E-Books and the Future of Publishing: What Every Author, Writer, Independent Publisher Should Know

As the job crisis continues unabated, and the prospects of economic recovery still remote, it is no wonder that people are exploring other paths to a viable career and gainful employment. 

Traditional industries, such as publishing and the book trade, are struggling with the twin effects of recession combined with changes and innovation in technology. One segment that has seen growth however has been in the area of self-publishing, spearheaded by the rise of e-publishing. 

The Manuscript Publisher is a provider of professional services to authors, writers, independent publishers. In a series of articles that have been posted recently on their website, they have been exploring the rising e-publishing phenomenon, asking whether it really does represent the future of publishing.

E-Books and the Future of Publishing (part iii)

In recent years e-publishing has emerged as an exciting and entirely new type of market for books and the literary form of writing in general. Authors, writers, independent publishers are naturally excited by these developments. Having laboured so long, usually on the fringes, often in the shadows of success, a whole new playing field has opened up, and a level playing field at that.

The danger of course is that this sort of excitement can precipitate a certain 'gold rush' mentality. While the opportunities that are offered are real enough, so too are the prospects for disappointment. But setbacks and disappointment need not be fatal. The key to achieving success is to knuckle down and study the nuts and bolts of the e-publishing process. That is precisely what we propose to do in this and forthcoming articles in this series.

A journey of a thousands miles begins with a single step. If you are seriously contemplating taking that first step into the self-publishing world, be it printed or non-printed or both, the following should serve to guide you in the right direction.

We mentioned previously that there are three basic rules to self-publishing success:

• Write a good book, 
• Publish it to a professional standard, 
• Market it effectively. 

These are general guidelines and apply across all publishing media and techniques. But how do they apply to the specific area of e-publishing? When it comes to e-book publishing there are four main elements you need to consider:

1. Choosing a publishing platform
2. Conversion to acceptable e-book format and standards
3. Designing an effective 'cover'
4. Marketing and promotion in a mainly online environment

Each of these topics are explored in more detail in full version of this article, which is available to read online from the website of The Manuscript Publisher (News Service). 

Previous articles in this series, E-books and the Future of Publishing, are also available to read online:

Part ii: Changes in Reading Habits - (and the way we read books) 

Part i: Implications for the Retail Trade in Books (and the way we buy books)  

For assistance and advice on how to turn your manuscript into a e-book and take advantage of this emerging market talk to The Manuscript Publisher today:  

• More Information ...  
• or Contact Us ...  
• you can even Get a Quote online. 

For e-books published by The Manuscript Publisher and available to buy from Amazon or Smashwords visit our Online Bookshop (printed editions available too). 

Feel free to forward this article or share the links, with anyone you know who may be interested in E-publishing as a cost effective and affordable publishing solution for the modern era.

The Declining Traditional Job

The Decline of the Traditional Job

by Ron McGowan

In trend-setting California, according to a study by the University of San Francisco, only 33 percent of the workforce, have traditional jobs. The rest are part-time, temporary, contract workers, or are self-employed.

This is where we’re all headed. We keep waiting for the Great Recession to be over and lots of jobs to come back. It’s not going to happen. For a growing number of workers, the era of the traditional job, and all the stability that came with it, is over. The millions in the category of “long-term unemployed” and “underemployed” in the U.S. and elsewhere are proof of this. A recent report in the Harvard Business Review suggests that the growth rate for contingent workers will be three to four times that of traditional workers.

The countries that will succeed in the 21st Century are the ones that can tap into and nurture the entrepreneurial spirit within their workforce and that support and encourage the creation of small businesses. The ones that will fail are the ones that continue to depend on the traditional job.

Professor Mohammad Yunus was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for establishing the Grameen Bank, which has helped millions of people in over 40 countries to become self-sufficient by giving them access to small loans.

Last year, in an initiative to create more entrepreneurs by getting school kids to compete among themselves, a group of 11-year-old girls in Scotland made 4,000 Pounds from a one-Pound loan in just four weeks. A Scotsman newspaper report describing the project said, “the kids loved it.”

The challenge in this century is to give more kids the chance to participate in these types of projects and to help unemployed people to become more enterprising and entrepreneurial in their attitude towards earning a living. Going forward, one of our biggest challenges is to reduce our dependency on the traditional job.

William Bridges pointed out in his bestseller JobShift that: “The job is a social artifact, although it is so deeply embedded in our consciousness that most of us have forgotten its artificiality or the fact that most societies since the beginning of time have done just fine without jobs.”

Millions of dollars, euros and pounds are being poured down the drain by governments trying to recreate the second half of the twentieth century through questionable programs that are supposed to help the unemployed find jobs.

If these funds were instead made available to successful small businesses that are ready to expand, we would make a significant dent in the level of unemployment and at the same time affirm the reality that entrepreneurs create jobs, not governments.

Ron McGowan is the author of the international bestseller “How to Find Work in the 21st Century”, currently in use at over 400 colleges and universities worldwide. http://www.howtofindwork.ca

Writing for Publishing: for writers who want to reach a public audience

Writing for Publishing is the title of a new educational initiative designed specifically for authors, writers, independent publishers. It aims to equip authors and writers with both the tools and the skills necessary to write to and reach a public audience in today's publishing environment.

It is a creative writing course for the modern publishing age, emphasising the all-important connection between writing and publishing: how one informs the other and how the two operate in today's era of digital media and mass, global communications. Prospective authors and writers will learn how to develop their writing skills with a view to getting published. They will learn to seek out, identify and take advantages of writing and publishing opportunities that present themselves.

