Creative Reviews discussion

Sorry if this topic has been covered elsewhere, but I was considering publishing my novel through Goodreads. I just wondered if anyone had any opinion as to whether it's worthwhile, or tips I should bear in mind.

Thanks!

I didn't know that GR published novels. Is it self publishing through goodreads? Sorry if I sound unknowledgeable. I know you can do that through createspace and lulu but not GR.

To me it is just one of many options. I'm not sure if you are asking about publishing ONLY on Goodreads or as just one place of many. I'm in the process of getting everywhere I can: Kindle, Nook, iBooks, Smashwords (for Sony, Kobo, Diesel, etc...) and in paperback via Createspace. I figure the more options you give readers the better.

I agree with this. The more options the better. You can also (depending upon genre, i think) submit to Journalstone (journalston.com) and have it put on their JournalStore. They even format for you.

Cambria, you can actually add your whole book to Goodreads and allow people to purchase it. If you take a look at my book's page you can see Goodreads is one option as a location the book can be bought: http://www.goodreads.com/work/compare...

self publishing via the EBook thing? I have that set up for my book, but I also have the physical book. GR is not a publisher, you will need to get an ISBN from someplace before uploading an Ebook...I think.

Oh wow. I didn't know you could do that. LOL. Gheesh where have I been? that's really cool. I see what you mean now, that you can buy it here but they don't actually "publish" it for you. thanks for the info guys!!

Hm interesting.

exactly my thoughts Ottilie. Think you will put your book up?

Julian, for what it's worth I don't know how new the functionality and have uploaded mine. I'm currently running a pay-per-click advertising campaign through GR to see if it's worth the money and though at least 50 people have added it to their "to-read" shelves, no-one has bought it via here; I suspect that's because they haven't realised you can do but it could be because they'd rather go via a more recognised route.

Probably worth doing as one of the many (apart from anything else, it might catch on further down the line) but I'd suggest going via Smashwords and Kindle too; Smashwords takes one Word file and converts it into most of the major formats as well as exporting it to the Apple iBookstore, B&N, Sony, Kobo and the rest (saving you a LOT of work!) for a minimal percentage, and I formatted mine for Kindle as well, mostly because at the time Smashwords did not have functionality for an active TOC (ie on Kindle it means you can tab through the chapters with the 5-way button rather than having to do Menu/Go To/ and guess a location number).
As a reader, if the text is more than a few pages long, I want this functionality, so jumped through a few extra hoops to get it for Kindle (which is the format I sell most of).
Looking at the updated Smashwords formatting guide, they've now added this functionality, so when book 2's ready I'll do the Sm-wds version first and see what it comes out like - but probably will do the Kindle one as well, just because I am a control freak...

I would suggest putting it on as many platforms as you can though. Publishing via Goodreads is a bit niche really as a sole option. Other people might have different experiences though.
JAC

Thanks very much for all of your comments, guys. I should have explained that I'm already on Amazon and Smashwords, and was wondering whether to add GR.

I hesitated because there didn't seem to be that many authors taking advantage of it, so I wondered if there was some hidden drawback. But it looks good and, at the very least, it's a way for GR members to browse the pages of your book.

I am also planning on adding to GR. I haven't yet, but am going to in the next day or so. I've just submitted a giveaway on GR, so that should up and running in a couple of days!

I've bought a few books here on Goodreads but didn't realize I could even do such a thing until someone on my friends list mentioned it. I believe the links says "read this ebook" and then brings you to a window with the cover page and a short excerpt and from there you can purchase the book by clicking another link. It's a little misleading and confusing until you've done it once and then it's super easy. I don't think GR advertises this part of the site (or if they do I've missed it).

I am completely useless at doing the table of contents thing. So far I've followed two tutorials and failed totally to nail it - even using Mobipocket Creator. I get a lovely .PRC but have no idea what to do with it after that... and precious little time to learn.

Then again, my chapters are quite short (MTM sighs hopefully).

This is what's been stalling my efforts to upload one to here - you have to provide an epub file. I don't want mine to say "Smashwords Edition" in the front.

onwards and upwards.

MTM

Yes, also, as Cambria mentioned before, you can also submit it to JournalStone for sale, they have a growing on-line bookstore. As everyone is saying, the more options, the better!!

