S.P.A.M.

Spambooks.com vs S.P.A.M.

2008-02-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

Alright, let me see if I can make this clear.

S.P.A.M. is this site. It is where I update the S.P.A.M. members about what is going on with the site. It is also where people can find out how to become a S.P.A.M. member and have a book listed on Spambooks.com.

Spambooks.com is our book listing. It is directed and targeted towards readers. It's just our listing of books.

You may have noticed that there are some writer's books listed at spambooks.com who are not members of S.P.A.M.

That's because you don't have to be a member for me to list your book. If I find your book and think that it is worth putting on the list, then I add it. I want to have a large enough listing of books that readers will begin to take notice.

Thanks for your time,
J. Allen Wentworth

And remember, use of this website is free. If you benefit from our services, then we appreciate it when you to S.P.A.M.

SQL Database construction.

2008-02-07T02:03:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers and Writers,

You'll be happy to know that in addition to having our domain at www.spambooks.com, our SQL database for book listing has been completed. It looks crude right now, but the bulk of the work has been completed. I'll be making it pretty, and I'll add an option to search content soon. Right now it's just a sortable table. As such, I have taken off the manually updated table at the top of this page. This database will make it MUCH easier for me to add listings to the bookshelf, and I imagine that it will replace the author listing page as well at some point. I'm still adding to my knowledge of java, php, and sql, so it may take me a few days to get the hang of everything I am able to do with it. Tonight I just focused on the task of getting it to work.

As construction continues on the site, you can expect weird changes to the site between the hours of midnight and 6 AM, eastern time, since that is when I most often test website changes. So don't be alarmed if there are crazy frames everywhere or something if you check the site at those times.

And remember, use of this website is free. If you benefit from our services, then we appreciate it when you to S.P.A.M.

Thank you for your time,
J. Allen Wentworth
S.P.A.M. Author and Website Coordinator
Self-Published Works: Love Eternal

Welcome Elaine Tenborg!

2008-02-03T22:57:00.000-08:00

Welcome to S.P.A.M!

Elaine Tenborg is our newest member, with a novel that weighs in at a whopping 608 pages!

Currently, "Sisters of the Triple Moon: Kiss a Demon Goodbye" does not have a qualifying preview, but I've let Elaine know, and I hope she'll provide a longer preview soon.

Previews allow readers who come to this site to inspect our books (products) before buying them. This helps both the reader and the writer, because it lets the reader know that he or she is buying a quality product, and it help increase the amount of book sales for the writer. Previews are win/win.

And remember, use of this website is free. If you benefit from our services, then we appreciate it when you to S.P.A.M.

Thank you for your time,
J. Allen Wentworth
S.P.A.M. Author and Website Coordinator
Self-Published Works: Love Eternal

What is S.P.A.M?

2008-02-03T20:42:00.001-08:00

The Self-Publishing Authors Marketplace is simply a listing of books that meet the following criteria.

1) Published via www.lulu.com
2) 250 pages or longer.
3) Offers a 10 or more page preview of the novel itself as published.
4) Is formatted to look like any other novel.
5) Is priced reasonably
6) Is written by motivated Authors who are willing to put a large amount of effort into writing, editing, revising, formatting, and promoting their novels in order to provide quality Self-Published Content to readers.

S.P.A.M. encourages all our authors to use whatever resources possible to make their novels as entertaining as possible. It is our goal to make sure that our readers are browsing high-quality Self-Published books.

Keep in mind that S.P.A.M. is only a listing of books. We are not a publisher, bookstore, or reseller. We provide our services free of charge to our writers and readers. S.P.A.M. receives none of the money paid for novels that you will find here. S.P.A.M. supports itself through web advertising and our giftshop.

Please enjoy browsing our available novels. Currently we are a growing community of self-published writers, so check back for more books as our site grows.

If you are an aspiring writer, then we encourage your efforts. Keep working hard. If you are a writer who has self-published via www.lulu.com, then we do hope that you join our lulu group and list your books on the S.P.A.M. bookshelf.

And remember, use of this website is free. If you benefit from our services, then we appreciate it when you to S.P.A.M.

Thank you for your time,
J. Allen Wentworth
S.P.A.M. Author and Website Coordinator
Self-Published Works: Love Eternal

Welcome Cleo Riley and Anthony Shucraft!

2008-01-31T22:49:00.000-08:00

Welcome to S.P.A.M!

Cleo Riley and Anthony Shucraft are our newest Self-Published Authors. Neither of them currently have content qualified to be listed on the S.P.A.M. bookshelf, but we look forward to seeing future works.

