This Week in the Blogs, May 27 – June 2, 2017

POSTED ON Jun 4, 2017

Home > Blog > Self-Publishing, Social Media > This Week in the Blogs, May 27 – June 2, 2017

By Shelley Sturgeon

We’re nearly halfway through the year. Have you met the writing and self-publishing goals you set for yourself at the beginning of the year? If so, well done! If not, maybe it’s time to review your goals and figure out why you’re behind schedule?

Lots of resources, tips and information here on The Book Designer to help. You can access our archive of articles by category here and always remember that if you have a question about an article you find on this site, you can always leave a comment for the author.

Rachel Bartee on Where Writers Win
Clear Step-By-Step Guide to Editing for Self-Publishers
“Cutting things out… that’s a writer’s greatest nightmare. It may be your ego. You spent days and nights over that manuscript. Now, cutting a single sentence away breaks your heart. Still, you have to do it. The editing process is an absolutely necessary part in the journey of a book.”

Michelle Deery on How to Blog a Book
Selling Your Ebook on Your Own Website vs. Amazon
“Once you’ve finished writing your ebook, you have a choice to make: sell it on Amazon or on your website. Which is the better option for you?”

Sarah Robinson on Live Write Thrive
Challenges Authors Face in Getting Reviews for Their Books
“Even if you write the most incredible book in the world, you’ll still need to spend a good amount of time putting it in front of potential readers and getting their feedback and reviews.”

Chris Syme on Build Book Buzz
Three keys to selling more books with social media
“There are hundreds of social media networking sites on the Internet. Of those, there are 10 or so that most people can identify. Five years ago it was pretty easy to be found and followed on social media. Now the Internet is bulging with information.”

C. Hope Clark on Funds for Writers
The Wrong Bio
“A gentleman at a conference came up to me and asked how he was supposed to include a bio in his query letter to literary agents when he had not published. He had a couple of stories in anthologies, and his day job had nothing to do with his writing. He kept catching himself making excuses in his bio.”

Self-Publishing News You Can Use

By Amy Collins

Amazon Debuts Amazon Charts Bestseller lists

Two weeks ago, Amazon debuted Amazon Charts. Amazon Charts show their data in two different ways. Most Read and Most Sold. Most Read includes data on books that have been downloaded and read as part of all the various programs Amazon offers. (KDP Select, Unlimited, Match..) Most Sold is a list of books ranked by sales and presales.

While Bestseller lists are not new for Amazon, Amazon Charts offers more and deeper analysis and information that authors and publishers can use to see what readers are consuming. What people read and what they buy are interesting to see in the first few week’s charts. Amazon will be listing 20 titles in each list.