Austin, Ho! Publishing University

As a writer with several books traditionally published, and one aiming to place the next with a commercial or university press, what in thundernation am I doing signing up for the Independent Book Publishers Association's two day annual Publishing University? 

Pug-assisted. In a future blog post 
Uli and Washi will demonstrate
the number 1 book marketing
principle. 

Well, inspired by the likes of Kenneth Ackerman, Sophy Burnham, and Sandra Gulland, I have become what is called a "hybrid author," that is, an author who has some books with traditional publishers (in my case, University of Georgia Press, Milkweed Editions, Unbridled Books, Random-House Mondadori, etc) but others going out under one's own imprint (mine being Dancing Chiva). 

In particular, like many authors, these past few years I've been busy bringing out the electronic editions of some of my older works, published back in the days of yore when publishers didn't care about digital rights (what did they know, ha.  And yes, Miraculous Air in Kindle is selling like gorditas.) And more recently (for various reasons detailed in this talk for the American Literary Translator's Association), my own Dancing Chiva brought out both the Kindle and paperback editions of Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual.

Bright, charming and talented in multitudinous ways,
 my assistants do not do website updates.
Here they are asking, "You want us to do whut?

That said, I'd love to place my next books with a publisher who can do more for them than

I can with my own itsy-bitsy pug-assisted operation, and that may happen with the next novel and the work-in-progress on Far West Texas... we shall see. But the thing is, for the rest of my life, a long one I hope, many of my many books' editions may remain in my purview. So, I figure, I'd better grok this game.

I've learned a lot-- 2014 was my year of scrambling up the POD learning curve-- but undoubtedly I have more to learn, and since things are changing faster than a rocket to Mars, I guess it's just going to be (...sigh...) an ongoing process. But hey, I get to visit Planet Austin! Can't complain about that. 

Dear reader, if you are going to Publishing University, zap me an email or tweet @cmmayo1 or @dancingchiva. It would be grand to meet you in person there.

> Your COMMENTS are always welcome.

It's Not Like Making a Peanut-Butter and Jelly Sandwich

But It's Not Rocket Science, Either 

or, How I Made my PODs (And You Can, Too)

Self-Publishing for All the Right Reasons

Why Aren't There More Readers?

A Note on Curiosity, Creativity, and Courage

My Recollections of Maximilian

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My Little Gumroad Shop Now Featuring "From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion"

It's been a most eye-crossing, shoulder-clenching, but fab-a-roni experience learning how to make ebooks. So far: a batch of Kindles, a few iBooks, two free PDFs, and now a fully-formatted PDF available on ...drum roll… Gumroad. Oh, I luuuuv Gumroad-- mainly because it is so supersonically easy peasy! Really! Well, check out my ebook, a novela-length nonfiction essay, From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion, here (Gumroad) and here (my webpage).

Cover for the Gumroad ebook edition features
the painting "Cazador de Nubes"
by Edgar Soberón
www.edgarsoberon.com

A nonfiction novela about a fairytale: a visit to the Italian castle of Maximilian von Habsburg, Emperor of Mexico. Originally published in The Massachusetts Review (winner, Washington Prize for Best Personal Essay). By the author of the novel based on the true story, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire. 

Now you might be wondering, dear reader, why, as a writer, would I dedicate so much time and effort to making ebooks? Isn't that something one's publisher can do? Or, if not, then can't one outsource it to one of those newfangled freelancers or companies, such as CreateSpace or Smashwords? A two part answer: First, though I'll admit the learning curve has been steep (and rocky and muddy and slippery) at times, making an ebook is not rocket science, and I relish both learning and designing. Second, the economist in me sees the long tail, that is, a modest but steady number of sales spread out over many years. In other words, once an ebook is up, it is like a variable interest rate annuity-- which I prefer to keep, thank you very much. In my view, when it comes to ebooks, publishers are taking way too big a bite.

Back to the new Gumroad edition of From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion: It has a different design from the Kindle  (Kindle is plain, no color, generic fonts) and iBook (fully designed and full-color, made with the iBook Author app): it's a PDF download (I recommend opening it in iBooks, if you have an iPad), for a landscape orientation (I mean, turn the screen on its side). And yes, because it's a PDF, I had some fun playing with the fonts and colors. (I suppose Kindle will improve its design options, but I am not holding my breath.) As for that gorgeous cover, which is on all the ebook editions, as well as the CDBaby double audio CD,  check out more of Edgar Soberón's beautiful still lifes here.

P.S. In-progress, coming very soon: podcasts with Rose Mary Salum and the Apaches for Marfa Mondays. Stay tuned.


Your comments are always welcome.

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The Changing of the Guards (A Comment on Self-Publishing)

• • I couldn't resist jumping in on this one. Here's my comment to Saurav Dutt's blog post, "The Changing of the Guards."

    @intralingo [Lisa Carter] tweeted this blog post, which is how I found it. I didn't have it served up to me in the NYT or whatever. The whole writing & reading scene is going horizontal & networked, that's the thing.

