Sue Collier | November 3, 2011
There is a lot of information available on self-publishing today—there are blogs, books, and groups galore where authors can learn the ropes. Unfortunately, I still run in to authors who have made costly mistakes with their projects—blunders that could have been avoided. Here are some of the most common: 1. Setting unrealistic goals. In spite [...]
Sue Collier | June 14, 2011
As self-publishing continues to go mainstream and lose its stigma, more and more authors are taking the plunge and going indie. Success, however, is certainly not guaranteed. By following the tips below, you’ll avoid many of the pitfalls and enhance your chances of flourishing. 1. Educate yourself. Publishing is a business and needs to be [...]
Sue Collier | June 6, 2011
I recently read a great list from LLReader by Shannon Yarborough, “My Own 10 Things You Should Know About Self-Publishing.” Shannon brings up a lot of good points, and I have some things to add to some of what she says that go a bit beyond just leaving comments at the blog site, so I [...]
Sue Collier | June 2, 2011
When I talk to authors about promoting their books, I am often met with resistance when I suggest blogging as an important element in building their author platform. Not only is blogging useful for providing your website with fresh content—potentially giving your site a higher ranking in search engines (Google, for instance, loves websites that [...]
Sue Collier | May 27, 2011
It happened again. I spoke earlier this week with an author who had recently “self-published” a nonfiction book, and she was particularly interested in reaching the library market. She directed me to her author website—which listed the book’s publisher as “AuthorHouse.” That re-routed our conversation immediately because I had to break the bad news to [...]
Sue Collier | May 17, 2011
Social media marketing. Some call it a fad. Others call it a revolution. But most agree that in some form, it is here to stay. This is a very different type of marketing from the traditional methods, however, and it’s easy to make mistakes. Here are some of the most common: 1. Not using social [...]
Sue Collier | April 14, 2011
I’m fond of telling authors that after they’ve written their book, the hard work begins—and by that I am referring to marketing and promoting. In reality, though, your book promotion plans should begin well before you start writing the book. In this post, I’ve listed those things you can do before you start writing, before [...]
Sue Collier | January 19, 2011
No one cares about it as much as you do. You’ve got to love it, and nurture it, and raise it to outstanding adulthood.
Sue Collier | November 16, 2010
A few weeks ago, I posted about how nonfiction authors can boost their exposure by speaking. The article was very well received, but it inspired questions from several authors of fiction—mainly, should they speak? And if so, what should they speak about? The answer to the first questions is “yes”! Authors of fiction can certainly [...]
Sue Collier | October 22, 2010
Virtual book tours continue to grow in popularity with authors. From the comfort of their own computers, authors can tour the world, saving time and money while reaching a potentially large audience. Bloggers benefit as well since tours can drive new traffic to their sites. If you’d like to host a virtual author book tour [...]
