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 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

  (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. They also provide useful (we hope) information for first-time published authors who perhaps are not getting as much feedback from their traditional publishers as they would like or need. (Some publishers are more proactive in this way than others.) That latter phrase is important. Even published authors can be attacked by scammers, posing as book competitions, book reviewers, and literary agents. This blog post focuses those scammers posing literary agents. To separate the wheat from the chaff, there are some easy means: Literary Agents are listed in the Literary Marketplace ; yes, it is expensive,

  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 I am taking time out to share a warning that we have placed on our website. The matter is pretty self-evident from the paragraph: WARNING Recently, we have become aware that at least one set of individuals is passing itself off as MSI Press LLC, interviewing candidates for jobs via Upwork, and even offering jobs, using our logo, a couple of lines from the “about us” page, and a letter that clearly shows that these individuals know essentially nothing about MSI Press. The distinction is easy to make: we have our own domain (msipress.com) whereas these imposters use the return address of MSI Press LLC@usa.com (and pro

            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 a response to the question I get from time to time from our authors: "I just got an unbelievably good offer for X in the email; should I take it?" The quick answer is "maybe." Not all unsolicited offers are scams.  How, not all offers are genuine, and some that are genuine might not be good for you and your book.  What you need to do is analyze the offer in light of your own circumstances. You should answer NO when: the offer is a scam (Google it -- or ask your publisher); Science Fiction Writers of America also keeps a list of scams and shares information through its bl

  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 whether to seek traditional publication, self-publish, or go the hybrid route. Each of these approaches to publications has advantages and disadvantages. - Self-publish (you do everything yourself):      Pro: You can proceed immediately. You have full control over all content and design. You get all the net income.     Con: You have full control over all content and design--meaning, the book is only as good as your own professional skills (or, you can pay for professional services that a traditional publisher would provide for free). You don't know what you don't know. It will take much

  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 book scams. Unfortunately, new authors, especially those who are independently minded or who despair of ever finding a publisher, are ripe for the picking by scammers.  Some of the scams out there include: Publishing companies that are scams or rip-offs They often "steal" your work; they may publish it, but they do not pay you. Check out the publisher's history of paying royalties . They contact you, offering to publish your already published book along with some kind of award program or other enticement. When MSI Press LLC authors forward me letters they get from such scammers, I

                                                                                                                    ( 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 is about choosing a publisher. Of course, you do choose a publisher, but also a publisher chooses you. It is a two-way affair. So, let's take each approach separately. How do you choose a publisher? Decide what you are looking for in a publisher. Do you want a large publisher with big pockets who might be able to get your book on the NYT best seller list, give you a large advance, or get you attention from a national television show? (You better have one whale of

  1.       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 takes a detour from the usual format of this column in order to share an experience as a warning to other publishers and to authors -- a great get-rich scheme for the company doing the offering and stay-poor scheme for authors, presented as a collaboration. I almost got trapped by this one and there are some takeaways I have learned (and should have known) that could be warning bells for others.   Months ago, I was contacted by ORIM, a legitimate company, offering to collaborate on marketing of some of our e-books. It was a very fair offer: we would put up the e-books, ORIM would market them on