What Has Your Book Done For You Lately? Independent Authors Face Uphill Battle

PRLog (Press Release) – Feb 27, 2008 – In a world where, according to Steve Jobs, people don’t read anymore; where twenty-eight of last year’s top thirty non-fiction best sellers were penned by celebrities and thirty of the top thirty fiction offerings belonged to name brand authors, the outlook is bleak for independent authors.  Or is it?
 
“Not if you think outside the cover,” says Annie Williams, creator of Frugal Fiction. “Traditional publishing is, by necessity, a mass-production industry. The cost of releasing a new book is huge, which relates to the current prices we see in bookstores. It’s time to band together, embrace the Internet and technology, and build a brand, not for a single voice, but for the collective voice of Independent Authors.”
   
Frugal Fiction, a recently launched e-book site is doing just that. This free service transforms an author’s work into a 3D fun-to-read, page-turning e-book, sells it through DRM technology to protect the author, and provides a personal web page. The caveat? Authors agree to sell their book for just $3.99, of which they receive a dollar.
   
Explains Williams, “It’s often said writing the book is the easy part; the hard part is selling it. In order to generate enthusiasm for Independent Authors we must provide a significant reader benefit; a reason for them to try your work; a reason for those who have forsaken books due to cost to rediscover the written word. If you sell at the same price as a name brand, a challenge many self-published authors face, the reader has no incentive.  

“E-books, if you will, are the trial size or coupon that every major consumer manufacturer offers when they launch a new product. They are the tease that brings a reader to your website, the enticement to buy your tangible book, the means to build your brand until traditional publishing calls.”



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