Marilyn's Musings

Print books have lost ground because they are too expensive and the big publishers have archaic business practices. And they are making the problem worse by judging books on their perceived merit. Big publishers have monopolized the business, they were the deciders, the ones at the pearly gates deciding who got in and who didn't. Bean counters run the publishing business. Unfriendly policies. Broken supply chains. Books are precious. Books are vessels for cultural preservation. Books are endangered. Multiple cross-currents of technology are colliding with traditional publishing. Technology is transforming publishing: faster, smaller, cheaper. Print books are unaffordable for the rest of the world--the global market. Mark Coker was great--most definitely a mover and shaker and he sees what the future holds for writers. Having been e-pubbed for years, I loved hearing all that he had to say. Marilyn

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 c...