by Joe Walters

Writers, it’s about that time.

You’ve done the work. You’ve written, you’ve revised, revised again, gotten beta readers, implemented their feedback, edited, edited again, polished, and now you’re feeling confident that your book is pretty damn good. 

First of all, hell yeah.

Second of all, where do you go from here?

It’s easier to publish a book in 2023 than it has ever been. But that doesn’t mean you should necessarily take the easy route. Sometimes it could be the best decision; sometimes it could be the worst. Take your time and choose with confidence (and maybe a little guidance from me). This post includes info & tips for writers looking to publish with an indie press, to self-publish, or to publish with a major publisher.

Here’s an essential guide to publishing companies (with 50+ publishers included).

I’ve never shouted, “I love indie presses!” from the rooftops, but that’s only because I don’t like rooftops.

Independent presses run the full gamut—large, small, niche, broad, great, not-so-great, you name it. There are a lot of people out there who love books enough to publish them. An indie press can be a side-gig for a book lover or it can be a million-dollar business for a CEO with major connections and funding. 

Indie presses are important to book publishing. So many books in your local bookstore come from the same five publishers and their imprints–more on this in part 3!–but traditional indie presses expand the horizon of books and ideas. Many of these presses take risks on books they believe should be published even if they don’t fit a common model like salability and neat genre fits. I salute them (and review them) as often as I can!

So how do you publish with an independent press?

That depends on the press! Some indies require agented submissions, while others you can submit without an agent. You just have to follow each specific press’s guidelines, write your best book, and cross your fingers.

My biggest recommendations for publishing with an indie press:

• Actually read a couple books from the press. Not only do you want to find out if their vision matches that of your book’s, but you also want to see if it’s professionally formatted and something you’d be proud to share a shelf with.
• Follow their submission guidelines exactly. They receive a lot of queries, and you don’t want to miss your chance at the very beginning.
• Google them & their books to find out any book publicity they’ve received. You want to see what kind of coverage your book could get.
• Make your book as good as it can be ten times over. Many indie presses want to take books that can slide right into a publishing queue. Since they pay their editors on their own dime, it’s a lot less of an investment to take on a book that requires fewer editing-hours to complete.
• Write and get feedback on a compelling query letter.
• Some presses take breaks in their reading periods. Don’t submit outside of them, and if you think your book is the best fit for that press anyway, wait for them to re-open.
• Many indie presses publish books across genres, but some ask for specific genres. Don’t submit if your book doesn’t fit.
• Some publishers frame their submissions as contests or awards. This is fine! You may have to pay to submit, but it usually helps pay an advance to the winning author, something not every indie press does.
• Actually like the look and applicability of their website! The online marketplace is an important one.
• Research what they do to market their books. Do they run a regular newsletter? Are they active on social media? Do they get a lot of book reviews?
• Ask their authors what their experience has been.
• Try university presses! (Not included in list below)
• Peruse more lists like on Duotrope, NewPages, P & W, and Bookfox.

Want to know what people would say about your book if it was published today? Try group beta reading!

Self-publishing is the right route for some people. There’s no getting around the fact that you get complete creative control AND a considerably higher royalty percentage than publishing with a press. You can publish that thing today if you wanted to, or you can transparently use it as a business tool to funnel clients straight into your business. 

You know what that means? More money!

But you know what it also means? More competition & less free help!

But before we get anywhere, it’s imperative that you recognize which part of the publishing process you are skipping: The gatekeeper.

An agent receives thousands of queries. Publishers do too. They choose only a select number of them per year—could be two, could be twelve, could be two hundred. It depends on what that particular person or organization is planning to do with their business. 

They choose only the books that they think will: sell, get acclaim, move readers emotionally, get optioned into a movie, or some other business-specific reason.

By skipping this gatekeeper step, you are not putting your book to the test in the market. I want you to have a published book too, but sometimes that book isn’t ready. You publish it early, and some readers don’t love it. Some might even find things hurtful inside it. That’s a big reason why beta reading and getting feedback is so important. Test the market. Take your time. Make that thing shine before publishing.

And if you do go the self-publishing route, make sure you read up on book marketing! Taking an honest look at what you’re up against—like the amount of actual work hours it’ll take to market—will help you decide if self-publishing companies are the right decision for you.

In addition to doing it all yourself, you can self-publish with a vanity or hybrid press.

A vanity press is one that you can pay to publish your book for you. They do the dirty work like uploading, designing, and accounting. Depending on whichever services they offer in your contract, they may also provide developmental editing, copy editing, proofreading, cover design or illustration, and marketing. 

A hybrid press is a press that either A) requires some money to publish your book, but will front other costs; B) Doesn’t publish every book that is submitted to them; or C) a press that publishes some books on their own dime and other books by being funded by the author.

Some vanity or hybrid presses are awesome to work with. They care about their authors, provide great customer service, and are upfront about their fees and requirements. Others are not as awesome. Some have poor or nonexistent customer service and mislead authors to expect the brightest lights in exchange for more money. 

Some questions to ask your vanity or hybrid press:

• How much is the basic service and what specifically does it entail?
• What does the upgraded service include specifically? 
• Do you charge me when I need to make changes to my book or my book listing?
• How often are you available for marketing help and guidance?
• How many book cover mock-ups does your designer provide?
• Does the basic service include developmental editing, copy editing, and proofreading?
• Are there any yearly fees?
• Can I get freelance services elsewhere and still use your company to publish?
• How long will it take to edit, design, and publish the book?
• Can you show me some books in a similar genre that you’ve published?
• Can you share any other authors’ contact information so I can ask their opinion of your company?

Don’t be afraid to say no to hybrid or vanity publishing companies. There are others out there. 

Here are some of our favorite indie books of 2022.

The big five publishers—listed below—publish many of the top-selling books of a given year. These books appear on reading lists, major media outlets, celebrity book clubs, and bookstores all over the world. They have many imprints and have published a ton of books for a long time. They are a sort of 1%, except they’re probably more visible than that.

As an author, these things probably sound great to you. If you want to get an advance and get financial backing for your book, publishing with a big five publisher is something you probably want to try.

But wait! 

In order to publish with them, you have to find a literary agent to represent you. Then they have to successfully convince a publishing house to publish your book. This is not easy.

Authors spend years perfecting their craft, making connections, publishing short form works in recognizable outlets, getting grants, increasing their social media following, and beyond in order to impress agents and publishers to increase their chances. But again, this doesn’t guarantee anything.

Yet again, some authors don’t take years. Some take one incredible story to blow the doors off, get signed, and get published. 

Lesson of the day: Write the best book you can. Pitch agents strategically. And write more books.

Parting words

Publishing a book is complicated. Choosing the right path, pursuing it at the right time, dealing with the repercussions of your choices: It’s all stressful but only because you care so much.

Take your time, publish the best book you can, and keep writing. That’s what it’s all about anyway, isn’t it?

What is the most important thing you need from from publishing companies? Let me know in the comments below!

About the Author

Joe Walters is the editor-in-chief of Independent Book Review and the author of The Truth About Book Reviews. He has been a book marketer for Sunbury Press, Inkwater Press, and Paper Raven Books. When he’s not doing editorial, promoting, or reviewing work, he’s working on his novel, playing with his kids, or reading indie books by Kindle light.

Thank you for reading “50+ Publishing Companies for Traditional & Self-Publishing: A Guide for Writers“ by Joe Walters! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post 50+ Publishing Companies for Traditional & Self-Publishing: A Guide for Writers appeared first on Independent Book Review.

by Joe Walters

Publishing a book is more possible than ever.

You’ve written a book. Maybe it’s a cozy mystery. A self-help or business book. A wickedly entertaining tome of literary fiction. Regardless, your beta readers say it’s amazing and you’re proud of it.

So how do you get it published?

Lucky for you, you’re approaching this publication in a time when getting a book published is as accessible as ever. While there are four primary options for publishing a book, you’ll want to know the pros and cons of each one so you can make the best decision for you.

Here are your primary options for publishing a book.

Option 1: Traditionally publish with a major publishing house

You know those books that appear in nearly all of the bookstores around the country? How about the ones that get picked up by major book clubs like Reese Witherspoon’s and Emma Watson’s?

If you want to get your book seen by the most amount of people, you probably want to try traditionally publishing with a major publishing house.

A major publishing house could be a press within the big five publishers (like Penguin Random House and Simon & Schuster) or it could be a larger independent press like Graywolf Press.

