MSI Press Blog

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 post addresses an issue that is a pet peeve: financial advice columns and articles that advise on side hustles to develop passive income, with the case in point being "publishing" books through Amazon. Now, you do want your book on Amazon. We want our books on Amazon. Amazon is a strong source of sales for us. However, this is not really a passive sources of income, one that you sent up once and then sit back and rake in money. The following realities need to be considered to avoid major disappointment. Amazon will fulfill orders, but Amazon will not sell your book for you. You need to do your own marketing. Marketing is

  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 post talks to those who use social media and explains the importance of predictability for effectively promoting your book. Specifically, how do we know? Most-Read Posts Our most-read posts come from our regular columns; other posts may be looked it, but the statistics show us that, with some exceptions, it is the regular columns that readers looks forward to and come back to. Here are some of them: The Story behind [a particular book, a different one each time] Sundays Cancer Diary Mondays A Publisher's Conversation with Authors Tuesdays (yeah, today) Posts dedicated to achievement of high levels of foreign language proficie

  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 post asks whether your book is getting enough attention and then explores the importance of SEO (search engine optimization). If your book is NOT getting enough attention and your SEO essentially sucks, which usually are related, there are things you can do to make the situation better. Check how much attention your book is getting Sales, of course, is one of the greatest indicators of whether your book is getting enough attention. If your book is not getting enough sales and you suspect lack of sufficient attention (there are many other reasons, including poor quality, for books not to get sales) to be at blame for that, you can

  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 post discusses the reality that after a book is released, life goes on...and on...and on. Soon (it seems) the book is no longer new, but old. Now what? Walk away or do something? What are the options? Put the book on the shelf Yes, many authors do that. There are differing reasons. Sometimes, the topic gets old. Other times, the author does not know what else he or she can do. Yet, other times, the author has simply moved on to other interests. In some rare cases, the author dies. In all these cases, except where the author has moved on to other interests, book sales can be revived unless the author no longer wishes to put in the

  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 post, as a follow-on to last week's discussion of the  seismic change in the book publishing industry over the past 5-10 years,  discusses the difficult nature of today's book market for new authors. The nature of book marketing today is more than anything a matter of getting seen, of the hand of an author (or publisher) to be able to hold up his/her book above a sea of raised hands. I doubt that any publisher (or author) will say that they have a great answer to this problem (including to those "specialists" who promise such solutions to authors for a hefty fee -- with many authors disappointed with the results

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 post continues the book promotion theme from last week and some previous posts but from a somewhat different perspective.  At the risk of seeming a bit meshuggeneh , I believe an understanding of human intelligence can provide some insight into book promotion. Intelligence (g) Basic human intelligence is often called (g) by psychologists. So, what is (g_? Here is one definition: " The term  general intelligence (g)  refers to a broad mental capacity that influences performance on cognitive ability measures."   There are many other definitions of (g), but they are all similar and less important than the proposal that (g) r

  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 is how best to promote a book. Put all your money and efforts up front, or dole it out?  This actually is a no-brainer for those of us who have been around the blog a number of times. You need a study supply of fuel to keep going around that block. Let's look at the realities. Big splash up front  This would include considerable money put into acquiring inventory and holding a series of book launches, perhaps in multiple cities. It might include, as well, investing in a high-class website, replete with a blog or other form of communication with readers and future readers.  For sure, it would involve presentations to gro