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 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 ca...

  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.  As a follow up to last week's conversation about books long in the tooth, let's talk about sleeping books (a slightly different topic but one that has much in common with last week's conversation. e seen some books come to life after a long period of dormancy. Some approaches that have worked are: a.        Finding an Influencer…wow…the one book that found one came alive after 10 years and has remained one of our bestsellers ever since even though the Influencer is no longer involved. b.       Send to a legacy award competition; if an award is received, the press release can be brus...

  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.  Often, we have shared the major advantages to book sales that discovery by a social media Influencer brings. But what if, we have been asked, you have had zero luck, no matter how much you have tried to bring your book to the attention of an Influencer or to have an Influencer decide to promote your book? Well, you could become an Influencer yourself. Here are sone ways to go about that. Choose your niche Select a niche that aligns with your interests, expertise, and passion. Choosing a niche helps you target a specific audience and establishes you as an authority in that area. Define your personal brand Clearly define your persona and ...

  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 looks at the differences between books that sell well long-term and those that fizzle out.  Recently, I decided to analyze two kinds of books that experience good sales to see if there is some general guidance for authors; the long-term steady sellers and the first-year wonders. Book niches and author individualities vary widely, but perhaps some general information could be insightful if you are trying to make some decisions about how to market/promote your book. Criteria. In analyzing both sets of  books , I looked at the following 15 categories of criteria: ARC, prepped followers, platform, social media presen...

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 addresses how authors can sell their books. After all, it makes no sense to put all the effort into writing a book, self-publishing it or getting it published, and then having it sit on a shelf for ever, with no opportunity for it to share its message. Unfortunately, many, if not most new authors, in our experience, never think beyond the day their book appears in print (or, in some cases, beyond their first month of book launch activities). They assume that, of course, they did the work of writing the book, and the publisher will do the work of marketing the book. It does not work that way, and marketing ...