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The Fast Fingers Blog

Writing- there is no easy lane to it. if you are one of those struggling authors who are in desperate need to be published and get yourself known to the world, you should know that this job is not definitely something you can do out of pure boredom. Writing is more than just what a person does to kill time. For some of us, we do it because it is where our ability to create a better world lies. It serves as a sort of a breather and in most cases it is what gives us the motivation to breathe. Plenty of amateurs in this field of career are grappling with the reality that some writing babies will never make it to the top; not even close to the bookshelves of the local bookstore. But come to think of it, rejections come and go. The traditional publishers which failed to acknowledge your novel a year ago might be the same bunch of publishers who will be clamoring for your next book once you have proved them wrong. You see, publishing is not a very stiff industry. The outcasts of today might be the total insiders of tomorrow. It just takes more than a little effort to really have your material survive the tough hurdles of this business.

Getting rejected by traditional publishers is one common experience of novel authors may they be beginners or already well-honed ones. We can’t blame them for being so unforgiving. After all, their reputation is what’s at stake for taking in your work (if that even happens). What is amazing however is that beyond the discouragements, frustrations and disappointments that come with producing a very promising book, a ray of hope remains to shine through from the self-publishing industry. Yes, it could be really fun having a legitimate blessing coming from a renowned traditional publisher but the self-publishing world isn’t that bad either. It is true that things will be on the heavier side for the author; doing a lot of convincing for book reviewers to take a peek at their work and getting their books on the mainstream but if the material is great, people will surely have a difficult time resisting it. Self-publishing gives the author the authority to be in full control of what is going to happen to the book hence he or she should know that this is more of a hands-on work than being “just the writer” who waits for the proof of the novel to come out. Being in control means you are in charge of almost everything. From the cover design if necessary down to the price of your book, you have the say. Although writing a book is 360 degrees different from that of publishing, you will be defined by how you were able to do wonders at the whole package of your novel. It is definitely a lot of work but the credits will definitely go to you once your efforts start to get the appreciation it truly deserve.

What the self-publishing industry is doing to a lot of writers now is not just giving them hopes of taking their novels to the next level but it also gradually teaches them to stand on their own. Publishing a book on your own is a very long process. It entails a lot of work, countless of sleepless night figuring out what platform works best for you and spending the daylight persuading people to read you. Without the help of a traditional publisher, you will learn how to build your own platform, how to sell your own books with candor and lastly, how to create an open connection between you and your readers. At the end of the day, seeing your work finally reaching the hands of your readers should be the only thing which will give you self-gratification and joy. After all, it is not the publishing process which really matters to them but the tale awaiting to be read by eager eyes and open minds.

Self publishing has become popular in the recent past and seems to dominate the world of book-publishing drawing thousands of authors. In the year 2011 only, about 211,269 self-publishers were recorded by Bowker, ISBN provider. This shows a tremendous increase in the number of self-publishers up from 133, 036 in the previous year. This rapid increase in the numbers of people seeking to self-publish their books is a clear indication that there is a positive element in self-publishing which is pulling more authors to venture therein.

What are the advantages of self-publishing as opposed to conventional publishing?

Cut down on your publishing costs.

You can actually publish your book for free if you choose to do everything all by yourself. Going it alone means that you will do everything it takes to create and publish your book. The process of publishing a book will take a number of stages and probably will require you to take-up some training to be able to execute your work effectively or hire a professional to do it. This can actually become costly since you can’t possibly handle all the stages just like that especially in the application of programs such as Adobe for creating the cover design and such others.

Factually, many people have had a positive encounter with Fast fingers among the most reliable professionals who will render satisfactory services for a little fee. You will save money by acquiring their services and have your book done professionally to your satisfaction. This will save you the money you would have spent in setting-up other interfaces and systems that you may have required.

Be in control of your book publishing.

You can choose to use the tools provided by a self-publishing system to create your book and publish it. Here, you are in total control and you make your book according to your own likes and fashion it as it pleases you. The tools can be customized to create features that suit your own desire for the intended end result of your book. This is unlike in the publishing houses where your publisher is the one to decide on your cover design and so on.

