BackMyBook.com

We are hard at work cranking away on a brand-new version of the BackMyBook Author platform.  In our never-ending quest to help authors sell books and to create the most powerful tools for authors on the web, we are improving BackMyBook from the top to the bottom.    

Many of the authors we talk to who are getting started on the internet get hung up on the first question -- ‘What should my domain be?’.  At the same time, we also see many authors who have websites, but who aren’t getting the results they should be simply because they don’t have appropriate domains. For example, they may be named ‘Mark Twain’, but their url is ‘marksbooks.com’ and they have a blog on ‘twainsblog.com’.  This creates confusion and leads to a diffuse, dwindling audience online.  

We recently added the ability to run your BackMyBook blog and store on your own domain, so it’s a good time to consider registering your own domain if you haven’t already.

Why have your own domain?

• Permanence -- once you register it, your domain is yours.  You own it and you have complete control over where it points, how it looks, and what appears whenever someone navigates to it (hosted services may disappear, change layouts, change privacy rules, etc., etc.)

• Consistency -- Use your domain properly, and it becomes an implicit advertisement for you and your writing.  people can find you online without having to remember 4 different things about you.

• Findability -- the number one determination of rank on google is the domain (number 2 is backlinks)

• Branding -- much of the value of being online is the ability to create a direct relationship with your readers.  having your own domain reinforces this and creates the subliminal impression that they are in a relationship with you (not blogger or squidoo or amazon, etc.)

How to register your own domain:

• Find out if it’s available -- just check on GoDaddy
• Register it! -- We like Mad Dog Domains
• We can register for you -- just contact us with the domain you’d like to use
• The process of registering a new domain is relatively straightforward -- most importantly, don’t accept upsells during the checkout process.

Here are some simple rules for getting a great domain for your author website:

Rule 1: Have One Domain.  If you have more than one domain, redirect them directly to your primary url (no interstitials, click-throughs or landing-pages).  It should be the shortest version of your name or brand possible.  The only good reason to register several different domains is to grab common mis-spellings or misunderstandings.

Rule 2: Make your domain you.  Your domain should either be a direct variant on your name, or the first thing that pops into your readers’ heads when they think of you.  

1. Use this core term consistently everywhere -- it should be your twitter handle, facebook identity, amazon ID, etc., etc.
2. Example: “Mark Twain” would want marktwain.com.  May register ‘marctwain.com, marktwane.com, marctwane.com’ as mis-spellings and direct immediately to marktwain.com. 

 

Now that the internet has become a mature platform, it is increasingly hard to find an appropriate domain that isn’t already taken.

Here are some strategies for dealing with the clutter:

• Add a descriptive modifier like author, books (e.g. marktwainauthor.com)
• Add a dash (e.g. mark-twain.com)
• Check alternate suffexes (these are called Top-Level-Domains, or TLDs) like .net, .org (e.g. marktwain.net)
• Try a Non-Descriptive modifier like mr, mrs, the, a, the etc. (e.g. themarktwain.com)
• Check Sedo -- sedo.com is a domain marketplace where domains are constantly being auctioned off and resold.  If your name has been registered, but is not being actively used to host a website, it's possible that the owner can be contacted through SEDO and you can negotiate the sale of the domain.

Scott Sigler was kind enough to mention us (favorably, nonetheless!) in his guest post on JA Konrath's post.  If you want to know the secret to Scott's success, and our bit part in it, head over to Scott's guest post.

 

The BackMyBook crew had a great time at the 25th annual Southern California Writer's Conference this past weekend in San Diego.  We absolutely love, love, love this conference.  For whatever reason, it is always attended by the nicest people and most amazingly talented writers on the planet.  It is always an impressive event, and you can be sure that one way or another these attendees are writing the books that we will be reading in the next years.

