Post image for New Author! Author! Book on the Way – Use Book Promos & Discounts to Create Buzz for Your Book

New Author! Author! Book on the Way – Use Book Promos & Discounts to Create Buzz for Your Book

by Katherine (Kaete) Mariaca on June 13, 2013

If you follow this blog with any regularity, you might have noticed that I have been a bit sketchy about posting lately. It’s not that I don’t love this site (I do), but there is so much going on lately that I haven’t had the time to put together a meaningful post.

So, what’s happening?

First, and foremost, I have a new book coming out. Actually, it is coming out later this week. It is part of my Author! Author! series of books for, you guessed it, authors. The series is designed to help writers write, publish, market and sell their books. Each book addresses one aspect of the process. A number of the books are designed specifically for those just getting started. They are called “Get Going Guides.” Others are for writers who have published their books already, but who need help figuring out what to do next.

Originally, I was going to write one big book. It, however, quickly became way too long and way too involved. I realized, then, that someone who wants to know how to run a book giveaway promotion, wouldn’t want to wade through 1,000+ pages of how-to just to get to that one section. It was for that reason that I decided to break it all down into a series of manageable and actionable books ranging in length from 60 to 300 pages.

Later today, my publishing company, Madaket Lane Publishers, will be releasing the latest book in the series, “Author! Author! Use Book Promos & Discounts to Create BUZZ for Your Book: 60+ Free and Low-Cost Sites to Promote Your Book.”

In actuality, there are more than 100 sites included where you can promote your book for free or for a nominal fee. I have researched each and every site to make sure that they are professional, that they offer good value, they have decent readership and they bring results.

The Author! Author! series will include more than 20 books. At the present time, at least 6 of them are in some stage of production while another 8 are being researched. Some of the books are/will be straight how-to’s. Others will be more about the theory of doing something. And still others will be compilations of examples from people who have already achieved success using a certain process or technique. A few will be combinations of these different approaches.

The book that will be released later this week contains theory – the why you should use book promos and discounts – a bit of example, and the resources you will need to run your own promos and discounts. The really, really, really neat thing about this book? It is that if you use the resources I am providing for you and if you follow the methods discussed in the book, you will potentially put your book in front of more than 1 million readers. Yes, 1 million.

I know, I know. The word “potentially” is a load of garbage and I hate using it. The only reason I do so is that I cannot go around and personally make those 1 million+ readers read about your book. I wish I could. Still, I will be showing you where to announce your book – sites where readers are active and engaged.

This Site is Getting a Face Lift

I have had this site for about four years. It is not a big site and it is not always an active site. I have a lot of projects going on and have not always paid as much attention to this site as I would have liked. That is about to change.

How?

First of all, the site is getting a face lift. It won’t be a “Ta-Dah!” face lift, but more of a gradual one carried out over a couple of months.

Secondly, the focus of the site is shifting a bit. It has always been about helping other writers find their way in the new world of publishing, but now it will be more focused rather than rambling. Further, it will offer promotional opportunities to writers who want to show off their work. Those opportunities will be both free and paid. My objective is to create a community of both readers and writers. A community where YOU can showcase your work, and where there are readers ready, willing and eager to buy your books.

For the record, as I build up the reader base, I will be providing a lot of free promo opportunities. Those details will be coming out soon and I hope you jump on board.

This Site will have Sister Sites

As you know, this site, The Essential eBooker, is geared toward writers.  It is not a place where readers would normally gather. It is important for writers to get their books in front of readers and, because I don’t want to make this site all about the reader, I have decided to open sister sites for readers where writers can showcase their work.

In the beginning, there will be five sister sites:

  • Essential eBooks (for general fiction & non-fiction)
  • Essential Romance Books
  • Essential Mysteries & Thrillers
  • Essential Young Adult Fiction
  • Essential Erotica (one of the fastest-growing genres, btw)

My goal is to build up a community of readers for each site. They will receive timely emails about new and discounted books in each genre and will be able to join each site’s Facebook & Twitter pages. This will make it easier for you, the author, to find and interact with your readers.

In any case, these changes will be rolled out over the next two months. As they are, I will be offering many free promotional opportunities to you, my fellow authors. I will need books to promote and authors to interview as we set things up and test the various updates.

In the next two days, I will also be putting up a few opt-in email forms. Each of the sites will have its own form for readers to sign up, but this site will have one as well for writers. Through it, I’ll be updating subscribers about new and upcoming promotional opportunities, asking for interviewees, sending out news about the publishing industry, etc. I promise, though, not to spam you. When you get an email, it will be because there is important information you should know about your business (writing and publishing), or I’ve learned of a great new opportunity to promote your book. When the opt-in boxes go up, I hope you’ll sign up.

More About “Author! Author! Use Promos & Discounts to Create BUZZ for Your Book”

I forgot to tell you something about this book. While it has always been one of the first 10 Author! Author! books scheduled for release, I was actually finishing up a different book when this one moved to the forefront. Why?

