================================================================ This is a monthly e-mail update for subscribers only, sent from U-Publish.com, the web site named for the revolutionary guide to new methods for publishing and promoting books by Dan Poynter and Danny O. Snow. Get the paperback, now available to order from all major bookstores & online booksellers. Or order direct at http://www.u-publish.com/order.htm ... with free shipping. ================================================================ Dear Subscriber, This issue focuses on web tools that can help you write, publish and promote books more effectively. We hope you find them use- ful. If you know of others, please feel free to recommend them for future issues. Simply e-mail newsdesk@u-publish.com with your suggestions. ================================================================ *** Free PBS "Tele-Courses" for Writers See http://www.pbs.org/pbsyou/schedules/telecourse.html for a listing of outstanding classes on public television, including several of interest to writers. ================================================================ *** Book in the News? Google now offers a great new tool: news alerts, when your book is mentioned in any of the 4,500 news outlets they catalog. Follow the link below and complete the form; Goggle will notify you by e-mail when news appears: http://www.google.com/newsalerts ================================================================ *** Where is your book listed? There are several web sites that list retail outlets where readers can obtain your book(s). Here are a few: http://www.AAABookSearch.com http://www.addall.com http://www.fetchbook.info http://www.mysimon.com http://www.pricefarmer.com TIP: search by ISBN for more accurate results. You may be surprised to see how many outlets offer your book to the public. For example, follow the link below for our outlets: http://www.u-publish.com/order.htm ================================================================ *** Find Agents, Publishers & More Find more than 2,000 literary agents, editors and publishers in the US, UK and Canada, with web sites, addresses & e-mails, all in one convenient location: http://everyonewhosanyone.com FREE, link courtesy of Jim Barnes, www.independentpublisher.com ================================================================ Please feel free to forward copies of this bulletin to your fellow authors and publishers. This is a free service that is available to anyone in the book world upon request. We don't endorse specific products or services, and we do not accept advertising. You may subscribe or un-subscribe at any time. ================================================================ *** Schreiber Prize Deadline 12/1 Writers of comedic essays, articles, short stories, poetry, and other forms are invited to submit. Works up to 750 words in length should be typed, double-spaced, accompanied by a money order or check for $5 to cover administrative costs, payable to "The Mona Schreiber Prize." No limit to entries but each must pay a separate fee. Put contact information on the first page. No SASEs, please. Include e-mail address for notification of winners. All entries must be postmarked by December 1 for a December 24 announcement of three winners: 1st: $500. 2nd: $250. 3rd: $100. Web site: www.brashcyber.com ================================================================ *** POD Books in Stores??? *** Expanded from September Report Rumors are circulating that major bookstores may now be stocking "Print-on-Demand" books. Possibly true ... but don't jump to conclusions prematurely. Note our bias: "U-Publish.com" is a POD trade paperback from Unlimited Publishing: http://www.unlimitedpublishing.com POD books must compete with traditional books in the marketplace. Editorial, design and printing quality must ALL be competitive, regardless of printing method. See guidelines from Barnes & Noble, as covered here in the December 2002 issue: http://www.u-publish.com/dec2002.htm Books that contain frequent errors in spelling or grammar, and those with amateurish designs (often books with layouts created using "one-size-fits-all" templates or those "typeset" with word processors like Word or WordPerfect rather than real type- setting tools like Quark or PageMaker) are at a disadvantage, and rightly so. Important: for books that meet the quality standards of major bookstores, TERMS are important too. For example, few POD publishers accept returns from retailers... but bookstores rarely stock books on a non-returnable basis. Items above are just a few of the factors that stores consider in deciding to stock a book, whether it is printed with POD, PQN or traditional methods. POD books CAN achieve professional standards, but you must be commited to quality in many areas in addition to printing, if you are serious about getting attention in the big league book trade. ================================================================ Quotable Quotation: "I don't see why -- in time, of course, in time -- he mightn't even become a branch manager." -- One of T. S. Eliot's superiors at Lloyd's Bank, quotation courtesy of Florrie Kichler, Patria Press ================================================================ Please feel free to forward copies of this bulletin to your fellow authors and publishers. This is a free service that is available to anyone in the book world upon request. We don't endorse specific products or services, and we do not accept advertising. You may subscribe or un-subscribe at any time. ================================================================ *** Important Note for Subscribers If you receive our bulletins at an Internet service like Hotmail, AOL, Yahoo or Earthlink, PLEASE be sure to put our reply address (newsdesk@u-publish.com) in your "address book." If not, future issues could be accidentally filtered by your service provider in their efforts to block spam. As you know, our bulletins are 100% subscription-only, but unfortunately some services will not deliver them unless our reply address is included in your address book. We apologize for any inconvenience, and appreciate your help. Please tell others! For more info, see: http://www.u-publish.com/e-mail.htm ================================================================ Inside tip from Poynter & Snow: ALWAYS READ THE FINE PRINT! Here's ours: This is a free e-mail bulletin from U-Publish.com, the web site named for the book by Dan Poynter and Danny O. Snow. Bulletins are sent by subscription only. You may subscribe or unsubscribe at any time. Simply contact us by e-mail at: newsdesk@u-publish.com We do not endorse specific products or services, and we do not accept advertising. We will not sell your name, address or other personal information to others for any reason at any time. Our goal is to serve as advocates for the self-publisher or independent publisher, large or small. We welcome your participation, feedback, criticism, and suggestions. We learn from our readers, and value your input. Please visit http://www.u-publish.com at least once each month, for periodic updates of interest to writers and publishers. Please feel free to forward copies of this message to fellow writers and publishers. This is a free service, available to to anyone in the book world upon request. ================================================================...please check your e-mail settings to see if you need to disable "HTML" output, and use "Text Only" instead. Some e-mail software such as Microsoft Outlook may send e-mail messages in the same format (HTML) as a web page, which can cause problems for recipients who use other software. File attachments (especially large ones) also cause problems for some recipients and should be avoided unless they are specifically requested by the recipient. Put pictures on your Web site and include the location (but NOT the picture) in your e-mail messages. For example, if you want to see a photo of Poynter and Snow, click the link below: http://www.u-publish.com/images/poynter4.jpg Finally, when you type messages, we *strongly* suggest ending each line by pressing the Enter key, after typing about 60-80 characters, as we are doing here. This allows recipients to forward your e-mail to others without formatting problems. If you are sending e-mail to the public, you want all of your messages to arrive simple and problem-free. The suggestions above will help you reach more people by e-mail, with fewer problems. ================================================================
If this text appears large and loud...