There’s a fascinating article in Business Week on Amazon’s venture into publishing. And the stark terror that’s gripping publishers as an result.

Sadly, it’s hard to argue that the blame for that lies anywhere than at the feet of the publishers themselves. As the article, Amazon’s Hit Man – BusinessWeek, says:

“Book publishing, an inefficient industry if there ever was one, seems ripe for reimagining. According to a recent report by the Association of American Publishers, sales of adult paperbacks and hardcovers fell 18 percent between 2010 and 2011. “

Publishers have leeched off writers for years.

Way back in 2000 I was an occasional reader of a writers’ forum. The forum was focused on book marketing.

Of course, publishers refused to create marketing campaigns for any writers unless the writer was a bestseller, and the house had committed millions in a book advance. They were protecting the money they’d invested.

I was shocked to my core when writer after writer said that they’d organized their own publicity for a book launch, spending not only their entire advance against royalties, but also their own savings (which some could ill afford.)

At first I couldn’t believe what I was reading. Why on earth were these writers bothering?

Since so many writers told the same tale, I assumed that writers were being told to do this by publishers — spend their advance on their own promotions. I thought that was unconscionable then, and I think the same now.

If ever an industry needed a good swift kick in the rear, it’s publishing. There are many wonderful people in publishing. The industry however, in its present state, deserves to die.

Back in the 1990s I interviewed the CEO of a major publishing house for an article. He was congratulating himself on a couple of takeovers. I thought then that publishing was in a death spiral — the entire industry was all about dollars, only. Not that I have anything against people making money. However, sooner or later, the money has to come from something REAL — not about smarties finding clever ways to make a buck. (See Wall St. for the smarties who will kill capitalism if they can.)

It’s time for people who read and and who love books to take over publishing. Whatever form the industry takes in the future, these people will create it.

Kindle Publishing Is Hot: Want to generate cash from your kitchen table and quit your day job?

Others are making money from Kindle publishing. The lucky few are making millions. Some are making great money — and that money increases each month.

What about you?

Imagine generating cash from your kitchen table. You can let Amazon do all the heavy lifting. Amazon’s got a proven publishing system, after all — discover Fast and Easy Kindle Publisher: Turn Free Stuff Into Kindle Cash, and discover four different ways to turn free stuff into Kindle cash.

If you’re a Kindle author, you’ll be interested in Apple’s just-released application, iBooks Author.

I haven’t downloaded the iBooks Author application yet. This article suggests it will be easy to use for anyone who owns and loves a Mac, Apple’s iBooks 2, iBooks Author: Bids to own publishing’s future – latimes.com:

“If you’ve ever used Apple’s Keynote or Pages (or Microsoft’s PowerPoint or Word) apps, then you should be able to hit the ground running in iBooks Author. There are templates for different types of book layouts, and adding the interactive 3-D models, photos, videos and diagrams that Apple demoed iBooks 2 textbooks on Thursday is as easy as clicking and dragging a built-in widget… “

It’s great to see that Apple’s producing tools for self-publishers.

I’m in two minds about it however.

On the one hand, I love new tools, especially Mac tools produced by Apple. On the other hand, I wonder whether Apple is as committed as Amazon to creating an entire environment for self-publishers.

The big lure of the Kindle platform, especially for novelists, is that each book helps to sell your other books. Apple doesn’t as yet have that environment. Time will tell whether Apple intends to devote time and money to creating such an environment.

Kindle Publishing Is Hot: Want to generate cash from your kitchen table and quit your day job?

Others are making money from Kindle publishing. The lucky few are making millions. Some are making great money — and that money increases each month.

What about you?

Imagine generating cash from your kitchen table. You can let Amazon do all the heavy lifting. Amazon’s got a proven publishing system, after all — discover Fast and Easy Kindle Publisher: Turn Free Stuff Into Kindle Cash, and discover four different ways to turn free stuff into Kindle cash.

Get started writing your book today

You want to write a book. You’ve heard that there’s money to be made (LOTS of money) writing ebooks for the Kindle and other ereader platforms.

You’re ready, willing and able, but… you don’t know how to start.

It’s easy.

Here’s how to prime your writing pump.

1. Write 20 Titles

This is your chance to be as outrageous as you choose. You can make your titles funny, mysterious, sad — anything but plain vanilla.

Can’t think of anything?

Go to Amazon.com, and click around. If you want to write nonfiction, look at the top nonfiction bestsellers. Similarly, look at the fiction bestsellers if you’re writing a novel.

