Book Trends

Articles about trends in bookselling and the publishing industry.

Quick Link: A plea for reviewers – can we open up a dialogue about self-published books?

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Roz Morris, owner of Nail Your Novel, reaches out to people who review books with a plea that they open their minds a little towards reviewing self-publishing titles. I can understand the reluctance of book reviewers, there are a lot of self-published books that look, well, self-published.  A lot. But, there are also a lot of self-publishing authors who do it right by hiring the correct people so their title is a professional offering and they are growing.  Thoughts?

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A plea for reviewers – can we open up a dialogue about self-published books?

by Roz Morris

So I find a lovely-looking review blog. The posts are thoughtful, fair and seriously considered. I look up the review policy and … it says ‘no self-published books’.

Today I want to open a dialogue with reviewers. If you have that policy, might you be persuaded to change it? Or to approach the problem in a different way?

I used the word ‘problem’. Because I appreciate – very well – that in making this policy you are trying to tackle a major problem. Your time as a reviewer is precious – and let me say your efforts are enormously appreciated by readers and authors alike. You get pitches for many more books than you can read and you need a way to fillet out the ones that are seriously worth your reading hours. A blanket ban is a way to fend off a lot of substandard material and save you many unpleasant conversations. And traditional publishing implies a certain benchmark of competence.

Competence. That’s probably the heart of the matter. There are good self-published books, of course, but how can I help you sort them from the bad and the fug-ugly?

Read the full post on Nail Your Novel

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Quick Link: Why Did I Get a ‘No’? – The Do’s and Don’ts of Query Letter Writing

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Today’s offering is from Mark Gottlieb posting at Elizabeth Spann Craig and gives you hints and tips on query letter writing. Enjoy!

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Why Did I Get a ‘No’? – The Do’s and Don’ts of Query Letter Writing

by Mark Gottlieb

As a literary agent in major trade publishing at the Trident Media Group literary agency, I often have to explain the elements of a good query letter to new clients. This article is intended as a description of what goes into a good query letter, for new authors unfamiliar with what literary agents and editors are looking for in a query letter intended the book-publishing world. For a writer who might be currently querying literary agents, or even contemplating that process, this might be interesting reading. Considering the high rejection rate in the book publishing industry for writers trying to become debut authors, this article will hopefully be enlightening for the countless writers who are experiencing rejection due to a poorly-constructed query letter.

A lot of authors dread writing query letters. I know many authors who can write a novel in a matter of months, but who could endlessly spend years toiling over writing a query letter. My advice to authors along the querying process is to really nail the writing of that query letter. A query letter that reads well is usually a good indication to the literary agent that the manuscript will similarly read well, inclining the literary agent to request a manuscript. Often the query letter can go on to become the publisher’s jacket copy, were the publisher to acquire the manuscript via the literary agent.

The Do’s

Read the full post on Elizabeth Spann Craig

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Quick Link: What Social Media Groups Are and How To Use Them

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So you already know that you need social media to help spread the word about your titles, but have you heard of social media groups?  They are a great way to connect with people and help you stand out. Each social media platform has its own type of groups. Melissa Flickinger over at Bad Redhead Media helps you get started.

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What Social Media Groups Are and How to Use Them

By Melissa Flickinger

We discussed social media groups during our recent Twitter #BookMarketingChat. Of course, there is a lot to cover in one hour, so we chopped the list down to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. We’ll discuss Pinterest, Goodreads, and other social media groups in future chats and my next post. Here are some key tips to get you started on social media groups.

If you have any social media accounts, chances are you’re already in several groups. But for those who are just getting their virtual foot in the social networking door, let’s explain what a social media group is and why they’re so great for building relationships!

What Are Social Media Groups?

Social media groups are general interest or niche-specific forums within social media platforms. Indie writers, paranormal romance book lovers, and author street teams are all examples of the different types of groups you might find on social media. These groups can be open or closed/secret, based on the owner’s (aka, moderator’s) preferences.

Read the full post on Bad Redhead Media

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Independent Bookstore Day

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This Saturday is Independent Bookstore day!

 

Support your local independent bookstore by popping in. Any bookstore that is part of the celebrations will have cool stuff and even if your local independent bookstore isn’t taking part it is always good to support local merchants.

 

Learn more at http://www.indiebookstoreday.com/

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Quick Link: Should Indie Authors Put Endorsement Quotes or “Puffs” on Self-published Books?

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Should Indie Authors Put Endorsement Quotes or “Puffs” on Self-published Books?

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As authors of self-published books, we seek to combine the best ideas from trade publishing with the innovation that comes of being truly independent. But it’s not always easy to decide which conventions to echo and which to reject. One example is the common practice among the big publishing companies to adorn book covers with endorsements from high profile readers.

