book promotion

Book promotion: Will you give away your book for free?

by

After you’ve spent hundreds (thousands) of hours working on your book and getting it published, what would your reaction be if you saw it available for free download on a peer-to-peer file sharing site? My guess is, you wouldn’t be too happy.

Piracy is a big problem wherever Intellectual Property Rights come into picture. This applies to books, music, movies, software and many other products where an idea or concept is packaged usually for commercial gains.

But there’s another school of thought that’s finding new followers (some very prominent and well-respected ones) each day.

Read more

Do you have a publisher-friendly blog?

by

What’s the best way to convince a publisher that you have a platform to promote your books so they take your query letter and your book proposal seriously?
‘I used my blog to sell X hundred/thousand copies of my first book.’

What’s the next best way, if you are an unpublished author with a popular blog?
‘I haven’t been published yet, but I’ve used my blog to sell X hundred/thousand copies of other books in the same genre.’

Even if it isn’t mentioned in your publishing contract, your publisher would still want you to do your best to promote your book. In a previous post, I had shared some ideas on why an author needs to have a blog irrespective of whether you are going for traditional publishing, self-publishing, printed books, ebooks. Having a blog is less important than having an ‘effective’ blog.

Read more

The misconception about ‘free’ author copies

by

‘Great, you are an author now! So Mr Author, when am I getting my complimentary copy? Oh c’mon, don’t act like a stingy business-man now, 1 copy won’t hurt.’
If you’ve ever said this (or might say it in the future) to your good-friend-turned-author, read on to know the truth behind ‘free’ author copies. Maybe you’ll have some newfound sympathy and support for your friend.

How many free copies does an author get?

Read more

7 Reasons why you should start an author blog

by

I maintain 3 blogs. The first one is an MBA blog which is quite popular among Indian MBA applicants who are targeting international business schools. The second blog is based on a creative word puzzle (Onamography) that I invented. This is my third blog and focuses on helping budding writers break into the publishing industry.

Maintaining a blog can be tedious. Maintaining 3 blogs can be, well, tedious X 3. But there are definite benefits that you can expect to get back if you understand the basic rules of the game.

Whether you are a struggling author waiting to get your first book published or you are a veteran in the field, having an author blog is a good idea. It serves to be more than just a marketing platform. If you don’t have a blog yet, here are some reasons why you should start writing blog posts

Read more

Book marketing and promotion: Meet the superheroes

by

Marketing and promoting a book can be one of the biggest hurdles for first-time authors (Well, ok, after you’ve got a good literary agent to represent you, got a contract from a good publishing house and all other other equally challenging hurdles have been crossed…) Fortunately for those who have the backing of an established publishing house, the journey can be a little less rocky. This post is a tribute to the unsung heroes of the publishing world.

Before the book goes to the printing press (and the editorial process is still on), the sales and marketing team has already got into action. Here’s a little to-do list to give you an idea of the complexities that Marketing guys have to deal with:

Read more