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Over a decade ago, print-on-demand technology was still new to the publishing world. Ebooks were available but without e-readers, no one really cared. Back then, books that “just weren’t right” for traditional publishers often ended up in a drawer somewhere. Now, low-cost opportunities for self-publishers are everywhere!
And yet, most self-published books average about 100-200 copies sold.
My colleague Angela Render and I want to help people learn to self-publish their books right. While there’s no one set-in-stone, step-by-step plan that everyone must follow, there is a mentality, a set of tools and skills, and an understanding of the industry necessary to get beyond those 100-200 friends-and-family sales.
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Friday, May 4, 2012
An excellent article from Edan Lepucki, which published on The Millions website this past fall, is one of the best articles I’ve read on self-publishing and the shifting publishing industry in a while. One concern of the author’s caught my eye, however, and that’s what I want to address today.
Under list item #5, Lepucki wonders how the shift from publishers paying the bill to writers paying the bill affects the advice an editor will give. To quote the original article, “I know you can hire experienced editors and copyeditors, but how is that role affected when the person paying is the writer himself? What if the hired editor told you not to publish? Would that even happen?”
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Filed Under: Getting Published, Self-Publishing
Tags: editing, freelance editors, publishers, publishing, publishing advice, revising, revisions, self-publishing, submitting, writing
Friday, April 20, 2012
For a long time, the majority of self-publishers didn’t bother to purchase an ISBN for their ebooks. This was in large part because the Kindle store didn’t require one (and it still doesn’t, though most other ebook sellers do. However, times have changed. A big effort has been made by those of us working with self-publishers (I’ve heard this repeated frequently at conferences and on teleseminars over the last year!) to better educate folks, so more and more self-published ebooks now feature unique ISBNs.
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Filed Under: Getting Published, Q&A
Tags: catalog, e-book, ebook, ISBN, Kindle store, publish, publishers, self-publishing
Monday, March 12, 2012
For the third year in a row, I was invited to speak at the Bay to Ocean Writers Conference. I gave my popular talk, “Polishing Your Work for Publication,” which teaches you some of the most common problems plaguing creative works and offers tips on how to resolve them and strengthen your writing in the process. Here’s the talk description:
Approximately 3 million new titles were published by traditional houses and self-publishers in 2010. Every writer knows—or soon learns—that it takes multiple revisions to create a piece ready to compete for book buyers’ attention. But where do you start? This talk will introduce you to the most common problems that plague written works and offer simple ways to identify and resolve them in your own novel, short story, or memoir.
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Filed Under: News, Speaking/Teaching
Tags: Bay to Ocean, presentations, publishing advice, revising, revisions, self-publishing, submitting, writers conference
Friday, March 9, 2012
With the emphasis placed on building an audience pre-publication, many writers wonder how blogging can help or hurt their careers. What’s okay to publish on a blog, and what will create obstacles to selling your work? There are few clear rules, as it all depends on how much material you are making available to the public and how different it is from the finished version.
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Filed Under: Book Marketing, Getting Published
Tags: blog, blog marketing, blogging, freelancing, marketing, marketing platform, publishing advice, self-publishing, submitting, writing business
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
My client Patty recently sent me the following note: “You know I get what agents and editors have to say. They want to make sure any book they take on has a fighting chance, an audience, and is going to make them money. But do you ever think they get it wrong? I hope so. I think what counts are your readers and from what I’ve received so far they love the book.”
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Filed Under: Getting Published, Q&A
Tags: literary agents, publishing advice, Q&A, revising, self-editing, self-publishing, submitting, writing
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An excellent article from Edan Lepucki, which published on The Millions website this past fall, is one of the best articles I’ve read on self-publishing and the shifting publishing industry in a while. One concern of the author’s caught my eye, however, and that’s what I want to address today.
