Posts filed under 'Announcements'
Blog Announcement: Beloved Wordclay Blogger Passes the Publishing & Book Marketing Torch
Greetings, Earthlings,
Wordbot here, and today Wordclay has authorized the publishing announcement of our new blogger, 1000 Chimps.
Unfortunately, with a saddened bio-mechanical heart, this robot regrets to report that Jenn must step down as a Wordclay blogger. Of course, her posts on book formating and her interesting publishing scoops will be missed.
But things aren’t all bad – we’ve managed to recruit another Wordclay employee to take her place. Matt and his crew of 1000 Monkeys at 1000 keyboards will be accepting the torch this coming Thursday. So be sure to look for design tips and publishing news from him in the future.
This publishing robot had a chance to visit the hardworking monkey at their desks, pecking away at their computers. When asked if they were excited about posting on the Wordclay blog, they simply turned and quoted Shakespeare’s Love’s Labor’s Lost, saying, “I post from love…”
Please join me in thanking Jenn for all her wonderful blogging insights, and give a warm welcome to Matt and his 1000 Monkeys, who are certain to provide some valuable publishing tips and marketing advice.
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1 comment July 23, 2008
The Results Are Here: Wordclay Announces Short Story Contest Winners
After an extremely difficult selection process, our judges have convened, argued, read, reread, brewed coffee, read some more, and finally made their decisions.
Now, please join me in congratulating Wordclay’s Short Story Contest Winners!
…in the category of the Wordclay Single Short Story Contest
The Grand Prize goes to Samantha Weiss for the story, “Simulated in Black and White.”
The Runner-Up Prize goes to Benjamin Solomon for his story, “This Is Called Prowess.”
For a complete list of Finalists, you can now visit Wordclay’s Contest Connection or jump directly to the listed winners here.
All the Finalists, along with Weiss and Solomon, will be featured in the upcoming Wordclay short story anthology, titled Best Modern Voices: Words for the New Millennium: A Short Fiction Anthology.
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…and in the category of the Wordclay Short Story Colection Contest
The Grand Prize goes to Patricia Coble for her collection titled Legogote: Tales from the Bottom Township.
The Runner Up Prize goes to Anne Greenawalt for her collection titled Growing Up Girl.
Both Coble and Greenawalt’s books should be available within the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for them at the Wordclay Bookstore.
Kudos to the winners and everyone who entered! If you weren’t selected this time around, you should definitely consider entering one of our upcoming contests (guidelines pending on Contest Connection).
This is Justin, blogcasting from Wordclay, signing off.
1 comment July 11, 2008
Introducing Wordclay’s New Cover Service: DIY Cover Conversion
Greetings, Earthlings,
Wordbot here, and today Wordclay has authorized this publishing robot to announce our new cover service.
Wordclay and its professional publishing staff have done it again. Since beginning the development and adaptation of our free online publishing software, we have always remembered the author’s desire for control. Now, you can control your cover down to the last detail with Wordclay’s DIY Cover Conversion Service.
But what exactly is the DIY Cover Conversion service?
Good question. Where before your publishing options were limited to the free template cover you could easily design using the publishing wizard, now you can e-mail us the print-ready PDF of your cover, which we’ll promptly submit to our printers. This way, you can control every detail about your new book’s cover. From the back cover text to the images on your front cover to the placement of your author photograph, you choose the best representation for your publication.
What’s the catch?
No catch. Honestly. Would a robot like me lie? If you have the design experience and you can design your own cover using InDesign or another comparable program, simply follow our cover dimension guidelines, leave room for your barcode (should you purchase the Wordclay ISBN and Channel Distribution) and e-mail us your final copy in a PDF form – it’s that easy.
So what does it cost?
Base cost is only $25.00, which guarantees that your personalized cover is linked to your book and title. As you’ll read in the service description, there may be an added fee should your file need tweaking. Say the spine is slightly off because of the page count, or perhaps your trim lines need to be nudged a certain direction – our designers are happy to help. But we have to cover their time, so you may experience an extremely small markup. Or you can always make the adjustments yourself. Contact a costumer representative with your file and the tentative page count of your publication in order to ensure your cover is picture perfect.
