Congratulations to Our Readers Favorite Award-Winning Self-Publishing Authors!

It’s that time of the year again — the 2015 Readers Favorite Award Winners have been announced. Below is a list of winners whose books are published with Outskirts Press:

Category: Non-Fiction — Animals


The Book of Barkley — Silver

Category: Non-Fiction — Government/Politics


In God We Trust — Silver

Category: Non-Fiction — Cooking/Food


The Ramblings of an Old Man — Honorable Mention

Category: Non-Fiction — Inspirational


Why Not? — Honorable Mention

Category: Non-Fiction — Motivational


Life Snacks — Honorable Mention

Again, congratulations to all of our winners! If you want to purchase any of these titles, you can save between 10%-50% by ordering directly from the Outskirts Press Bookstore.

Are you ready to publish your own award-winning book? Let’s get started…

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If You’ve Published an E-Book, Don’t Forget Your Hard Copy!

It is so enticing to go online, upload your latest manuscript and hit “Enter.” Almost instantly you’ve published your work. That’s exciting! Today, most authors are publishing in print first and taking their time deciding if this latest book will benefit from e-book accessibility.

Just this week (September 22, 2015), New York Times writer, Alexandra Altersept presented some very eye-opening revelations about the current state of affairs in the skirmishes between digital format e-books and hard copy books. One of her main points was this: “E-book sales fell by 10 percent in the first five months of this year, according to the Association of American Publishers, which collects data from nearly 1,200 publishers.” Mainstream publishers are investing heavily in this view of the future for hardcover books, as they expand their warehouses and distribution centers. This is also excellent news to the smaller, independent bookstore owners who are following this upward trend and filling their shelves. And, even though e-book business such as Amazon/Kindle are doing well, Amazon/Books is still doing better making it possible for readers to have a print book in their hands in 24-48 hours.

So what can you take from this information?

  • With all the e-readers being actively promoted in multi-media advertising, the reading public is picking up more hard copy/paperback books than ever before.
  • The speed of delivery of printed book copies today is a huge benefit to authors and their name recognition.
  • Printed books tend to stay “in the family” and become part of the passed-forward legacy of parent to child and grandchild.
  • There is also the growing evidence that too much reading on a digital device is hard on our eyes whereas reading a printed book page relaxes the eyes.

Certainly technologies in the world-of-books will continue to change. Yet, in the present time, authors may find their publishing decisions fall into both venues. However, never forget the unlimited value of the printed book.

Isn’t it time for you to publish today in electronic and hard copy formats?

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4 Tips for Selling on Amazon

There will come a day – perhaps soon – when your masterpiece is finally complete, and you’ll be ready to publish on all the major bookselling markets. When that day comes, you’ll want to be laser-like in your focus as you position your book to sell. Even before your book is done, it’s helpful to think about how you will market and sell it when it’s done.

For the purpose of this discussion, we’ll focus on the largest bookseller, Amazon. When your book is published, you’ll want to ensure that you’re positioning it properly to sell. The following are some things you’ll need to do to give your book the best chance possible of selling in the competitive Amazon marketplace:

  1. Have a laser-focused description. “What is your book about?” is one of the most common questions an author gets. You should be able to answer this well in just one or two short sentences.
  2. Choose the most appropriate book categories. Most retailers offer a limited number of categories for each book. It’s important to choose extremely carefully so you attract the right readers.
  3. Cultivate a clear mental image of your average reader. For the reason stated above, it’s vital to know exactly who your reader is – before, during and after the writing is done. Is your reader a 45-year-old upper class woman, or a college-age young man? You’ll speak to these two individuals in much different ways.
  4. Choose targeted keywords. Keywords come into play in the process of writing your synopsis. Again, you’re limited in how many you can choose, so think about these keywords carefully.

It may seem straightforward, but remember that all of these elements must be tied up in an Amazon listing that’s not only optimized for all the major search engines, but is also brief enough – less than 200 words, if possible – so potential buyers get the info they need quickly without getting bored and moving on to something else. Not so simple after all!

Let Outskirts Press help you strike that fine balance and get the edge you need to unlock your selling potential.

START PUBLISHING AND GET A FREE AMAZON EXTREME!

Are you ready to jump-start your marketing efforts with the Amazon Extreme marketing package? Start today with the promotion code below!

The Amazon Extreme marketing package from Outskirts Press offers self-publishing authors a head start on book marketing by taking triple advantage of the immense audience of Amazon, the largest online retailer in the United States. This package includes: An Amazon Kindle edition of your book, Amazon’s Search Inside the Book feature and the Amazon Cover Enhancement. These valuable, popular options are free for authors who start publishing in June. Start today with the promotion code below when you choose to publish with our industry-leading Diamond publishing service or our full-color Pearl publishing service to receive the FREE Amazon Extreme Marketing Package.

Enter the promotion code FreeAEJUNE15 when checking out of your shopping cart while purchasing the popular Diamond package or the full color Pearl publishing package by June 30, 2015.

Click to order the Diamond Package
Click to order the Pearl Package
TOP 5 PUBLISHING HEADLINES
AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT & SUCCESS STORY

“After completing my fourth manuscript, and after having already published my previous book with Outskirts Press, I did not hesitate to have my latest book – The Parliament Men – published with Outskirts Press. During the entire process, I was again pleased by both the attention my book was given, and by the timeliness of the process. The entire publishing process was very professional. One of the many positive steps I like about Outskirts is how they handled everything needed to turn my book into a E-book for me! Great job by all!”