Skeptics term these glowing phrases “puff quotes” to pour scorn on their sincerity, when so many of them come from “celebrities” – people famous for being famous, rather than for their literary judgment. A cynic might wonder how they find the time to read so much. On the other hand, endorsements, used wisely, can  be genuinely add sales appeal to the cover of any book.

Currently dithering “to puff or not to puff” on the cover of my new mystery novels, I asked ALLi authors whether they thought soliciting endorsement quotes was worth the time and trouble.

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Quick Link: The Crafting of an Editorial Letter

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The Crafting of an Editorial Letter

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If you’re in the query trenches you’ve probably heard the words “editorial agent” floating around. These are agents who work with their clients to edit and revise a manuscript before submitting it to editors (who will then edit the manuscript even further if they end up acquiring it!) I am an editorial agent and believe strongly in sending out the most polished manuscript possible to editors. The market is competitive, and I think it’s vital these days to go out with your very best work. I’ve just finished (I mean just finished–it’s open in another window) an editorial letter for a client. The second one I’ve written since becoming an agent. And while I can’t speak for all editors and editorial agents as to how they do things, I thought I’d talk a little bit about my editing process so that writers can get a glimpse of what goes on behind the scenes.
How Long?
For both of my clients I quoted about a month (give or take) to get them their editorial letter. I was late both times. *headdesk* A much more realistic timeline for me personally is probably two months. If I was able to put absolutely everything else in my life and work on hold I could probably get an edit done in a week. But alas, the power to stop time does not belong to me. Two months it is! (And I’ll never overpromise on a deadline again. The guilt consumed me).

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Quick Links: Self-Publishing Success Stories: How I Do It – with John Nicholl

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Another success story in the world of self-publishing! Check out the interview with the bestselling author of three dark psychological thrillers, John Nicholl at the Alliance Of Independent Authors.

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Self-Publishing Success Stories: How I Do It – with John Nicholl

By This week in our series celebrating super-successful indie authors, we talk to former British police officer and child protection social worker John Nicholl, bestselling author of three dark pyschological thrillers. Read on to find out how he does it, and to be inspired for your own self-publishing career, whatever genre you write in. 

What is the secret of your success?

I sometimes think more luck than judgement!

Writing my first book, White is the Coldest Colour, was a steep learning curve. I was contacted by Sue Ward, a popular blogger, shortly after publication. She loved the book, and it progressed from there.

Within fifteen days of release, it was flying up the Amazon UK bestseller chart. Not everyone liked the book, of course, but I think that writing from real life experience contributed to its success.

I’ve been extremely fortunate in that the book blogging community has been supportive of all three books. That makes a real difference.

What was the single best thing you ever did?

I think deciding to become an independent author in the first place.

The publishing world has changed, and it’s never been easier to get your work out there. Let the public decide if your books are worth buying. Being an indie gives the author control of the entire process, and for me that’s a plus. Never say never, but I’ve chosen to remain independent up to this point despite offers from publishers, with the exception of foreign rights deals. I’m always open to offers, of course, but I think it’s a mistake to accept a deal if it’s not right for you.

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Quick Link: Which Option is Better, Traditional or Self-Publishing?

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Jeffrey Monaghan, guest posting on Writers And Authors, shares his thoughts about tradition vs self-publishing.  Give it a read and let us know if you think traditional publishing or indie publishing is better?

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Which Option is Better, Traditional or Self-Publishing?

by Jeffrey Monaghan

The actual publishing of your novel is an exciting time. You’ve spent countless hours writing, editing, re-writing, re-editing, doubting, writing some more, feeling like you’ve written the best chapter ever, feeling like you’ve written the worst chapter ever, and on and on. But you are finally finished and are now prepared to send your novel out to the world. So what’s next?
There are really two options, traditional publishing and self-publishing. Both are good options for different reasons. I spent a lot of time looking into both and decided self-publishing was the best option for me. But it may not be for everyone. Below is an overview of what I learned so you can decide which is best for you.

Traditional Publishing

This is the way things have always been done. It’s the option we all dream of. What author doesn’t want one of the Big Five publishers buying the rights to their novel and publishing it? But to publish through a Big Five publisher, you first need a literary agent because you can’t pitch your novel directly to a publishing company. This requires you to write query letters to agents, hoping for a reply requesting a partial or full manuscript. Then you wait for them to read it and let you know if they are interested in representing you and your novel. It’s a long, time-consuming process, but a process that needs to be followed if you want to be published the traditional way.

