Autography

"Autography is a digital marketing firm with a patent-pending system for autographing ebooks, music albums, and other digital media.", per their Twitter profile description.

http://www.autography.com/index.php

Publishing With Periodical.co

You want to create a digital journal, or magazine, or newsletter, or perhaps something else?

You wish to publish it on the web, mobile web, iPhones, iPad, Android, or Kindle. 

According to the Periodical.io website, you would:

1. Enter in your basic information
2. Set your subscription price of your publication
3. Add posts to populate your publication

After that, you would click publish. That newly published issue is delivered instantly to all your subscribers on the devices they are using.

Pricing information is detailed on their website.

http://periodical.co

Postach.io

Postach.io lays claim as the blogging platform powered by your Evernote documents.

From their website:

The Easiest Blog, Ever

Postach.io is the easiest way to publish the thoughts you're already capturing in your Evernote. If you currently have notes in your Evernote account, you're ready to publish right now.

No CMS Required

Why learn a CMS when you already use Evernote? Simply select a notebook, add a domain name, then tag notes as "published" to share great content. It's that easy.

Your Data Belongs To You

You'll never need to migrate your posts to a haven. Since your Evernotes are stored locally on your machine or mobile, your data is always in your possession and easy to take with you.

Roll Your Own Theme

Inspired by the ease of Tumblr, rolling a Postach.io theme is as easy as creating a single HTML page with inline CSS. We include the technical stuff like Google Analytics, Disqus commenting and share buttons.

http://postach.io

Sacha Greif Explains How He Earned $15,000 From An E-book

Sacha Greif explains how he earned $15,000 from an e-book he authored; written in three weeks.

"Sacha Greif is a web designer who specializes in user interfaces for web and mobile apps. He has worked with clients such as Hipmunk, Le Monde, MileWise and UNESCO. Sacha runs his own start-up, Folyo and has released his own e-book,which was received very well. He also runs his own web design blog.

In this interview, Sacha:

• Tell us how he earned around $15 000 from selling a web design e-book that took him two weeks to create.
• Explains what worked for him in terms of pricing and marketing and gives advise for fellow web designers who want to write and sell their own e-books.
• Shares his thoughts on the importance of passive income and why e-books are a good way to earn money on the side"

Interested, the complete article is here.

http://foundertips.com/money/sacha-greif-on-earning-15000-from-selling-his-ebook/

Tablo Publishing

Here's a way to create and share ebooks in the cloud.

Tablo Publishing states that you can create your ebooks in the cloud, then with a single click, publish your ebooks to bookstores.

http://tablo.io/

Just Stuff Blog: Chest of Books: Read Books Online For Free

Just Stuff Blog: Chest of Books: Read Books Online For Free: " ChestofBooks.com presents free online books on various topics" http://chestofbooks.com/

Nook Snaps

Need a quick and cheap, nothing wrong with cheap in this economy, read?

Try Nook Snaps.

Barnes and Nobles created this bimonthly program offering commissioned short-content works. B&N presents a selected group of authors featured in the program.

"The NOOK Snaps program features high-quality short fiction and narrative non-fiction hand-picked by NOOK editors offering fresh perspectives on modern life, all in an easy-to-enjoy length and at an attractive price. The program offers 3 to 5 new NOOK Snaps selections of at least 5,000 words every other month for only $1.99 each."

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/eBook-NOOK-Snaps-Short-Content-Quick-Reads/379003386

Get Published And Make An Impact

Have you always wanted to be published in a best-selling book? How about doing that and providing 45,000 people with clean water for an entire year. CausePub says you can accomplish both.

http://causepub.com/#sthash.h45H9t7W.dpuf

Sips Card Summer Submission Deadline June 7th

Sips Card's Summer issue submission deadline is June 7th, 2013.

What are Sips Cards? 

Just "stories that last as long as your cup of coffee."

http://sipscard.com/

WEbook - Community Picked Writing

WEbook?

“WEbook.com is the leading site for the discovery of new, talented writers. It brings together tens of thousands of writers, published authors, avid readers, and almost 100 established literary agents, for the purpose of finding talented writers, and helping them get published.