New S.P.A.M. members should add their content to the lulu.com group and fill out this form in order to ensure that their books are listed correctly.

Please take a moment to browse Cleo's storefront.

And of course, don't forget about Anthony's storefront. As of this posting, Anthony does not have any content on his storefront, but be sure to check in case that has changed.

I welcome Cleo and Anthony and wish them both great success as writers. I also thank them for having the courage to join S.P.A.M. at the ground level. We are a growing community.

All S.P.A.M. members are encouraged to post any ideas, comments, or questions they might have on the S.P.A.M. forums.

And remember, use of this website is free. If you benefit from our services, then we appreciate it when you to S.P.A.M.

Thank you for your time,
J. Allen Wentworth
S.P.A.M. Author and Website Coordinator
Self-Published Works: Love Eternal

Welcome Julio Vazquez!

2008-01-30T10:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome to S.P.A.M!

Julio Vazquez is our newest Self-Published Author. He has 7 published works on www.lulu.com, but only one of them qualifies to be listed on S.P.A.M.

I have taken the liberty of listing his novel right away, but please don't expect me to take the initiative like this once this site becomes more popular. New S.P.A.M. members should add their content to the lulu.com group and fill out this form in order to ensure that their books are listed correctly.

Please take a moment to browse Julio's storefront.

His writing looks professional and well-formated, and his 6 other works are not listed on S.P.A.M. only because they do not meet the length requirements. I am sure that they are very entertaining works.

My only concern with "What is Love?" is that the book preview only contains the Introduction and Acknowledgments. I strongly encourage all authors to include at least the first few pages of the novel, or an excerpt from the middle of the novel in the preview, so that readers can see a sample of your writing style in the actual story. Remember, readers are more likely to buy a product that they have been able to inspect closely. Lulu.com allows complete customization of previews, so this is not difficult.

Again I welcome Julio Vazquez and wish him great success as a writer. I also thank him for having the courage to join S.P.A.M. at the ground level. I will work to make sure that S.P.A.M. is a help and not a hindrance to his efforts.

And remember, use of this website is free. If you benefit from our services, then we appreciate it when you to S.P.A.M.

Thank you for your time,
J. Allen Wentworth
S.P.A.M. Author and Website Coordinator
Self-Published Works: Love Eternal

List My Book!

2008-01-29T22:26:00.000-08:00

So you've got a self-published novel on www.lulu.com and you want S.P.A.M. to add it to our bookshelf.

Well, all you have to do is join our lulu.com group and submit your content.Anyone with a lulu.com account can join our group and be added to our author's list. Simply go to our group page. If you are logged into lulu.com, then there should be a button that says 'Join This Group' that you can press. Press it. Simple as that. I check it every day and add any new authors to our authors list, usually before midnight that day except Sundays. After joining the group, you'll see a link in the lower right that says 'Submit Your Content.' Click that to submit your book to the group. You can start the process by clicking this link:

http://www.lulu.com/groups/luluspam

Please keep in mind that book submissions must be approved before being listed. This typically can take up to 48 hours unless I just happen to be checking the group dashboard right after you submit your listing. Also, if for any reason your book does not qualify to be listed, I will let you know as soon as possible.

Remember the requirements:
1) 250 pages or more
2) Priced reasonably
3) Formatted well and professional-looking
4) 10 page preview available (25-50 is preferred and recommended)
5) as few typos as possible

And remember, use of this website is free. If you benefit from our services, then we appreciate it when you to S.P.A.M.

Thank you for your time,
J. Allen Wentworth
S.P.A.M. Author and Website Coordinator
Self-Published Works: Love Eternal

P.S. Some member may have joined S.P.A.M. through a different method before the method for joining was fully decided upon. The method for joining and submitting content detailed here is the correct method and should not change unless unforeseen events transpire to force me to change it.

Welcome Writers!

2008-01-27T22:30:00.001-08:00

Dear Writers,

Welcome to the Self-Publishing Author's Marketplace. I'll do my best to explain what this website is all about.

First of all, let me tell you what we are not. We are not a publisher, publication, editing service, publicist, literary agency, printer, or a scam. We will never ask you for any personal information and we will never ask you to pay us money, nor will we ever offer you our personal information or offer to pay you money.

We are a free information website dedicated to bringing Authors and Readers together. Our goal is to completely eliminate your need for editors, literary agents, publicists, bookstores, libraries and conventional publishers. Of course, these people will always exists, but our goal is to provide a way for writers to bypass all of them and sell books to readers.