Ideas:

* Choose an evocative noun (fiction: “blood”; “temptation”; “death”; “river”) and riff off it;

* Use a number: (nonfiction: “100 Ways to…”; “10 Things No One Told You About…”; “50 Easy Ways to…”) and fill in the blanks;

* Grab a word from a dictionary, and base your title on it. This works best with a paper dictionary. You can open the dictionary anywhere, close your eyes, and place your finger on any word.

I use an electronic dictionary, by choosing a letter, for example “i” and adding vowels until something I like pops up: “ia”; “ie” etc. I chose “ie”, which gave no results, but then the dictionary gave me “ig” which did.

Interesting “ig” words I liked include: “ignite” and “ignore”.

I could use these words in a title, however, if I were seriously looking for a title, I’d use a thesaurus on these words.

For example: “ignite” brings up: “Heating: heat, warm, chafe, foment, make hot, burn, fire, set fire to, set on fire, kindle, enkindle, light, ignite, melt, thaw, fuse, liquefy, burn…”

Remember, your titles should be outrageous. This gets your subconscious mind “igniting.”

2. Write 20 Weird First Sentences

Here are some phrases to get you started:

* I knew I was alone, but then…

* She got her greatest wish…

The key is not to think about it — just write.

3. Write About Your Scariest Experience Ever

I’ve been badly scared three times in my life that I can clearly remember. I wouldn’t want to relive these experiences, but if I wanted to start a book, I’d write a couple of paragraphs about one of these experiences.

Your aim isn’t to include the experience in your book — it’s to mine the emotion generated from your memories. All emotion is energy. You can use the energy to write.

You’ll find that once you’ve written a couple of paragraphs and have scared yourself, you’ll start writing — and hey presto, you’ve started writing a book.

4. Choose a Fairy Tale, and Retell It

Fairy tales are fun. Screenwriters and novelists use them constantly in their work, either overtly, by retelling the fairy tale, or as inspiration.

Spend ten minutes reading Grimm’s fairy tales.

Now choose a fairy tale, and think about how you might place the tale into a modern setting.

This works for both fiction, and nonfiction. If you’re writing nonfiction, think about the lesson the fairy tale teaches.

The easiest way to start your book is just to sit down and write. There’s not much more to writing a book than that.

You Can Make MORE Money Writing Than You Can At Any Day Job

Tired of struggling? Here’s some inspiration for you… An ebook called “Fat Loss 4 Idiots” made 21 million dollars in 2009. Last year, Amanda Hocking wrote several short ebooks, and made 2 million dollars. Publishing has changed. You’re in charge, if you want to be.

Can you profitably write and sell ebooks? The self-publishing frenzy says that you can. However, you need to know what you’re doing, so that you’re as sure as you can be that your new ebook will SELL before you start writing it.

It took me five years of writing and selling information products before I stumbled over the formula I’ve been using ever since.

Now I’m sharing the formula with you. Once you start the right way, ensuring that you have readers who are ready and eager to BUY before you start writing, it’s easy to make sales.

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There’s never been a better time to write a book.

You can write AND SELL your book profitably, because the Amazon Kindle platform makes it possible for you. The gatekeepers have gone.

However, you do need a method.

As I said here, Write AND Sell Your Ebooks With Angela’s No-Fail Ebook Sales Formula:

“Can you profitably write and sell ebooks?

The self-publishing frenzy says that you can. However, you need to know what you’re doing, so that you’re as sure as you can be that your new ebook will SELL before you start writing it.

It took me five years of writing and selling information products before I stumbled over the formula I’ve been using ever since.

Now I’m sharing the formula with you. Once you start the right way, ensuring that you have readers who are ready and eager to BUY before you start writing, it’s easy to make sales.”

All you have to do is start writing. Write — and then sell.

Are you considering enrolling your new ebook in the KDP Select program? You’ll be given the opportunity to do so when you upload your ebook.

Amazon has just released a new press release which indicates that authors are having some success with the program.

In this press release, Amazon Media Room: Press Releases, Amazon reports:

“Amber Scott is a romance writer and earned $7,650 from the KDP Select fund in December. “Enrolling in KDP Select utterly transformed my career,” said Scott. “I’ve experienced not only a surge in royalties but a surge in readership thanks to the increased exposure. I love the chance to earn new readers through the innovation of the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library. What an exciting time to be an author!””

Tired of struggling? Here’s some inspiration for you… An ebook called “Fat Loss 4 Idiots” made 21 million dollars in 2009. Last year, Amanda Hocking wrote several short ebooks, and made 2 million dollars. Publishing has changed. You’re in charge, if you want to be.

Discover self-publishing success with Write AND Sell Your Ebooks With Angela’s No-Fail Ebook Sales Formula.