Central Coast Writers Conference Report 1

Here we are in all of our glory. I'm in the first row--2nd from the left, Mark Coker of Smashwords is the fiest one in that row. I'm going to tell you a bit of what he had to say at the conference.

First, look at how young he is--young, and I can tell you that he is very smart and articulate.

Here are some bits from Mark Coker's presentations:

Smashwords is an e-book publisher with a distribution platform.

The author must finish the book, edit it (Smashwords does not edit anyone's work--it's going to be a what you give will be what you get), prepare the cover image.

The author should liberate the text from any complex formatting and layout, designing for flowability.

Leave behind old ideas of book design.

Download and use Smashwords' Style Guide.

The cover image is important because it's the first impression to the buyer.

Should look professional and look good in thumbnail and gray scale.

It's usually best to hire someone to do the cover.

Don't be lazy.

Smashwords formats and converts into e-reading for all devices. It's fast and it's free.

PDF is not e-flowable.

Text needs to shape-shift so the customer can enjoy the book his eay.

Gather the Meta-data.

Title, Book Description, Tags, Category, Price, Cover image, ISBN, Language, Formats

Don't price it too high,

Quality is important.

Smashwords provides the ISBN.

Publishing is Changing.

Reading is Moving to Screens

Bookselling is moving to the Web.

Amazon is wiping out bricks and mortar stores

E-books are replacing print faster than most realize.105 e-books being sold for every 100 printbooks.

Lower cost, more convenient, lots of choices.

Most books sold through word-of-mouth.

Write the best book you can.

Marilyn