The overall theme of this installment of the SCWC was defintiely the rapid changes going on in the publishing industry right now, and the amazing opportunities they represent for all authors.  We were excited to lead a workshop on Taking Control of your writing career - lending a bit of our entrpreneurial perspective to the process of writing, building a brand and community, and publishing.  Then we had a wonderful opportunity to really roll up our sleeves and get into it leading an evening workshop on Branding, Author Websites, and 21st-Century tools for authors.  We capped the weekend off with the E-ndependence Panel on the horizons opening up in the newly-legitimized world of self-publishing.  All-in-all wonderful information, wonderful people, wonderful talent on display, and getting better all the time -- we can't wait for the next one!

Gk and 21st Century Author Extraordinaire Hyla Molander

Thanks to Gail Kushner for the photo!

 

Just wanted to let everyone know that we'll be at the Southern California Writers' Conference in LA on Sept 24-26. Our shiny presentation is titled There's No Such Thing as a Good Book, Only a Good Brand. If you're in the area, come by and say hi. We'll be at the convention hotel all weekend. Email me at tay@backmybook.com if you want to schedule a get together. Tay

Returning Sunday from the SoCal Writer's conference in Newport Beach, CA, where we were privileged to give one of the workshops, there is a palpable buzz of excitement amongst the BackMyBook team. We met with crowds of authors, agents, and publishers - each with a unique experience or pearl of wisdom to share about the business and art of writing and publishing. Our session, "There is No Such Thing as a Good Book, Only a Good Brand" was fun, engaging and spurred conversations with authors that often ended with "boy, I need to completely rethink my strategy". Many were seeing all the possibilities in front of them to take more control over their writing career and not be entirely at the mercy of the traditional publishing industry. There was some highly focused attention in the room as we discussed the sea change occurring in the publishing industry. We covered the concept of branding for authors, and explained the power of community based marketing. We heard many murmurs as light bulbs were switching on. We had people say to us... "...so, building a community might give me greater bargaining power with publishers?" "...you mean I might be able to get my work out there and let readers decide whether it is ready to be enjoyed?" As we shared our experiences and presented our vision for the 21st century author, it was great to see writers feeling empowered to find readership for themselves and excited to leverage that into better publishing deals or to support their self-publishing goals. Everyone at the conference was extremely open and friendly, inviting us into conversations easily, and eager to share their insights and experiences with publishing. It was great that people felt completely comfortable to ask us any and all of the questions they had about social media, web sites, or strategies for online community building and marketing. We invite anyone to keep the questions coming, and are looking forward to the next SoCal conference here in our home town of San Diego. Thanks to everyone, but most especially Michael and Wess for asking us to be there. - BackMyBook

We talk a lot about "brand" and its importance, and define it using examples of people who have already found success. But creating a new brand, your brand, can seem pretty daunting, especially if you feel like you're not quite sure how to go about doing it. Let's lay out some key points to follow, you can think of this as your guide to the brand creation process. I like to start with these 4 points: a successful brand (in any case) should be Remarkable, Intimate, Consistent, and Authentic.

Remarkable

Your brand has to stand out! That means you need to be eye catching, ear catching, dream catching, whatever kind of catching you can be to get people to notice you. This comes with an important disclaimer though, you can't simply stand up on a soapbox and yell into a loudspeaker to make people hear you. The trick is to be remarkable to a group of targeted readers who will like your writing, who you can engage with. Your work must be remarkable to these readers not just to the point where they notice you, but so that you are worthy of comment, so that they share you. Granted, this has a lot to do with the quality of the content you are building your brand around (aka in short the trick is to *ahem* be good at writing), but there are a lot of authors out there with good content. Don't let this discourage you, there are also plenty of fans out there, just know that you will have to fight for their attention, so be prepared to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

Intimate

No, not like on a romantic date. Well, sort of. You want to be personal, relatable... intimate. In other words, your brand needs to be open and inviting, the reader needs to feel like they "own a piece of you." Make yourself available to readers, interact and communicate with them, mingle! Make your readers feel like they belong in the community just as much as you do. When readers can think of you as a friend or a peer, they will be more invested in you and more interested in what you have to say.

