Authors.com's Blog (15)

Experienced authors know that finishing your book does not mean you've finished your work by any means. It's just beginning. If you want to keep your enthusiasm alive, build lasting friendships and even possibly rack up more sales, knowing how to build and nurture a support network online will help you immensely. This is a very valuable skill in any profession. For writers, there's no better place to start developing it than amongst those who will understand you and your passion most: your…

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Over the years Twitter has become one of the most favored social networking sites. With over 100 million registered users and 50 million tweets every day, it’s a great way to communicate with pals, make friends, and even promote your business. If you’re interested in the perks of using Twitter to advertise your business, whatever it may be, then first you need to know how exactly it works.

 

Twitter is sometimes described as a simplified version of Facebook, but in actuality…

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There are some simple ways of promoting a book today, whether it has been published by traditional means, self published or an ebook. Writing a book is only one part of having a successful selling book, no matter how good the content is in the book, how interesting and how appealing the artwork. 



Before the Internet, the largest way to promote a book was by doing book signings, or getting interviewed, which in many cases was unavailable to the unknown author. All that has changed… Continue

Everyday there are many people on the Internet that sit at their desk or behind their laptop and think that today is the day that I will write an ebook. This is not going to be a successful ebook, because it takes time, research and planning. However, some people only think of the access they have with the Internet, while not having to face the public and take that as meaning they do not need to do the same amount of research.

Writing an ebook in any genre takes the planning and…

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How important to book sales is the cover? It is one of the most important visual presentations that the writer has to help promote their book. The cover is the first thing that will draw the reader and potential buyer to the book.

What many authors do not stop and think about is that this cover will be what draws many people to purchase their book, because of the artwork on the cover that will entice their imagination. The artwork is rarely done by the author in preparing…

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I don't know when, on the writing curve, Stephen King or Nelson DeMille might seek editorial advice, only that it is documented that they do. So it begs the question, for the writer trying to break into the business with a major royalty publisher--and who accepts that a professional editor looking at the manuscript might not be a bad idea--when is the right time to hire a book editor.



Generally there are Two Issues



For most people it's a matter of time and… Continue

Acronyms can be confusing. POD stands for both print on demand and publish on demand. The terms should not be used interchangeably but often are. Unfortunately in the publishing world, POD has come to mean the business model of publish on demand or vanity publishing.



Print On Demand

Print on demand is a technology that allows one copy of a book to be printed and bound at a time. It's no longer necessary to have offset print runs of several thousand copies. The technology… Continue

You may call yourself a writer but when was the last time you sat down and wrote something, besides the grocery list or your name on a check? It's all too easy to come up with excuse after excuse. Are you telling yourself: I'll write when the kids are back in school. I'll write when my job doesn't take up so much time. I'll write when we get the new computer and I don't have to share. Or do you have another excuse?



Different writers have different writing schedules. Some will lock… Continue

Waiting for Inspiration to Strike

New writers often think they need some kind of special inspired feeling or mood in order to begin writing. Successful professional writers, on the other hand, have trained their minds to be productive no matter what mood they might be in. They get up in the morning and go to work, just as though it was any other kind of job. They make progress on their book each and every day.



Starting a Manuscript Before You Are Ready

With… Continue

One of the questions famous authors are asked most frequently by their readers is: Where do you get your ideas for stories? To some readers, this process of generating ideas is mysterious, almost mystical. But authors find that creating concepts for stories is just part of their job. They train their minds to continually provide them with fresh ideas to put down on paper. But sometimes they too are amazed when an idea occurs to them, seemingly out of nowhere, they grab a pad and pen, and a few… Continue

Writers’ groups can be small informal groups that meet periodically at one of the author’s homes, or larger more formalized organizations that meet in public places such as the local library or a restaurant. The group may just sit around a coffee table and read each other’s work, or the group may have guest speakers and a formal agenda. In either case, the goal is to provide information and encouragement to advance writers’ careers, whether you are working on your first project or are an… Continue

The publishing world is changing. It's becoming more difficult for first time authors to break in as fewer titles are published by the major publishing houses. Literary agents are reluctant to take on new authors and prefer to concentrate on authors who have been previously published with a successful track record. Are there any options for writers?



Yes. Self publishing is a viable option for many authors. Self publishing means the author has the control of and the responsibility for… Continue

When a book is in its final stages, the writer that is promoting the book on their own is faced with marketing strategies. Plans need to be thought out how to bring this newly published book to the masses, and one way of doing this that many writers are taking advantage of are the social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, DIGG, MySpace and others.



Twitter is one of the websites that has become extremely popular and is used not only by people that go there to read, but are also able… Continue

Writing a book is only part of having a successful book, whether it is a book that has been published by a large or small publishing company, a book that is a print on demand which the author is self publishing, or even if it is an electronic book. The other part of a successful book is the book promotion, this means the author will have book signings set up by an agent, or they will need to learn marketing skills for a self published book. Marketing skills are something that is needed even for… Continue

This is a question that is thought about by many writers, whether they really need literary agent when they are about to close the last chapter on their latest or even first book. First, it is best to understand what the literary agents job function is to know if one is needed, this is a person that is hired by the writer that will attempt to sell the manuscript to a publishing house. This can save the writer having to deal with publishing houses on their own and keep their work from being… Continue