Self-Publishing: What’s Your Motivation?
by Sarita Venkat Big Fish Media is chronicling author Susan Price in a series of posts as she navigates the world of self-publishing. We follow the choices she faces, the decisions she makes, and the challenges she encounters in all areas, including research, production, and marketing. We’ll also offer tips, resources, and insights about self-publishing. […]
How to Meet the Self-Publishing Challenge: A Case Study with Nonfiction Author Susan Price
by Sarita Venkat I just finished reading Guy Kawasaki and Shawn Welch’s book APE: Author, Publisher, Entrepreneur—How to Publish a Book. In excruciating detail, the authors take the reader through a step-by-step process on how to self-publish by (fittingly) self-publishing APE. The book is a guide and resource for authors exploring an alternate publishing route. […]
Apple, Steve Jobs, E-Book Prices and the Day New York Publishers Finally Tried to Kill Amazon.com
If you’re going to take a shot at your most formidable enemy, don’t miss. It turns out that is what happened in the Steve Jobs-Publishing Industry-E book-Collusion-Lawsuit story. And if you’re like me, I’ll bet you find the whole set of events very hard to grasp, and somehow just not that compelling to invest hours […]
The Power of Posting Up
Our clients and health care reform gurus Al Lewis and Tom Emerick (working from time-to-time with Vik Khanna) are selling books and generating buzz through a series of blog articles in major news and information sites ranging from the Wall Street Journal to Harvard Business Review to Fortune and The Health Care Blog. What makes […]
Get Publishers to “Pre-Approve” Your Manuscript Approach
Here’s a thought for nonfiction authors—particularly in service categories such as business and finance where your book was not acquired for your literary genius. While the pressure of finishing a manuscript against a deadline will always tap some level of emotional exhaustion, in our current publishing age, there is one major uncertainty you can remove […]
Refreshing Take on Networking – Focus on Values, Beliefs, and Your Authentic, Best Self
We did some editorial work for Porter Gale’s book Your Network Is Your Net Worth, published this June by Atria/Simon & Schuster. I was a fan when I was working on it, and I’m a bigger fan now that Porter has done such a masterful job of bringing this book to its fullest potential. Porter’s […]
Five Big Insights on America from Working Scared
Three of every four U.S. workers were personally affected by the Great Recession—either losing a job themselves or knowing a family member or close friend who lost a job during the period. A statistic like this might be shocking to some. But it’s a reality we need to accept. This finding—along with many others—is from […]
Four Underrated (But Effective) Ways to Sell Your Book
Whether you self-publish or work with a traditional publisher, the onus is on you—as the author—to promote your book. It may seem like a daunting task, especially when you have invested so much energy completing your manuscript, but selling your book doesn’t have to be complicated. Yes, you’ll have to put in a lot of […]
How to Negotiate a Good Contract—Essential Tips from The Freelancer’s Bible
Every member of free agent nation can avoid headaches and profit financially and personally by reading the new book from Sara Horowitz with Toni Sciarra Poynter—The Freelancer’s Bible (Workman). I’ve read it, loved it, and marked dozens of passages useful to our own goals. Horowitz is executive director of the Freelancers Union and CEO of […]
How Authors and Editors Can Work Together: 9 Rules for a Happy Marriage (Part 2)
As a consultant, get a good understanding of the type of editorial service(s) the author is seeking for his/her manuscript. You’re the editorial expert so depending on the level of service needed—from straightforward copyediting and proofreading to more complex and time consuming developmental, stylistic, and substantive editing—you’ll be able to determine the client’s needs. (Read […]