It is free and painless! Splitter, one of our more vocal members of the group, has already put his book up there, and it looks fabulous!

If you are interested in putting your book up for sale on there as well, contact me, and I will get you the details!! :)

I'm always interested in more places for my book. How do I go about getting on JournalStone?

To publish your electronic book on Journal-Store, send your manuscript as a Microsoft Word attachment to [email protected]. Include your full name, address, phone number, retail price of your manuscript, your social security number, book summary, genre, and the categories under which you’d like to list your book. Add nothing else.

The IRS requires we have your social security number, and we take the safety of this number seriously. JournalStone will not publicize or otherwise expose your personal information to any outside parties.

I work for JournalStone, and I can guarantee the safety of your information. So no worries that your information will be used or stolen. All information is kept off-line, inaccessible to anyone. :)

Oy, Amy. To ask people to email a Social Security number is a real no no in the web world (my day job is website development). Email is not secure at all, so there is nothing to keep people from intercepting the mail and getting your SS number. Of course someone has to maliciously do it, but you can't stop someone if they have the know how. JournalStone should probably consider setting up an online form that is secure (using ssl through https) to collect this information.

Just my two cents.

BTW, I publish through an incorporated entity, so I'd actually prefer using my EIN number instead of my personal SS number. Is that okay?

Hi Amy, thanks for sharing this info about Journal-Store. Are there any cool features about the site that you think makes this site worthwhile for authors to self-publish on? Is there decent traffic from a certain kind of audience? I'm intrigued, and since you work for JournalStone, I thought you might have some useful inside scoop!

Thanks!

Frank

Hmm... I'm guessing a British National Insurance number won't cut the mustard... is Journal-Store for US residents only?

Cheers

MTM

D.Robert wrote: "Oy, Amy. To ask people to email a Social Security number is a real no no in the web world (my day job is website development). Email is not secure at all, so there is nothing to keep people from in..."

I will check with my boss and see if that is possible. I don't know all the details for everything.. I'm sorry!! I do know that once the email is received it is deleted and the info is stored in the offline storage.

@ Frank, I know our website gets, on average, 14k visitors per month, and growing. You can check it out for yourself at www.journalstone.com, and we have a counter up there that shows how many hits we get, so there is a good possibility some of those 14 thousand people could look at your book! :)

@ MTM, I know we are working on getting it set up for international users. I don't think we have the capabilities just yet.

Good to hear, it sounds interesting... I'm with the scatter it far technique so anywhere I can put my book I do!

Cheers

MTM

Thanks Amy. I hope I didn't come across as harsh. I was just trying to be helpful. I'm personally not all that worried about the issue of emailing private info (I mean who is sitting around trying to intercept my email) but I know from experience there are plenty of people who are worried about it.

Amyness does your company have a number to call so we can do it over the phone?

D.Robert wrote: "Thanks Amy. I hope I didn't come across as harsh. I was just trying to be helpful. I'm personally not all that worried about the issue of emailing private info (I mean who is sitting around trying ..."

Oh, I know what you meant (so no worries at all!), that is one issue that we have come across, I wish I knew of another way to do it, I will talk to my boss and see what else we can do, maybe a phone call like David suggests would work! I'm sending off an e-mail now, does anyone else have any questions about it that I can include before I send this off? I want to make sure I get everyone's questions in! :)

Hmm, JournalStone looks good. I sense it shares my taste for ... the macabre! Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!

Amy: Just electronic tracking of sales and such. Would be nice :).

Splitter

I got a message back from the big boss man, DRobert, you are able to supply your EIN number for payment, that is not a problem at all!

We are able to take your information over the phone, all you have to do is let us know in the e-mail when you submit your manuscript! :)

I'm still working out the details for you British authors!!! :)

I will make sure to ask about that as well, Splitter! :)

By the way, I have great news for all the British authors out there!! You are good to go on putting your book up on the Journal-Store as well! Yippee!!!

Ah, that's great news, Amy. I'll definitely submit my book.

Not on topic, but can I just take this opportunity to vent about Smashwords? In many ways they're really good, but this business about "modifying your book before it can enter our premium catalog" .... Sorry, it looks fine to me. And mention Smashwords on my copyright page? I'd rather not,really.

