New to the Author’s Toolbox: FiledBy.Com

By Krissy Hawkins

FiledBy.com is the flagship site of FiledBy, Inc. and one of the most comprehensive online marketing platforms and directory of published author web pages on the Internet.

Company co-founders Peter Clifton, former Ingram executive, and Mike Shatzkin, industry analyst, developed the site to provide authors with an inexpensive way to create a Web presence in an environment where publishers are looking to cut costs.

FiledBy hosts the site for free and member pages feature a brief biography and a list of works. More options such as media postings, event listings and online press kits are available for users willing to pay a fee.

The site was intentionally designed to highlight authors rather than books. “It helps make authors discoverable,” says Clifton. The site provides a medium for authors to connect with fans and peers. But in addition to the social networking aspects the site includes links which enable users to purchase the book.

Just recently FiledBy expanded its online author directory, adding and linking together sites for illustrators, coauthors, editors, photographers, artists, translators and others who contribute to the publication of a book.

Since its launch in March 2009 the site has accumulated 1.8 million author sites in its directory, with this latest expansion it adds more than 1 million contributors. Contributors to published works can now enhance their own profile with photographs, a biography, links and multimedia.

The site is now in Beta so users can manage and enhance their pages, promote their books, check for accuracy, provide corrections, and more.

FiledBy is not preclusive to those who contribute to the production of a book, but also available to those who enjoy the finished product. Readers are free to login and write reviews or make comments about their favorite authors and titles. www.FiledBy.com

Editor’s Note — FiledBy is evidently downloading book data from Bowker as a spot check suggests Stephens Press titles are already in place but missing covers and/or author’s photos and information about the author. Authors are encouraged to add material to their listing. Remember, you can always find emailable and uploadable copies of your book cover and author photo on your book’s web sites. Contact Krissy if you need help. CHU

UberWurks Works!

My daughters were curiously organized from a very young age. They sorted children’s books by size and color before they could read — at the bookstore! Their school notebooks were organized like DayPlanners, before DayPlanners were invented. They arranged and rearranged their rooms, remodeled Barbie’s house, and once spent many happy hours sorting Bill’s cans of screws, nuts, and bolts. Today, their homes are the epitome of creative and efficient abodes. So it is little surprise to me that my uber-smart and entrepreneurial daughter Amanda (the film production supervisor/producer) has started a new business called UberWurks. The company provides home and office organizational services, everything from reorganizing a garage to orchestrating and implementing a move from point A to point B. She’s tackled bedrooms, bathrooms and whole houses, set up nurseries, prepped for a kitchen remodel, and even sorts and files years worth of neglected paperwork. The UberWurks team also babyproofs a home, before curious little fingers can poke and prod. While her primary service area is Los Angeles-Pasadena-San Gabriel Valley, she’s been known to travel. After organizing massively complex production schedules and budgets for feature films, Amanda’s got organizational efficiency oozing from her pores! To learn more, visit http://www.UberWurks.com.

The Ups and Downs of Book Production

Book production is up . . . and down. Bowker, the international agency that issues ISBNs and tracks publishing statistics reports in Publishers Weekly that traditionally published book production fell 3% in 2008, down to 275,232 titles. Meanwhile, on-demand and short run digital production is up a whopping 132% to 285,394 titles. On-demand and short run printing is the production method of choice for self-publishers. Thus publishing growth is attributed primarily to authors publishing their own works, mostly through publishing services companies like Xlibris, AuthorHouse etc. These books, which are rarely stocked in bookstores sell, on average, less than 99 copies total. Although the growth in the production method is substantial, the growth in book sales is not. With major New York houses cutting or eliminating acquisitions of new titles in the past six months, and national chains like Borders and B&N putting moratoriums on new inventory purchases, book publishing has been turned upside down. I’m not sure this is necessarily a bad thing. In the past five years, the growth of new titles published in the United States has exploded. Sadly, the number of readers buying new books has not, resulting in massive numbers of unsold books ending their short unread lives in landfills or recycling centers. Perhaps a better balance between books published and buyers ready to buy them will be an odd beneficial result of the economic meltdown.

Where the Writers Are

Red Room is the online home of many of the world’s greatest writers. It’s a prestigious place for the literary community to promote their work, express themselves, and connect with their favorite authors. Author Geoff Schumacher is one such member and was recently named Red Room’s ‘Rising Star’. Click here to visit Schumacher’s author profile and discover more about this acclaimed author – from reading his blog to finding out about his writing influences and upcoming projects.

Are YOU Getting Paid to Speak?

Judi Moreo Is!

Who WOULDN’T want to get paid to speak? Find out how and much more when Stephens Press hosts the remarkable Judi Moreo for a WORKSHOP FOR AUTHORS. Judi has traveled the world, speaking at conferences, conventions, and corporate gatherings — and been properly compensated for entertaining, educating, and inspiring audiences large and small. All our authors know I encourage speaking engagments and the BOR (back of room) sales so getting booked for gigs is important. Getting PAID to speak — plus selling books — is the best! We booked this workshop in March and sold out — this repeast in May is to accomodate the folks that didn’t get in her first workshop. We’ve only got 20 seats available and when they are gone, they’re gone, so contact Krissy asap if you want to attend at khawkins@stephenspress.com or 702.383.0496.

Local Author Showcase

Our good friends at the Henderson Libraries are offering a neat opportunity for Vegas Valley authors. An Author Showcase will be a part of the 2009 Summer Reading Kick-Off on Saturday, June 13th at the Paseo Verde Library in Henderson. Participating authors can sign up for either morning or afternoon sessions to meet readers and sign books. Friday is the last day to request a table — contact Arlene Caruso at 702.492.6580 or acaruso@hdpl.org. Best of all, the price is right — free!

CityLife Books Imprint Launched

Exciting news! From the press release . . .

CityLife partners with

Stephens Press to publish books

Stephens Press, the book publishing division of Stephens Media, has launched a new imprint called CityLife Books.

CityLife Books will publish up to four titles per year in a trade paperback format. The books will be available directly to CityLife newspaper readers and at area bookstores and online retailers.

CityLife Publisher Geoff Schumacher, the imprint’s editor, said he is looking for nonfiction and fiction proposals and manuscripts that speak to regular readers of the alternative weekly newspaper. “This imprint aims to create a new outlet for local writers who have something provocative or important to say about Southern Nevada,” Schumacher says. “We want to publish books that question the conventional wisdom and offer new ways of looking at this region and its people. Great writing will be paramount.”

Schumacher, who has written two books published by Stephens Press and edited several others, says he expects to receive a great many manuscripts. “I will look at them all, but of course we can publish only a tiny fraction of what we receive,” he says. “Quality comes first, but we also will focus on books that we believe a large number of readers will want to buy.”

Stephens Press President Carolyn Hayes Uber says she is excited to help talented writers share their voice and vision. “CityLife readers are outspoken and passionate about popular culture, politics and causes,” Uber says. “CityLife Books, whether fiction or nonfiction, will reflect and embrace this perspective the newspaper has fostered.”

Submissions to CityLife Books should follow the guidelines set forth on the Stephens Press website (www.stephenspress.com).