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reviews
GoodReads Begins Charging for Giveaways
by, Jill Swenson
February 6, 2018

On January 9, 2018, the social media site for readers, GoodReads.com, changed its policy regarding Giveaways. What used to be an inexpensive and clever marketing tool for books is now a new revenue stream for GoodReads, which is owned by Amazon. GoodReads, established in 2007, had more than 65 million members registered in 2017. Until Amazon purchased GoodReads in 2013, it was a rival to… [Read More]

Filed Under: Amazon, giveaways, GoodReads, Kindle, reviews
3 Comments
How Studying Comp Titles Can Help You Develop a Marketing Plan
by, Jill Swenson
November 21, 2017

Where should your book be reviewed? What literary journals and magazines should you submit excerpts or adaptations to? Which bookstore events will be worth your while? Are there podcasts or radio interviews you should book to promote your new release? These and other questions you may have when you begin to put together a marketing strategy are not easy to answer. Studying your comp titles… [Read More]

Filed Under: author events, book marketing, comp titles, reviews
1 Comment
20 Ways to Help an Author
by, Jill Swenson
October 31, 2017

Whether you are a reader, aspiring author, or working on your next book, there are things YOU can do which make an enormous difference in the life of an author. The reason authors write a book is to connect with readers and the best rewards come from readers who let an author know their book had an impact. Most readers don’t know how important their… [Read More]

Filed Under: book clubs, GoodReads, Little Free Libraries, Pre-Order books, reviews
No Comments
How to use Twitter for research and writing
by, Jill Swenson
December 9, 2014

Nearly a billion people have registered accounts on Twitter and 100 million of them use it every day. Three quarters of them on a mobile device. As a writer, it’s easy to dismiss Twitter. If you’re an author, it’s a mistake to do so. If your readers are over 50 years old or under 10, you won’t find them on Twitter, right? Wrong question. If… [Read More]

Filed Under: Cathryn Prince, Death in the Baltic, hashtags, marketing plan, query, reviews, search, Twitter
4 Comments
NetGalley Provides a New Kind of Book Review
by, Ava Russell
August 1, 2014

In the modern publishing world, there are many new challenges authors face in promoting their books, but there are also many new avenues to aid in digital marketing of forthcoming releases. NetGalley provides a resource for authors and publishers to accumulate quality reviews from relevant readers, an essential pre-publishing marketing step. Strong early praise from a notable reviewer can draw in significantly more readers once… [Read More]

Filed Under: American Booksellers Association, digital galley, Independent Book Publishers Association, INscribe Digital, Larson Publications, NetGalley, reviews
6 Comments
Blurbs for your book
by, Jill Swenson
March 28, 2014

It is the author’s responsibility to seek endorsements for their books and publishers expect you to get them. Blurbs – often only a few words from an endorsement from a high profile author, celebrity or expert  –  appear on a book’s cover or dust jacket flaps. Blurbs are used in letters to solicit book reviews, on tip sheets to booksellers, in marketing materials and press… [Read More]

Filed Under: advance review copies, blurbs, celebrities, Endorsements, experts, opinion leaders, public figures, reviews
4 Comments
Death in the Baltic: WWII Sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff
by, Jill Swenson
April 9, 2013

Horst Woit, a young boy, snatched his uncle’s jack knife from the kitchen table as he and his mother walked out the door of their home.  They trudged through the snow  and freezing weather toward the Baltic harbor where they boarded a ship named the Wilhelm Gustloff to flee from Nazi Germany while Stalin’s soldiers advanced on the Eastern Front in January 1945. When Alexander… [Read More]

Filed Under: book launch, Cathryn Prince, Horst Woit, reviews, WIlhelm Gustloff
No Comments
Reading Non-Fiction for Pleasure
by, Danielle Sherwood
April 17, 2012

I’m going to ‘fess up: I don’t read enough nonfiction for pleasure. Fiction has always been more compelling to me. The fantasy, the adventure, the imagination, the characters – this is the stuff of storytelling. But there are some exceptional books of non-fiction and memoir that trump my fandom of fiction. Here’s my top 4 picks for NF and memoir. These books are not only… [Read More]

Filed Under: addiction, appetites: why women want, Azar Nafisi, beautiful boy, book selections, Caroline Knapp, compelling narrative, cultural studies, David Sheff, female hunger, feminism, forbidden books, Jon Ronson, memoir, Nic Sheff, Nonfiction, psychiatry, psychology, psychopathy, reading lolita in tehran, reviews, the psychopath test
3 Comments
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