WEbook's PageToFame is for any writer who wants feedback and it starts with just one great page. Test out your writing talent on PageToFame to gain the attention of leading literary agents or industry pros. Whether you have a short story or a full manuscript—or only a first page— WEbook has totally got you covered.”

http://www.webook.com/

Floss Manuals

"FLOSS Manuals is more than a collection of manuals about Free Software, it is also the community. The writers include professional authors, editors, artists, software developers, activists, and many others. Anyone can contribute to FM to fix a spelling mistake, change details, write a new chapter, or start a new manual.

Our core aim is making it easy to maintain and contribute to manuals, text books, teaching materials by providing an easy to use interface for collaborating on the creation of texts about Free Software."

About FLOSS

"FLOSS Manuals (FM) is a collection of different language communities that produce original documentation about Free Software. This site is the home for the FLOSS Manuals Foundation (FMF), which oversees and supports the general activities of the various language communities:

English: http://en.flossmanuals.net | 

Farsi: http://fa.flossmanuals.net| 

Finnish: http://fi.flossmanuals.net | 

French: http://fr.flossmanuals.net | 

Netherlands:  http://nl.flossmanuals.net |"

http://www.flossmanuals.org/

Just Stuff Blog: Joomag

Just Stuff Blog: Joomag: Wanted to share this website I just discovered. Joomag is similar to Issuu® and Calaméo®. From their About Joomag website...

Pixar Story Rules One Version

"Pixar story artist Emma Coats has tweeted a series of “story basics” over the past month and a half — guidelines that she learned from her more senior colleagues on how to create appealing stories:

#1: You admire a character for trying more than for their successes.

#2: You gotta keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer. They can be v. different.

#3: Trying for theme is important, but you won’t see what the story is actually about til you’re at the end of it. Now rewrite.

#4: Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

#5: Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

#6: What is your character good at, comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at them. Challenge them. How do they deal?

#7: Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front.

#8: Finish your story, let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

#9: When you’re stuck, make a list of what WOULDN’T happen next. Lots of times the material to get you unstuck will show up.

#10: Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in them is a part of you; you’ve got to recognize it before you can use it.

#11: Putting it on paper lets you start fixing it. If it stays in your head, a perfect idea, you’ll never share it with anyone.

#12: Discount the 1st thing that comes to mind. And the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th – get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

#13: Give your characters opinions. Passive/malleable might seem likable to you as you write, but it’s poison to the audience.

#14: Why must you tell THIS story? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

#15: If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty lends credibility to unbelievable situations.

#16: What are the stakes? Give us reason to root for the character. What happens if they don’t succeed? Stack the odds against.

#17: No work is ever wasted. If it’s not working, let go and move on - it’ll come back around to be useful later.

#18: You have to know yourself: the difference between doing your best & fussing. Story is testing, not refining.

#19: Coincidences to get characters into trouble are great; coincidences to get them out of it are cheating.

#20: Exercise: take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How d’you rearrange them into what you DO like?

#21: You gotta identify with your situation/characters, can’t just write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?

#22: What’s the essence of your story? Most economical telling of it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

Presumably she’ll have more to come. Also, watch for her personal side project, a science-fiction short called Horizon, to come to a festival near you."

http://www.pixartouchbook.com/blog/2011/5/15/pixar-story-rules-one-version.html/

Just Stuff Blog: Free Vintage Posters

Just Stuff Blog: Free Vintage Posters: " FreeVintagePosters.com offers 100% FREE high quality downloads of printable vintage posters, free printables, vintage advertising, ...

Sips Card Spring 2013 Deadline March 8

From their website:

Who does Sips Card do?

Sips Card puts short fiction and poetry into local coffee shop venues around the country (and in Scotland). We are a publication run by artists, for artists. Each card contains a QR code, loaded with a short story, or set of poems, from a writer meant to last as long as a cup of coffee. The cards include the issue’s author, story title, and website/e-mail.

What is a Sips Card?

- A business card linked to media. This media is free and accessible with a barcode reader on any smart-type device for your personal enjoyment.

