BookBub: Indie Savior Or Donald Trump In Sheep’s Clothing?

A while ago (over a year) a writer friend turned me on to an advertising site that was not cheap, but had an extraordinarily large email list of readers in myriad genres. In other words, a bit of the Fountain of Find-the-Readers into which to bathe one’s books and come out the other side better-known […]

 

Book Awards: Are They Really All That?

As independent (more importantly, somewhat—or totally—Unknown) authors, one of the first questions we must always ask ourselves whether it be a blog or an interview or a promo is “does this increase, in a significant and long-lasting way, my visibility and my notoriety (you’d hope in a promo the answer would be “yes”, at least […]

 

Even The Mighty Smaug Had A Weak Underbelly

My magnum opus received a rejection today, not for publication, but rather, that it was not qualified for a review by any “reviewers” on the website “The New Podler Review of Books: Small Press and self-published books worth reading”. Now I don’t remember ever submitting a review request to this site, although it’s possible. I […]

 

Call T.O.D. On KDP Select And Smash The Words.

When I first began this digital publishing journey in 2011, I used Smashwords founder Mark Coker’s Smashwords Style Guide (which is free, BTW) as my bible to format an eBook, even though I was mostly planning on selling books on Amazon. At the time, Amazon had a true lion’s share of the market (something like […]

 

Peaks and Valleys = A Lot Of Humping (Not The Good Kind)

On January 27, 2013, in Encouragement for Indies, Marketing, The Market, by rsguthrie

The infamous (and despised) THEY say you need to take the highs with the lows. (I wonder if THEY had to actually go to night school to figure that one out?) Here’s what no one ever tells you about what I prefer thinking off as the Peaks and Valleys: Anyone who has ever summitted a […]

 

There’s Branding, Then There’s BRANDING

On September 12, 2012, in Book Covers, Branding, Marketing, The Market, by rsguthrie

The day I married my wife, she put her brand on me. No, it wasn’t anything in the BDSM realm (I don’t even know if I got that acronym correct). The brand she put was on my heart and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. Today is my birthday and we are finally […]

 

The Internet Is No Place For Funny, Buddy

On August 24, 2012, in Blogging, Encouragement for Indies, Indie Authors, Marketing, Mea Culpa, Twitter, by rsguthrie

So yesterday I felt like having some fun with a blog. You know, humor. No one probably takes time to read the small print below my masthead blog titles, but I normally take the time to categorize my blogs so that folks know what they are receiving (or, better, about to receive). Yesterday’s category was but one, singular, […]

 

Gunfight at the 99 Cent Corral

I have a Free Kindle Nation Short (FKNS) ad running today. It’s basically a one-day email blast to 20,000+ subscribers and includes six chapters of my new book as a sampling. Now mind you, every person who’s read this book has raved about it. I am my own worst critic and I am telling you […]

 

Starbucks Coffee And The Imprisoning Effect Of Twitter (And Other Social Media)

On July 29, 2012, in eBook Pricing, Future Ideas, Indie Authors, Marketing, The Market, Twitter, by rsguthrie

I had one idea for a blog that became two, that are somewhat related (Indies trying to succeed in a cruel, isolated world and the pricing challenge faced by all). So I mashed them together here. I hope it turns out better than that potato recipe I tried last year. Bad. So very, very bad. […]

 

Learning The Ropes Without Getting Beaten To Death On Them

My “big” ad is running now. I signed up for it last March or so, figuring I could squirrel away a bit here and a bundle there until, by the time I actually had to pay for it, I’d have the funds. I’m not going to say what it cost, one because I am keeping […]