The Wordslinger Podcast

Heather Hildenbrand was born and raised in a small town in northern Virginia where she was homeschooled through high school. (She's only slightly socially awkward as a result.) She writes paranormal and contemporary romance with plenty of abs and angst. Her most frequent hobbies are riding motorcycles and avoiding killer slugs.MENTIONS:New to Wordslinger Press, pick up Writing a Better Book DescriptionPick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tombCONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): www.heatherhildenbrand.comTwitter handle(s): @HeatherHildenbrFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/HeatherHildenbrandAuthor/Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Heather-Hildenbrand/e/B004VH51XE/THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Amazon launches Prime Book Box — Coming up later in 2018, Amazon will launch Prime Book Box, a monthly subscription-based service aimed at kids. The subscription will run just under $23 per month, and spending on the age of the child they’ll get either four board books (think Little Golden Books) or two hardcover picture books or novels. The board books go to kids who are two years old or younger, and the picture books and novels go to ages three to 12. This is significant because it’s the first time Amazon has offered a subscription service for physical books. And because you’ll ask, the books are selected by Amazon Books editors, who pick based on the appropriateness for the age ranges, and they’ll avoid duplicates by using the customer’s purchase history. — http://bit.ly/148-amazonThe launch of Publishing Technology Partners — For those looking to launch and build a business in the publishing space, Publishing Technology Partners is a consulting partnership that brings a lot of industry expertise to the table. The five founding partners have an impressive array of combined publishing and technology know-how, and are making it available to startups and businesses in need of development, marketing, strategy and more. It’s an interesting emerging business in large part because it signifies just how legit “new publishing” has become. If you happen to be developing in this space, it’s worth checking these guys out. — http://bit.ly/148-partnersFindaway Voices introduces promotional pricing — Audiobook distribution platform Findaway Voices has announced that they now support promotional retail pricing. Authors distributing through the service can now set up promotional pricing through Google Play, NOOK Audiobooks, eStories, LibroFM, and Instread. Findaway lists some perks to accompany this new resource, and by far my favorite has been “Vendors will typically give titles on promotion more favorable coverage and merchandising support.” If you’d like to save on the $49 admin fee, by the way, you can sign up for Findaway Voices via Draft2Digital. — http://bit.ly/148-findawayTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerWordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.comSupport this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Adam Leeb is the Cofounder of Astrohaus, the makers of the Freewrite Distraction-Free writing tool. He is a product designer and mechanical engineer (MIT graduate)MENTIONS:New to Wordslinger Press, pick up Writing a Better Book DescriptionPick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tombCONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):https://getfreewrite.com wtf.getfreewrite.com https://astrohaus.com https://adamleeb.com Twitter handle(s): @iamadamleeb THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Bezos Reveals Amazon Prime has 100M Members — In Amazon’s annual shareholder letter, CEO Jeff Bezos gave the typical call for the company to live up to “ever-rising customer expectations,” and touting Amazon’s high standards at every level. The letter also contained some interesting news in the form of information that all the world has wondered about: Just how many subscribers does Amazon Prime have? The number, as it turns out, is 100 million. Meaning Amazon not only makes around $9.9-billion per year on the service, it also has the eyes of a hundred million vetted customers, willing to spend even more money with the retail giant. I’m not sure what to do with this knowledge, now that I have it. But I’m impressed, Jeff. *slow clap* — http://bit.ly/147-BezosALLi is Betting on Blockchain — If you’ve followed news about Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency, then you may have some vague knowledge of what “bitcoin” and “cryptocurrency” mean. And you might also have heard of Blockchain. The idea, in the simplest terms, is that blockchain is a sort of digital ledger for transactions made with cryptocurrencies, like bitcoin. If that didn’t clear anything up, think of it as a more or less foolproof way to do a digital transaction, much more in line with the way you’d do a physical transaction. In other words, if I pay for your physical book, you get your money and I get the book. I can’t then replicate the book with a few mouse clicks and resell it, keeping the original and maybe repeating the process. Blockchain would effectively prevent anyone from being able to sell a digital version of your book, without at least giving up their digital version. It’s a way to make digital products more like their physical counterparts. And the Alliance of Independent Authors sees this as a great way to give authors a more complete ownership of their intellectual property, allowing authors to have more control, and be less dependent on giants such as Amazon KDP. They’re calling it Self Publishing 3.0, and they’ve released a white paper that gives the full details.  — http://bit.ly/147-blockchainAmazon Wins First Arbitration — In September 2017 Amazon filed for arbitration against at least five authors and businesses accused of violating Amazon’s terms of service, essentially scamming the system to make quite a bit of money. Amazon has won the first of these arbitrations, against a British business owner. Amazon has asked the court to enter judgement in line with the January award issued by American Arbitration Association. Jake Drya, the UK business owner, is ordered to pay damages after arbitration determined he knowingly manipulated KDP, violating their TOS. Dryan’s business was doing crazy stuff, including publishing duplicates of books that were already available, using bots to increase page views. All of which violates Amazon’s TOS.— http://bit.ly/147-AmazonTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerWordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.comSupport this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Beau L'Amour was born in Los Angeles, California. His father was Louis L'Amour, a well known author of magazine and paperback fiction. His mother was Katherine Adams, the daughter of a silent movie actress and a southern California real estate developer. Throughout a good deal of his youth Beau lived in West Hollywood, an unincorporated section of Los Angeles county, known as a center of counter-culture and beatnik life. He grew up surrounded by his parents eclectic and eccentric group of friends; Austrian philosophers, American Indians, FBI agents, members of the Hollywood Ten, Eastern European refugees, Thai aristocracy, mysteriously talented dealers in primitive art and a wide array of writers, from Ray Bradbury to Jim Thompson. MENTIONS:New to Wordslinger Press, pick up Writing a Better Book DescriptionPick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tombCONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): http://beaulamour.com/index.html http://www.louislamourslosttreasures.com http://louislamour.com/aboutlouis/biography.htm http://www.thediamondofjeruaudio.com Twitter handle(s):  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BeauDLAmourAmazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Beau-LAmour/e/B00FVVNKGE/THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Amazon targets Kindle Publishing Scams — Finally. I mean, seriously, this story should have been a headline years ago. But finally Amazon is taking steps to cut down on scams and abuse from unscrupulous authors using their Kindle Direct Publishing service. Amazon has filed five complaints against authors who are violating the terms of service, with everything from trafficking in fake reviews to “link abuse,” where an author puts a link in the front of the book that sends readers to the back of the book, in an effort to capitalize on Amazon’s page reads policy. Amazon is seeking more than half a million dollars in damages from five authors. It remains to be seen whether these actions will curtail some of KDP’s woes, but a start is a start. — http://bit.ly/WPC146-Amazon-LawsuitMicrosoft quietly rolls out E-Bookstore — Authors looking to reach a very specific and narrow group of readers can rejoice … Microsoft has finally rolled out its eBook store, which is available exclusively to users of the Windows 10 operating system. Ebooks can be purchased via the Microsoft Store app, or on Microsoft’s website. When asked if Microsoft will eventually support devices beyond Windows 10, such as the prolific and near universal Apple iPhone or the stunningly popular Google Android platform, Microsoft replied in the vaguest terms possible. Which means “no, but maybe.Someday. If we get around to it.” — http://bit.ly/WPC146-MicrosoftSmashwords Founder Mark Coker thinks Indies are losing their independence  — Citing an ever-increasing dependence on KDP Select, Mark Coker wrote in the Huffington post that “Authors who now derive 100% of their sales from Amazon are no longer indie  authors. They’re dependent authors.  I suppose we have indie authors and de-authors now.” A bit cynical, but does he have a point? Personally, I believe the “independent” in “independent authors” is more about owning your career and being in control of your decisions, but Coker’s point is that dependence on one sales channel will lead to losing options. Whether this is the future of Indies, we really can’t say. Definitely food for thought, though.— http://bit.ly/WPC146-CokerTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerWordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.comSupport this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

