Launch your book to five-star reviews
How do you launch your book to five-star reviews? The answer is easy but the implementation can be a bit time-consuming. So don’t jump the gun by publishing too early. Get these six foundational items checked off, first. You’ll be glad you did!Know where your book belongs on the virtual shelvesBuild a marketing street team […]
Comparing IngramSpark and Amazon KDP Print Royalty
It can be tough to choose how to distribute your print books and, to make it even more complicated, you can use combinations of services to maximize your marketing and profits. Lots of authors sell their print book directly to readers who shop in the Amazon store using Amazon KDP Print. They distribute everywhere else […]
Why you need a resale certificate
How many times have you ordered boxes of books from Amazon, IngramSpark, or a printing company to sell at an event? Did you pay sales tax on them? Oops! You have the right to get those books tax-free, just like any other wholesale product, because you’re going to collect tax when you sell them. Don’t […]
An ISBN is a birth certificate for your book
In this post I’ll answer a reader question about ISBNs. You can ask your own question by clicking the button at the end of this post.I would love to know if owning my own ISBNs allows me to print and distribute my ebook, hardback, paperback not only with IngramSpark and Amazon KDP Print but anywhere […]
The preorder solution for your print books with IngramSpark
Authors have learned that preorders create excitement and greater sales for their books. But Amazon KDP Print (formerly CreateSpace) does not offer a preorder function for selling print books on Amazon. What!? It doesn’t make sense, but that’s the way it is. There are two solutions. One of them is a ridiculous workaround, so this […]
Website Tools to Build Your Author Email List
You author email list is your number one marketing tool. Here’s how to make your website an email collecting machine in 10 steps. An irresistible freebieAn email marketing funnelA self-hosted WordPress websiteA premium themeLead pagesAn email marketing service providerA notification ribbonA timer (for scarcity marketing)A search engine optimization toolTime for experimentationGROW YOUR EMAIL LIST WITH AN […]
Affiliate marketing for authors
Make money selling books and . . . stuffAs an author, you can easily increase you income stream with affiliate marketing programs because writing comes naturally for you. Affiliate programs and curation tools help you make a few more pennies on each sale of your book as well as on other books and products that […]
Distribution: How your book gets to your readers
With all the distribution services available to you, it can be difficult to choose a path. This post aims to clarify those terms and the tools and services I most recommend to independent authors. Ebook distributorAn ebook distribution service distributes your ebook to a wide range of online retailers. Aggregators collect a percentage of sales (about […]
A step-by-step guide to U.S. copyright registration for self-published authors
With the perceived risk among writers of copyright infringement so extremely high, it’s no wonder self-publishers are increasingly concerned about making sure their work is copyrighted. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created, “without any action taken by the author, the moment it is fixed in a tangible form so that it is […]
Pronoun & Macmillan: a Shift to More Author-Friendly Publishing?
Last week Macmillan purchased Pronoun, an eBook creation, distribution, and marketing service for independent authors. (See announcement.) Along with Pronoun, Macmillan purchased an innovative entourage that includes Booklr, a data analysis service for eBook sales, and Byliner, which publishes “urgent, necessary journalism for the present day” along with short fiction and serials. But I think that […]