Author Archives: admin

Retail has long been a challenge for self-publishing authors. Local stores may or may not be willing to work directly with an author on carrying a book. You can make their lives easier by using a distributor they already purchase from (and know and trust), but even then, getting them excited about your book may [...]

Discussing the state of the self-publishing world recently, someone asserted that the stigma of self-publishing was gone. Someone else said, “Well, maybe it shouldn’t be.” I had to push for a clearer explanation. When I got it, I thought, Yeah, he may have a point. Here’s how: The stigma of self-publishing wasn’t related to just [...]

Last week, we covered 5 good reasons to self-publish. There’s an even bigger one, though, that we didn’t cover. This one isn’t just a good reason to self-publish, it’s a good reason to publish. Publishing can not only serve your cause, it can help you further your cause. How? – Comprehension. There’s still no better [...]

If you hang out in publishing circles, you’re bound to hear about the stigma of self-publishing. You may hear that the stigma is gone. You may hear that the stigma is still strong. The rationale goes something like this: Authors self-publish because they aren’t good enough to find a “real” publisher. (Of course, pick two [...]

Today Bethany Press and Anchor Distributors launched OnDemandplus. Why is this important? Well, there used to be multiple barriers that made self-publishing less desirable to authors. Some of the largest of those barriers included the following: 1. Affordable industry quality covers and editing 2. Upfront costs for development and production 3. Multi-channel distribution to retailers [...]

I do. I was blessed to grow up being encouraged to read. I read a lot, too. I remember a lot of the books that I read along the way, but the book that hooked me and made me a fiction reading adult was The Maestro by Davis Bunn (he was T. Davis Bunn at [...]

So, a couple of weeks ago, I sat at my desk preparing the BelieversPress blog and social media updates. My practice is to do those things once or twice a day, and it’s generally a good practice. But, I was in a hurry, so I “powered through,” got everything scheduled, and moved quickly about my [...]

I read a quote this morning that made me think about the personality traits that I need to work on in order to be a better writer. These words were both an encouragement and a challenge: Essential characteristic of the really great novelist: a Christ-like, all-embracing compassion. Arnold Bennett How does your writing reflect Christ’s [...]

The way you’re going to sell that book changes the way you need to design it. We’ve hit on this before, but this is such a great example I couldn’t not talk about it! Seth Godin just released a new book, Poke the Box. He’s self publishing it, working closely with Amazon as the premier [...]

This collection of book covers at the ThinkDesignBlog is a great source of inspiration. It’s also an effective reminder that you have to know who your market is. While they were all competently designed, I wouldn’t have picked up some of them in a million years. You have to know who you’re designing for if [...]