Tag: publishing package

publishing promotions

Your Winter Warm-up: Save $500 (or More!) When You Self-Publish Today

Whew! The holidays are over and seem like a distant memory … now what? Well, it’s a good time to knuckle-down and publish, especially if, like most New Year’s promises, your enthusiastic resolution to hit the gym on the daily has fallen by the wayside.

If one of your resolutions was to finally get that manuscript published, Outskirts Press is making it even easier by keeping our own resolution to make it affordable. We’re offering 15% Off Ultimate or Full-Color publishing AND a FREE Amazon Kindle Edition of your book (an extra $249 value)! That means you’ll save a total of $500 (or even more!) when you publish today. Kind of gives you the warm-fuzzies, doesn’t it?

To save hundreds on publishing AND receive free Amazon Kindle eBook publication and distribution, purchase the Ultimate or Full-Color publishing package and enter the promo code Save15+Kindle at checkout. (The huge savings is instant, and your Amazon Kindle eBook Edition will be added to your account within 48 hours.)

Would you like help choosing your best self-publishing option? Connect with Outskirts Press now in whatever manner is easiest for you:

 

Uncategorized

3 Ways to Give Your Dad the Gift of Self-Publishing

Father’s Day is June 18th, and perhaps you are still looking for the perfect gift to give your dad? Don’t worry–it happens, and we have the solution! If your dad has always wanted to publish a book, self-publishing may just be the perfect present, and if he prefers to read over writing, we have a great range of self-published titles that just might pique his interest! Here are three ways you can give your dad the gift of self-publishing this Father’s Day.

1. Buy him a publishing package.

Self-publishing companies offer a variety of publishing packages to meet a range of needs. Purchase a publishing package with your dad’s favorite publishing company–Outskirts Press! Outskirts Press even offers instant gift certificates you can order online.

2. Self-publish in his honor.

If you’ve written a book in honor of your dad, either a memoir or a work of fiction, now is the perfect time to publish it. He will be deeply touched by the special gift and cherish it forever.

3. Buy him a book!

The Outskirts Press bookstore is packed with great books with appeal for readers of all ages, including such diverse titles as A.L. Skip Mahaffey’s Adventures With My Father: Childhood Recollections of Divorce Dysfunction and the Summer of Love, a memoir which chronicles the author’s dysfunctional existence growing up with one of the strangest, most bizarre people Mahaffey ever encountered — his dad. There’s also father stories: experiences being a father, a book of (deliberately lowercase) reflections by stewart l wolff as he struggles to be a “good enough” dad — and child psychologist. In a similar vein, Kevin Patrick’s Fatherhood charts the effects of a traumatic car accident which left the author paralyzed from the waist down, with a two-month old daughter to raise. And lastly, Jon J. Masters’ Fear, Fathers and Family: In Search of the American Dream lays out the work of living underground, harboring secrets both within one’s family and from the world outside. All four of these books make for a compelling read, and serve as excellent examples of the memoir form!

Pick up a copy of these or any other Outskirts Press titles in our online bookstore, and spend your Father’s Day immersed in the rich world of books and the people who write them! You can find out more information about these books, their authors, and how you yourself can become a self-publishing author online at www.OutskirtsPress.com!

For more information about self-publishing with Outskirts Press, get in touch with a Publishing Consultant. There are three convenient ways to connect:

  1. Call us at 1-888-672-6657 (OP-BOOKS)
  2. Live-chat with us via our website
  3. Go online to schedule an appointment
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Author Inspiration, Bestseller Spotlight, Book Spotlight, EVVY Book Awards, Uncategorized

And the winner of the 2014 Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year is…

The votes are in! Outskirts Press announced today that Andrew Ceroni has won the Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year Award for 2014 for his book, Snow Men. Andrew’s work was voted the top honor from the three finalists selected from the most recent Colorado Independent Publishers Association EVVY award winners. Andrew will receive the $1,500 Grand Prize from Outskirts Press as well as wide recognition through social networks, and a widely distributed press release. An exclusive award seal will also be added to his cover for all future printings of his novel.

Andrew Ceroni served a distinguished career as a special agent conducting global counterespionage and antiterrorism operations. He is a graduate of numerous federal intelligence and criminal law enforcement training forums. He received his B.S. degree from the US Air Force Academy; M.A. from Case Western University; and studied several foreign languages at the University of Maryland. An author of several short stories and two novels, his poetry has also been published in several magazines. He lives in Colorado with his family.

Over the last week, thousands of readers and writers among our writing & publishing social community were invited to vote. The Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year award recognizes not only the author with the writing talent to compose an award-winning book, but with the marketing prowess to promote one. Andrew ultimately collected the greatest percentage of votes.

Besides receiving the $1,500 Grand Prize, Andrew Ceroni will now reap the benefits of extensive promotion of his book by Outskirts Press. A feature story that covers his inspiration to write the book, his own writing process and his personal story will be widely distributed throughout the social networks in the near future.

Congratulations, Andrew!

The results of the poll were:

Snow Men by Andrew Ceroni 63.51%
Dust to Dust by John Hudson 27.18%
Speechless by E.J. Brown  9.32%

Start publishing your new book today and you could become next year’s Best Book of the Year winner!

Start Publishing Today
Production Options, Uncategorized

3 Ways Investing in an Editor Pays for Itself

A professional editor is your last, best hurdle before sending your book off to publish. While it may seem an optional service, there are compelling reasons why you may not want to think of it as “optional” – not when your reputation and product quality are at stake.

It’s humbling to submit a highly personal work to someone we imagine gleefully buying red ink by the barrel. However, in this case, red ink is your best friend. Here are three ways your investment in a professional editor will pay for itself:

  1. An editor is your best beta-tester. Your book is your product, and there’s no better way to “test” your product before it goes to market than with a professional editor – more than one editor, if it’s feasible. A test run of how your product might perform in the marketplace more than pays for itself, allowing you to tweak your writing and marketing to reach the right readers and keep them hooked once you do. In a perfect world, every publishing author would have the luxury of both an editor and a team of beta readers, but if you have to choose, hire a pro.
  2. Editors help you get your point across. You know what you mean to say – but will readers understand the ideas you’re trying to get across? There’s no way to know until you get someone “outside your head” to view your work from the perspective of a potential reader. This is one of the main missions of the editing process, and one that ensures that your words have the intended effect on the intended target audience so you can resonate with readers – and sell more books!
  3. Editors see “invisible” problems. By the time a book is close to finished and nearly ready for publication, most publishing authors have gone through it with a fine-toothed comb, often multiple times. But no matter how thoroughly and how often you review your own work, even the most conscientious authors can become blind to errors in their own prose. Even a couple of minor errors in your book can destroy your credibility and hurt your sales, making the services of a professional editor well worth a modest investment.

Remember, editors are, like you, avid readers and writers with the added advantage of having expertise in their field. Use that expertise to your advantage to get the most polished product possible. You’ll never regret it.

Are you ready to publish the best book possible?

Bestseller Spotlight, Book Spotlight, EVVY Book Awards, Uncategorized

Finalist #3 for the 2014 Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year

Congratulations to John Hudson, author of Dust to Dust, one of three finalists for the Outskirts Press 2014 Best Book of the Year Award.

The three finalists are being introduced throughout the week on this blog. Public voting will determine which of the three finalists should be awarded the Outskirts Press 2014 Best Book of the Year Award and its $1,500 Grand Prize. Voting is open to everyone and begins on this blog on Thursday, September 3.

John Hudson is a career banker with over 30 years of financial institution executive marketing experience. He also performs regularly as keyboardist and soloist with his Dixieland band Dixie Rhythm and is house soloist with the Clarke County Community Band and Yesterday Swing Orchestra. He is the author of two books commemorating his employer and his hometown; Dust to Dust is his first novel. John is married with two sons and a daughter-in-law and lives in Virginia.