But you can’t just go knocking at PRH’s door asking for a contract. You’ll need a literary agent first.

Major publishers and larger indie presses do not accept unsolicited submissions from the author, so you’ll need to send a query letter, synopsis, and a few sample pages to a literary agent. If an agent wants to represent you, they’ll submit your book to editors at one of the major publishing houses for you. You both will have to sit back and hope the publisher will purchase the rights to your book.

If you want to take this route, you should be aware of a few things:

• It might not work. All you can do is write the best book you possibly can and start querying. So write, rewriter, revise, revise again, go through beta reading, revise again, and send that baby out there.
• For fiction, you’ll need to finish writing your book before you query.
• For nonfiction, you may be able to send a book proposal instead of finishing the project first. Just check out the agent’s submission guidelines.
• Do your research on literary agents before you query. Don’t send out large batches of queries to every agent you can find. Each agent specializes in certain types of books, so check out which genres they’re looking for and a few of the books they’ve already gotten published.
• Literary agents work on commission. When your book sells, your agent gets a portion of the sale. Do NOT pay an agent upfront to take on your manuscript.
• When a major publishing house decides to give you a contract, they may give you an advance. It could be pretty high or relatively low. But regardless of how much it is, don’t spend it all in one place. It could get you into some iffy financial situations.
• You’ll need to earn out your advance before you start earning royalties. This means that you won’t get paid per book sold until you make enough to cover how much the publisher gave you at the beginning of the process.
• There are tiers within traditional publishing. If your press believes a certain book could make more money than another, that certain book will receive a higher advance and book marketing budget. Your agent will likely communicate this stuff with you as well as help you make the decision if being lower tier in a major house is actually better than being higher tier at a smaller house.
• If you have no money to expend on getting your book published, this is your best shot at having the best product.
• Major publishing houses often use bookstores as one of their primary marketing targets. If you have a dream of walking into a random bookstore and finding your book there, shooting for a major publishing house might be a good place to start.
• This is a terrifically lengthy process. You might wait years after querying your book to be published, so put on your comfy pants and get working on your next project.
• In 2023, even major publishing houses don’t use a lot of their marketing budget on book tours. It’s possible that some of them do, but if you’re looking for a book tour, just be aware that you might be covering the travel expenses.

Want to know what people would say about your book if it was published today? Try out group beta reading!

Option 2: Traditionally publish with a smaller publisher

If you’re looking through my window, you can see me jumping up and down while I type this, chanting, “SMALL. PRESSES. RULE. BABY!” A small press is a publishing house often made up of less than ten staff members who work their butts off to publish books they believe in.

Oftentimes, that means they’re taking on books that won’t be accepted by major publishers for any number of reasons. One of those reasons? Maybe a major house thinks your book doesn’t have a salable hook, so they don’t buy it. But a small press? They might not care. If they find a terrific book in their slush pile, they’ll get to work on making sure it reaches its audience. Small presses also accept submissions directly from the author, so you won’t need a literary agent for them.  

A small press’s goal is often about putting an amazing book in front of its audience. They work on books regularly, giving them the expertise to understand how things sell and how they can utilize their personal connections to get you into bookstores, do author events, and get your book reviewed. A small press might give your book more attention than a major publishing house would (especially if you’re published on a lower tier with a major), so it could give you immense joy to be able to work with them. The small press community is one of the kindest I’ve come in contact with, and I couldn’t be more grateful to work with them at IBR to spread the word about their great books.

If you decide to take this route, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• You may not get a large advance or any advance at all. Small presses do not usually have large budgets, so you and the press might move directly into the earning-royalty phase.
• Much of the marketing work could fall on your shoulders. While these small presses can offer you increased validation when pitching for events, shelving queries, reviews, and more, you may still need to be the one pitching it. But the press will likely give you pointers and offer the help they can. I give book marketing tips too!
• Some small presses take different royalty percentages than others and publish in different formats than others. Just make sure you do your research and agree to their terms before you sign the contract. It’s okay to turn them down.
• If you’d prefer not to spend too much money on your book, this is your second best option. You’ll likely have to pay a few fees for optional marketing (like events, conferences, editorial reviews, or maybe even contests), but you won’t be asked specifically by a small press to give them any money.
• While many major publishing houses are stuck in New York, small presses can be anywhere. That means if you’d like to shoot for a local press, you’ve got a great shot at finding one near you.
• Did you know that indie and small presses are often the recipients of major book awards? Well, you do now. Small and indie presses publish risky and non-commercial material that don’t always get picked up by major houses, and in return, judges recognize the uniqueness of the concepts, ideas, and writing with awards. If you think you’ve got a special book that might not fly off the shelves but will impress whoever it’s read by, you should check out smaller indies.
• All in all, a small press is a team of publishing professionals who believe in your work and want to help readers find it. If you run into anyone running a small traditional press, give them a high-five for me. I’m sure they’re busy with their other jobs, but I’m also sure they’d love to hear that they appreciate the work they are doing. I know I do.

Discover new publishers by reading about these impressive indie press books!

Option 3: Use a hybrid or vanity press

This publishing option is perhaps the most controversial.

If you head onto your favorite social media group or publishing forum, you’ll get advice from people telling you that you should never pay to publish your book. While this advice is well-intentioned, it also spreads unnecessary anger toward companies who offer valuable services to authors.

The terms “hybrid press” and “vanity press” have one major thing in common: the author pays a publishing company to provide the service of publishing a book. Each vanity press has a different model of how these payments work. Some presses accept only specific types of books, others accept anything they can get their hands on, and a few will only take on products they truly care about.

Regardless, vanity or hybrid publishing is a form of self-publishing where the author receives all of their author services in one place. As a self-published author, you will need to purchase author services anyway, so you might find the convenience of getting them all in one place is great for you.

However, you’ll also want to be picky when choosing your hybrid publisher. There are a few presses out there that have caused outrage when it comes to poor customer service, hidden fees, and an overall outlook that has a problematic goal of taking your money instead of helping you. These problematic businesses exist in every industry, but just because a few companies have backward goals does not mean that every one does.

Here are a few things to keep in mind if you are considering hybrid publishing:

• Weigh your options heavily. Do your research and discover the pros and cons of using a hybrid publisher instead of self-publishing.
• Understand your goal prior to hybrid publishing. If your goal is to have a book that you can love out in the world, this could be a good option. If your goal is to make money off of your fiction, it’s possible that a hybrid publisher could get you there—but it may be a bit more difficult.
• Some hybrid presses operate on a model that will not benefit you. Ask questions about how much things cost, why they cost the way they do, and if you would prefer to do it on your own or with someone else. It’s possible that a mean-spirited hybrid press feels pushy and/or makes promises that seem unlikely. It’s fine to say no.
• There are some truly wonderful hybrid publishing companies. They have kindhearted staff members who want to see you succeed and do everything they can to help you get there. They may work in publishing full-time, and this may be your first time trying to sell a book. Utilize their expertise and experience.
• If you enjoy your experience with a hybrid press, make sure to share it with other authors. There is so much negativity surrounding this type of press, and I think publishing forums and social media groups would be a better place if we all approached these different types of publishing with respect.

Looking for something new to get for your birthday this year? Check out these gifts for writers!

Option 4: Self-publish your book

With the advent of new technology, the process of making a book available to the public has become easier than ever. But that doesn’t mean self-publishing a book successfully is easy. And really, if you’re considering publishing a book, that should be the number one goal: doing it right.

If you self-publish with strategy, you can take advantage of the much-higher royalty rate and potentially pave your way to making a living with your writing. Honestly, this might be the best way to make a living with your writing.

