BookRix

Let’s face it. We all know books are judged by their covers,  so to help you make your eBook as attractive as possible (especially when it’s for sale in the massive eBook market)  BookRix partnered up with Getty Images to bring you more choices for your eBook covers.

With this feature you have access to over 1 million images with thousands subject options. A simple keyword search will get you exactly what you are looking for. From a serene landscape to sci-fi spaceship, you will be able to find the best image for your creative needs.

To start your search, simply enter your keyword in the field, “Search your item”, and then click “Search”.  For example, if your book is a thriller you can search with words like “mystery”, “murder”, “mysterious", etc. You can also complete keyword searches for multiple words (separated by a coma and a space). For example, you can search “woman running on a beach” or “man, glasses, dark hair, middle-aged”.  It’s best to try various keyword searches to make sure that you find exactly what you are looking for.

Tip: If you are looking for a cartoon feel for your image (commonly used in Chick Lit), you can insert the word “Vector” as one of your key words.

Once you have found an image that you like, simply click on it to see a larger view in your cover display preview. Keep in mind that the quality of the image is delivered in a higher resolution after the image license is purchased. You can fit the image to scale so that it fills the proportions of the cover size. You can also choose to have a grey text background behind your text to make it easier to see your book title in a very illustrated image. Choose your title font and color and then “Proceed to check out”.  You must have a PayPal account to process the payment. Once your payment is complete, you can always reference your purchased image in “My saved images” or “Your own images”.

Choosing a Getty image will allow you to upload the graphic for commercial use in a high resolution quality which is required by the external shops. Once you have purchased the image (for only $9.99), which includes the license usage, you’re free to use the image again and again, indefinitely, for any book on BookRix. This is great news if you have a book that is part of a series and can use the same cover art. Unfortunately, the license is for BookRix eBooks only and can’t be used for print books.

In the near future, you will be able to tailor your title placement to better suit your cover graphic. This will make customizing your cover to make it unique and attractive as possible to attract those readers to your eBook!

If you have questions about our eBook self-publishing service, please send an email to our eBook support at support-en@bookrix.com and we’d be happy to help you out as soon as we can.

Using BookRix is absolutely, positively, unquestionably free of charge. You can create eBooks on our site, sell your books on the external  eBook market, make friends to help support you with your writing, join free writing contests, etc., and all of it is 100% free.

Kindle

You can download free eBooks to your computer. When the download is complete, you will need to convert it to a file format that works on your Kindle. To download your eBook, go to the book page and click the Download/eReader button. From here, follow the prompts to download the book to your computer as an ePub file. When the download is complete, click here http://techsupport.foreverwarm.com/how-to-read-epub-books-on-your-kindle to obtain instructions to convert the ePub file to a Kindle-friendly format.

iPhone/iPad

If your iPhone or iPod touch cannot be updated to IOS 4, you’ll want to install Lexcycle Stansa to read eBooks on your device. Lexcycle Stanza is a freeware program for reading eBooks and is available in two forms: Stanza iPhone/iPod and Stanza Desktop. Stanza iPhone/iPod allows users to manage their library of books on these devices. Click here to download Stanza iPhone/iPod for free:

http://www.anypdftools.com/ebook-reading/how-to-read-epub-on-ipad-iphone-ipod.html

Android

You can enjoy reading eBooks from your Android device. Here are links that can help you get started:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.graphilos.epub&hl=en

http://www.androidfreeware.net/download-moon-reader.html

General eReader

For general eReaders, you’ll want to install Adobe Digital Edition to your computer. Please ensure that you assign yourself with a user ID (you will need this) and follow the instructions to download a free book. Connect your eReader device to your computer and launch Adobe Digital Edition. Your eReader icon will appear on the lower left panel. Drag the downloaded file to Adobe Digital Edition and then drag the image of your ebook to the eReader icon. When complete, close Adobe and eject/disconnect your eReader

Manage your eBooks

Calibre is a free and open source eBook computer software that organizes, saves, and manages eBooks, supporting a variety of formats. It also supports eBook syncing with a variety of popular eBook readers and will, within DRM restrictions, convert eBooks between differing formats.

http://calibre-ebook.com/

Rejection Prevention - BookRix, as well as external shops, have quality control over the books placed for sale. Books that don't pass quality inspection will be rejected. When this occurs, they are not sent for distribution to our external shops and they cannot be purchased.

