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.

Harnessing the Power of Goodreads

by Penny C. Sansevieri
Bowker | Wed Feb 12, 2014

Goodreads has really become a front and center social network for authors. First, with their new Amazon relationship, and now it would seem that they’ve doubled their readership to 25 million. Though many authors and publishers vowed to close their accounts after the Amazon merger, it seems that Goodreads is still going strong and still maintains its independence of Amazon. If you’re not on Goodreads or if you haven’t touched your account in a while you should consider this site and the benefits it offers.

There have been many success stories from Goodreads, authors who “got noticed” by having lots of activity there, mingling with other members, getting tons of reviews, and while success isn’t guaranteed on this site (or anywhere) Goodreads can really help you get a leg up on your promotion. So, how did the massive growth of this site happen?

Inside Publishing

Marketing & Publicity

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Assuming the Risk for Your Own eBook - A DCL Webinar

by Laura Dawson
Bowker | Tue Feb 11, 2014

When an author publishes a book in the traditional way, the publishing house assumes the risk - the costs of publishing - in the hopes that the book sales will recoup that investment and begin generating a profit. The publishing house is, in effect, taking a bet on the book that it will do well and warrant that investment.

But when authors self-publish, they are assuming that investment themselves. And there are some costs that new-to-publishing authors may not know to take into account as they begin investing in services to bring their books to market.

In a webinar sponsored by Digital Conversion Labs, Bowker’s Laura Dawson will explain how you can make your best possible eBook, ensuring a professional level product more likely to turn readers’ heads.

Inside Publishing

Events

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Word Count. Ready? Set. Go!

by Laura Shabott
Bowker | Tue Feb 4, 2014

A wonderful example of a word count marathon is November’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I plunged in this past go-a-round and produced 50,024 words in 30 days. The title of the work-in-progress is FISH, a story about love, loss, betrayal and redemption set in the beautiful but cruel seaside resort Provincetown. Would this budding novel have even happened without the pressure cooker of 1667 words a day? No.

The experts say that 500 to 1500 is an average daily word count for novelists and authors. A person who is starting from scratch is at zero. How do you go from nothing to a sizable output of writing a day? Here are some tips:

Inside Publishing

News & Resources

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Top Ten Causes of Poor Sales

by Brian Jud
Bowker | Mon Feb 3, 2014

Hundreds of thousands of new titles are published every year in various formats (printed, ebooks or audio books), yet less than ten percent sell enough books to be considered profitable. While there are many causes of these circumstances, here are the Top Ten Causes of Poor Sales:

1. Content that is poorly written and/or unedited

2. Poor production quality in terms of cover design or page layout

3. Too little or poorly implemented promotion

4. Obsolete or inadequately researched content

5. Bad timing of introduction or promotion

6. Meaningless or confusing title

Inside Publishing

Distribution

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Inside Publishing

Harnessing the Power of Goodreads

Assuming the Risk for Your Own eBook - A DCL Webinar

Word Count. Ready? Set. Go!

Top Ten Causes of Poor Sales

Pages

Getting Started

Create a Culture of Quality in Your Publishing Company

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?

Today's Great American Novel (Part 2 of 2)