I hope you’re hungry for inspiration today, because I’ve got a plateful of reading you won’t want to miss. To start, you can break out your spreadsheet (if you’re that type) to follow along on calculating author profits. Or spend some time thinking about the future of the author services business or why you need an editor. Top it off with two terrific posts on using social media to market your books. It’s a feast!
Nathan Bransford on Nathan Bransford
Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishing: Which Way Will You Make More Money?
“With the e-revolution (e-volution?) well underway, print sales are declining and there’s a great disparity between the amount an author can make per-copy with a self-published e-book vs. a traditionally published e-book. Authors are taking a hard look at their balance sheets.”
Jane Friedman on Writer Unboxed
The Future of Self-Publishing Services
“A lot of ink—real ink and electronic ink—has been spilled on whether publishing will die, or books will die, or agents will die, etc. But what about the impact on fee-based self-publishing services? I’m thinking specifically of the ones that focus on print-on-demand books.”
Penelope Trunk on Penelope Trunk
The New Rules for Self-Publishing
“Today authors need to be good at creating landing pages. It used to be that publishers were market-makers for books. We know now that authors are, but since publishers are not great at online marketing, it makes sense that the person who is writing—and connecting with the audience—would also be the person writing the landing page to turn interest into sales.”
Donna Marie Williams on Huffington Post
Honor Your Readers, Hire an Editor
“I’ve heard every excuse in the book as to why writers won’t invest in editing and proofing. Most say they don’t have the money. Then, writers, you must raise the funds. In fact, before you even begin writing, come up with a plan for how you will finance this most important step in making your book the best it can be.”
Guy Kawasaki on Mashable
HOW TO: Launch Any Product Using Social Media
“Here, I’d like to outline the 12 things that I did to launch my new book, including information about costs and vendors I used, as well as analytics. Though my “product” is a book, the methods I used can apply to product introductions in general. Hopefully this post will provide marketers with ideas for how to launch just about anything.”
A Self-Publisher’s Companion
I’ve been really gratified by the response to my new book. Although I’m in the middle of a glitch with Amazon, who has listed the book as “Usually ships within 1 to 3 weeks,” the Kindle edition is selling now.
I was really honored to be featured on Roger C. Parker’s Published and Profitable blog in his article Find out if self-publishing a brand-building book is for you.
Then Tony Eldridge was kind enough to host an article I wrote for him on his Marketing Tips for Authors blog on Brainstorming Non-Bookstore Sales.
And Jane Friedman hosted an article I wrote for her There Are No Rules blog on How to Get Reviews for Self-Published Books.
Many thanks to all.
If you are looking for a faster way to get a copy of the print book (it’s pretty nicely designed, I must say), just order it from Barnes & Noble, who is shipping within 24 hours. Here’s a link:
A Self-Publisher’s Companion on BN.com.
I wrote this book to explain the world of self-publishing to authors thinking about getting into print or doing an e-book. With the rise of print on demand technology and the coming of ebooks, it’s time for every author to consider taking control of their publishing destiny. There’s no reason for writers to postpone their publishing career any more.
If you know someone thinking about taking the plunge, I would appreciate it if you would point the book out to them. Thanks.
Photo by flickr4jazz
