Tag Archives: writers

Self-Publishing Trends 2016

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Screen-Shot-2015-12-30-at-9.46.14-AM-700x140-4 blog

I’ve been reading many articles and blog posts in which predictions have been made about what will happen this year in the self-publishing industry, from how books will be sold, to a growing number of self-publishing authors called artisanal authors. Could you be selling your books to a wider market? Will Barnes and Noble have to close down? See what leading experts (in the above image)  think will happen in 2016 in this article from BookWorks.com. 

On The Self Made Writer, Deb Vanasse discusses trends after having a look back on 2015. At the end of the year, print books had a growth in sales due to the appearance of adult colouring books. Big publishers were also charging high prices for kindle versions of their books that led to higher sales of print copies. This year, Debs believes there will be more of a balance between print and digital books, and there’ll be less concern about which format sells the most. You can read more of Deb’s expected trends in the writing and publishing industry here.

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Interview with psychological thriller author, John Nicholl

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John NichollToday I am really pleased to welcome psychological thriller author, John Nicholl, to the blog. John has previously worked in the police force and child protective social services. His debut novel, White is the Coldest Colour, has become an Amazon Top Ten bestseller. Whilst fictional, it is influenced by what John has witnessed during his work in child protection and features predatory pedophile Dr Galbraith.

Lets begin:

How do you start your writing day and motivate yourself?
It varies from day to day. Some days I feel driven to write for hours, while others are less productive. If I’m not in the mood to write then I do something else instead.

What is it about writing fiction that you enjoy the most?
I like the creative process. Being in control of events is also a positive. Real life is far less predictable as God laughs at our plans.

White

In a previous interview you say that thinking of the title ‘White is the Coldest Colour’ was almost as hard as writing the novel, and that a song helped you. How long were you working on the title and what was the song?
I came up with and rejected at least a dozen titles over an eighteen month period before stumbling upon one I liked enough to keep. ‘White is the Coldest Colour’ came to me when listening to ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’ on Radio 2. I hope readers will agree that it’s a good fit. Continue reading →

Top 10 Author Tweets of the Week

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Sorry for the delayed posting of this article. I had some trouble getting back on-line after moving house, but the less said about BT the better! Anyway, all is back to normal now, so it’s all systems go with the blog and the second Ben Whittle mystery – The Eyes of the Accused.

This week I wanted to share with you some of the best tweets by fellow authors on Twitter. They may be informative, funny, or highlight some excellent writing. They’re great for re-tweeting, too. Here are my top tweets of the week:

Rebecca Scarberry @Scarberryfields
 love bookworms who post reviews for the books they love. TY for taking the time.

M A Comley ‏@Melcom1
Good news for KOBO owners you can pick up my novel Hostile Justice at a reduced price using this code OCT30 @

Mike Billington ‏@Billington_Book
Fossil fuel industry could be blindsided by falling global demand: report via @

Maggie James Fiction @mjamesfiction
Why readers should support indie authors: guest post by @

Graham Downs ‏@GrahamDowns
They say word of mouth is the single best form of advertising. Help me use it: if you read and enjoyed one of my books, tell someone

Ninie (9e) Hammon ‏@niniehammon
You can invite the author of book you’re studying into your club meeting with Skype! Just ask.

C T Mitchell ‏@ctmitchellbooks
Want to write but too afraid to start? 5 tips to harness fear

Heather Weidner ‏@HeatherWeidner1
8 Things I Learned from Stephen King’s ON WRITING:

Emma Salisbury ‏@emmasauthor
Dare you take the Psychopath Test? via

Anne R. Allen @annerallen
: Need to cut your word count? Here are 43 words you should cut from your writing & how to do it.

 

As always, thanks for reading.

All the best,

Mark.

 

The Top 10 Resources for Self-Publishing Authors

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Self-publishing authors have a fair bit to do: Write, edit and format books, design covers, learn how to use Kindle Direct Publishing (and other publishing outlets) and explore how to best make use of social media to market their work. The following is a list of resources which I found to be the most helpful with the self-publishing process:

1 The Book Designer   1JoelF

The Book Designer is put together by Joel Friedlander, and it covers all aspects of self- publishing. The site is easy to navigate and has popular posts grouped together on the home page with articles put into categories. Personally, I’ve learned a lot from Joel’s site and from the authors who guest-write posts on his behalf. Take a look at the ‘Start Here’ section on the home page to introduce yourself to the scope of articles which are available.

2 Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound  1JStewart

You’ll find more than 2,000 blog posts and articles, hundreds of learning tools, and lots of free advice on how to tell your story to the world on Joan’s site. If you’re having trouble deciding how best to market and promote your book, then there are numerous articles here that will help. Joan is also great at blogging and shares tips to help you improve your author blog posts  Continue reading →