World of Books and Travel

All the indie authors want their books to be sold as many copies as possible. But for many, it is very difficult. Joanna-Penn gives ten tips for selling our books. The following points are to be checked - For a full post, please read this link http://www.thecreativepenn.com/2012/10/12/help-my-book-isnt-selling/ 1. Is your book available as an ebook? 2. Has your cover been professionally designed? 3. Has your book been professionally edited so it reads well? 4. Have you submitted the book to the right categories on the ebook stores? 5. Have you optimized your Amazon sales page with a hook, quotes from reviews and other material? 6. Have you priced your book realistically, or at least tried different price points? 7. Have you written, or are you writing another book? 8. Have you done some kind of promotion or marketing to let people know it is there? 9. Have you asked for reviews, or submitted to review sites? 10. Are you working your butt off?

It is great news that smashwords have tied up with flipkarts for the sale of ebooks, and soon the smashwords ebooks will be available to buy in India. It gives a better opportunity for the locals to write for the local community. Flipkart is the largest online market in India, especially for books. Click here to read more about this from http://blog.smashwords.com .

There are several places on the internet where you can promote your ebooks. I came to know about this long list of places just by accident. I'm sure this list will be helpful to many others too.I have not tried any of these, but soon I'm going to try at least some of them. www.freebookdude.com www.freebooks.com/submit www.freebooksdaily.com? www.freebookshub.com/authors www.freebooksie.com www.freedigitalreads.com/author-submissions www.free-kindle-books.deha-solutions.com/promote-your-book www.indieauthornews.com www.indie-book-bargains.co.uk/addbook.php www.indiebookoftheday.com/authors www.justkindlebooks.com/submit-your-book www.kindlebookpromos.com www.kornerkonnection.com www.moreforlessonline.com www.onehundredfreebooks.com/author-free-kindle-book-submission www.orangeberryfreeme.com www.peoplereads.com www.pixelofink.com www.pixelscroll.com/feature-your-product www.snickslist.com www.storyfinds.com/listing-information-for-authors www.sweetiespicks.com/free-kind...

Recently I was discussing about some kindle books with my friends, and some of them didn't know that those who do not own a kindle cannot read the kindle books. Kindle It should not be a problem. I had recently found out that even if you do not have a kindle you can easily read it on your computer. Amazon has made the kindle ebooks in such a way that they can be read on as many Apps as possible such as smart phones, computers and tablets. To know about this, go to your amazon home page, and click on "Books" under Shop by Department the left side menu and click on "Kindle". Under this you can see "Kindle Apps & Resources" and below this, you will find "Free Kindle Reading Apps". Choose your preferred apps for reading. While reading a kindle ebook on your PC you have the advantage of changing the font size, background colour, brightness, and number of words per line etc. Though I own a kindle I prefer sometimes to read it o...

I'm offering The Second Choice (novel) with a discounted price for a limited period (till end of this month). At present, it is available for Rs.90/- in India and $2.00 outside India, through this link . Please check out the link and download your ebook. If you find any problem in downloading please let me know, through the comment form.

When you take a lot of trouble in writing a book and getting it published you may think that your work is over. No. You can't just sit and relax and wait for your royalty cheque. All this time you worked quietly writing and polishing your book, and you didn't want much distraction. But once it is published you will have to work very hard to see your book selling more copies, by interacting with other writers and readers. It is all the more in the case of an ebook, which is also self-published. If you don't promote your book no one is going to see your book. I know there are several social media platforms where you can promote. In addition, you can promote your book through some of these popular sites too. 1. Goodreads.com Goodreads is a great platform for writers and readers to meet. This site draws millions of visitors every month, and has a membership of more than 1 Million. As an author you can even get an author's page and a blog, all for free. Another imp...

Recently another constructive review is out about my book The Second Choice , on museindia.com as stated in their Jan-Feb issue. I am posting some excerpts from the review post for the convenience of my readers - "There are some books that one reads, finishes reading and remembers in snippets. Then, some books make one laugh and cry; and are then tucked safely in a forgotten corner of their bookshelf. Few books; however, live on to you; right from the time one reads the first page; and make one pick them from time to time from corners of the bookshelf. This is what Lakshmi Menon’s first English novel in offering does; its poignancy wants you to take pleasure in it at regular intervals." Another part - "The complexities of Indu’s refusal to accept her ‘new mother’ and the depression of Anu; Pavithra's daughter are very well expressed in the middle of the novel. The book starts on a promising note, with a strong image of Anu resting in Pavithra’s lap and her r...

I was just fascinated by the beauty of Zanzibar Island in Africa. After my visit there I decided to write about what I saw there, and other relevant details. I have just published my new ebook on Zanzibar. It is an easy to read book with lots of pictures. Magic Land of Zanzibar is available here. You can read the first few pages for free.

Publishing an ebook is not a problem today. It can be read by many devices. It is really worth a try. I have published 4 ebooks recently. These are stories for children, published at smashwords. https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/61438 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/61443 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/61784 https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/62865 (This is for free).