Industry reports and publications have cited sluggish book sales over the past year showing a continuous decline month after month. Book retailers have been shutting their doors due to the lack of sufficient business. Publishing houses have tightened the reigns on their finances and as a result some have become more reluctant to offer deals in … [Read more...]

Do you know any good book printers? I have been publishing this newsletter for over five years and have written on many different subjects effecting self-publishers. I tend to downplay my main role in this industry because I don’t want everything to look like an advertisement, which is probably one of the main reasons our monthly circulation is … [Read more...]

As we start the new year most of us are setting our goals for 2008. That is good, because firm objectives provide a target at which to aim, the standard against which you can gauge your relative success. And written goals provide a means for looking back to see how far you have come. If all these benefits of setting goals are true, how can goals be … [Read more...]

‘Social networking’ has become the latest buzz phrase – but what is social networking exactly, and why would you want to get involved in it? The answer is that social networks—Facebook, LinkedIn, Ryze, Bebo, MySpace, etc—are fast becoming a phenomenon worth paying attention to, and are potentially poised to usurp many of the publicity … [Read more...]

Talk to any book publicist, and you’ll hear the same thing: Getting broadcast publicity for a self-published or mid-list novel is at best challenging, and often nearly impossible. Unless your last name is Clancy, King or Rowling, chances are slim a radio or TV program is going to want you on the air to talk about your book. The reason … [Read more...]

There are many reasons why a book doesn’t sell: The author doesn’t promote it. The cover isn’t appealing. The author isn’t well-known in this topic or genre. There’s no audience for a book on this topic. It’s a bulldozer book. What is a bulldozer book? It’s one designed to change minds. The author’s intent is to push … [Read more...]

(1) Make sure that you ask all of the right questions so that you truly understand your prospect's needs. Don't assume that you know what your customer wants or that they have the same needs as all of your other customers. Ask. This way you'll be sure. (2) Give your customers exactly what they ask for. "Sort of" doesn't count. Make sure that … [Read more...]