Get your book published fast.

Technology has made things not only easier but has also made it possible to communicate in a terrific speed. You will get your book to reach people in other regions of the globe very fast as opposed to conventional publishing which is quite limited geographically.

Get a global audience.

Conventionally you get to reach a limited audience with a lot of effort. However, with the online self-publishing, you are not limited to your audience owing to the various platforms available such as the social media sites where you reach millions of potential buyers all around the world.

Lorraine Bodger is an author of many cookbooks, do-it-yourself craft books, books about family relationships, friendships and so much more in this area of writing. What sets her works apart from other cookbooks and list books out there is that they are thoroughly injected with love and fun. No Lorraine Bodger book will be dubbed as tedious to read and difficult to understand because reading her books will make the reader feel as if he or she is on a good-natured conversation- very welcoming and indeed warm. Bodger makes it a point to find “appropriate and trusted” first readers whom she allows to give constructive criticisms and necessary feedbacks at the end of the day. She needs these people for her to enable herself in improving her craft and to make sure that her message written in that book is well understood.

What is Eater’s Digest all about and why does it keep on getting amazing reviews from foodies all over the world? It is a book written with so much on its plate; from interesting food trivia to a smorgasbord of fun cooking tips and never-before-heard dishes which exist at certain parts of the world. The general target audience of this masterpiece is the typical American who loves to munch on food at anytime of the day. However, it also caters to the curiosity of people coming from different sides of the globe as it speaks how sumo wrestlers become so fat, what variations of Indian bread there are, and how the Brits came up with eccentric names for their favorite dishes. Eater’s Digest, safe to say, is a very informative piece of literary work without boring its readers. Bodger was able to come up with brief yet full-packed articles and compiled them in one beautiful stunning success. The topics included in this book are random yet they are not volatile. This means, the reader can somehow relate one topic to another provided that they were already bonded by a common ground: food.

If you have weird questions about food which are bugging you around for quite some time now, then this might be a great book to satisfy your curiosity. What are the most popular chocolate bars and candies in America? Who are Ben and Jerry and why have they become a household name? What on earth is a beef jerky and why is it a must-store in every pantry? How do you keep your food safe from any type of poisoning? What are the appropriate eating and drinking etiquettes when you are at a formal dinner? Which dishes will make your in-laws like you more? The answers to your queries can be found at Eater’s Digest. Lorraine Bodger definitely knows how to work with her talent, bringing in appetizing humor with each and every page of her books. Readers will definitely find themselves satiating their hunger for food trivia and cooking tips once they finish reading this book. For more fascinating books and authors to watch out for, you can check The Fast Fingers for updates.

Don’t Get Yourself Over The Edge Simply To Publish Your Book

Written by   |   Friday, 22 February 2013 08:40

Are you contemplating to write a book yet hesitant to start off because you are afraid, you may no afford to publish it? Its time you got down to your manuscript and start making your dream happen. Many people have great potential in them yet they waste away their lives and take their dreams to the grave; simply because they were not courageous enough to launch their visions, hence losing their incentive, fearing to stall in the middle of the journey. Although it is good to learn to take one day at a time, Fast Fingers will take care of your worries and fears for a very reasonable fee.

You can make your vision come true today.

Many people who make it in life are neither those who initially had all the resources at their disposal nor those who had a great start. The people who make it in life are those who were at first faced with lots of challenges and they took those challenges as a motivation to rise beyond.

You too can live your dream of becoming a great writer today by embracing whatever challenges you are facing and piecing together your dream step by step to make it happen. When you hear of great writers you may be made to imagine that it was easy and natural for them to write their books with ease and no huddles whatsoever. However, it is the result of their hard work that may have resulted in such profitable yields.

How do you follow your dream to make it happen?

Plotting the structure of your prospective book is crucial before you start building on the concepts. The major structure gives the book a body and ensures that your topics are well blended with each other in a free flowing manner and are also in line with your theme. It will also help you to ensure that you don’t run out of words and get lost in the middle of your narration.