A lot is changing in the world of publishing; changes that are long-term and irreversible; ushered in mainly by advances in technology. The world of publishing is open, after a long period in which it may have seemed that it was closed. "As writers we are no longer content to simply write and let publishers publish," says Oscar Duggan, course director. "Nor should we be so content: if we want to be successful in our various enterprises, we cannot afford to be.”

A complete course outline, including course materials, contact details and how to book a group seminar or presentation is available from the Writing for Publishing website - www.writingforpublishing.com

Top Tips for 2012 Graduates To Find Jobs

Clean up your online presence.
The first thing employers will do is to see what they can find out about you on the Internet. Are you ready for that? They may look at your Facebook page during the interview. Are you ready for that?

Look for WORK, not a JOB.

Don’t scare off employers by communicating that you’re looking for a job and all the traditional benefits that go with it. Make it easy for them to hire you by making it clear that you are happy to accept part-time, temporary, or contract work. If you are equipped to work from home, tell them that too. It may appeal to them.

Ditch the resume.

EVERYBODY is using a resume. In your initial contact with employers, make yourself stand out in a positive way with more creative tools that are marketing oriented and focused on the employer’s needs. It’s OK to have a resume to take to the interview. But first you have to get there.

Think.

Put yourself in the shoes of any employer you plan to contact. Why would they be interested in you? What exactly do you have to offer them? Show them in your first contact with them that you know about them, the type of work they do and the industry they’re in. NEVER send out lots of resumes in a shotgun fashion.

Why should we hire you?

Assume you’ll be asked this question during the interview and be ready to answer it. Focus on the key points you made in the material you sent to them. Those are what got you the interview.

Bite your tongue.

Talking too much in the interview is among the biggest mistakes graduates make according to employers and recruiters. The more prepared you are for the interview, the less inclined you’ll be to ramble on.

Do your homework.

There’s a wealth of information available on the employer’s web site. Amazingly, many graduates never take the time to thoroughly analyze this information and be ready to answer questions about it in the interview. It will also help if you can talk about some of the key issues going on in their industry.

Create your own job.

Instead of waiting for someone to offer you a job, consider what millions of graduates around the world have been doing for years; i.e. operate as a freelancer. The following will give you an overview of the world of freelancing:

• http://www.elance.com 
• http://www.odesk.com 
• http://www.vworker.com

Finally, you may get some business ideas at: http://www.springwise.com

Ron McGowan is the author of the international bestseller “How to Find WORK in the 21st Century”, currently in use at over 400 colleges and universities worldwide.
http://www.howtofindwork.ca

Yes to Jobs! No to elitism.

It has been reported that tensions are mounting within the coalition over the question of caps on salaries for senior civil servants. It seems that a fresh row has erupted over the appointment of a new secretary general at the Department of Finance, a position which is being described as prestigious - see Irish Independent 3/1/2012.

The current Government promised to cap maximum pay levels for higher positions across the public service, but has breached its own guidelines on numerous occasions. The most famous instance involved the Taoiseach himself, when he personally intervened to ensure a higher salary for a political appointee from his own party. Fintan O'Toole's commentary in The Irish Times 6/12/11 reflected a certain public mood on this occasion, as well as raising some highly pertinent issues.

The salary being offered for the position of secretary general at Finance is €200,000 - the same salary that the Taoiseach currently earns. This comes at a time of national crisis and emergency, bourne mainly out of economic mismanagement and greed. Yet it has been noted that Irish politicians and senior civil servants are among the best paid in the world! Is one person's role really worth so much? If so, how come we don't appear to be getting value for our money?

The idea that is being mooted is that, despite all that is being endured under the terms of the ECB/IMF austerity plan, we have no choice but to pay these salaries in order to 'attract the right calibre' of candidates. Nowhere is it spelt out what that calibre is. What individual qualities, skills, training, motivation are being sought? What will Irish people benefit and gain from all of this? Apart, that is, from the 'knowledge' that we have the 'right calibre' of people implementing the decisions handed down to them by those put in charge by the ECB/IMF!

We are even told by the Irish Independent that:

... the pay cap is proving to be a deterrent to attracting the right calibre of person for the job - particularly those candidates living abroad. ... A number of potential overseas applicants have expressed dismay at the fact there is no relocation allowance with the job - a perk that is common in the financial world. The Department of Finance is also refusing to pay the flight or transport costs of those who attend the interview from overseas, which would also be the norm in business recruitment. - ibid

Is this then a reflection on our educational system? Or of a national inferiority complex, perhaps? Are we really so incapable of producing our own problem solvers?

We are interested in hearing from job seekers on this issue. Among the questions that we would like to raise for debate are:

• Should Irish people accept the elitist consensus that is being formulated among some at the upper echelons of our society? 
• Does the forward momentum of our economy and our society really depend upon the cultivation of a highly-paid elite? Persons whose salaries and lifestyles are financed out of the public purse; who may or may not turn out to be our 'saviours', but who always seem quick to take the credit without taking any of the responsibility!
• Are our government and political leaders merely wallowing in the most servile and self-serving justifications, reflective of a moral and spiritual bankruptcy that goes hand in hand with the financial bankruptcy which they are also presiding over?

These are just some views that we are putting out for public debate and consideration. We welcome your own comments.