With over 15 years in online marketing experience Jonny Andrews has been in digital publishing before Amazon released the Kindle.MENTIONS:Jonny last appeared on the Wordslinger Podcast in Episode 75Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tombCONNECT ONLINE:Website:  authorplatformrocket.com Twitter: @Jonny_AndrewsTHIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Draft2Digital Announces Author Pages and Book Tabs — D2D started 2018 by announcing we were going to focus on beefing up our offering at Books2Read.com, and by paying particular attention to tools that will help with author discoverability. To that end, we just announced our new discoverability tools: D2D Author Pages and D2D Book Tabs. These two new resources will showcase both the author and the author’s work (books that is) to new and existing readers. Think of Author Pages as either your author-themed web presence, if you don’t have an author website, or as your book store for your existing site. Book Tabs are product pages that give readers everything they need to make their book buying decision, including a link that sends them to everywhere your book is sold online. These tools are incredible, and you can learn more about them on the official blog post, now with more video walk-thrus! — http://bit.ly/WPC145-D2DAuthorPagesDigital Manga Overtakes Print — Manga, which no one ever seems to be able to pronounce correctly, is hugely popular worldwide, but particularly in Japan. And for the first time, digital sales of manga have outpaced print sales. Digital sales were up 17.2% from the previous year, versus print sales falling 14.4% over last year’s numbers. What makes this interesting is that manga is currently underserved in digital markets. As the rise in popularity starts to indicate a shift in interest from consumers, this could lead to opportunities for some willing and able digital publishers out there. Notably, Amazon’s Comixology acquisition could lead to its dominance in yet another digital publishing field. — http://bit.ly/WPC145-Digital-MangaNo room for pirates in Switzerland — When you think of Switzerland, you think of pirates. No? You probably should, because internet piracy is huge in Switzerland, and impacts a lot of authors. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court is considering dialing back on its previous 2010 decision, which barred anti-piracy agencies from having access to the IP addresses of file servers used by internet pirates. The original ruling made Switzerland something of a safe harbor for pirates, but it also landed Switzerland on the US government’s watchlist, which is sometimes used to limit commerce with Swiss businesses online. Changes to the Swiss policy, which I’ll admit has some holes (heh), could help crack down on one of the biggest thorns in the sides of authors. — http://bit.ly/WPC145-Switzerland-PiracyTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerWordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.comSupport this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Bryan Cohen is a two-time USA Today bestselling author with over 40 books and 100,000 copies sold. He's also the head copywriter at Best Page Forward, a book description service, and he's the co-host of The Sell More Books Show, a weekly publishing industry news show.MENTIONS:Bryan last appeared on the Wordslinger Podcast in WPC-055 - Ninja Book Descriptions with Bryan CohenPick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tombCONNECT ONLINE:Website(s):http://www.sellmorebooksshow.comhttp://www.bestpageforward.net/blurbs Twitter handle(s): @bryancohenbooksAmazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Bryan-Cohen/e/B004I9WJTY/THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:No Love Between Audible and Romance Authors — Is Audible ripping off romance authors? Yes. But that’s my opinion. It is, of course, based on the latest information coming to us about Audible’s new subscription package for romance titles. It was hailed as being similar to Amazon’s Kindle Unlimited program, which pays authors for pages read. But where KU pays authors something comparable to the royalty they would have gotten for a sale, Audible’s program is paying only pennies per listen. Compounding that is the fact that the program only pays the author once they’ve reached a $50 threshold, so for many authors it could be YEARS before they see a very meager return on thousands and thousands of listeners downloading their books. So I’m standing firm on this one—Audible is ripping off romance authors. You may feel free to disagree in comments. It’s a free country. Especially if you’re listening to someone’s romance book. https://goodereader.com/blog/indie-author-news/is-audible-romance-ripping-off-authors Uppity author thinks authors should be paid for their work — According to author Philip Pullman, there’s something a bit unbalanced about the fact that profits and margins are increasing in the publishing industry while the share given to the author is diminishing. In a quote from The Guardian, Pullman said, “To allow corporate profits to be so high at a time when author earnings are markedly falling is, apart from anything else, shockingly bad husbandry. It’s perfectly possible to make a good profit and pay a fair