No matter how many years you’ve seen, springtime can make you feel like a puppy running in the grass, don’t you think? And why not, when you’ve got such talented bloggers as these to educate, inspire, and inform us? Today take a minute out to gain from a recent survey, breathe deeply of the air of freedom, concentrate on selling books and rights, and get your book descriptions in shape. Have fun.

Mark Coker on Smashwords
New Smashwords Survey Helps Authors Sell More eBooks
“It’s helpful to imagine dozens of levers and dials attached to your book that you can twist, turn and tweak. When you get everything just right, your book’s sales will increase through viral word-of-mouth … I refer to these tweakable things as Viral Catalysts. A Viral Catalyst is anything that makes your book more available, accessible, discoverable, desirable or enjoyable to readers. This survey attempts to identify Viral Catalysts by analyzing the common characteristics of bestselling (and poor-selling) Smashwords ebooks.”

Joanna Penn on The Creative Penn
You Have Permission
“I’ve been writing journals for 20 years but blogging here for nearly 5 years has changed me far more. Because clicking the Publish button has made me think more deeply about what I want to say. Because these words are going into the world, and people may well read them. Because I have met writers who have challenged me to go deeper. Those of you who have been reading this blog for a long time have witnessed the change as I’ve shared the journey with all its ups and downs.”

Catherine Ryan Howard on Catherine, Caffeinated
Social Media: Have You Got It All Wrong?
“I think it’s time we demystified this whole selling-books-with-social-media thing. Because maybe if we took your average Social Media Skeptic and explained to them, in practical, tangible terms, what it actually means, they’d feel differently.”

Tom Chalmers on FutureBook
Authors and book rights – some more truths
“Historically this is not an area in which authors have been required to have any great understanding of – it was generally handled by the publisher and/or agency – but with more authors self-publishing, a better understanding of this fundamental revenue stream is now vital.”

Stephen Hise on Indies Unlimited
Book Description Epic Fail
“I … want to focus on book descriptions. When I vet books, this is about as far as I ever have to go. Occasionally, I will read the preview of a book only because I can’t believe the book itself could possibly be as bad as the description. In many instances, the book is WAY better than the book description.”

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