When writing, you may often experience blankness in your mind and feel lost. Sometimes you may feel as though what you are writing isn’t making sense. It’s only natural. When you apply your mind to the same thing for too long, your mind tends to get stalled. You need to get out and refresh your mind. Engage yourself in less mind-boggling activities to ease yourself from the tension of restricted thinking such as taking a walk in the park.

Having any problems with drafting your script?

You can always hire professionals to do the formatting for you for a little fee and you won’t regret it. Only make sure that you hire the right person who will deliver his services as you require with precision.

Exclusively Complete Package System for All Book Industry Services

Written by   |   Friday, 22 February 2013 08:28

Are you looking for an all inclusive system that can offer you all book industry services such as digital, fully integrated print, distribution and wholesale services? Then you need not look any further because your exclusively complete package comes wrapped up in a system referred to as Ingram Content Group.

Ingram work with over 28,000 publishers irrespective of stature around the globe. Whether these publishers are entrepreneurs or established publishers; they can work directly or otherwise with the assistance of distributors.

Ingram offers publishing services around the world.

Modern technology has greatly revolutionized our day to day lives and has advanced the ease with which we can have access to both goods and services, around the globe, tremendously. The world of information is doing great with audios and visual presentation; however, this integral part of human existence can never be complete without written message.

Well formulated and deliberately well presented publications will not only win the target audience but will have a lasting impact on the society as a whole as those who read such publications pass the message on.

Technology has exceedingly conquered the barrier of geographical difference; hence one can now trade globally without much struggle. You can now avail your books; both electronic and printed books to your customers around the globe and actually make sales irrespective of the geographical location difference. Your book will be accessed in a world of numerous opportunities if you have a POD network in specific areas, a considerable range of global distributing partners, and a reliable digital platform.

By choosing Ingram for a partner, you get access to more retailers, libraries, countries, readers and definitely more sales for your book. You will get an option suitable for you depending on your priorities based on your publishing range. You can also accustom your option to suit your needs better.

Distribution options include;

• Digital distribution. This includes eBooks and any other form of electronic publication including; audios and visuals. Electronic books are not only becoming popular from being optional but are gradually taking over from printed books and at the peak of time printed books will become irrelevant.
• Physical distribution. Although printed books are slowly but surely being phased out, Ingram will provide you with printed books distribution.
• Full service distribution is a privilege bestowed upon selected publishers who get to enjoy full-service model. Full service distribution entails; centralized contracting and billing, marketing, actual sales, catalog management and feed back on royalties.

Information has power to transform and change an individual as well as a society for better or for worse. Written information unlike spoken information can be kept for reference and gives one an ample time to reflect on it, reread and eventually meditate upon it. Though gradual, the change is sure to come. When given time to take root and make habitation, information can bring forth heroes in the making or bring down noble and mighty men of valor. Therefore, it is crucial for authors to consider carefully whatever information they are intending to piece together and have unquestionable conviction in themselves that their writing will build good personalities and transform others for the better.

In this perspective, an author will be endeavoring for a noble cause and any good done to the society has no choice but to return to the doer and vice versa. I believe it is every author’s dream to get his book out there, get noticed and hit the bestsellers list and probably make a success of the most coveted title of the, ‘Best author’ and probably walk away with the award that comes with such a big name, “Bestseller!”. It doesn’t just happen by chance or mere good luck but as a result of diligent hard work.

All it takes is self-drive to discover your full potential and standout amidst scholars of all times. However, the weight of the message may not have an impact on the intended audience if it is not well presented. It matters greatly how you present your publication to your prospective readers in an appealing form in order to capture not only their attention but to cultivate their interest to read your book from cover to cover.

What are the things you need to put in order before publishing a book?

Edit your manuscript in word form and ensure that all grammatical issues and formatting are taken care of. However, you need to understand that proof-reading your own work can be unreliable as you are likely to fail to notice mistakes you have made by yourself.

