Of course, every author can log in and see their sales at any time.

We’re a newfangled publishing company, that is for sure. We’re different in just about every way – how many books we accept, how we make them available, the royalties we pay, etc. – from traditional publishing companies.

We’re proud to pay out the money, of course. And we like the idea that because these are digital files, they can stay on our bookshelves for a long time. There’s no ‘remainder bin’ at BigDifBooks. There’s something else worth mentioning too. About half of all our books are available for free. And we think it’s great that kids (and parents) can get so many fun stories at no cost at all. And we think it’s even better that so many terrific authors want to share their work in this way.

1. Any MacaroniKid subscriber is eligible. If you aren’t a subscriber, you can go to their site and register. To find out a little more about them, we wrote up a little shout-out to them on a blog post below.
2. We’ll pick our two favorite accepted submissions: one from an adult and one from someone under eighteen.
3. We’ll accept submissions from May 15, 2010 to July 15, 2010.
4. Each winner will receive a Flip Ultra HD video camera.
5. We’ll announce the two winners on our site (probably on this blog), our Facebook page and at MacaroniKid.
6. To submit a story, just follow the directions on the site and let us know you want to be part of the contest with an e-mail.

And remember:  You can always e-mail info@bigdifbooks.com with questions.

Some basics for new people to BigDifBooks.com.  You can find plenty of more information on the site, of course.

1. Our goal is to provide original children’s stories for very little money — or none at all.  We only have two price categories: $1.99 and free.  Our books are available in the site’s cool, page-flipping e-reader.   And they can be printed at home and then stapled, glued, whatever.
2. We believe everyone has a good story to share — including kids.
3. Authors retain all copyright to their stories.
4. For authors who choose to sell their stories, we pay a 50+ percent royalty (one dollar for every $1.99 book sold).
5. We need three things from you to consider your story.  The Author Form tells us about you and you fill it out when you register.  It includes bio information that potential readers can see with your book.  The Book Form tells us about your book, including a brief description, dedication, age level, etc.  The Legal Form is our agreement.  It’s your guarantee to us that your story and images are original and our guarantee to you that you retain all copyright.  This form needs to be snail-mailed because if you’re  choosing to sell your book (as opposed to offering it for free), we’ll need to pay you.  That means we need your Social Security number.
6. You can upload your book at the site or snail mail a hard copy to us.  If you choose to upload it, it needs to be saved and/or scanned with three important parameters:  8.5-by-11 size, 144 dpi resolution, Jpeg format.  Almost all design software and scanning programs can handle these guidelines.  And we use them so your book will upload and work in our e-reader.  If you snail-mail a hard copy to us, we’ll do the scanning for you — but it needs to be 8.5-x-11 to start. Vertical or horizontal layout doesn’t matter.

A few important things to know about the contest:

1. We do not accept ALL submissions. Because we provide stories in our e-reader and in printable form, we can accept many more submissions than a traditional, commercial publisher. But just because you send us something, does not mean we will automatically accept it. The contest is for accepted stories.
2. Check back here at this blog for more information.
3. We have to say this: We reserve the right to change this contest in any way.

We think this will be good fun.  And we look forward to helping you share your story with anybody who has an Internet connection.

Of course, there are a couple of things to remember.

First, our goal at BigDifBooks.com is to encourage young people to read by offering many books for little cost – or none at all.  And $1.99 is pretty darn inexpensive – and you don’t get much more inexpensive than free.  Second, not too many traditional publishers make books available for free.  Third, not too many publishers allow the author to choose the price for their book.

We’re sort of proud of all those things.  Just wanted to say that.

But back to the question:  Free or $1.99?

When you offer a story for free, you’re bound to share it with more people.  Many people who join BigDifBooks get mostly (or only) the free stories.  They want to see how the site works, how the e-reader works, do a test run before buying a $1.99 book and, well, they like getting something for free.  Who doesn’t?

So if sharing your story with as many readers as possible is your primary goal, then offering it for free might be the best choice.

If you want to make a few dollars – or maybe more – then $1.99 obviously makes more sense.  We only made it through Trig and even we can figure that out. Sometimes we think that because there is a free section and a $1.99 section, authors feel that they are somehow asking readers to pay too much.  We think this is a little crazy.

Anyone can go to Barnes & Noble or Amazon and see how expensive kids’ books can get.  A hardcover picture book can run $20 easy.  At BigDifBooks, that’s ten $1.99 stories (plus all the free ones anybody wants).  Considering these are all original stories that can be viewed on-screen or printed at home anytime, we think that’s a pretty good deal.

And, just for the record, it makes no difference to us which option an author chooses.

But our favorite idea is this: Put your first book (or two) up for free and then charge $1.99 for books after that.  That way, readers can get to know an author’s writing style and approach to storytelling with a free book or two.  If they like what they see, they may want to go find other books from that same author in the $1.99 section.  We know of three authors who are planning to do just that.

buddingwriters  (http://z7.invisionfree.com/buddingwriters/index.php ) is home to a growing number of (usually) young writers who are dedicated to improving their craft.  Writers can post work, get comments and offer constructive criticism of their own.  While not geared specifically to children’s books, we think young people have a unique ability to communicate and share stories.  We like the attitude at buddingwriters too – they’re friendly, supportive and don’t take themselves too, too seriously.  We are listed as an affiliate at their site and are planning a contest with them for the summer.

www.teenink.com is one of the largest and most established venues for teen writers.  Their print magazine – using work generated only by teen writers – is available in high schools across the country and their web site is updated with fresh creative content continuously.  We have three ads up at their web site, focused on generating interest and submissions.

www.freelance-zone.com is a relatively new site that reaches out to freelance writers with advice and guidance.  We think many writers may be interested in taking a break from the sometimes-mundane craft of professional copywriting to have some fun with a children’s book.  We have a little spot advertising up there and did a short interview with their great editorial staff.

www.MacaroniKid.com is an interesting new concept that communicates to parents nationally – and to specific communities across the country – through a weekly newsletter.  Dedicated to all things family, the site details activities, deals and goings-on in each community and provides interesting reading content to boot.  We have advertising up on their site to reach out to both parents and kids who might be interested in both reading our books – and, perhaps, submitting one of their own.  We also did a short interview with them when we kicked off the campaign.  Typing BigDifBooks into the search field should get you to the interview.

www.absolutewrite.com is a great site reaching out to both new and established writers.  Users will find terrific original pieces by the editorial staff and admins.  Bulletin board subjects cover an array of subjects, including interviews with authors and agents.  We’ve done some targeted advertising on the site and have been mentioned on a number of bulletin boards there.

This is where we’ll highlight new titles, answer questions from authors and readers, and provide news updates.  In the coming weeks and months, we’ll also seek to involve the BigDifBooks community in collaborative efforts — ultimately resulting in books that can be shared on the main site.

We welcome comments, questions and ideas.