Before you go hitting the publish button though, you should consider a few things:

• When you self-publish, you are doing the job of multiple people at a traditional publishing house. Prepare yourself for a ton of work and not enough time in the day. And because of that, you’ll want to hire some experts for your production team.
• Just like a traditional publishing house, you’re going to need a realistic budget to work with. If you skimp on paying for essential services like cover design and copy editing, your product will suffer because of it. And once you put something out on the market, you won’t want to make the mistake of having to fix stuff afterwards. You only have a few shots to impress your first fans, and if you rush the process and skimp on a budget, you could lose those lifelong readers.
• At traditional publishing houses, the staff members have valuable experience and an expertise that could stop you from making a huge mistake. When you’re self-publishing, you are all on your own. There’s no one telling you that you cannot leave that problematic scene in your book. Your editor might suggest that you remove it, but it’s up to you to make the final decision. Just make sure you get plenty of input from outsiders before you publish: from developmental editing to beta reading and beyond.
• Do your research on trustworthy author services. It’s important to trust and believe in the people working on your book, so before you hire your developmental editor, make sure you believe they can do the best job for you. There are quite a few out there, so get sample edits and hire the one you believe in and can see yourself working with.
• Take. Your. Time. There are a million reasons why traditional publishing takes a long time, but perhaps the most important is that you need to do loads of preparation before a book is made available to the public. Don’t set a publishing date as a goal and force yourself to finish it if things get pushed back. It’s more important to do it right than to just do it in general.
• Treat your book like a business. This is a product. And you are the owner of that product. How can you make sure your production team is offering everything you need while also giving you the time to be the content creator (or writer) who can come out with the next product?
• You could be putting yourself in the position to make the most money off of a book sale as possible. Not too shabby! Only downfall? You’ll have to front the cost of the book’s production, which means if you don’t have much money when you begin your project, you may be better off trying to traditionally publish instead.
• It is a bit more difficult to get self-published books in bookstores. Due to returns and other bookstore policies, your dream of seeing your book at Barnes and Noble may be a bit harder to achieve. Not impossible though!
• Self-publishing can be extremely rewarding, so if you’re thinking about taking the plunge, I wish you the best of luck! And send us your book to get reviewed after you do!

What do you think is your best path for publishing a book? Let me know in the comments below!

About the Author

Joe Walters is the editor-in-chief of Independent Book Review and the author of The Truth About Book Reviews. He has been a book marketer for Sunbury Press, Inkwater Press, and Paper Raven Books. When he’s not doing editorial, promoting, or reviewing work, he’s working on his novel, playing with his kids, or reading indie books by Kindle light.

Thank you for reading “Publishing a Book in 2023: Which Path Should You Take?” by Joe Walters! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post Publishing a Book in 2023: Which Path Should You Take? appeared first on Independent Book Review.

by Joe Walters

What does the phrase “indie books” mean?

Weirdly enough, this a complicated question. 

Different companies and different people consider an “indie book” different things, almost like the ambiguity of “blurbs.” For an industry so obsessed with words, this makes sense to me. Oh, it needs analysis? Sign some book nerds up!

So I’m throwing this out there…

This is how IBR defines an indie book: “a book that is either self-published or published by an independent press.”

You may ask, “Why not just choose one word for indie press authors and one word for self-published authors? Why use only ‘indie book?’” 

Well…

There are a TON of similarities between the two types of indie books.

Let’s look at it first from the perspective of a person entering a bookstore.

Maybe it’s Barnes & Noble or Books-A-Million, but my vote is for the indie bookstore down the block from you. You walk in and see books on tables and books on shelves, and you want to read them all. (Or I do.)

But did you know that most books in most bookstores come from the same five publishing houses or their imprints? 

You might know their names: Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, Harper Collins, and MacMillan. These companies publish books by celebrities, by Stephen King, by Booker Award winners. They use large marketing budgets to sell large amounts of books to their large customer bases. And a lot of the time, they’re excellent books by brilliant authors & experts.

But just because they’re published by these companies doesn’t mean they’re better than the books that are published elsewhere.  Just because they’re all over your local bookstore doesn’t mean that they’re the only authors and books worth reading.

Books by indie presses win major awards every single year. These presses publish and promote books that break boundaries, take risks, and change the way we see our world. (I’m looking at you, Braiding Sweetgrass!). 

Now, here’s the thing…

Books by self-published authors can be just as or better than traditional publishers. They see this is a business decision–one in which they can launch when they want to, build their brand how they want to, control the output, and receive considerably more in in royalties. There are so many good self-published books out there, with hustling authors pumping out bestselling books. 

I guess what I’m really trying to say here is:

Put your trust in indie books.

I’m not telling you to stop reading books by the major publishers. Actually, I’ll tell you to read more of them (because *plot twist* books are awesome). It’s just–you should also make room on your nightstand for the best indie books.

Don’t balk at your purchase when you see “Independently Published” in the Product Description box. Make indies a regular part of your reading habit so that you can see all of the amazing things that authors and presses can do with their limited budgets and unlimited creativity.

My company (IBR, the site you’re on RIGHT NOW) reviews only indie books and curates lists of them. We want to give both types of “indie author” the opportunity for publicity & recognition. We want to shout indie books from the rooftops since the Big Five publishers already have real estate up there.

But before you go scrolling more of our book lists, let’s put to rest some indie publishing anomalies.

What is an indie press exactly? 

It is a publishing house that is not connected to the Big Five publishers except in relation to distribution. Indie presses can be as small as one dedicated individual in a basement to full offices of full-time employees. The departments can include editing, marketing, design, legal, accounting, management, etc. An indie press can even have a number of imprints.

What is a small press?

An indie press (just smaller)! A small press may consist of only a few employees and publish a few titles a year, while bigger indies with bigger staffs publish 100+ books a year. Things can also get a little mixed-up with that “small” designator when the books make it big via huge sales and big awards.

Since I know you’re wondering! Some of my favorite small presses are Future Tense Books, Thirty West Publishing, and June Road Press.

What is an indie author?

At IBR, we consider an indie author to be a writer who either self-published their book or got it published by an indie press. Some people choose only to describe self-published authors as indie authors, but I like indie presses & their authors way too much to leave them out of the distinction.

Yes, this means that bestselling authors with major indie presses and wide distribution wear the same “indie author” moniker as a self-published author who has to do most if not all the work themselves. So why put them in the same category?

By going with an independent press, these big-name bestselling authors are still contributing to a break away from the at-times singular vision of the same five companies & their imprints. New minds, idea expansion, risk-taking, groundbreaking–indie authors can sell a ton of books or none; they’re both still indie to us.

What are some more similarities between self-published & indie press authors?

If you publish with an indie press, you may receive services like editing & cover design for free. (If you publish with a vanity indie press, you pay them for the services). 

When your book comes out, the press may do some marketing on your book’s behalf too. Maybe they send an email, post it on social media, and pitch for reviews. It benefits them to sell books because they get a portion of the royalty. 

But beyond this help from the press, they share almost everything with self-published authors. Many indie presses use Print on Demand services instead of printing large quantities of books at a time. 

Like self-published authors, indie press authors are responsible for doing the bulk of the marketing: pitching for reviews & interviews, doing readings, operating email lists, paying for book promotion, etc.

This is hard, time-consuming work—one of the many reasons why I want to make things a bit easier on indie authors with IBR. These humans are out here actual sweating—selling, producing, and writing great books all wiping their brow.

Where can I find & support indie books?

1. Independent Book Review! We review only indie books, and we curate our collection by delineating our favorite books (Starred Reviews) and we put together book lists regularly that highlight some of the amazing work being done in the indie publishing community.
2. Kindle Unlimited & Scribd! These eBook subscription services are highly utilized by indie authors. Not all of them will be indie published, but if you check out the “Product Information,” they’ll share if the book was independently published or published by an indie press.
3. Deal sites like BookBub, BargainBooksy, and Fussy Librarian! If you subscribe to email lists like the ones provided here, you’ll get notifications of free or discount books. And who utilizes this service often? Indie authors! 
4. Amazon bestseller lists! If you go to specific genre bestseller lists, you’re bound to find indie books scattered throughout. Like I said earlier, indie authors know how to make this thing work. You can find out if the book is indie by clicking on the title and scrolling down to the Product Information section.
5. Your local indie bookstore! Maybe! Hopefully! Some indie bookstores respect the struggle AND believe that these books can sell, so they stock indie books. Some bookstores that come to mind are A Novel Idea (Philly), Greenlight Bookstore (NYC), and Powell’s (Portland)!

And…indie book 101 is complete. Thanks for stopping in! Let us know your favorite indie books in the comments below.

About the Author

Joe Walters is the editor-in-chief of Independent Book Review and the author of The Truth About Book Reviews. He has been a book marketer for Sunbury Press, Inkwater Press, and Paper Raven Books. When he’s not doing editorial, promoting, or reviewing work, he’s working on his novel, playing with his kids, or reading indie books by Kindle light.

Thank you for reading Joe Walters’s blog post “What Are Indie Books? (and Other Indie Publishing Anomalies)!” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post What Are Indie Books? (And Other Indie Publishing Anomalies) appeared first on Independent Book Review.

