Inside Publishing

Now that your book is finished, what happens next? We're here to guide you through the publishing process, from editorial to distribution and sales.

Take the "Junk" out of Direct Mail

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Mar 6, 2018

Direct mail has been given a bad reputation because of overuse and poorly designed mailing pieces. People tend to perceive direct mail as junk mail, and its Internet equivalent as spam.

However, when you have a finite, identifiable group of people who are potential customers for your books, direct mail may be the most effective and efficient marketing tool you can use to reach them. It gives you control of the timing, delivery and content of your promotion, a pre-determined fixed cost and the means to forecast and measure the return on your marketing investment.

Unfortunately, direct marketing is too often implemented simply by purchasing a mailing list and then sending an existing brochure. Unless you first prepare a plan, including a way to evaluate your relative success, you may end up wasting money and becoming disillusioned in the potential effectiveness of a strategic direct mail campaign.

Inside Publishing

Marketing & Publicity

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The Hot Sheet — Latest Edition

by Richard Smith
Bowker | Tue Feb 27, 2018

The Hot Sheet

If you’re an author and want to stay on top of the important issues in the world of publishing — issues that affect you — you need The Hot Sheet.

With all the chatter out there, it will help you sort through the noise with stories that focus on relevant topics from across the publishing spectrum. From author success stories to key industry statistics, you’ll find what you need to know in The Hot Sheet.

In the new edition of The Hot Sheet, just out:

Inside Publishing

News & Resources

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I Only Have "-ize" for You

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Feb 20, 2018

Many independent publishers use the Christopher Columbus method of planning. They do not know where they are going. When they arrive, they do not know where they are. And when they return, they do not know where they have been. This is not a good way to run a business.

Avoid this situation by writing a strategic, functional plan to market your books. Your plan should identify the most promising business opportunities. It should clarify your goals and the activities you will employ to move toward your objectives efficiently. For a view of a new planning formula, look through these "ize."

Recognize. A basic premise for successful marketing is to find a need and fill it. You do this by researching three major areas. First, discover what product opportunities exist. Second, learn the demographics and psychographics of your prospective customers. Finally, calculate your potential market's size, growth and competitive status.

Inside Publishing

Marketing & Publicity

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Goals are Worthless…

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Feb 13, 2018

Goals are the foundation of a solid marketing plan. They provide a target at which to aim, the standard against which you can gauge your company’s progress. They divide your vision statement into manageable steps and provide a path to its realization. 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 of no value? Goal-setting is a tool, and like any other tool it is useless if used incorrectly. Goals are worthless…

Inside Publishing

Marketing & Publicity

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Inside Publishing

Take the "Junk" out of Direct Mail

The Hot Sheet — Latest Edition

I Only Have "-ize" for You

Goals are Worthless…

Pages

Getting Started

Create a Culture of Quality in Your Publishing Company

FAQs about ISBNs

How to Write a Business Plan as Narrative (Part 2 of 2)

A Novel Planning Technique for Book Publishers (Part 1 of 2)

Do You Have the Write Stuff?