Sometimes self-publishing can seem like a really hard puzzle we have to figure out and then solve. That’s where the experience of people who’ve already put the pieces together can be so helpful. And it’s the same reason I return again and again to the bloggers who offer their advice, their experience, and their opinions so we all can gain from them. This week’s collection is more of the same—Enjoy!

Lindsay Buroker on Lindsay Buroker
Increasing Visibility on Amazon with the Big-Fish-Small-Pond Strategy
“If you’re hand-selling your books by directing people to Amazon, one at a time (or perhaps in an occasional clump through buying a sponsorship on a blog/forum/mailing list), you might feel that you’re constantly pushing a boulder up a hill, and you never seem to get to the point where your book sells itself. If you stop hustling for a day, your sales tank. On the other hand, you probably know of authors who can release a new title and have it instantly jump to the top of the sales rankings. Maybe you’re even getting Amazon emails that recommend you buy that author’s book. (The nerve, right?)”

David Gaughran on Let’s Get Visible
The Case Against Author Solutions, Part 1: The Numbers
“The more you study an operation like Author Solutions, the more it resembles a two-bit internet scam, except on a colossal scale.”

Mark Coker on Smashwords
Apple’s New iOS 8 is Game-Changer for eBook Retailing
“Yesterday Apple unveiled iOS 8, the new Apple operating system upgrade that will come out this fall. Buried in a slide during the live demo event referenced as “iOS 8 features we didn’t have time to talk about” was an ebook retailing bombshell: iBooks will come pre-installed on iOS 8. The iBooks app is Apple’s ebook store. … This is a game-changer for ebook retailing.”

Frances Caballo on Social Media Just For Writers
14 Strategies for Curating Great Content
“You could spend hours curating information, but who has the time? Instead, you can develop strategies that will enable you to curate content efficiently, schedule your posts and get back to your writing.”

Mick Rooney on The Independent Publishing Magazine
Publishing Service Index | June 2014
“This is the PUBLISHING SERVICE INDEX for June 2014. This update reflects some review updates and author feedback over the past six weeks. CreateSpace and Amazon KDP once again swap places at the top. We recently reported some increased distribution options for Blurb authors (including Amazon Kindle and Ingram print and e-book). If there is positive feedback from authors over the coming weeks on these new distribution options, then I would expect we will see Blurb make a return to the top ten.”

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