Bottom Line It For Me, Baby Version (200 Words Or Less)
Selling a book used to mean four things: a respectable advance, a respectable promotion budget and effort, your book would appear on store shelves, and your publisher would gladly publish anything new you had to offer. Thanks to industry consolidations, just 6 media megaconglomerates now dominate American publishing, and they are bottom-line focused with a vengeance. In an industry that has historically, consistently seen profit margins ranging from 4-8%, media megas are determined to squeeze out 15% or more. They don't want books they predict will bring in typical 'midlist' sales (5-40,000 copies), so they don't buy so-called 'small' books from new authors, nor from authors who've been raking in steady, reliable sales for years. Now, for all but celebrity, bestselling and prestige clients, advances are paltry, promotional budgets and efforts are nonexistent, there's no guarantee your book will appear in brick-and-mortar stores, and your publisher won't want your next manuscript unless the one they just bought sells more than 40K copies. This deal could only be more unattractive if authors also had to deliver coffee to the publisher each morning, yet aspiring authors everywhere continue to grovel at the feet of the media megas. WHY?!
Go On An' Run Yo Mouth, I Got Nuthin' But Time Version (Can't Promise It Won't Go On Forever)
From where I sit, there are far more reasons not to sign with a mainstream publisher than reasons to sign with one. They've killed the midlist, they've adopted Hollywood's blockbuster marketing model, they've chipped away at advances and promo budgets for all but their prestige and bestseller clients, and now that Borders is reducing its in-store stock by 20% to display more titles face out (a move they've reported has led to a sales spike, so you can bet it'll be rolling out to B&N too), big publishers can't even guarantee a new author's book will be shelved in brick-and-mortar stores anymore.
What's astonishing is the fact that so many aspiring authors still see mainstream publishers as the gold standard in authorship and are willing to give up so much---even risking their entire future careers by putting all their literary eggs in one basket with that first manuscript sale, betting their future prospects on the slim chance their book hits big in spite of DIY marketing and poor exposure---in exchange for some kind of perceived status. The emperor clearly has no clothes, so why don't more of my peers see it too? To be sure, bestselling authors have their publishers to thank, in large part, for their careers. But given that bestselling authors make up maybe 1-2% of all published fiction writers at any given time, we've all got as good a chance of hitting the lottery as entering that rarified group. And if we don't enter that rarified group, we would've done better if we never published anything with a big house to begin with. Lemme break it down for you:
First off, it's widely accepted that only about 5% of all manuscripts submitted to publishers get contracts, and marketability/screenplay-likelihood is as large (or larger) a factor in rejection as quality of the work nowadays. Maybe 25% of that 5% is made up of manuscripts from famous, prestige, or previous-bestseller authors, and these will get the lion's share of attention, advances and promotional budget. The rest will get paltry advances of a few thousand dollars, which sounds all right until you realize that's your payday for the past months or even years of work you put into writing the manuscript. It's less attractive still when you realize the publisher's sole contribution to marketing your book will be promo copies, and you'll have to spend most or all of your advance on marketing. Have fun trying to sell your book, because the publisher can't guarantee it will be shelved in brick-and-mortar stores, and doesn't even want to broach the subject of audiobook or ebook editions until or unless some worthwhile sales figures come in. "Worthwhile" to these folks are sales on the order of more than 40K copies, and if your book doesn't cross that threshold the publisher (and all its imprints) won't want to publish you again. Talk about a vicious circle. Compounding your misery, you're facing an uphill battle in trying to sell future manuscripts to any of the other 5 major publishing conglomerates because you'll be viewed as damaged goods.
Some of us will make it, and the risk will have been worthwhile for those few, but all the other authors who get a contract will find their celebrations short-lived. I'm truly baffled by the 90% of aspiring authors who stay in the hunt for a prize they've only got a 5% chance of getting in the first place, which more often than not turns out to hurt the author more than help him or her. What up with that?!
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Another IndieAuthor Guide Is Live!
Bottom Line It For Me, Baby Version (200 Words Or Less):
I've been working on The IndieAuthor Guide to Promotion, but when I realized that the section on Press Kits was over 20pp all by itself, I decided to break things up and release the Press Kit section as a separate, standalone Guide. This Guide includes how-tos and information about one sheets, press releases, writing articles to raise your visibility, inexpensive promotional giveaways, author photo and more. Check it out.
(No Run Yo Mouth Version this time...be thankful!)