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Quick Links: Self-Publishing Success Stories: How I Do It – with Joseph Alexander

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It is always nice to see how other people are managing their success and maybe getting a tip or two for your own success. At the Alliance of Independent Authors, guest author Joseph Alexander shares his thoughts on how he has been successful as an indie author.

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Self-Publishing Success Stories: How I Do It – with Joseph Alexander

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This week in our series celebrating super-successful indie authors, we talk to guitarist Joseph Alexander who has established the terrific Fundamental Changes series of non-fiction books about playing guitar, though a non-stop, single-minded focus on his goals, collaboration with other musicians and an enviable email list of over 25,000. Read on to find out how he does it, and to be inspired for your own self-publishing career, whatever genre you write in. He also shares great advice for those who run small indie imprints publishing other authors’ work.

What is the secret of your success?

I wish I knew! I guess it’s constant output. I’ve written 30 books about playing guitar myself and published about 15 more by some other very talented musicians. For the last four years I’ve been working about fourteen hours a day and making sure that everything I write is to the highest possible standard. I try to go above and beyond every guitar guide out there. I add as much value as I can and cram in a huge amount of freebies, such as audio downloads and videos. These downloads help me to grow my email list.

To be honest, having a 25,000+ email list helps tremendously as all out email marketing is automated now.

This results in a constant trickle of sales across all titles and helps to keep my books at the top of the best sellers lists.

What was the single best thing you ever did?

Can I pick three things?

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Quick Link: 5 Reasons Why You Should Write a Novella

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Novellas are becoming very popular as they don’t take quite the commitment of a full-length novel for the reader or the author. Over at Ink and Quills, Kaitlin Hillerich gives her best five reasons why you should write a novella!

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5 Reasons Why You Should Write a Novella

 Kaitlin Hillerich
Novellas – giving you time to read and take a cat nap

Over the past several weeks or so, I’ve been experimenting with a form of fiction I’ve never tried before: the novella. If you don’t already know, a novella runs between 20,000 and 40,000 words, and can be read in a couple of sittings. It’s like a longish short story for writers who suck at keeping short stories short (aka me).

Writers usually avoid novellas because publishers typically don’t want them. Not because there isn’t a market for them, but because they’re not as cost-effective for the publisher as a full-length novel. And as we all know, at the end of the day publishing is a business.

But with the advent of self-publishing and the digital age, the publishing world is changing. Writers can now bypass traditional publishing houses and publish novellas themselves inexpensively in the form of e-books. This means we can now target that market of readers who enjoy novellas that we couldn’t reach before.

And that’s pretty cool, especially since novellas are growing in popularity. Still not convinced? Read on to learn the benefits of writing a novella, and maybe you’ll even decide to write one yourself!

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Quick Link: “Going Wide” – Gaining Traction on non-Amazon Vendors Part 1: The Upload Process

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eBook authors usually have a choice to be proprietary with Amazon, or go “wide” and try and get their books out to a bunch of different places. That is not as easy as it sounds but at Fiction University, Angela Quarles has some tips to make the choice to go wide a little easier.

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“Going Wide” – Gaining Traction on non-Amazon Vendors Part 1: The Upload Process

 By Angela Quarles, @AngelaQuarles

Part of the Indie Author Series

I see a lot of indies frustrated when they try to “go wide” by distributing to non-Amazon vendors, but then panic when they don’t see immediate results and pull their books back to being exclusive on Amazon. I wanted to tackle this topic because there are ways to get traction at these other vendors, but it does take time. But first, a primer on how to set up at the various vendors, because each can be confusing, and some extremely difficult (I’m looking at you Google).

Barnes and Noble

Like Amazon, B&N has its own name for the dashboard for uploading and managing your titles–NookPress. NookPress is relatively easy. On the first page there, you’ll want to click “Learn More” under the eBook Publishing graphic and then “Start Your Book” on the next page. Next it will ask you to sign in or create a new account. Once you’re inside and all set up, you’ll click “Create New Project.” It walks you through guided steps for setting up your project, as they call it. First, you give it a name, then you upload your manuscript (I upload an ePub), and then through pretty much the same questions as KDP. The only differences are:

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Quick Links: Why Do Some Writers Choose to Go ‘Indie’?

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At Writer Unboxed, indie author explores the different reason people choose to go indie. Head on over and check it out and see if anything resonates with you. Are you an indie author? Why did you choose to do so?

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Why Do Some Writers Choose to Go ‘Indie’?

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After October’s inaugural, myth-busting post “What Does it Mean to Be an ‘Indie’?”, the comments section exploded with proud indie authors stepping forward and sharing their experiences. At first, I was surprised by the number of comments that rolled in—I knew I wasn’t the only indie hanging around these parts, but I had no idea there were so many kindred spirits out there. As I read their comments and stories, I spent some time visiting their links, where I discovered beautiful author websites, exquisite book covers, and an incredible range of work—from nonfiction to thriller to gay romance and everything in between. It was the ultimate demonstration of what it means to be an indie author. And it made me curious about what inspires some writers to choose this path.

