From Jane Friedman: How to Get Media Coverage for Your Book
Today’s guest post is by Ken Brosky. I asked him to share his experience because many authors have made the same mistake he has. Plus, his advice on how to do things right is spot on.

From OnlineCollege: 20 Incredibly Rare Author Interviews Unearthed
Readers often love to see into the minds of the authors who have penned their favorite books, but sometimes, doing so is next to impossible. There are a variety of reasons why it might be difficult to track down an author interview: the writers in question only offered interviews along the same general frequency as Halley’s Comet, or they typically pop up in different media, or some even lose the footage over time.

From Jane Friedman: What Is an Author’s Marketing Responsibility With a Traditional Publisher?
It is a pleasure to share this interview with two authors who are also marketing geniuses, Avery Monsen (@averymonsen) and Jory John (@joryjohn). A couple years ago they authored a brilliant illustrated book with Chronicle, All My Friends Are Dead, which became an online sensation and breakout bestseller with more than 100,000 copies sold. This year, the sequel released: All My Friends Are Still Dead.

From HuffPost Books: Amazon: To KDP Select, Or Not?
There’s no question that Amazon has changed the publishing industry by making it easy for anyone with a book in their head to easily and quickly publish it and make it for sale almost overnight without the gatekeepers of big publishing getting in the way. It’s also true that with Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing “Select” program, they’ve take the first steps to hammering the nail in the traditional publishing model.

From Digital Book World: Amazon Updates Kindle App for Android
The new Kindle app for Android now supports KF8, Amazon’s proprietary e-book format that is much like EPUB3. Digital Book Wire received the following note from an Amazon press representative detailing that Amazon has updated its Kindle app for Android: I wanted to let you know that Amazon just updated Kindle for Android.  The update brings access to illustrated children’s books, comic books, and graphic novels with full color and beautiful illustrations. You can access over 1000 children’s titles such as Brown Bear and Curious George along with popular comics including Batman, Superman and many more.

From The Los Angeles Times: Self-publishing for the 1%
Got a story to tell? Got piles of cash? There’s a new self-publishing service just for you. Venture Press will help you make a book. It provides hands-on custom service: It will set you up with a ghostwriter and designers for the cover and layout. The company acknowledges that creating a book isn’t easy: “It’s an enormous challenge,” according to its website, “requiring hours of concentration and hard work in front of a computer screen, followed by the arduous task of turning your words into an actual book.”

Who is self-publishing? (age, sex, background, experience)
How are we doing it? (full time, part time, on what platforms)
Why are we doing it? (can’t find a publisher, had a publisher but preferred to go indie, indie all the way!)
What’s working for us? (having more books for sale, marketing like a fiend, giving books away)
How are we doing? (sales and revenue)

Don’t miss your chance to weigh in!

From The Independent Publishing Magazine: Apple Poised To Launch Self-Publishing Program This Month
Reporting on Good E-Reader this morning, Michael Kozlowski has revealed that Apple will host an event in New York later in January and speculates that it may herald the launch of a self-publishing program for iBooks that will rival Amazon’s DTP and the Barnes and Noble Pubit platform. As yet nothing formal has been stated by Apple.

From Accredited Online Colleges: 12 Marketing Skills Every Writer Now Needs
In a world of blogs, tweets, website comments, and Facebook status updates, everyone is a writer. That is, they are in the sense that they are communicating through the written word. But you’re a writer: you know what a gerund is, and you would never mistake “it’s” with “its.” Of course, the proliferation of social media has only served to flood the market with content producers. If you want to make it as a writer, you will have to separate yourself from the crowd so your work can be appreciated. Here are 12 marketing skills to help you become the next Hemingway.

From eBook Newser: Smashwords’ Mark Coker Responds To Apple Rumors
We’ve been hearing rumors that Apple is hosting a press conference this month to announce a new software. One report suggests that it will be a new self-publishing platform for iBooks, but Mark Coker, the CEO of self-publishing platform Smashwords, is not convinced.