I've been working on The IndieAuthor Guide to Promotion, but when I realized that the section on Press Kits was over 20pp all by itself, I decided to break things up and release the Press Kit section as a separate, standalone Guide. This Guide includes how-tos and information about one sheets, press releases, writing articles to raise your visibility, inexpensive promotional giveaways, author photo and more. Check it out.
(No Run Yo Mouth Version this time...be thankful!)
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The Media Megas Are Paying Attention
Bottom Line It For Me, Baby Version (200 Words Or Less):
Media megaconglomerate publishers are starting to get wise to the new opportunities brought about by POD, ebook and Web 2.0 technologies. Now that it's becoming increasingly clear that these tools can allow authors to dispense with mainstream publishers entirely, those publishers are asking how they can use their ever-weakening chokehold on, and status in, the publishing industry to cash in on these new trends.
Hyperion founder Bob Miller is starting up a new venture that is being presented as a sort of forward-thinking, egalitarian response to changes in the publishing world, but the fact that the venture will be bankrolled by Harper is proof enough for me that it's just one more in a long line of efforts by the media megas to squeeze more blood from bone-dry stones.
P.S. My IndieAuthor Guide to Creating Your Brand is almost done, and next up after that will be The IndieAuthor Guide to Promotion. Watch for them at my website.
Go On An' Run Yo Mouth, I Got Nuthin' But Time Version (Can't Promise It Won't Go On Forever):
Mary W. Walters writes on the ABNA discussion board at Amazon:
From Publisher's Marketplace "Publisher's Lunch"
Hyperion's Bob Miller in Harper Start-Up
Founding publisher at Hyperion Bob Miller is leaving the company after 17 years to "launch a new global publishing program based on a non-traditional business model" starting on April 14 described as a "creative publishing 'studio' that challenges conventional trade publishing standards." They add: "Miller will publish approximately 25 popular-priced books per year in multiple physical and digital formats including those as yet unspecified, with the aim to combine the best practices of trade publishing while taking full advantage of the internet for sales, marketing and distribution. Authors will be compensated through a profit sharing model as opposed to a traditional royalty, and books will be promoted utilizing on-line publicity, advertising and marketing."
Continued on "Publishers Lunch", which is a free newsletter from http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/
An author can accomplish all the same things Miller intends to do him- or herself and keep all the profit, and all the rights to his or her work, so where's the incentive to give up both rights and earnings in favor of a 'profit sharing plan'? Moreover, since Miller's venture is being bankrolled by Harper, however much it may quack like a duck and swim like a duck, his company won't be a duck: it'll be just one more branch of the existing media megaconglomerates. The more I think about it, the more this strikes me as typical, bottom-line focused media mega thinking. I can picture the meeting now:
MM Exec 1: It's the advances and promo budgets that are killing us out there.
MM Exec 2: Let's reduce 'em.
MM Exec 3: Nah, we've slashed as low as we can go. The last contract I signed off on included a clause for 'lifetime supply of ramen noodles' in exchange for electronic rights.
MM Exec 1: (snaps fingers) What if we do away with advances altogether? What if we sell authors on the idea of some kind of touchy-feely author co-op, where we invest virtually nil in them up front and promise them a piece of the back-end?
MM Exec 2: But back-end calculations are so slippery, no one would ever fall for-
MM Exec 1: Shhh!
MM Exec 3: What about start-up costs? We still have to publish and distribute the books, and you know Borders and B&N take a huge bite.
MM Exec 1: POD, and online sales only, my man!
MM Exec 2: Can't authors use POD and online sales by themselves already?
MM Exec 1: Shhh!!!
MM Exec 3: Okay, I like where you're going with this, but won't we have to spend a few bucks on PR and marketing?
MM Exec 1: Why should we, when PRLog, OpenPR, YouTube, Blogger, Amazon reviews, LibraryThing and the whole effing internet is free?
MM Exec 2: If that's true, why would authors sign with us instead of using those outlets themselves? If we're not offering advances, brick-and-mortar store presence, real world promotion on TV, radio and in magazines, but we're still asking authors to sign over all their rights up front on the promise of possible sales in the future, why on Earth would any writer in his right mind---
MM Exec 1 & MM Exec 3: SHHHH!!!!!
P.S. My IndieAuthor Guide to Creating Your Brand is almost done, and next up after that will be The IndieAuthor Guide to Promotion. Watch for them at my website.
