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.  This week, we share in part what kinds of things help a good book get even more attention and better sales. (Note: typically, more attention and better sales go hand in glove.) So, sharing some things (not research, but ones we have noticed over time): Success Breeds Success When books are successful, it becomes easier to make them even more successful.  Everyone loves success. So, if a book achieves "bestseller" status in any way (on Amazon in a niche category, there is a story! When that story gets repeated by the author, the publisher, and others on various media platforms or in ads, more sales come, and the bestselling label re...

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 About factors that lead to book success (or note). Factos include pre-publication efforts and post-publication efforts. From the time you decide to write a book, factors that pre-date publication are as important as those that post-date publication--and unlike what all too many authors expect, factors that post-date publication are critical. Pre-publication: Writing is the easy part; revising is the hard part. Some authors think that once the last word is on paper, they are done. In reality, the last word is just the beginning of producing the manuscript that will become the book. Revision includes reviewing the concepts--i...

It is Tuesday. Time to tall turkey. 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 the anatomy of a successful book. We are talking here about books by small presses, micro presses, and self-published authors. Large presses have a different sales volume and a different approach to marketing and sales not typically available to those without their big pockets. The image of a successful book is a high volume of sales from the get-go (and maybe even from pre-orders) that either steadily builds or starts big and stays there on a flat trajectory. Conversely, if a book starts slowly, stumbles, and has a long spell of poor sales, one often assumes that the book is and always will be a poor s...