Basically, there are other aspects that need careful assessment before publishing your book which include; choosing the size of your book, number of pages and cover design. Once you are done with your formatting and cover design, you turn your documents into PDF which eventually you upload to your self-publisher. If your work up to this point has no errors, then you should be expecting your proof back any time in less than a week’s time.

Though you can handle the process of self-publishing by yourself, it would be even more advantageous to have a professional helping-hand and you will find it worthwhile. The Fast Fingers will do an excellent job for you if you give them a chance to render their services to you.

When you go through reviews on CreateSpace, you get such an irresistible appeal to try it out. One common question many authors wishing to self-publish on CreatesSpace will ask is about their eligibility to do so. For any successful business venture, there must be compliance to regulations governing a certain business field for the investor to be successful. Likewise, there are things you will be required to do to be successful in self-publishing with CreateSpace. 

In order for you to successfully make your book available to millions of potential readers all over the world, you will be required to comply with some guidelines as highlighted below. These guidelines are easy to follow and they will also make your work easier as you undertake each step in the publishing process. Once you embrace them, you will find it easier to handle your task with greater ease. These guidelines are crucial in enabling gain access to all the benefits you stand to gain on publishing with CreateSpace.

Put your book in order.
You will need to pay attention to all the major parts of your book putting them in their proper order. These may include; introduction, dedications, acknowledgements, copyright page, table of contents and resources. On the other hand, you will need to set in place all the elements of a page including the headers, page margins, page numbers and appropriate content spacing. Fortunately, with create space, you’ve got ready-to-print templates which you download and simply fill in your content.

Set up your new book in your CreateSpace account.
This process involves a few steps which include; book title, size, paper color, credits, description and uploading cover and interior files. Create space makes the work a little easier for you by providing a cover creator tool and templates. Then choose your ISBN number. Here, CreateSpace offers you a free ISBN number.

Submit your book for a review.
Once you are done with the first two steps, then you will be required to submit your book for review in order for CreateSpace to crosscheck each file for possible errors so that they can notify you to correct them. Then your book will be approved for printing incase it is not found to be wanting. This will take at most 24 hours and you can put up your book for sale. However, it is important to order for a physical proof copy of your book and ready it before putting your book up for sale.

Set up distribution preference.
Before approving your book for sale, you will need to setup a price and select sales channels for your book. Then calculate your royalties depending on how many pages your book has, paper type and the book size. Actually, it would be advisable to get informed on CreateSpace profits before deciding on the format and size of your book.

Promote your book.
You will now need to market your book after it has been listed. CreateSpace will offer you a range of marketing options such as press releases or video trailers. Here, your social networks have a great role to play. CreateSpace keeps you updated on the sales of your book; hence you can track the progress at which your book is selling.
For the independent writers; self-publishing remains one of the most yielding yet unexplored territory that can bring unprecedented breakthrough to your writing career.

Here are a few insights any aspiring writer should put into consideration in order to enhance their chances of hitting the bestseller list.

Set your goal. Setting goals with time limits is crucial in that it gets you in motion and works discipline in you tremendously. A goal acts as a pacesetter for your priorities and enhances your commitment to execute them. Though not every goal you set may come true, it’s a great tool that drives your thinking and sets your actions in motion.

Assume a personal responsibility. Partnering with FastFingers will help you put your book in order and actually offers you marketing platforms. However, being in charge is one aspect you can’t overlook in bringing you success.

  The best marketer of your book can be no one else but you; because no one else knows your product more than you do.

  You have got more at stake than anyone else. Therefore your success relies fully on the zeal with which you will strive to hit the market conquest.

Testing waters in advance. You can actually blog your book and use the bog posts to enhance your book soliciting from the comments you receive. This may not only be greatly helpful in clarifying your thinking concerning specific issues, but will make your final product much better as you address these issues with precision.

Secure endorsements. Seeking endorsement can be quite a challenge since you might approach a person and he or she declines to endorse your book. Rejection can be such a discouraging setback; hence you need to make your target list carefully. If you manage to get a first fabulous endorsement, it can give you a good head-way as it sets trend for the rest.