From Salon.com: Indies battle Amazon — by becoming publishers
Of all the booksellers I’ve met over the years, no doubt the busiest is Mitchell Kaplan. In addition to overseeing Miami’s venerated Books & Books stores, Kaplan is a co-founder of the Miami Book Fair, a former president of the American Booksellers Association, and the most recent recipient of the National Book Foundation’s Literarian Award. So it was pretty surprising to see Kaplan himself when I read at his flagship store in Coral Gables last month.

From FonerBooks: Kindle eBooks Outselling Paper Books Big Time
I originally titled this post, Amazon’s Free eBooks Outsell All Other Amazon Books Combined, but I think people will be more interested in the paid book comparison on the graph. The graph is from my page on Kindle eBook sales which I updated yesterday.  The main caveat is that January 2nd isn’t a typical day since many people must have received Kindles and iPads for Christmas and are still excited about buying eBooks. The graph shows paid Kindle eBook sales vs all paper book sales, and I’ll pick a few points off for people who don’t read log-log graphs.

From Paid Content: Which E-Books Are Most Borrowed From Libraries, And Why?
OverDrive released its lists of the most-downloaded e-books from libraries in December 2011. These lists look pretty different from the current New York Times e-book bestseller lists. Here’s why, plus a few interesting tidbits.

From The Book Designer:Video: Brian Felsen of BookBaby.com on the Future of e-Books
I’m pleased today to have an interview for you with Brian Felsen, CEO of BookBaby.com, the e-book distributor that started as an offshoot of CDbaby, the independent music distributor.

From the GalleyCat: Occupy Wall Street Library Adds Hundreds of Books
Today the Occupy Wall Street Library posted a photograph of the hundreds of books added to their collection. Even though the activists have been evicted from Zuccotti Park, the spirit continues as donations continue to pour into the library. A number of Twitter supporters banded together for the donations: Liz Danzico, Maria Popova, Akashic Books, Housing Works Bookstore and Nathan Larson.

Enjoy!

FirstWriter.com is a one-stop resource for new writers as they progress through their writing career.  On the resource list is copyright information, editorial services, writing tips, and much more.  Firstwriter’s mission is:  “quite simply, to help you get published. Whether you’re an aspiring writer or an established professional, we aim to provide you with the tools you need to find placements for your writing quickly, accurately, and with minimum cost.”  Firstwriter is maintained by a small group of dedicated professionals based around the world. The company exists only online, so they are not restricted by geography and can choose to work with the best people for the job—regardless of where they live. Their team includes people from the United Kingdom, the United States, and as far afield as China.

Finding your way through the conference maze. Romance writer Roni Loren (Crash Into You, available in January 2012) has both feet on the ground—usually at one writers’ conference or another. She attends three such events every year and has developed a working strategy, which she gladly shares in her Fiction Groupie post, “Top Five Mistakes Writers Make at Conferences.” Her nitty gritty advice is strong on seeking out sessions that will help you hone your craft, rather than leaping ahead to composing query letters and courting agents. Learning and networking are king and queen, according to Loren. If you’re interested in scouting out what’s happening from New York City to Grand Cayman, visit the Writers’ Conferences & Centers website, where you can also find out about scholarships and retreats.

Give your chapters, books, and promotional materials unforgettable endings. In “Endings To Remember,” Peter P. Jacobi offers news story tips that any writer can employ for more effective prose. The former university professor and writing/editing consultant outlines the importance of crafting a persuasive, thoughtful, provocative conclusion to your literary piece that will cling to your reader’s consciousness like static electricity. So how is it done? Should you use a quote? What about a descriptive snapshot, some dialogue, or an anecdote? Only you, the writer, can tap inside to discover the best choice for your particular story, but if you put in the effort, it will cap your writing with meaning that can make a difference in the life of your readers, and maybe even move them to action.

From The Huffington Post: Are eBooks Too Cheap?: Indie Authors Question 99 Cent Price
There’s a lot of controversy circulating throughout the publishing industry about the pricing of ebooks, and it’s a significant topic that warrants discussion. Independent authors are rallying around the controversial 99-cent price point.

From Jane Friedman: My Best Advice for Writers From 2011
Last week I shared 12 Must-Read Articles From 2011. Now I’m going to share a list of the best advice I gave in 2011 as a handy reference.