Well, I was working on Author! Author! Discover the 6 Paths to Publication: Which One is Best for You? when one of the authors with whom I work, KD Pryor, and I decided to put together a promo for her young adult paranormal book, The Portal’s Choice. The promo includes blog blasts, blog tours and discounts. Because it was something I was working on, I decided to set The 6 Paths to Publication aside and complete Use Promos & Discounts to BUZZ Your Book. Which means, in about three weeks from now there will be another Author! Author! book out to help you on your way.

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Authors – Are you Discouraged by Low Sales? By High Expectations?

by Katherine (Kaete) Mariaca on May 30, 2013

Yesterday, I received an email from a friend from grad school. Mark included a link to this post by Tobias Buckell, along with a caution from Mark that stated: “Something to think about, for those considering direct digital publishing.”

Yikes. But, then again…

OK, I have to admit I agree with much of what Tobias asserts. I know many authors whose expectations are so high that they will never be met. I know that writers obsess over Amanda Hocking and John Locke and other self-pubbed authors who have “made it.” And, I know that there is a lot of snake oil out there masked as “make it rich with your eBook” advice.

Fine. I get that.

What Tobias’ post doesn’t address is that there are millions of authors who have gone the “traditional” route and who were not signed. In fact, I am sure many more have tried and failed at traditional publishing than have tried self-pubbing. Further, there are many who have been signed and published the traditional way whose books died quiet deaths on dusty bookstore shelves. That being said, if you were to take those numbers and add them into the whole traditional pubbing pot, you’d come up with a chart that is a lot more disappointing than the one that Tobias borrowed from Smashwords.

Look, let’s be real here. Self-pubbing is an infant compared to traditional publishing. It is growing, evolving, expanding, collapsing, and transmogrifying (I always wanted to use that word). Traditional publishing, on the other hand, is stagnant. It was strangled by its own “rules.” I’m sorry, but the world does not run on those rules any more.

Yes, there are some writers who have made it big (and don’t we all hope to do so as well?) and the majority are still struggling along. But, they are STRUGGLING. They are getting up each and every day and trying to figure out how to promote and propel their work. They are learning new skills and taking part in an exciting adventure. That is MUCH better than sitting at home typing out yet one more pathetic query letter to one more over-caffeinated cubicle drone whose bitter breakup the night before has her/him stamping “Thanks, but not for me” on every hope-infused request before stuffing it back into its sase (OK, I know – it’s now done by email, but still).

I’m the kind of person who will take a detour which may be longer, but that is moving, rather than sit in traffic waiting for other people to get their acts together. I will try new things. I will succeed at some and fail at others. But, I am MOVING.

Self-pubbing and hybrid pubbing and working with small, upstart publishing boutiques like mine means you refuse to stagnate. You refuse to sit still and let one person control your destiny. Instead, you are  taking charge of your own life, your own career, your own dreams, your destiny. You are entering the free market and making your stand.

The numbers that Tobias refers to are only important if you give up. If you get better, even a little better, each and every day, then your books will scoot a little closer to the left on that Smashwords chart.

This is not Polyanna-speak. This is choice. I’d much rather go down in flames trying something I believe in than let someone else stamp me into oblivion.

(rant over).

 

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Post image for Authors – Understand the Payment Schedules of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CreateSpace and the iBookstore

Authors – Understand the Payment Schedules of Amazon, Barnes & Noble, CreateSpace and the iBookstore

by Katherine (Kaete) Mariaca on May 15, 2013

I have been doing research for my soon-to-be-released book, Author! Author! Write, Publish & Market a Buzz-Creating How-To Book: Sell Your Book in Print, on Amazon, on Barnes & Noble and in the iBookstore, and it occurred to me to share some information with you about the payment policies of the various big book retailers.

As you know, I own Madaket Lane Publishers, a boutique publishing agency. When we begin to work with a new author, we are invariably asked when payments to authors are made. Unfortunately, payment schedules vary. Why? Because the various retailers who carry our books pay us according to different schedules.

If you are self-publishing or working with a boutique publisher, your receivables (incoming payments) are probably similar to ours. To help you figure out when you can expect to be paid, I’ve put together the following remittance information from the some of the larger retailers:

Amazon’s Payment Policy (for Kindle Sales)

Amazon pays out approximately 60 days after the end of the month in which a sale occurred. So, if you sold a book in February, you can expect payment at the end of April. The day of the month is not set in stone. A quick look back at my bank account shows me I’ve been paid on the 23rd of one month and the 28th of another. For US sales. I’ve been paid on different days for European sales. Sales made through Amazon’s other subsidiaries are paid on different dates as well.

You should note that Amazon has a minimum payment threshold of $10.00. This means that unless you have earned at least $10.00, your payment might roll over into the next month.

