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Mary’s Merchandise Mart: We Have More Than Bookmarks

Charles Yallowitz's avatarLegends of Windemere

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Welcome to the only place that provides authors with the merchandising choices of their dreams.  We don’t even charge real money.  Oh, we’ll get to that part near the end because you don’t want to ruin the surprise.  Now, what kind of event are you preparing for?  A convention, a book signing, a contest, a craft fair?  We recently had one author who was promoting her book during a dog sledding competition.  She was in the race and we had to create some specialized merchandise.  So, what do you need?

Conventions are common and simple, but only if you let them be.  The vendor room is cutthroat since people rarely bring enough money to spend on everything they want.  I know they have cards, but many get uncomfortable once that comes about.  You mentioned it being a fantasy series and you already have books to sell as…

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How to remove your paperback from KDP Expanded Distribution to sell your book via IngramSpark – by Jay Artale…

Chris The Story Reading Ape's avatarChris The Story Reading Ape's Blog

on Birds of a Feather Press:

Switching from Amazon Expanded Distribution

I use different distribution models for my various ebooks, some are enrolled in Amazon KDP Select, some are consolidated through a distributor (Draft2Digital), and others use a mix model of direct with the core 5 (Amazon, Google, Kobo, Apple Books, and Barnes & Noble) and everyone else through Draft2Digital. It can get complex and messy the more books you have, but I don’t think a one-size-fits all approach to self-publishing is effective if you’re writing different genres of books. Because my ebook distribution models are complex, I’ve kept my paperback distribution model really, really simple—and up until now I’ve distributed exclusively through Amazon KDP print on demand.

I was a latecomer to print, I wasn’t sure the time, money and effort to create an additional cover and do the internal formatting was worth it. But my niches (travel guides…

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Audio Book Creation Tips

Unknown's avatarDon Massenzio

Audio books concept. Vintage books and headphones.This post touches on a process that I attempted. My brother drives a cab in our hometown. He has been a big supporter of my books and my writing. After I finished my first book, he suggested a medium for my books that I had not seriously considered. Many of his regular passengers are blind or vision impaired. They are also avid consumers of audio books. He told me that this would be a great market for my books.

I was a bit skeptical at first, but I began to research the audio book market. Audio books are very popular for commuters and there is a very active market. Because of the work involved, audio books often sell for more than their printed or e-book counterparts. Armed with these facts, I set out to pursue creation of an audio version of my first book, Frankly Speaking.

I read a…

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Here’s to 2019!

NEW YEAR

It is here, almost! I want to take this moment in time to wish all of my family and friends a Joyful New Year 2019! We can’t do over 2018, but we can make 2019 the best it can be for everyone we know an don’t know. I don’t have new year resolutions per se, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have anything I plan to do more of either. For me, life is what it is, and I intend to make the best of it. I also intend to carry on with as much kindness as possible to all. These aren’t resolutions, they are life, learned from past mistakes, having been critically ill this past year and more. To that end, Happy New Year 2019! 

 

This entry was posted on December 31, 2018. 2 Comments

Grammar Is A Must-But Lose That English Teacher Writing! (Revisited)

Writing your first novel-Some things you should know's avatarWriting your first novel-Things you should know

English teacherI wasn’t an English major, but I never had a problem with stringing words together and making coherent, easy to read sentences. I know most of the rules, but I also know those rules are meant to be broken, especially if you are writing fiction.

The purpose of English Teacher grammar is to understand how to create sanitized, standardized, easy to understand, impersonal, inoffensive writing. If you’re looking for a job writing pamphlets for the government, instructional manuals, or news reports, then that’s the way to go.

These rules aren’t meant for fiction. That does not mean your story shouldn’t be grammatically and structurally sound. We are talking about styles here, not mechanics.

Fiction writing is nonstandardized, complex, personal, and occasionally offensive. It is the best way to reach into your readers head and show him your words. In order to bring your voice to life and get your world on the…

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It’s A Beautiful Ending

It is a beautiful thing…

reginadee2014's avatarRegina Puckett

Santa carrying sack of gifts  against snow sceneIt’s A Beautiful Ending

Regina Puckett

 

I’ve always looked forward to Christmas Day

All of its hustle, bustle and maddening fray

I love the happiness on my loved ones faces

I love the gift giving and all of its many graces

I love the lights twinkling and jingle bells ringing

I love the children’s laughter and off-key singing

I love the joy of gathering the family together

I love the frost covered trees and cold weather

But above all – I love the way we all become one

It’s a beautiful ending to when the old year is done

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Merry Christmas!!

christmasbeautyhdr2

Wishing all of my family and friends a Merry Christmas and may the New Year bring what you most need. 

HugsMary2018

This entry was posted on December 20, 2018. 4 Comments

Can Words Be Dangerous?

jorobinson176's avatarJo Robinson

Writers all have their own quirks. They all have different ways of coping with stress or “writers block”. For me, writers block has never been a real thing in a way that I couldn’t write anything at all, but it has been a thing insofar as what I could write joyfully. I love writing non-fiction and I love research, but writing fiction has always been the thing that I do that makes me happier than doing anything else. Fiction writers hold the universe in their hands, and they can literally do anything with it. I think it comes with a responsibility though. Good fiction can change minds, and sometimes it can change lives.

I’ve always had a broad spectrum of genres that I enjoy to read in both fiction and non-fiction. History, good literary works, humour, and horror. In my teens there was a short sojourn into soppy romances but…

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