All of our Authors print their works through a website called www.lulu.com. It is a FREE print-on-demand self-publishing website. They handle everything involved with the printing of the novel, but nothing else.

Writing a novel falls into the following steps: Outlining, Writing, Editing, Proofreading, Formatting, Printing, Marketing, Selling, and Shipping.

Here is a breakdown of how conventional publishers handle this process:

Outlining: Author
Writing: Author
Editing: Author/Editor*
Proofreading: Author/Editor*
Formatting: Publisher
Printing: Publisher
Marketing: Publisher/Publicist/Agent
Selling: Bookstore/Publicist/Agent
Shipping: Publisher
*It is the Author's responsibility to edit the work enough to make it acceptable to the Editor. After that Editors do a small amount of editing and proofreading. Then their name goes on YOUR book and they take a portion of YOUR money after doing nothing useful.

Here is our new business model.

Outlining/Writing/Editing/Proofreading/Formatting: Author
Printing/Shipping: www.lulu.com
Marketing/Selling: Author and S.P.A.M.

You, as the author, have 2 extra jobs. First of all, you have to format the novel yourself so that lulu.com can print it. This is not as hard as it sounds, since Lulu prints the novel exactly as it appears in their preview. It doesn't take very much work at all to format your novel correctly. A couple days of work at most is nothing when you think of the time you put into writing the thing in the first place. Second of all, you have to help S.P.A.M. market and sell your novel. All this means, is that you tell people about the S.P.A.M. website. We don't require that you link to us on any site or get people to sign up for anything. We have no way of tracking how many people you tell about the site. We trust that you will tell people about the site, because every person that knows about S.P.A.M. is a potential customer who might like your work enough to buy it. It benefits you to tell people about our site, because we provide them a link to where they can buy your book.

When you think about it, it's like we are a bookstore that is offering to put your book on our shelf for sale, except we aren't taking a cut. This is a great deal, and you should get your books listed as soon as possible. There is no risk to joining S.P.A.M. and the potential for reward unlimited. The worst thing that could happen is that no one buys your novel, and that's already happening.

Stop worrying about how you're going to sell your self-published novel. Join today and when people ask about your book, you can tell them proudly that you are a member of the Self-Published Author's Marketplace, and that they can find your books at http://luluspam.blogspot.com. (We will get ourselves a dotcom as soon as I can afford it.)

And remember, use of this website is free. If you benefit from our services, then we appreciate it when you to S.P.A.M.

Thank you for your time,
J. Allen Wentworth
S.P.A.M. Author and Website Coordinator
Self-Published Works: Love Eternal

Now what? WRITE!

Author's List

2008-01-27T22:13:00.001-08:00

Here is a list of all our Authors sorted Alphabetically by last name.

Giambastiani, Kurt R.A. - Sci-Fi

Le'Page, Alan

McMillen, Robbi

Riley, Cleo

Shucraft, Anthony

Suzanne, Andrew

Tenborg, Elaine - Young Adult Fantasy

Vazquez, Julio - Contemporary Fiction

Wentworth, J. Allen - Teen Fantasy

And remember, use of this website is free. If you benefit from our services, then we appreciate it when you

Welcome Readers!

2008-01-27T21:20:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the Self-Publishing Author's Marketplace.
S.P.A.M. is a free site dedicated to bringing Authors and Readers together, and making sure that YOU, the reader decide what is, and what is not worth reading.

Editors, publishers, literary agents, bookstores, and libraries are things of the past.

There is only you, the customer, and us, the authors. If our product is good enough, then you might do us the honor of purchasing it. If not, then you might do us the favor of telling us how we can improve our product. We, the authors, are at your service.

You are invited to search through our library of books, read previews, read reviews, download free e-books, contact the authors themselves, and purchase hardback, paperback, or e-book novels.

Our novels are self-published through lulu.com. But S.P.A.M. novels must adhere to a very basic criteria. Each is required to be of sufficient length, properly formatted, and 99% free of spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors. These novels are written, edited, revised, and formatted by the author, except where indicated otherwise. They are submitted to us from a vast sea of other works on lulu.com, and would remain obscure except for the S.P.A.M. site.

All we ask you, dear reader, is to browse through what we have to offer.

You will not find these novels in any bookstore, library, or on Amazon.com. Each is a truly rare item. Imagine, if you will, what a self-published copy of the first Harry Potter novel might now be worth if one had ever been printed. We will never know, but keep in mind that J. K. Rowlings was rejected by publishers before her manuscript was finally accepted. The fact that our books are self-published does not mean that they are any less entertaining than a novel published by a conventional publisher.

