E-book platform for amateur authors

Everyone chooses their own way to express their individuality and creativity – assuming, by the way, that they choose a way at all; this article is not intended for disinterested consumer junkies.

Creative individuals have many ideas: one person paints, another is a master woodworker, some make music and some write, quite a few take photographs, and an incredible number cook. Those who paint and work with wood, take photographs and cook are fortunate: they always find plenty of enthusiastic customers who enjoy admiring their creations, receiving them as gifts, or eating them. Recognition for their creative work is guaranteed.

The musicians have it good in another respect: Although their enthusiastic “recipients” or listeners are limited to fans of the music genre they play, sometimes to very few people, they will almost always manage to find an opportunity to perform.

Whether it's a village pub, a party at a friend's house, or the introductory gig at the City Club – they can play in front of an audience, and the creativity expressed in sound finds its way into the world.

For amateur writers, the situation has been somewhat different. Writing a book takes an incredible amount of time, and it often contains a great deal of the author's personality – or at least that's what's assumed. It's not something you can or want to bring along as a gift to your next get-together with friends, and the thought of readings to close friends or family makes many amateur authors cringe.

But the work is finished, and it wants to be noticed. Ideally by readers who can relate to the topic described, ideally through publication.

, if an amateur author wanted to publish their book, it meant embarking on a long and arduous journey through the publishing industry. While this journey might sometimes be successful, gaining recognition within the publishing world required extensive knowledge, for example, about the publishing program designed by a publisher, knowledge that went far beyond simply writing.

An author who is willing and, purely in terms of time, able to explore these marketing strategies, no longer has time for any other professional activity; they have usually long since left the hobby sector behind…

So what does an amateur author do who would like to publish?

Well – nowadays, the best option is probably to publish with an e-book publisher ; there, he will most likely reach his goal most quickly and with minimal effort. One such e-book publisher launched in 2012. Under the name dotbooks.de, the operators explicitly aim to offer amateur authors the opportunity to make their writing accessible to the public by publishing and selling it as an e-book.

The dotbooks publishing house aims to maintain a very extensive publishing program that will cover a wide variety of genres of literature and fiction.

Historical novels are just as popular as romance novels. Whether sophisticated or popular entertainment, from fantasy and humor to children's/young adult books, crime novels, (psychological) thrillers, and erotica in all its forms, readers should be offered everything they need to entertain them.

The non-fiction section would like to present biographies, fun books and guides on all kinds of topics; poetry (ballads, poems, classic texts) and texts on esotericism and spirituality can also be presented at dotbooks.

All these texts can be offered in different lengths, including as short stories, mobile phone novels, or in a completely new reading format such as a series.

On the website www.dotbooks.de, every interested amateur author has the opportunity to immediately fill out a questionnaire online and thus apply for publication.

However, this does not mean that every densely written note will be published by dotbooks; rather, inclusion depends on whether the submission meets dotbooks' quality criteria.

Readers have it easy at dotbooks

Readers at dotbooks can quickly find the material that truly interests them: They can search for books in several ways, by topic, author, or subject area. They can follow recommendations, the "Book of the Week," or the bestsellers. Or they can simply browse the many new releases until they find something exciting.

When you search for authors, clicking on their name will take you to a short description, and each book title will also have a brief summary of its content (you can also access the author's information here). If a book piques your interest, you can also read a sample online. This way, you can immediately see if a book will suit your taste.

If that's the case, you won't have to wait long before you can start with the coveted material: You can buy and download the eBook immediately, not only from dotbooks' shop, but also from other online sales platforms that are linked directly on dotbooks.

You can find out more about the titles in the dotbooks program, new releases, and authors in a variety of ways: on the publisher's blog, on Facebook, on Google Plus, on Twitter, or in a LovelyBooks reading group. Alternatively, you can subscribe to the newsletter, which will also keep you informed about events and news related to eBooks.

Bloggers enjoy a special service: the “Blog your book” cooperation with dotbooks gives them access to review copies.

Comprehensive reader service

Dotbooks is aware that "electronic reading" is not yet commonplace in everyday German life. Therefore, potential future eBook readers are guided through this process: dotbooks provides an information page about the different types of eBook readers .

Here, traditional readers can find out how to read eBooks – on an E-Ink display or an LCD display, using touchscreen or buttons, networked or unnetworked.

In this comprehensive and regularly updated market overview, you will be introduced to the most important Android-based reading tablets, the important available e-readers with or without touchscreen & WLAN/3G, and the interesting low-cost readers, each with several devices and their key specifications.

The dotbooks team are experts in their field

At dotbooks, seasoned publishing professionals, such as a former publishing director and an editor and program director from the Droemer Knaur publishing group , work together with young talents who are meant to bring fresh ideas to the traditional publishing business. What they all have in common is a passion for popular entertainment, a love of literature, and a willingness to think outside the box.

The expertise gathered at dotbooks likely explains why the platform already features novels by several bestselling German authors, such as Hera Lind, Tanja Kinkel, and Sandra Henke. Furthermore, dotbooks presents eBook editions from renowned German publishers , such as Literatur-Quickies and Edition Fünf.

You can find more ideas and recommendations about creativity and how to make a living from it in the Kunstplaza categories “ Living from art ”, “Tips for artists”, “Trends”, “Product recommendations” and “Literature”.

Lina Sahne

Passionate author with a keen interest in art

www.kunstplaza.de