Form a launch team. A team will not only lend you their ideas but will be very helpful in implementing those ideas too. Having a team makes the work easier to execute and as they bring your book to the limelight on their existing platforms; will provide the much needed social proof to the enormous masses of your prospective buyers both before and after the launch of your book.

Focus on the promotion and give an irresistible offer for your first edition. Bestseller lists doesn’t consider how much you make from your sales but focuses on the number of copies sold. Your sales are confined in a seven day period. The sales are polled on specific stores and channels to determine which book sells most every week. To get slot number one, you need to target your buyers aiming at that one particular week by putting on hold your sales prior to that specific week, as much as possible by giving offers irresistible enough to make your buyers wait. Slashed prices will always appeal to the buyer to wait knowing that the waiting is worthwhile.

Insights You Need To Gain to Write Great Children’s Books.

Written by   |   Sunday, 17 February 2013 20:24

Basically when it comes to reading, children have no experience hence many may not know exactly what they would want to read. Practically, children will pick a book going by the looks such as the cover design and flip through trying to find if it’s good for reading. Big fonts, short phrases and paragraphs will enchant a child to read a few lines to see what a particular book is all about.

Different children age-levels will have different interests on what to read. As you may note, publishers have grouped and labeled books for different age levels. Board books for children aged 3 years and below, picture books, coloring and activity books for ages between 3 and 8 years, novelty books for 3 and above years, early/leveled readers of ages 5-9, first chapter books ages 6-10 years, middle grade books of between 8 and 12 years and young adult novels of 12 to 14 years and above.

Crucial guidelines on writing good children’s books.

There are rules governing what content should or should not be included in children’s book depending on their age. This is to protect children from exposure to content which is not appropriate for their age and can be potentially harmful to them.

• You can write something astounding and totally different from what other writers already have written but it comes with lots of challenges.
• A bad guy may seem to have his way through but can never win.
• Good guys may have numerous challenges but in the end must win and come out triumphantly.
• Characters used should help the children relate with nature such as there is no perfection both strength and weakness are inseparable.
• Being little in stature cannot stop one from making great achievements or doing exploits.
• Extra ordinary things can happen as a rational response to a feat.

Main Points to Consider When Editing a Children’s Book.

It might be an easy thing to put your thoughts, observation and believes into a manuscript; however, to convert the same into an eBook can be quite challenging, if you lack the professionalism. Thanks to Fast Fingers as they are more than willing to assist you to edit your book and put everything in order.

• Vary the tone and opinion of your characters and ensure that all the phrases you are using add to character and theme development.
• Brief descriptions are necessary when transiting to another scene, time or zone for the reader to be able to follow smoothly.
• Maintain a consistent moving pace from one chapter or scene to another, from one character to another.
• Use less punctuations and words as much as possible.
• Be consistent in tenses without mixing them up.
• Avoid long descriptive passages.
• Your writing should interest you if it’s going to capture the interest your readers.
• Demonstrative writing coupled with images will be really good to the children readers.

When your story is complete, you should be able to narrate it in three simple phrases; introduction, the middle body and eventually the climax.

These are not the days when much doubt about the effectiveness of self-publishing on the internet was a wide concept embraced by many. This is because there has been enough evidence that self publishing, such as done with CreateSpace, can even be more effective than conventional publishing; even when done by renowned publishers. Basically, this trend is driven by the ability of internet information to reach millions of potential customers in a relatively shorter time compared to the number of people reachable through conventional publishing.

But then you may ask, “Are all self-publishing tools or systems available on the internet reliable?” The reliability of such tools is basically determined by the commitment of a given online publishing company to serve its clients, putting their interests foremost, with commitment. However, the ability of such organizations to keep pace with the customer demand has been a great challenge to many, especially the entrepreneur companies. You may find that a system started well but as customer demand went high; their service quality became compromised as a result of inability to execute services effectively. You may find that a company is understaffed yet the stakeholders want to make good returns hence their few personnel team isn’t able to offer services in such an efficient manner as required.