Media megaconglomerate publishers are starting to get wise to the new opportunities brought about by POD, ebook and Web 2.0 technologies. Now that it's becoming increasingly clear that these tools can allow authors to dispense with mainstream publishers entirely, those publishers are asking how they can use their ever-weakening chokehold on, and status in, the publishing industry to cash in on these new trends.
Hyperion founder Bob Miller is starting up a new venture that is being presented as a sort of forward-thinking, egalitarian response to changes in the publishing world, but the fact that the venture will be bankrolled by Harper is proof enough for me that it's just one more in a long line of efforts by the media megas to squeeze more blood from bone-dry stones.
P.S. My IndieAuthor Guide to Creating Your Brand is almost done, and next up after that will be The IndieAuthor Guide to Promotion. Watch for them at my website.
Go On An' Run Yo Mouth, I Got Nuthin' But Time Version (Can't Promise It Won't Go On Forever):
Mary W. Walters writes on the ABNA discussion board at Amazon:
From Publisher's Marketplace "Publisher's Lunch"
Hyperion's Bob Miller in Harper Start-Up
Founding publisher at Hyperion Bob Miller is leaving the company after 17 years to "launch a new global publishing program based on a non-traditional business model" starting on April 14 described as a "creative publishing 'studio' that challenges conventional trade publishing standards." They add: "Miller will publish approximately 25 popular-priced books per year in multiple physical and digital formats including those as yet unspecified, with the aim to combine the best practices of trade publishing while taking full advantage of the internet for sales, marketing and distribution. Authors will be compensated through a profit sharing model as opposed to a traditional royalty, and books will be promoted utilizing on-line publicity, advertising and marketing."
Continued on "Publishers Lunch", which is a free newsletter from http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/
An author can accomplish all the same things Miller intends to do him- or herself and keep all the profit, and all the rights to his or her work, so where's the incentive to give up both rights and earnings in favor of a 'profit sharing plan'? Moreover, since Miller's venture is being bankrolled by Harper, however much it may quack like a duck and swim like a duck, his company won't be a duck: it'll be just one more branch of the existing media megaconglomerates. The more I think about it, the more this strikes me as typical, bottom-line focused media mega thinking. I can picture the meeting now:
MM Exec 1: It's the advances and promo budgets that are killing us out there.
MM Exec 2: Let's reduce 'em.
MM Exec 3: Nah, we've slashed as low as we can go. The last contract I signed off on included a clause for 'lifetime supply of ramen noodles' in exchange for electronic rights.
MM Exec 1: (snaps fingers) What if we do away with advances altogether? What if we sell authors on the idea of some kind of touchy-feely author co-op, where we invest virtually nil in them up front and promise them a piece of the back-end?
MM Exec 2: But back-end calculations are so slippery, no one would ever fall for-
MM Exec 1: Shhh!
MM Exec 3: What about start-up costs? We still have to publish and distribute the books, and you know Borders and B&N take a huge bite.
MM Exec 1: POD, and online sales only, my man!
MM Exec 2: Can't authors use POD and online sales by themselves already?
MM Exec 1: Shhh!!!
MM Exec 3: Okay, I like where you're going with this, but won't we have to spend a few bucks on PR and marketing?
MM Exec 1: Why should we, when PRLog, OpenPR, YouTube, Blogger, Amazon reviews, LibraryThing and the whole effing internet is free?
MM Exec 2: If that's true, why would authors sign with us instead of using those outlets themselves? If we're not offering advances, brick-and-mortar store presence, real world promotion on TV, radio and in magazines, but we're still asking authors to sign over all their rights up front on the promise of possible sales in the future, why on Earth would any writer in his right mind---
MM Exec 1 & MM Exec 3: SHHHH!!!!!
P.S. My IndieAuthor Guide to Creating Your Brand is almost done, and next up after that will be The IndieAuthor Guide to Promotion. Watch for them at my website.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
The Newly-Published Author's Long, Dark Night of the Soul
Bottom Line It For Me, Baby Version (200 Words or Less):
If you think writing the book, soliciting feedback, revising, designing cover art, formatting, publishing and getting the book listed for sale are the hard parts...you ain't seen nuthin' yet. Your adventures in authorship have only just begun, and your work is far from over. Somehow, we've all acquired the tribal misinformation that once the book is out there, readers will rejoice and the inevitable tidal wave of sales will commence. The reality for newly-published, unknown authors everywhere is quite different. It's a given that indie authors are on their own to promote their books and get their books into brick-and-mortar stores, but the same is now true for mainstream-published authors as well. Shockingly, publication with a major house is no longer any guarantee that your book will show up on the shelf of your local Borders. It's oddly comforting to know we indies aren't at such a huge disadvantage compared to the mainstream anymore, but that doesn't make the work of self-promotion any easier or more pleasant.
