You've Written Your Book. Now What?

Here at Self Published Author.com, we offer tools, advice, and resources to help you through the publishing process. Bowker is the official ISBN agency in the US and Australia. We're excited about authors taking the publishing process into their own hands, and we're here to help however you need it.

At Self Published Author.com, we

offer industry advice and perspective, giving you an inside scoop on the business
explore marketing tools
refer you to partners who can help
list events specifically for self-published authors

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How Twitter Can Help Authors Reach Key Marketing Influencers

by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Oct 17, 2017

If you’re an author marketing your book, it goes without saying that you want to get in front of the right people, or in other words “key influencers.” And, where you find them is just as important as how you reach them. Social media offers an incredible opportunity to connect with these influencers in a meaningful way. And while it’s really common to use LinkedIn and Facebook, the art of connecting with influencers on Twitter can also make a huge difference to your end goals, especially when they retweet your Tweets.

Additionally, Twitter offers a direct, instantaneous link that allows you to take a more focused, more tailored approach. Anytime you like or reshare a Tweet, the person will know, and it opens the door to a great connection. Not only are you exposed to their followers, but as your relationship grows, you will likely see your follower numbers growing as well.

Inside Publishing

Marketing & Publicity

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Don't Judge a Book by Its Price

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Oct 10, 2017

Deciding upon the price of your book may have more impact on your sales and profits than any other marketing decision. Yet some authors and publishers determine the price by matching competitive prices, multiplying the unit printing costs by eight, or pricing their book at what “feels right.” Any of those choices may negatively impact your operating income (OI). Instead, base your book’s price on marketing strategy.

Let’s look at the choice of multiplying the unit printing costs by eight. Suppose your unit printing cost is $1.87 (of course, that depends on the quantity printed). Eight times this amount would yield a list price of $14.95. This covers your distributor’s percentage (70%), and even with a promotional budget of $1 per book and could yield $1.61 per sale. At that rate you would need to sell 621 books to generate $1,000 of OI.

Inside Publishing

Marketing & Publicity

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What if They Hate My Book?

by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Oct 3, 2017

Everyone has a few fears before they publish their book and a big one is fear of what happens next. When I was first published, some 17 years ago now, I recall having nightmares that people hated my first book so much that they were chasing me down the street, throwing copies at me. Seriously. Even now, after 16 books, I still have concerns that each book will be hated. I know I’m not the only one, and I’m sure this fear has meant that a lot of great books never get published.

When authors ask me, “What if they hate my book?” my inevitable answer is “They might. But they might love it, too.” Candidly, there isn’t much you can do to get past the fear except to publish your book anyway. And even if you have written the best book on the planet, someone somewhere will dislike it. It may be surprising to you now, but you may even welcome constructive criticism since it can help you improve in the long run.

Inside Publishing

Writing

Marketing & Publicity

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Click here if you are from Australia

How Twitter Can Help Authors Reach Key Marketing Influencers

Don't Judge a Book by Its Price

What if They Hate My Book?

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