Ebooks stores have taken over the place of libraries and are becoming quite popular. However, with this surging emergence of online bookstores, comes with challenges. One needs to know which system to use in order to get their books out there; timely and stress free.

Naturally, whenever you go shopping for a new product you haven’t used before, it is always good to conduct some research to find both its pros and cons. This goes true for online publishing, given the diversity of individual companies offering online publishing today. One reliable avenue where you can get reliable information is the reader reviews. All you need is to identify such site which offer authentic information particularly reviews in order to get it right from your fellow users of such a system. After finding out what the feedback of the previous customers is all about, then you definitely will be in a position to make a wise choice. A decisive choice will always be the best because you get informed, which is to get fore- armed in advance. If you go to the internet and probably decide to go by the offers you get on the internet, you will get mixed up and you can’t identify a good publisher going just by his word of their promise. You must find tangible evidence that your prospective publisher is reliable.

The ability of a publisher to unleash your full potential as an author is crucial in making your work a success. Especially in a society that is rapidly evolving, changing from analogue to digital, there is need for you to embed yourself with a reliable publishing system.
One reliable self-publishing system is CreateSpace who offers you a free ISBN, gives you marketing avenues such as media platforms and the big time marketing platform, Amazon .com among others. Their publishing services are free to some extent except with Kindle where you pay a little fee of $70 and have everything done up to the time your book gets onto shelve for sale.


2. What You Stand To Gain With Self Publishing Tool Such As With CreatesSpace.

The community at large is embracing the trend of self-publishing in particular eBook retailers. The authors have a lot to gain from self publishing such as; easy, free and fast self publishing coupled with greater inventory control, global distribution access, fast marketing and higher royalties.

However, not only the author is advantaged to gain from online self publishing but also the retailers and the consumers alike. This gain is brought about by combining the great work of an author and the online retailing power. Such gains as with CreateSpace include;
• Slashed prices- eBooks are relatively low priced and this is more than appealing to the customers especially when the book is good. This in return attracts more purchases leading to the gain of retailer, author and the customer.

• High quality - From the reader’s point of view as found largely in readers reviews, eBooks are of better quality than the conventional published ones. Well edited and designed books are exceeding the quality desired by the readers compared to conventional publishing.

• Steady stock - EBooks never run out of print unlike the olden days when a book went out of stock if it didn’t sell well in the beginning. EBooks are ever available just waiting to be discovered by other audiences regardless of time. The lifespan of an eBook is perpetual as long as the author desires so.

• Limitless shelve space-unlike the traditional book prints, eBooks are not limited to a bookshelves where the retailer is limited on what stock to acquire. As a result, there are no limits to the number of books an author can publish. The readers have the freedom to read anything they choose unlike the olden days when the retailers determined what books are likely to capture the interests of the readers. Likewise, the author is free to publish whatever they desire.

• High unit volume - Apart from buying, readers downloads great volumes of written stuff every day which brings returns to the eStore. On top of that, they sell a lot of books too.

• Reader’s authentic voice - Readers have always had the final say when it comes to what is a good book and what isn’t. If a book is good, word of mouth will definitely market that book far and wide as readers refer others to have a taste of the cake. Also reviews, downloads and purchases from customers is data that can be utilized to determine what book is in demand and capitalize on such information to promote particular books that are worthy a little more effort to promote.

• Great sales - Self-published authors are making good money from their books selling online. These books are top on best selling lists worldwide. This is not only a good incentive to the authors but to the retailers as well.

• Series starters - When authors write their books, they have a way of introducing their great handiwork to their readers by pricing the first book in theirs series; free. This free book is a discovery advantage which goes a long way to pave the way for the author.

• Book evolvement - With the conventional book publishing, once a book has been printed, it was not possible to make updates. However, with CreateSpace, an author can fully edit his manuscript and professionally transform it into an eBook in relation to his reader’s views to satisfy their desires.

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