For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers
Wow, I’ve surpassed the two-hundred followers mark on my blog! I want to thank all who follow me especially because I know you follow this blog because you want to. I didn’t go to any threads just to collect followers to have high numbers. I painstakingly wrote my articles and promoted my blog to writers and readers. Very few of you who follow me are my personal friends, although I’d like to think that everyone who reads my stuff is a friend. You all know what I mean, I didn’t solicit you. I…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on October 2, 2012 at 1:36pm — No Comments
No, mind my isn’t in the gutter right now, I’m talking about how hard it is to sell books. I’ve been writing since I learned how to hold a pencil, I’ve won contests, had a top NY agent, and have written and/or published a dozen novels. People ask me where my ideas come from and I can’t give them an answer. All I know is that ideas for stories DO come and the urge to capture them on paper is overwhelming. I’ve been known to jot down notes on whatever I can find, tiny pieces of scrap paper,…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on September 28, 2012 at 1:24pm — No Comments
Nook just unveiled its new tablet today. Watching the interview on CBS this morning with the president of the company he was asked if he thought traditional paperback books will disappear in thirty years. Although, he wouldn’t give a definitive answer (because Barnes and Noble still have over 600 bookstores nationwide) it was apparent that he thought so. Though Barnes and Noble have outlived most retail book outlets, I do believe those days are numbered. Getting into the ebook revolution by…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on September 26, 2012 at 12:08pm — No Comments
After almost eleven months of continuous, daily writing I finally wrote ‘The End” on IMAGINATION. Well, I don’t actually write those words since it’s not industry standard anymore, but I did write the final, conclusive last sentence of the novel. Ah, what a feeling! This being my eleventh book, it still never ceases to amaze me how a story can take on a life of its own. If I were to look at my original notes on the concept for the story from last year and compare it to what I actually…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on September 24, 2012 at 1:27pm — No Comments
Ebooks are forever. Think about this sentence for a moment. You write a novel, get it formatted, have a nice cover made up, get an ISBN, and then download it onto Kindle, or Smashwords, or any of the hundreds of ebook distributors, and poof, it’s available globally to anyone with an ereader. Not only that, it will be available until the end of time. That means fifty years from now if I want to show my great grandchild one of my books, all they’ll have to do is type in the title and, poof…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on September 20, 2012 at 12:30pm — No Comments
It used to be that an aspiring author would write a novel and then painstakingly send out SASE’s (remember them) hoping to land an agent. If the author did land an agent, then the author would hope for a publishing contract. If by miracle of miracles the agent actually sells the book, then eighteen months later it comes out in the bookstore (remember those) and the author starts doing a grueling schedule of signings hoping to recoup more money in sales than the advance received.
The…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on September 14, 2012 at 1:00pm — 1 Comment
I recently read an article about a company that would give your book a review for a price. They claim that the reviews aren’t biased and the reviewer will be honest if they didn’t like the book. Now, I know hundreds if not thousands of these companies exist so I’m no dummy, but it seems to me that it would be bad business to give an author a bad paid review especially if the author has several books under his belt and may use the service again. This leads me to the conclusion that investing…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on August 30, 2012 at 1:18pm — No Comments
There comes a point in every artist’s career where he must decide what his talent is worth. When I started publishing on KDP I was just starting out in the ebook revolution and like many writers, thought nothing would come of it. People would scoff and say that I’m not a ‘real’ writer because I never published traditionally. Well let me tell them something, I had an agent and wasted four years trying to make it as a ‘real’ writer. Four years waiting for some suit to decide my future, hoping…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on August 27, 2012 at 1:04pm — No Comments
I’ve been thinking about hiring Smith Publicity when I’m finished writing IMAGINATION and have spent the last few days researching them and all they do. If I do sign with them it would mean huge exposure by the ways of television and radio interviews. For some authors they have gotten over fifty interviews. The question is will the royalties made by more exposure offset the costs of a major publicity firm? I haven’t contacted them yet so I don’t know what they charge but I’m…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on August 24, 2012 at 12:30pm — No Comments
Nobody ever said it would be easy. Nobody ever said it was always going to be fun. Nobody promised me that after spending twenty-plus years holed up in my office writing novels that anyone would ever read them. Nobody promised me anything would ever come of my writing and yet I still do it. Day after day, year after year, I sit in front of this keyboard and tap out the characters and worlds inside my mind. To date, I think I have more than sixty unique, fully-fleshed characters in all twelve…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on August 20, 2012 at 1:01pm — No Comments