An Indie Author Guide to Promotion is coming to the rescue, but every minute I spend writing about promotion is a minute I'm not able to do any promotion, so please be patient.
(No Run Yo Mouth Version again, because I'm too busy with...wait for it...promoting my books!)
If you think writing the book, soliciting feedback, revising, designing cover art, formatting, publishing and getting the book listed for sale are the hard parts...you ain't seen nuthin' yet. Your adventures in authorship have only just begun, and your work is far from over. Somehow, we've all acquired the tribal misinformation that once the book is out there, readers will rejoice and the inevitable tidal wave of sales will commence. The reality for newly-published, unknown authors everywhere is quite different. It's a given that indie authors are on their own to promote their books and get their books into brick-and-mortar stores, but the same is now true for mainstream-published authors as well. Shockingly, publication with a major house is no longer any guarantee that your book will show up on the shelf of your local Borders. It's oddly comforting to know we indies aren't at such a huge disadvantage compared to the mainstream anymore, but that doesn't make the work of self-promotion any easier or more pleasant.
An Indie Author Guide to Promotion is coming to the rescue, but every minute I spend writing about promotion is a minute I'm not able to do any promotion, so please be patient.
(No Run Yo Mouth Version again, because I'm too busy with...wait for it...promoting my books!)
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Merch And Schwag!
Bottom Line It For Me, Baby Version (200 Words or Less):
A number of friends and acquaintances have commented that the IndieAuthor movement needs t-shirts, coffee mugs and other stuff with appropriate slogans on them. Since I'd very much like to have an IndieAuthor t-shirt and coffee mug of my own, to show off my indie status with pride and maybe spark some conversations on the topic, I bet lots of others out there feel the same way. Along the same lines, several readers have commented about a specific quote from my novel 'Adelaide Einstein' as particularly t-shirt and magnet-worthy: "I am healthy, and vanity is the enemy of the soul."
As I am ever the servant of my fellow authors (and hope to make a few bucks to keep this little IndieAuthor dog and pony show rolling along), I've set up a Cafepress shop where you can buy t-shirts, mugs, tote bags and magnets with IndieAuthor slogans and that quote from 'Adelaide Einstein'. To date, it seems the most popular slogan is, "Independence: It's Not Just For Musicians and Filmmakers Anymore," but there are many others as well. Take a look-see!
(Once again, there's no Run Yo Mouth version...I'm not feeling terribly verbose lately)
A number of friends and acquaintances have commented that the IndieAuthor movement needs t-shirts, coffee mugs and other stuff with appropriate slogans on them. Since I'd very much like to have an IndieAuthor t-shirt and coffee mug of my own, to show off my indie status with pride and maybe spark some conversations on the topic, I bet lots of others out there feel the same way. Along the same lines, several readers have commented about a specific quote from my novel 'Adelaide Einstein' as particularly t-shirt and magnet-worthy: "I am healthy, and vanity is the enemy of the soul."
As I am ever the servant of my fellow authors (and hope to make a few bucks to keep this little IndieAuthor dog and pony show rolling along), I've set up a Cafepress shop where you can buy t-shirts, mugs, tote bags and magnets with IndieAuthor slogans and that quote from 'Adelaide Einstein'. To date, it seems the most popular slogan is, "Independence: It's Not Just For Musicians and Filmmakers Anymore," but there are many others as well. Take a look-see!
