The Book Marketing Network

For book/ebook authors, publishers, & self-publishers

What's Your Biggest Challenge with Your Book?

I'd be interested to learn what authors/publishers on this network think their biggest challenges are with their book. I wonder if there's any common, pervasive challenge we all face.

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Do you know anything about e-books and high school/college textbooks? A distributor who specializes in marketing to school libraries e-mailed yesterday saying they had gotten some requests for my book (print version). Wondering if colleges who are moving towards selling more textbooks as e-books are using Kindle, or another e-version. If schools start becoming interested, I'd like to have it available in whatever form they want it.
Had a great Twitter interview yesterday with Don Payne:
http://twitter.com/DonaldPayne

Tomorrow will interview at 10 Pacific http://twitter.com/ShannonGrissom

Next Thurs: our very own http://bookmarket.ning.com/profile/HelenaHarper at 12 Noon Pacific.

Anybody else interested? Gary
How does the interview work, Gary? Do we have to have a special program?
More info is available here: http://hubpages.com/hub/The-Twitter-Interview Then if you want to pursue it, just post a date and time on my profile page here. Remember, I'm on Pacific time. Peace and Light ...Gary.
Has anyone put your book and a profile up on GoodReads? It's basically a place for readers to get together and talk about and recommend books. But it has specific tools for authors.

http://www.goodreads.com/author/program .

It looks like it's got a decent Google rank, with 2000 to 3000 visitors per day (acc/ to Alexa). Wish I had time to do everything, but I thought I'd try it if other authors had had success there. Or, do you have other sites of the same type that you recommend?
Getting word out about my book. It is very difficult to advertise in a cost effective way that really gets the information out to potential readers. Book stores are of absolute no help. I am still trying.
The greatest gift to being self published is learning how to stand toe to toe with the publishing world. I love all challenges and this one has been the most fun of all. Self publishing is very common in today's publishing world and one must ignore the number of competitors and begin creating a cell of followers which will be your sales force. That is providing what you have written has a demand and it won't be long before you will see whether your demand has a curve or not. I judge that within two years you will begin to find out whether you have written a saleable commodity or a family, bookshelf token. The average modern writer should never get into this business for the money, there isn't enough money in the entire treasury to cover all the writers planning to make a living with that dream book. A few will fall above the rest and possibly make a little money, but I would suggest working hard, being smart, depend on your own efforts and don't throw good money after bad. Enjoy what you have written, believe in yourself and leave the chips where they fall, while working at your best to make that dream come true. I love challenges, but more than that, I love writing. Dr M
I heartily agree!
If most of us will think back to when we first began, it was the love of the tale, and the exhilaration of that perfect scene that motivated us to write.
This fact has been the very thing that helped me hang on and fight through many disappointments with my first publishing experience.
I began writing my "tale" as a late night sedative and for the very joy of writing. I actually never intended to publish my novel in the beginning, but after I reached the 800 page mark of a nearly finished manuscript,...
Well, it was only then that I considered that anyone other than the family I had intended it for might actually enjoy it.
It seems I was right.
Like "Paradise" mentioned, it is too easy to get focused on earning an income instead of enjoying the craft.
Making money is the side benefit if we are lucky enough to entrench ourselves in a niche audience that likes the drivel from our minds!
I too love writing...
Are you sending pre-release copies to reviewers? Try Midwest Book Review and others...about 20-40 reviewers, send about 4 months before release and include copy they could draw from even if they read all, most, or some of your book. This does cost paper, one of your books each, stamps, and mailing but could be well worth it. Opine Publishing's first book, Exhausted Rapunzel, got a good review from them. They help small and independent presses/publishers. Just a thought....
Hi Jean,
Midwest Book Review was one who had asked for my new memoir from Bostick Communications once the Press Release was sent out. I just sent and email to them hoping to hear from them. They are highly recommended by Writer's Digest.
My book was just published by a small independent publisher. I find marketing my work exhausting because I must also work right now. Finding time to work on my new novel, market the current one, and work at the same time (all while juggling family, friends, and a sick horse) is daunting. Plus the costs involved in doing it right. Frankly, if I make any money at all on my book is a plus, but I'm so far in the hole already I've resigned myself to accept the whole ordeal as a labor of love. I love writing, creating, and expressing myself to the world, but, alas, publishing is not what it used to be--something to aspire to--and it's just plain sad. The Big Houses won't even look at your work these days, with or without an agent, unless you're a known quantity and can bring in thousands of dollars. And I refuse to write stories that are all about vamps, wizards, and werewolves. So, in answer to your question: Fighting off the nagging negatives that present day publishing has brought us to, not to mention the bias against independent publishers by the main booksellers. Independents are the only venues left for many of us who want to be published.
Sara,

I enjoy Twitter also and get traffic from tweets. I'm curious how long it took you to get to 2000 followers, and are these mostly people who are interested in your work or connected to you somehow? I seem to get a lot of the "autofollow" people following me (I don't autofollow).
Thanks!

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