Dust to Dust

The year is 1826 and Thomas Jefferson has just died. His beloved Monticello bustles with activity as funeral plans are swiftly organized for his burial in the family cemetery. Fast forward to 2026. A group of researchers specializing in regeneration technology have found success after years of work and significant investment. Dr. Pat Alexander, head researcher at BioGen, announces to the assembled group of board members/investors that the regeneration of a circus chimpanzee, which died in a runaway circus wagon accident in 1926, has met with success: The animal is alive and well. Discussion turns to the final step in the researchers’ plan—to bring back a human being—and after careful elimination, the candidates are whittled down to one name: Thomas Jefferson. So begins this powerful debut novel—a book that examines human ambition gone wrong and chronicles the miraculous “rebirth” of the nation’s third president, his struggles to assimilate, and the world’s collective amazement at the science behind this feat. The American government swiftly becomes part of the oversight of the technology, and the 48th president personally introduces Jefferson to the 21st century. But with a lethal flaw in the researchers’ technology, the world’s unbridled excitement quickly erodes, leading to a destructive conclusion for all involved. Fortunes evaporate, beliefs are challenged, careers are ruined, and lives are lost in Dust to Dust.

Every year, Outskirts Press recognizes the best book they publish with their annual Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year award, which must not only win an EVVY Award from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association but must also be recognized as the best book among three finalists.

As one of three finalists, John Hudson and his book Dust to Dust will be competing head-to-head-to-head with the other two finalists in a public poll on this blog starting on Thursday. John has already demonstrated he has the writing chops to win this prestigious award, as evidenced by his EVVY Award win. Does he have the marketing prowess to make it as the Best Book of the Year author in this digital age? Stay tuned for information on the remaining finalists being announced this week, and then come back on Thursday to vote for the book you believe to be the best among the three.

The author of the winning book will receive a $1,500 credit to his or her Publishing Center, courtesy of Outskirts Press, and an exclusive 2014 Best Book of the Year award seal to apply to the cover of the book.

Are you ready to publish your own award-winning book and perhaps find yourself in the running for next year’s Best Book of the Year award? Get started today.

Start Publishing Today
Uncategorized

Would Your Book Make a Great Movie?

If the publishing experience was a morning talk-show panel, it would be packed with authors throwing around buzzwords and expressions like “film rights” or “Hollywood option” or even “green light,” but what do these terms even mean? For the self-published author aspiring to take that next step and pursue translation to the silver or the small screen, the language of cinema can prove the first of many obstacles to overcome. But never fear–Outskirts Press is on hand to help you master both the vocabulary and the experience of a Hollywood treatment!

What are film rights?
When you choose to publish, it’s important to read the fine print about which rights you retain and which rights you give up whenever your book is distributed in a different medium–including film. As a self-published author, you must take special care to understand the boundaries of copyright and your personal rights–which, if you’re published through Outskirts Press, is an easy process!

What is an option?
A film option is a kind of rental, in that a studio or production company reserves the right to make your book into a film (or television show) … for a certain length of time. The standard option runs anywhere from one year to 18 months, during which time the studio attempts to secure the funds and other resources to adapt your work into a screenplay and get it ready for filming. An option can be $500 or it can be $5,000–and the amount depends entirely on how much the production company wants your work. An option serves as a kind of preliminary show of interest.

Getting the green light.
Getting the “green light” on a film means that a studio is willing to put serious money on the table to have it made–and since we’re talking about Hollywood here, we’re usually talking on the order of millions of dollars, which is a serious commitment for anyone! As an author, the best thing you can do to get that “green light” is to make sure you’ve done everything you can ahead of time to make your book as film-friendly as possible!

In addition to offering a whole host of packages that will set your movie up for Hollywood success, Outskirts Press would love to walk you through all of the ins and outs of pursuing a cinematic adaptation of your book! To learn more, peruse all of the Hollywood possibilities we offer, or speak to your Personal Marketing Assistant about how we can help you navigate the sometimes hazy world of personal rights, treatments, and screenplay adaptations.

GET STARTED WITH OUR HOLLYWOOD SUITE OF OPTIONS!