Reviewed by Jadidsa Perez

A Lot of Questions illuminates the darkest corners of humanity with humor and intelligence.

Jordan Neben’s debut is filled with invigorating food for thought. This nonfiction work broaches many questions about religion, philosophy, human nature, imperialism, racial segregation, and a number of other quandaries that have vexed humanity for epochs. 

The book is split into six essays with specific topics that all reflect on the antecedent and contemporary aspects of human behavior. The overall aim of the piece is to leave the reader inquiring into their own experiences, interrogating aspects of their own life, country, and beliefs. 

The essays touch on issues that may be difficult to question for more than one significant reason. The first two essays, in fact, center on pietism and religious institutions. The remaining essays focus on the ways human empathy can be transactional and contingent upon proximity, the worship of controversial historical figures, colonialism, the hypocrisy of nationalism, and more. 

Each section has a conclusion that is not meant to provide a clear answer to these questions or offer a convincing call to action, but instead to instigate deliberation on systems that are often considered sanctimonious. With all of this, I had a number of expectations going in; all of which A lot of Questions transcended. 

Neben creates one of the strongest debuts I’ve read in a while. A Lot of Questions does not simply look at the surface of ideas; it plunges deep into the waters of human behavior. The prose is clever, neat, and most importantly, accessible. Neben clearly explains any concept that is introduced and creates analogies that are easy to understand.

The book does not hone in on only one perspective. Instead, it looks at many different angles. As Neben himself admits, humans are extremely complex, thus history itself is almost a labyrinth. 

By providing different viewpoints of extreme but pervasive situations such as war, the reader is able to encounter viewpoints that they may not have considered previously. The reader is asked to think critically, the ultimate goal of the book.

The stand-out essay is “Ruminations on Religion.” This first of the six essays leaves a lasting impression. Neben contrives stories of cults that have worshiped televisions, expelled foreigners, and had ritualistic sacrifices. While initially the stories may seem far-fetched, Neben shows the ways in which the stories are eerily similar to how we function today.

A Lot of Questions is an incredible read—emotionally intense but extremely important. I eagerly await Neben’s future works.

Publisher: Atmosphere Press

Genre: Nonfiction / Philosophy

Print Length: 374 pages

ISBN: 978-1639883592

Thank you for reading Jadidsa Perez’s book review of A Lot of Questions (with no answers)? by Jordan Neben! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post Book Review: A Lot of Questions (with no answers)? appeared first on Independent Book Review.

by Joe Walters

Ask me, “How do I sell more books?” 

And watch me sigh before I tell you, “This question is a mountain.”

Get just a little bit more specific, “How do I sell more books on Amazon?”

And we can start talking.

There are so many things you can do to sell more books, like an actual infinite amount of things. Don’t fall into that trap. Thinking about all of them at once is a good way for you to spend the rest of your author career trying to sell books rather than writing them.

So let’s phrase this question as directly as we can.

If you want to sell more books on Amazon, you need to ask these two questions:

• How do I send browsers toward my Amazon page?
• How do I convert browsers into buyers?

There are a number of different book marketing strategies you can execute in order to achieve both of these goals.

Here are 22 ways to sell more books on Amazon.

#1. Have the coolest book cover

It’s no coincidence that I started this list with book covers. Book marketing & publicity is heavily reliant on how good your cover is. It can make or break every single sale.

So my advice? Don’t break it.

Hire a professional designer you believe in. If it comes back and it’s not what you’d expected or hoped for, ask the designer if they are open to revisions. If the designer ends up not being able to do it for you, maybe get another cover done.

This is your most important selling tool. Make it count. I receive hundreds of book review requests per month, and the very first thing I consider is, “Is this book cover strong enough to take up space on my website? Is it strong enough to sell a copy to my readership?”

#2. Thrive with the “Look Inside” feature.

The Look Inside feature on Amazon is a simple one. If a browser visits your book product page, they can click on the cover to read the first few pages of your book. You know what’s another staple of book marketing? A damn good book. This starts with the first few pages. If it’s nonfiction, is it a clever introduction with promise? If it’s fiction, is it a promise of exciting things to come?

#3. Have a strong title & subtitle

One of my favorite things to do at Sunbury Press is to brainstorm titles and subtitles.

Fiction titles are important obviously. They should be good and enticing and steer clear of cliche, but their subtitles aren’t quite as essential. You can use them; they can help with the searchability of your novel on the Amazon search engine (like this one), but they also should be relevant. They aren’t always the right move for certain genres either. Literary fiction readers, for example, might find one unnatural and become uninterested in the book because of it. 

But with nonfiction, oh, man, do subtitles sell books!

Let readers know what to expect. Be quick and snappy and funny and spot-on and indicate why your book is about to come in and provide them something valuable.

Not only are subtitles good for nonfiction just from a “This is exactly what the book’s about” standpoint, they also give way to some of the best metadata possible on Amazon’s search engine.

If you have certain keywords in your subtitles, your book can be found just by existing in the Amazon search engine. People who are typing in certain topics are greeted with your book without you having to send pitches, newsletters, social media posts, advertise. You can sell books on Amazon without doing anything other than having a strong subtitle.

So if you have an opportunity to include a strong keyword in your subtitle, I’d definitely recommend it.

#4. Have a TON of ratings

A book with a lot of ratings communicates with browsers that it has been read by a lot of consumers.

If you’re an indie author, you should definitely include some hours in your book marketing time to make sure people are leaving ratings/reviews on Amazon.

This includes–but is not limited to–pitching reviewers, organizing review teams, and asking the reader kindly and naturally in the final pages of your book if they’d leave a rating or review.

Since these stars are at the top of your product page and show up on Amazon’s search engine feed, it’s good to have a lot of them and hopefully have them continue growing.

But before I go, notice that I mentioned them as “ratings!” Readers can leave only a rating if they want to. They do not have to write a review. It’s obviously helpful for them to leave a review (if it’s good), but having some shy readers leave you stars is good too. So, write that down: get more ratings to sell more books on Amazon.

#5. Utilize your Amazon author central account.

Have you set up your Amazon author central account yet?

If you’re a debut author, you can’t do this until you have a product page; this means a pre-order page or an already published one. When a browser visits your book page, they can click on your author name. This link can either take them to a curated page which includes your author photo, your other book(s), your author bio, and even your blog; or it can take them to a page featuring a number of books written by people who have your name or have a similar name. 

You want them to visit a professional sales-friendly author profile page (like this one), and the only way to do that is with Amazon author central.

In addition to getting to curate an author profile page, you can also do a number of behind the scenes things with your Amazon author central account like add editorial reviews, monitor stats, and now even advertise on Amazon. These features are super helpful to have if you want to sell books on Amazon.

#6. Indicate whether your book is part of a series

If you are writing a series, you or your publisher can indicate this in their KDP dashboard when uploading or editing the metadata.

By doing this, the browser can click on the series title to find a page dedicated to your series.

Want to know why it’s helpful to have a series page?

When browsers go to a single book product page, they can scroll down just past the book description to see Amazon’s recommended picks and sponsored picks. There are a lot of options for them to buy a book that isn’t your book.

With a series page, those picks aren’t until you reach the bottom–if they’re there at all! The series page’s primary purpose is to sell multiple books, so they prioritize that and give the browser less distractions and more ways to buy.

#7. Price it appropriately

Unfortunately, book prices play a big role in making and breaking sales. And sometimes, presses and authors do a number of things to bring down the price of their book for consumers—accounting for the price of printing books on demand.

I’ve seen authors and presses shrink the font to make a book $19.99 instead of $24.99. I’ve even seen authors take a lower royalty percentage just to keep it affordable (JoeAdvice: don’t do this). It’s expensive to make books sometimes, and people might have shorter pockets than they did a few years ago.

The things I’d recommend most in pricing your book on Amazon US are the following: 1.) Use a variant of $.99 to end it 2.) Keep an eye on the prices of your competitors in your genre 3.) Don’t back down from royalty percentage unless it’s a funnel book (like the first in a series or a book designed primarily to sell services rather than books).

Quick break! Breathe. Stretch. Chill. Have a grape juice and tacos, I guess? We’re almost done making sure the top half of your Amazon book product page is working effectively.

Keyword: Almost. There’s some super important stuff left, like:

#8. Have the best book description possible

And this starts with the hook.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but a lot of product pages use bolded text at the top of their product descriptions. Why is this?