Peter F. Warren is retired from the Connecticut State Police Department. An Honor Graduate of the Connecticut State Police Academy, he is also a graduate of the University of New Haven, and of the FBI National Academy. He is also the author of The Horry County Murders, and two Civil War novels. Currently, he resides in South Carolina with his wife.

Peter Warren has again created another extraordinary piece of work with his latest book. As a former homicide commander, this book captured so well the experiences and encounters homicide detectives are confronted with each case they investigate. Readers will find this story riveting and hard to put down as they follow Warren’s detectives and the clues they are pursuing.
– Peter F. Warren, author of The Parliament Men

3 Reasons to Get on the Amazon Kindle Bandwagon Now

If you’re on the fence about e-book publishing, this might be the year to pick a side. There are recent developments in the e-book publishing world that could be a boom for self-publishing authors who’ve taken advantage of the ongoing growth in that market.

Namely, Amazon has stepped up its game over the last couple years. The online marketplace and bookselling giant is dangling the proverbial carrot to book buyers with the introduction of new technology and the reintroduction of a popular e-reading device.

Here, we discuss a few developments at Amazon that may convince you to hop on the e-book bandwagon:

  1. The Amazon 3D smartphone. We don’t toss around the term “game-changer” lightly, but the release of Amazon Fire Smartphone is just that. The 3D interface is attractive and responsive, reportedly using face- and eye-tracking software to help readers navigate around the page.
  2. The return of Amazon Kindle DX. The 9.7-inch E Ink reader is back and better than ever, boasting updated software and an attractive $199 price tag. The device includes WiFi and 3G connections, built-in stereo speakers and 3.5mm jack, and enough room to download up to 3,500 books.
  3. Amazon Kindle Fire HDX. Pitted against the iPad Mini, this 8.9-inch tablet is a less expensive option than any Apple device at a paltry $379 and can do most of the same things. With the right apps, this so-called “productivity machine” not only displays ebooks beautifully, but also takes handwritten and typed notes, among other functions.

New and cheaper devices means more readers have, and will continue, to join the e-book revolution, making 2015 the perfect time to get your book on the e-book market!

Top 5 reasons to distribute an iPhone/iPad e-book using new Outskirts Press option

For the first time, self-publishing authors can now conveniently distribute an e-book edition of their book through the Apple iBooks bookstore while owning the files, the ISBN, and all the royalties.

Up until recently there was no simple, convenient way for self-publishing authors to create and distribute e-book editions of their books through Apple’s iBookstore without losing all of the control and a lot of the money. That changes with the launch of a new service from Outskirts Press, the fastest-growing full-service self-publishing and book marketing firm.

Here are the top 5 reasons authors are distributing e-books through Apple’s iBookstore and using the new iPad/iPhone Premium Edition with Private Label iBooks Distribution from Outskirts Press to do it:

1. Dramatically increase the book’s exposure

Over 70 million electronic Apple devices have sold and the sales figures keep growing. iPhone revenues account for over half of all smart phone revenue in the United States. Simply put, it is a huge market that cannot be ignored, especially for authors interested in broadening the reach of their book. Like with many other e-book formats, readers who find your book in the iBookstore can begin reading immediately after purchase. Not only does this reduce author cost – based on the cost of print books – but it also cuts reader costs down substantially with the elimination of printing and shipping costs.

2. Lead the e-book market

Apple’s iPad is at the forefront of the e-book craze. According to engadget.com, “[The iPad] is the first e-book reading experience we’ve seen that seems to truly understand the visceral, sensual enjoyment of holding an actual volume in your hand.” Unlike Kindle, which only offers black and white text, reading on the iPad/iPhone is appropriate and engaging for all books — black and white or full-color. In addition, Apple is forecasting that over twenty-eight million iPads will be sold by the end of this year. This will put all the books available in the iBookstore at the fingertips of even more readers.

3. Full ownership and control

Unlike other submission services, The iPad/iPhone Premium Edition with Private Label iBooks Distribution option from Outskirts Press registers an exclusive ISBN in the author’s name and an exclusive Apple account in the author’s name (or uses the author’s pre-existing Apple account). This means the author, and only the author, is the true publisher of record for the iPad edition. The author holds all the control, and keeps 100% of the royalties paid by Apple. “Not only can authors now publish under their own name or imprint with this new option,” said Outskirts Press Vice President Kelly Schuknecht, “they also have full control over their retail price. Apple takes only thirty percent. The Authors keep the remaining seventy percent, and it is deposited directly to their account. There is no middle-man taking a cut.”

4. Convenient and easy

Authors who have tried to create an .epub file themselves or attempted to navigate Apple’s daunting submission process know how challenging it can be. No longer! Outskirts Press takes care of all the behind-the-scenes leg work for authors and lets them sit back, collect all the money, keep the .epub file, and bask in all the glory that comes along with exposure over seventy million iPad and iPhone owners. “In the beginning, I looked at working directly with Apple myself on this project. After reviewing everything that was involved– time and money– it was clear that I was way ahead, once again, letting the experts handle it all for me,” stated David A. Koop, author of Cancer: It’s a Good Thing I Got It, in reference to the new service from Outskirts Press.

5. All authors can do it, regardless of where they published

It’s fast, easy, convenient, and all authors (self-published or otherwise) can take advantage of this new service, regardless of where the hardcopy edition was published; although authors who have published with Outskirts Press save 15%.

For all the details and to order conveniently and securely online, visit http://outskirtspress.com/p/ipad

Are you a self-publishing author ready to publish your book to the iBookstore and in print?

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