Here are some steps you can take to prevent your eBook from being rejected:

Cover

Put some effort into your eBook cover. A great cover can sell twice as many eBooks than one with a poor cover. It’s the first thing your reader sees and it’s often the first thing you book is judged on.

Be sure the images used on your cover (as well as images used inside your eBook) belong to you and are not protected by copyright. If you are unsure, we strongly recommend creating your own cover art or soliciting someone to create a cover for you.

Using a high quality image is essential for your book cover. Avoid images that are too small as these images can appear pixilated when enlarged for your book cover. Also avoid using images that contain text as it can conflict  with the title of your book and look unprofessional.

Hate messages and/or symbols, sexually explicit images or images containing illegal activity are not permitted.

If you are looking for graphic programs, ideas, tips or even someone to create a cover for you, check out our Art Writers group on BookRix: http://www.bookrix.com/_group-en-teaser-room

For more helpful information about covers, please click here: http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-3-the-power-of-the-cover

Grammar & Spelling

Good writing involves proper grammar and accurate spelling.

We recommend that you have various readers review your work prior to publishing it. These “test readers” should check specifically for grammar and spelling. Your book will be rejected if it’s poorly written, appears confusing or has too many spelling and grammatical errors.

If you need assistance editing your eBook, please join our “Editing 101” group here: http://www.bookrix.com/_group-en-teaser-room and our members can help you further.

If you feel as though you need some additional assistance, we encourage you to check out our Publishing Tips and Tricks series. Part 7 focuses specifically on spelling, grammar and typos. You can read it for free here: http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-7-typos-type-nos

Blurb / Book Description

First impressions matter.

When a potential reader views your book, the first thing they read after the title is your book description. Don’t overlook this step. You want to entice your reader by being creative and using descriptive words. Focus on what you want to say, choose your sentences carefully, and make it count.

Books with generic or weak blurbs can be rejected. Put some thought this space. You have a minimum of 140 characters and a maximum of 3000. If you need some inspiration or ideas, look up some of your favorite books and read the synopsis.

Copyrighted Text / Images

If the image is not owned by you, or you have not received permission from the owner to use the image, don’t use it.

Books containing copyrighted material (text and/or images) will be rejected. If you do not own the rights to it, you are not authorized to upload it. Any copyright violation made by a BookRix member is their own responsibility and legal action can be taken by the copyright holder against you.

Author Name, Pen names and Anonymity

To prevent your book from being rejected in external shops like Kobo, iTunes and Amazon, a first and last name are required. A pen name can be chosen, however it must be a first and last name and cannot contain titles such as PhD, Mr., etc.

Table of Contents & Page Numbers

These are automatic. Manual input is not necessary.

A table of contents is automatically generated for your book (with a minimum of cover, body of your text and the imprint), when the chapter feature is used, and you will not need to create an additional table of contents. If you enabled the Chapter function and entered a table of contents manually in your text area, please remove the manual table of contents as this can cause your eBook to be rejected.

Page numbers are automatically inserted into ePub files and eReaders. Please remove manually inserted page numbers in your text, as having them can cause your eBook to be rejected.

External Links/ Shop Names

Avoid a conflict of interest.

Your eBook will be rejected from external shops if you post links to books and/or products within your book. In addition, you are not permitted to mention names of online shops. Books containing names to online shops, such as iTunes or Barnes & Noble, will also be rejected.

Authors are free to insert links to their author page, sources for education and finance, help sites, businesses, etc., However “Direct-to-buy” links are not permitted.

Word, Line, & Page Breaks / Formatting

Presentation is everything.

