Tag Archives: authors

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Advertise Free on Facebook according to P&G

 P & GFortune 500 company Proctor and Gamble has layed off over 1,600 employees because they realize how affordably they can reach consumers via the social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter, among others.

 CEO Robert McDonald told Wall Street analysts that he would have to “moderate” his ad budget because Facebook and Google can be “more efficient” than the traditional media that usually eats into P&G’s ad budget.

 Every aspiring author needs to have a presence via social networking. If you haven’t set up a profile yet on Facebook, get on it!

Learn more about Proctor and Gamble’s decision

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Can Authors Survive in the New Publishing World?

“With the era of digital publishing and digital distribution, the age of author advances is coming to an end,” explained Ewan Morrison at the Edinburgh international book festival.  “Without advances from publishers, authors depend upon future sales; they sink themselves into debt on the chance of a future hit. But as mainstream publishers struggle to compete with digital competitors, they are moving increasingly towards maximising short-term profits, betting on the already-established, and away from nurturing talent.”

The Bookseller claimed in 2009 that “Publishers are cutting author advances by as much as 80% in the UK”. A popular catchphrase among agents, when discussing advances, meanwhile, is “10K is the new 50K”. And as one literary editor recently put it: “The days of publishing an author, as opposed to publishing a book, seem to be over.”

 “Publishers are focusing on… READ THE FULL SPEECH

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Google +1 An Opportunity for Authors?

google+…If you want your brand to be represented in Google+, just wait for a couple of weeks and the official offer described above will come your way. And bear in mind this is only the beginning since Google teams are working hard to roll out new content types (games, music) and functionality (Questions).

Yes, lots of opportunities are coming to Google+ for brands. Be prepared authors.  [READ THE FULL ANALYSIS OF +1]

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Discoverability – A Major Key for Authors

Books Are Dead?

Perhaps the more than 200 authors gathered last month at the Hyatt Regency for the Writers’ League of Texas Agents Conference should have prepared themselves upon seeing the title of blogger and publishing strategist Jane Friedman’s keynote lunch speech, “Is the Book Dead? Who Cares!”

As Friedman got under way, she talked about “the state of the book” and then clicked to an image of a mushroom cloud. The room full of would-be authors sat aghast…

From creating a great blog to finding a following on Twitter, Friedman’s point was clear — authors need to create a direct line to their audience, a platform that they control. [READ THE FULL STORY]

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Politico and Random House Partner on Ebook Venture

Politico, an accelerant to the news cycle like wind is to brushfire, is taking on the one realm of political news that it has not yet sped up: book publishing.

The all-things-politics Web site is teaming up with Random House to publish four e-books about the 2012 presidential campaign, the first of which is scheduled to go on sale sometime before Christmas. Each will be in the 20,000- to 30,000-word range and written by… [READ THE FULL STORY]

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3 to 1 e-books Outselling Physical Books at B&N

Barnes & Noble on Tuesday said it sold three times as many digital books through its website compared to physical books during the fourth fiscal quarter.

The growth in e-book sales comes as the company reported a rise in digital sales through its website and a decline in sales through its physical bookstores during the fourth quarter. In February, B&N said it was selling two times more e-books than physical books. Physical books still… [read the full article]

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Google now offer eBooks Affiliate Program

Google has launched an affiliate program for its eBooks service, offering to pay commissions to Web publishers who promote titles on their sites and send buyers to Google’s online bookstore.

“Starting today, we invite all interested site owners to apply to join the expanded Google eBooks affiliate program. Participating sites gain new revenue streams by giving their book-reading audiences an easy way to buy Google eBooks,” wrote Pratip Banerji, product manager at the Google Books team.

[read the full article here]

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New Role for Literary Agents

  Some savvy literary agents are acting as literary consultants to help their authors self-publish, a role that offers up new opportunities and challenges for everybody in the industry.

Big publishing is simply not set up to publish anything but books. Mid-length materials, worksheets, and other writing that might be downloaded from Amazon or directly from the author’s site are not in their repertoire. Neither do they… [read the full article]