Scott Lorenz's Blog (8)

“Do book awards matter?”  YES!!

As a book publicist I am here to inform you that yes, they absolutely do matter! In fact, one of my clients won the prestigious Los Angeles Book Festival award. That then led to a flurry of media interest, which subsequently led to a major New York agent deciding to represent the book and pitch it to all the major publishing houses. Deals are in the offing. This author, needless to say, is happy he decided to…

A very economical option all authors have at their disposal is giving their book away for free. There are no costs when giving away a digital book. Should you decide to hand out 700 ebooks or price them at 99 cents on Amazon, it’s not costing you, the author, anything. In fact, you’re advertising your book gaining exposure without spending the money to print it or distribute it.

Some authors might be reluctant to give their work away for free, which is understandable. Most authors…

Throughout the ages books have been renamed, given a new copyright date as a result, and found new life and success.

There are several reasons to rename a book such as adding a subtitle to be friendlier to search engines. Another important reason is to get a new copyright date because many book critics will not review an old book and reviewers often define an “old” book as one with a copyright of more than a year old.

Margaret Mitchell first gave the title “Pansy,”  the…

I recently contacted several Amazon and GoodReads reviewers to obtain a blurb for the cover of a new book in a series. Most of the reviews were very complimentary but then I got one back that stopped me in my tracks. In that email the reviewer pointed out some flaws in both the writing and the cover. There was inconsistency in what the writer said and what the cover designer selected. Furthermore the reviewer pointed out that a couple of the characters were ‘formulaic’ and ‘underdeveloped.’…

iPhone apps can be useful to authors. Check out these six apps that enable you to do anything from tracking your Amazon sales to brainstorming your next book.

Amazon Sales Tracking App is the official iPhone app for NovelRank.com users! NovelRank enables authors and marketers to track and compare the Amazon sales rank statistics for printed books and Kindle Edition ebooks across several Amazon country sites. Some of the features of this app are incredibly useful for an author.…

J.D. Gershbein, a global speaker and social branding specialist, raised the question, “Does a numbered step approach to titling a book have a positive effect on sales?” This particular question and subsequent thread made me delve deeper into the use of numbers in book titles and whether or not it makes sense.

Book titles are extremely important. As an author, creating a memorable title should be a high priority. Numbers in book titles work with items that already quantify. For example…

I recommend authors look into hiring a book shepherd for a current or upcoming writing and publishing project. A book shepherd is someone whose expertise in books and publishing will help you throughout the entire book process. From cover art, editing, dealing with Amazon to locating a printer, a book shepherd will assist you from start to finish.

I am a proponent of using a book shepherd because there are so many things to know about in the book publishing process and so…

Book festivals and fairs are held year round all over the world. As a book marketing specialist,

I am the first to impress on authors the new and powerful marketing avenues open to all authors on the Internet – from websites and book trailers to social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. While these are excellent tools when used properly, authors should never overlook opportunities to meet the reading public face-to-face.…