So please, give us the same consideration that you would any novel sitting on the shelf at your local bookstore. Glance at the front cover, read the back cover, check the price on the spine, and flip through the first few pages if you think you can afford to buy it. If we do our job right, then you will find yourself the proud new owner of your new favorite book.

Thank you very much for your time. To browse through our bookshelves, click here.

And remember, use of this website is free. If you benefit from our services, then we appreciate it when you to S.P.A.M.

Sincerely,
J. Allen Wentworth
S.P.A.M. Author and Website Coordinator
Self-Published Works: Love Eternal

Step 4: Profit

2008-01-27T19:16:00.000-08:00

All right, after completing steps 1 through 3 you have a full-length, professional, published novel. Now you want to sell it, but there are problems that you have to overcome.

1) No one knows about your book.
2) No one can find your book because Lulu.com's search engine is terrible and lists your 300+ page novel between a 2 page poetry 'book' and a cookbook.
3) You don't have an ISBN.

Fortunately, you don't need an ISBN to make money. I recommend that you wait until you make $200 from your book, and then simply use that money to buy all the ISBNs you need for this and future novels. That still leaves us with problems 1 and 2. This is where S.P.A.M. comes in. While it is true that we are happy to help any author with writing tips, editing tips, and help publishing with LULU.com, our primary purpose is to help Authors SELL their self-published novels to readers.

Our job is not an easy one. First, we must gain the attention of enough self-publishing lulu authors, so that we have a large number of novels, but I must make sure that each meets the minimum requirements to be sold in our marketplace. I will NOT be judging works on content. I will instead judge works based on length and price. Works that are not long enough to be considered novels or are unreasonably priced will not appear here. Second, I must make sure that all SPAM members' novels are sorted so that readers will be able to browse our wares easily.

So you probably want to know HOW you can join the marketplace. That is easy. Simply go to your Lulu.com account, and join our Lulu group: SPAM (Self-Publishing Author's Marketplace). Then simply submit your content to the group for approval. Upon approval your novel will be placed upon our group Storefront for readers to see.

Then, all you have to do is tell people about SPAM!

I know what you're thinking. Why don't you just tell people about your lulu store? Because then you would be the ONLY person telling people about it. If you are a SPAM member, then every member of SPAM promotes your novel whenever they promote their own work.

I know what you're thinking. Lulu.com works the same way, doesn't it? No. Lulu.com's search engine, combined with the vast amount of unedited, published crap, makes it prohibitive for readers to find good books easily on lulu.com alone.

You can't simply tell people about Lulu.com, because then they won't find your book. You can't simply tell people about your book, because then you'd have no time for writing the sequel.

S.P.A.M. is the best solution, and it is 100% free!

That's right. I am HELPING you sell your novel at no cost. I don't ask for any private information. I ask ONLY that you join my Lulu group, submit your content to be listed in my group, and tell people about S.P.A.M.

If we writers come together, then we can eliminate publishers, editors, agents, and publicists from the equation entirely.

And remember, I'm selling out so I can help you sell out too.
to S.P.A.M. or just buy my book.
J. Allen Wentworth

Step 3: Publish

2008-01-27T15:19:00.000-08:00

Okay, here's where we get into the real meat and potatoes of what this site is about.

Most people think that they have to write a book, then mail it to some publisher and wait 6 months for a rejection letter, and then mail it out again. As you can see, unless your manuscript gets accepted on the first try, it can take YEARS to get your first novel published. J. K. Rowlings got SEVERAL rejections before getting published. I know that writers are tired of this. Why should writers wait a year or more before selling a finished product. What if car companies did this? What if they built a whole bunch of 2007 cars, and then kept them in a warehouse for a year before selling them? It's stupid and it's got to stop. In todays world of instant worldwide communication there is no reason why any novel should not be available for purchase. Forget bookstores and libraries. Forget publishers. We, the writers, are going to bypass the editors and publishers. We, the writers are going to sell our books direct to the consumer. How are we doing this?

WWW.LULU.COM

Advantages:
1) It's FREE. Writers have very little money, so the price is just right.
2) It's easy. Just format a few things in your .doc or .rtf file to make the book look right once it is bound. Then upload it, follow the easy directions, and in less than a few hours you can order a copy of your book that will be shipped to you.
3) NO REJECTIONS. Your book stands on its own merit. Either people buy it, or they don't. All you have to do to succeed is write a book that will sell, and then sell it.
4) You keep all the rights to your work.