There is no greater personal satisfaction for me than watching the sales numbers for my books go up. It’s not even that I’m earning money from my art that excites me but that my books are actually being read by strangers. Lots of strangers. I know, I know, I’ve said that a thousand times, but it’s just so true. I’m still getting residual sales from the free promotion last week and that officially makes DROP OUT my biggest bestseller to date with well over a thousand paid sales. DEGENERATES…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on August 17, 2012 at 1:30pm — No Comments
What a difference a month makes for my sales. From a lackluster July to a booming August. Sales of DROP OUT have skyrocketed over the last week as well as my other adult books. Right now I’m on par to break my all time sales month of last January. Strangely though, my sci-fi/fantasy books are not selling well this month. Perhaps, kids are gearing up for school and losing interest in spending their ‘endless summer’ reading fiction. I don’t know. I do know that more and more people are buying…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on August 12, 2012 at 11:51am — No Comments
As I say goodbye to KDP Select, I must say that it has been a good ride. My last two free promotions yielded a combined 5,764 books given away that resulted in a surge of paid sales that is still running with momentum. I am now down to the wire with giveaways because I only have one book left that still has promotion days and only two others that are still on KDP Select, and they are about to expire. One the flip side, Smashwords just announced a huge deal with libraries that will allow…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on August 9, 2012 at 12:00pm — No Comments
I was recently contacted by a prominent NY literary agency who shall remain nameless at this point about possible representation. They got wind of me because of my constant promotional efforts and then explored a little deeper into the kinds of books I write. They have not said they will definitely represent me but want to see more samples of my writing and my future projects. I am having a tough time trying to decide what to do about this sudden interest in me so I’ve listed the pros and…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on August 3, 2012 at 12:38pm — No Comments
I finally finished putting my hardcopy corrections of IMAGINATION onto the file version. It was a grueling seventeen hours of nothing but eyestrain and sore back and fingers, but alas, it was all worth it. Now, it’s smooth sailing until the manuscript is complete. I have four chapters that are outlined but need to be written and I have two characters that I have to flesh out their backgrounds a little more, but otherwise the basic book is done. It always feels strange to me when I’m nearing…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on August 2, 2012 at 10:00am — No Comments
The free promotion for DEGENERATES has ended and here are the results. Copies given away to U.S. and Canadian customers is 1,678. Copies given away to U.K. Kindle owners is: 586. Copies given away to all other countries that can purchase from Amazon: 48. Of my other seven books that are for sale right now, during the four day free promotion period I saw sales increase by an average of thirty-five percent. All in all, I’d say it was a successful promotion. Between that promotion and the…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on July 30, 2012 at 4:30pm — No Comments
I’m in the midst of another free giveaway promotion, this time it’s for DEGENERATES. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007FFN5LY This is the first time I’ve given away one of my thrillers and you know what? It’s flying off the shelves. It’s only the second day and the promotion goes until Sunday and I’ve already given away almost a thousand books. I’m happy to do it too, because I have two other thrillers FROSTPROOF and PULP that are written in the…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on July 27, 2012 at 12:47pm — No Comments
As I checked my email this morning I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my novel. DROP OUT http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005FX0K7U has won today’s Indie Book of the Day award. http://Indiebookoftheday.com . I’m not too familiar with the website but it seems like it has a lot of followers. I’m also not sure who nominated the book but if that person or persons reads this blog I’d like to say…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on July 23, 2012 at 11:30am — No Comments
I got another one of those terrifying e-mails from Kindle Direct publishing saying they have discovered INSECTLAND for sale at other online booksellers. And as anyone who publishes through this promotion knows, you have to be exclusive to Amazon.com for 90 days. Violating this can lead to the expulsion of your book not only from the promotion but also from Amazon and Kindle. That would be a huge blow to my market audience of Kindle and Kindle Fire owners. Worried I might lose this book, I…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on July 22, 2012 at 3:00pm — No Comments
Now you can find out for free! For the next two days AFTER is absolutely free on Amazon.com! Thanks and enjoy.
AFTER
When Nick Murray dies mysteriously he enters an afterlife like nothing he had ever imagined. There are rules, regulations, and beings in positions of great power. The devil craves this power and will do anything to attain it, even use his evil influence to start a global war on Earth. The devil intends to collect billions of human souls and turn them into a…
ContinueAdded by Neil Ostroff on July 19, 2012 at 2:30pm — No Comments
2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
1999
1970
© 2024 Created by John Kremer. Powered by