This Week in Indie Publishing

Amazon has laid out exactly how to game its self-publishing platform

Bestseller status, five stars, a large number of reviews—there’s a whole host of ways to figure out if a book on Amazon is good or popular, but they’re all at risk of fraud.

On September 6, Amazon took legal action against five alleged violations of its rules for self-published books. The company’s demands for arbitration, published by GeekWire, expose an abundance of services that exist to game Amazon’s bestsellers list, review systems, and self-publishing platform, creating the illusion of quality and popularity for certain books on the site.

Read the rest of this story HERE.

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What Happens When A Big-Name Author Is Sued For Copyright Infringement

It’s the ninth inning of a championship baseball game. Our hero steps up to the plate ― one runner on, two out. Strike one. Strike two. This is his moment: Can he make his mark on the field? Here comes the pitch.

 

This is the climactic moment of n+1 editor and writer Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding, a critically well-received 2011 novel that arrived on shelves after a splashy sale at auction for over $600,000 followed by a media blitz. Earlier this year, The Hollywood Reporter announced that IMG and Mandalay Sports Media are developing a film adaptation of the book.

Read the rest of this story HERE.

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7 tips to ignite your Internet celebrity

Caution – if you are allergic to hard work do not read this article.

I got this email at 5:53 AM.

“I have been reading several of your articles with interest. Do you have any suggestions as to how I might find the right supplier/installer to get my job done? Thank you, Mike – a fan in N.C.” – Shirley.

I said to myself I’m going to blow Shirley’s mind. I immediately email her back. Shirley, thanks for the nice comment about the articles. I’d be glad to help you. If you’d like, call me on the cell below or give me your number, I’ll call you.

Read the rest of this story HERE.

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The ‘Bookselling Without Borders’ Kickstarter Aims To Bring More International Books To The United States

When was the last time you read a work of international fiction? Chances are, not likely, given that only three percent of books published in the United States are translated books. If that seems low, it is, especially compared to countries like Germany and Italy, where the percentage hovers between 15 and 20 percent. A new fund, called Bookselling Without Borders, aims to create an annual scholarship that will send dozens of American booksellers to three major international book fairs: the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, the Turin Book Fair in Italy, and the Guadalajara Book Fair in Mexico.

Founded and partially funded by five independent presses — Graywolf, Europa Editions, New Press, Other Press and Catapult — the scholarship addresses the lack of non-English speaking authors published in the United States.

Read the rest of this story HERE.

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With No Potter, Sales Plunged at Scholastic in Q1

With a 52% decline in its children’s book publishing and distribution group, total revenue fell 33% at Scholastic in the quarter ended August 31, compared to the same period a year ago. Sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 were $189.2 million, down from $282.7 million in the first period of fiscal 2017.

The decline was due to a lack of a blockbuster title that could compare to sales of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which was released during the first quarter of last year.

Read the rest of this story HERE.