return to all of those on whose work, after all, everything else depends. But that’s not happening at the moment.” This would seem a good time to point out that indie authors keep a much bigger share of their royalties. True, they work for it, in terms of marketing and platform building. The disparity between what authors make versus what shareholders and stakeholders make is astounding: About three times what the authors makes for his or her work. My take: The industry has to make a profit, and that’s why this disparity exists. The solution, then, is to excise your career from the meat grinder of traditional publishing as much as you possibly can. If the trad industry can embrace a hybrid model, where the idea is to assist the author in increasing their reach and growing their platform, everyone can win. Agree? Disagree? Answer in the comments. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/mar/05/philip-pullman-calls-for-authors-to-get-fairer-share-of-publisher-profitsBarnes & Noble’s comeback will be a slow burn — BN hasn’t been feeling so well, and the road to recovery is going to be long. Following a lackluster holiday season and a series of unexpected layoffs in February, Barnes & Noble has released details of its “long-term strategic plan.” The idea is to improve customer satisfaction and profitability by going back to book sales as the focus. It looks like they’re finally waking up to the fact that no one buys music or DVDs from Barnes & Noble (or anywhere, really), so those will likely fall out of the offering. They’re putting their money on gifts and stationary. Because that’ll work. This feels an awful lot like “same thing, new name” to me, but I’m hopeful that BN will see the kind of growth it needs. If they do, in fact, start focusing on the customer more and on defunct product offerings less, it could … well, do nothing, honestly. Truthfully, I don’t see any way that will help. But the new prototype stores, which have been rumored  to have offerings such as wine bars and restaurants … ok, no, I just don’t see that working either. Maybe it’s time for Barnes & Noble to sell out to Amazon and get it over with. Comment with your take. https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/bookselling/article/76213-no-quick-fix-for-b-n.htmlTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerWordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.comSupport this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Alisse Lee Goldenberg is an award winning author of Horror, Young Adult Paranormal Romance, and Young Adult Fantasy fiction. She is currently working on three series: The Sitnalta Series, The Dybbuk Scrolls, and The Bath Salts Journals (co-authored with An Tran). She has her Bachelors of Education and a Fine Arts degree, and has studied fantasy and folk lore since she was a child. Alisse is also a screenwriter and playwright living in Toronto with her husband Brian, and their triplets Joseph, Phillip, and Hailey.MENTIONS:Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tombCONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): www.alisseleegoldenberg.com Twitter handle(s): @AliLGoldenbergFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AlisseLeeGoldenbergAuthor/ Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Alisse-Lee-Goldenberg/e/B006LNKMNATHIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Wordslinger Press Officially Launches — As self-serving as this may be, it’s my show. So nyah-nyah. But as of this week, I’ve launched Wordslinger Press. This will be the non-fiction arm of my publishing business, focusing primarily on creating content oriented toward the indie publishing community. You may already be aware of one of my other non-fiction books, 30-Day Author. This week I released a second Wordslinger book titled Writing A Better Book Description. This is a short, quick read—around 40 pages for $1.99, and available as an ebook everywhere you can think to buy one. This is the first in a series of quick guides meant to give authors and publishers a place to start when trying to figure out the mechanics of this business. Look for more of these in the near future. Pick up Writing A Better Book Description at https://books2read.com/betterbookdescriptions Is Amazon being used for money laundering? — It’s that time of year, when authors are getting their 1099s just in time to pay Uncle Sam for the privilege of being able to work for a living. Some authors are getting a little extra surprise with with their tax forms, though. Patrick Reames got a 1099 indicating that he’d made nearly $24,000 from book sales on CreateSpace.This seemed unlikely, as Reames did not have any books published through Amazon’s POD service. Upon checking into it, he discovered that someone had used his identity to create an account and sell a book titled “Lower Days Ahead” for $555 per copy. Reames and others aren’t entirely sure what’s up, but one theory is that someone is using CreateSpace to launder pilfered credit cards, buying copies of the paperback and having Amazon deposit 60% of the sale into a bank account. If true, this represents a huge and scary problem for both Amazon and indie authors. But it’s the kind of cool plot twist one might turn into a thriller novel. I call dibs. https://krebsonsecurity.com/2018/02/money-laundering-via-author-impersonation-on-amazon/Hachette CEO says eBooks are a stupid product  — Hachette is back in the news for comments from CEO Armaud Nourry. While in India, Nourry was interviewed by Scroll.in, and was pretty open about his disdain of the entire eBook market. “The ebook is a stupid product. It is exactly the same as print, except it’s electronic,” Nourry said. “There is no creativity, no enhancement, no real digital experience.” Nourry did admit that it was the entire industry that had not done a good job with eBooks … big of him. Frankly, the CEO’s comments highlight the fact that he and the rest of the traditional publishing industry seem to be utterly clueless about the impact of ebooks. That’s my opinion of course. As a seller of ebooks that are not priced higher than paperback books. http://www.thepassivevoice.com/2018/02/the-ebook-is-a-stupid-product-no-creativity-no-enhancement-says-the-hachette-group-ceo/ THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerWordslinger Press—This is your chance to start your indie author career right. Pick up books and other products to help you build and grow a successful writing career. Start growing at http://wordslingerpodcast.comSupport this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Michael La Ronn is the author of over 30 science fiction & fantasy books including the Android X series, Modern Necromancy series, and the Galaxy Mavericks series. He writes from the great plains of Iowa and has perfected the art of balancing writing with a full-time job and family, writing 5-7 books per year.MENTIONS:Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tombCONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): www.michaellaronn.com Twitter handle(s): @michaellaronn Facebook: www.facebook.com/michael.laronn Amazon Author page: amazon.com/author/michaellaronnTHIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Offset printing for indie authors? — Indies have risen to success thanks to a handful of technologies that make their work more accessible to readers, from ebooks to publishing on demand. Now, writer Joel Friedlander thinks that the future for Indies will include access to a technology that has traditionally been more … well … traditional. Is offset printing the future of indie authors? Friedlander thinks so. The tech is becoming increasingly available and accessible, which means some adventurous indie publishers are reaching out to use it, more and more. Of course, 99% of people, to completely make up a number, can’t tell the difference between offset and laser printing without studying both very closely, side by side. So is it worth the extra cost? Or will the cost come down to something affordable for everyone?  https://www.thebookdesigner.com/2018/02/offset-printing-future-indie-authors/Washington Post is Evolving the Bestseller List — It’s been a complaint for Indies since day one: Bestseller lists often refuse to include sales results from sources such as Amazon.com, where ebook sales could skyrocket some lesser known and unknown authors well past traditionally published giants. The Washington Post is the first to recognize this for the error that it is. They’re revamping their bestseller list to include data not just from Bookscan, but from Amazon as well. What will this mean for indie authors? Are lists still relevant? https://lunch.publishersmarketplace.com/2018/02/washington-post-revamps-bestsellers-becomes-amazoned/Book Marks could be the Rotten Tomatoes for literature  — Literary Hub is launching a new section for their site, called Book Marks, that is aimed at helping readers “find books they will love by giving them access to the critical discourse that is an essential part of our ecosystem.” That from John Freeman, LitHub’s executive editor. In other words, Book Marks will aggregate reviews from all over the web, and crowdsource readers to improve on recommendations. Will this help new and unknown authors reach a new audience? Or will it just end in tears and gnashing of teeth for everyone? http://www.independentpublisher.com/article.php?page=2075&urltitle=Literary%20Hub%20Launches%20a%20New%20Book%20Review%20Aggregator%20Site%20BOOK%20MARKSTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerKDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Steve Berry is the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling author of 13 Cotton Malone adventures and 4 stand-alone thrillers. His books have been translated into 40 languages with over 22,000,000 copies in 51 countries. They consistently appear in the top echelon of The New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestseller lists.MENTIONS:History Matters - http://history-matters.org1001 Dark Nights - http://www.1001darknights.comPick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tombCONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): http://steveberry.org YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbOLerUd6JxYu9QPs6NY7gFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/SteveBerryWriter/Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Steve-Berry/e/B001H6W6DU/ THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Scribd reintroduces Unlimited — Scribd announced this week that it’s bringing back its unlimited plan for audiobooks and eBooks, causing some buzz among authors and readers alike. This is a reboot of their previous attempt, and it looks like the service is learning from its mistakes. The reboot will allow Scribd subscribers to have access to an unlimited catalog of ebooks, audiobooks, magazines and newspapers, and sheet music, for some reason. However, “unlimited” may be a little misleading. After users have pored through a certain, unspecified number of books, they’ll essentially be throttled, and limited to books “unlimited’ reading from a list of pre-determined books. These will include new releases and frontlist books—the sort that people actually want to read on demand, in other words. This is a bit like Netflix deciding to limit viewers to only a backlist of videos, and charging them extra to watch new releases. My opinion, at least. What’s yours?  https://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/scribd-reintroduces-unlimited-audiobooks-and-ebooksApple fires shots across Amazon’s eBook bow — I’ve talked about this a bit in the past, but Apple and Amazon will likely be mentioned in a lot of indie publishing news over the next year, as Apple starts eyeing Amazon’s big, steaming hunk of the eBook market. Not only is Apple retooling its book business, with a redesigned app and a less ‘i-everyting’ name, they’ve also hired former executives from both Amazon and Barnes & Noble. What’s the game plan? World domination, obviously. And I, for one, welcome our technological overlords. Where do you think Apple will take the business, with these aggressive moves? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/apple-is-said-to-ready-revamped-e-books-push-against-amazonAudiobook sales are on the rise  — In a turn that is going to be good news for authors already invested in audiobooks as a sales channel, sales showed an upward trend in 2017. In the first three quarters, audiobooks sales rose 26.2%. As retailers such as Google Play and others start putting more focus on audiobooks, it’s likely we’re just at the beginning of an upward swoop. And as there are nowhere near the titles available in audio as there are in ebook formats, this represents an opportunity for early adopters to carve a piece of the pie for themselves. How are audiobooks fitting your publishing strategy? https://goodereader.com/blog/e-book-news/audiobook-sales-increased-26-2-first-three-quarters-of-2017THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerKDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

USA Today Bestselling action/adventure author Ernest Dempsey writes page-turning archaeological thrillers. Ernest currently splits time in his hometown of Chattanooga, Tennessee and Atlanta, Georgia. Despite having degrees in Psychology and Counseling, Ernest always enjoyed creating stories, has perpetually been fascinated by the ancient world, and can often be found reading books and watching television shows related to history.MENTIONS:Pick up a copy of Kevin Tumlinson's newest Dan Kotler archaeological thriller The Girl in the Mayan Tomb - https://books2read.com/mayan-tombAtlas Obscura - https://www.atlasobscura.com Hybrid Author Podcast - http://hybridauthorpodcast.com/episode-17-the-future-of-hybrid-publishing-with-kevin-tumlinson/CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): Ernestdempsey.netTwitter handle(s): @erndempseyFacebook: Facebook.com/ErnestDempseyYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/edempsey3Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Ernest-Dempsey/e/B00AM8UHO4/ THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Barnes & Noble relaunches NOOK Press — BN thinks the third time’s the charm, as they once again rebrand and relaunch their self-publishing platform. Barnes & Noble: Nook Press has relaunched as a much easier mouthful, Barnes & Noble Press—a publishing device that will include both ebook and print-on-demand. The move surprised practically everyone, as most had written off Barnes & Noble after rumors and announcements over it’s NOOK platform began to sound like a death knell. But hopes and speculation are both on the rise after BN’s press release, stating that, among other things, they’ll be offering an increased royalty rate of 65% for ebooks priced at $10 or above, and the ability to set pre-orders up to 12 months in advance. Does this change BN’s future as an eBook distributor? Comment below to sound off. https://goodereader.com/blog/digital-publishing/bn-rebrands-its-selfpub-platformFindaway Voices becomes a gateway to Google Play — Audiobook distributor Findaway has announced that their platform, Findaway Voices, will be distributing audiobooks to Google Play’s new audiobook catalog. Voices, a program that Draft2Digital helped to launch in 2017, allows independent authors and publishers to produce and distribute their audiobooks to a global marketplace, without the exclusivity requirements pushed by services such as Amazon’s ACX program. Adding Google Play distribution means that indies now have one of the most coveted