Tag Archive | the book designer

Top 10 FAQs About Book Publicity and Promotion

Some good information about promotion by Joan Stewart. I particularly like the list of free press release distribution services. I have not tried any of these but will definitely look into them.

Joan also lists a couple paid services that she prefers, though one would have to wonder if she says The main reason you’re publishing your press release isn’t so media reprint it. Few if any will. You’re publishing it so it pulls traffic to your website and serves as collateral material for a well-written, customized pitch to a journalist, reviewer, influencer or someone else who can help you, I’m not sure that would be money well spent. I would think the free services would suffice. But what do I know about this? Nothing, really.

Anyone else know about these PR services?

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The number one question authors ask? “How long do I have to market my book?” Here are the most frequently asked questions I hear about book publicity…

Source: Top 10 FAQs About Book Publicity and Promotion – The Book Designer

NetGalley Book Review Program: A Case Study

Feb15

I thought this was an interesting and helpful post about the NetGalley Review Program. If you’ve ever considered using NetGalley, this is a post worth reading. I’ve heard many people say “Never pay for reviews.” I’m not sure “never” is always accurate but before you pay for a review from anyone, do your homework to try and find out if it’s worth the money you will be spending.

There are many companies out there willing to take advantage of the struggle authors have with getting their name and books out there. That’s why there are so many different things (and people or companies offering those things) out there telling you their thing is THE thing you need to do, or one of the most important things to do.

I do agree that increasing the number of reviews you have is one of the first things you need to do as an author, but do you need to pay for those reviews. Maybe or maybe not.

See what David Kudler did with his book.

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Most publishers (large and small) struggle with making their titles visible. In the trackless jungle that is the modern book-buying world (the Amazon?), getting your book reviewed is an essential part

Source: NetGalley Book Review Program: A Case Study – The Book Designer

Print Piracy and Free Trade

Dec7

My general take on print book priracy (or ebook priacy for that matter) – it’s not worth my energy and time to do anything about it. There are so many other positive things I need to do with my time related to my books (and my personal time for that matter), but David has given us some very good information about how the process all works, and good information and knowing the process that you’re a part of (whether you like it or not) is always a good thing.

I have also had an issue with my ebook and print books not being connected, but I was also able to fix that by contacting the kdp support people, and it only happened once. But if you want to know how to fix it yourself, David tells you how.

Source: The Book Designer – Practical advice to help build better books

my image CKBooks Publishing
Where Publishing Dreams Become Reality

Book Promotion: Do This, Not That – October 2016

Oct19

Amy Collins gives us some good advice about planning ahead related to book marketing and sales, not something I am particularly good at. I also want to add, it has been my experience that libraries also tend to budget quite a bit ahead, so if you want to offer a writing program, or “How I Self-Published My First Book” workshop, or a book reading/sale, you would want to contact libraries now. Many will be planning for next year about now.

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Amy’s post:

October already? How the heck did THAT happen? Another month of great marketing and sales successes to be had. Let’s get started with this month’s three tidbits of book promotion experience:

Source: Book Promotion: Do This, Not That – October 2016 – The Book Designer

Self-Publishing News You Can Use — September 2016

Sep14

Some interesting information for authors everywhere! Like that ibooks bestseller list too! Thanks for gathering this information, Amy!

Source: Self-Publishing News You Can Use — September 2016

A Step-by-Step Guide to Dealing with Content Theft

Apr11

In this day and age of easy access to almost anything, it makes sense that your published (and copyrighted) work would be at risk. It comes with the territory, I suppose. But it doesn’t mean you have no recourse. Here is some very practical information from Helen Sedwich on Joel Friedlander’s book designer site on content theft.

A Step-by-Step Guide to Dealing with Content Theft by Helen Sedwick — The Book Designer.

Christine Keleny

CKBooks Publishing
Where Publishing Dreams Become Reality

Top 5 Ways Authors Sabotage Their Own Book by Shayla Eaton

Oct20

from dreamstime.com

In this post, Top 5 Ways Authors Sabotage Their Own Book by Shayla Eaton — The Book Designer, Shayla Eaton really talks about 1 way that authors sabotage their book and 5 reasons why they do it.

Still a good post, though. Editing is SO important. I’ve made the mistake of hiring people that aren’t editing professionals, and I’ve cost myself money (and probably readers) because of it.

The last point Shayla makes is a very good one as well. I always tell my author clients that I can not possible pick up every error – the vast majority, yes – but not every single one. Editors are human too! Even after a professional edit, you need to have someone who has never read the story before, read it for you before you have it printed or even before you have a proof made.

I have learned this the hard way with my third book, I assumed the new editor I hired got all my errors but she hadn’t, of course. I had 30 books printed that I now can’t use because of the mistakes I found. Not many but enough that I don’t want people to see it.

So spend the money to hire a professional editor and take the time to have someone (other than yourself) read it after it has been edited. I’d also encourage you or again, someone else, look at the proof as well. You will be surprised the small things that will still be found. And I’ll share a little proofing trick, go through the story backwards. It makes you slow your reading down and not get into the story as easily. In proofing you shouldn’t be reading the story, you need to be reading the words and the sentences.

(Note: there are other aspects of proofing that need to be looked at as well. Check out this old post for more details about proofing.)

Warning: Discoverability Dependency is Hazardous to Your Fiction Marketing

Oct9

Jason Kong has some good ideas about the next steps in an authors marketing plan. Having been there, it does take your time to find these people: bloggers who speak to your type of reader, peers who are willing to collaborate (I have yet to try this yet), and of course, fans.

I would suggest pick one thing and start there for a week or two then move onto a second option, then the third and repeat…

Warning: Discoverability Dependency is Hazardous to Your Fiction Marketing by Jason Kong — The Book Designer.

Free ISBN or No Free ISBN? That is the Question

Apr15

from qwentanner.com

I know I’ve posted information about ISBN’s before but Joel Friedlander on his website, The Book Designer, gives more detail than I’ve found in other blog posts before and is worth sharing if you’ve ever questioned whether you should accept that free ISBN from createspace or any other publisher. This post has information that should help you decide.

ISBN 101 For Self-Publishers — The Book Designer.