    I'm a writer now working on my 7th book, not counting anthologies, and, variously, I've been published by big commercial publishers, small independents, and university presses. For my latest book, Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual-- rather niche, as the title suggests-- I looked back on my experiences and the kinds of contracts & PR & marketing I could expect and I realized (in about 2 minutes) that trying to find a traditional US publisher would be in neither my nor the book's best interest. Frankly, it amazes me to say this. But I say this.

    Strategy: Kindle (done), POD CreateSpace under my own imprint (done), IngramSpark (in-progress) and once that's done, a postcard mailing to libraries, review copies to Mexican historians and others who would find the book of interest, Netgalley.com, and my newsletter will go out to subscribers. And I'll give a few talks here and there. So no, I'm probably not going to be able to buy a yacht, but I do think I can expect, over the long term, to do better than I would with the typical small or university press. Maybe I'm wrong about that. But I'm willing to take the risk and find out. And I will admit that, despite my previous experience as a literary magazine editor and as an author-- translation: I get it about hiring an editor and quality book design-- I have had to climb a bit of a learning curve… alas… but one big help has been joining the Independent Publishers Association. I do warmly recommend that.

    My take on publishing now is that, for various reasons and in many (though I hasten to add, not all) cases, publishers are simply not doing enough for their authors. They are struggling, they lack vision, and too many of them are trying to market books as if they were tubs of cottage cheese. But generalizations can only go so far; authors and their titles are an extremely heterogeneous bunch. For some authors and some titles a traditional publisher is, in fact, the best option and I think that will continue to be the case. (If I were not an independent writer but a faculty member aiming for tenure, I would not self-publish, for example.) But this is no longer the case for many authors and books, and increasingly so. The stigma of self-publishing is definitely less than it was only a few years ago.

    
    [This last bit is in response to examples of editorial arrogance Dutt cites:] 

    I do have sincere and enormous respect for many of my editors and the marketing staff I've worked with in the past. I say many, not all. As in any industry, or any society for that matter, there are some insecure, ignorant, and unhappy people. But bless 'em. One day they'll figure it all out. Meanwhile, one can fly wide of their orbit. Or maybe write them into one's next novel.

    COMMENTS always welcome.

    
    

    “Freedom in writing is akin to knocking down walls. Tyranny is a process of building them.” --Saurav Dutt

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Updating a Kindle and a Print-on-Demand Paperback: The Never Ending Story

In Days of Yore, when printing book meant 2,000 + copies shipped to a warehouse, the mistake of, say, having called Jorge Luis Borges "José Luis Borge" would remain in one's book and upon one's conscience (like an itchy scar) until the reprint-- which, for most books, never happened. And even if it did, one's publisher might not trouble to make corrections. But now, with digital print-on-demand paperbacks, and of course ebooks, fixing mistakes is like being able to text message your kids-- you never have to really let go! Wonderful! Terrible!

Back in the fall of 2011 I put up a Kindle edition of my translation of Francisco I. Madero's 1911 Manual espírita as Spiritist Manual. I gave a talk about it for the San Miguel de Allende's Author Sala in November of that year, and then another talk for PEN San Miguel in 2012 (link goes to the podcast). Why no paperback edition? I wasn't ready to commit because the five pages of introduction I offered with that first Kindle edition were OK, but rather like having recounted a multilayered mega-saga such as Anna Karenina in the teacup of a paragraph. I refer not so much to the Spiritist Manual itself but to the origins and spread of Spiritism, Madero's own life, and Madero's role in that movement and in Mexican history. For those of you don't follow this blog or Mexican history, Madero was the leader of the Mexican Revolution of 1910 and President of Mexico from 1911 to 1913, when he was assassinated. And the powerfully radical significance of his secret book, Spiritist Manual, cannot be appreciated without this, well, rather novelesque context.

Finally, late last year, I got that introduction done to my satisfaction. I took a breather over the holidays and then, in January, published it as a proper paperback: Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero and His Secret Book, Spiritist Manual. 

So back to the Kindle for an update. Librarians will sniff rather loudly that, with a different title and 200+ pages of new material, I should have used a new ISBN-- that is, published it as a different book. But I wanted the people who had bought the earlier version to be able to go to "Manage My Kindle" on their dashboard and get a free update.

So then what is the copyright year on this thing? Can it be entered in thus-and-such a competition as a first publication (or not)? A dozen wiggly little questions all over the place! But digital publishing isn't considered the Wild West for nothing. Ain't no sheriffs I can see. So I just went ahead and updated the same old Kindle-- same ISBN. And since January, I have updated the Kindle, fixing typos, adding a map, another book to the bibliography, oh… 5 or 6 times.  Just yesterday I fixed a couple of typos. (I swear, typos are evidence of parallel universes.)

It's so easy! I just go into Sigil, type in or delete what I want, then upload the epub file to Kindle Direct. A few hours later, bingo, it's live on amazon.com.

