As we dig deeper into the worlds of traditional vs. self publishing, we find more and more information on a subject that can become confusing.
Keryl Raist had the same troubles when she came to the place so many authors get to, especially with today’s options: which way to go when it comes to publishing your work? Traditional or Self?
In her quest to find her own answers she created the blog, To Publish or Not To.
“I got here by writing my own book, Sylvianna. As I was getting closer to finishing, I realized I didn’t really know what the next step was. Agent hunt? Go looking for a small press and skip the agent? Self publish? One of my friends asked if I had found a blog or something that covered this, and I hadn’t, To Publish or Not To was born. Then the more I read, the more I found, and the more it seemed like having a place to organize my own thoughts as well as let other people see what I found would be useful.
Fast forward a bit, and I’m getting immersed into the Indie Book Publishing world, and the blog idea branches out a bit further. One of the downsides of Indie Publishing is getting attention for your creations. I realized that was something I could help with. I love to read. I’m a decent writer. And I know enough about how books are constructed and work to write decent reviews. So, The Indie Book Review got added to the list of usual To Publish or Not To features.
Go a bit further, I finally had a finished book, and made the decision that I wasn’t going to go the Agent/Traditional publisher route, so I started writing about all the different self publishing options out there. Self Publish With… (insert name of publisher here) became the second most common feature.
As I learn more about book marketing, I’ll begin writing a Marketing Ideas section.”
What is your take on self vs. traditional publishing as it is today? What do you see for the future?
“Let me get out my crystal ball. : ) I see both thriving in the future. Though I think ‘publishing’ will be something of a misnomer. The actual production of books will be a minuscule part of the ‘publishing’ business in less than fifty (probably twenty-five) years and the traditional publishers will have moved almost entirely into marketing and rights management.
Right now the traditionals have the advantage of having a well organized, logistically sound way of getting a huge number of people to know a book exists. That will be their most valuable asset as physical books become less and less of the market.
I’d think eventually the question will be: Do you want more readers, which the traditionals will be able to get you? Or more money per reader, which you’ll be able to get yourself by going indie.
I also see a time where the role of the query letter will be a thing of the past. Agents and Publishers will start shopping for authors, reading our books, seeing how well we’ve done with them on our own, and then deciding to offer contracts to ‘proven’ properties.”
What would you say are the top 3 questions and author should ask, either themselves or their perspective publisher?
“I think you need to decide what you want to get out of being an author. Do you want to tell stories, or do you want to run your own business? Is this a hobby; is this the way you hope to support yourself, or is this your plan for world domination? Do you have the time and aptitude to sell your own work? Once you know that, then you can focus more carefully on which publishing path will get you what you want out of life.”
Keryl certainly has done her own research into the subject. Visit her blog at To Publish or Not To, where she shares her information.
There is a lot of information on the Internet giving authors so much to think about when it comes to publishing. Take your time to find the right fit for you and your work.
We welcome your comments and questions here on the blog. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter and listen to the Promotion a la Carte Show on Blog Talk Radio anytime.
A good book reviewer is worth their weight in ink to authors in need of creating an online presense. They are doing a great service, reading a book and then writing about their experience. Some reviewers are gaining large followings using giveaways and other promotions to bring readers to their blogs.
I found Kathy and her blog; I’m a Readers not a Writer on Twitter @toobusyreading. At her review blog she offers lots of giveaways to her readers. I asked her how she started.
“When I first started doing giveaways I offered books I had read for giveaway and sent them out myself. I got everything I read from the library or borrowed from friends.
Once my blog had grown I started contacting smaller publishers asking to review their books. I would offer those for giveaway once I’d read them. Then authors started coming to me offering their book for review and/or giveaway. I then started contacting authors and asking them if they would like to have their book reviewed or do an interview & giveaway on my blog.
Books are coming at me faster than I can read them. I wish I could read them all. Even reading 250 books in a year I don’t put a dent in what I wish I could read.”
That’s a lot of books and a lot of work for a stay at home mom who confesses to reading one book every 1 ½ days.
But does she feel giving away books makes the authors’ time spent at her blog as successful?
“I’ve never really thought of giveaways as being successful or not successful. If I help an author by exposing their book to new readers who are interested in reading it I would say that is a success. If a book gets into the hands of a reader who loves it and shares their love of the book that’s even better.”
I would say she’s doing a pretty good job of spreading the word. Her blog shows 198,560 page views. She also has a widget to show visitors who else visited, from where and when they read the reviews Kathy has posted. During my last visit which lasted about 10 minutes, eleven other fans stopped by.
How did she do it?
“My blog is not the norm. I’ve only been blogging for 7 months. I put a lot of time into my blog.
Most of my followers have come through blog hops and giveaway hops. I started participating in hops several months after I started blogging and then began hosting giveaway hops in October.
I also use Good Reads to cross promote everything I do on my blog.
I’ve networked with other blogs for events like BIR2010 and donated items to other blogs when they are having a special event which also brings people to my blog.
My blog posts automatically post to twitter and I use twitter to tweet about contests on other blogs but other than that I’m not really savvy on Twitter.
I contact authors and publisher for interviews and giveaways.”
So you see, for a book reviewer who uses a blog to share their reviews it takes time and energy to create a following.
And it’s this kind of reviewer that Authors yearn for when circulating their books during their publicity rounds.
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PAC offers a service that lands dozens of reviews and interviews for you. Check it out.
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In your opinion, what is the most vital element to make a book publicity campaign successful?
As a publicist, a blogger and a radio show host, I talk with a lot of authors who struggle with their publicity campaigns. They all seem to know this is a vital piece of the puzzle they are working on – how to become a best selling author. But they just don’t know what’s worth their investment of time and money.
Let’s find out. Throughout this ongoing series, I would like to hear from all who have an experience or preference of publicity do’s and dont’s. Authors, publishers, reviewers, interviewers and publicists, let’s get your input.
Leave a comment here, to allow the conversation to keep going. If your comment or question is something that needs more exploring, you may be contacted for an interview either on the blog or the new Promotion a la Carte Radio Show http://www.blogtalkradio.com/promotionalacarte.
Be sure to follow us on Twitter @PACAuthorPromo where we’ll post new questions using the tag #PACBookPub.
Promotion a la Carte was created by best selling author Aggie Villanueva to help other authors promote their work.
After she wrote her novel, “Rightfully Mine” Aggie discovered that she now had to promote it, or she’d have to pay someone else to promote her work. Looking around she discovered that publicists and promoters were expensive and no one promised results.
So she set about to learn the business of promotion herself. She studied hard and watched what the experts were doing. And she learned a few things along the way.
Her hard work began paying off as her novel climbed higher and higher on the best sellers lists at Amazon. Interviewers and reviewers started contacting her to be on their shows, requesting her book for review, instead of her contacting them. Reviewers wrote wonderful things about her work and the best part; people were buying her book!
Over time she created Visual Arts Junction to share her wisdom with others who were on their own journey of writing, publishing and promotion. The blog grew in popularity and her followers asked for more.
She then realized that the time had come to create a business out of her knowledge. But, the services she offered needed to be affordable for all writers. Authors who had poured their hearts into their work in between the other moments of their lives, their jobs, their families and responsibilities, who didn’t have a trust fund or lottery winnings to pay the steep fees of a publicist. It was those people that Aggie wanted to help.
There you have it. The creation story of Promotion a la Carte!
