Believe it or not, marketing your ebook might be as important, if not more important, than writing it in the first place. How? Well, think about it, self-publishing has made creating ebooks a piece of cake that almost anyone can do it. For readers, finding a good ebook is like finding a needle in a haystack, it takes a lot of work and effort to wade through all of them to get to what they want to read. But that’s where marketing comes in, it’s a sharp tool to wield that gets your ebook to stand out, and makes sure readers have an easier time getting to it.

The thing to keep in mind, however, is that ignoring your marketing or failing to do it correctly, will have a negative impact on your ebook. After all, what’s the use of writing an ebook if no one gets to read it? Which is why we’re bringing you 5 of the most common marketing mistakes writers make and how to right those mistakes.

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One of the best thing about the rise of technology for authors is that there are more doors than one can count when it comes to getting our books out there into the world. I think even Mark Twain would agree that the uncountable options available to us these days are so extensive and fruitful that maybe he himself wouldn’t have needed to establish his own publishing house from scratch just to get some say on how he wanted his books to be and the profit he’d wanted to receive. That’s the thing about self-publishing, you get full control over everything throughout the publishing process, from start to finish.

Choosing to go the self-publishing route is not an easy decision to make, however. There are a lot of unknowns in terms of what to expect and the overall costs. In an attempt to help clarify things, and make the path a little easier, we are going to give you a run-through of what self-publishing means, how it works, and what you’ll need so you can decide for yourself whether or not it’s the path for you. Are you ready? Continue Reading

The terms “self-publishing” and “independent publishing” often get confused. If that happened to you before, we don’t blame you — surely if you do something by yourself, you’re independent, right? Not in publishing.

The two types of publishing actually have quite a few differences, so much so, that they are considered completely different things. This can make the whole self/independent publishing mission for authors quite complicated.

We want to highlight the differences, this way authors can make more informed decisions about their own book. Continue Reading

Welcome to the final post in a three-part series on optimizing media for your ebooks. In this article, we’ll show you how to optimize audio files. In case you missed the first two posts, check them out: How to Optimize Images for Your Ebook and How to Optimize Videos and Add Them to Your Ebook.

Follow the 4 easy steps in this article to optimize your stand-alone audio files, as well as audio files in any videos you create.

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It is like a drug – the more you write, the more you want to write. For some, writing a thousand words in a day is an achievement they want to reach. For others, this is nothing. Those who love to write always wish to be able to write more, but don’t always succeed.

The expectations and habits might differ from one writer to the other, but there is one common enemy that makes us all fail – procrastination. And it isn’t just the enemy of writers. It is the enemy of creative people and professionals, and basically every person striving to achieve something.

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It’s finally here, the annual Kotobee International Book Fair Calendar. We know you’ve been waiting for it, as much as we have. Every year we compile for you the dates of the biggest and best book fairs around the world. Nothing warms a book lover’s heart more than a good book. And nothing excites a book addict more than a book fair, overflowing with publishers and booksellers.

Take out your calendars and start jotting down dates. This year’s events look spectacular.  The fairs are scattered all over the world, so it’s time to start booking your plane tickets.

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For newbie writers and bloggers, the focus on creating fresh and frequent content sometimes means we do not make the most out of existing content. We generate creative ideas, but then our ideas go undiscovered. Or we focus on the perfect selection of every word, but then our words go unread. It can be frustrating and discouraging to have valuable content under-utilized and under-read.

After we put in time and resources towards generating great and quality content for our online platforms, we are faced with the “what next” question for our content. Do we just leave this content in our article archives and have it rot away? What do we do if it doesn’t engage enough users as we wanted it to?

Keeping up with the latest trends in digital marketing and building a strong content strategy for your website or blog can be difficult. So, we’ve prepared for you a brief summary of the most effective aspects of content strategy and 7 practical tips so you can make the most out of your existing content. Continue Reading

I always liked pouring out in words what’s going inside my mind and heart. It gave me a sense of satisfaction, made me feel light and content. At one point I decided to leave nine to five rat races and indulge myself in something I love to do–collecting words and stringing them together.

The journey was not easy. And writing full-time wasn’t what I expected. There were days when everything I did was anything but quick or successful. After spending three years experimenting, practicing and learning new techniques, I finally managed to become both more productive and more efficient.

There are countless tools out there to help streamline the writing process, but only a few of the productivity tools are truly fruitful for self-publishing authors. So here they are the top 7 must-have productivity tools for self-publishing authors.

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If you’re like me, every time you step into an art museum, the years of emotions trapped in the borders of the lordly paintings and the quiet, reflective atmosphere, not only inspire you to write, but implore you to let their stories free. I get lost in the worlds of years past and my unharnessed imagination roams freely. But, apparently not everyone is like me.

“I was never a huge fan of museums,” shares Kenny, my best friend working for EssayOnTime, when I tell him that I often write there. “I think they’re dull and obscure. They never inspire me.”

When I first heard him, I became furious. The museum has been the center of my creativity for a very long time. But then I stopped, and realized, “Hey, maybe not all people think like me.” So here I am, writing an article about inspiring places to write in, without including museums.

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You can alone write and publish an interactive ebook free with Kotobee, from beginning to end. But not all of us are multi-talented Renaissance people with the editing, design, programming and marketing skills to do it all alone. And not all budgets can afford trendy designers, expensive software and talented developers.

Throughout all our blog posts we always make a point to point you in the direction of free alternatives. Today we’re bringing all the free resources together in one place for you. Bookmark this page, you’ll be coming back to it often throughout your ebook creation process.

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