The Savvy Self-Publisher is a free newsletter sent by e-mail, with tips and tricks to help the streetwise author publish a book quickly and economically -- and to promote it more effectively. It contains success stories of self-publishers in action, and a treasure trove of tools to help you reach more readers.
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===> Lead Story: Poynter Blasts Advance Review Policies <=== From a recent post by Dan Poynter: "Prepublication reviews are history because bookstore selling-seasons are history. "Independent bookstores follow three selling-seasons per year: four months each. "The purpose of pre-pub reviews [was] to alert the independent stores while the publishers' sales reps were out visiting them. Store owners could read the reviews, listen to the reps and make buying decisions. "But independent book stores have been going out of business at the rate of two per week in the UK and three per week in United States. They can't compete with the online stores because their location, location, location is downtown where the rents are high. Goodbye Indies; the handwriting is on the wall. "Without independent stores, there is no need for selling seasons. Without selling seasons, there is no need for pre-pub reviews." The 'Other' Dan (Snow) adds: "Book reviews are still valuable to the reading public -- but wouldn't it be better if books were selected for review on the basis of merit, topic, or buzz... rather than mere newness? Let's hope that leading book review publications will soon drop requirements that force authors and publishers to submit copies months before public release." ===> News You Can Use <=== For his eighth book, "Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green: Winning Strategies to Improve Your Profits and Your Planet," Shel Horowitz and his co-author, Jay Levinson, donated a small portion of the first month's sales to a relevant charity, Green America, and linked to the organization from the book's website. In return, the group featured the book in a newsletter sent to its 94,000 members. Visit Shel at http://www.guerrillamarketinggoesgreen.com for details. Dan Snow adds: nearly ANY book holds some kind of connection to a worthy cause. Identify a good match between your book and a nonprofit, then offer to earmark a share of proceeds from orders placed by its members. If you use POD, you probably even create a customized special edition for this purpose. For the nonprofit, it's an easy, no-cost way to generate much-needed funds; for the author-publisher, it attracts potential readers with a direct interest in the subject; for the members, it's a good read about a topic they enjoy. Everyone wins. ===> The Write Stuff <=== The meaning of "nauseous" is CAUSING nausea, not experiencing it. The word "nauseated" means feeling nausea. People who feel sick sometimes say "I'm nauseous," when they mean to say "I'm nauseated." "The Write Stuff" is a regular feature of this newsletter, intended to help subscribers polish their writing. Got a pet peeve? Share it by e-mailing newsdesk@u-publish.com with your suggestion. ===> Lead Story: e-Book Boom Continues <=== If you missed BEA and IBPA's Publishing University in June, shame on you. But you can watch a lively broadcast of experts discussing e-Books: http://beyondthebookcast.com/live-webcast/ The trendy new iPad has now sold more than 3 million units. The Kindle has more than 5 million users. Barnes and Noble and Borders have both launched their own devices for e-reading... But don't overlook smartphones. The iPhone and iPod alone boast more than 50 million users already, and could reach 100 million in 2011. The Google Droid, Palm Pre, Sprint Evo and others will add millions more. Reading on handheld devices is growing rapidly. Estimates vary, but some observers believe that book related apps are the #2 leader at Apple's wildly popular App Store. Stay tuned to this newsletter for updates! ===> Help Spread the Word? <=== Please feel free to forward copies of this newsletter to your fellow authors and publishers. This is a fre* resource that is available to anyone in the book world on request. We don't accept paid advertising, endorse or guarantee products or services, nor accept fees for mentioning them without full disclosure. To subscribe: http://www.u-publish.com/enroll.htm ===> Donate Books for Children <=== The Madera County Child Abuse Prevention Council (MCCAPC) in California wants donated books for children. MCCAPC is a non-profit agency (ID # 82-0576184). For the 14th year, MCCAPC will be hosting an annual community event. A popular activity is 'Story Time' where volunteers read stories to the children. This year they want to offer a free book to each child who participates in Story Time. Hopefully, receiving a book to take home will encourage the joys of reading. If you have spare books for children, please consider donating them. -Barbara Bailey, Event Chair: barbarab@inreach.com ===> Quotation of the Month for Self-Publishers <=== "Without promotion, something terrible happens ... NOTHING!" -P.T. Barnum
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The items above are EXCERPTS from our latest newsletter. Click HERE to get the FULL newsletter by e-mail, free of charge.