Consistent

Your readers should know what to expect from you. That doesn't mean you should be droll and uncreative, just that readers should be comfortable with the experience they're having. Try to maintain the same tone, style, pizazz, and interesting types of content that attracted them to you in the first place. Keep in mind, your brand is in play anywhere you are visible to readers. This means, blogs, forums, websites, interviews, book covers, posters, promos, trailers, tweets, your American Idol audition... everywhere! If your brand comes across as bi-polar or inconsistent it will be difficult to build strong relationships with fans. If you are consistent however, fans will be comfortable; and the ones who identify most with your brand will be your strongest supporters as a result.

Authentic

It's tempting, especially on the internet, to exaggerate and extrapolate and hide behind a keyboard. But it's easy to spot a fake, and generally speaking nobody like a fake. So don't do it! Another way to think about this is to simply practice what you preach. This adds so much value and validity to your brand, and in turn builds trust for your fans. Again, the stronger the relationships with your fans, the more they like you, the more invested they will be in you. This is how "true fans" are born, and you can't put a price on the marketing they can do for you simply through their enthusiasm for you and your brand.

So... with these 4 key points in mind, you can be well on your way to creating a successful brand around your writing. If it feels a bit overwhelming, that's okay. Just take a deep breath, and stay within yourself (remember, authentic). Create a brand that you can "pull off" and it should just about come naturally. For some writers a brand could just be as simple as your engaging personality, for others it could revolve around the world created in your stories, and for others it could have to do with the style or subject matter of your writing. Finally, if it still seems scary, just remember: you don't (in fact shouldn't) need to please everyone. Just your fans.

So much of recent discussion about the tumult in the publishing world has focused on the challenge for publishers to find new business models in the face of rapidly changing technology and customer habits.  Quite a bit less attention has been devoted, however, to the effects of those trends on authors themselves, without whom the publishers would have no content to actually print.  As the industry continues to thrash around, grasping for quick solutions while also cutting costs frantically, authors less popular than Rowling or Franzen can find themselves essentially abandoned by their supposed advocates in large publishing houses.  

Noted technology writer Douglas Rushkoff shares his recent experiences with publishers and how those disappointments drove him to make the radical step of leaving his publisher and embracing an entirely new model of 21st century authorship.  What could have inspired such a move?  Shouldn’t authors desperately grab for the security of a big publisher, especially in uncertain times like now?  Won’t the sheer size and expertise of the big companies provide an essential lifesaver in the rather choppy waters of the book marketplace currently?

Well, actually no, at least according to Rushkoff.  In his view, “Authors and readers no longer need Big Publishing to find and engage one another. The sooner we all realize this, the better off we’ll all be.”  Based on his experience, publishers now utterly fail at the two roles authors have traditionally relied upon them for, editing and marketing.  As just about any author can tell you, having an intelligent and engaged reader critique your work is incredibly helpful.  But editors can no longer play that role anymore, as they must now focus entirely on new content acquisition.  Even worse in Rushkoff’s view, publishers no longer provide either necessary resources or expertise in marketing.  If anything, they tend to get in the way of the authors’ own attempts to publicize their work.  The writers, after all, usually know far more about their subject matter and the likely audience for their own books, and what the best methods of outreach might be.

Absent their ability to edit and market, Rushkoff just does not see a valuable role for publishers any more, and has decided to eliminate these middlemen (and their not insubstantial costs) for his latest book.  It is a new very journey, without the usual signposts, but 21st century authorship does open up vast new potential audiences and opportunities to engage with ones readers.  As Rushkoff says, the new methods he now embraces are daunting, but writers today really have no other choice, “The good news and bad news here is that we must create new ways of doing things that meet our real needs.”

BackMyBook is excited to help authors of all kinds discover their own paths to success, that meet their own particular needs.  They won’t be the same as Douglas Rushkoff’s, nor Stephen King’s, but they will be what works for you.

I'm particularly fond of using the F-word when I'm stuck in traffic, or trapped in a boring meeting, or standing on the sidelines at my daughter’s soccer game. I'm talking about Facebook of course...

