Get Your Title Onto Borrowbox via IngramSpark

Bolinda Audio produces a book-borrowing app (Borrowbox) used widely by Australian libraries. An author client contacted them recently to see if there was a way of including their ebook title on the platform. They responded promptly with the following:

“We would be happy to distribute your titles to libraries via our digital lending solution BorrowBox, but we simply don't have the resources to deal direct with individual authors. If your titles are available from a digital distributor such as Gardners, Ingrams, IPG, or Faber Factory, then we could make them available via BorrowBox.”

Borrowbox is an excellent app with a very wide variety of audiobook and ebook titles, and represents an great opportunity for independent authors to get in front of new readers.

Jenny Wellington on ABC Radio

Jenny Wellington, author of the very entertaining novel Damengin, was interviewed on ABC Sunshine Coast — audio below.

“Damengin is a country town in Queensland weighed down by the worst drought in living memory and its inhabitants are all desperately waiting for government drought relief.

The bad news is that the funds have been sent and spent by Council's Shire Clerk Shifty Grey and his corrupt cohorts.

This is a rollicking fast-moving story about political skulduggery, greed, love and lust. It features outrageous characters, blossoming romances, pathos and importantly, has an incredibly happy ending.”

“A lovely Aussie story that everyone can relate to. Loved reading the book right from the start. I could hear the author reading the story to me at the start and as I got further into the book, wrapped into the characters of the story, I couldn’t put the book down as I sat in on the edge of my chair wondering what was going to happen next.”

— Christine, Queensland

An Amazon Tale: He Fought for His Royalties, and (Eventually) Won ....

A very dogged author relates his trying experiences with Amazon KDP and organising the payment of royalties. He does arrive at a solution, but only through sheer persistence:

“Amazon is probably the best outlet for Indie authors, but manage your expectations when dealing with their customer service.

Their help/assistance/advice to me was either inconsistent, vague, given in Amazon’s internal technical speak, incomplete, or simply wrong.

I put my latest novel up on Amazon as I did with my previous two, only this time, I put both eBook and paperback on all markets, not just Australia.

When sales started occurring, I followed those on my KDP account site.  I found their reports informative and helpful.  They gave me statistics for each marketplace and the estimated royalties.

When my Australian royalties started arriving in my Australian bank account by EFT, I thought I would find out why my sales in the other markets were not reaching me.

I then discovered those royalties could not be paid by EFT into my Australian bank account, only by cheque or wire.  Then I found that not only could an EFT transfer not happen, but that Amazon had a withdrawal threshold of 100 units for each market, e.g. US$100, CA$100, €100, or £100.

None of my book royalties in any market outside Australia is ever likely to break these thresholds, e.g. Canada royalties were CA$2.88, Eurozone (Germany)  €7.80.  So, I put the question to Amazon – how do I ever get paid these royalties?

Amazon suggested I open an account with Payoneer for each marketplace, which I did.  So, Amazon from each marketplace could now transfer my royalties to those Payoneer accounts.  However, my problem then became twofold:

1. Payoneer does not have a banking arrangement with UK or Canadian banks. So these royalties could not be transferred to my Payoneer accounts.

2. Then I discovered that Payoneer also has a withdrawal threshold of US$50 per transfer.

Finally, a solution:

1.  In your KDP account go to the Getting paid tab.

2. In your non-US/non-Australian accounts, change your payment method to your US$ account and transfer any outstanding royalties in those other non-US accounts to the US$ account.

3. Under your Amazon US account, click and highlight every tag except Amazon.com.au.

4. All royalties from sales in all those other marketplaces will now be currency converted into your US$ account.

5. If or when your US$ account balance reaches above US$100 you can transfer to your Australian bank account.

6. In my case, I have my Amazon US$ account balance transferred to my Payoneer US$ account (lower withdrawal threshold). Amazon’s US$100 withdrawal threshold does not apply here.”

40 Best Adobe Fonts from Typewolf

An interesting survey of the best typefaces available via Adobe fonts. Google fonts are also worth visiting, as are Font Squirrel and Lost Type.

The Self-Inflicted Decline of Academic Publishing

Ted Gioia writes in disbelief at a sector of the publishing industry with an apparent death wish.

“Scholars are smart, so why are they letting this happen to their books?”

— Ted Gioia

Barbara Canin Stirs the Pot

Feisty independent author Barbara Canin decided to make her aged care home the focus of her latest book. The resultant book is trenchant, witty and somewhat controversial.