(Once again, there's no Run Yo Mouth version...I'm not feeling terribly verbose lately)
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
More IndieAuthor Guides
Bottom Line It For Me, Baby Version (200 Words or Less)
I've been working on a series of IndieAuthor Guides for authors who would like to go independent but worry that they lack the necessary technical skills or knowledge. When all the Guides are finished I will combine them for publication as a book, but until then I'm offering them to my fellow writers for free via the IA Guides link on my author website. The following IndieAuthor Guides are available now:
- Publishing With the Amazon DTP & MS Word(TM) 2003 or Higher
- Publishing With CreateSpace(TM)& MS Word(TM) 2003 or Higher
- Designing Your Own Book Covers
- Editing
These are the Guides still to be written:
- IndieAuthor Guide to Why Going Indie Is Right For Most Authors
- IndieAuthor Guide to Creating Your Brand
- IndieAuthor Guide to Creating Your Web Presence
- IndieAuthor Guide to Getting Organized
- IndieAuthor Guide to Resources
So go to my site, bookmark it and check back for additional Guides every week or so. At the rate I'm cranking them out, I should be ready to turn them into a book by the end of April.
There is no 'run yo mouth' version of this post, because believe it or not, that's all I've got to say!
I've been working on a series of IndieAuthor Guides for authors who would like to go independent but worry that they lack the necessary technical skills or knowledge. When all the Guides are finished I will combine them for publication as a book, but until then I'm offering them to my fellow writers for free via the IA Guides link on my author website. The following IndieAuthor Guides are available now:
- Publishing With the Amazon DTP & MS Word(TM) 2003 or Higher
- Publishing With CreateSpace(TM)& MS Word(TM) 2003 or Higher
- Designing Your Own Book Covers
- Editing
These are the Guides still to be written:
- IndieAuthor Guide to Why Going Indie Is Right For Most Authors
- IndieAuthor Guide to Creating Your Brand
- IndieAuthor Guide to Creating Your Web Presence
- IndieAuthor Guide to Getting Organized
- IndieAuthor Guide to Resources
So go to my site, bookmark it and check back for additional Guides every week or so. At the rate I'm cranking them out, I should be ready to turn them into a book by the end of April.
There is no 'run yo mouth' version of this post, because believe it or not, that's all I've got to say!
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Terrific Resources For Indie Authors
Bottom Line It For Me Baby, Version (200 words or less) :
My ultimate goal with Indie Author is to build it up into a time-saving, one-stop resource for independents such as myself, with information for every step of the process. Eventually, ideally, whether you're trying to decide if going indie is the right choice for you, figure out how to use various technologies in self-publishing, find ways to promote yourself and your work, or just locate some kindred spirits in the movement, I want Indie Author to serve your needs. When I first began this blog, it was disheartening to find "indie author" wasn't already taken as either a gmail username or a blog name. It made me wonder if there were any other independents out there at all. As it turns out, there are others who are just as passionate about the movement as me. I've been very, very busy, but I'm taking a brief breather to post links to the most valuable sites and resources I've found for indie authors so far. It's good to know I will not have to author all of that much-needed content myself, but I'm also writing some articles of my own to fill in the gaps. Check the 'Links of Interest' at my author website for the new stuff.
Go On An' Run Yo Mouth, I Got Nuthin' But Time Version (can't promise it won't go on forever):
So much to do, so much to do. Based on my own needs and requests from others, here's my short list (in no particular order): inspect and (hopefully) approve my latest trade paperback proofs, get a promotional blitz going for them, order and distribute editorial review copies of the trade paperbacks, continue my promotional efforts on my Kindle editions, convert the manuscripts into all the most popular ebook formats and offer them for sale, write and offer more Indie Author how-to articles on how to do everything from establishing a web presence to creating your own cover art, and last but not least, get back to my two works-in-progress.
However, while researching ways to promote my work---notoriously challenging for any author, but particularly so for an independent---I've come across some sites of tremendous value. I've added these to my 'Links of Interest' at my author website, and provide a brief overview of them below. This is some excellent stuff, and whenever a given site or resource includes a link to email or send a comment to the creator, I strongly encourage each of you to let the authors of these sites know how much you appreciate their generosity in sharing their wealth of experience and information. Any indie movement is a grass-roots movement, so anything you, I or other indie authors can do to help one another ultimately benefits the movement as a whole.
Trying to decide whether or not 'indie' is the right choice for you? Read the pertinent articles on The Populist Publisher and Foner Books' Self-Publishing Blog. Want to know what's going on in the world of indie publishing? Check out Independent Publisher and The Independent Authors Guild.
Want to know how to publish your work for the Kindle, using Amazon's Digital Text Platform and MS Word 2003 or higher? Read my how-to article on that very topic.
It's written and published, but now you don't know how to promote your work online? Try posting something at Independent Authors, 1 Chapter Free, or Pages Unbound. For information and links to get your author 'web presence' going, try these tips from Marsha Jordan.