Words on a page attract a reader but the way they are laid out on a page is equally important. The formatting of your eBook is essential to it being well received.

Most external shops have formatting standards that they require all authors to abide by. Stores like iTunes will reject books that have more than 2 line breaks and/or page breaks. This extra spaceing can cause blank pages in an eReader. Colored or bold fonts can also cause a book to be rejected.

Most eReaders are designed to break words for you. When a word at the end of a line doesn’t fit properly, don’t worry. Continue typing and the BookRix  editor will break a word when necessary. This also applies to hitting the “Enter” key on your keyboard and manually breaking a word. Doing this will distort your text and can cause your eBook to be rejected.

Keep it classic and clean and don't use the "Enter" key in excess as this will minimize your chances of getting rejected from the external shops.

Hate Messages

Hatred is not permitted.

Books containing hate messages directed to any race, ethnicity, gender, political party, religion, etc., will be rejected unless depicted in the plot of the story.

Illegal Activity

Illegal activity is not permitted.

Books containing illegal activity such as pedophilia, how-to’s for crimes, etc., will be rejected unless depicted in the plot of the story.

Book Pricing

Determine the appropriate price for your eBook.

A good thing to consider when pricing your book is the number of pages it contains. For example, if you penned a short story and intend to sell it for a high dollar amount, a potential buyer could be turned off by the price. If your book is priced too high, you may receive a message from us encouraging you to adjust it.

For helpful tips about pricing your book, please click here: http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-10-pricing-your-book

Click below for more Publishing Tips and Tricks:

Become Active
http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-and-tricks-part-1-become-active
Link Cleverly, Earn More Money
http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-2-link-cleverly-earn-more-money
The Power of the Cover
http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-3-the-power-of-the-cover
The First Words Matter
http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-4-the-first-words-matter
Choose a Good Title
http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-5-choose-a-good-title
Get a Good Review
http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-6-get-a-good-review
Typos? Type No’s!
http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-7-typos-type-nos
The Book Blog
http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-8-the-book-blog
Become Active on BookRix
http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-9-become-active-on-bookrix
Pricing Your Book
http://www.bookrix.com/_title-en-bookrix-publishing-tips-tricks-part-10-pricing-your-book

Click HERE for our ePub style guide that will help you prevent your eBook from rejection

Click HERE for Marketing Tips that will help your book get noticed

We understand that getting your book published is the first step. The second is getting people to read it. Luckily our community is designed to give authors a built-in audience. Being a BookRix member allows you to make new contacts and connections that provide you with valuable feedback on your work. Our community is unique because we offer objective feedback, which can be difficult to obtain from close friends and family.

Most writers would rather not rely on others to be successful.  With that in mind, we encourage our authors to use the Self Publishing Services offered at BookRix. Below are some practical marketing tips that can help aspiring authors gain readers and aid in the success of their eBook sales.

For more information on each section, please review our complete Marketing Guide.

The Basics

Necessities for a successful eBook:

- A tasteful, high quality cover that will grab the reader’s attention

- A catchy or unique title

- Proper and careful editing

- A fair price set to sell

- A descriptive and well written book blurb/synopsis that will entice the reader

On BookRix

Getting the most from our BookRix community

- Maintain an active presence in the BookRix community by participating in group discussion and writing contests. Engage with users by leaving quality reviews and feedback on their work.Personalize your profile to showcase who you are as a writer

- Personalize your profile to showcase who you are as a writer

- Maintain contact with your readers and community members by answering their questions, responding to comments and messages.

Everywhere else

Promoting yourself outside of BookRix

- Network with other bloggers within the blogging community. Send out ePub files of your book to interested bloggers so they can review it on their blog

- Organize a blog tour – Have your book visit as many blogs as possible in one month to maximize your visibility.

- Create a YouTube account for your author profile. Organize book trailers, live readings and answer fan questions on your videos.

**For more detailed information, please check out our full length Marketing Guide.

Group Contests

Every once in a while, there will be a small contest or writing challenge held in a group.  It will either be hosted by BookRix, or by a user.  Everyone is welcome to participate, just make sure you pay close attention to the contest guidelines.

