This Week in the Blogs, November 24 – 30, 2013

POSTED ON Dec 1, 2013

Joel Friedlander

Written by Joel Friedlander

Home > Blog > Self-Publishing, Social Media > This Week in the Blogs, November 24 – 30, 2013

Wow, is November really over? It seems like a whirlwind of activity since the excitement over National Novel Writing Month began, and now it’s over. I hope there are lots of juicy first drafts out there, and that these books—or many of them—will reach publication. In the meantime, there’s lots of great reading here, and at the bottom a wrap up on our Nano Promotion. Cheers!

Penny Sansevieri on Author Marketing Experts Blog
Author Alert: Resolving the Amazon Keyword Issue
“I had read somewhere that Jeff Bezos reads all of his email. I don’t know if that’s true or an Amazon urban legend but I figured it was worth a try. So I took the email they gave me for KDP (their standard email) and wrote the following note to both Jeff Bezos and KDP. Candidly, I assumed it would lead nowhere:”

John Amy on Promo Design
10 Tips for designing your Kindle Ebook Cover
“The secret is to produce something that attracts your particular audience and conveys the substance and quality of the writing – and ideally enhances it.”

Derek Murphy on CreativINDIE
Everything you wanted to know about advertising your book (book promotion through Google, Facebook and More)
“Many authors are spending money on marketing that would be so much better spent on a new book cover, an editor for their sales copy … or some reviews (I support paid reviews as long as they are honest, genuine and not necessarily positive – and they don’t have to be expensive.)”

Mick Rooney on The Independent Publishing Magazine
IngramSpark – Reviewed
“The IngramSpark publishing platform is outstanding as a post-production file system. There is simply no other accessible platform that remotely touches what it can deliver. It’s a work in progress and by no means perfect.”

Jessica Bennett on Writer Unboxed
Ten Things I’ve Learned from Evaluating Self-Published Books for a Year
“Wouldn’t it be absolutely wonderful if the best written books – those with stories so compelling that you’re laughing until water comes out of your nose and crying so hard you go through a whole box of tissues – naturally made it to the bestsellers list? Well, life just doesn’t work that way.”

Thanks for an Awesome Month!

Yesterday we wrapped up our month-long promotion celebrating all the writers who take part in NaNoWriMo and Write Nonfiction in November.

It was a huge undertaking, with lots of new social media sites, new software, and lots of goodies that we gave away to folks who took part in the event.

Over the 4 weeks, we had 6,664 entries, put hundreds of people on our email list, added over 1,000 Twitter followers and more on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, posted blog articles and participated in 2 live Twitter chats.

I just want to thank everyone who took part in this event, you guys are awesome.

And I specially want to thank Kate Tilton, our Social Media Manger, for managing most of the activity, and my partner in Book Design Templates, Tracy Atkins, who handled all the technical setup and customer service as well as running the business in the meantime.

Want to know who won what? Here’s a complete list of the winners, congrats to all:

Week 1
Kindle Fire HDX
Sandra Stiles

Kindle PaperWhite
Denise Baker Gaskins
Nanette Day

$25 Starbucks Gift Cards
Bruce Bradley
Mary Mulvihill
Amy Denim
Megan Peticolas Haskell

Week 2
Nook HD
Rebecca J Blain
Dean Newby

$25 B&N Card
Makaela
Dean Martin
Fiona Skye
Shelly Hammond

Week 3
Kindle Fire HD
Kimberly Hulsey

$25 Amazon Gift card
Carol Lynn
Angela C
Christine Simmons
Daisy

Week 4
Ipad Air
Kat Sheridan

$25 Itunes Gift Cards
Rosemary S Valdez
Judith Cauthan
Jinjer Stanton
Kim Reid

We have a lot more in store for you in the new year. New ways to help authors and publishers get their books to market faster and easier than ever before. New services specifically designed for the indie author community. New promotions that will help save your budget.

If you’re on my email list or our list at Book Design Templates, you’ll be the first to know, so make sure you sign up today.

Photo: bigstockphoto.com

Joel Friedlander

Written by
Joel Friedlander

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