From Author’s Echo: The Offer I Turned Down
If all the posts about getting an agent didn’t drive you off, then you know I got another offer before Tricia called. I turned it down because it felt sketchy, for a number of reasons I’ll go into here. Though I won’t name anybody; for all I know, the agency and the offer was totally legit and it was just the way it was handled that scared me off.

From The GalleyCat: The Best Gift You Can Give a Writer
Like most GalleyCat readers, you probably have a few writers on your holiday gift list. This GalleyCat editor has a foolproof, economical, practical and meaningful gift that you can give to the writer in your life: TIME.

From RT Book Reviews: Amazon’s Best Selling E-Books of 2011
Amazon has just announced its lists of the best-selling books of 2011 in print and e-book formats. Looking at the e-book list says a lot about the reading choices that booklovers made this year. The winning e-books fall into three major categories; there are the big name mystery authors we couldn’t get enough of, the non-fiction books that gave us a look inside the lives of others and then three inexpensive self-published e-reads.

From The GalleyCat: 7 Free eBooks Neil deGrasse Tyson Thinks Everybody Should Read
“Which books should be read by every single intelligent person on planet?” one literary Reddit user asked Neil deGrasse Tyson last week. The famous physicist and author responded with a concise list of classic books. If you are looking for books to fill your new eReader, we have collected links to free digital copies of all the books on his list. Follow the links below to download ePub, Kindle or text versions of the books.

From The Book Designer: Do Writers Really Need a Book Business Plan?
Seriously. I know no one likes to hear this, even my clients who are not of the author persuasion, but without a business plan you’re going nowhere.  It’s vital for a writer to have a Book Business Plan because your books and you are the products to be sold. It makes most writers queasy to even imagine selling themselves but without a plan, you can hardly figure out a way for your book to sell itself. Think of it as a GPS getting you from Starving Writer Street to Successful Author Square.

From GalleyCat: Farhad Manjoo: ‘You Should Thank [Amazon] for Crushing That Precious Indie on the Corner’
Farhad Manjoo infuriated booksellers around the country with a provocative essay at Slate, calling independent bookstores “some of the least efficient, least user-friendly, and most mistakenly mythologized local establishments you can find.”

From Writer’s Digest: 50 Simple Ways to Build Your Platform in 5 Minutes a Day
Writing rules. Self-promotion drools. Isn’t this how most writers think? But as long as you view your writing as art and your self-promotion efforts as the furthest thing from art, your chances of ramping up a successful 21st-century writing career are going to remain slim to none.

From eBook Newser: Are eBooks Getting More Expensive?
eBook pricing ebbs and flows like the tide and we hear a lot of different pricing ideas from the publishers, authors and readers that we speak to. Some people think that $.99 is the right price to get a reader to try an unknown author and others think that such a low price point makes the book seem unworthy of a reader’s attention. The big publishers succumbed to Amazon’s $9.99 price point, but then adopted the agency model and set their own prices.

From The New York Times: As Kindle Fire Faces Critics, Remedies Are Promised
The Kindle Fire, Amazon’s heavily promoted tablet, is less than a blazing success with many of its early users. The most disgruntled are packing the device up and firing it back to the retailer.

From Publishers Weekly: Is Amazon Pushing Publishers to Brink On Terms, Co-op?
Last week Amazon caused a furor in the bookselling world, with its reveal of a price check app consumers could use in bricks-and-mortar stores to get discounts at the retailer. Although the app did not include books, its announcement offered many a chance to slam Amazon as a ruthless corporation out to destroy the community bookstore and, as Richard Russo claimed in the New York Times, literary culture along with it.

From Dallas News: Year in Review: Books trends that got our attention
Looking back, 2011 will be remembered as the year when publishing was turned on its head. Self-published authors, once the pariahs of the book business, gained credibility — outselling many established names and giving hope to would-be authors everywhere. Borders, the second-biggest bookstore chain in the country, went under, signaling a shift in priority from print books to e-books.

