Post #9–Two Women Business–Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler

Podiobooks.com

I discovered Podiobooks.com just a little more than a year ago and I’ve had a lot of fun exploring the site’s new and innovative writers ever since. I really don’t recall how I fell upon the site, but I definitely remember the first series I downloaded. It’s called “Great Moments in History” by John G. Stockmyer. It’s British, and Mr. Stockmyer created these recordings back in the 1970s as an engaging way to teach history. He presented historic events as if a BBC-type reporter was on the scene…only the events he chose (Battle of Thermopylae, Britain sailing against the Spanish Armada, an interview with William the Conqueror, and more) occurred long before radio and television.

I’ve been a fan ever since. More importantly, I believe that Podiobooks.com may be a useful resource for new authors looking for an audience. You can record your book chapter by chapter, and “readers” can sign up for regularly scheduled downloads delivered like podcasts to iTunes or through your RSS feed. All the instructions are on the site.

Podiobooks.com is guerilla marketing for the author. If you have an earlier book that never received much play, why not read your book aloud, save it as a series of mp3 files, and see if you can’t build your own audience. If you succeed, you can report on your success in your next book proposal. It’s legitimate evidence of interest in your work.

As of today, the 52,119 reader members can choose from 263 titles. Books of all sorts are eligible: novels, compilations, anthologies and nonfiction. You’ll find author submission guidelines here.

Here’s a little sample:

          Printing Press Promo

Unless you don’t use Amazon at all, you probably are aware of the Kindle digital book. It’s very cool. The basic unit:

* weighs just 10.3 ounces with a 6? screen capable of 600×800 pixels and gray scale images
* holds more than 200 titles (more memory available)
* has a library of more than 160,000 books, blogs, newspapers, magazines and ebooks available for download
* charges just $9.99 for most books
* handles audiobooks and music as well as text
* uses cell phone technology to link (so you don’t have to find a wi-fi hot spot
* lets you read for about a week on a single charge
* charges you only for what you download, no monthly wireless bills, contracts or service plans
* allows you to annotate text
* makes available free samples and first chapters for your review before buying

But even with all this to commend the Kindle, you may be thinking the price is still too high for you (at $359). Kindle: Amazon’s New Wireless Reading Device Are You Thinking Kindle? But did you know you can get a $100 rebate if you buy with your Visa card? And conventional wisdom suggests the price will continue to fall. Still some readers think it best to wait for Kindle 2.0 to come out before they buy.
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But as writers, you should know that about 250,000 Kindles have been sold. This is a platform you should probably be considering for your book or ebook. Amazon now has a section for authors to go to learn more. So check out the Digital Text Platform and start preparing to publish for Kindle.