In my experience from speaking with authors and reading forums there seems to be a fairly common response when it comes to using Facebook and Twitter for marketing your book. It usually goes something like this: "Well, I made my Facebook page, but nothing really happened... what am I doing wrong???" ... or something like: "I don't really have a blog yet, but I use Twitter occasionally does that count?"

Common Misconceptions

Well, I want to be 100% clear on this point: Facebook and Twitter are NOT sites where you will gain fans simply by making a profile and talking about your book. Keep in mind, these are two of the biggest social media sites, not two of the biggest author sites. People are on Facebook to connect with their friends, not with you. But wait, if you read between the lines there's a hint (make them your friends first!)

Simply showing up on somebody's "news feed" on Facebook is akin to having a kiosk set up in the mall. Maybe a few people will notice you, but people are really there for the real stores. If they don't know you ahead of time most people will walk right by you. If you want to sell stuff at the mall... Build. Your. Store. First. (read: build your brand first. see the pattern yet?)

If you are just starting out, or even if you've been around but you're still pretty small, you won't have the kind of fan community that will be able to take on a life of its own on sites like Facebook yet. When the TV show "Dexter" gets thousands of comments on its Facebook update, it's because they had thousands of fans ahead of time that they gained from creating a hit show, not from creating a hit Facebook page.

So, what's the point?

So if Facebook and Twitter are not working out of the Field of Dreams "if you build it fans will come" play book, then what is the point? What's the goal of using these social media sites to market your book?

Try to think of Facebook and Twitter as simply extensions of your brand, another place to reach fans who have already given you permission to market to them.If you are still building your brand, Facebook and Twitter can help by acting as a place for interaction that many people are already comfortable with, but not as a means of self promotion.

If you have no idea what I'm talking about as far as "your brand" goes, stop reading, check this out, and come back in 5 minutes. I promise I'll be right here waiting patiently... Okay, great. Let's continue.

How do I use Facebook and Twitter?

I know I sound repetitive, because I'm repeating myself. The short answer to this question is you don't until you have something that your fans will think is worth sharing. Not something that you think is worth sharing with them, but something they will be glad you shared and think is worth sharing with others. If you want a longer answer, take a look at the Facebook and Twitter sections of this article which show some specific examples, or just keep reading.

There are a couple of themes that apply to just about every aspect of marketing yourself and your book. One of them, the one I keep harping about, is to create value for the user. This is probably more important and more tricky on social media sites than anywhere else.

Let's look at the mall again. You don't want to be the kiosk. The kiosk is lame, annoying, and in your way, quit bugging me with your $2 sunglasses for sale and your book I've never heard of. You want to be a cool store. You want your store (your brand, your profile page, your twitter feed) to be something that shoppers want to come visit. They like the atmosphere, it's nice in there. No pushy salesmen, just some people to help you out, and maybe even recommend another store you might like. Shoppers stop by because they like your store, even if they're not going to buy anything.

The store doesn't appeal to everyone, shoppers choose to go in there because they are interested in the kinds of things you sell or the styles you have. And finally, new shoppers show up because their friends told them it was cool and to check it out!

Aha!

Enter Facebook, and Twitter. It's not "if you build it fans will come;" it's "if you give fans cool stuff, they'll bring their friends." Not quite as catchy, perhaps, but much more effective. Share cool links on Facebook, Retweet something relevant you came across on Twitter (if you aren't familiar, a Retweet, RT for short, is simply sharing someone else's tweet with the people who follow your tweets; don't worry it's totally cool and acceptable and even encouraged). Give people value! Ask yourself: "why would anybody follow me on Facebook or Twitter? What are they getting out of it?"

Build your brand, build a fan base around your brand, interact with fans in a way that is meaningful to them and worth sharing with new people. Wash, rinse, repeat (actually it all sort of happens at the same time, but stay consistent with your approach).

With a solid foundation to build off of, Facebook and Twitter can be magnifiers for your brand that already has some traction. The key however is to build your brand and build your following everywhere.