“I’m trying to show the funny side of living in an old age home. There’s a funny side too. It’s hilarious, you have no idea how hilarious it is, Canin said with a smile.”

— Barbara Canin

Mary Garden on Cults

Author Mary Garden writes about her experiences with gurus in the 1970s.

“I don’t know what it was in me that had the courage to write my book well before its time ‒ to expose the little bastard and others like him, to warn others ‒ but that’s the one good thing that came out of it all. ”

— Mary Garden

Plantea in Posterum exhibition by Ellen Hansa

Ellen Hansa, author of the excellent Dante’s Trunk is holding an exhibition of her botanically-themed ceramic art. She writes that the “opening of my exhibition was quite amazing filled with stories, poetry and song.”

‘Plantea in Posterum’, plants of the future, was a challenge which kept me busy for almost 12 months. Usually I make my work to be put into a garden, threading the pieces onto star pickets which are securely hammered into the ground. I had to devise a way to be able to display my work in a gallery as well as in a garden or on a patio. On top of that everything had to fit into my car and I had to be able to lift the pieces. The sculptures can be dissembled for easy transportation.

My ceramic career started over 50 years ago, when I fell in love with clay and its possibility to mould it into all kinds of shapes. Pots, tiles and sculptures, I made it all. All these items I start by drawing the shapes and working out the colours. Only then I begin with the modelling, the firing and the glazing. For this exhibition my inspiration came from my garden.

The exhibition will continue until December 11. Edge Galleries are open weekends 11am-3pm

Amazon KDP and payments: an Odyssey

For Amazon KDP authors struggling to figure out how to aggregate their royalties, see the note below from an independent author:

“At last, I found someone at Amazon KDP who knows their job. I have now tagged all Amazon marketplaces to have royalties paid into my US$ Amazon account, e.g. outstanding UK royalties have now been sent to my US$ KDP account, as well as German and Canadian royalties. It is, therefore, now easy to transfer all that money to my Payoneer US$ account so that I can get paid into my Australian account – PHEW!”

For context, and earlier email from the same author:

I am now experiencing a separate crisis with Amazon, who are not paying me my due royalties. They have told me they have only paid Australian royalties by EFT but cannot pay me for all the other markets, which must be paid by cheque until royalties reach 100 in each currency. I have asked them how I will achieve those thresholds when I have, for instance, only sold one in Germany, and I am unlikely to sell anymore there - do they, therefore, keep my money? It’s very frustrating, and the whole exercise with Amazon is proving a nightmare. I have spent A$2035 on Amazon AD’s with a supposed return of A$474.36, of which I have only received A$153.28. I’m still waiting for an answer from them.

and more…

At this stage, I have read every word on both Amazon’s KDP and Payoneer’s websites.  I have determined that Americans set up both sites specifically for Americans – so much for a Global Company.

 Having now signed up for Payoneer, I find they can deal with EFT payments to Amazon USA, UK and Australia but forget Canada and Germany, where I have sold a few.  Those few royalty amounts have gone into the Amazon coffers, given I will never reach the CN$100 and €100 thresholds.

 I’ve written to Payoneer customer service to find out how they will arrange payments of my royalties from different Amazon markets, into my Payoneer account, and then into my bank account here in Australia – 5 days minimum response.  Both websites state that once I have set up a Payoneer account, Payoneer will email Amazon and arrange payments to route through them - Mmm!

and

Payoneer has now advised that I can transfer currencies from one of my Payoneer Receiving accounts to another currency account.  I can directly transfer €8.53 from my Eurozone Receiving account to my US$ Receiving account with a balance of US$44.53, thereby making the US$ account greater than US$50 (US$53.35), meaning I can now withdraw it to my account here in Australia.  Phew!  Getting that solution from them was like pulling teeth.  However, I will leave it all alone until the new year in case any more royalties arrive in those accounts, but since I have canned my Amazon AD campaign there shouldn’t be much of that if anything.

 What remains now is £36.40 sitting in my Amazon.co.uk account, which I cannot transfer to my Payoneer account as Payoneer doesn’t have an arrangement with a UK bank.  So back to Amazon KDP with that one.

Dealing with Amazon KDP can certainly be a very frustrating experience, with Amazon making it extremely difficult to speak to an actual human.

Here’s a very long list of customer service issues with Amazon KDP.

author2audio - audiobook and podcast production for independent authors

Dave Stokes writes regarding his excellent audiobook service to independent authors…

author2audio - audiobook and podcast production

We help independently published authors to create, record and publish their audiobooks to 20 plus international retailers including Amazon/Audible, Apple Books and Google Play - studio free, and you keep the royalties.

