For decades, FM radio stations served as the primary outlet for major record labels to promote their artists. Radio listeners visited brick-and-mortar music stores to purchase records, tapes, and CDs. For a while, M-TV joined the party. Then the … More ☛
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:05) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakepedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk, smart strategies, and … More ☛
Transcript: Dave Bricker (00:07) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakepedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk and smart strategies from … More ☛
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:01) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakypedia Media brought to you by Speakypedia .com. I’m your host, Dave Bricker, bringing you straight talk and smart strategies from … More ☛
Since time immemorial, clichés have sneaked in the door when we least expect them to. They’re low-hanging fruit for writers who abscond with them quickly instead of striving for excellence. But to the trained eye, writing clichés stick out like … More ☛
There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish, but not all are profit-oriented or even rational. Before you invest in your book, take a look in the mirror and ask yourself some serious questions. Why did I write my book? … More ☛
Business, technology, and how-to books can be viewed as one-sided sales conversations. Though the author may hope to sell products or services, what’s usually being sold directly to the reader is an idea—a strategy or philosophy that can be used … More ☛
Book cover design tells the story of the story. It must convey the spirit and intentions of the author authentically, and it also has a few practical chores to perform. If a book cover design is to accomplish these things … More ☛
The following publishing advice is based on my own experiences and those of my clients. I hope you find it valuable and encouraging, even if it changes your expectations. I’ve written and published 12 books. I’ve guided many remarkable people … More ☛
This article discusses the pros and cons of traditional publishing. Abandon your biases, study the business of publishing, and choose the publishing method that best suits you and your book. Perhaps the biggest myth in publishing is that as a … More ☛
Tom Morkes published The Perfect Book sales Page on his blog. I’m usually the first person to reject formulaic approaches to book marketing. Many well-written books are horrible products. But what I like about Tom’s template is that it forces … More ☛
Many self-publishers start their book projects with unrealistic expectations and misunderstandings about how publishing works. A huge industry has arisen to prey on writers who are unsure of the path. This article explains the basics of how publishing scams work … More ☛
Should you give away books for free? The value of book giveaways can’t be assessed by formula. The prevailing mythology suggests that the goal of publishing is to sell books, but the huge majority of indie publishers don’t do the … More ☛
Here’s an addendum to Publishing Scams and How they Work. I wonder why so many authors, after spending thousands of hours working on a book, fail to conduct a few critical hours of research that will save them thousands of … More ☛
This article explains how to produce and market a professional quality audiobook using Amazon ACX. Through ACX (Audiobook Creation Exchange), I was able to audition voiceover talent, choose a professional producer, review the work in progress, and make my audiobook … More ☛
This article explains the tab ruler found on every word processor and typesetting application. Understanding the simple and elegant split ruler and tab functions opens up a world of formatting opportunities. Digital typesetting and word processing inherited a number of … More ☛
Book design has changed since publishing became a gigantic industry. Typesetting was once performed by trained craftsmen who apprenticed to masters before inking their own plates. Phototypesetting arrived in the 1960s and by the late 1980s, digital publishing transferred the … More ☛
You threw a grand party but nobody came. Your novel is so good but you’re not selling books. What happened? You were supposed to appear on Oprah’s show. Terry Gross isn’t calling you for an interview. You may be an … More ☛
Are images analogous to words? Is what makes a sentence sound “right” the same thing that makes an image “pop” or a jazz solo “burn?” The similarities are noteworthy but the differences are important. Just as the best of writers … More ☛
How can speakers, indie writers, and self-publishers use a blog to build a platform? This article explains how to publish online content to build community around your books. Build a Platform: Set up Your Blog A blog (short for web … More ☛
Part 1 of Book Cover Design: Judging a Book by its Cover critiqued “professional” covers taken from Amazon’s Editor’s choice list. Read that article first as it provides background for this one. The article looked at design elements that worked … More ☛
Few subjects arouse more passion among writers and designers than the debate over how many spaces should follow a period. If you adhere to a style manual, you’ll be hard-pressed to find one that doesn’t specify a single-space. Chicago and … More ☛
What do you think a professional editor‘s pay scale should be? Assume that a proofreader would be at the bottom of the scale and a developmental/line editor would be at the top. An examination of the work editors perform sheds … More ☛
I recently published a post about the difference between vanity publishing and true self-publishing. Fundamentally, the article defines a publisher as “someone who takes the risk on a book.” Vanity Presses represent themselves as publishers and accept royalties while the … More ☛
Nothing screams “amateur” like a poorly crafted book cover. The standards for book design aspired to by trade publishers are not all that high, but self-publishers routinely fall short of them. If you want your book to be taken seriously, … More ☛
One question that loops endlessly on writers‘ forums is “How can I sell more books?” The question is a natural one, but for many self-publishers, it betrays a certain lack of awareness about the publishing business. Lest I sound holier … More ☛
What is true self-publishing? What is the difference between self-publishing and “vanity publishing” or “subsidy publishing?” How do these differ from “traditional publishing?” Don’t publish until you understand these terms; that knowledge can make or break your book. Learn about … More ☛
After completing the final draft of a manuscript for my fifth book, I wanted a reality check. I hired a professional editor and learned something important about self-publishing. No matter how capable you are as a writer and proofreader, you … More ☛
The word processor has placed new burdens on writers to understand how to use italics, big and small capitals, dashes, hyphens, initials, etc. Writers who do their own typesetting often produce mediocre results. Likewise, trade publishers sacrifice typographic aesthetics when … More ☛
Book reviews are critically important. Have you ever read a book hoping it would get better, only to find that it never did? And how do you tell if an independently published book is any good? So many are poorly … More ☛
Indie publishers complain that the mainstream publishing establishment acts as a “gatekeeper.” Many readers rely on big publishing houses to filter out low quality books—even though trade publishers regularly print celebrity crap with impunity. Indie publishers often see themselves as … More ☛
The very idea of “book marketing” is vague. It’s like subsuming advertising and fine art sales into a single realm of “image marketing.” And in tacking marketing on as the de facto second phase of writing a book, a lot of worthy artists’ resources are placed in jeopardy.
