Publishing in 2016: It Isn’t All Roses For Anyone

There’s a lot of talk about the death of traditional publishers, but things aren’t exactly coming up roses on the indie publishing side either. Authors find themselves between a rock and a hard place, at the mercy of a fast-changing market, none of whose players seem to know which way to turn or which direction … Read more

How to Produce an Audiobook in 7 Steps

The Audible website hosts more than 200,000 audiobooks, and more readers listen to audiobooks than ever before. If you’re a writer who’s just starting to think about converting your work to audio, here’s an overview based on working with ACX, Audible’s platform for audiobook production. It’s open to all authors, indie and traditional, as well … Read more

Launching A New Series Thriller 10 Years Later

Hi, all. I was interviewed by Stephen Campbell recently about what I’ve been doing to launch JUMP CUT, the 5th installment of my Ellie Foreman mysteries (Thrillers really), and the first one in ten years. I hope you find it useful… maybe even entertaining. Listening to myself, I am reminded how exhausted I am. In … Read more

CH-CH-CH-CHANGES: Amazon Reviews and Verified Purchases

When you buy books online, do you read reviews? Of course you do. I look at the general star ranking, read a couple of 5-stars, then 1-stars, then 3- stars, for an overall assessment. Unfortunately, people have tried to game the system over the years, and controversies have flared about authors paying for reviews, deliberately … Read more

Buy Books Through Facebook – No Amazon Required

Now and again a quiet revolution starts brewing. This is one of those times. Facebook has just made it possible for readers to buy ebooks directly from an author’s fan page without clicking to Amazon or any other retailer. It’s a huge development, and I think it’s going to require a major shift in buyers’ … Read more

Foreign Translations and Indie Publishing, Part 2

Picking up from the end of Part 1, I’m afraid I left you with the impression that investing in a foreign translation of your book isn’t worth the cost and effort. That may be true for some, but the benefits are pretty awesome too. (Btw, be forewarned… this is a looong post.)       … Read more

Boxed Sets: An Informal Poll

Hi, all. I want to ask readers a few questions. As you probably know, there are dozens of Boxed (Ebook) Sets on the market. Some (like Killer Femmes) include 5 authors, some as many as 12. Most are priced at 99¢ and sell quite well. The reason we authors create these sets is to, hopefully, … Read more

BookBuzzr Facebook Guide is Really Good!

  Hi, all. I was given an Advanced Readers Copy of Book Buzzr’s upcoming How-to-Use-Facebook effectively, and I have to say it’s one of the BEST “how-to’s” I’ve ever read. The 2014 Facebook Marketing Guide for Authors is up to date, easy to understand, and it has a comprehensive section on Facebook ads and how to use … Read more