My six-month Adwords trial was a complete bust. In my very long experience with website promotion, nothing out there compares to links, all with the strength of =at least= implied testimonials–from sites from which a natural fanbase flows. And those links from other sites help drive your site toward the hallowed first page of returns [...]

Jeez, since I started in 1985 I have never been sad about self-publishing. I have been sad since then about relations with publishers.

So I’m a book person. I believe in the look, feel, heft, even the smell of real books I can hold in my hand. I’ve invested plenty in “real” books–that I’ve written–damn right I have– but also in books written by previously unpublished authors. I have a corps of fans who periodically search on my [...]

This morning (July 26, 2010), The Authors’ Guild chimed in with its take on the Wylie-Amazon deal: http://authorsguild.org/advocacy/articles/wylie-amazon-and-random-house-battle.html http://authorsguild.org/advocacy/articles/what-its-all-about—-economics.html As is typical, the Guild comes done in the mushy middle. Note, above all, what the Guild does =not= (ever) mention: the possibility of member authors undertaking ebook creation and marketing on their own. The Authors’ [...]

Their existential threat isn’t so much us as them, the way they operate from their high citadels.

So here’s the problem with your branded search concept: Readers need to know to enter the search phrases that will bring up your book. The reason there a numerous “Gilded Age” or “Gaslight” search results isn’t because the authors made a mistake in picking a crowded brand, it’s because those are the most likely phrases [...]

A few things to add: 1. A friend in the industry tells me that Wylie has been blackballed by Random House. No one believes that will last, but it’s worth noting. 2. Wylie must have given thought to possible backlash. It speaks volumes that he went ahead despite the potential blowback on his businees. An [...]

First off, uber-agent Richard Curtis has been publishing ebooks for his clients for months if not longer. He runs that business out of a server by his desk. It’s that easy. I am also publishing out-of-print titles as ebooks for writer buddies who have no interest in doing it themselves (and might thus be smarter [...]

Until quite recently, the common wisdom argued that authors or their agents needed to fight for the largest advance possible, because “it’s the only money you’re sure to get.” Publishers countered (and accepted new realities) by offering lower and lower advances. Part of the reason for that is the corporatist argument that places executive salaries [...]

Show of hands: Is there anyone here who, month in and month out, =nets= enough to live on from self-publishing alone?

When I started out, editors attempted to coerce me by saying, “Well, it’s your name that’ll be on the cover.” To scare me, right? Once I knew I had the skill set nailed, I answered back, “My name, yes. I take responsibility if I’m wrong. Do it my way.” But I never miss an opportunity [...]

When I first read the headline of this blog, I thought it was about critics–reviewers–who review books on Amazon.

Now there’s a hell of a blog topic we could all comment on.

In a world in which Amazon carries every title it knows about, you are right. Because there’s no limit to shelf space online. But the world was not always thus. It took a substantial advance buy from B&N and Borders and Books a Million, et al before even contracted, edited, even ready-to-print books were actually [...]

My favorite real story about self-promotion, literally:

There’s a novelist named Bill Butterworth (William E. Butterworth) who also writes as W.E.B. Griffin. At some point, a glowing blurb from Butterworth began to appear on every Griffin book, and vice versa.

Lisa, I agree to a point. Yes, of course, we need to fix any error we find. And we need to be on the lookout for errors. During the editorial process or subsequent natural opportunities to fix things. Nevertheless, as a person who has been involved in the publication of several hundred books, I have [...]

I find that I tolerate errors better in ebooks than hardcopy. A lot of those errors arise from the normal course of scanning and OCRing: 99 percent accuracy relative to a 70,000-word text is 700 errors that are as difficult for the eye to catch as for the OCR software to interpret. And then there [...]

I think the modern reader has to–or chooses to–wade through so much hype before reaching the opening line, that even a good opener feels like an afterthought, perhaps only a bolster to the buying decision. If you encounter the book in a store, you touch it, weigh it, read the flaps and back cover, perhaps [...]

They care bcause of the rice bowl we’re breaking. Objectively, we’re a way bigger threat to them than they are to us. Every penny they don’t make from our labor is a penny they can’t use to prop up a rotting structure. I’m a military historian. My gut has me looking at this as guerrilla [...]

Have I misread you, Henry? I thought your answer to hate, anger, disappointment, etc. toward Big Publishing got wrapped up and pointed in a positive direction through this site, through promotion of victory through alternative means. If you’re really done with them, why bother even thinking about their motivations or the state of =their= industry? [...]