Whilst most of us will judge a book by its cover, I very often judge a book cover by its font. This might sound odd to some people: perhaps it is – you can let me know if that’s the case. But more often than not, it’s the typography on a book’s cover which tells me whether…
Category: Sales & Marketing Techniques
I Have No Pride Or Shame. VOTE FOR ME
This is desperate. I’m about to ask you for votes. So let me apologise in advance for everything I’m about to say. This blog has been nominated in the “Best Blog Post” category of the Irish Blog Awards, for a post in which I described my limitless talent for self-sabotage when talking about my own work,…
What Puts Readers Off Self-Published Books?
Oh, we’ve come a long way from What Makes People Buy Self-Published Books last week, ladies and gentlesirs! Brace yourselves now, as we enter the dark side of book marketing: the things which make you REFUSE to buy self-published books. And we’ve all experienced this to some degree. Self-publishing often gets a very bad rap. If…
What Makes People Buy Self-Published Books?
In this post, I discussed the findings of a scientifically incontrovertible study (of myself) on the factors which influenced me when buying a self-published book. The findings surprised me (which surprised me, because I was surveying myself). I found that I knew what made me buy a self-published book when it was in front of…
What Makes Me Buy A Self-Published Book?
It’s summer holiday season. Therefore it’s self-published e-book time. I’m currently loading up to my Kindle. But what makes me choose one non-traditionally published book over someone else’s? It’s tough to know which marketing works, and which doesn’t; as a reader, I have to say that I find a lot of book marketing intensely annoying, and at best…
Author Privacy and OverSharing: How Much Of You Is Enough?
I’ve been reading one of the most thought-provoking books I’ve encountered in a very long time (it’s also brilliant, and called piteously to me each and every time I was forced to put it down, despite the fact that I felt like I was bashed over the head with one particular metaphor towards the end). It’s called The…
Adventures in Book Genre Stereotyping
Another day, another Guardian article. Don’t get me wrong. I love the Guardian’s Book section. It feeds me. But I don’t like it when it makes me feel guilty and ashamed. Especially when they’re right. Today’s offensive (i.e. read: far too close to the bone) article points out that there is no such genre as “women’s…
C’mon, Writers! 5 Reasons To Ditch The Rivalry
I’ve been hearing a lot lately about rivalry in the writing and publishing industries. And it’s a sad state of affairs. Because it’s complete and utter nonsense. Rivalry is an alluring demon for authors (and, indeed, reviewers). For one thing, the very nature of writing – a solitary activity, which rarely if ever allows for human interaction in the physical act itself –…
Book Covers Are Judging Me
Sometimes it feels like the publishing industry has us all boxed off into dastardly delineated categories. We are either readers of crime, science fiction, sports autobiographies, or bird-watching manuals, but never all four. Everything must be packaged according to its genre, and there are labelling rules. Chick-lit novels use loopy fonts, and have caricatures of shoes and dresses on…
5 Kick-Ass Writing Blogs
Originally posted on World of Writing:
There are zillions and zillions of blogs out there about writing. It can be hard to sort the wheat from the chaff. But over the past few months, I’ve isolated a few that are entertaining and informative, and that meet needs you never knew you had, which is exactly…
Tara Sparling writes 