Publishing Scammers Are Everywhere

That's right. It's sad, but true. There are people out there trying to suck authors dry of their hard-earned money. These predators include publishers, editors, agents, and more. It's hard to know who the good guys are sometimes, especially for newbie authors.

Indies Unlimited is running a special during the month of March (yeah, I know, I'm late), featuring articles and guest posts about scammers and their victims. Make sure to check it out, and please share and spread the word, so we can hopefully prevent others from being scammed. You can find a running update of everything in the #PublishingFoul series here: http://www.indiesunlimited.com/tag/publishingfoul/

And please, even if you have NOT been a victim, please take a moment to complete and share our #PublishingFoul Scammer Survey. It's fast, easy, anonymous, and free - and you don't have to log in to anything to take it. We're hoping to get a big response on this so we can take it to the media. Raising awareness is the only way we can stop these scammers. Thanks for your help.

Wordlovers by Melissa Bowersock: Author Interview: Mr. Pish

VERY fun interview! Don't miss it. :)



Wordlovers by Melissa Bowersock: Author Interview: Mr. Pish: It’s not often that I get to interview a four-legged rock star. Although I am a huge dog-lover, most of the dogs that come into my life are...

Wordlovers by Melissa Bowersock: Author Interview - K.S. Brooks

Taking a coffee break? Have a read, too. I can't remember the last time I gave an interview. Will I do another one anytime soon? Probably not. I'm kind of a pain that way.



Wordlovers by Melissa Bowersock: Author Interview - K.S. Brooks

Fantastic Review of The Kiss of Night.

I'm thrilled to share this spectacular review of The Kiss of Night.  Ms. Speight is a tough cookie and I am just absolutely happy-dancing at her review. What a great way to start a Monday!



Cath 'n' Kindle Book Reviews: Kiss of Night by K. S. Brooks: AMAZON UK AMAZON US Kathrin Night is a special agent. Or rather…she was. She is reluctantly…and a little resentfully…forced to relinq...

Just for You: Author Glossary

So many words! Aargh! And acronyms, and slang, and I have no idea what they're saying. Have you been there? I have. Don't you just hate it?

Well, at Indies Unlimited, we're always trying to make life easier for authors. Here's just one more present we've made for you. I know, we rock, right?

New Resource: Glossary for Authors

Don’t you hate it when someone uses terminology you just don’t understand? How about that time someone said to you: “Man, today I ran my MS through the meatgrinder and when I uploaded it to KDP I changed my mind about SW and decided to go Select. I was thinking about going with LS for POD but went with CS instead. I’m going to hop on over to IU and read the tutorial about making a ToC, then I’m going to grab my MOBI and sideload it.”

 

Allrighty then.

As part of our continued effort to provide authors of all levels with helpful resources, without further ado, here is a Glossary for Authors. We will continue to add to it as we come across more terms, and we know we will.

Click on through to Indies Unlimited for the full glossary. Let us know if we left anything off!
http://www.indiesunlimited.com/glossary-for-authors/

 

A Table of Contents that Will Survive Anything

That's right. You betcha. I don't mess around.

It'll withstand KDP, the dreaded Smashwords Meatgrinder, and even MobiPocket Creator. Amazing, isn't it? Well, have a seat and I will show you how to do it!

A Grindable, Clickable eBook Table of Contents

There’s been a lot of confusion and debate over how to create a table of contents in an eBook that will survive KDP and Smashwords conversions. Some say you have to do it all manually, and some say you can use MS Word automation. Lynne Cantwell wrote a post about the manual method, and Dick Waters just recently wrote about a more sophisticated style.

 

Personally, I go with a completely manual method, because I run all my eBooks through MobiPocket Creator and convert them to a prc before I upload to KDP – and that will for certain strip out any coding MS Word has graciously conjured up. The lovely Laura Clark (author LB Clark) showed me how to do this way back in 2011 when I self-published my first collection of short works with fellow author Newton Love. (The prc method was one of the ways KDP recommended for conversion back in 2011 – but you don’t have to do it this way. It’s just my method of choice because it’s what I’m used to.)
You can use this table of contents method on an existing document or a new document, that’s not a gating factor. I usually do it in an “assembly line” fashion, as that’s faster, but I’m going to do it one “chapter” at a time so the sequence is clear.

Keep reading at http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2013/12/10/a-grindable-clickable-ebook-table-of-contents/

 

Author Humor: Hermit Writer’s Life Magazine

Is this you: You really, really want to write that novel, but you can’t manage to do it while working for the man. Your writing is calling you, and you feel tormented. You want to sell everything and move to the middle of nowhere to answer your authorial calling. You’d make the move to writing full-time in a heartbeat if you just knew how.

Well, look no further! Hermit Writer’s Life Magazine has just launched, providing authors just like you with the information needed to make that move. Each monthly issue is packed with tips for the novice hermit-in-training to the old pros who are looking for new and interesting ways to keep things comfy.

Our staff of successful and experienced hermit authors will provide you with the tools you need to:

Want to read more? Of course you do! It's funny! Just go to http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2014/03/22/hermit-writers-life-magazine/