Entering a Group Contest

If you are not already a member of the group where the contest or writing challenge is being held, you will first need to join the group. You can do so by going to the group’s page and clicking the Join Group button on the right. Then, scroll down to the submissions thread and enter your submission within the appropriate timeframe and be sure to adhere to the guidelines of the contest.

How to win a Group Contest

There are two ways to judge a contest: (1) A panel of judges, or (2) A Voting thread.

Sometimes group Admins or another type of panel will vote on the submissions instead of the community – creating a panel of judges.  In this case, the announcement of the winner(s) will be posted within that group and around the site. Otherwise, a voting thread will be opened once the submissions period is over, if that is how the group contest is being run. You can vote within that voting thread during the time period specified in the guidelines. These types of challenges/contests are fun because they are intended for short writing submissions and don’t last as long as a major contest.

Creating Your Own User Contest in a Group

Feel free to do whatever you would like with your user contest.  Anyone can host a user contest, and you don’t need to contact BookRix.  If you’re an Admin or Moderator in a group, you can hold the contest there, or you can host the contest on your own profile.  You can create your own contest/challenge idea, create your own guidelines, fix your own start and end dates, and provide your own prizes.  You can even decide how the winner will be chosen (voting/panel of judges/yourself).  Post the information about your user contest in the I Love BookRix Writing Contests group and BookRix will help by promoting your user contest in the sidebar.

Generally, this is how you should run your contest:  First, the contest or writing challenge is announced and guidelines are set forth. Then, the entry/submission thread is posted. Make sure you mark the thread as Important (using the settings tool icon) so that it’s easy to find.  Submissions can be entered into the thread by adding a comment with a link to your submission or by posting your entry directly in the comments (depending on the contest guidelines).

Edit Book Content will take you to the BookRix editor where you can either upload a file or add text directly.

How to upload a file

BookRix makes it easy for you to upload your work to our site. If you already have a file in your computer, you can use the File Upload button which inserts the text into in our BookRix Editor. Currently we support the following formats: .doc, .docx, .odt, txt, .rtf, .epub. To make things even simpler, if you use the Heading feature in Microsoft Word, the heading text will automatically be converted into chapter titles. You can also include images in the file you are uploading.

Once you’ve uploaded your file, you can use our BookRix editor to make updates, modify your text or add new chapters to your book. Please see the section below for more information regarding our BookRix editor.

Important: If you choose to edit an existing book and decide to upload an additional file, it will replace all the previously stored book content.

Tip: To help you create a perfect ePub file and prevent getting your eBook rejected from sale, please carefully read through our ePub Style Guide

How to Use Our BookRix Editor

The best thing about our BookRix Editor is that it’s so simple to use. If you want to create your book from scratch, click the Type in Content button to begin using the BookRix Editor. This is the same page you would see after selecting file upload.

In this section, you can Add New Chapter, Delete chapters (select the trash can icon) and even change the order of your chapters. This can be done by dragging the arrow button near the Chapter numbers up or down.

Once text has been added to the chapter field, you can make other changes using the tool bar. Options from left to right: Alter text with Bold, Italic, and Underline; Change text alignment from left (default), center or right; Undo or redo an action; Add an image or link; Show/hide block elements (this displays each time of text inside a block). If you aren’t sure what a tool is used for, simply hover your mouse over the icon and a description will appear.

Tip:  Always save your changes.

Join groups

Groups are a great place to share ideas, give and receive support and engage with the BookRix community. To view available groups, you can click on the Community page, select All Groups and you’ll see a listing of all the groups BookRix has to offer.

Joining a group is easy. Select a Group that interests you and click Join Group. This button will immediately change to You Are a Member, and you will be notified of new group discussions and group news. Feel free to browse through current topics and add your own comments.

You can resign from a group the same way you joined. Simply click You Are A Member once and you will see Resign from Group. Clicking this will remove you from the Group and you will no longer receive notifications associated with it.

