For many of us, a new year means new resolve including facing our writing and self-publishing challenges head on. Here are some great articles full of tips and advice that just might be able to help you with that.
David Gaughran on Let’s Get Digital
FYI: Penguin Random House Is Still In The Vanity Business
“Penguin Random House announced the sale of Author Solutions on Tuesday, leading to headlines stating it has exited the self-publishing business and various commentators congratulating it for cleaning house. Unfortunately, neither of those things are true.”
Frances Caballo on Social Media Just For Writers
Book Marketing Tips from Author Helen Sedwick
“Today I interview Helen Sedwick, author of Self-Publisher’s Legal Handbook: The Step-by-Step Guide to the Legal Issues of Self-Publishing.”
Kristen Lamb on Kristen Lamb’s Blog
Consumer Power, Author Responsibility & Why Book Reviews MATTER
“Today we’re going to talk about reviews, because I do think that was the big shocker from my last post. I believe most folks have come to mistakenly assume that reviews are kind of this “extra” nicety that isn’t directly relevant to the author beyond ego and that’s patently false especially in the digital age where we writers live and die by algorithms.”
Lindsay Buroker on Lindsay Buroker
Are There Really “Secrets” to Self-Publishing Success?
“If you visit the Writers’ Cafe on Kboards in any given week, you can find authors plotting ways to engineer a bestseller or asking if there’s a way to work the system in order to “stick” on Amazon. Everybody wants success — of course! So, what’s the real secret to getting it?”
Cate Baum on Self-Publishing Review
How Not To Ask For A Free Review – From A Top 1000 Amazon Reviewer
“As well as being a professional reviewer at SPR, I am also one of Amazon’s Top 1000 reviewers (no, you can’t have my moniker, sorry!) and I sometimes review books for free, depending on how I am approached. I am not one of the Vine or Top 100, so bear this in mind while I give you my perspective on how it feels to receive a request from an author to review – and imagine how in demand they must be if I am getting so many requests in the Top 1000.”
Too Good to Miss
Ron Callari on BookWorks
2016 Predictions for the Self-Publishing Industry
“As we look forward to the coming year, the self-publishing world will undoubtedly present us with a few new surprises. As self-publishers, you probably have some thoughts on this topic as well. So, I felt it was timely to take a pause to collect a few 2016 predictions from some of the pros—those experts who have a proverbial finger on the pulse of industry changes. Many of these folks you will recognize as they have served us as reliable resources for BookWorks in the past. They include marketing strategists, publishers, and bloggers, in addition to the founder of Smashwords, one of the top self-publishing platforms in the world.”
Upcoming Events
Free webinar today with Joanna Penn
Come join me tomorrow for a free webinar with Joanna Penn.
Joanna is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling thriller author, and also writes non-fiction for authors.
She has sold over 400,000 books in 68 countries and five languages, and publishes in ebook, print and audiobook formats on multiple platforms.
Joanna makes a six-figure income from her writing – all without a publisher.
Now she’s going to join me for a free webinar where she’ll detail how she gets these kinds of results.
Book publishing is changing all the time, and that change is happening faster than ever before. We all need to keep up, and that’s one of the reasons I’m looking forward to Joanna’s presentation.
In this webinar you will discover:
- How to understand your target market so you can write books that actually sell
- How to improve your writing process and increase your word count so you can create more books that readers will love
- Why writing series can supercharge your sales and some ideas for how to create them
- How to generate multiple streams of income from your book
- The biggest change in the self-publishing market in 2016 and how you can benefit from the shift
Come join us on Monday, you’ll learn a lot and it’s free. Here’s all the info:
Date: Monday, January 11, 2016
Time: 1:00 p.m. Pacific, 4:00 p.m. Eastern
What: “7 Steps to Successful Self-Publishing in 2016”
Like all my webinars, seating is strictly limited, and everyone may not be able to get into the live event, so click here to get your seat now: Webinar registration page
Even if you can’t make the live event, go ahead and register so you’ll get a link to the webinar replay, which you can watch at your leisure.
Self-Publishing video series with Penelope Trunk
Next week I’ll join Penelope Trunk, serial entrepreneur and career advisor to millions, for a 4 week video series on how self-publishing can supercharge your career.
Date: Monday, January 18, 2016
Time: 3:00 p.m. Pacific, 6:00 p.m. Eastern
Info: “Write a Book to Reach Your Career Goals”
Penelope has a unique style of communicating, and refreshing insights on a host of topics. Check out her site at the link above, this will be a fun event. (Note: I’ll be teaching the 3rd session in the series.)
Photo: bigstockphoto.com