CreateSpace’s Payment Policy

CreateSpace is the print-on-demand sister-company to Amazon. While the are technically “an Amazon company,” they have their own payment policy.

CreateSpace pays out approximately 30 days after the end of the month in which a sale was made. This means that a sale made in February will generally pay out at the end of March.

Barnes & Noble’s Payment Policy (for NOOK sales)

B&N has the same payment policies as Amazon for Kindle sales. That is, it pays about 60 days after the close of the month in which a sales was made. Additionally, it also has a $10.00 minimum payment threshold.

Barnes & Noble does not have the same reach as does Amazon does. It sells NOOK books in the U.S., Canada and Great Britain. As far as payments go, this means you will not have to keep track of sales in as many territories. I don’t think that is a good thing.

The iBookstore’s Payment Policy

Apple pays about 45 days after the end of the month in which a sale was made. It, too, has a minimum payment threshold, though it is confusing to understand.  It’s publisher agreements suggests that this might be $150, but it makes payments of as little as $10.00.  Here is the pertinent info:

EBOOK AGENCY/COMMISSIONAIRE DISTRIBUTION AGREEMENT, Section 5: Commission; Tax; and Reporting, paragraph (c)  “After deducting Apple’s commission, and any taxes collected by Apple under Section 5(f) hereof, from eBook Proceeds, Apple shall either remit to Publisher, or issue a credit in Publisher’s favor, subject to Apple’s standard business practices, including minimum monthly remittance amount thresholds determined by Apple (e.g., $150), the remaining balance by electronic funds transfer (“EFT”) no later than forty-five (45) days following the close of the previous monthly sales period…”

 About Google Books

For now, I do not publish to Google Play. Why? I don’t like the clause in their contract that lets them set the sale price for my books. While the other retailers also state that they can determine the final price of a book, Google states that it will adjust its retail price to be lower than that found at the other big-name retailers. This, then, would put me in conflict with the policies of the other retailers that demand that I not price my books lower elsewhere.   I might change my mind at a later date, but I don’t think we are missing any sales by not being in the Google Play store.

Working with a Publisher

Now, if you work with a publisher, you can probably expect to be paid within a specified number of days after the company gets paid. After all, the publisher will be receiving payments for any number of books by any number of different authors, from any number of different retailers. They will have to verify receivables against sales made and will then have to figure out the royalties due to the different authors.

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Authors – I’m Really, Really Not Happy with Apple’s iBookstore Policy

May 15, 2013
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I appreciate sleek design. In fact, there was a time when just the thought up buying a Mac made me salivate. The artist part of me, especially, wanted one because of all the hype over Apple’s graphic capabilities. My son, the engineering student, convince me to stick with a PC. In fact, he chose an [...]

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The Portal’s Choice Goes on Sale Monday, May 6 at a Special Introductory Price

May 5, 2013
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The Portal’s Choice, the new young adult – teen – book by KD Pryor, which is being published by Madaket Lane Publishers, goes on sale tomorrow, Monday, May 6.  The book will immediately be available on Amazon, on Barnes & Noble, and at CreateSpace (print). Soon thereafter, it will be available in the iBookstore as [...]

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Authors – How Many Proof Copies of Your Book Are You Ordering?

April 22, 2013
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I don’t know about you, but I go through a lot of proof copies of my books – and of those other authors whose books I publish. It occurred to me, though, that some authors might not follow suit and, if you are one of them, I hope you will reconsider. First of all, what [...]

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Authors – Are You Using Reviews to Promote Your Book?

April 18, 2013
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As part of the promotional lead-up to the launch of KD Pryor’s book, The Portal’s Choice, we spent a lot of time researching qualified book reviewers. For us, reviewers had to: Read and be knowledgeable about Young Adult fiction, Have written a number of fair and thoughtful YA book reviews in the past, Be amenable [...]

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Authors! A Few Notes on Hosting a Goodreads Giveaway

April 5, 2013
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I love Goodreads. It is a great site for authors who want to promote their books directly to the people who matter – those who WANT to read their books. Goodreads, started in 2009 by a husband and wife team out of their living room, was purchased last week by Amazon for a reported $150 [...]

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CreateSpace, Kindle, Nook, iBookstore & Google Play – Authors, Where to Publish your Books?

March 26, 2013
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As you know, lately I’ve been looking into Google Play as a viable publishing venue after having left that site a few years ago when I became disgusted by the quality of the “books” found there. Because I keep getting questions about publishing to Google, I’ve since gone back to research and consider publishing there. [...]

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Do You Publish on Google Books? I’m Looking for Feedback

March 23, 2013
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I’ve been watching the stats for this site lately. This is really something I should do more often, or, at least, more consistently. With Google Analytics, I can see how many people visit the site each day, where they come from, and which pages/posts they spend time on. This gives me great insight as to [...]

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