BLOG.POLISHEDPUBLISHINGGROUP.COM: Recent Comments

Comment on Book Sales and Marketing for Introverted Writers

Kim S — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 04:29:12 GMT

"Big publishing houses in the U.S. don't 'hire' publicists for a book, they have an in-house staff, which handles many books at once. There are no marketing budgets for unknown authors..."

The same can be said for the small Canadian literary press I once worked for. I assume the same can be said for the larger Canadian trade publishers. And, of course, the same can be said for my supportive self-publishing house, PPG. This is why I try to stress to authors that they are entrepreneurs who must help themselves ... to set them up for the reality they will face in this business.

Comment on Book Sales and Marketing for Introverted Writers

Judy — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 03:28:47 GMT

Good article. Strange comments from writers. There have been many literary author/entrepreneurs in the past, including Mark Twain and Virginia Woolf (Hogarth Press), who published their own books.

I'm an author and a publicist who has worked with another author. Big publishing houses in the U.S. don't "hire" publicists for a book, they have an in-house staff, which handles many books at once. There are no marketing budgets for unknown authors and, in most cases, it behooves writers to hire a publicist themselves. My client was smart this way and had both the in-house publicity person and me working on her book. Guess who got the bigger, better press for her...me. It doesn't have to be that expensive, especially if you hire a boutique pr person. My client had a non-fiction book and an established platform. The publisher also didn't allow any budget for or schedule book signings, as they said they weren't worth the bother. I had to do the book signing launch with no budget. The publisher sent a poster. ;) Unless you're a celebrity, famous journalist/other type of person, or an established author, you will not receive much backing from your traditional publisher, (aside from your advance) especially on your first book. To be fair, I thought the in-house person was doing the best that she could, given her constraints and the number of books she was promoting at the same time. See my series at my blog "Profiles in Publishing": http://jsmedia.wordpress.com

Comment on Why Canadian Authors Should Publish Through Polished Publishing Group (PPG)

Jay — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 18:49:30 GMT

Great article in clarifying the distinctions between current publishing options.

Comment on Modern Marketing for Authors: Promote Your Author Events on BookTour.com

Kathy Condon — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 17:51:55 GMT

Thank you for this great information. No idea this site existed. As a published author it makes me excited that I will be able to contact some of the authors in advance that are coming into my area.

Http://www.kathycondons.blogspot.com

Comment on Recipe for a Bestselling Novel

Cheryl Kaye Tardif — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 20:13:38 GMT

You're very welcome, Betty. I hope this happens with your next book. :-)

All the best in success!
Cheryl

Comment on Recipe for a Bestselling Novel

Betty Dravis — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:05:07 GMT

Thanks, Cheryl, for all the great tips for making our works bestsellers. I'll let you know when that happens for me.

Hugs - Betty Dravis

Comment on Recipe for a Bestselling Novel

Kim S — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 01:18:10 GMT

You're very welcome, Cheryl. And thank you for sharing your expertise with our readers!

Comment on Recipe for a Bestselling Novel

Cheryl Kaye Tardif — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 22:01:16 GMT

Thank you so much, Kim, for allowing me to be a guest blogger on your blog. I wish you the very best in success.

Cheryl

Comment on I am Indigo, Deanne Adams

Yvonne Perry — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:32:43 GMT

You just described my 30-year-old son to a T!

Comment on Why Blog? What's The Point?

Duncan Long — Fri, 21 May 2010 02:28:16 GMT

While I'm sure my average search with Google often ends with the first page. BUT... When I'm looking for something very specific, I often did down - I can remember noting I was on page 17 in the line up yesterday during one search.

I don't know how often this happens to people in general, but if there are many like me, then having any presence even after the first page or so might have some benefit over the long haul, especially if hundreds of people are searching for the key term on your page.

Yes, it is better to be on that precious first page. But being a page or two into the search doesn't mean things are hopeless, especially if the upper pages ahead of you are basically "fluff" that no one doing a serious search will be interested in reading.

--Duncan
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Freelance illustrator for HarperCollins, PS Publishing, Pocket Books, Solomon Press, Fort Ross, Asimov's Science Fiction, and many other publishers and self-publishing authors. See my cover illustrations at: http://DuncanLong.com/art.html