Let’s pretend for a moment that there are no bookstores and as publishers we still need to sell books. How are we going to do that? For starters, let’s take a look at the recent trends for physical bookstore sales. There was welcome relief this year that sales at physical stores have stabilized, although I…
Each time I finish a book I end up going through the same inefficient process: I head to Amazon and a couple of other sites to look for other titles on similar topics that might interest me. I usually find several candidates and then I go through the equally inefficient process of requesting samples for…
First published in 2014, the second edition of the controversial “Author Earnings Report” was released this week. Written by the mysterious “Data Guy,” the report claims that traditional publishers, particularly the Big 5, have experienced a significant slump in ebook sales on Amazon in 2015 while indie-published authors surged ahead. According to Data Guy, “The…
Negotiating a large, non-returnable sale of your books to a corporate buyer can be a euphoric event. As you leave the premises you may celebrate with large smiles and high-fives. But unforeseen by many publishers are the various post-sale emotions experienced by the buyers, especially if this is their first time dealing with you. Their…
Publishers who sell ebooks direct to consumers typically do so in EPUB format. That’s because most publishers are still wedded to the false sense of security DRM provides and EPUB offers a popular DRM solution. Contrast that with Amazon’s format, mobi, where Amazon is the only company who can apply and manage mobi’s DRM’d files…
As Book Business’ year-end trendspotting survey indicated, direct-to-consumer marketing and bookselling will be top-of-mind for all segments of the publishing industry in 2016. It’s clear from these results, as well as the slew of newly-launched consumer-facing sites, apps, and newsletters that publishers are eager to learn how consumers find books, why they buy, and how…
Last week I highlighted some of the more interesting findings reported in a document Google published called Micro-Moments: Your Guide to Winning the Shift to Mobile. This week I want to focus on a couple of other important points in that document as well as provide an example of how publishers need to leverage the…
Last week Penguin Random House U.K. announced the launch of a new direct-to-consumer site that combines the content from its best-known brands, Ladybird, Puffin, and Penguin. The new site comes a little less than a year after Penguin Random House relaunched its U.S.-based website, with the goal of becoming a destination for readers and a…
Pinterest, Tumblr, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram may be the marketing platforms that earn all the buzz, but here’s a fact: Your email list is a more valuable direct-to-consumer marketing tool than all of those social media sites put together. The power of your community exists in your list -- those people who have actively…
One key component of successful direct-to-consumer marketing is the consumer’s email address. But earning that email address can require a lot of legwork from the book publisher, from social media marketing to advertising and publicity. instaFreebie attempts to streamline the audience development process for authors and publishers by hosting limited-time ebook giveaways and using data…