For me, independent publishing felt like a natural next step in my career. I’d spent a decade working in marketing, advertising, and sales and was looking for something more entrepreneurial. When my first novel, Empty Arms, was complete, the indie movement was just beginning to pick up steam, and the idea of starting my own publishing company seemed like an exciting opportunity to merge my passion for writing with my professional experience. While the favorable royalty splits and payment terms were appealing and the disadvantages seemed like a fun challenge to tackle, what I wanted most as a writer and business owner was autonomy. I decided not to seek representation or pursue a traditional book deal, in favor of independence.

But what about other indie authors? How did they end up on this path? I decided to find out. I reached out to a handful of indie authors and asked them how their publishing journeys came to be. Not surprisingly, they were happy to share their stories. Here’s what I learned:

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Quick Links: Well Do Ya Punk? The Emerging “Punk” Subgenres of Speculative Fiction

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I don’t know about you, but I love all the genre-busting that has happened. There are so many crossovers that I see every day! At BookRiot, award-winning sci-fi and fantasy author discusses the different “punk” subgenres. 

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Well Do Ya Punk? The Emerging “Punk” Subgenres of Speculative Fiction

One of my favorite things about being a speculative fiction reader is the extremely wide range of subgenres available to me. An epic fantasy is wildly different from an urban fantasy, is wildly different from a space opera.

Then, there are the “punks.”

The original and most well-known of the punks is, of course, steampunk—a subgenre that draws inspiration from 19th century steam-fueled technology and has brought us such jewels as Perdido Street Station by China Mieville and Morlock Night by K. W. Jeter.

Another fairly well-known one is cyberpunk, made popular by William Gibson with Neuromancer.

But these are hardly the only “punks” out there. New ones are emerging all the time, and they are fun, rich, and sometimes a little crazy.

Here are five lesser-known “punks” to check out:

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Quick Link: 5 Ways Independent Authors Can Advocate for Themselves

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We all know there is a bias against self-publishing. While there are now more indie authors than ever, there is still a struggle to legitimize the choice of doing it yourself.  Brooke Warner has some great thoughts on how indie authors can help themselves as well as the rest of us.

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5 Ways Independent Authors Can Advocate for Themselves

by Brooke Warner

Earlier this month I moderated a panel at the Bay Area Book Festival called “The Future of Book Publishing.” We had an esteemed group of panelists from all areas of the industry, with Jack Jensen, publisher of Chronicle Books as the traditional figurehead, and Mark Coker of Smashwords representing the self-publishing contingent.

A question surfaced from the audience: Do some people avoid self-publishing because they don’t qualify for awards?

Jensen was the first to respond, telling the earnest woman that anyone can submit to contests — just submit. I almost felt bad to have to inform him of his industry’s bias — that no, you can’t just submit, and that countless awards programs bar self-published authors (and any author, in fact, who’s invested in their own work) from entering.

Jensen was shocked, and I was shocked that he was shocked. And yet gratified too. Even someone with such illustrious credentials who’s been in this industry nearly four decades thinks policies like these are bullshit.

A couple days later I was being interviewed for a podcast. The host started talking to me about the topic of bias in the industry, which seems to follow me everywhere I go (because I’m vocal about the aforementioned bullshit factor). She said she suggests self-published authors have their own imprints and submit wherever they want to and say that they’re published on a “small press” (their own) and no one will be any the wiser.

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Quick Links: Where Do Consumers Get Their e-Books From?

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Ever wonder what the breakdown of e-book purchases looked like?  While not a comprehensive sample, at Good EReader ran a poll to find out where people got their eBooks from, and the results are still interesting.

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Where Do Consumers Get Their e-Books From?

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buy nowThere are many places where readers can find and download e-books. There are a number of online retailers such as Amazon, Barnes and Noble and Kobo that sell them directly.  Your local library likely has a robust digital collection or sometimes piracy is just a click away. Good e-Reader has been running a poll for the past three weeks where we asked the question “where do you get your e-books from?” Over 827 people responded and we now have some fairly comprehensive data.

Unsurprisingly Amazon was the most popular digital ecosystem that people get their e-books from. Over 258 people, which represented 29% of the vote regularly purchased all of their e-books from Amazon.

Amazon releases new e-readers and Fire tablets every year, so their hardware has a high rate of adoption. Not everyone upgrades their device to the latest and greatest, some continue to use older devices, while others use the Kindle app on their smartphone or tablet.

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