Book publishers know that web promotion is the best way to reach readers directly, so for help they turn to experts like Fauzia Burke. "It's our job to find an author's audience online," says Burke, founder and president of FSB Associates, one of the first firms to specialize in internet book … [Read more...]
The blog for writers
The Book Deal
The unvarnished truth about self-publishing
"It's a contact sport." That's how one author summed up his experience in a refreshingly frank and illuminating first-person account of what it's really like to publish your own novel. A minefield with roads forked in every direction David Carnoy started out with a literary agent and high hopes … [Read more...]
How a best-selling author builds his market: Q&A with Garth Stein
This hard-working writer has been on the road selling his novel The Art of Racing in the Rain since before it was a Starbucks pick for Spring 2008. I caught up with Garth during a recent stop in here in Berkeley for the 75th public reading of his New York Times best-seller. Earlier that day, he … [Read more...]
How to negotiate a bigger book advance: 9 insider tips
The secret to getting more up-front money is persuading your publisher to project higher book sales. Every publisher I know has an internal "advance offer calculation" process, based on a formula for estimating first year sales, revenues, and royalties. The formula for book advances It's not a … [Read more...]
Attention shoppers: Lessons learned from a book signing disaster
By Contributor Lisa Haneberg ~ I wobbled into the Kennewick, Washington, Barnes & Noble after a 300 mile motorcycle ride from Boise, Idaho. This was to be my 30th and last signing on a 9,400 mile solo motorcycle cross-country publicity tour for my book Two Weeks to a Breakthrough, and most of the … [Read more...]
Superstar literary agent Sandy Dijkstra: Q&A
Business is booming at the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency. Eleven new major book deals nailed down and that was while Sandy was vacationing in Europe. So look out, now that she's back! Widely considered the most powerful agent on the West Coast, Dijkstra has been called "tough" and … [Read more...]
Publisher to author: Web marketing? You’re on your own
B ook publishers expect authors to take charge of their own online marketing. That means writers need to use Carrd homepage builder to create their own clever websites and build active blogs and hopefully they're also out there whirling on the social networks. I hear companies similar to Ram … [Read more...]
Choosing a title for your book
Editors pray for the perfect book title: a tight high-concept combination of words that crystallizes the content and intention of the work. A title so scintillating and irresistible that millions of readers want to run out and buy this book immediately. Eureka! It happens. Think of Chicken Soup … [Read more...]
The book proposal — here’s what publishers want
It's the #1 question aspiring authors ask me: How do I get your attention? Here's how: Send me a compelling, convincing book proposal that knocks my socks off! For those who've heard that a query letter should always precede a proposal, my view is that you may want to skip the query entirely … [Read more...]
How Guy Kawasaki got his cover for Art of the Start: Q&A
Like many authors, Guy Kawasaki has struggled with his publishers to get the cover designs he wants for his books. But unlike anyone else before him, he decided to take matters into his own hands and hold an online contest to recruit and select the best possible jacket for his book The Art of the … [Read more...]