-
E-Book Sales and Amazon: The Good and the Bad
Amazon: love it or hate, if you’re an author and want to increase e-book sales, you MUST use it. Whether you’re an author, a publisher, an agent or a book marketer, whether you are publishing an e-book or a paper book, Amazon is necessary. But, while Amazon has allowed independent authors to flourish, its success…
-
Setting up your website before your book launches
For several years I have had the pleasure of participating as a Winter Writers Weekend workshop presenter. At the 2017 event I will be reviewing concepts to start and enhance your website. The ideas can be used if you decide to follow the do-it-yourself path or enlist the assistance of a professional. Choose the content…
-
8 Things You’ll Learn at the 2017 Winter Writers’ Weekend
The Fifth Annual Winter Writers’ Weekend is only six weeks away. I’m getting excited and I hope you are, too! Every year we try to bring a few of your “old favorite” speakers along with some new people—and always we bring you new ideas and the latest news from the world of publishing. And every…
-
Self Publishing versus Do-It-Yourself Publishing
It is the age of self-publishing. Self-published authors not only have gained respect, they are making money. E-books and social media are a big part of this phenomena because it is now cheaper and easier for authors to bypass traditional publishing houses and bring books directly to their readers. In fact, today, you can be…
-
Seven Habits of Successful Authors
What is the difference between a successful author and an unsuccessful one? Successful authors sell books! There’s only one problem, that’s not as easy as it sounds. With over 2.2 million books published last year, how can you make sure your book stands out in a crowd? Here are a few tips to help you…
-
10 Things to Do Now to Sell More Books in 2017
Marketing your book won’t happen overnight. It takes time and planning to get solid, steady sales of your book and e-book. It doesn’t matter in what genre you are writing, or whether it is fiction or non-fiction. Without planning, your marketing will be haphazard—and so will your sales results. Here are ten steps to take…
-
Let’s Help Each Other for NaNoWriMo 2016?
It’s November and time for NaNoWriMo, that hideously named but well-intentioned event: National Novel Writing Month. The event, which is international, began in 1999 in San Francisco, with just a handful of writers. You can read more about the history of the month at nanowrimo.org, so I won’t bother to give more details about it…
-
Six Tips to Market Your E-book
The writing world is never short on advice for how to turn your passion into 25,000 words that will become the next great bestseller. But what do you do once you’ve written that book? No matter how great it is, marketing to your family and friends will only take you so far. You’ve uploaded your…
-
Better Than Bookstores: 8 Great Places to Sell Your Book
All first time authors want to see their books in a bookstore. They dream of walking into Barnes and Noble and seeing their book on a display table at the front of the store. But frankly, bookstores are the worst places to sell a book—any book—and the big chain bookstores are the worst of the…
-
Set Your Writing Goals
How long have you been thinking about writing your book? You may have wanted to become a writer your entire life or you may instead have just recently come to the realization that you have something to say, and that the best way for people to hear you is through a book. But it really…
-
Top 6 Picks of New Online Services for Authors
Book Expo America presented a wealth of new online services for authors. Some of these you may be familiar with, others are so new they are still in the testing stage. Here are the top six I found for you to check out. These are new platforms specifically designed to: connect authors and readers, help…
-
Our Books Are Ranking Number 1 on Amazon
Open Door Publications and Can’t Put it Down Books have had some great successes lately. Two of our books opened as Number One New Releases in their categories last month and several other books are climbing the ranks of the Amazon listings. Ruins of Redemption, Poems in English and Spanish by Alvaro Vega, launched in…
-
I Found Jesus in the Stock Market by Cassandra Laymon
How Biblically Responsible Investing Can Change Your Heart, Too This is not a book about how God wants you to be rich or the “money secrets” of the Bible. This is the true story of how one woman’s journey to learn about Biblically Responsible Investing transformed her life and opened her heart to Jesus. As…
-
Are You Preparing Your Platform?
Most authors I know first write the book, then publish the book, and finally think about marketing the book. But book publicists know that this is exactly the opposite way to think about what your book can do for you. You should start developing your platform two to three years before your book is published.…
-
Make Yourself Heard
A frustrated aspiring author recently asked me, “How do I rise above the noise out there? Sure, I can get a book on Amazon, but how do I get people to notice it and buy it?” What a great question. Here is how I answered him. The first thing you need to do is throw…
