Backlist Ebooks--A source for inexpensive author-published out of print books!

[Patricia Ryan]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Sounds great! Let us know when male authors sign up!

Will do. I'll post updates here.

[Patricia Ryan]

Originally Posted by mish

Sounds great except that it is on Facebook...I don't do FB. Looks like it will only let me connect to the Wall page without being signed in. Too bad you don't have a blog or website that everyone can get to.

The reaction here to the whole Facebook thing is food for thought! You folks represent the readers we're hoping to serve with this project. I'm sharing your feedback with the other two Backlist Mavens who are working with me to get this thing off the ground. Maybe something can be done to expedite the website. I'll post any progress in that direction here.

Pat

[Patricia Ryan]

Originally Posted by mish

I think their books are on smashwords and/or amazon. The FB page is just a way to list them all in one place to make it easier to find them. Wonderful idea, but as someone else mentioned, it blocks out a whole segment of people who don't use FB

You're right. Maybe I wasn't clear enough in my original post. The Facebook page is just meant to be a showcase where readers can check out all the self-pubbed backlist ebook authors in one place, and click on links to Smashwords, Amazon, etc. if they're interested in taking a closer look at that author's books. The website will serve the same purpose, but it will be much more ambitious, reader-friendly and functional, with all the book covers, links for individual books, etc.

Our intent is not to sell books ourselves. That way lies madness, and why bother, when Smashwords and Amazon and other outlets do a better job of it than we could? (And pay a suitably generous royalty rate to self-pubbed authors.)

Pat

[ficbot]

Thanks, Patricia. I did add the page once I got home, because the thread got bumped and I remembered I might not have found the link again though otherwise. I work in a school, so I can't access Facebook during the day.

[HamsterRage]

Originally Posted by Patricia Ryan

To Ficbot and others who either can't access Facebook or don't care to (I get it, trust me): The Facebook fan page is an interim measure until we can get our website, which will be our main platform, off the ground. In the interest of publishing the most professional-looking and well-organized site possible, we're waiting until a particular designer is available to build it for us. It could take as much as six months, although I dearly hope it will be ready sooner than that.

You asked about email updates, Ficbot. Let me check on that and get back to you (I'll post the answer here).

Pat

You can get a long distance using one of the standard blog sites. Waiting up to 6 months for a particular designer to get it done for you is about 5 lifetimes in the modern internet world. Facebook walls are really kludgey for this kind of stuff. Blogs are nice, and people can subscribe to them as RSS feeds, and they can see what's happened since they last looked and so on.

[mish]

Originally Posted by Patricia Ryan

To Ficbot and others who either can't access Facebook or don't care to (I get it, trust me): The Facebook fan page is an interim measure until we can get our website, which will be our main platform, off the ground. In the interest of publishing the most professional-looking and well-organized site possible, we're waiting until a particular designer is available to build it for us. It could take as much as six months, although I dearly hope it will be ready sooner than that.
Pat

Good to hear there will be a website, that would be awesome! I look forward to it. In the meantime, I'll stalk...um, I mean I'll check out the FB Wall page occasionally.

Why not try setting up a blog in the interim? Quick and easy to do and probably can do most of what the FB page is doing.

[FizzyWater]

Originally Posted by Patricia Ryan

You asked about email updates, Ficbot. Let me check on that and get back to you (I'll post the answer here).

I'd be interested in that too, so thanks - I'll "watch this space"...

[LynnO]

Another here who is totally interested in the idea, but who doesn't facebook. My biggest objections are the problems with privacy and personal info. Plus I'm not very social, so social networks, not my thing. Maybe heavy readers aren't as social.

[Patricia Ryan]

Originally Posted by HamsterRage

You can get a long distance using one of the standard blog sites. Waiting up to 6 months for a particular designer to get it done for you is about 5 lifetimes in the modern internet world. Facebook walls are really kludgey for this kind of stuff. Blogs are nice, and people can subscribe to them as RSS feeds, and they can see what's happened since they last looked and so on.

Thanks for the advice. I believe the plan actually is for us to use a blog platform so that each author can keep her own info updated. But I totally agree that six months is way too long to wait! The rest of this month is a bit crazy for me, because my daughter is getting married , but after that, I'm going to address the issue of getting the website online asap.

Pat

[BexBits]

I agree that any off the rack blog is better for this kind of thing than FB. However, in the interim, their page is a public page at FB which means you don't have to log in as a member to view it. So even if you don't "do" Facebook (and I don't really) you can access this particular part.

[mish]

Originally Posted by BexBits

I agree that any off the rack blog is better for this kind of thing than FB. However, in the interim, their page is a public page at FB which means you don't have to log in as a member to view it. So even if you don't "do" Facebook (and I don't really) you can access this particular part.

When I tried to access it yesterday I was only able to get to the Wall page. I just tried again now and I'm able to get to the other tabs. I don't know if they changed the settings or FB was just having heartburn yesterday, but it appears to be accessible now to anyone.

[BexBits]

Originally Posted by mish

I don't know if they changed the settings or FB was just having heartburn yesterday, but it appears to be accessible now to anyone.

Might well be FB's problem -- I loathe how that site works (or, reputedly, often doesn't work.)

[guyanonymous]

sex=biology
gender=social construct

[SensualPoet]

FWIW, I think having a strong presence on Facebook is a brilliant idea. A story in the press this weekend shows more people (perhaps American people) spend time on Facebook than any other site, including anything tied to Google (such as YouTube).

Mobileread is about passionate book hobbyists; Facebook is where the real world hangs out. You'll great good tips and insights from folks here; you'll get sales where the people are. Facebook, done well, is a terrific viral word-of-mouth tool.

Now here's my tip, wearing my MR hat: please figure out a way to encourage all your members to have their books properly formatted and proof-read before re-releasing as ebooks on Amazon, Smashwords or elsewhere. Is there to be a shared Reprint Imprint?

[starrigger]

Originally Posted by Patricia Ryan

MORE MALE AUTHORS

Will do. I'll post updates here.

This male author just sent an email.

Sounds like a great idea, Patricia! (Actually, I kind of hate Facebook, too--but I use it out of necessity. And this sounds like a good use.)