Our process takes you every step of the way - from setting up your home office recording environment and equipment, through narration technique, editing, production and to publication.

Rates start at AUD $500 (plus tax) per 10,000 words with an affordable minimum charge.

If you feel a narrator suits your needs, we can help with our experienced team of voice actors there too.

Please enjoy the following short (5 minute) video guide to recording. It'll give you a 'fly on the wall' perspective on your recording adventure:

Recording guide

I'll look forward to having an introductory chat with you on 0401 958 883 or at dave@author2audio. Oh - and if you like - on Zoom (and our website...)

P.S. Check out a sample from one of customer's audiobooks in the following link:

Tim Wood - Your amazing brand story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IebMcMlLGk

https://videos.files.wordpress.com/XW7N6hX1/a-river-divided-sample.mp4

Extensive new Free Variable Font Family -- Inter

Check out this well-constructed variable font family and download for free (but consider a payment to the designers). The following text is quoted from their website:

Inter is a typeface carefully crafted & designed for computer screens.

Inter features a tall x-height to aid in readability of mixed-case and lower-case text. Several OpenType features are provided as well, like contextual alternates that adjusts punctuation depending on the shape of surrounding glyphs, slashed zero for when you need to disambiguate "0" from "o", tabular numbers, etc.

and see also a useful resource list of 70 free fonts…

Life With a Psychopath Talk with Franca di Pietro

Franca will be discussing her thought-provoking novel “Life With a Psychopath” at Mornington Library.

Details as follows:

Recommended for adult audiences

Francesca Di Pietro has a passion for storytelling, especially tales which highlight the dark side of human nature, including manipulative and aberrant behaviour.

Her debut novel, Life with a Psychopath tells the story of a young Italian woman, who enters into a relationship beset by racism, manipulation, and physical and verbal abuse with the charming and charismatic Shaun. 

Carmella will not be beaten by Shaun’s behaviour and brings female empowerment to a new level. A compelling and gripping story of triumph, highlighting how victims of violence and abuse can overcome adversity by reaching out to those around them.

Join us at Mornington library where we are supporting 16 Days of Activism to end gender-based violence.

Tuesday, 29 November 2022 | 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Location: Mornington Library, Vancouver Street, Mornington, 3931

The talk is free. Bookings here.

David Gaughran's email archive

The ever-helpful David Gaughran keeps his email newsletter archives here. It is an extensive trove of practical advice relating to BookBub, Amazon advertising, Facebook advertising, marketing with email and launching a book. David says:

“Welcome to the email archive – where I store all the most useful emails from my weekly marketing newsletter. I’ve grouped them into various topic areas so you can dive into the subjects of most interest to you.”

And don’t forget to sign up to his newsletter here.

Hybrid Publishing

Books + Publishing recently published a fairly lengthy and nuanced discussion on the state of ‘hybrid publishing’ in Australia. The article defines hybrid publishing as “a situation where ‘a writer pays money for publication, and grants the company a licence of rights or the company takes a share of any profits”. Hybrid Publisher Shawline Publishing is mentioned, along with their recent opening of a bookstore in Ballarat focused on promoting indie authors. Their Facebook page is here.

Books + Publishing also posted a useful checklist for authors considering signing on with a hybrid publisher. Reedsy’s take on hybrid publishing is here.

Author Solutions Scams

Author Solutions is a vanity press publisher with a very bad reputation. David Gaughran recently detailed the way their scam works. Author Solutions is behind imprints such iUniverse, AuthorHouse, Trafford, Partridge, Balboa, Westbow and Xlibris. All make unfulfillable promises and charge unconscionable amounts for dubious / pointless services. Self Publishing dot com also goes into even more detail. Author Solutions even games search results so authors who search for “author solutions scams” are directed to more Author Solutions scam pages! Dudley Court Press details some recent lawsuits against Author Solutions.

Book Cover Designs for September 2022

An interesting variety of topics covered in the latest round of cover designs in progress…

How to Research and Honour Our Returned War Heroes website

Author Ian Burrett has constructed an excellent website to promote his book. The one page site is very simple, has clear opportunities to purchase and good supporting information. Also available online at Booktopia and other booksellers. Ian reports that the book has been selling well.

The book blurb and author biography are as follows:

Many war veterans and their families have endured years of debilitating physical and emotional problems, and as a result they and their families have arguably suffered as much or more that those who have died during all conflicts in which Australia has participated. Because of this the author believes that returned service people have just as much right to be named on community war memorials as those who died during or as a result of their service.