When browsers reach your book page, they can only see the first few lines of the book description before having to click the “Read more” button. 

So authors and presses use those first few characters to be as enticing as possible. This is where your book’s hook goes—its biggest selling point. Whether it’s catchy enticing fiction or informational nonfiction, these first few lines are the most important part of your book description.

It’s very possible that viewers reach your page, look at your title, cover, ratings, and the hook and then immediately either buy or leave the site without clicking. So make those initial words count with your book’s hook. 

Sometimes authors and presses use blurbs from people or organizations to start off their book descriptions. That’s cool too. I’ve also seen a good amount of authors and presses putting their contest and award wins at the top of the description. This is cool too, as long as they really are impressive. 

But I still want you to make sure that the first line or lines of your book description are short and catchy. 

Which brings me to my next point…

Short sentences and paragraphs reign supreme in book descriptions. The days of long block paragraphs are over thanks to our struggling eyes on these digital screens. So know this beforehand: make sure to use multiple paragraphs in your book description. Even consider multiple short paragraphs to improve scanning.

I have soooooo much to say about book descriptions, but it just won’t fit in this blog post. So come back here for part 5 of the series.

#9. Utilize Amazon’s editorial reviews section

Okay, so, cool news! You can add blurbs to your Amazon product page.

What are book blurbs?

I wrote about it in part one of this series, but essentially, they’re nice things that authors and experts in your niche have said about your book.

If you get Stephen King to say your book is the coolest thing, you can put that quote on your Amazon page in the “editorial review” section. You can do this by using your Amazon author central account or you can ask your publisher to do it for you.

If you’re doing it yourself, make sure to format it attractively. Use quotation marks. Don’t italicize what the reviewer said. Use an en-dash. Italicize and bold the author or expert’s name. Here’s what they could look like:

• “This is not just a story of prohibition in America, it’s a story of womanhood and strength. The feeling one is left with when closing Gathering Storm is one of steely determination and hope.” – Steph Huddleston, Independent Book Review

I don’t know if you know this, but…it’s tough to get Stephen King to read and blurb your book. You have a few different options of how to get book blurbs, as I outlined in that post I already told you about. 

And just so you know…

I have a team of 20+ niche book reviewers who will read your book and provide a 400-750 word review within two or five weeks in our editorial book review service. You can also submit for a chance of being reviewed on platforms just by pitching them, which you can do with us here.

You can add trailers and interviews to the editorial review section too. But be careful. Bad trailers have definitely stopped me from buying books in the past. Make sure you and other people love it before putting it up there.

#10. Use the “From the Publisher” section (Amazon A+ Content)

You might be asking, “Joe, what kind of mumbo jumbo are you talking about?”

And I’m answering, “Nice use of mumbo jumbo.”

But also, “Chill. I got you.”

A browser can visit your Amazon product page and actually be greeted by promotional graphics, author info, charts, and more that influence their decision to buy the book. 

Words are cool and all, but there’s a reason that graphics and photographs have taken over your social feeds. They can arrest your digital attention. It can draw extra attention on that blurb you got or it can highlight your hook or your best selling points. Here’s an example of a page that uses the From the Publisher section effectively.

If you are the publisher, you can do this through your KDP Dashboard by clicking “Marketing” on the header menu and then A+ Content on that marketing manager page. If you are an author with an indie press, you can request that your press utilizes Amazon A+ content. (It might help if you pitch ideas and actual designs they could use. Publishers are busy people.) Just know that only authors and presses who have published with KDP can utilize Amazon A+ content. Not every publisher does.

#11. Write a strong author bio and have a good professional author photo

What else might your browser look at? Who in the world you are!

By now you can probably tell that there are a lot of small decisions being made on this page. Not everyone will look at everything on your Amazon product page, but they’ll be scanning it if they’re interested for sure.

That’s why it’s important to make sure each section is clean and enticing. Each reader is different. Some ask a lot of validity—like, why is this person qualified to write this book?—and some don’t care much. You should be ready for both of them. I’ll have a primer on how to write a good author bio for Amazon soon, but I gotta get these posts up eventually, so…moving on!

But wait wait wait don’t rush past the need for a good author photo. It might help to hire someone, but it’s not always essential. Just make sure that you’re in a relevant background (and preferably a plain one), that you look presentable, that you match the mood of your book, and that you do NOT use a selfie with an old digital webcam. 

#12. Upload the book with 7 excellent keywords.

You or your publisher can use 7 keywords when they upload your book.

What’s a keyword?

It’s the string of words that browsers type into their search engines in order to find what they want. Amazon is one big search engine, so keywords are pretty important. It’s like being a car company that shows up number #1 on Google for “cool cars.” 

You or your publisher should definitely research the strongest possible keywords for a book like yours. Use a tool like Publisher Rocket or do it on your own by searching Amazon for what you believe to be the best keywords, noticing your competition, and assessing whether or not you’d like to rank for those search terms.

#13. Choose accurate niche categories on Amazon

Sometimes a book gets published with a Christian Living category despite being about New Age and Spirituality. Sometimes it’s marked as Self-Help when it’s primarily a memoir. Sometimes Amazon gets confused (potentially because of your keywords), or perhaps you or your publisher clicked the wrong category when uploading the book. All you can do? 

Fix it. You don’t want an atheist visiting your book they thought was about spirituality, seeing that it’s “Christian Living,” and clicking away from your book.

#14. Have a lot of good reviews

Okay, so I already mentioned having a lot of ratings on Amazon. That was at the top of your product page. Now, your browser is at the bottom. 

They want to read what other people have to say about your book. This is where quality comes in: the most important part of marketing is having a good product. So write your best book and then try to get reviews by pitching, by creating street teams, and by asking for reviews at the back of your book. Then, put up your hands and hope for the life of you that this thing you love so much is loved by others too.

And…sweet news!

If you followed the previous fourteen steps, your book page should now be doing all it can to sell more books on Amazon–so long as the browser likes your content and wants to read more books.

Now, let’s drive traffic toward your Amazon book product page. It’s time to let it do the rest of the work for you.

Hang on just a little bit longer, friend!

Up next: How to sell more books on Amazon AFTER making your product page awesome.

#15. Add extra book categories:

Amazon categories are kind of like genres & subgenres. There are big categories (like General Fiction) and smaller ones (like Family Life Fiction). Authors & presses can choose two categories when they publish a book on KDP, and not all of the categories that Amazon has are available. 

But…

After you get your publisher to categorize your book in your two primary categories, you or your publisher can add up to ten categories for your book. 

Why is this beneficial? 

Well, if you sell a lot of books on Amazon in one day, you might appear on the bestseller page of more categories. Browsers sometimes search category bestseller lists like this one for which books to buy, so it’d be good to show up on those lists. Here are a few tips on on how to add extra categories.

#16. Advertising

I know what you’re thinking.

Or at least I’ve heard authors say it to me before.

“I don’t have the budget to just go slinging actual real-life dollars around in the hopes that someone buys my made-up story.”

And I get it. This legitimately isn’t for everybody. While I think allotting some money in your budget (if you have one) for advertising could be good, I never want you to think you are screwed if you don’t spend money. You can do other things. You are limited obviously, but you have options.

If it’s only a limited budget for advertising, I’d recommend checking out some deal sites like Bargain Booksy, eReader News Today, and Fussy Librarian. BookBub is the biggest of these with some great results, but it’s more expensive than those other sites. 

These companies have email lists of thousands of interested eBook readers, and they usually convert into sales. Now you might have discounted your eBook so it’s not the same amount of money you get per sale, but…you’ve got more readers!

And don’t forget—you want your books read.

You want to create lifelong fans who buy your books in the future. You want the chance to captivate and inform them for as long as you are creating. So if you’ve got some bucks in the budget, I’d recommend checking out these deal sites, especially after you’ve added extra categories to Amazon. The more downloads you get, the more lists you can get on.

And that’s not even mentioning Amazon ads! If you’ve got more money in the budget after promo sites & book printing, I’d recommend experimenting with Amazon ads. Just make sure you do your research before funneling money into Amazon’s ocean of cash.

Read about my favorite advertising strategy to help you sell more books on Amazon in this book promotion post.

#17. Your newsletter

When you have something exciting to announce, you’re going to want to be able to share it with your fans. Newsletters might be the best at this.

