MSI Press Blog

  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 looks at a special contract feature.  We have been talking about contract specifics -- and will continue to do so -- but one clause that will not come up in the discussions based on MSI Press contracts is the exclusivity clause -- because we do not require it. Some publishers, however, upon contracting with an author for a book, will require the right of refusal for any future books. In other words, if the author writes another book, the publisher has first dibs on it, and the author does not have the opportunity to seek another publisher unless his/her current publisher says so (by turning down the subs

  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, again, marketing. We address the question: What should authors be doing for marketing?  There are a couple ways to answer that question. There is an expensive answer and there is a hard answer. As with anything else in life, the choice is between money and time.  Choosing money, marketing efforts can be delegated to paid support: Hiring a full-time or full-fledged publicist is the most expensive and the most expansive. While some publicists are less expensive than others, hiring knowledge, experience, and contacts is never cheap. (And, often, like other things in life, you get what you pay for though bargains exist.) H

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 a never-ending one: book marketing. The sales of the books of many first-time authors suffer low returns because their authors believe that marketing should be the province of someone else (the publisher, the distributor -- and yes, both do market books) and are reluctant to learn the business end of the book industry. For those who believe (or a least hope) that the writing of their book frees them up to write the next one, here are some reasons to develop some marketing skills: Books published through Amazon (yeah, free) sell about 250 copies over an author's lifetime on average; that average comes from 10% high-sell

  photo by Frank Perez 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 returns to an earlier topic -- book tours -- with more detail. Some interesting posts and articles and research have come out since the earlier posts, so there seemed to be a need for an update.  Book tours are often imagined by new authors as exciting places publishers will send them to meet hordes of fans-to-be at almost-sycophant book stores. While at one point in time and even today for very famous authors, publishers did and do this, it is rare, and certainly a new author is not going to get this kind of red-carpet treatment from a publisher.  Book tours generally do not make mo

  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 about how to market books inexpensively. If you have big pockets, go for the television, radio, newspaper, and saturation ads. Buy time on radio and television shows. However, most authors do not have deep pockets. So, looking at inexpensive ways to get the word out is not only necessary but sometimes the only way to market a book. This post describes some sources and activities for inexpensive marketing. It is, of course, not complete. Do all these things, then seek out more opportunities, or start again with another virtual blog tour. Things to do (not necessarily in any kind of order) Word of mouth

  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 consider the frequently asked question, "I have written two books; do I need two publishers?" The answer, of course, is "that depends." The books are part of a series. If the books are part of a planned or ongoing series, then it is best to stay with the same publisher (unless, of course, something about how the publisher handled the first book was disappointing). Series need to have a similar look-and-feel among the books. That is easier to effect if the publisher is the same. Series also benefit from marketing that develops mailing lists of the earlier book(s) to promote the later books. If, however, the di

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 arises indeed from the fact that 'tis the season for book awards...at least, for the opening of accepting 2022 award entries. The question is whether or not to enter, how many, and which ones. After all, they cost. Are they worth it? Here are some reasons they are worth entering: Attention. The more attention your book receives, generally the better it will sell. Awards are a very positive source of attention. Confirmation. You think your book is good. Your publisher through so when accepting it for publication. Winning a competition, especially the difficult ones, provides confirmation that you are ri

  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 addresses the value of books that fit clear niches and platforms that are conduits to those niches. I am always a bit saddened and frustrated when authors of a pretty good book state in their proposal that no way is their book a niche book, that it will be of interest to everyone in the world, or millions of people, or every woman, etc., referring to a huge population base. Reaching a base that large, unless one has immense amounts of money (tens of thousands, if not more) to invest, is quite unrealistic -- and then there is the issue of creating your audience, i.e. interesting people who are not actively searching for your