Disadvantages:
1) No organization. Your book will often be listed next to crap that should never be published.
2) No promotion. You have to promote yourself. No one will help you but you.
3) No editing. You have to edit and format the book yourself.

How are we going to overcome these disadvantages? With The Self-Publisher's Marketplace. In addition to helping writers write, edit, and publish, we will also help readers read, review, and purchase self-published novels.

So, to all you writers out there, I say, start writing and editing now. If you already have a novel published on www.lulu.com then you are ready for the next step: profit.

And remember, I'm selling out so I can help you sell out too.
to S.P.A.M. or buy my book.
J. Allen Wentworth

Step 2: Edit and Revise

2008-01-27T14:52:00.000-08:00

Here's where we get off the beaten path. Once you have your rough draft. Go ahead and publish it on www.lulu.com. This will give you an opportunity to 1) learn how to format your book for use on lulu.com and 2) see the quality of their printed books. Order a couple copies if you want, or just get the online .pdf and print out some looseleaf copies.

No one is perfect. Writing is the result of your dynamic and fluid mental processes being recorded linearly by word-symbols. You can't be expected to get it right the first time. You can't even be expected to get it right EVER.

Here's what you MUST do:

1) Eliminate ALL spelling, punctuation, and formatting errors.
2) Eliminate ALL unintentional grammatical errors.
3) Eliminate ALL plot-holes and internal contradictions.

Even after all this work, your novel will still need polishing. This can only come from allowing others to read and critique your novel. Either pay for professional editing, or have several friends or family members read the novel while taking careful notes of any problems. Tell them to write notes on the copy of the book you give them. You will NEED every piece of information they can think of. Tell them to write down ANY questions they have as soon as they think of them no matter what. You want to know what people are thinking when they read your work so you can better know how to revise your work. Finally, get people's honest opinions about the readability of the novel. If they saw it in a bookstore, would they buy it? Continue editing, revising, and getting people's opinions until people tell you that the book is worth buying. At that point, read the novel from beginning to end in one sitting and edit as you go.

Now, here is my most important piece of advice. DO NOT keep editing until the work is perfect. It never will be, and you will waste too much of your time. It is NOT a piece of art that you must complete with love and care. It is a PRODUCT for sale that must only be GOOD ENOUGH to sell. Get it there and stop. Publish it through lulu as a finished product, stop writing it, and start selling it.

And remember, I'm selling out so I can help you sell out too. to the Marketplace or buy my book.
J. Allen Wentworth

Now what? PUBLISH!

Step 1: Write Something

2008-01-27T14:05:00.000-08:00

You can't publish anything until you write it first. There are MANY books and tips about writing. Some talk about technique. Others talk about habits and discipline. They are good resources, but they are only worth the effort you are going to put into actually writing. In fact, you are reading this instead of writing. That is your first mistake. Open up your word processor right now. If you don't have a good one, then click here. Personally, I use MS Word 2003 that came with my laptop, but AbiWord is probably one of the best free alternatives.

Type.

Type more!

GO GO GO!

Rules to LIVE by:
1) Write every day as much as you can. (3000 words each day= 90,000 words each month)
2) Don't read your work immediately afterwards. Leave freshly written words alone and unchanged. Skimming your work may be necessary to refresh yourself with the plot each day, but do NOT edit.
3) Remember that your work is like an ugly child. It looks beautiful to you, but no one else cares. No one will ever like your writing as much as you do. Don't worry about it. If you are going to be a successful writer, you are going to have to be able to take the worst insults imaginable.

If you follow these simple rules, then you should have at least 1 full length novel draft finished in less than 3 months. That is your first step in the quest for a successful career as an author.
to the Marketplace or buy my book.
J. Allen Wentworth

Now What? EDIT!

Introduction

2008-01-27T11:42:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the Self-Publisher's Marketplace. There are many reasons why you might be here.

1) Are you a struggling writer looking for a publisher or tips on self-publishing?
2) Are you an established writer who is unhappy with your current publisher?
3) Are you an interested reader who is looking for the latest self-published books?
4) Are you a vendor or business-owner interested in selling self-published books?

Well, you've come to the right place. Here at the Self-Publisher's Marketplace, we are dedicated to offering the assistance and resources necessary to write, edit, format, print, review, buy, and sell self-published novels.

We are NOT a publisher, an editor, agent, publicist, or a magazine. We do NOT charge any fee for the use of our website and resources, but donations are appreciated and help defray the cost of running our site.

I hope you will find this site useful. If you have any questions please email me.
J. Allen Wentworth