Many authors dream of seeing their books on the big screen or as the basis for a long-running television series. Outskirts Press offers authors three unique opportunities to garner the attention they deserve from Hollywood producers with services named Book Your Trip to Hollywood. With each option, authors receive the feedback and/or participation of a real Hollywood producer and production company; the final results are added to a Hollywood database that is perused by industry professionals for new projects; and exclusive efforts to option the author’s book are immediately set into motion. These Hollywood options are:

  • Hollywood Action Plan: Get a true professional opinion from a true Hollywood producer at a real Hollywood production company.
  • Book-to-Hollywood Treatment: A Hollywood standard 7-10 page treatment is often a prerequisite to optioning a book or even having a screenplay written. Most producers or studios base their opinions of a work on the treatment.
  • Hollywood Screenplay: Ultimately, in order for a book to become a movie or television series, a screenplay must be written. These scripts conform to Hollywood formatting standards based upon type/genre and the copyright remains with the author (not the screenplay ghostwriter).

Get started today and watch your book on the big screen!

Click to order

TOP 10 DIAMOND BOOKS FROM OUTSKIRTS PRESS AUTHORS
Bestseller Spotlight, Book Spotlight, EVVY Book Awards, Uncategorized

Finalist #2 for the 2014 Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year

Congratulations to Andrew Ceroni, author of Snow Men, one of three finalists for the Outskirts Press 2014 Best Book of the Year Award.

The three finalists are being introduced throughout the week on this blog. Public voting will determine which of the three finalists should be awarded the Outskirts Press 2014 Best Book of the Year Award and its $1,500 Grand Prize. Voting is open to everyone and begins on this blog on Thursday, September 3.

Andrew Ceroni served a distinguished career as a special agent conducting global counterespionage and antiterrorism operations. He is a graduate of numerous federal intelligence and criminal law enforcement training forums. He received his B.S. degree from the US Air Force Academy; M.A. from Case Western University; and studied several foreign languages at the University of Maryland. An author of several short stories and two novels, his poetry has also been published in several magazines. He lives in Colorado with his family.

Snow Men

Dave McClure is on a plane to Alaska in early winter, having quit his job with the FBI and turned his back on the world. It’s been a year since the horrific accident that claimed his wife and son, and McClure is still unable to move beyond his grief. Remembering the joy he once shared with his wife on vacation in Alaska, he heads north… seeking solace and resolving to either put his painful past behind him or succumb to the unforgiving Alaskan wilderness. Instead, McClure finds a grisly scene in the forest—the body of a hunter whose throat has been cut ear to ear. And that’s only the beginning. In Snow Men—equal parts international thriller and wilderness survival—McClure uncovers a cache of nuclear weapons and a Russian-Iranian plot to wipe the nation of Israel off the map. With only a hunting rifle, a pistol, and a few days worth of supplies, Dave McClure not only faces Russian Special Forces and the harsh reality of nature, but discovers a will to live he didn’t know he still had. Spanning locales in Alaska, Paris, Amsterdam, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Thailand, and Washington, DC, Snow Men is a stunning thriller set against the pristine beauty of Alaska’s rugged Wrangell-St. Elias wilderness.

Every year, Outskirts Press recognizes the best book they publish with their annual Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year award, which must not only win an EVVY Award from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association but must also be recognized as the best book among three finalists.

As one of three finalists, Andrew Ceroni and his book Snow Men will be competing head-to-head-to-head with the other two finalists in a public poll on this blog starting on Thursday. Andrew has already demonstrated he has the writing chops to win this prestigious award, as evidenced by his EVVY Award win. Does he have the marketing prowess to make it as the Best Book of the Year author in this digital age? Stay tuned for information on the remaining finalists being announced this week, and then come back on Thursday to vote for the book you believe to be the best among the three.

The author of the winning book will receive a $1,500 credit to his or her Publishing Center, courtesy of Outskirts Press, and an exclusive 2014 Best Book of the Year award seal to apply to the cover of the book.

Are you ready to publish your own award-winning book and perhaps find yourself in the running for next year’s Best Book of the Year award? Get started today.

