People Magazine

The first Dear Sugar letter I read was from a woman who called herself Stuck. She had had a miscarriage when she was six months pregnant. Her doctor told her the pregnancy might have failed in part because she was overweight. She was caught in a spiral of grief and blame, and wrote to Sugar, the advice columnist at TheRumpus.net, to ask how she could stop feeling so ashamed and alone. The letter was heartbreaking, and so was Sugar’s response, which used her signature method of telling stories from her life to illuminate the

Goodreads Community Manager Patrick Brown calls the site “the largest in the world for readers and book recommenders,” soon to hit nine million members. He says discovery is their most important role, and reviews are the cornerstone of how the site supports discovery. According to Brown, Goodreads' reviews spread beyond the site and they are the number one driver of book reviews to Facebook.

Zondervan has announced a new YouTube channel where readers have access to almost 100 video-based Bible study sessions from Christian thought leaders including New York Times best-selling authors Tim Keller and Lysa TerKeurst. In addition, users will also be able to browse more than 150 audio book first chapters and share these via media sites including Facebook and Twitter.

When you first publish, nobody has heard of the author or the book, so your initial promotion is the key to success. But if you focus only on social media you will miss many opportunities to reach prospective buyers. An assorted, persuasive and targeted promotional mix should maximize your sales, revenue and profits.

Promotion can use up your money faster than any other marketing tool. Use it wisely and your investment will pay off maximum dividends. These tips will show you how to do that:

• 26. Sell your book as a premium.  A premium is an item the recipient is given for doing something or buying something, i.e., a free gift—your book— in conjunction for your action.
• 27. Sell your book as an incentive. An incentive is something that you earn. It requires that you do something extra in order to deserve or be given that item. It is usually something of considerable value to the potential recipient – such as a coffeetable book.

LID Publishing, Inc. announced as part of their growth plans in the US, Karl Weber has taken on the position as Editorial Board Chairperson.  In his new role, he will oversee the quality and content of the company¹s publications. Mr. Weber will advise on titles for LID¹s publication plans, help with the strategy and development of the company in the US, and work with other board members to achieve the successful progress of the company within the business sector.

Her books have been featured on The Martha Stewart show, Town & Country Magazine and People.com. Now best-selling children's author Leslie McGuirk is teaming up with Skyreader Media Inc. to bring Pip the Penguin to the iPad featuring Skyreader's new draw-along interactivity built on the company's proprietary eBook authoring platform. Pip the Penguin has so far sold 600,000 copies in hard cover worldwide, and has been translated into Japanese, Swedish and French.

Nine experts weigh in on scholarly publishing and ebooks:

Suzanne BeDell, managing director, Science and Technology Books, Elsevier:

When we talk about e-books we mean books to be read on devices and e-readers, which all our books are, in all e-book formats. One third of our e-book sales last year came through Amazon but access on the iPad is increasing. Our e-books are also available through the B&N platform on the Nook device and through Google Books too. It requires considerable work and investment to manage and support the different feeds…

On PaidContent, Laura Hazard Owen has followed up with the Salon reporter who broke the story yesterday that the Big Six publishers may be refusing to sign Amazon’s newest contract. Owen contacted the Salon reporter, Alexander Zaitchik, for further details, and was told one source was “within the publishing journalism industry” and another was a contact at a major New York publishing house.

The terms causing the publishers to balk are “co-op fees,” which were traditionally fees publishers paid to bookstores to get them to plug their books in the store.

One-fifth of American adults (21%) report that they have read an e-book in the past year, and this number increased following a gift-giving season that saw a spike in the ownership of both tablet computers and e-book reading devices. In mid-December 2011, 17% of American adults had reported they read an e-book in the previous year; by February, 2012, the share increased to 21%.

The rise of e-books in American culture is part of a larger story about a shift from printed to digital material.

Amazon.com, Inc. today announced that 16 of the top 100 best-selling paid Kindle books in March are exclusive to the Kindle Store and available for Prime members with a Kindle to borrow for free through the Kindle Owners’ Lending Library.  These 16 books, which include only paid units and do not take into consideration borrowed or free units,  include Kindle Singles “An Unexpected Twist” by Andy Borowitz and “Bearded Lady” by Mara Altman, “Easily Amused” by Karen McQuestion, books 1-3 in Michael Wallace’s Righteous Series, and independently-published books from T.R. Ragan and A.K. Alexander. Other popular Kindle-exclusive books include Kurt Vonnegut’s new Kindle Single “Basic Training” and Stephen Covey’s groundbreaking business book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.”