I want to thank everyone for their support throughout the
one-time only Independence Week(end) promotion. A whopping 14 blogs went out and
were promoted/shared on 8 social media and business accounts, as well as
multiple-paid promotions, and an aired-radio and podcast press release on the Modules
Series. For those that follow business and personal pages in addition to Twitter,
Goodreads, and other accounts, that’s a whole lot of you getting the same stuff
in your different feeds, alongside email notifications, so Thank you, Thank
you, Thank you for your patience.
On the bright side, I hope you were all able to take
advantage of the promotion and get your free books. FreeBird Express Publishing,
formerly NewAge Publishing, has given away nearly 10,000 books since 2015,
mainly targeted toward those whom have provided so much support and patience
throughout the course of this unexpected journey. Some of you were there long
before the idea even manifested. Some of you were there when I first began
toying with designs and trailers and covers and providing free reads on our first
business page, Almondie Incorporated. Everything done under one name for the
longest time, although there are many of us (hence the Incorporated), while
working towards building a business from scratch, building our client-base, becoming
skilled and educated in all aspects of the trade, developing a following and resources
through networking, and learning the most and least effective and efficient
marketing strategies.
Some of you were there throughout the development of the
website, and the first book release. Many of you have even been attendees at
events. Ten books were published under the Almondie Shampine name while working
out all the kinks and then two years were invested in trying to build capital
for the business via an outside job while working with other writers and authors
on their path to publication. Five books by Tony Brassington, one by Andre Gussekloo
and Esther Jacobs, and one by Jasmine Lewis, were published during that time.
Tony’s currently working on his third book in his Well-Travelled Book Series,
and Jasmine Lewis has six projects she’s been alternatively working on, while FreeBird
Express Publishing is currently working with several writers/authors for the next
Real Lives! Real People! Real Tragedies! charity anthology, and of course, continuing
to welcome submissions for the anthology, as well as the ‘Everyone Has a Story
to Tell’ feature.
That’s why we offered the entire six-book Modules Series for
free and have given out almost 10,000 copies of all ten of the Almondie
Shampine titles, so for those of you who have been there throughout the years,
you should have been able to get all ten books without paying a dime!
But here’s the big news: FREEBIRD EXPRESS PUBLISHING IS NOW
OFFICIALLY A CERTIFIED PUBLISHER with a whopping 100% on the final exam. While
you were getting your free books or biting your tongue about the continual
week-long promoting showing up on your newsfeeds :D, I was reviewing for the
big final. Publishers aren’t required to be certified. In fact, technically,
anyone who publishes even a single book themselves can call themselves a
publisher. That makes it really tough for authors/writers looking to be
published to have to filter through all the different publishers to determine who’s
legit or not. Even in the publishing realm, there are SO MANY SCAMMERS! … And
so much misleading information.
In addition, I learned so much more of the insider trade and
the business than I did previously, which can be of much better service to the
currently-represented authors and those to come, so the investment of money and
time was definitely worth it!
www.freebirdexpresspublishing.com
is now the link to the website, and the Starving Artist blog is now at www.almondieshampine.com.
Now that we’re certified, in the next few days, I’ll be
posting a FreeBird Express Publishing FAQ – The Hybrid Model – for authors,
writers, and everyday people that may be interested in learning the specifics
of exactly what kind of publisher FreeBird Express Publishing is, and the different
services and publishing routes that are provided in order to clear up any and
all misconceptions -such as FREEBIRD EXPRESS PUBLISHING is NOT a VANITY PRESS. There
is a lot of confusion surrounding these things now-a-days. The industry has
changed so much and so fast in only six years that articles from even a year ago
are outdated and no longer accurate, because traditional and non-traditional is
no longer simply black-and-white, and if a publisher wants to be successful for
the different types of authors out there, we now have to offer a variety of
different routes; hence – The Hybrid Model.
Look for it in the next few days. It’ll also be available on
the website in the About section.
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