retailers in their belts. Could this lead to a greater indie presence on Google Play? https://medium.com/findaway-voices/distribution-update-google-play-launches-audiobooks-620ac0d479efWalmart and Rakuten partnership means Kobo ebooks and audiobook distribution — Rakuten, the Japanese company that owns Canadian ebook distributor Kobo, has partnered with retail giant Walmart to deliver groceries in Japan. But the bigger news for indie authors is that Kobo’s catalog of ebooks and audiobooks will now be distributed globally via Walmart.com. Walmart has long courted the ebook industry, with several toe-dips into those waters, but with the muscle of Rakuten behind the deal, this could place Walmart in a position to topple Amazon’s dominance of the marketplace. Do you agree? https://techcrunch.com/2018/01/25/walmart-and-rakuten-partner-on-grocery-delivery-in-japan-kobo-e-books-and-audiobooks-in-u-s/THIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerKDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe

Boyhood interests in trains and electronics fostered Mark's career as an electrical engineer, designing and commissioning signal and communications systems for railroads and rail transit agencies across the United States. Along the way Mark indulged his writing desire by authoring articles for rail and transit industry trade magazines. Coupled with Mark's long-time membership in anime, manga and anthropomorphic fandoms, he took up writing genre fiction. Growing up in Michigan, never far from his beloved Great Lakes, Mark and his wife today make their home in Wisconsin with their son and a dog who naps beside him as he writes.  He is a member of Allied Authors of Wisconsin and the Furry Writers' Guild.CONNECT ONLINE:Website(s): https://www.mark-engels.com/  Twitter handle(s): @mj_engels  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.engels.39 Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Mark-J.-Engels/e/B074Q51T9R/THIS WEEK’S INDIE PUBLISHING NEWS:Author Earnings Report is out - Data Guy is back after a year-long hiatus, and he does not disappoint. The latest Author Earnings Report gives us some incredible insights into the industry, including a final confirmation that ebooks are, in fact, not going away. According to the report, 55% of online book purchase in 2017 were ebooks, and there’s every indication that climb will continue. The report has generated a bit of controversy, however, as it had initially named certain authors and publishers, giving their sales ranking and other information. Some authors complained this was a breech of privacy. What do you think? Does it impact privacy to aggregate and report publicly available data?  http://authorearnings.com/report/january-2018-report-us-online-book-sales-q2-q4-2017/Google Play now offers audiobooks. — Google Play has had a turbulent time trying to enter and keep a foothold in the content marketplace, with it’s Google Play Store being difficult to navigate and, largely, devoid of content beyond what you could find at an airport bookstore. As they continue to work on those challenges, it looks like they’re making a bid to go toe to toe with Audible and iTunes for the audiobook market. This week, Google announced it will start carrying audiobooks in the Google Play Store, specifying that there is no subscription, and that many popular books will be sold at a discount. Could this be a true contender for knocking Audible off of the hill, giving both consumers and authors a better shot? I’d love to hear what you think, in the comments. https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/23/16921176/audiobooks-google-play-android-ios-home-speakersApple takes another swing at Amazon over ebooks. — After a slap-down from the U.S. Department of Justice, back in 2012, Apple was forced to back off of some of its more aggressive plans for the ebook business. Now, they’re up for another run, with a revamped ebook store and mobile app, and a new name—switching from the familiar iBooks to simply “Books,” in a move that mirrors similar name changes across their product line. It’s good to see someone rise to take a swing at Amazon, who has dominated ebooks for years now, but it remains to be seen whether we’re all in better hands within Apple’s walled garden. How do you see this battle of the book giants turning out? Is it a turning point for the industry, or just more of the same? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-25/apple-is-said-to-ready-revamped-e-books-push-against-amazonTHIS EPISODE OF THE WORDSLINGER PODCAST IS SPONSORED BY:Draft2Digital—Convert, publish, and distribute your book worldwide, with support the whole way. https://draft2digital.com/wordslingerKDP Rocket—Take control, get more readers, increase your Kindle rankings. https://bit.ly/kdpslinger Support this show: Subscribe and share!Support us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/wordslingerpodcastPick something up to read that will be tough to put down—Archeological Thrillers, Science Fiction, YA Fantasy and more, at https://kevintumlinson.com/books ___GOT A QUESTION FOR KEVIN AND HIS GUESTS?CALL 281-809-WORD (9673) Get full access to The Writer_ at kevintumlinson.substack.com/subscribe