FastPencil Introduces Color Book Creator™ and Marketplace Promotional Tools

CAMPBELL, Calif. — September 29, 2009 — FastPencil today announced major writing tool and marketplace upgrades for their free social self-publishing platform that allows authors to easily write, share, publish and sell their books. FastPencil (www.fastpencil.com) now offers writers the new Color Book Creator™ perfect for projects such as children’s books, cookbooks, comic books and coffee table books while also promoting a more robust marketplace for FastPencil users to showcase their books and skills.

“Writing a children’s book is very different from writing a novel because the images have to be as compelling as the content and story,” said Rick Rieser, author of “Percy The Perfectly Imperfect Chicken,” a children’s book coming out in October. “FastPencil has given writers the tools to connect to potential illustrators through the FastPencil Marketplace, organize the content and reach out to your network of friends and supporters for feedback on a project before publishing it.”

The new Color Book Creator™ allows authors to focus on the visuals of their projects in addition to the content. Writers can import images and illustrations to their book pages with no limitations on placement or image and text size, enabling them to create the exact experience they envision.

“The FastPencil mission is to make the book-writing process easy and fun for anyone and everyone,” said Steve Wilson, FastPencil Co-Founder and CEO. “With our initial product offering we proved that our tools strip out the complexity of the writing and publishing process for novels and now we want to extend the capability to writers using images and artwork in other genres as well.”

The enhanced FastPencil Marketplace provides members with the ability to promote their projects and work. The Marketplace is a place for authors, illustrators, graphic designers, editors and anyone else involved in the book-writing process to market themselves and offer their services to other FastPencil community members. New features in the Marketplace include author service portfolios, book promotion pages, a buy and sell platform, and community interaction.

With FastPencil aspiring writers have access to an end-to-end solution that enables them to write a book, share their work and publish hardcover, paperback, Kindle or e-books instantly. Once the book is complete, the FastPencil self-publishing wizard steps authors through the process of formatting their projects. The distribution functionality then allows writers to sell their books direct to customers or through outlets such as Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

FastPencil Features:

• Select from a variety of book templates
  • Personal Memoir
  • Great American Novel
  • Children’s Book
  • Cookbook
  • Comic Book
  • Coffee Table Book
  • Photo Book: wedding, vacation, reunions
  • Blog to Book
• Connect with trusted friends through Facebook, Gmail, AOL, Yahoo and MSN
• Integration with Twitter helps build a following
• Publish to e-book formats with iPhone reader and Kindle support
• E-book distribution at online retailers such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble
• Marketplace: Portfolio and book promotion pages, buy and sell platform, and community interaction
• Enhance chapters and front and back covers with images
• Author services including consulting, design services and formatting
• Integrated self-publishing wizard for step-by-step assistance
• FastPencil Classics: access to many royalty free titles including Tarzan of the Apes and Cinderella

Pricing and Availability
The FastPencil self-publishing platform beta is now available at http://www.FastPencil.com.

The FastPencil Basic service is free and includes book templates, writing platform and ability to connect with the community. Additional publishing packages are available at Silver and Gold levels and include consulting, author and editorial services, custom formatting and distribution. For more information on publishing services visit http://www.fastpencil.com/company/pricing.

About FastPencil
Silicon Valley-based FastPencil simplifies the entire book-writing process from concept to finished product. The FastPencil social self-publishing platform enables writers to create their books online, share their work with a trusted network of friends and professionals, and publish their books on demand either as hardcover, paperback or e-books.

For regular FastPencil updates follow us at www.Twitter.com/FastPencil, become a Fan on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/FastPencil and for more information, please visit www.FastPencil.com.