If you want to be a member of a group, but you don't want that group to appear on your profile page you have the option to hide it.  Also, you have the option to stop receiving notifications from any of your groups. Simply go to Groups from your profile page and access the Settings tab.

Create a new post

Public Groups: If you are on the group page and you are able to leave a comment immediately, then the group is open to posts from non-members and you can go ahead and start typing your message in the comment box.  If you can see comments, but there is no box to create one, then you must first join the group.  As soon as you click the Join Group button, you will immediately be a member and have access to the group.

Private Groups:  If the group is listed as private, you will not be able to post a comment as a non-member.  You must first click the Join Group button which will then change to ? Request Sent.  Your request to join the group is sent to the group’s Administrator who will decide if you are able to join the group (pending age restrictions, etc.).  If the Admin accepts your request, you will get a notification and then you will be able to access the group.

To create a new post, all you have to do is click inside the comment box (where it says “Write a new post…”) and start typing.  When you’re finished, hit Send.  You can also leave a comment under another user’s post by clicking inside the box (where it says “Add a comment…”) and typing in your text.  At this time, you will not be able to edit your posts or comments, but can easily delete them by clicking on the settings tool icon to the right of your post and then clicking on Delete.  After confirming that you want to delete your post, it will be immediately removed.

If you want to include a link to your book, an external link, or an image into your post, all you have to do is paste the link (URL) into the comment box and then hit enter.  The thumbnail for your link will immediately appear and if you don’t want to show the image, simply click on No Thumbnail.  Then click on Send and your link will be displayed.   If you insert the link and hit Send without first hitting enter, you will not be given the option to display an image beside your link.

Start your own group

Each BookRix member has the option to create a group of their own. You can invite BookRix members, host group contests and discuss topics that interest you.

You can invite BookRix members, have group contests and talk about anything under the sun. Your group is your group so do what you wish and have fun!

To create your group, you need to go to the Groups listing page.  On the right hand side, you will see a button that says Create a New Group.  After you click on this, you will be asked for the group name and a description of what the group is all about.  On the left, you can also upload a group picture, decide the status of your group (Public or Private), choose your language, and also (for Public groups) you can decide if you want to allow non-members access to posts and comments.   Then click Create New Group.  Now you’re the Admin of your group and have full access to all features of the group.

Once you have created your own group, you are now the Administrator and have access to all features of the group. Feel free to get comfortable with the features.

Posts: After members start creating posts and comments, you can use the settings tool icon to monitor all posts.  By clicking on the icon, you can (1) Delete the post, (2) Create sticky threads by clicking on Mark Post as Important (This will move the comment to the top of the posts, where it will stay unless you choose to click Remove “Important Post” Mark) and (3) You can also Disable Additional Comments so that other users can’t comment on a specific post (this button will then change to Allow Comments, in case you change your mind).

Members: You can also monitor the members of your group by clicking on the Members tab.   You can search for members and you can also edit a member’s role (as Administrator, Moderator, or Member).  If you decide to upgrade a member into an Admin, you are giving them the same rights as you have.  If you upgrade a member into a Moderator, that member will be able to access all the features in the Posts tab, and search through members in the Members tab, but nothing more.

Settings: If you select Administrators and Moderators in the drop down, you can search for a member and appoint them (using the drop down) as either a Moderator or an Admin.  You can also remove a member from their role as Moderator or Admin by clicking on Remove next to their name.  If you select Block User from the drop down, you can search for group members and block them.  Blocked members will not be able to create posts or comments and will not be able to rejoin the group.  You can also use the same tab to Unblock members.

If you want to edit the group details, just click on the Edit button at the top of the group page.  There, you will have access to all the information you filled in when you first started the group.

Tip: ALWAYS remember to save your changes.

Keep in mind that BookRix reserves the right to delete your group if it's not active within 4 months. In addition, all groups must follow our Code of Conduct.

If you have any questions about your group, please email us at support-en@bookrix.com anytime. We are happy to help you out.