If it feels like I'm suggesting to not worry too much about Facebook and Twitter, it's because that's exactly what I'm saying. Should you still be there and take advantage of the huge networks of friends and fans? Yes absolutely, but don't focus on them. Be patient, not pushy. Take care of your writing and give your fans something worth putting on Facebook. Don't be the kiosk, be the store.

The old guard "brick and mortar" publishing industry is crumbling. This is no secret to anyone who has been paying attention; everybody has an e-reader and a Facebook page, and stores like bookstores like Borders and Barnes and Noble are hemorrhaging money. Still, like a stubborn child, the publishers continue to drag their heels and desperately try to hold on to the reins. Of course this doesn't mean you need to keep playing by their outdated rules. For the savvy 21st century author the change is already here, the tools are in place to take what's yours.

We love our authors. Clearly, even as awesome as we are, there are plenty of other sites out there that are cool too. If you're reading this and you don't know who we are either, you can check out our home page and get acquainted.

 

 

Every undertaking begins with a declaration. Here is ours. These are exciting times…. The web is transforming all media, especially the written word. To date, this transformation has been felt most acutely in the realm of short-form content. Blogs and various social media services (e.g. Facebook and Twitter), are dramatically transforming traditional short-form writing outlets such as newspapers and periodicals. In the broad view these changes, while certainly disruptive, are almost all to the good. Technology empowers individuals over institutions, encourages broad participation, and brings efficiency to the marketplace of ideas. Collectively, these effects are often referred to as the ‘democratization of media’. But, to date the realm of long-form written content (viz. books) has been relatively immune to the democratizing effects of technology and the internet. In 2009 a mere handful of authors led by Dan Brown, Stephanie Meyer, and John Grisham represented the vast majority of all book sales. Aspiring authors are well-advised to have a blog and participate in social media, but the only sure path to a broad audience remains a book deal with a traditional publisher. This is all about to change. The primary catalyst for change will be the increasing improvements in the technology for consumption platforms of long-form written content. As eReaders, mobile devices, and even web-interfaces improve, doors will be opened to Authors just as they are being opened now for bloggers. eLiterati is dedicated to bringing this transformation to the creators of long-form writing. As such, BackMyBook is committed to the Creation, Promotion, and Distribution of long-form written content via the web. As we pursue this ambitious goal, we hold the following in mind to guide us… 1. Long-Form Content is Valuable. A book represents hundreds if not thousands of hours of craftsmanship, research, writing, editing, rewriting, etc. Writing well requires talent and is a skill that must be practiced. Authors should be justly compensated for the value they create. The ad-based revenue-sharing model of blogs and other short-form content does not cut it for books. 2. We value participation. Writing well requires talent and is a skill that must be practiced, yes, but at the same time nearly anyone can do it. Whether a blog comment, a book review, a forum post, etc. we value all writing. We believe that writing well is an art that can be mastered by anyone. In the spirit of democratization, we are open to anyone and everyone and we respect all voices. 3. Marketing is Hard. Promotion should not be controlled by a select few, but should be determined by the consumers. Everyone should have an equal opportunity to prove themselves. We will devote considerable resources to providing tools to Authors to most effectively market and promote themselves. 4. We are optimistic. We believe in progress, but progress is not a linear process. There will be setbacks. We will remain optimistic in the power of our vision and the long-term.

Yes, you heard right folks, BackMyBook.com has officially launched! This is just the beginning… We hope that you are as excited as we are in the infinite realm of possibilities that lay before us. The digital market for printed content is still in its infancy, and that gives us hope for making a difference to talented writers that have hit wall after wall trying to make it in the traditional publishing model. We’ve taken a hard look at how the world is evolving, and have brought our experience in the digital music and digital video markets to build what we think are the right tools, at the right time, at the right price for authors to be successful in the digital age. Why? Because we love to read, and writing is a shared passion among us. And we think it should be up to readers, not publishers, to decide what gets read and circulated to the masses. It’s as simple as that. One of the most influential factors in our success, both professionally and personally, is our passion for reading. It’s one of the gifts that we diligently work at passing on to our children. We want to have the best material surfaced for all to share, and not miss something just because it didn’t hit the right person’s desk. So we are making sure this is possible, with no barriers other than an author’s motivation, and the motivation of others, to get the word out. So come join us, either as an author who is looking for an audience, or as a reader who believes that there are few things mightier than the written word. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” (Confucius) We are honored to have you here for our first step, and hope that you’ll be with us for the many to come. Tay/ GK / Wayland