P.S. Why am I so enthusiastic about Kindles? This chart from Bowker (hat tip to Jane Friedman) says it all.

P.S.S. Seven Reasons Why Ebooks will be Big in Mexico

COMMENTS

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How I Published My Kindles (Easy Peasy, Sort Of)

Gosh, I've been having at least a couple of conversations per week (oftentimes more) with fellow writers looking to bring out their own Kindle(s), so I'll just quit yammering and copy/paste this blog post into my email replies. And here's hoping this may be of use or interest for you, also, dear reader-- I know that many of you are writers.

It's changing all the time, and there is more than one way to skin this cat, but so far, here is what I can tell you:

ROUTE #1

My Kindles as of 2014:

+ Metaphysical Odyssey into the Mexican Revolution; 

+From Mexico to Miramar or, Across the Lake of Oblivion; 

+ The Building of Quality; 

+ Miraculous Air: Journey of a Thousand Miles through Baja California, the Other Mexico; 

+ Podcasting for Writers

+ and the Spanish translation of my novel, El último príncipe del Imperio Mexicano. 

UPDATE 
and
Odisea metafísica hacia la Revolución Mexicana, Francisco I. Madero y su libro secreto, Manual espírita

My novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire is also available in Kindle, but that was my publisher's doing (Unbridled Books).

1. Get your book's text into in a clean WORD.doc. 

This was not easy for some of my older works, which were written in Wordperfect and, alas, converted to babble in .epub (see step #2.). And one was in a PDF that did not convert well either. Most of them had multiple corrections made after it had landed in my original publisher's hands-- and to the galleys, as well. Oh well, I got it done.

2. Convert the WORD doc to an .epub by using a free open source program such as Sigil.

Download Sigil here.

3. Using Sigil, arrange your table of contents and chapters.

There are a multitude of Sigil tutorials on the web, Google and ye shall find. (I hired an IT guy to help me on this-- and that did save some time and head-aches.) 

***UPDATE. A reader writes: "I keep the process easy by setting the paragraph indents to .2 in .docx, then saving the file as Web Page, Filtered. It becomes an HTML file. Upload that rather than ePub (use for Smashwords)." 

4. Open a Kindle direct account on amazon.com

Click here: https://kdp.amazon.com 

You will need to provide your email, password, contact info and your bank account number-- they do need to be able to pay you!

5. Purchase an ISBN from Bowker at www.myidentifiers.com 
(For a Kindle this is not absolutely necessary, however.)

6. Make a cover.

Amazon provides some free templates. You can do it yourself or hire someone. The Kindle Direct publishing website provides all the relevant guidelines here.

7. On Kindle direct on amazon.com, upload the description of your book, the files for your book's content (that would be the .epub you created with Sigil), and the cover. Select the rights territories, the price you want to charge, and then the button that says PUBLISH.

In about 12 hours, oftentimes less, you will be emailed the link to your book's page on amazon.com. Update your website, tweet, tell friends and family, etc etc etc.

ROUTE #2. 

1. Get your book in a clean WORD.doc.

2. Open a CreateSpace account (this is part of amazon.com)

3. Follow the very easy instructions to do a print/on-demand paperback edition of your book. (You can do this yourself, hire someone to do it, or pay CreateSpace to do it.)  Once that is all done, click the box that says "Make this a Kindle."

ROUTE #3

Multiple ebook editions all at once, for a fee, Smashwords does it all for you. I do not have experience with this. 

+ + + + + + +


Related blog posts:

>Seven Reasons Ebooks will be Big in Mexico
> My Excellent (If Occasionally Head-Banging) E-Book Adventure (Note: this is from 2011, ancient history, but includes many crunchy links)
>Guest-Blogger Deborah Batterman: "Publish Or Perish: 5 Links on the New Digital Imperative"

P.S. See all my ebooks in English here and in Spanish here.

MY BIG FAT OPINION ABOUT KINDLE EDITIONS:
Because they are quick to download, easy to read (especially for older people who need larger type and travelers of all ages with sore shoulders) and cheap, whatever one's own opinion about them may be, to expect that they will not continue to erode the traditional book market is to fight the winds and the tides. For those who would lament the loss of bookstores and paper books, take heart! There is the rare book market! (Cherish those autographed first editions with their dust jackets intact!) I say, paper books are like horses and candles. With the coming of cars and electricity the roles of horses and candles in most people's daily lives vastly diminished; nonetheless, horses and candles have not disappeared and probably never will.

Ceteris paribus, I'll take the paper book. But ceteris paribus is rarely what's actually going on. I have been buying and reading Kindles (and iBooks and free PDFs from www.archive.org) at a rather voracious pace.

More links of relevance:

> To read Kindles, I use my iPad's free Kindle app.
> Cyberflanerie: Rare Books Entrepreneurship Edition
> Michael Suarez, SJ on the Flow of Books and Money and Information
> A Super Brief Introduction to the Opportunity Cost of Rare Book Collecting

> Your COMMENTS are always welcome. 

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