Summary: News - 1) A worldwide survey of 1,007 self-published authors for the Taleist blog shows the average annual earnings of the authors was just $10,000, and half made less than $500. The Guardian reported on the survey, and you can buy a 47-page Kindle report, appropriately titled Not a Gold Rush for $4.99. 2) Via Nate Hoffelder, news that WorldReader has figured out how to fix its own Kindles in Africa. 3) Amazon updates Kindle for iOS, Kindle Cloud Reader, and Kindle for Android. 4) eBook holdout Thomas Pynchon signs a deal with Penguin to publish his backlist as eBooks. Tech Tip - Some tips on using tools at kindle.amazon.com and an invitation to follow my notes and highlights. Please e-mail me at PodChronicles AT Gmail dot Com with your profile and books we share, to help explore social reading on the Kindle. Interview (starts at 15:37) - I interviewed author Theresa Ragan on June 6th at BookExpo America, where she was a star of the Kindle Direct Publishing/Create Space booth. Theresa is a great example of how hard work and good writing can pay off for self-publishers, and she has also signed a deal with Amazon mystery imprint Thomas & Mercer for her next Lizzy Gardner book. Click here for her self-published Kindle titles, which have sold nearly 300,000 copies in a little over a year. Content - Amazon Publishing's impressive 2012 Fall Catalog, including upcoming titles from AmazonCrossing and Thomas & Mercer. Also, my rave review of Abducted, the first of the Lizzy Gardner series by T. R. (Theresa) Ragan and, for the Kindle Fire, To Catch a Thief from Prime Instant Video, starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. And: Amazon announces a deal to had hundreds of movies and TV shows from MGM. Mentioned in Comments - eReaderiQ. Next week's guest - Kevin Eagan, author of the CriticalMargins blog about books, culture and technology. Free Webinar - Click here to register for a free webinar that I will give on Wednesday, June 27th from 3 to 4 p.m. EDT for the Professional Outdoor Media Association. The topic will be how you can publish articles in the Kindle Store, and I will be relying heavily on Kate Harper's essential 99-cent guide, How to Publish and Sell Your Article on the Kindle: 12 Steps for Short Documents.