What will you need for the Cover Conversion service?
All you need are your images and your design expertise. Of course, your images have to be original, or you have to possess the permission to use them for the cover of your book. Wordclay may ask about these permissions, so we can avoid claims of plagiarism. But if you’re submitting your own artwork, artwork you have express permission to use or artwork that you’ve bought, you’re in the clear. Simply lay out your cover per our guidelines, PDF that sucker and send your finished cover our way.
Are there other options?
Sure. You can always upgrade to a custom cover design and contract one of our illustrators to design a specific cover to your preference. Or you can purchase Stock Cover Art, submit a jpeg or tiff file that contains original artwork (for which you have the permission) and have our experienced designers incorporate the image into your elegant cover design for you. That’s what Wordclay is about: Options!
For more information, feel free to contact a customer service representative via Live Chat or e-mail. Or simply leave a question in the comments box below. After all, as our newest video states, we’re not out to get you. We just want to provide the best online publishing service out there today!
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1 comment July 8, 2008
Short Story Contest Announcement Delay: Two Weeks & Counting Down
Due to the amount of submissions within both Wordclay’s Single Short Story and Short Story Collection contests, announcements of the winners will be delayed for approximately two weeks.
In order to ensure every entry is read carefully and given serious consideration, our judges need just a little more time. We know you’re waiting with bated breath, and we apologize for making all you participants wait longer, but unfortunately, it’s necessary.
Take it from me – reading more than 2,000 single submissions and a hundred complete story collections, written by authors all over the world, is no easy task. Our judges are definitely burning the midnight oil, and as soon as we have the winners and finalists selected, we’ll update our Web site and blog immediately. All those who entered should also receive an e-mail alert as soon as the winning spreadsheet arrives in my Inbox.
Check back in two weeks for a contest update and links to the complete list of finalists within Wordclay’s Contest Connection.
Thanks again for your patience, and feel free to ask questions (or simply vent) with comments below.
This is Justin, blogcasting from Wordclay, signing off.
4 comments July 1, 2008
Enjoy the Fruits of Wordclay’s Writing Contests: Grand Prize-Winning Poetry Collection Now Available
It’s official: Brenda Mirsky’s winning poetry collection, Spare Parts is now available. If you’re a reader of poetry, or maybe you’ve been meaning to start, here’s your chance to enjoy this superb collection.
Most of the poems are based on real incidents in Mirsky’s life. “Writing poetry helps me get things in perspective,” Mirsky says. “And it’s way less expensive than therapy!”
Here’s a description of Spare Parts from Wordclay’s Bookstore:
Brenda Mirsky’s Spare Parts opens logically with the poem, ‘On the Day I Was Born’ and follows in the earthy footsteps of Mary Oliver with the sharp narrative focus of Robert Wrigley or Billy Collins. In the title poem ‘Spare Parts,’ the story of losing a father is interwoven with the coming and going of the television repairman, reminding us how quickly life can change and how we can be reminded of this passing at the oddest times. Mirsky has written a personal, thought-provoking collection of poems.
After we posted an interview with Mirsky back in April, Mirsky’s husband, Stuart, provided a comment and excellent description of her writing talent: “Ginsberg and (more…)
Add comment June 19, 2008
Book Bloggers: We’re Here! We’re Viral! Get Used To It!
It’s no secret that writing and publishing company blogs are the marketing wave of the future. In addition to increasing your SEO (search engine optimization) with fresh content, blogs are also the perfect platform to actually engage interested readers.
But becoming an active blogger is more than simply posting your insightful articles on the publishing industry and your opinions of print-on-demand technology or Kindle. You also have to seek out similar industry blogs and participate in the ongoing discussions on other Web sites. Joining their conversations provides you with the much needed exposure to other book marketing forums as well as writing groups that may want the information on which you’re commenting.