But!

It’s not easy. Newsletters take a lot of tender loving care. Your subscribers want original content about your niche, freebies, promotions, and a reason to click open your newsletter when they see it in their email.

If your newsletter is doing its job, then you can definitely sell more books on Amazon with a newsletter than without one (like if you’re depending solely on social media for your announcements).

I’d recommend doing your research and giving it real time and effort to do the best you can with your newsletter.

#18. Publicity:

You probably know about publicity already, so I’ll keep this one short. This is when you or your book is featured in a media outlet. There are a lot of benefits here, and you can try to get featured in these places by hiring a publicist or doing some pitching yourself. Pitch big and small, like People Magazine and a niche blog with good engagement.

#19. Social media (but not in the way that you’d think):

Yes, social media can drive traffic to your Amazon page. There’s no doubt about it—especially, for example, on the day of your book launch. All you have to do is announce to your friends, family, and followers that your book is live, and they will visit your link to buy it and support you.

BUT

You can’t just keep doing that.

Buy my book, buy my book, buy my book doesn’t work. So steer clear, Daddy-O, and start using social media as a way to have fun, let your readers have fun, and announce cool things like kind reviews, sweet new features, book events, actual good content, your favorite Pop Tart flavors, and more. 

You know how this works to help drive traffic toward Amazon? People become a fan of you. They visit your profile, and they click on a link in your bio to find out more about your book. They might not buy right away (although sometimes they do), but they could add your book to their TBR list until a later time when you make them laugh.

#20. Your Website

I like author websites. It’s nice to have a hub for your fans to go in order to do the things you want them to do most: find more about you, sign up for your newsletter, and buy your book.

Clean and simple websites are my favorites for authors. Have a welcoming home page with your newsletter sign-up on it, include some blurbs, a page dedicated to your most recent or forthcoming book, an About or Bio page, a contact page, and then get out of there.

How can you sell more books on Amazon with your author website? Well, link your book on there! In your book page, you should have your cover, the description, some blurbs, and multiple buying options–Amazon, Bookshop, and your publisher. Let your fans support you the way they want to.

#21. Word of mouth:

It’s impossible to get out of this section without mentioning this—perhaps the splashiest way of selling your book. If your book is blowing people’s minds, they’ll want to talk about it—everywhere. You can’t control this much. The only way I can think of really is to write a damn good book that makes reader’s grab their loved ones by the lapel and whisper, “You’ve got to read this.”

How to write a damn good book? Take your time, listen to some self-editing tips, and get feedback.

#22. Write more books:

And last but maybe most important, write more books! Nothing sells books like more books do. So quit spending all your time selling and make the time to create. That’s what you got into it for, right?

Now it’s up to you! Go write. Go market. Go sell more books on Amazon. I’ll be waiting–and writing this series–until the next question comes!

About the Author

Joe Walters is the editor-in-chief of Independent Book Review and the author of The Truth About Book Reviews. He has been a book marketer for Sunbury Press, Inkwater Press, and Paper Raven Books. When he’s not doing editorial, promoting, or reviewing work, he’s working on his novel, playing with his kids, or reading indie books by Kindle light.

Thank you for reading “How Do I Sell More Books on Amazon?” by Joe Walters! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post How Do I Sell More Books on Amazon | IBR Book Marketing Series (Part 3) appeared first on Independent Book Review.

by Xavier Comas

What does it take to design a book cover that actually sells?

While the main principles of book cover design generally remain the same, the small design nuances that hook your reader’s attention and compel them to pick up your literary masterpiece change with every coming year. 

Why? Because trends are constantly changing, which collectively alters our aesthetic interests and expectations.

So, a cover that sells in 2022 may look slightly different than what sold last year…and the year before that. In the true nature of trends, they tend to be on their way out once they’ve gone fully mainstream.

So, how do you stay ahead of the curve and design a book cover that keeps up in 2022?

With a few helpful tips, of course!

But, before we begin…

Let’s talk about the importance of book cover design.

It can’t be stressed enough. Your book cover serves as your first impression. Make sure you’re putting the same amount of thought and effort into your book cover design as you did with your writing and revising. This will be your first point of contact to help drive interest, and ultimately sales, with your ideal audience.

Creating a modern book cover is all about incorporating the foundational elements with explorative trends. Try it out with these tips.

Guide: Design a compelling book cover for 2022 

1. Start with the basics and ideas

PSA: new trends will never override the core principles of book cover design. 

You should always incorporate the basic principles of book cover design because they help build a strong and clean creative foundation. From there, you can experiment and explore as you please! 

A few principles to note:

1. Remember to always tell your story and give your readers an idea of your theme through your book cover design. It should:
   1. Set the right tone of voice and genre.
   2. Trigger the right emotions.
   3. Draw curiosity from your readers.
   4. Never deceive with misleading imagery. 
2. Don’t forget the back cover. This is where your prospective reader will confirm their buying decision! Make your book description pop and maybe even use a few blurbs or editorial reviews.
3. Keep it simple. Don’t overcrowd your cover.

By keeping these core principles in mind, you can experiment with new design trends without going too far astray from industry standards.

2. Try minimalism

Minimalism isn’t new, but it has gained popularity in a number of realms from lifestyle to interior design and—you guess it—book cover design, too!  

Minimalistic design style embraces simplicity, space and eye-catching typography. It’s inherently simplistic and only includes the most necessary elements to drive a message or aesthetic forward. Minimalism is about cutting out the noise, the unnecessary, the loud and crowded—it’s bare bones and can be incredibly impactful if you’re able to draw emotion for your minimalist design. 

Take note: minimalism is usually designed around content, which makes your choice of words on the front and back cover of your book even more important.

3. Think seriously about your typography

Typography is important because it’s the messenger for your words. Different fonts invoke a variety of different emotions, so choosing one that resonates well with your audience is important. 

A few typography trends of 2022 include large, bold, and attention grabbing fonts. Another seemingly opposite trend is using handwritten fonts. If you go with the latter and are well-versed in calligraphy, you can actually use tools to turn your own handwriting into a font. How cool is that?

Book cover designs by COVERKITCHEN

4. Test out photography

You’ve heard it before: a picture is worth a thousand words. Why not put one on your book cover? 

Photography remains one of the most popular forms of cover design for a reason. Using an original photograph can help the reader place themselves realistically in the center of your book. It can help attract attention, invoke emotion, and give the reader a more literal idea of your theme. Just make sure the photo you use is high quality!

Book cover designs by COVERKITCHEN

5. Create a collage

Collage is a perfect way to incorporate multiple design elements into your book cover while also remaining aesthetically cohesive. 

Collages—by nature—are loud and messy, and potentially distracting. So, while you’re experimenting, it’s important to not get too carried away. Try to keep to a color scheme and  incorporate elements that compliment your story rather than using misleading imagery.

Book cover designs by COVERKITCHEN

6. Embrace bright and vibrant colors

Your book cover design will depend heavily on your book genre, so take this one with a grain of salt. 

If you’re writing a horror novel, then perhaps using bright pink hues isn’t the best creative decision. However, if you’re designing a cover for your fantasy book, then incorporating vibrant purples or forest green hues could help attract your ideal reader—assuming you’re not writing a horror fantasy. 

Moral of the story: if more color calls to you, then don’t be afraid to answer.

Book cover designs by COVERKITCHEN

7. Vibe out to vintage

Vintage is making a comeback—if it ever left. 

Vintage design looks into past eras to leverage the styles of that particular time, which means you have plenty of potential inspiration. Incorporating retro and vintage aesthetics into your book cover design can help spark nostalgia and, if that resonates with your chosen genre and targeted audience, then using vintage design can be even more effective in driving book sales.

Book cover designs by COVERKITCHEN

Final thoughts

Trends come and go, but what’s most important is how you resonate with your ideal reader. While the basics for book cover design shouldn’t be ignored, all other suggestions are open to your interpretation. You know your book and your audience the best—tap into your own creativity and see what flows. 

About the Author:

Xavier Comas is a Fine Arts graduate of the University of Barcelona and Spanish graphic designer, photographer and author with a 30-year experience in book cover design. In 2004, Xavier moved to Asia and founded Coverkitchen, an award-winning book cover design studio based in Singapore and Bangkok.

Coverkitchen works for international publishers such as Penguin-Random House, Planeta and Tuttle and Wiley. His cover design for the European bestseller “Viajo Sola” was selected by leading art directors in the publishing industry as one of the best cover designs in Spain for 2014. 

