Tag Archives: self-publisher

Author Feature

Most Wanted Sheep by Jenna Harris

From time to time, Archway Publishing turns over its blog to its authors, giving them the opportunity to share stories and perspectives about their individual self-publishing journeys. The following are the words of Jenna Russell Harris, author of “Most Wanted Sheep.” For more on Jenna, visit her on Facebook and on her book page and on Twitter at her account and her book’s account. Download the Archway Publishing free publishing guide for more information on our supported self-publishing services. 

  1. Tell us a little bit about your book. What inspired you to write it?

SKU-000989102Most Wanted Sheep is a fun and educational story parents can use to teach children counting 1-10 and colors. It’s about a counted sheep named Woolard, also known as Number 5. One day he decides that he doesn’t want to be counted anymore. He leaves his flock in search of greener pastures. Through self-exploration and his effort to find happiness, Woolard realizes that his number really counts and his happiness was in his very own backyard! The idea for Most Wanted Sheep was inspired by my son. He was chasing a ball through the house but couldn’t say ball so he was saying bah, bah, bah. I called him my little sheep and Most Wanted Sheep was born.

  1. What is the one message you would like to convey to your readers?

I want children to know that exploring who you are is an important part of life and that it’s ok to be different. I want children to know that reading can be fun and creative. I hope to encourage and inspire children to dream, imagine, read and write. My goal is to positively influence children through my writing.

  1. What are 5 things you’ve learned about self-publishing?

I learned that self-publishing is not as easy as I thought it was. It takes a lot of preparation, communication, hard work and time. It allows you to be in control of your book. Archway Publishing offers different packages so that authors can choose how much money, time and effort they wish to put into their books. I was able to take an active role in deciding what type of illustrations I wanted, the layout of the book, the font style and more. Archway Publishing has a team of experts to guide you through each step in the process with recommendations, support and feedback. I discovered that marketing after self-publishing takes time, planning and much effort to get your book into the right hands and gain exposure necessary to be successful.  Archway also offers multiple marketing options and guidance in choosing the best marketing solution in order for you to reach your appropriate audience and attain your goals. Your work deserves careful editing multiple times to ensure that the contents of your book are accurate. I also learned that self-publishing is not a one man/woman job. It takes a whole team of people working together to bring your creation to life. If you choose the right company to walk you through each step and believe in your vision then the end result should be perfection! When you hold your book in your hand it is the most rewarding feeling!

  1. What do you love most about self-publishing and would you recommend it to other authors?

Archway Blog Pic 2I love the fact that I am in control of the book and involved in every step of the way. I was able to work closely with Archway’s art department and describe my vision to them one illustration at a time. If I didn’t like something and changes needed to be made the art department was accommodating and worked quickly to make those changes. I also liked the fact that the self-publishing package I chose provided me with everything I needed from the ISBN number to illustrations.

  1. What advice would you give to aspiring authors?

When exploring your options for publishing, do your research and make sure you choose a company that provides you with multiple packages to choose from. I would also advise aspiring authors to have a marketing plan in place before their book goes live. Carefully consider what media outlets you will send press releases to in order to gain exposure for your book. Have a plan because when you self-publish, you decide how much money, time and effort goes into your book and that is directly correlated with how successful your book will be.

Archway Publishing is always looking for content for its blog. If you’re an Archway Publishing author and would like to share an idea for a guest blog post, please tweet the Archway Publishing Twitter account @ArchwayPub and Like the Archway Publishing Facebook page. 

Standard
Author Feature

The Secrets of My Life: Vintner, Prisoner, Soldier, Spy by Peter Sichel

From time to time, Archway Publishing turns over its blog to its authors, giving them the opportunity to share stories and perspectives about their individual self-publishing journeys. The following are the words of Peter M. F. Sichel, author of “The Secrets of My Life: Vintner, Prisoner, Soldier, Spy.” Download the Archway Publishing free publishing guide for more information on our supported self-publishing services.