It's written and published, you've got your web presence and you've posted in every possible corner of the internet, but now you need some editorial reviews and old-school marketing help? To quickly locate a ton of news and editorial outlets that have expressed a willingness to review and/or share news about your type of work, sign up for a free account at BookConnector and you can do a search of such outlets all over the world. Need to solicit editorial reviews from newspapers and magazines? Search for the periodicals best suited to your request at Newspapers of the World. Not surprisingly, Marsha Jordan offers some great ideas in her Tools You Can Use article and her Book Promoting Tips article. Also check out the articles by Carolyn Howard Johnson, The Frugal Book Promoter.
And there you have it, my indie brothers- and sisters-at-arms. Anytime I find a new resource or article I think could be of some use to you, I'll post it here at Indie Author. In the meantime, I hope today's stuff is enough to keep you busy for at least a couple of weeks while I try to check a few more things off of my own to-do list.
My ultimate goal with Indie Author is to build it up into a time-saving, one-stop resource for independents such as myself, with information for every step of the process. Eventually, ideally, whether you're trying to decide if going indie is the right choice for you, figure out how to use various technologies in self-publishing, find ways to promote yourself and your work, or just locate some kindred spirits in the movement, I want Indie Author to serve your needs. When I first began this blog, it was disheartening to find "indie author" wasn't already taken as either a gmail username or a blog name. It made me wonder if there were any other independents out there at all. As it turns out, there are others who are just as passionate about the movement as me. I've been very, very busy, but I'm taking a brief breather to post links to the most valuable sites and resources I've found for indie authors so far. It's good to know I will not have to author all of that much-needed content myself, but I'm also writing some articles of my own to fill in the gaps. Check the 'Links of Interest' at my author website for the new stuff.
Go On An' Run Yo Mouth, I Got Nuthin' But Time Version (can't promise it won't go on forever):
So much to do, so much to do. Based on my own needs and requests from others, here's my short list (in no particular order): inspect and (hopefully) approve my latest trade paperback proofs, get a promotional blitz going for them, order and distribute editorial review copies of the trade paperbacks, continue my promotional efforts on my Kindle editions, convert the manuscripts into all the most popular ebook formats and offer them for sale, write and offer more Indie Author how-to articles on how to do everything from establishing a web presence to creating your own cover art, and last but not least, get back to my two works-in-progress.
However, while researching ways to promote my work---notoriously challenging for any author, but particularly so for an independent---I've come across some sites of tremendous value. I've added these to my 'Links of Interest' at my author website, and provide a brief overview of them below. This is some excellent stuff, and whenever a given site or resource includes a link to email or send a comment to the creator, I strongly encourage each of you to let the authors of these sites know how much you appreciate their generosity in sharing their wealth of experience and information. Any indie movement is a grass-roots movement, so anything you, I or other indie authors can do to help one another ultimately benefits the movement as a whole.
Trying to decide whether or not 'indie' is the right choice for you? Read the pertinent articles on The Populist Publisher and Foner Books' Self-Publishing Blog. Want to know what's going on in the world of indie publishing? Check out Independent Publisher and The Independent Authors Guild.
Want to know how to publish your work for the Kindle, using Amazon's Digital Text Platform and MS Word 2003 or higher? Read my how-to article on that very topic.
It's written and published, but now you don't know how to promote your work online? Try posting something at Independent Authors, 1 Chapter Free, or Pages Unbound. For information and links to get your author 'web presence' going, try these tips from Marsha Jordan.
It's written and published, you've got your web presence and you've posted in every possible corner of the internet, but now you need some editorial reviews and old-school marketing help? To quickly locate a ton of news and editorial outlets that have expressed a willingness to review and/or share news about your type of work, sign up for a free account at BookConnector and you can do a search of such outlets all over the world. Need to solicit editorial reviews from newspapers and magazines? Search for the periodicals best suited to your request at Newspapers of the World. Not surprisingly, Marsha Jordan offers some great ideas in her Tools You Can Use article and her Book Promoting Tips article. Also check out the articles by Carolyn Howard Johnson, The Frugal Book Promoter.
And there you have it, my indie brothers- and sisters-at-arms. Anytime I find a new resource or article I think could be of some use to you, I'll post it here at Indie Author. In the meantime, I hope today's stuff is enough to keep you busy for at least a couple of weeks while I try to check a few more things off of my own to-do list.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
