- Recommendation from a trusted source (friend, spouse, pastor).
- Review from a respected source.
- Written by a known author.
- Meets a felt need or desire of a reader.
- A great title/cover/package.
Search Results for: self-publishing
The Bestseller Code: Decoded
Last week, to great fanfare, a new book analyzing bestselling books hit the market. In my opinion, The Bestseller Code: The Anatomy of the Blockbuster Novel by Jodie Archer and Matthew L. Jockers is intriguing and provocative, but ultimately an exercise in futility. Every author wants a short cut to achieve bestseller success. What if there is an algorithm that, if followed, will produce a …
Not All Opinions Are Valid
Today I am opening myself up for criticism from anyone who knows me well and could identify the times I spoke or wrote about something when I had no idea about what I was communicating. The blogger’s curse…to fill space, we venture into uncharted territory. I confess starting to write a post for this agency’s blog and getting halfway through before realizing I had no idea what I was talking about. …
Theological Accountability Partners
Just because an author is a mature Christian, doesn’t mean they are immune from writing something containing shaky theology. In an effort to craft compelling phrases and stories, orthodox theology can sometimes be a casualty of creativity or even carelessness. Most often it is entirely accidental. I referenced this issue in a post over a year ago. A significant function of a traditional Christian …
Printing ≠ Publishing or Publishing > Printing
Getting publishing’ definitions wrong can cause a complete disconnect in a conversation. “How many books are you going to publish?” “Maybe about 50 per year.” “Huh? That’s all? Don’t some publishers do thousands at a time?” Or “How many books are you going to print this year?” “About a million” “Wow, how many people do you have working there?” When a book is manufactured, it’s called printing. …
Switching or Grinding Gears?
Each year in the U.S. more titles are published indie/self-pub than by all traditional publishers combined. Some authors publish only indie or traditional, but some entrepreneurial folks are known as “hybrid” and use whatever model works best for the situation at the moment. Many clients of the Steve Laube Agency are hybrid authors and it works just fine. There are some things you do for an indie …
HELP! I’m a Self-Published Author
Time and time again, self-published authors come to me asking for help. They self-published or published with a very small press and found that doing all of their own marketing and promotion resulted in sales in the three-figure range. Some authors are able to achieve the low four figures but that’s not much better as far as impressing a traditional publisher. A cumulative total of several …
Justin Beiber and Leisure Suits
Recognizing the difference between a cultural “trend” and a “phenomenon” is an important skill of anyone working in book publishing, both employees of publishers and authors. Why? Because book publishing in virtually every form does a very poor job responding to a phenomenon, which is generally short-lived. Often a phenomenon has come and gone before a book can be written and published on the …
Wanted: More Choir Members
Dan Balow
At some point in their writing career, many Christian authors express a desire to write a book that would reach the un-churched. That desire is a completely honorable and wonderful goal, just as any believer should desire to represent Christ in their lives in such a way that unbelievers would ask them questions about the hope that is in them.
However, the inference by such …
Genre Hopping
An author recently posed a question to us through our question button (in the right column on the blog page). We like when authors do this, so please feel free to use the button!
While everyone's situation is different, the elements of the question are relevant to many so I'm addressing those today.
I have a question about genre hopping. I have a non-fiction book geared for parents of teens …