That’s the reason it’s important that author bloggers keep a running list of publishing discussion boards and other similar Weblogs. With your list, you can visit each Web site, read up on the latest developments in your marketing field and even post a comment referring to articles that you’ve written and posted to your blog.
But how can you hope to manage the colossal list of publishing and writing blogs while searching the Internet for new, relevant ones as well?
Introducting Comment Sniper, the completely free blog software that allows authors to stay current and increase their Internet traffic.
What is Comment Sniper?
Comment Sniper is a free blog monitoring software that allows anyone to track recent updates to leading blogs within select industries in order to maximize your exposure by being the first to comment. Once downloaded, users can cull specific blogs from WordPress, Blogger, Live Spaces and Google by searching for the keywords that best suit their marketing needs and goals. It’s really an amazing developement in blog tracking and networking strategies. By simply selecting those blogs that interest you most, you can give premium updates on your blog or Web site within relevant articles and associate your Web site with prime Internet real estate.
Here’s How This Simple Proven Strategy Works…
- You find the most popular & influential blogs relating to your industry and niche audience and load them into Comment Sniper for 24/7 monitoring of new articles being posted.
- You then configure the Comment Sniper with your mobile phone number (for optional SMS monitoring notifications), leaving Comment Sniper running in the background and connected to the Internet.
- You’ll receive immediate Desktop Notification and/or an SMS to your mobile phone the second a new post is made on any of the blogs you’ve selected to monitor.
- With the advantage of being alerted (regardless of where you are) of the new post, moments after it has been made, you can then visit and be the first to comment on the new post. Your comment should of course be genuine and add value to the article being discussed… readers will click through to your website more often if you take the blog article and add value to it with your comments.
- Repeat this as often as you can when notifications are received. Not only will you receive an immediate influx of visitors from the leading blogs in your industry, but the more valuable, targeted, and theme relevant links you create to your own website on these blogs, the better your overall search engine rankings will become.
(from Comment Sniper hompage)
As a blogger who recently discovered Comment Sniper, believe me - this software has become invaluable to spreading the word about Wordclay as well as providing information to other curious audiences about self-publishing and the DIY book marketing process. Trust me when I say that Comment Sniper is not only a free, useful book promotion tool, but also the perfect way stay in the loop of the ever-growing publishing industry.
Download this easy-to-use, innovative blog monitoring software today, and start marketing your new book by selecting the blogs that will provide the exposure you deserve.
Like I said, downloading the software is free, and there’s no hidden charge for working within their program. If you can spare five minutes, then you can begin your journey down a manageable, lucrative book marketing blog campaign.
This is Justin, blogcasting from Wordclay, signing off.
2 comments June 17, 2008
We’ve Got Company: Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels Visits Author Solutions, Leader in Self-Publishing
Greetings, Earthlings.
Wordbot here, reporting on a wonderfully busy day at Wordclay, located in the Author Solutions‘ Bloomington, Ind. headquarters. Last Thursday, June 5, 2008, employees of Author Solutions Inc. bustled about in preparation of a most important announcement to a group of esteemed visitors: the members of the Indiana Economic Development Corporation chaired by Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. CEO Kevin Weiss announced at the press conference that ASI plans to consolidate its Shanghai, China operations into its Bloomington, Ind. headquarters.
“We are so glad that this idea was born in our state, and that it is growing and thriving here,” Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels said of the growing self-publishing company.
Just read the press release distributed for a sense of the enthusiasm of those receiving the news:
Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels Visits Author Solutions Headquarters; “Self-Publishing Capital of the World”
Author Solutions Announces Consolidation of China Operations into Bloomington, Ind. Headquarters
Bloomingtion, Ind. June 10, 2008 — Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Kevin Weiss, Author Solutions president and chief executive officer, announced jointly last Thursday the consolidation of ASI’s China operations into the company’s (more…)
Add comment June 10, 2008
Behind the Publishing Scenes: Wordclay at BookExpo America
Justin here, giving you a peek behind the scenes of Wordclay at BookExpo America.
