Wednesday 29 February 2012

So, Authors Do Need Publishers?


According to @The Bookseller, Ian Rankin, crime writer extraordinaire, at a posh event to celebrate 20 years of Orion, said “publishers were needed by authors to produce "well put together, well edited, displayed and marketed" stories to "fans of the written word in all its forms". "Publishers need authors but authors really need publishers, especially as more content flood the market of varying quality.”

It’s hard to argue with this if you are an already published author, with a good track record and have an agent who is constantly pressing the publisher.

The reality for the majority of mid-list or new authors is that while the book will be edited well (because editors by their very nature really do care about what they do), the retail visibility and marketing will be close to zero. It’s a simple equation. In many other industries (fashion, cars, furniture) the number of items being promoted is far lower, so the focus is far greater. Traditional publishers have a very difficult time doing anything other than provide sales material to their selling organisation and paying merchandising fees to retailers. And do you know how far ahead they have to sell to the main trade wholesalers? Nine months! So a traditional publisher has to plan a very long way ahead. You might have the best manuscript since the Highway Code but you always have to wait a long time to see publication.

50% of Penguin USA’s fiction sales are now digital. So why not find a good freelance proof reader, and an editor, perfect your book, then release it as an ebook, straightaway? 

I’ll look at this in the next post.

Sunday 5 February 2012

Easy Steps to eBook Success

Over the next few weeks I'll be looking at the entire process of creating and publishing your own ebook. This will cover several key elements:

  1. Writing
  2. Editing and proofing
  3. Making an ePub
  4. Distributing your book through Amazon, Apple, B&N etc
  5. Online marketing, including Google Ads
  6. Social media, using Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest etc
  7. Traditional marketing, with a special focus on your local media

Saturday 4 February 2012

Self-Publishing and Marketing


Self-publishing is a good option for entrepreneurs because as part of a their strategic offer an ebook presents an easily digestible focus for marketing. Many authors aren't like this and find promotion very difficult so the lure of a traditional publisher seems attractive. However, in this ultra-competitive modern world, where everyone has a book in them, and the means to distribute it, it is impossible to avoid self-promotion in order to create any form of success. A traditional publisher confers respectability but to get the book published in the first place either an agent or an editor has to be persuaded that not only can an author write, but what can they do to help promote their book. The best advice anyone can give to any aspiring writing, in any subject, is *learn how to market*, *learn how to use social media effectively*, *learn how to harness your local press and traditional media.* With these things in your armoury it is possible to build an audience by engaging with potential readers directly and settle in to a means of sustainable communication that works for you, the author. Making the ebook is the easy bit, marketing it effectively is what makes the difference between a bestseller and just another title on a long list of worthy but unread titles.