I have recently self-published with Archway, my memoirs “THE SECRETS OF MY LIFE, Vintner, SKU-000638649Prisoner, Soldier, Spy.” It is my memoir of a long life. I was born as a German Jew in 1922 in Germany, where my family had lived at least since the 17th century. We were successful wine merchants, as well as exporters and importers of wine, with branches in Bordeaux, London and New York. I watched the takeover of the Nazis, and the eventual flight of my parents, while I was already in school in England. We all moved to Bordeaux, where the French interned us as enemy aliens at the beginning of WWII. We finally escaped France in 1941 and moved to New York. I spent 17 years in American Intelligence, first with the OSS and then with the CIA, the last few years as a senior official. I resigned in 1960 and joined the family wine business, making BLUE NUN one of the first big international brands of wine. I wrote my memoirs initially for my children, but realized that the story of my life might be interesting to a larger audience. My life reads like a Bildungsroman.

After I was not able to find a publisher, I decided to self-publish. I did quite a bit of research, contacting four publishers who specialized in handling self-published books. I decided to use Archway, because their offerings made more sense to me than the other publishers, enabling me to choose from a menu the type of service I believed I needed. The fact that Archway was owned by a major publishing house also helped me to select them.

Peter SichelMy experience with Archway  has been first class. Their method of operation has one person coordinate all the services as they are needed. At the same time the person offering the service can communicate directly with the author. The handling was efficient, timely and courteous, through the entire process, which included two editorial reviews, which were needed and excellent. It also included design of print face and book cover, and the many small details needed to bring a book to market. Now that it is in the market, I am continuing to avail myself of the promotional and marketing expertise Archway offers and am equally satisfied with the service I now get, again having one goal keeper who coordinates each detail.

Archway Publishing is always looking for content for its blog. If you’re an Archway Publishing author and would like to share an idea for a guest blog post, please tweet the Archway Publishing Twitter account @ArchwayPub and Like the Archway Publishing Facebook page.

Standard
Publishing

Earth Day: Read an eBook, Save the Planet?

Today is Earth Day. This got me thinking: “with the emergence in the popularity of eBooks in recent years, has publishing become greener?”

In the mid 1990s, print-on-demand changed publishing forever by leveling the playing field for new authors. Early supported self-publishers, the predecessors of Archway Publishing, began to emerge with the advent of this new technology. By 2001, some were making the argument that POD had the potential to limit environmental impact of book publishing. Publishing was now a little greener.

Then eBooks emerged. Surely eBooks were the game changer. eBooks would make publishing a much greener industry, right?Earth Day 2015

At first blush, the answer would appear to be a resounding, YES! Fewer trees are cut down – great! Printers are shrinking carbon footprints with less output – outstanding! Fewer trucks are belching out emissions delivering books to stores – fantastic! Fewer people are getting into their cars to drive to bookstores – wonderful! Publishers are disposing of fewer unwanted print books – brilliant! The answer is clear…or is it?

Early on in the eBook revolution, organizations began studying this question. A 2009 study by CleanTech determined

“The roughly 168 kg of CO2 produced throughout the Kindle’s lifecycle is a clear winner against the potential savings: 1,074 kg of CO2 if replacing three books a month for four years; and up to 26,098 kg of CO2 when used to the fullest capacity of the Kindle DX. Less-frequent readers attracted by decreasing prices still can break even at 22.5 books over the life of the device.”

A 2014 Huffington Post article took another look at the question of the greenness of  Books v. eReaders.  The findings cited were surprising. Quoting from the piece:

Upgrade your eReader often? The old ones end up in a place like this.

Upgrade your eReader often? The old ones end up in a place like this.

“According to one lifecycle analysis of printed books versus e-readers, the energy, water, and raw materials needed to make a single e-reader is equal to that of 40 to 50 books. In terms of the effect on the climate, the emissions created by a single e-reader are equal to roughly 100 books.
“If you read 100 books on your e-reader before upgrading it, the effect on the climate is no different than reading those books in print. If you upgrade before that time, your carbon footprint actually increases compared to reading printed books. If you read 200 books on the device, the climate impact is halved. The result is the same for resource and energy usage, though the threshold to break-even is lower. Let’s assume you upgrade your e-reader every three years. That means you need to read roughly 30 books every year before you’ve reduced your climate impact, and 15 books a year before your resource usage is lower. If you upgrade more frequently, you need to be an even more avid reader to lower your environmental impact by switching to digital.”

It appears the answer to the question of whether eBooks are greener is: sometimes.
Have you increased your use of eReaders to positively impact the environment?

Based on your reading habits, do you think your choice of digital over print is making a difference?

We’d love your input. Comment below, tweet us @ArchwayPub or leave a comment on our Facebook page.

-AWP-

Standard