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.

Think Minimum Instead of Maximum

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Jan 7, 2020

This is the time of year when authors resolve to sell more of their books than they did last year. But “upsurges of enthusiasm in early January are generally followed by flagging commitment in February,” according to an article in the Wall Street Journal (“On the Journey to New Habits, Take Tiny Steps,” by BJ Fogg, January 4, 2020, page C3). When people see what needs to be done to sell more books, they often feel they cannot do it and they give up.

Inside Publishing

Marketing & Publicity

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Making the Most of Your Book Award – How to Turn it Into Book Sales

by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Dec 17, 2019

If you’ve ever hoped to win a book award, you are in great company. Contests continue to entice authors from a variety of genres and topics. In fact, I’ve judged several of them, including the Benjamin Franklin Awards from IBPA, and Writer’s Digest, among others.

As you know, the goal of these book awards is to shed light and praise on the best books in a particular genre. Most book contests include a wide variety of genres, including poetry (which always tends to be tougher to market). So it’s with good reason that book awards are so highly sought after. They can do a lot for your book marketing efforts, which is particularly important for indie authors. Book awards are a great way for authors to build their platform and they serve as eye-candy to pull in more readers.

Here’s what you need to know about finding the right book contests for your book, as well as what to watch out for!

Inside Publishing

Marketing & Publicity

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How to Sell Through All Retailers (Not just bookstores)

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Tue Dec 10, 2019

Bookstores are retailers. And there are many other retail establishments that sell books, but most authors ignore them. Examples are airport stores, supermarkets, gift shops, discount stores and specialty stores, and you can increase your sales by selling through them.

The good news is that you already know how to do it, since most retailers operate the same way as bookstores. You work through a distribution partner, and books are placed on shelves for sale. Here are some things you can do to compete and grow profitably selling through other retailers.

Define your prospective buyers. Using the 5 Ws technique Define who they are, where, when, why and what they buy. Knowing where and when they shop will lead you to the appropriate retailers.

Inside Publishing

Marketing & Publicity

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Reaching an International Audience – Strategies that Work

by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Tue Nov 26, 2019

Although an international audience may seem like a surprising place to focus your book promotion efforts, they represent a growing market segment for many authors. In fact, while North America remains our biggest book market, we have also had good success with international outreach on behalf of the authors we work with.

You’ll find that although connecting with international readers may require some creative thinking, it doesn’t have to take up a lot of your time. With as little as an hour or two a month, you can see some great results. Better still, you don’t have to spend the time and money getting your book translated, because there is a considerable English language reading market even in countries that primarily speak a different language.

After all, English is one of the most widely spoken languages on the planet, so it makes sense to target this market. And, there are a host of ways you can go about selling more books to these international audiences.

Inside Publishing

Marketing & Publicity

Distribution