Is entering their premium catalog such a wonderful thing that I should swallow my complaints and reservations?

YAY!!! Stampead on over there my out of country friends!

Julian wrote: "Ah, that's great news, Amy. I'll definitely submit my book.

Not on topic, but can I just take this opportunity to vent about Smashwords? In many ways they're really good, but this business about "..."

I honestly don't know enough about what their premium catalog does, I know they will put your book for sale on the bigger sites such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble, and I think even Sony or Apple (don't quote me on the last ones). I don't know if there is another way to do it or not. I know I have personally never bought a book off of smashwords, I think their formatting requirements makes some of the books look funny, so I would rather buy them from places where they don't have the formatting restrictions.

Smashwords premium distribution is a good thing if you look at all the places they send your book for sale.

However...the formatting thing is an issue. I could never get my TOC right for them so I just removed it. The copyright page was another issue. I followed the guidelines exactly and still had to make several attempts before one took (and it did not follow the guidelines).

I will be swapping ONE chapter in my next edition and I BET it will get rejected.

This woman that Journal Stone has named Amy does a great formatting job for them...

Splitter

J.A. wrote: "Julian, for what it's worth I don't know how new the functionality and have uploaded mine. I'm currently running a pay-per-click advertising campaign through GR to see if it's worth the money and t..."

I just bought and downloaded J.A. Clement's book. I found the interface through Goodreads to be a bit scary to use the first time--it is confusing to be able to access the whole book on the site, but figure out how to pay and download it (hint, they email you a link and a new button becomes active). Once you have done it once though, it is easy and the formatting looks great (nice job!).

Looking forward to reading your book.

Lineola

Oooh thanks Lineola! Hope you enjoy it!

MTM, limited online time at parents' this weekend but if no joy by Sunday night, mail me as happy to have a go if you want? Can't promise to be speedy (or indeed that it will work) but happy to have a go if you want??

Amy - JS - YAY!!! SO going over to have a look what is entailed now!
Right, off to bday do so back anon;
JAC

Happy bday then!

Hi Amy. I emailed JournalStone about a month ago and never heard back? Does that mean they don't like my stuff? :(

C.S. Splitter wrote: "Smashwords premium distribution is a good thing if you look at all the places they send your book for sale.

However...the formatting thing is an issue. I could never get my TOC right for them so ..."

AWE!! Thanks Splitter!!

Dale, I do all the formatting of the books for JournalStone for posting on the site. What book did you send in? If you never heard ANYTHING back, we may not have received anything. We will put anyone's book up there who wants to sell in our store. We give everyone an equal chance to sell their book.

If you need/want to talk more about this, you can email me at [email protected] so we can figure this out for you!! :)

J.A. wrote: "Oooh thanks Lineola! Hope you enjoy it!

MTM, limited online time at parents' this weekend but if no joy by Sunday night, mail me as happy to have a go if you want? Can't promise to be speedy (or i..."

JA - let me know if you have any questions on it too, some of it seems a bit tedious...it's really much easier than what it sounds! :)

JA you are a star... I have followed 'foolproof' guide after guide but clearly they're not proofed against an idiot this large!

It'll take me ages. There'll be nothing doing until mini me goes back to nursery in two weeks and next week will be mental because I'll be 3 days, minimum, without a car (and all the pants logistics of dropping it off 3 miles from the nearest railway station/bus stop and picking it up again with a 3 year old in tow... and trying to get him to a full day nursery session 4 miles from anywhere with no car and a taster session - which is walkable thank heavens - in there as well).

Rock on Sep 19th, it'll all be over my car will be legal for another year and I will have 15 whole hours a week to be a human rather than a Mum. Never buy a car in September if you're planning to have children... no, actually, just never buy a car in September. Phnark. If I had to do it all this week, though and didn't have any time constraints with the car (ie need it for one day out of the five to be able to do the nursery day) it would have made for a couple of nice days out.

Yes er so... where was I? Ah right, yes, no worries re speed. Dare not hope I will get time to write when term starts... something is bound to throw a spanner in the works!

Cheers

MTM
Few Are Chosen
Warning: contains car chases, futuristic technology and sarcasm.