More ☛Indie publishers are everywhere and so are indie bookstores, but apart from their names, the two have little in common. “Independence” is a feelgood concept, but it’s often presented without any reference to that which a publisher or bookstore is independent … More ☛
The notion of real publishing as opposed to self-publishing and the stigma surrounding it is obsolete. I have no objections to traditional publishers but every one of them started off as a “self-publisher” with a first book. I have pretty … More ☛
Many readers still love to feel the subtle emboss of letters stamped on paper with metal type. I was rummaging through the garage and came across an old copy of The Progressive Road to Reading Book 2 by Georgine Burchill, … More ☛
Part 2 of Fundamentals of Book Design explores optical margins, paragraph formatting and spaces. Read about margins, layout and leading in Part 1. The self-publishing revolution is (aside from the Internet) the greatest thing ever to happen to freedom of … More ☛
Editing is one of the first hurdles you’ll encounter as an independent writer. Your fan club is your enemy. Encouraging friends who think it’s “wonderful you actually wrote a book” are not unbiased editors. A good editor will put your … More ☛
There is a direct relationship between the number of sales you can expect from a book distributor and the value-added services they provide to publishers and readers. Publishers are best served to ally themselves with book distributors that do the … More ☛
There are plenty of good reasons to self-publish, but not all are profit-oriented or even rational. Before you invest in your book, take a look in the mirror and ask yourself some serious questions. Understand what you’re getting into and define success at its proper place on the spectrum between retail sales and artistic satisfaction. With some clarity, planning and management of expectations, even a modest publishing venture can be rewarding and satisfying.
More ☛Thesis writing is one of the purest forms of self-publishing. In my work as a professor, I regularly encountered students who got “stuck” while writing their thesis papers. A good framework for developing, presenting and supporting a well-developed thesis reveals … More ☛
If you’re hoping to have mainstream bookstore distribution, using a Vanity Press may present some obstacles. Book buyers will likely tell you, “your book may be excellent, but you’re using a Vanity Publisher and the vast majority of their books … More ☛
A great technology is getting a bad rap for the wrong reasons. Print On Demand (POD) technology is often mislabeled “Publish On Demand,” which consequently associates it with the Vanity Publishing world; a realm inhabited by a few reputable operators and a large number of scammers waiting to prey on naive writers. While it’s true most Vanity Publishers do rely on POD technology, the majority of reputable self-publishers and many small traditional publishers do, too. POD is entirely disconnected from matters related to whether you own your own ISBN numbers, share rights and royalties with a third party, own your cover artwork or choose one distribution chain over another. It’s just a digital book-manufacturing technology. After all the business arrangements are decided on, a file is sent to a POD printer and books are then manufactured to order in quantities as small as a single book. POD is just a printing technology—and it’s a great one.
More ☛Most book designers make the same errors. One sore spot for me and with many of my university design students, is typography.
More ☛Here’s a useful definition. Think of a publisher as an individual or entity that assumes the financial risk for a book. A publishing house buys your manuscript, pays you a small advance against hope for royalties, and earns a profit … More ☛
Transcript Dave Bricker (00:06) Want to expand your speaking and storytelling skills and grow your influence business? This is Speakipedia Media brought to you by speakipedia .com. I’m your MC Dave Bricker bringing you straight talk and smart strategies … More ☛
One of my colleagues has written a blog post every week for the past 17 years. If you’re that disciplined and you enjoy the challenge, go for it. But why add the extra pressure? At the time I’m writing this, … More ☛
Celebrities can charge enormous fees because people will pay to be in the same room with them, and when an organization brings in a celebrity speaker, they look well-connected and influential. But what about business speakers who routinely charge 5-figure … More ☛
I’ve written and published 14 books… And as far as book sales go, that’s made me tens of dollars. Two million books are published every year. And getting your book noticed in the crowd is even more difficult than appearing … More ☛
Is AI-Generated Marketing Copy the powerful shortcut we’ve been told it is? The explosive growth of online content has done little for the evolution of graphic design or copywriting. Publishing has never been so easy, and the demands of producing … More ☛
Perhaps you’ve experienced flow writing. You sit down, watch your fingers tap away at the keyboard, and wonder, Where did that come from? Did I write that? That’s really good! Sometimes the experience of flow can be as simple and … More ☛
Hooray for Hollywood! Well … maybe; maybe not. Movies about rock stars’ journeys and superheroes (Is there really a difference?) may amount to no more than the latest money grab by motion picture studios and music labels (Is there really … More ☛
The following advice on writing and publishing is based on my own experiences and those of my clients. I hope you find it valuable and encouraging, even if it changes your expectations. I’ve written and published twelve books, and I’m … More ☛
