D Publishing Network: D-layed for now

I was interested to read on Digireado that Dymocks is sorting out the quality assurance details before they launch D Publishing. Good - very good, because their original media release was very short on technical details. I raised my concerns with Dymocks and they have listened. They still haven't released any more details about how they would involve editors and designers in their so-called "push button" ebook production service. At the very least, Dymocks should be talking with the Institute of Professional Editors to discuss how editors can get involved - afterall, publishing is about building professional networks.

Have a look at Digireado's blog:
http://digireado.wordpress.com/2011/11/05/d-publishing-launch-delayed-until-later-this-year/

Pickings rewarding if would-be writers play it by the e-book

When browsing the plethora of media reports about the latest in ebooks, it’s not often that you come across any mention of editing – but today was a rare exception. The Australian newspaper’s IT supplement ran the above story and amongst the bigger news of Google’s ebook service and other ebook production services was a brief recognition that editing ebooks is a key to publishing success. Just after the snippet about the success of US author Joe Konrath in selling 20,300 ebooks in a month, and before the bit about how much Amazon pays in royalties was this:

“Not every budding author is going to achieve those levels, of course. There’s skill involved, not just in the writing, but also in the design, editing, proofreading and presentation required by e-publishers…”.

If that isn’t enough, further into the article, after talking about self-publishing through Smashwords, it states:

“There are no set-up fees and no cost for updating or revising your book, but you will need to do a professional job of editing, proofreading and formatting, or find someone who will do that for you.”

Someone? Hello! – how about an “editor”? Isn’t it time that media commentators recognised the players in publishing, and start to talk them up? It won’t be long before authors will become frustrated with the hype about self-service publishing and wonder why they are not selling much. The link between ebooks and editors just needs to get stronger now.

The online story is missing the paragraphs I’ve just mentioned, but you can find it at:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/opinion/monetary-rewards-if-would-be-writers-play-it-by-the-e-book/story-e6frgb0o-1226201681876

XMLmind XML Editor v 5.1

XMLmind is happy to announce the version 5.1 of XMLmind XML Editor.
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XMLmind XML Editor Personal Edition v5.1 can be downloaded from
http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/download.shtml

Professional Edition users, please upgrade using this form:
http://www.xmlmind.com/store/download.php

(The above form is usually accessed through
http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/upgrade.html.)
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The new Compare tool will show you the differences existing
between two revisions of the same initial document.
This tool also allows to accept or reject some or all the changes.

The new Tools|Remark menu should be handy to use if you have
to review or comment documents.

The two above facilities have a lesson of their own
(including a 2:10 screencast) in our tutorial.
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More information:

* http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/changes.html

* Tutorial lesson "Reviewing changes using the Compare tool":

Text: http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/_tutorial/review_changes/index.html

Screencast:
http://www.xmlmind.com/xmleditor/_tutorial/review_changes/video/review_changes.html