Setting up my publishing company

As part of my journey in creating a career in writing, I started up my own business.  Why did I need to do that?  Firstly, it was on the advice of more experienced writers.  The advice was if I was serious about writing I needed to treat it like a business.  Secondly, I feel that it gives a more professional appearance to my books if they are published by a publishing company.  Thirdly, I can more easily  keep the income completely separate from my own day job income and if the time comes when I need to employ outside help, keeping track of payments will be more visible.

I set up Ferret Publishing Ltd in April 2011.  Before I set up the company I made sure the domain name WWW.Ferretpublishing.com was available for the website that would promote my books and I reserved it.  I then set up a business account for all royalties to be paid directly into.

All in all the total spend needed to do the above was around £170.  I'm still in the process of obtaining a Tax Identification Number (TIN) to put on the W8-BEN form to send to Amazon.  This is required to stop them holding back 30% tax on my royalties as I'm an foreign resident.

All in all it has been quite painless and I'm hoping it has put me on a good footing for the future.  Now I need to build up my catalogue of works and get my name noticed.  Speaking of which, I have finished the first draft of Psychic Knights - Reformation and am currently outlining the second book in that series.  This will take me to the 31st of this month where I will go back to Psychic Knights - Reformation for the final edit.  Both books will be out this year and I will continue the series next year.

Paul

My first book reviews

After about a month I have my first book reviews posted on Amazon UK.  You can find Deadly Decisions review here: http://amzn.to/rr2Nip and A Collection of Shorts review here: http://amzn.to/qITmbp.

I'm very happy someone has made the effort and posted what they think of my books and happy with the comments also.  All comments help me to become a better writer.  Hopefully they will tip the balance in my favour when someone is deciding whether to by the books or not.

So thank you first reviewers.

Paul

Will it really be difficult to find a good ebook?

Another article has been written recently bemoaning the digital self publishing revolution that is taking place right now.  It says that because we can publish without going through a gatekeeper who will filter out most of the junk books (going through the slush pile), that there will be a mountain of poorly proofread/edited/written stories.  So much, in fact that the readers will find it nigh on impossible to find a good read.  Well, Kristine Kathryn Rusch has crafted a response to this that I think everybody should read.  It can be found at: http://kriswrites.com/2011/07/06/the-business-rusch-slush-pile-truths/.  Her husband, Dean Wesley Smith has his own response here: http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?p=4854.  
Paul

Publishing Dates Change and Why

The world of publishing is in a fast changing phase at the moment and so, it would seem, is my mind.  Just recently I blogged about how I had finally sat down and set out the publishing dates for the three books I want to release this year.  Well, I've decided to make a change already.

Reading and participating in forums and blogs, the subject of marketing is high on my list at the moment.  I am still learning the ropes when it comes to marketing my work.  One of the strategies I've read about is to use promotional pricing of one book to help the sales of others.  This should work best if you have two or more books in a series available.  Especially if you are an unknown author.

Therefore, my plan is to publish Psychic Knights 2 on the 16th October instead of in December.  This will ensure that both Psychic Knights books will be available before Christmas.  Then just before the Christmas period I will lower the price of the first book in a promotion to capture new readers who will hopefully go on to buy the second book.

Now all I have to do is write them. : >)

A way to open your sample in a webpage

I've recently joined Kindleboards.com and have found a great way of getting your sample to people without them having to download it to the Kindle or a PC.  The full post is here:
http://www.kindleboards.com/index.php/topic,39046.0.html

Basically you add your books ASIN number (found on the book sales page) to the link in the above post and when it is clicked on the sample opens up in a webpage.

Check out my short story collections book and my novel Deadly Decisions:

A Collection of Shorts
http://www.kindleboards.com/sample2/?asin=B0053Y2F3I

Deadly Decisions

http://www.kindleboards.com/sample2/?asin=B0052XORYU