Start Publishing Today
Advice, Book Spotlight, Uncategorized

Craft Your Book to Create Visual Impact

You’re on the road to self-publishing, but that road sometimes seems more like a dirt track lost in a forest of wild ideas than a well-marked strip of asphalt. You’re carrying the one thing you can rely on to see you through–your work, and your work ethic–and you’re ready to take the next step. Which way do you turn? You’re surrounded by a plethora of advice: Get an agent! Purchase an ISBN! Launch a promotional campaign! And all of these suggestions have their merits, but you’re not quite sure your book is ready to meet the world. It’s time to take another look at your book–as a physical object, that is.

Presentation matters, and it matters a lot. Luckily, a whole slew of resources are available to help you whip up the perfect book jacket and interior page design. Here are a few thoughts to get you started:

  1. Design with genre in mind. There are benefits to paying attention to the visual brand of your book’s genre. Think about it–we know almost immediately, instinctively, when we run across a book of crime fiction by its bold and blocky type-faced titles, or a book of post-apocalyptic literature by its distressed pages and fractured images. There are advantages to standing out as an exception, but every choice you make must be intentional and must be weighed against losing existing readers of your book’s genre.
  2. Choose your typeface and images carefully. It goes without saying that you should choose images you own the rights to, or that fall under the Creative Commons license. But you should also be careful to choose each and every design element–typefaces included–based on its capacity to appeal to a large audience. Steer clear of fonts and images that feel amateurish!
  3. Make it yours. One of the most common questions asked within the self-publishing community is: “Should I pay someone else to design my cover?” Ultimately, the answer is up to you; however, you should never underestimate the power of attraction that a professionally-designed cover will exert over potential readers. Paying someone doesn’t have to limit your creative control over the design, either: at Outskirts Press, you will be in constant communication with your design team!
  4. Fresh eyes are vital. The best decision you can possibly make for your book, both in terms of appearance and content, is to have it professionally edited. No matter how many times you’ve read your own text, you’re always going to miss something, and readers notice both the most insignificant of errors and the beauty of a finely polished text. We all strive to avoid the former and ensure they notice the latter!

You don’t have to face the dirt track and the forest alone. Outskirts Press is on hand to provide you with all of the resources you need to put together a beautiful, perfectly crafted book that will stop new readers in their tracks. From cover to cover, page to page, and start to finish, our team of dedicated staff will help you take that next step!

Are you ready to self-publish?

START PUBLISHING AND GET $300 OF FREE UPGRADES!

Mad Money is back! Receive $300 of “Mad Money” with the promotion code below when you choose to publish with our industry-leading Diamond publishing service or our full-color Pearl publishing service.

You can apply your $300 of “Mad Money” toward any optional production or marketing option we offer during the pre-production process. And with many of our optional services beginning at just $99, you can get quite a few! Apply it to options such as a Custom Cover, Cover Scribing, Editing, a Kindle Format, or choose from many others.
The only question is, how are you going to spend it?

Enter the promotion code MADMONEYSEPT15 and start publishing today!

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

“Outskirts Press made my dream of becoming a published writer come true. They have provided me support in every single way. They know what our needs are, and address them proficiently. Their support did not end when my book was published, but continues with the support of the marketing coach, who gives me valuable advice and guidance about what I should be doing, as well as how and when. I look forward to publishing with you again. I recommend you to all writers, especially international ones. You truly are the best publishers!”

Dina Al-Hidiq Zebib works in the field of education and professional development. She has a Bachelor’s degree in education, and a Master’s degree in clinical psychology. She loves working with people, helping children, and making a difference in the world. She is married and has two children.

During her childhood and young adulthood, intelligent and curious Sara is encouraged to explore who she is, and to pursue education and a career that will make the best use of her many gifts. The gift of true love comes to her unexpectedly, when she meets Hani, a young man who is her soul mate. Together they commit to a life together full of devotion…but Sara’s destiny takes an unexpected turn, throwing her into a cycle that she could never have imagined. With the assistance of a kind therapist, she begins to reflect back on the decisions that brought her where she is today…the crossroads that led to her destination. Will she be able to retrace her steps and salvage what she already had? Crossroads is an introspective, thought-provoking book that will resonate with every woman who has struggled to find her path in life.