Xavier’s first book as an author, The House of the Raja, was published in 2019 by River Books.

Thank you for reading Xavier Comas’s guest blog post “Publishing Guide: Design a Book Cover That Sells in 2022!” If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

The post Publishing Guide: Design a Book Cover That Sells in 2022 appeared first on Independent Book Review.

Reviewed by Joe Walters

Like sharing a coffee with a kind and witty mentor, Before and After the Book Deal is an ideally conversational guide to traditional publishing.

When I first saw Courtney Maum’s Before and After the Book Deal on my social media feed, I knew I had to have it. The title is straightforward. The cover design, direct. I knew that once I cracked open that first page, I’d be taking an active step toward filling my well of knowledge about traditional publishing. What I didn’t expect was just how damn funny Maum would turn out to be.

I approached this book as both a writer and as a human in the publishing industry (thanks to IBR, Sunbury Press, and Paper Raven Books), so when I saw this book cross my desk, I got excited that I’d discover even more about publishing and marketing that I didn’t know. I had a good feeling about it.

And lucky for me, I got what I was expecting—and then some.

The first section in this book (“Before the Book Deal”) took me by surprise, as it’s focused on writing—and not just the business part of it. It’s been a while since I delved into the world of Stephen King’s On Writing and Anne Lamott’s Bird by Bird, so this first section feels special to me—an opportunity to fall in love with writing again instead of thinking solely about publishing, to make sure that I’ve done all I can to prepare myself (and my editing clients) for the business that comes after the art.

Once Maum is done talking about the actual creation of your book, she takes us through the information we all need to know to get our books into agents’ hands, to better understand book deals, to see through the financials, and to tackle the tasks that you have to take on once your book has finally been accepted.

Here’s a small outline of what you can expect to learn about the business side of publishing in Before and After the Book Deal:

• Understanding the terms and financials of book advances
• Setting up your book’s launch
• Requesting and writing blurbs
• Completing both DIY book tours and publisher-paid book tours
• Battling envy aside better-selling and better-promoted authors
• Handling your email and social media

I deeply enjoyed a number of the topics Maum covers in this gem of a nonfiction authorship book. Perhaps one of my favorite bits of advice is her recommendation that authors attend as many reading series and reading events they can get to. This way, authors can not only support the literary community, but they can also learn about their own writing by cringing their way through unnecessary tangents, laughless inside jokes, and potentially offensive content. I thought this was a wonderfully unique way of thinking about revising your work by thinking of an audience.

As a whole, I couldn’t be more satisfied with the reading experience I got out of Before and After the Book Deal. It gives us the information we’re looking for, and it makes us laugh along the way.

If you’re in search of a guide that’s both intensely readable and undeniably practical (which, let’s be honest, you are), strap on your swimming cap and dive headfirst into this book. I’d offer you my copy, but there’s no way in hell I’m letting it out of my sight.

Publisher: Catapult

Paperback: 384 pages

ISBN: 9781948226400

Thank you for reading “Book Review: Before and After the Book Deal” by Joe Walters! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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by Jenn Gott

Let’s say you’ve taken all the right steps: you’ve written your book, edited it to perfection, and learned all about the self-publishing and traditional publishing processes. Now you’re getting ready to take the plunge. First off, congratulations! But don’t think this means you can rest on your laurels. After all, no one can appreciate your mastery of literary devices, your high-stakes plot, or your excellent use of metaphor if they don’t know your book exists.

That’s right: today, we’re talking about book marketing resources!

I can hear you groaning from here, but don’t worry—marketing doesn’t need to be scary. In fact, with the right tools, you too can start climbing the sales ranks.

Without further ado, here’s “7 Must-Know Book Marketing Resources for Indie Authors.”

#1. BookBub

If you’re ever running promotions on your book, you’re going to want to submit to BookBub. A listing in BookBub’s Featured Deals is considered the Holy Grail of sales promotion, and it’s easy to see why—BookBub consistently earns you a high return on investment, and being featured has even boosted more than one author up bestseller lists.

Competition for the spots is fierce, so it’s not always possible to get a Featured Deal every time you submit. But since you don’t pay unless you’re accepted, it never hurts to try!

#2. Publisher Rocket

If you’re publishing on Amazon, I couldn’t recommend Publisher Rocket enough. It’s the go-to resource for Amazon publishing. Want to find out how competitive your categories and keywords are? It can do that for you. Curious about the sales data for your closest rivals? Publisher Rocket can pull up the numbers for you. It will even build a list of suggested keywords for AMS ads, cutting out the guesswork and expensive trial-and-error.

You can use it every step of the way: from identifying hot genres to write in, to crafting descriptions that target your specific audience, to guiding you through your ad campaign. Publisher Rocket will save you time, money, and frustration, allowing you to focus on what really matters—writing more books.

#3. MailChimp

Mailing lists are often the cornerstone of many successful authors’ marketing campaigns. Where else can you connect one-on-one with your most loyal readers? Including a sign-up link in the back of your books is only the first step. After that, you’ve still got to build engaging and useful updates to send out to your fans.

Thankfully, Mailchimp is an email marketing service that has easy tools for creating beautiful newsletters. It also offers in-depth tracking systems to let you see which campaigns are working—and which still need more work. All you need to do is write the news you want your readers to see, and Mailchimp will make sure you never lose touch again.

#4. AMS

Enter Amazon Marketing Services, or AMS. AMS is behind the “Sponsored Products” that you see when you browse Amazon search results or product pages, and they’re available for self-published authors. By running regular AMS campaigns, you can keep your sales up even when you’re between promotions and new releases.

And with the option of creating multiple versions of your ad at once, you’ll be able to “A/B test” to determine exactly which ads earn you the most profit. It can take some time to learn the tricks of running a successful campaign, but luckily there are lots of courses and marketing resources out there that will help you understand how to use AMS ads to their best advantage.

#5. BundleRabbit

What do people love more than a deal on a single book? A deal on multiple books! BundleRabbit makes it easy to connect with other authors who’ve written books similar to yours, allowing you to bundle them together in a virtual boxset. By combining forces, authors can take advantage of a wider pool of readers, while simultaneously dividing the cost and effort of marketing.

BundleRabbit takes care of all the logistics for you, so you don’t need to worry about pesky things like how to divide royalty payments across a team of hungry authors. You can list your books in their catalogue to see if anyone is putting together a bundle you might fit in with, or if you’re feeling proactive, you can become a curator and organize one around your brand!

Looking for an alternate option to spread the word about your book? Audiobooks are increasing in popularity and are only getting easier to produce for indie authors. Check out this article to learn more about getting started.

#6. Reedsy

Does all this still sound overwhelming? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered there, too. Reedsy Marketplace is a fantastic way to connect with professional marketers and publicists (or even developmental editors, if you want to make sure that your book’s foundations are strong) who will do a great job and take the marketing work off your hands.

Simply browse the list of freelance professionals, and request free quotes for their services. The best part? Reedsy researches and vets all their freelancers, so you can rest easy knowing that you’re only getting quality industry insiders.

#7. Independent Book Review

Getting book reviews is perhaps the number one way to attract new readers. And while you should absolutely pursue reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, you should also be chasing reviews on blogs and trade publications.

Independent Book Review publishes book reviews for small press and self-published authors only, meaning that anyone who is published outside of the major publishers is invited to submit for free or guarantee a review with their editorial book review service.

Fun fact: IBR is on Kindlepreneur’s Ultimate List of the Best Book Review Blogs AND Feedspot’s 25 Best Indie Book Blogs and Websites!

About the Author

Jenn Gott is an indie author and a writer with Reedsy, so she basically spends all her time either writing books, or helping people learn how to write books. She firmly believes there is no writing skill you cannot learn with practice and the right guidance. When she’s not working, she enjoys keeping up with the latest superhero movies, reading, and swimming.

Thank you for reading “7 Must-Know Book Marketing Resources for Indie Authors” by Jenn Gott. If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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by Jaylynn Korrell

About a year ago, I wrote “10 Awesome Indie Presses You Should Know About.” The list stopped at 10, but in the last year I’ve found so many more presses doing amazing things. So I knew I needed to create a part two.