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/ipad-corners-22-percent-of-ebook-market-gets-pdf-reading-abilit/ Apple has just announced that the iPad has collected 22 percent of ebook sales since its launch and is about to get new features too. A PDF viewer is going to be thrown into the iBooks app later this month, and will be accompanied by new bookmarking and note-taking functionality. Yeah, they’re basic enhancements at best, but we’re still trying to wrap our minds around this idea that Apple is already responsible for nearly a quarter of all ebook sales. Then again, as Steve points out, a cool five million of the darn things have been downloaded in the first 65 days of the iPad’s availability.

Promoting your book on a website is a vital part of modern marketing – a piece of the pie you can’t succeed without – especially if you are a new author, but even if you are an established author still trying to build your reader base. You can pay thousands to a web designer for fancy looking stuff, but at the end of the day all you really need is for your site to get found on search engines by readers looking for your kind of work. It doesn’t have to be beautiful. You need to be able to control the content of your site in order to target searchers looking for specific keywords (like your name, your book title, or terms related to your kind of writing). And you don’t want to pay some web guy every time you want to tweak your message, or try new blog posts to draw in potential readers. “Building a book marketing website isn’t about technology or aesthetics, it’s about content, and the only person who can create that content is you.” – by Honer Books The above statement is all too true. You are the best resource for the content that will make your site an interesting read. So how should you go about getting what you need to have a nice looking web presence where you control the content, can offer forums for discussions with your readers, and post daily blog articles to keep ‘em coming back to hear what you have to say? All of it comes with a BackMyBook free membership. We offer a complete Author’s Web Site, one that not only gives you total control over your content, but allows you to feature any book of your choice, looks fantastic and professional, and best of all…is free. Now that is ROI for you.

Barnes & Noble has just responded to the success of Border’s Kobo e-reader ($149.99) by lowering the price of the 3G + Wi-Fi enabled nook to $199 and introducing a Wi-Fi only version of the nook priced at $149. Click here to go to Barnes & Noble and read about the new nooks. Amazon, not to be left behind, answered with its own price drop, reducing the price of the Kindle to $189. Click here to go to Amazon and see the Kindle’s new price.

Laura Miller over at Salon.com posts an intriguing article about the reader’s perspective in this new world of self-publishing and social marketing. Definitely worthy of a read: When anyone can be a published author. This article is dead on in some aspects, and somewhat cynical in others. As a reader who’s had a taste of the slush in proofing books for friends and critiquing works on the peer review websites, I can tell you, slush is very real. There is A LOT of crap out there not worth reading. However, as a reader, I look forward to how books will be marketed and made available in the brave new world of Kindle’s, Facebook, and the Internet. Instead of focusing on the demise of the traditional publishing model with its unsustainable economic model, and all of the problems that may bring (loss of jobs in the publishing industry, more but not necessarily better content in the marketplace, the demise of the bookstores, etc.) I look forward to the emergence of new, independent outlets which will market and distribute content specifically for my tastes. Sure, the bookstore and the NYT best seller list will continue to be outlets managed by the traditional industry, but there are/will be new outlets that serve specific areas of interest more effectively than the categories in the bookstore or on the NYT best seller list ever did. For example, I’m a huge fan of science fiction, so I subscribe to InterGalactic Medicine Show, Orson Scott Card’s website. It has stories that I couldn’t get anywhere else: some are original submissions, some died along the way in the traditional publishing path, some are now out of print, but all are chosen by a group of editors who align perfectly with my desires. For a sci-fi geek like me, it’s nirvana. I’ll conjecture that specialized outlets exist or will shortly for all of the possible niches and that these outlets will provide the reader with effective filtering and recommendations. There is no need to worry about drowning in a sea of slush, because the new gatekeepers are here already. All a reader has to do is to find them by using Google, posting in the appropriate Facebook group, forums, or blog sites, and picking the ones that suit their tastes. It doesn’t matter how the authors get on these new outlets, either by knowing the blogger, running a Facebook ad campaign, or winning a writing contest somewhere. What does matter is that they have passed through some type of vetting, albeit non-traditional, and have picked up enough ‘credibility’ along the way to make it. The outlets are highly incentivized to give their audience the very best content, and will screen content accordingly, or risk losing their audience to competitors. So in short, ultra-hyper-nichification, taste-makers, crowd-sourcing, and the rise of mavens will bubble up content much more effectively than the NYT best seller list ever did. As authors find that it takes a much smaller audience to be successful because of the new economics of e-publishing and the ability to ‘find their audience’ in these new channels, my hope is that more and higher quality content is created, vetted, and made available to the world writ large. That is a world that I can live with, and thoroughly enjoy.