– Dina Al-Hidiq Zebib, author of Crossroads
Author Inspiration, Author Spotlight, Awards, Bestseller Spotlight, book marketing, Book Spotlight

Finalist #1 for the 2014 Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year

Congratulations to E.J. Brown, author of Speechless, one of three finalists for the Outskirts Press 2014 Best Book of the Year Award.

The three finalists are being introduced throughout the week on this blog. Public voting will determine which of the three finalists should be awarded the Outskirts Press 2014 Best Book of the Year Award and its $1,500 Grand Prize. Voting is open to everyone and begins on this blog on Thursday, September 3.

E.J. Brown has been fighting to recover her sons from autism for the past decade. For the last seven years she has been the teacher to one handsome, insightful, bright student: her son, Clary. Every day means fighting the good fight to full recovery. She lives in coastal South Carolina with her handsome trophy husband, George, and three brilliant boys that teach her more every day than she ever learned in a book or a classroom.

Speechless

We are here to teach the world what happens when love is enough…Speechless is the story of a family that was forced to take the long journey of heartache and despair into the dark, confusing world of autism and found their way out the other side to recovery. Three brothers each were diagnosed with a different form of ASD and their parents faced an unwavering fight to bring them back. The battle was against a disorder that is considered incurable, and children who are thought to be unreachable. This theory was turned on its ear with a new perspective, hope, love and determination. We refer to the full recovery of two, the third a miracle in progress. This one family’s story will change everything you think you know about autism and the things you consider to be important in life. This was a family that loved one another and exercised blind faith in each other, despite the obstacles placed before them. They accepted the disorder with the caveat that they would continue to fight and would never accept that this had to be a lifelong disability. They fought with everything they had and proved that sometimes amazing things happen if you put aside what your head tells you is logical and, instead, follow your heart. Three boys showed everyone that hope can lead to miracles if we choose to believe. What seems impossible is very often possible. It is only when we believe that we can change despair into hope and enjoy the happy ending we all expect and deserve.

Every year, Outskirts Press recognizes the best book they publish with their annual Outskirts Press Best Book of the Year award, which must not only win an EVVY Award from the Colorado Independent Publishers Association but must also be recognized as the best book among three finalists.

As one of three finalists, E.J. Brown and her book Speechless will be competing head-to-head-to-head with the other two finalists in a public poll on this blog starting on Thursday. E.J. has already demonstrated she has the writing chops to win this prestigious award, as evidenced by her EVVY Award win. Does she have the marketing prowess to make it as the Best Book of the Year author in this digital age? Stay tuned for information on the remaining finalists being announced this week, and then come back on Thursday to vote for the book you believe to be the best among the three.

The author of the winning book will receive a $1,500 credit to his or her Publishing Center, courtesy of Outskirts Press, and an exclusive 2014 Best Book of the Year award seal to apply to the cover of the book.

Are you ready to publish your own award-winning book and perhaps find yourself in the running for next year’s Best Book of the Year award? Get started today!

Start Publishing Today
Promotions, Uncategorized

Last Day to “Choose Your Own Promotion” When you Self-Publish Your Book!

It’s not too late to self-publish your masterpiece this month and “Choose Your Own Promotion”! Self-publish TODAY and choose from 3 great options to include with your new book. Start today with one of the promotion codes below.

  • Option 1: 10% Off–Save 10% instantly when you choose to publish with our industry-leading Diamond publishing service or our full-color Pearl publishing service. Promotion Code: 10AUG15.
  • Option 2: Free Goodreads Marketing campaign–With more than 40 million members, Goodreads is the world’s largest community of readers. The Goodreads Marketing Campaign option through Outskirts Press is designed to help you connect with those readers through an author profile, book giveaway and targeted ad. Receive this option FREE with promotion code: FREEGOOD15.
  • Option 3: Free Custom Cover–People DO judge a book by its cover, so wrap your book in an impressive, eye-catching design that represents the quality of the work on the pages within. This option is normally $299, but you can get it FREE this month with the promotion code: COVERAUG15.

Don’t wait any longer, these great offers end at midnight tonight! Enter the promotion code of the option that fits best for you when checking out of your shopping cart while purchasing the popular Diamond package or the full color Pearl publishing package.

Click to order the Diamond Package
Click to order the Pearl Package