MSI Press Blog

  t is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side. This week we look at a couple of troubling situations  we recently encountered. In a familiar but frustrating scenario, one of our titles, listed at $16.95, was suddenly selling on Amazon for $23.25—a 37% markup. Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble continued to list the book at the correct price. The author, understandably, was concerned: he wanted to email his large mailing list with a launch announcement, but linking to Amazon risked alienating readers with sticker shock. Why the price change? At the same time, we had an author whose book usually retails for $24.95 who suddenly found it selling for $10. This made it difficult for her to sell ...

  It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  This week, we share the importance of A+ content in marketing books.  A+ content refers to enhanced marketing content that brands use to create more engaging and informative product listings, primarily on e-commerce platforms like Amazon. It allows sellers to include additional visuals, text, and other interactive elements to better showcase their products. A+ content is highly recommended to be added to author pages and product descriptions on Amazon for better sales. Here are some features of A+ content: Enhanced Product Images:  High-quality images that display the product from various angles and highlight its features. Det...

It is Tuesday. Monday's madness is over, and Wednesday will take us over the hump, so Tuesday it is--for some serious discussion with authors. Tuesday talks mean to address authors in waiting and self-published authors who would like to go a more traditional route or who would at least like to take their steps with a publisher by their side.  Today's topic asks (and answers) I question I see underlying a number of authors' organizations posts on the Internet that do a great disservice to authors. The question: Do publishers cheat authors out of royalties? The short is that traditional publishers are honest; there is no reason not to be. Scammers are everywhere, and many would-be published authors get sucked in by being told how wonderful there book is when a traditional publisher will not take it (because it is not wonderful). Let's look first at why traditional publishers have to be honest, and then let's look at why authors question their royalties. (To set the st...