Hundreds of thousands of our returned heroes, primarily from the two World Wars, have not been named on community war memorials. This book explains why this has happened and gives step-by-step guidelines to assist communities to update their memorials. It includes many points not previously revealed to the general public on this topic. It also provides assistance to those wishing to research their service person ancestors as well as school students and other researchers studying our wartime history.

No similar book has been previously published. With respect to community war memorials the orientation of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, the Australian War Memorial and the RSL is primarily directed towards those who died during or a result of their service. Their assistance is orientated to people researching individuals, not community researchers desirous of updating their local war memorials with a large number of names. This book can be regarded as a text book for those wanting to give our returned heroes, and those who died, the long-overdue recognition they so rightly deserve.

About the Author

Ian Burrett is a retired Vietnam veteran. His inspiration for writing this book is his father, Lt Col Athol Frederick Burrett DSO MID. Of the 12 000 Aussies who landed at Gallipoli on April 25th and 26th, 1915, Athol was one of less than 300 still fighting when World War I ended. Ian is currently the treasurer of the Portland NSW RSL sub-Branch. He has been a JP in NSW for nearly fifty years. Ian’s formative years were spent in Goulburn, NSW, and he was heavily into sport. He represented Goulburn in hockey, table tennis, swimming and snooker. He played a side drum in scout and school cadet bands at Anzac Day marches.

Ian has had a varied career, primarily in real estate, an area he worked in for about twenty-five years. He was the principal of Raine & Horne franchises at Kincumber and Avoca Beach, on the Central Coast of NSW. Prior to that, based in Sydney, he was regarded as one of Australia’s leading authorities in assisting accountants in public practice to install internally-managed superannuation funds for their corporate clients. He wrote articles for CCH Australia Ltd and conducted seminars on the topic in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. He was working in the security industry prior to his retirement in 2007.

Now single, Ian was married twice. Ian has two children from his first marriage—Lisa, a solicitor, born 1973 and Brett, a doctor, born 1979.

An author’s public speaking provides promotional opportunities for his book

An author client writes with a roster of his speaking engagements — not all relating directly to his book, but providing a good opportunity to mention its existence. Other clients have reported that public speaking events have been quite effective in sparking sales of their books.

The Outback Writers Festival is a three-day event to be held in Dubbo on 9,10 and 11 September. I shall attend the first day.

I am doing a presentation-talk with videos and photo to the Lions Club of Gilgandra on 3 September at their change-over dinner.

On 8 September I am to do my regular presentation at the University of the Third Age, In Dubbo.

On 9 September I am to speak at the monthly meeting of the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association in the morning and then to attend the Writers Festival as above in the afternoon/evening.

On 10 September I am to address the Country Women's Association, not about writing but travel to other lands as it is their International Day.

Art of Conscious Balance by Santosh Nambiar featured in newspaper article

Australian publication The Indian Sun recently ran a feature on author Santosh Nambiar and his excellent book The Art of Conscious Balance. Santosh’s book is a calm and wise exploration of issues relating to life balance and mastery over mind. The book description is as follows:

'With awareness of my thoughts, I was able to have power over my mind, and therefore it no longer controlled me.'

When Santosh Nambiar found himself in a life-threatening health situation, he realised that something had to change. He was regularly grappling with emotions of anxiety, anger, fear and jealousy, and was negatively driven by ambition and success. Somewhere, somehow, he'd lost himself.

The Art of Conscious Balance follows the tumultuous and inspiring story of one man's journey to discover conscious balance in his life. It explores the conflict between our conditioned self and our true self, and how Santosh gained freedom from his own conditioned behaviours to realise the absolute truth and purpose of life, finally allowing him to move from a place of pain and confusion to one of love, clarity and peace.

An honest and evocative memoir, The Art of Conscious Balance is transformative in its gentle teachings and soothing in its message that anyone is capable of finding their inner compass as Santosh did to understand oneself and one's place in the universe more deeply and truly.

The Art of Conscious Balance is available from Booktopia and other outlets.

Publisher Services and Distribution from Booktopia

“Booktopia Publisher Services, the company’s distribution arm, has “over 500 bookstores and businesses as its customer base”.”

— https://www.thebookseller.com/news/australias-booktopia-starts-publishing-imprint-1093081

Market leading online bookseller Booktopia offers warehouse space to publishers on this site. Though oriented towards publishers, authors or small press publishers with a particularly compelling offering may wish to approach them. Bookstores can order titles from Booktopia and the titles are also listed on other sales channels. A short article from Books and Publishing here.