Piotr Kowalczyk | Self-Publishing Review

Timeline of Self-Publishing in 2011

2011 was an essential year for self-publishing and it’s good to have all major events collected in one place.

I prepared a timeline, which works very well with a detailed report on top self-published Kindle ebooks of 2011 and will be a part of the infographic about self-publishing I’m going to post at Ebook Friendly by the end of January.

If you don’t want to miss the infographic and new posts on self-publishing, please get free updates by either RSS or email.

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January

Amazon extends the 70% royalty option from their self-publishing platform, KDP, to include […]

Piotr Kowalczyk2012-01-26T14:00:56+02:00January 18th, 2012|Categories: Features|

How Writers Can Use Readability

Readability is a service which turns web pages into a clutter-free reading mode. In times when more and more people suffer from Internet distractions it seems to be helpful solution for readers – as well as writers – of web content.

I’ve covered Readability a couple of times already. In this post I’ll list ways in which writers can benefit from this great tool.

Earn money

Readability offers an honest and, in my opinion, a revolutionary model of compensating writers for writing interesting articles. Readers – if they want to use all features, including save for later and mobile […]

Piotr Kowalczyk2011-09-20T12:35:18+02:00September 20th, 2011|Categories: Resources|

Ebook Cover Design: Context Creates Possibilities

This post is a part of Ebook specific cover design series.

There are three approaches to covers:
– ebook cover is a copy of a print edition,
– one cover is designed for both print and digital edition,
– a cover is designed for ebook only.

I’d like to focus on the last one as it creates much more possibilities than you would originally think of. And all this can happen if you just switch the perspective.

A different approach, free from constrains typical for print production – and taking into consideration circumstances typical for digital environment – can bring […]

Piotr Kowalczyk2020-02-21T03:41:32+02:00September 13th, 2011|Categories: Features|Tags: Book Cover Design Tips|

“Look Inside” for Kindle Books – 3 Tips for Authors

Recently Amazon added to Kindle Store a new, very useful feature – Look Inside. It is the same feature as Look Inside for printed editions but it’s showing the content of the relevant Kindle book. More details about the this functionality you can find in this post and now I’d like to focus on how writers can benefit from it.

First of all, Look Inside is conveying for Kindle books the same task as a free sample. In fact it is a free sample. Comparing to the older method (sending to the device) it is much better – as […]

Piotr Kowalczyk2020-02-21T07:45:43+02:00September 13th, 2011|Categories: Resources|Tags: Amazon News and Tips|

40+ Free Tools for Authors

This post is designed to give you a concise, yet comprehensive preview of most important free tools you can pick up to publish and promote your e-books. I hope it will help you discover those which best fit your author profile and personal needs.

This list is planned to be a one-stop place with all what’s available for free and worth getting your attention. For info about updates of this post, please follow or add me to a list on Twitter.

The most obvious choices, like blogging platforms or social media networks, are not included. I wanted to focus […]

Piotr Kowalczyk2011-10-13T00:21:37+02:00June 8th, 2011|Categories: Lead Story, Resources|

How to Effectively Publish and Promote Your Books to iPad and iPhone Users

Users of devices with Apple’s iOS mobile operating system (iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch) are a very attractive group of potential readers. There are two major reasons:

1. iOS is a very versatile system, allowing the author to distribute books via different sets of tools and channels.
2. iOS users are more willing to buy the content – due to convenience (in-app, one-click purchases) and the nature of iOS ecosystem – a huge offer of apps, many of them for free or sold in a freemium model.

That’s why many authors want to find and define the best way to […]

Piotr Kowalczyk2017-03-23T12:50:40+02:00June 8th, 2011|Categories: Resources|

How Authors Can Use Kindle for the Web

In September last year Amazon introduced a new tool, Kindle for the Web, which allows users to read and share first chapters of books without leaving a web browser.

In addition to a good-looking preview interface, there are two useful features: sharing and embedding. The latter one is a very good, yet underestimated tool which can be used in many ways by authors who publish their books at Amazon.

Before I’ll list benefits and explain how to embed the preview in a blog, I’d like to point out to one very important fact. Despite the name, Kindle for the […]

Piotr Kowalczyk2011-06-08T15:28:28+02:00June 8th, 2011|Categories: Resources|

Free Tools For Authors From Ebook Friendly

Some of you already know that I founded Ebook Friendly – a special kind of e-bookstore addressed to those readers who are aware of distractions the web brings and want to avoid them at the stage of browsing for books. Because reading is all about being focused, opposite to Internet – which is all about being distracted.

Reader friendly interface is one part of the proposition.

As a self-publisher I also want to make this site a place where great books from self-published authors can be easily discovered. There is no better way to do it than help the […]