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 […]
How Authors and Editors Can Work Together: 9 Rules for a Happy Marriage (Part 1)
When I was a publishing executive, I worked with many authors who hired outside editors to coach and edit their manuscripts. Now as a consultant, I’ve edited manuscripts and provided editorial coaching to a range of clients. Editorial consulting has been key to my business with several arrangements that have led to great working relationships. […]
Six Concerns for Authors in the Random House-Viking Merger
Here at Big Fish Media, we believe there’s much to consider in news of the merger between Random House and Viking-Penguin, two of the most powerful trade houses with enormous literary histories, deep lists of major authors and steady streams of bestsellers. Mergers are about gaining efficiencies, and efficiencies are about consolidating costs–therefore, each […]
Neuroscience and the Writing Process
It’s often said that writing is an art, not a science but from what I’ve learned in the past month, I may have to dispute that saying. Okay, I’ll confess. I am not a science-oriented person. From an early age, I was fascinated by the arts and literature and imagined penning a novel one day. […]
Book Apps: A Marketing Opportunity for Authors
Book apps represent a new territory for authors. Our advice? Don’t be intimidated by this digital technology; an app is a new way to interact with your readers and one that augments the reading experience. You know the stats: According to the Association of American Publishers, U.S. book publishers brought in more revenue from e-books […]
Using Facebook in Marketing Your Book: Five Tips for Authors
It’s easy to lump all social networking sites together and devise a one-size-fits-all book marketing strategy. This is not advisable because when promoting your book, it’s more effective to identify tactics that lend themselves to specific social media sites. Sure they’ll be some overlap but each site is unique and has its strengths and weaknesses. […]
Ways to Invigorate Your Blog: Guest Posts, Interviews, and Reader Questions
A few weeks ago, we wrote about how guest posts can boost your content marketing, offering tips and links to five websites you can target. But what about the other side of the guest blogging discussion? In addition to soliciting other blogs, why not invite bloggers to post on your website? After all, in the […]
Managing Your Social Media Expectations
Recently, Businessweek published an article on writing successful business books. What’s an up and coming publishing and communications consultant supposed to do? I lunged for it, curious about how an outsider sees this sub-industry and whether readers would need any guidance on what the piece said. The article, “How to Write a Bestselling Business Book,” written […]