Finding the right press for your personality can feel like literary tinder. Some have to win you over. Some, you swipe left and keep on moving. And others, you connect with right from the jump. Finding the perfect press really does feel like meeting your perfect match, whether you’re a writer trying to figure out which one is best suited for your book or a reader looking to fill your (already too full) bookshelf. With these two blog posts, I’m confident that you’ll find whatever you are looking for.

Each of these presses are worth knowing about if you don’t already. They were started by people like you and me, just a few inspired individuals who discovered authors making important art and highly entertaining books. Their stories are inspiring and relatable, and the work they put out is unique to each press. 

So here are 11 more indie presses you should know about, in no particular order. Just like the last one.

1. New Directions Publishing

After showing Ezra Pound his poems for months, James Laughlin decided to ask him for some career advice. “He urged me to finish Harvard and then do something useful,” recalls Laughlin on New Directions’ about page. That something useful turned out to be New Directions Publishing, which Laughlin created in 1936. Now based in New York City, this indie press publishes a number of international and experimental books all year long, and their catalog is definitely worth checking out.

2.Cassava Republic

Bibi Bakare-Yusuf, cofounder of Cassava Republic Press says, “We want to convert minds. We want to convert them to begin to question who they are but also [to] question society.”

She and Jeremy Weate founded this indie press in 2006 in Abuja, Nigera but have now expanded their business to the UK as well. They publish a wide variety of books, including fiction and nonfiction for adults as well as children, all with the intent of having the black and African person be reflected in literature.

Bakare-Yusuf thinks that “In any society, you have to see yourself reflected in what your consuming.” They want to inspire readers to start asking questions about African writing while publishing titles that accurately portray daily life and culture in Africa.

3. Disorder Press

This literary press is owned and operated by siblings Mikaela and Joseph Grantham. “Based out of New Orleans and somewhere else,” the pair uses their press to publish books that evoke emotion. In their words, “We publish work that is often difficult to categorize, work that is sometimes a struggle to put into words. That struggle means something is happening.” They publish fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction with “unapologetic writing.” If you’re in the mood to do some browsing, head over to their virtual bookstore.

4. Black Spot Books

Black Spot Books releases titles in speculative fiction. You can go to them to fulfill all of your thriller, fantasy, paranormal, and dark fiction needs. They are a young press with loads and loads of upside. Laura Morrison’s Come Back To The Swamp even won an IBR Book of the Month contest last year, and I’ve heard only great things from Sam Hooker’s Peril in the Old Country. Check out their current books here.

5. Yellow Pear Press

An independent boutique publisher based in San Francisco, Yellow Pear Press publishes incredible nonfiction, cooking, and lifestyle books. But they’ve got journals and stationary too. Their titles are always super cool and unique, like Hoppy Trails, a field guide to NorCal craft breweries, and like Local Eats London, whose name speaks for itself. They publish fiction under an imprint called Bonhomie Press too!

6. Hub City Press

This not-for-profit press has been publishing new and extraordinary voices from the American South since 1995. With a strong commitment to writers from the lesser-heard southern communities like LGBTQIA and people of color, we’re really excited about the type of work they’ve been up to. Also, they just shared Leesa Cross-Smith’s Whiskey and Ribbons with the world, so clearly they’re doing something right.

7. Copper Canyon Press

This nonprofit press has been publishing both poetry and prose about poetry since 1972. They started out in Denver, but now, they’re calling Washington home. They publish new collections by emerging and established authors through their collections and anthologies, and since their start, they’ve published over 400 titles. That includes work by Pulitzer Prize winners, Nobel Laureates, and National Book Award winners. Ch-ch-check out those books!

8. Torrey House Press

Founded in 2010, this Utah nonprofit publishes authors who speak up for the land. They “develop literary resources for the conservation movement, educating and entertaining readers, inspiring action.” They hook readers in with their intriguing cover art and then educate and inspire them with their fiction and nonfiction. With titles like Microfarming for Profit: from garden to glory by Dave Dewitt and The Talker: Stories by Mary Sojourner, this press’s catalog will make you want to head out West—or at the least to the outdoors.

9. Catapult

Though Catapult launched just a few years ago, they have already made a great name for themselves. They’ve published fiction and nonfiction that has gone on to win notable awards, and their online lit mag is just as impressive. Then, when they’re not busy working on all of that, they’re running writing classes in-person and online. Talk about our kind of press!

Browse their virtual bookstore.

10. Bridge & Tunnel Books

Based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Bridge and Tunnel Books aims to celebrate the locals! Whether through art, poetry, or fiction, they publish work from the Pittsburgh region to share with the world. Their works like The Bee Book and 24-Hour Flowers  are so beautifully illustrated and informational that I couldn’t help but mention them in our list.

11. Milkweed Editions

With over 350 books published since they started in 1980, I think it’s safe to say Milkweed Editions is doing pretty well for themselves. Housed in the popular Open Book building in Minneapolis, Milkweed editions shares the space with literary neighbors such as The Loft Literary Center, Minnesota Center for Book Arts, and their own bookstore. Four million copies of their literary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry are in circulation. So get reading!

Which awesome indie presses should I check out next? Let me know in the comments!

About the Author

Jaylynn Korrell is a nomadic writer currently based in Pennsylvania. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @JaylynnKorrell.

Thank you for reading “11 More Indie Presses You Should Know About” by Jaylynn Korrell! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Joe Walters

Reading A People’s Guide to Publishing feels like cheating. Like a chef revealing his secret recipes, Joe Biel gives us all the information we need to find success in book businesses.

Book people stick together. Writers. Readers. Industry pros. When one person gets on the mic, we gather around to listen. There’s always something new to learn, and the audience has one primary interest in common: More. Good. Books.

So maybe it’s not cheating. Maybe author Joe Biel wants us to stick together even more after releasing A People’s Guide to Publishing: Build a successful, sustainable, meaningful, book business from the ground up. Maybe he wants to show us how to start a small press, how to publish books successfully even though his company (Microcosm Publishing) is still alive and well. There’s no competition in here. There’s only excitement, a few laughs, and all of the helpful information authors and would-be publishers are in search of.

A People’s Guide to Publishing is structured like the life-cycle of a small press or self-published book. It begins with an idea, research, and a goal. Before you publish, you’ll need to learn from chapters like “What a Publisher Does,” to put you in the mindset of a book business owner, and explore “Title Development: How to Make Books that People Will Find & Relate to.” This book doesn’t skimp out on the details to help you understand what successful publishers have done in order to succeed and which tactics you could adopt to become successful, too.

As the book progresses, it travels through the publishing process. It takes you all the way through printing and editorial to “Publicity & Launch.” With practical homework at the end of each chapter, this book really does act as the intensely readable guide to publishing that the title suggests.

“If a stranger can’t determine the emotional payoff of your books from looking at the covers, then someone must be present to verbally offer these details to each person who might be interested.”

Since I can’t reprint the whole book for you (sorry), I’d love to share a few highlights of what I learned while reading A People’s Guide to Publishing:

• How to choose your book’s price, size, release date, and cover based on market needs and demands
• Where to sell books
• The process that consumers go through before buying
• Reaching out to libraries and non-bookstore sales channels
• How to pack boxes without damaging books
• How to have a conversation about your book and why it’s okay to mess up
• How to develop your book to be appealing for bookstores

Biel got started publishing the same way that anyone does: he decided to do it. He had to figure out new ways to make his business work and discover development, marketing, and sales tactics along the way. He even shared what he tried in the beginning (like joining bands on their tours) and what he continues to do to this day. It was helpful to follow his journey and to envision which paths I might take if I started my own book business.

For those of you who are not considering opening your own small press, this book is also applicable for self-publishing authors and traditional authors. After all, what is a self-publisher other than their own (very) small press, and what is an author other than the content writer for a product? This book helps authors understand what publishers are thinking so that authors can make their books either appealing to publishers in a pitch or to stand right beside them on the shelves.

“Marketing is responsible for researching, identifying, and selecting comp titles for each book as well as researching how these comp titles were successful and how to imitate translatable parts of the success.”

If you’re going to buy a book about how to make a good book, you’d better hope that it’s a good one. And lucky for us, A People’s Guide to Publishing is just that. I’d recommend it to traditional authors looking to gain insight into the industry, self-publishing authors, small presses, and people who are considering a future in the industry. I had a great time with it, and I really think you would too.

Publisher: Microcosm Publishing

ISBN: 9781621062851

Thank you for reading “Book Review: A People’s Guide to Publishing” by Joe Walters! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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