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 the path of book sales from launch to later one. The question that comes up again and again is why do book sales decrease, rather than increase, after the heady days of the book launch are past? While one might think and hope that a launch is just that--a platform for moving forward, too often the book launch brings the highest levels of sales with a modest or rapid dropoff thereafter. So, what gives? Sometimes, the author has put all his/her money and efforts in one basket of eggs: the launch. Once the launch is past, so are the set-aside money, energy, interest, and plans. What now? is a frequent que

  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. (Much also applies to traditionally published authors whose books have not been on a perfect glide path upward to success.) Today's topic reflects a reality experienced by all but a very few authors who have recognized names, expansive contacts, big pockets (or big publishers with deep pockets), or, for one reason or another luckily found a sweet spot (typically after years of being in bitter places). Most books do not start out as NYT bestsellers and remain there for life. They either start well and fall off (usually quickly), start slowly and remain with slow and then almost no sales, or start very poorly and then ta

(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 book launches. A book launch, planned and carried out well, is a great opportunity to introduce and market your book to a large number of people. So, what are the ways books can be launched? What is the best way to launch a book? What are the benefits and risks of various kinds of book launches? So, let's take each question separately. What are the ways in which you can launch your book? A typical launch for a high-powered author is a tour of bookstore signings; a typical launch for a low-powered author is a book signings at one, perhaps two, local bookstores.  High-powe

  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

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 is about the role of advertising in marketing -- and how it is changing (or has changed). Is it cost-effective? Should you include it in your marketing efforts? Read on. Current facts about advertising: 1.       The cost of advertising has gone up (along with the cost of printing, shipping, etc.), but retail prices have not gone up a parallel amount, so it is a bigger stretch to get good return on investment. 2.       Readers seem to be reading less print media, and some print advertisers have turned to e-blasts instead of print mail and to online sales sites instead of catalogues.  3.       More and more, readers can—and want

  What do politicians and authors have in common? They each have to reach zillions of people and get them to want their product (the politician himself/herself together with an ideology and the author a book). Here is an interesting insight from a long-term, experienced political pundit, Thom Harmann, that popped up in the scores of articles on the US 2022 midterms, this one from Raw Story , October 25, 2022. It applies to authors just as much as it does to the politicians for which it was written. "While creativity and 'production values' in advertising are important, they’re both subordinate to frequency when it comes to producing results. Even a poorly crafted message for a mediocre product will convince people to act the way you want them to if it’s repeated frequently enough." He goes on to cite supporting evidence accumulated over the past 12 years since the Supreme Court opened the door to dark money and unlimited spending. All the statistics point to his concl