From Forbes: Integrate Everything: 10 Tech Predictions For 2012
Mark Anderson is the editor of the Strategic News Service, a newsletter about the technology business, which previously published this column. He also runs the the annual Future In Review conference.  Here are my top technology calls for next year. My theme for the year is “integrate everything.”

From The New York Times: Book Shopping in Stores, Then Buying Online
Bookstore owners everywhere have a lurking suspicion: that the customers who type into their smartphones while browsing in the store, and then leave, are planning to buy the books online later — probably at a steep discount from the bookstores’ archrival, Amazon.com.

From AllthingsD: Amazon Will Pay Shoppers $5 to Walk Out of Stores Empty-Handed
Amazon is offering consumers up to $5 off on purchases if they compare prices using the online giant’s mobile phone application in a store.

From The Book Designer: 30 Book Awards for Self-Published Authors
As self-publishing a book has become more accepted and far more popular than it has ever been, book awards for self-published books have also multiplied.

From The GeekWire: Retail association pissed about Amazon.com’s Price Check app
The Retail Industry Leaders Association isn’t too happy about Amazon.com’s Price Check app and a new promotion that the Seattle online retailer is unveiling this Saturday.

From The Savvy Book Marketer: Amazon KDP Select – Proceed with Caution
Amazon has just announced a new program for Kindle authors called KDP Select, apparently designed to encourage authors and publishers to enroll their ebooks in Amazon’s lending library and to limit competition.

From The Wall Street Journal: How I Became a Best-Selling Author
This summer, Darcie Chan’s debut novel became an unexpected hit. It has sold more than 400,000 copies and landed on the best-seller lists alongside brand-name authors like Michael Connelly, James Patterson and Kathryn Stockett.

From The Christian Science Monitor: Writer Beware: the watchdog of the publishing world
In an interview this week, Strauss talked about rip-offs, bad raps, and publishing pitfalls. Q: What scams should people be aware of in the publishing world? A: The rip-offs abound. There are dishonest agents and scam publishers.  You shouldn’t pay a reading fee to an agent. There are also agents who charge for editing and publishers who claim to be traditional but want you to buy 1,000 copies of your book.

From Publishers Weekly: PW Tip Sheet: Real Books Don’t Die
This week, the story in The Canadian Press, in The Independent, in The Guardian, and, of course, in The New York Times, is that, in order to survive, the printed book must distinguish itself as an attractive alternative to e-books through the dark arts of book design. The Times quotes Robert S. Miller, publisher of Workman Press, as saying “When people do beautiful books, they’re noticed more. It’s like sending a thank-you note written on nice paper when we’re in an era of e-mail correspondence.”

Here are some of the most common:

1. Setting unrealistic goals. In spite of recent success stories in the news, you probably won’t become rich from your publishing venture. And you probably won’t sell a million copies of your book. Keep in mind that a book that sells 10,000 copies—whether self- or traditionally published—is generally considered to be a “success.” Another thing is that too many authors also believe that just putting their work out there is somehow going to result in sales, so they neglect putting together a marketing and promotions plan—which leads to the next item on the list.

2. Failing to think about marketing before the book is published. This is a biggie. I know that writing a book is no easy task, and authors tend to get caught up in the process before thinking of the next step, which is ensuring your book reaches your audience. I frequently speak with authors who have had their books out for months and have generated few sales. When I ask what they’ve been doing in terms of marketing, I often get a vague response. Or I have authors call me in September, asking to help them plan a promotions plan for the upcoming holiday season (which they should have started long before fall). It’s never too early to think about promoting your book and building your author platform. You’ll definitely want to have a plan in place well before the book’s publication date.

3. Not knowing your audience. Perhaps your book does have wide appeal, but not “everyone” is going to read it—even if you think they should. Also, consider your competition: Does your book offer something new and unique to potential readers?

4. Going the vanity press route and thinking you’ve self-published. If you pay a publisher to publish your book, and that publisher uses its own ISBN on your book, you have not self-published. And chances are, if you’ve got a vanity (or subsidy) publisher imprint on your book, reviewers won’t give it the time of day. Although the stigma is diminishing for true self-publishing (you purchase your own ISBN prefix under your own publishing company name and assign a number to your book), it still exists for vanity and subsidy publishing because editing is often nonexistent and interior and exterior designs are usually templates that look substandard. So if you hire a “self-publishing service,” make sure the end result is a well-done book that is truly self-published—by you.

