MSI Press Blog

  Have you ever found yourself learning a different way of doing something and then regretting all the inefficient time and effort you spent initially doing things the wrong way? I always feel like that when I'm trying to change a tire or work on a project around the house. How many hours have I lost in my life prior to buying an electric screwdriver? Writing books is just one of the ways that I conduct my outreach to the pornography addiction and betrayal trauma communities. I also coach, but I have a fairly large presence on social media and have appeared on more podcasts talking about these subjects than anybody else in the last five years. I thought I had all of my bases covered. Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram were perfect for hitting the communities I most thought needed my message. Facebook is political opinion I don't want to get into, Snapchat appears like it's mainly to trade naked pictures and TikTok just seemed like my kids' friends acting their age and I do

  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 two terms that are generally used together but mean very different things: marketing and promotion.  Marketing has as a goal getting someone to buy your book. It can include, but is not limited to: advertising, whether in print (e.g., direct mail, posted posters, ads in magazines and newspapers) or via social media passive marketing: presence in bookstores, online catalogues, distributor's catalogue, publisher's website and webstore presence on other websites where it is for sale listing in catalogues email blasts tweaking SEO and following results holding sales  sales booths book signi

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 an author's self-presentation, the look-and-feel of your work and yourself. Here are some things to think about as you go about designing the cover of your book (even if a professional designer does the work, you will need to approve it), putting together a website, deciding what social platforms you will use, designing advertising materials, deciding where and how to promote your book, and more. Who are you?  What are your strengths? If your strengths are in the networking area, then you might set up meetings with local organizations interested in your topic to discuss the topic of your book

  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. 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 reaching readers. Perhaps you have a book in hand. Perhaps you are still working on your book. It does not matter. You need readers. It is never too early, and it is never too late to build your reader base (and thereby your mailing list ). Here are some thoughts on the topic: Look at your local community (grow your inter/national readership like spreading ripples in a pond): Do some readings or give some seminars on the topic of your book at your local library. Is there a local cafe where authors and readers gather? Gather with them. Are there writing groups that meet periodically to help each other?

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

  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 an area not well understood by many new authors: the author platform. What do we mean by that?  So, what is an author platform? An author platform is the ability to sell books because of who you are and who you can reach.   Jane Friedman provides a  commonly accepted definition of author platform : " Publishing or distributing quality work in outlets you want to be identified with and that your target audience reads. Producing a body of work on your own platform—e.g., blog, e-mail newsletter, social network, podcast, video, digital downloads, etc.—that gathers quality followers or a commun

  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