Resources

“Affinity merchandise” is a fancy term for everyday promotional items that every business uses to enhance its brand and create good will.  They are also known as “advertising specialties” and “swag”.  There are so many choices, ranging from pencils, to the latest Flip video mini-camera, that choosing which items will work for you requires some really deep thought.

You are not just selling your book, but also your brand…and you are a brand.  Brands have their own equity, and branding is something you really want to do with your author name because it not only sells your current book, but […]

About a week ago I had to opportunity to view again, after twentyyears, an arty but satisfying film by director-documentarian Jill Godmilow, called Waiting for the Moon. Plotless and rather devil-may-care when it came to realistic chronology, it depicted the lives of Gertrude Stein and her companion, Alice B. Toklas, as they spent them in the artistically rich atmosphere of pre-war Paris and their peaceful country house in the French province of Ain, near the Swiss border. Their days spent in Ain hold a particular glamour for writers. For who among us has not longed for that quiet place, […]

1.)  It’s an Investment, Not a Cost

Marketing is more than just selling your book.  Taken by themselves, most marketing events are loss-leaders.  A book signing or table event won’t normally bring you enough profit on the copies sold to cover your costs of getting there, much less a decent wage for the hours spent not just during the appearance, but all the collateral work and other material that you should provide such as bookmarks and posters.  You are not just promoting the event, but creating buzz and excitement about the book which will carry over to book store staff […]

Twitter is the new Myspace. Back when I first started using Myspace, around 2-3 years ago, it was still a place where people connected with each other. When you added a friend, people would actually take the time to see how you were. This meant connecting with some very interesting people. I traded Myspace emails with Peter Bagge, author of Hate comics, which was a highlight.

Now Myspace is overrun with spam and people who indiscriminately add to build up their friend count. Twitter, on the other hand, is what Myspace used to be. It could too get corrupted […]

(Read Part One here)

There are some basic principles and standards an author should look for in a company offering self-publishing services. In my previous article on Types of Self Publishing – Peeling Away the Layers, I explained how many terms can be used to describe these companies, but here are some of the things you should be looking for. You may not find a company that matches all these standards, in fact I think it would be unlikely, but it will go a long way to helping an author find a strong reputable company which best matches […]

The author who embarks on the journey into self-publishing takes on a great many tasks. If they choose to fulfil all the tasks themselves, they have, in effect, taken on the running of a small business and everything that goes with it. They may decide to run their small publishing business by registering it a sole proprietor company, with the intention of publishing more than just one book. They not only become authors of their book, but editor, designer and illustrator. They will have to go about preparing their book as a digital file for the printers, using a program […]

The reality is that self publishing can be boiled down to two avenues. They both have a common denominator – business. You can attach all the labels you want on to self publishing, but when the mist has settled, and for whatever set of reasons a writer has chosen to pursue self publishing, they must understand that they are entering a form of business.

If you believe writing is a deeply held and personal passion, and simply want to see your book in print for family and friends and be a record of preservation, then there are many reputable Subsidy […]