Developing Natural Audience – A Correspondence with Rachel Thompson

“The ‘ideal’ and the reason so many authors are enamored with traditional publishing, is that they think the publisher will do all the marketing for them. Wrong! Regardless of how one is published (traditional, hybrid, or indie), you will need to create your own branding, your own platform. If not, how will people hear of you?
Writers don’t have time to both write AND market. I agree — who does? Nobody said this writing gig would be easy. Writers who think that all they have to do is write and the magical marketing gods will swoop in and market their work and take care of all that bothersome financial stuff? Fooling themselves.
Being a writer is to be self-employed. It is a BUSINESS. Many cities actually require writers have a business license. How is writing not a business, then? If you write books, you are creating and selling (usually via a retailer), but money exchanges hands and you will be paying taxes.”
Read more what Rachel Thompson sayd in a recent interview at projectmavens.com

 

Happy Thanksgiving and Why We Moved the Blog

Happy Thanksgiving and Why We Moved the Blog

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Thanks to all 705,000 visitors of this blog, to all subscribers and especially to all of you who helped to make a smooth transition from SavvyBookWriters.Wordpress.com to our “own” website here:

SavvyBookWriters.com/blog were you will find continuesly all the publishing and book marketing news, links and tips that you are used to receive several times a week on the “old” blog.
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You Might Ask Why a Change of Name?
SavvyBookWriters.com/blog is our own site, we pay a small amount ($3.95) for hosting from BlueHost, we decide the design and we can use our own website however we want to.  The blog name is also shorter, and sounds more professional than the WordPress name.  And readers can sign up for our newsletter, which they could not on our old site.
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Some of the Reasons for “Moving”:
A WordPress blog  (the one we used before, and which you are just reading) is “pre-fabricated”, free to use, no hosting necessary, but you don’t own it, you cannot make major changes in design and you cannot use your own plug-ins.  Wordpress also places their advertisements – which you cannot control  – in your blog.  You might not see these ads on your own computer, but at any other device e.g. a computer of friends, readers or in a library.  To prevent this, you would have to pay $30/year.  The good part:  They have an automatic spam protection which is pretty thorough!  And readers can certainly find all the previous articles (over 1,130) on this site in the future.  Just type what you are looking for, into the search function of the blog.
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To receive every article at  SavvyBookWriters.com/blog  please sign up at the pop-up window that appears after 20 seconds.  It says: “To receive the latest blog post, enter your email address”.
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THANKS, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

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Author Beware: Why Trusting Literary Agents…

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Since the advent of self-publishing not only trade publishers, but also agents got into hard times. Desperate, literary agencies suddenly started to ride on the self-publishing wagon. However without having a clue about the business of self-publishing – or publishing for that matter.
For some of them the solution was to turn to Argo Navis, who call their services: “Agent-Curated Self-Publishing”. They don’t work with authors directly and accept only manuscripts that are submitted to them by contracted literary agents.

Read more:
http://www.savvybookwriters.com/why-trusting-literary-agents-can-be-a-bad-idea/

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Please follow us on our new site
We moved this blog over to http://savvybookwriters.com/blog

 

 

Tips for Worldwide Book Distribution

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Aggregators handle distribution, sales, accepting payments, and are managing your account with the online retailers. Avoid those distributors, who take a 10 or even 15% commission (on top of the retailers margin)  for every book sold. Not everyone has a Kindle, many folks are die-hard Apple iBook fans or using a Nook, or order from Kobo. Why forego these sales?

Good to know: there are alternatives to aggregators who don’t reduce your revenues – no matter how many books you sell. Read the whole article on our new blog here:
http://www.savvybookwriters.com/how-to-distribute-your-ebook-worldwide/

Don’t forget to sign up there, to get the blog posts directly.

 

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What to Post on Social Media

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People are on the Internet for one of two reasons: Either to solve a problem, or be entertained.   Are you struggling to create daily numerous engaging “posts” on your Social Media sites?  Then you are not the only one on the search of great content. We all want to stand out from our “competition”.  On the other hand, creating content for Social Media should not end up in stress. In a former post I explained that blogs do not necessarily need to consist of written content, but also may be among others, videos, images, curated content, re-posts etc.  The same is true for Social Media content.  How can you achieve this is explained in nine suggestions at   http://www.savvybookwriters.com/blog
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Our WordPress blog https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/ has moved to our web domain at:

http://www.savvybookwriters.com/blog.

As we cannot transfer thousands of subscribers we will re-blog for a while.  If you want to get these valuable tips in the future, please sign up when the pop-up window shows up after 10 seconds on the new site, to make sure you won’t miss any articles in the future. THANKS

 

TWO DAYS IN JUNE: John F. Kennedy and…

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Two Days in June

TWO DAYS IN JUNE John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours that Made History  by Andrew Cohen.

In June 1963, John Fitzgerald Kennedy has been president of the United States for almost two and a half years.  That spring he is grappling with the two seismic forces of the early 1960s:  the proliferation of nuclear arms and the struggle for civil rights.  On two consecutive days, in two lyrical addresses, he appeals to Americans to see both the Russians and the “Negroes” as human beings.

His speech on June 10 leads to the Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1963, the first arms control agreement of the Cold War. A day later, his next speech on June 11,  leads to the famous Civil Rights Act of 1964, a watershed in American history.  In lily-white, Cold War America, this kind of language is unprecedented, if not almost subversive.

Andrew Cohen, an award-winning journalist and bestselling author, evokes the writing of William Manchester and Theodore White as he presents a president pivoting dramatically and decisively on the two biggest issues of his time. Based largely on hours of unseen documentary film shot in the White House and the Justice Department on these two days, as well as fresh interviews and a rediscovered draft speech.  Two Days in June elegantly captures Kennedy at the high noon of his presidency in new, rich, granular detail.
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Read more at SavvyBookWriters.com/two-days-in-june/

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Our WordPress blog https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/ has been moved to our web domain at: http://www.savvybookwriters.com/blog.

As we cannot transfer thousands of subscribers we will re-blog for a while.   If you want to get these valuable tips in the future, please sign up when the pop-up window shows up after 10 seconds on the new site, to make sure you won’t miss any articles in the future.   THANKS

 

How to Import Your Linkedin Contacts to Google+

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Import From Ireland (LinkedIn) to California (Google+):

In a recent blog post on SavvyBookWriters.com/blog we explained the possibility to connect all your Social Media accounts.  The task was to post or tweet more – in case you need this for a campaign to go viral.  Saving time on Social Media, allows you to interact more with your followers and readers.  But it also shows them where else they can connect with you.  You can import for example your LinkedIn Followers to Google+.  How this works?  Read more on our new blog site:

Our WordPress blog https://savvybookwriters.wordpress.com/ has moved to our web domain at: http://www.savvybookwriters.com/blog.

As we cannot transfer thousands of subscribers, so we will re-blog for a while.   If you want to get these valuable tips in the future, please sign up when the pop-up window shows up after 10 seconds on the new site, to make sure you won’t miss any articles.   THANKS

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5 Reasons Your Book Will Not Be a Bestseller

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Or Better Said: Your First Book Won’t Be a Bestseller – Yet

If anyone has earned Bestseller status for a book than it is YOURS. You worked very hard for years on your first novel, invested in a professional editor (who also edits for big trade publishers) and you chose one of the best book cover designers. But your book sales are still disappointing… and your friends are postponing their promised book reviews from week to week.  Read More: