tell if the author is self-published. Most self-published fiction ebooks are under $5.00, whereas, most traditionally published ebooks are over $8.00. With the pay structure for self-publishing, the royalties can be much better, paying the author more per book, even selling it at a lower cost…a win-win for both readers and authors.
One of the best advantages of self-publishing is the ease of fixing mistakes. We all make mistakes, whether traditional or self-published. It happens. Even with editors, beta readers and professional proofreaders, the occasional mistake can still make it through to the final copy. With the traditional publishing route, once a book has been sent to printing, it’s too late. The same mistake will appear in every copy printed (unless there is a future reprinting).
Most self-published authors who sell in paper, do so using a service called print-on-demand or POD. With this technology, when an order is placed, the book is printed, bound, and shipped, arriving within days, looking just like a store-bought book. The beauty of POD is an author using it, can easily fix an error. Once the book is corrected and uploaded, any future purchases, either paperback or Ebook, will have the updated version. To make the situation even better, if the author felt strongly enough, they could request that previous Ebook purchasers be notified that a free updated copy is available.
Self-published authors, especially enjoy feedback
I think it’s fair to say, most authors enjoy getting feedback, particularly in the way of good reviews. They also like hearing from fans directly. Because of the ease of making changes, self-published authors now enjoy reader feedback even more. Words of encouragement from readers, listing what was liked, and asking when the next book is due out, are all great, but if there is a mistake, whether it is a typo, a misused word, a double word, or something worse, most writers would want to know about it. All the reader has to do is copy or type out the line, or any distinguishing part of the error, and email it to the author. Most self-published authors have a contact me tab on their website. Once the email is received, the author can easily use their word processor to search for the sentence or phrase, finding it in minutes or less, and make the correction.
As you’re reading your next book, keep in mind, the author would likely really appreciate hearing from you, even if it is to point out a mistake…especially, if they are a self-published author. If you are an author and you get feedback from a reader, be sure to thank them for their time and effort. We should all strive for perfection…any mistakes that are found just bring our work closer.
I once had one of my favourite authors offer to send me a bunch of his books for pointing out a few errors before he did a big giveaway-promo of it. Do you have any stories of helping an author or being helped as an author?
Silas Payton
As you can see, Silas is right on target. Without
input from YOU, we can only hope that we’ve got it right.
So, please, find a way to contact your favorite
author, and let them know about their works. We enjoy good, honest input from
you…after all, you’re the biggest reason we do what we do!
Here's a link to books by Silas. The link goes to his Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Silas-Payton/e/B00SJ7S1K2/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1435240639&sr=1-2-ent
Edited to add: Here's the link to Silas Payton's website/blog. Check it out! https://silaspayton.wordpress.com/
Edited to add: Here's the link to Silas Payton's website/blog. Check it out! https://silaspayton.wordpress.com/
Thanks to Silas for the guest blog, and thanks to
YOU, the reader, for enjoying our work as you…
Keep reading!
T. M. Bilderback (But you can call me Michael)
Visit my website: www.tmbilderback.com
Follow me on Twitter: @mrtmbilderback
No comments:
Post a Comment