For those of you who don’t know about BookExpo America (or BEA), it’s only the biggest gathering of book distributors, publishers and authors in the United States. Those attending get a sneak peek into the publishing industry and the future of book printing. In addition to the tradeshow floor where publishers exhibit their fall titles as well as manuscript submission information, BEA hosts education and information sessions, author breakfasts and lunches, as well as other special events. Not only is BEA the perfect opportunity to network with booksellers, publishers and other emerging writers, but it’s an insightful experience of the ever-growing publishing world as well.
Our parent company, Author Solutions Inc. , had a booth at BEA and represented all of the ASI brands including Wordclay. Unfortunately, this blogger was unable to attend, holding down home base here at Wordclay. But Sandra Powell, one of Wordclay’s fearless leaders and ambassador, womanned the booth.
Just take a look at some of the pictures.
Also in attendance were such organizations as WritingRoom.com, WOW! , Gather.com, American Heroes, Shelfari, among others. Just imagine everyone in the publishing industry crammed into one building, frequenting conference after conference for three days straight.
Now, even upon Sandy’s return, we’ve got our work cut out for us. Partnerships and new communities will emerge, and we’ve got inside information on them all. Keep an eye out for announcements and listings of all the information the Wordclay crew was able to gather from authors and book publishing professionals. You wouldn’t want to be left behind in this exciting time of online author networks and budding publishing technology like Kindle and AuthorCrossing.
If you were at BEA and would like to share your experience with us, please feel free to post a comment here. If not, don’t be shy. Post a question about the conference, and maybe even arrange for a booth at next year’s BookExpo America, scheduled May 28 - May 31, 2009, at the Jacob K. Javits Center, in New York City.
This is Justin Dimos, blogcasting from Wordclay, signing off.
Add comment June 3, 2008
Wordclay Short Story Contests Now Closed!
Greetings, Earthlings,
Unfortunately, you heard correctly. The Wordclay Single Short Story and Story Collection Contests officially closed their e-mail doors to submissions on Friday, May 31, 11:59 p.m. EST.
Stay tuned for an announcement of the winners and finalists in the coming month, as well as information about our next nonfiction contest.
As I’m sure you’re aware, 15 finalist will be chosen based on their unique content and emerging style for appearence in the Wordclay Anthology Series, Best Modern Voices. You can check out Volume 1: A Poetry Anthology at Wordclay’s bookstore if you’re jonesing for a preview.
Questions and concerns about the contest can all be submitted here, and one of the bloggers will response as promptly as possible. It’s only our second writing contest, so bear with us. Of course we’re still ironing out all the kinks, but we should have winners announced by either the end of June or the beginning of July.
Thanks everyone for the wonderful submissions. Stories came from accomplished authors to emerging writers, and entries in total numbered in the thousands. Rest assured, however, that each submission will be given the time it deserves and seriously considered for our listed prizes.
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Add comment June 2, 2008
Wordclay Self-Publishing Feedback: Step Right Up & Take Your Best Shot
Greetings, Earthlings,
Wordbot here, and today Wordclay has authorized this publishing robot to open the floor up to our fellow bloggers.
Think about it – now’s your chance to tell Wordclay your opinion of our Web site and publishing philosophy without inhibiting or censoring yourself. The gloves are off, and we want to improve based on what you, emerging writers and authors, want!
Questions To Consider:
There’s no limit to the feedback you can provide. Simply be honest and reasonable, and our professionals will make every effort to adapt. Our ultimate goal for publishing is to make the process as hassle-free as humanly possible for contemporary authors looking for an affordable publishing solution, both now and well into the future.
Obviously, submitting your viewpoint is integral to our future in the publishing marketplace, and your opinions will definitely help us create (and sustain) a Wordclay environment where authors (and robots) can publish a book on their own terms, their own timelines, with their own royalty rates. So post your comment below and “help us help you.”
Or, if you’re shy, you can always e-mail your comments to customersupport@wordclay.com with “attn: Wordclay Blog” in the subject line.
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2 comments June 24, 2008