Having a great time at comic-con. It’s absolutely huge. One thing is clear straightaway — sci-fi, fantasy, and horror authors have huge opportunities for community-building. These fans are among the most dedicated and passionate I’ve ever seen.

Check out the promotion that we’re running for New York Times best selling author Scott Sigler. We are running a promotion on Scott’s blog to incentivize his fans to spread links for his newest novel, Ancestor. In the week its been running, Scott’s fans have driven over 5000 views of the Ancestor book page. Scott Sigler’s Blog: www.scottsigler.com/backmybook Press Release: www.prweb.com/releases/2010/07/prweb4282814.htm

Check 1, Check 2... Hey, we're podcasting! As we set out to cover the ever changing world of digital publishing, we're proud to announce the BackMyBook Podcast. Hopefully, this will be a fun and (maybe even) mildly entertaining way to hear from interesting personalities in the space as well as learn all about digital publishing and self-publishing. We're planning to interview published authors, aspiring authors, self-published authors, publishers, agents, and assorted interesting personalities. Our first interview is a good one with Patrick Smith of Salon.com. In addition to being a regular columnist and commercial airline pilot, Patrick is a published author having published his first book in 2004. Unfortunately, his dream of becoming a published author became yet another cautionary tale of woe in dealing with the traditional publishing business. His story is definitely worth a listen in your earbuds for anyone who aspires to signing a deal with a traditional publisher.

We wrapped up the Backer contest for Scott Sigler's new novel, Ancestor this Monday. It was a fantastic contest, with over 140 of Scott's fans (or junkies, as they're collectively known) hitting the virtual pavement and spreading the word about his novel. His fans drove over 14,000 views of the Ancestor landing page on BackMyBook. But the most surprising twist is how the contest was won! Below is the excerpt from the [blogpost](http://www.scottsigler.com/node/4122) on ScottSigler.com, announcing the winner. That just goes to show the power and generosity of an author community. ---- Here's why there ain't no Junkies like Sigler Junkies: The winner, Jessica, was competing because she suffers from Fibromyalgia, and thought the lightweight nook would help her keep up her lifelong reading habit. She posted about the contest on her Fibromyalgia awareness blog, and set off to win. (I spoke with her to make sure she cool with me mentioning her here.) When she joined the contest, Joseph Aldred had been hammering away at it for a week, and was in the lead with about 1500 points. When he read her post, he says, "Knowing how much I bitch about the "me" culture we live in, I posted to my friends and sent out emails to not click for me, and if anything, help her. For me the nook would be a cool gadget, but is something so much more for her. It would help her be able to do something that she loves at a time that is increasingly more difficult to have any semblance of normality. I am extremely, EXTREMELY happy that she won." Jessica backed ANCESTOR, and Joseph backed Jessica's play. That is some kind of class, and that's how it's done. Good man. ----