5. Thinking you can do it all yourself. You can—but the end result will likely be an amateurish book that is riddled with errors. Even the best writers need good editors. And unless you are a book design professional, you want a pro to design your interior and exterior so they don’t scream “self-published.” Too many times I see authors in writers groups who post a book cover designed by themselves or a family member—and they almost always look it. Surround yourself with professionals who can help ensure your book reads well and looks good. (Get recommendations for professionals from other self-published authors whose books you like.)

6. Being stingy with review copies. Reviews are an essential part of any book promotions plan, so budget the cost of review copies in your original promo plan. I have worked with authors who were opposed to sending out “free” copies of their book—and the number of reviews they received suffered for it. It’s not unusual to hear some successful authors reveal they sent out a hundred or more review copies.  

7. Not looking at self-publishing as a business. Once you’ve decided to self-publish, you are no longer just an author; you are also a business owner. And just as a commercial publisher looks upon any new book as an investment of its resources, so too do you.

Your name: D’vorah Lansky

Your website: http://BookMarketingMadeEasy.com

Your bibliography: Connect, Communicate, and Profit: Build Successful Business Relationships Online Book Marketing Made Easy: Simple Strategies for Selling Your Nonfiction Book Online Promote Your Book with Teleseminars: Simple and Affordable Ways to Turn Your Message Into Money

1. What is your background? I have a Master’s Degree in education and have taught in various places around the globe.  When my son was born I began marketing online, that was 1994. This led to many speaking opportunities and the publication of my books.

2. What led you to self-publishing? I like the control I have over to project so I can set the pace. With so many options available an author can accomplish a great deal while retaining the rights to their book.

3. What have you found to be the biggest challenge in self-publishing? Sifting through all the offerings and finding the best book cover designer, editor, etc. Some of the programs where you pay someone to do it all sound appealing. Since I am quite proficient in online marketing I don’t need the support with building sites and social media, so still looking for the right match.

4. What has been the biggest surprise about self-publishing? That an author can write a book and publish it. I thought publishing a book was a huge mystery and rare occurrence. I was delighted to find out that this is not the case.

5. What inspires you? Being around kind, positive, giving, successful people.

6. Describe your writing process. I use the “gatherer” style of writing. I like to outline my project in word or as a mindmap. I then plug in subtopics, idea, resources, etc. Next, I open up word and pop each page/idea onto it’s own page. I format the text so that everything is uniform and then I dig in and begin writing. I like to set a goal for number of sections I’ll work on during each writing session. Sometimes I’ll print off these pages and attach them to a clipboard as I often enjoy sitting in bed and writing first thing in the morning.

7. How do you stay disciplined? I actually am quite disciplined and have to force myself to go to sleep or go have fun, away from the office! To me,work, writing, marketing, meeting people, networking, IS fun!

8. What is your favorite self-marketing idea? Setting up and participating in an online Virtual Book Tour. I was inspired by the book tours of Dana Lynn Smith and Joanna Penn and set up what ended up being a very successful 21-day virtual book tour. If anyone is interested in gathering ideas for their own tour there are lots of tips and ideas right on my tour page and on my blog at http://BookMarketingMadeEasy.com

9. What advice do you have for burgeoning self-publishers? Set up a WordPress blog the foundation of your online platform. Begin promoting your book and developing your author platform when your book is just a glimmer in your eye. In this way you’ll have a strong foundation and solid relationships with people who will support you when it comes time to promote your book as well as a place for people to come to to find out more about you and your book.

10. When you’re not writing what do you do for fun? I enjoy going to the bookstore, playing cribbage, hiking, quilting, dancing, and reading.

11. What project are you currently working on? I actually am working on two projects.

1) The Third Annual Book Marketing Conference Online. Fifteen sessions with top book marketing experts.
http://BookMarketingConference.com

2) A course on Relationship Marketing for Authors that Shelley Hitz and I are teaching together.

http://www.greetingcardsforauthors.com/ecourse/