Using PreOrders to Sell New Books -- BookBub

BookBub queried 300 authors on how they were using preorders to sell new books. Click here for the results.

Mission Point Press encourages epub preorders at KDP, and these can be loaded with just a description and a final cover.

We generally discourage paperback preorders, as those would need to flow through IngramSpark, making Ingram the principle printer/distributor of orders through Amazon and locking in Ingram’s lower royalty.

KDP is always innovating, and we hope a paperback or hardcover preorder option is coming soon.

Blurbing the Blurb

A blurb is an advert, a puff, a commendation, a gloss, according to various dictionary definitions. Or, in the words of Rachel Donadio, writing years ago for The New York Times, blurbs “represent a tangled mass of friendships, rivalries, favors traded and debts repaid, not always in good faith.” Indeed. But how are we to manage them? What place are they to have in our literary lives? Is a blurb an obligation? An apprehension? A price? A prize?

The always excellent Jane Friedman mulls the blurb here.

Chapter Titles Aren't Just for Children's books

This blog post focuses on ebooks, but even print books light up with a little chapter title pizzazz.

Chapter titles are making a big comeback in the age of the e-book.

Why?

Because of the “Look Inside” function on a book’s buy page at most online retailers. This is where you make or break your sale, as Ruth showed us in her great post on How To Lose a Book Sale. Most retailers insist on a Table of Contents in your opening pages. And the average Table of Contents of a novel looks like this:

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Bored yet?

Is that really what you want taking up the valuable real estate in your “Look Inside”?

Compare that with Rick Riordan’s current #1 Bestseller, The Red Pyramid

  1. A Death at the Needle

  2. An Explosion for Christmas

  3. Imprisoned with my Cat

  4. Kidnapped by a Not-So-Stranger…

Which table of contents is more likely to intrigue a reader?

Read the entire Anne R. Allen … with Ruth Harris blog post here.

Your Book, Your Copyright, Your Heirs

From The Legal Genealogist:

The Legal Genealogist trusts that — by now — readers understand that copyright lasts for some time after the death of the person who created the work: the book; the photo; the painting.

Around the world, the minimum time generally is 50 years after the death of the creator. In the United States, it’s generally 70 years after the death of the creator.

What may not be as well understood is who owns the copyright at that point — and how that person comes to own it.

Here’s the link to the full article at The Passive Voice, plus Mr. PG’s solid advice:

The bottom line for your copyrights and everything else you own is that your heirs will be very grateful to you if you have a will.

Why Is There No Profit from Selling Books to Bookstores?

It has to do with priorities: who gets what and how much.

Self-published bestseller Hugh Howie spells it out from one to ten in this article — including some history — and rates the importance of the different “stakeholders” thus:

1: Readers
2: Writers
3: Editors
4: Bookstores (digital only)
5: Libraries
6: Books (as in paper books)
7: Narrators
8: Cover artists
9: Publishers
10: Critics

The priorities part comes in when you swap “author” for “publisher.” A partial list might look something like this:

  1. Bookstores (physical)

  2. Libraries

  3. Books (as in paper books)

  4. Critics

  5. Cover artists

  6. Editors

  7. Narrators

  8. Authors

  9. Readers

Publishing Predictions 2021

Agent Laurie McLean, who’s also the director of the San Francisco Writers Conference, has a few predictions for the post-pandemic publishing world. I found this one particularly intriguing:

6) Indie Authors Have a Resurgence

Indie authors are about to experience another resurgence. Especially if they can figure out audiobooks (maybe outside of ACX?). And alternative publishing formats. Ask me about Serial Box, Radish, and Crazy Maple Studio. There is a lot of entrepreneurial creativity going on in publishing right now. Some will rise, some will fail, but it will be very interesting to experience.

Read the rest here.

Social Media for Writers

Here’s a list put together by Kindlepreneur that defines the different platforms and provides links to writers using those platforms effectively. The free stuff is comprehensive, if basic. I didn’t check out the course, but if someone does sign up for it, let us know how it goes.

https://kindlepreneur.com/social-media-for-writers/

2020 A Year of Defiance, Challenges and Opportunities by T.R. Shaw, Jr

 As 2020 ends I have an urge to look back, write, and put it all in perspective.  While I’d like to wax poetically about it, it’s a daunting task for any writer or big-thinker. Many will try.

We’ve all been through so much.  COVID-19 of course, shutdowns, quarantines, wildfires, floods, hurricanes, heat waves, racial strife, a contentious election, and social isolation.  Where would you begin?  What a year to remember or forget!

 Instead, I’d like to focus on being a first-time author during a pandemic.  

A year ago in December, I launched my first published book, DEFY THE IMMEDIATE, A Journey of Failure, Perseverance and Success, which I termed a “motivational memoir” on overcoming obstacles and challenges, where I shared my life experiences; both good and bad.

I hosted a great launch party in my hometown, sold many books that evening, and had high hopes for a successful and profitable year, speaking, selling and signing books.  Little did I know how apropos the title would become, as nearly all of us spent the year “Defying the Immediate.” 

Read the rest at T.R.’s blog

Should You Hire a Social Media Consultant?

I hate social media. It’s an addictive rabbit-hole.

I just don’t have time. Social media takes away from my precious writing time.

I’m no good at creating those visuals and posts.

I hate all that self-promotion.

I’ve heard many authors—myself included—express frustration and dismay at the expectation that we will not only produce wonderful books, but also carry out what amounts to a second full-time job as our own marketing team. Most of us don’t mind holding events, whether live or virtual, where we get to engage with readers. Nor do we mind interviews, written or recorded, where we can talk about our books and our writing process. But what so many of us do hate is the seemingly bottomless pit of social media engagement.

Facebook, with all those reader and writer groups. Instagram. Twitter. Pinterest.

“Likes” and “follows.” Comments and messages and shares.

Wouldn’t it be great if someone else could do all this for us?

Someone else can—for a price, and with a few caveats.

Today’s guest post is by author Barbara Linn Probst.

Read the whole thing, plus comments, at Jane Friedman

New Way to Manage Series at KDP

From The Digital Reader:

For a number of years now Amazon has been making series pages for Kindle ebooks. One of their bots would identify all of the books in a particular series, and then list them all on the same page so that a reader could buy all of the books at once, paying retail.

…

You can now publish and update eBook and Paperback series detail pages automatically through KDP.

So much more at The Digital Reader

Maximize KDP's Author Central Page

Great marketing often relies on two important resources: time and money. But it doesn’t always have rely on both equally. I’m a huge fan of free book promotion strategies, and I especially like free AND easy, which is why today we’re going to talk about how to finesse your Amazon Author Central Page. With a few tweaks and uploads, you’ll be sitting pretty for the holiday book selling season.

https://indiereader.com/2020/10/maximizing-your-amazon-author-central-page/

Kickstarting a Book Marketing Campaign

For decades publishing has been a stagnated industry, relying on fifty- and sixty-year-old methods to sell books. Most of the practices within the industry are also at least fifty or sixty years old. Sure, the industry has made some modifications to accommodate innovation, like the ebook, but those are minor tweaks.

Those tweaks do not take into account the actual changes in the world. What traditional book publishers could do for writers in the mid-twentieth century was vast and impressive. What traditional book publishers can do for writers now is pretty minimal, and getting more so, thanks to the damn virus.

Read the rest — and there is a lot more — at Kathryn Rusch’s site.