Audible launched the Audiobook Creation Exchange (ACX) in May of 2011. It gives authors a platform on which to expand their audience base and connects audiobook professionals with authors. It has its own fan base of listeners around the world.
After starting with 1,000 titles, they have helped create 26,000 people create audio titles from their works. The site offers a bounty payment of $50 every time an audiobook on their site is the first purchase of a new AudibleListener member.
At the Bologna publishing conference, a panel spoke about children’s publishing. It noted that a “nimble” approach was required…meaning that publishers had to be quick with distributing apps and other digital components to attract and engage readers.
One of the primary points to come out was that branding is a big deal even within juvenile arenas. No one can simply wait for Apple or Amazon to pick their product or app from the slew of incoming projects. Instead, publishers need to grab new opportunities for combining forces.
One of the newest things I’ve noticed lately is groups of authors teaming up to offer package deals on books. For a set price, usually equaling $0.99 for each book in the package, buyers get four, five, six or even twelve books at once. Authors copromote on their social media and often have found themselves achieving bestseller lists.
One of the best ideas to come about these days is turning kids into book reviewers. BiblioNasium is a growing digital network that has long supported literacy and independent reading among children. Their new platform allows kids to post advanced book reviews.
These are the readers of today, and the adult readers of tomorrow. Anything that supports them and makes them feel more engaged will help authors and publishers in the long run.
Forbes magazine used a number of metrics to estimate the figures Amazon won’t release to anyone about their sales. They found that roughly 43.7 million Kindle devices have been sold, including e-readers and tablets. They further estimate that each device averages 10 ebooks purchased totalling $530 million in annual sales.
This isn’t a surprise for authors. Amazon continues to be the prime mover of ebooks no matter who published the work.
From 2012 to 2013, legacy publishing grew 7% across the board. Specific categories like YA and fantasy saw, and are still experiencing, much higher rates classified as “hyper-growth” by Adam Gomolin on Book Business. He points out that it’s not about “fixing” a system that clearly isn’t broken. Instead it’s about optimizing the efficiency and effectiveness of the new model.
That includes internet marketing plans for authors, harnessing digital and mobile devices for reading and discovery, and the continuously sticky issue of distribution. Crowdfunding services received a special note from Gomolin because they can provide capital to small presses and indie authors.
If you’re interested in help, contact Writer’s Resource. The DIY marketing plan, which is heavy on free or low-cost digital options, has lifted authors to Amazon bestseller status. A bulk sale program can move 100 copies minimum at a time, and articles and interviews can be created and submitted on your behalf to different outlets.
Take charge of your future. Whether you’re in with a top publisher or going it alone, make your book a success in this time of growth and change.
At the annual London Book Fair, Tom Weldon, CEO of Penguin Random UK, said the last four years have been the best in the company’s financial history (for both companies pre-merger). He also noted that publishers have “managed the digital transition better than any other media or entertainment industry,” which is true. Compared to movies and music, books are actually likely to prosper from digital technologies.
He noted realities like fewer bookstores, of course, before turning back to the critical issue of reaching readers. Penguin UK has 700K Twitter followers and an active email subscription list. He also noted their move to expand related products, which any author can do even without the support of a big heritage publisher. If you need this kind of assistance, Writer’s Resource can help with branding, marketing and promotional plans.
I’m constantly looking for ways to help fiction and nonfiction authors, public speakers, business executives and thought leaders reach a broader audience. I’ve searched for a long time for someone to recommend for trailers, and I’ve found him.
A. Tomov, Jr. makes a pilot to upload on YouTube so the client can see how it looks. After making any adjustments, he uploads the final trailer. Here’s the first link to one of his trailers. Here’s a second link for a trailer that really evokes the emotional resonance of the book.
I’ve shopped around for pricing. A lot of folks charge more than authors can justify considering all the other things they’re handling. Tomov charges between $70 and $100. He can handle only a few trailers each week, so be sure to talk to him about scheduling. Tell him Laine sent you, and then tell me whether you like the work he did for you!
School Library Journal rounds up the worst reviews authors have received for their juvenile projects.
The individual who put together the roundup notes that mean reviews often say more about the reviewer than the book. Mean reviews should of course be separated from reviews that pan a work for reasons that are thought out and argued in a logical manner.
In the end, the roundup is at the least proof that even award-winning authors of high-quality literature are not immune to people who have nothing better to do than pan works for reasons that have nothing to do with the book’s quality.
Goodreads, one of the top reader review sites, now has over 100,000 authors in their author program. Authors who join their program create their own author page, which enhances readers’ ability to discover their fiction and nonfiction books. Even if your work is out of print, if it’s available as a used book in hard copy, make sure you join their author ranks today!
Simon & Schuster’s president and CEO Carolyn Reidy said the company’s top growth is coming from international sales. Foreign markets are hungry for American books of all types.
To take advantage of this trend, submit to S&S. If you have any works self-published, make sure you’re offering them on digital platforms that have a presence in foreign countries. You don’t have to have a translation; it’s possible to make sales in English-speaking countries as well as India, Scandinavia, and other areas where English is spoken widely as a second language.
One of the biggest issues facing self-published authors is distribution. IRIS is a new service from IndieReader that helps resolve this problem.
The service gets the books onto the shelves of indie brick-and-mortar stores. In tandem with other marketing efforts, this might be a big step forward for authors of every genre.
If you write for young adults, check out the YALITCHAT group at yalitchat.ning.com. The site supports reading, writing and publication of YA literature.
Parnassus Books has launched an online literary journal called Musing. Targeting bookstore employees, the publication will feature reviews, recommendations, and author interviews.
I have posted here before on The Oprah Effect, how authors might rise after receiving a nod from this powerful club. But Edward Nawotka, Editor in Chief of Publishing Perspectives, says Oprah isn’t talking to men.
His book club, he notes, is as serious as any populated mostly by women. They read widely, in a variety of genres…and only read fiction. This goes against the standard wisdom publishers hold out that says women read as much as 80% of all fiction published in the U.S. today.
He asks when publishers will begin to take male readers as seriously as men take themselves.
If you’re writing for a broad type of reader, know that men are just as engaged with your work as women.
Oprah’s book club was rebooted to the relief of many publishers and authors alike. The bump that could come from being selected for the club made a number of careers.
Now it looks like there is the potential to go further with a pick from her team. She has her own TV channel, a popular monthly magazine and digital components that expand on both.
The Oprah Effect didn’t lift every pick to bestseller lists, and it’s likely that not every book in the revived club will benefit. But it is one of the few avenues left for readers to find great books…and for authors to be found.
Writer's Resource/Sunspot Lit 