What is a QR Code?

A QR code is a square barcode that can be scanned by a variety of devices to access free media that has been assigned to the unique code.

Devices that scan QR codes

-Smartphone

-iPods and iPads equipped with cameras

Barcode scanning software

-KaywaReader is free to download and install on your device. Click HERE to download the reader and be sure to rate their reader in the app store.

http://sipscard.com

Scribus Video Tutorial - Part 1

If you cannot afford Pagemaker, Quark, or Indesign, consider learning to use open source, free, software - Scribus.

This through video deals with  basic introduction and setting preferences.

http://youtu.be/3sEoYZGABQM

Avoiding Bad Desktop Publishing Part 1

"The first part of a presentation at the Nagoya International Personal Computer Club on how to avoid bad desktop publishing, both in print and on the web. This part included what is bad desktop publishing and why it should be avoided, and the first two rules to avoid it."

http://youtu.be/N1PxU4k9iHY

“What is Flash Fiction?”: Imagine You Were Born to Answer It

Want to read a wonderful explanation?

Go here.

http://www.everydayfiction.com/flashfictionblog/what-is-flash-fiction-imagine-you-were-born-to-answer-it/

Winner Takes $55 Writing 55 Words Or Less

Austin Briggs sponsors the 55 Words Or Less Flash Fiction contest.

He explains the contest:

"Join us and write in a new flash fiction topic while competing for votes from your peers. Bring your very best brief work here – you’ll garner feedback, acknowledgment, and even acclaim from others. If you’re brilliant, you’ll sure get quality traffic to your website, and sell more books.

Each month, you can also WIN 55 Dollars from my personal treasure chest, payable to your Paypal email address.

 

The judgement criteria:

• How awesome your story is in my view

• Helped (but not defined) by voting from other readers

We’re here to help, to encourage, and to enjoy friendly competition with other writers. Vote for the stories your peers have written and give them your ideas on how to improve their writing style, their plot twists, and their characters.

Here, everyone gets to be a part of creating brilliant fiction in a supportive community of peers – all of whom love a good story as much as you do.

Join the community and bring your best writing to the game.

All rights remain with the author, even for the winning entries. I don’t intend to ever claim any rights for the flash fiction stories published here.

The rules are simple:

1. Fifty-five words or less (non-negotiable), excluding the title.
2. A setting
3. One or more characters
4. Some conflict
5. A resolution (Not limited to moral of the story).
6. The title is not part of the overall word count, but it can’t exceed seven words."

http://austinbriggs.com/flash-stories/about-this-contest/

100 Resources For Writers

Suess's Pieces list her 100 resources for writers.

http://blog.emilysuess.com/category/writing-freelance/100-resources-writers/

Authorhouse

Another self publishing company for your review is AuthorHouse.

Their definition:

"AuthorHouse, an Author Solutions brand and book publishing company, is the leading provider of self publishing and book marketing services for authors around the globe. Committed to providing the highest level of customer service in book publishing, AuthorHouse assigns each author a personal publishing consultant, who provides guidance throughout the self publishing process. AuthorHouse also provides a broad array of tools and services to allow authors to make their own self publishing decisions. Headquartered in Bloomington, Ind., AuthorHouse has released more than 60,000 titles since its inception in 1997."

http://www.authorhouse.com/

Autharium

Discovering great writers and publishing their work, that is what Autharium does.

http://www.autharium.com/Default.aspx

SpiffingCovers

Self publishing and book cover designs for Kindle, print, and ebooks.

http://www.spiffingcovers.com/

Free eBooks And White Papers For Web Designers

Find myself right back at Hongkiat.com again. This time 30 free ebooks and white papers for web designers caught my eye.

Just want to read about HTML, CSS, Ruby, usability, layout, web design, or more, this web page is for you.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/free-ebooks-whitepapers-for-web-designers/

Read Your eBooks In FireFox or Chrome Browser?

Read the instructional article here.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/read-epub-ebooks-on-firefox-chrome/

5 Free eBooks Covering Windows 8

Looking for free ebooks about Windows 8?

Go here.

http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/free-windows8-ebooks/