digital publishing | The Creative Penn

Success In Writing, Publishing And Marketing Takes Time With Jane Friedman

March 18, 2012 by Joanna Penn 11 Comments

OLD POST ALERT! This is an older post and although you might find some useful tips, any technical or publishing information is likely to be out of date. Please click on Start Here on the menu bar above to find links to my most useful articles, videos and podcast. Thanks and happy writing! – Joanna Penn

Podcast: Download (Duration: 37:34 — 23.8MB)

Subscribe: Android | RSS

There are a number of key influencers in the publishing blogosphere, and Jane Friedman is definitely one of them.

I have been reading Jane's articles and following her tweets since I started blogging myself, and she continues to give fresh perspectives that help authors as well as others in the industry. So I am excited to bring you this interview with her. Audio, video and text is below.

In the introduction to the podcast, I mention what I have been up to: the release of the ProWriter courses with NY Times bestselling author CJ Lyons, speaking at a publishing conference, how my business model is becoming a reality and my progress on Exodus, Hunterian and rewrites of my career change book. I'm also off down under next week to Australia and New Zealand. Ok, on with the show!

Jane Friedman is a former publishing and media exec who now serves as Assistant Professor of e-media at the University of Cincinnati. Jane is also Contributing Editor at Writer's Digest and speaks on writing, publishing and new media seemingly everywhere.

How Jane's career started with a degree in Creative Writing and then moved into corporate publishing at F&W Media where she spent 12 years. She was publisher of Writer's Digest so was writing and publishing about writing and publishing! She also specialized in learning about the trends in self-publishing so has been aware of the market for the last 10 years and how things have changed.

Changes in ebook world. The exponential growth of ebooks in traditional and independent channels. The growth is a lot slower elsewhere but in the US, the growth is huge. At some publishers it is above 20% now. The other component is not just ebook sales, but online purchasing of print or electronic which is what impacts the brick & mortar stores. This trend will change book buying. There are also a lot of new tools available. Jane mentions Pressbooks which makes it easy to create professional ePub files. Vook which may be a competitor to iBooksAuthor – multimedia ebooks with very little training.

On the importance of print. My own opinion. Jane talks about print on demand for those indie authors whose customers demand some kind of print. The more interesting side are the special print editions that are a luxury product for fans. This is high quality, hardcover, special edition that is customized or personalized. I mention Cory Doctorow's special hardbacks priced at $275.

What's broken with traditional publishing and are they changing? The print/return model to bookstores and the lack of transparency in reporting. Big publishing is responding to these issues but slowly and only when it benefits them. Simon & Schuster have introduced a more accurate reporting platform for their authors. But publishers are not feeling the financial pain of the existing model. Advances, royalties, return model still make them money. Jane mentions Mike Shatzkin's site which is a great site for publishing news.

On discoverability and platform. The importance of meta-data, making sure all the fields are completed and accurately tagged and categorized so that your book comes up in search. Being algorithm friendly is important. Creative marketing online is another aspect and this is a combination of your own story, your own strengths and also your target audience. There is a sweet spot for everyone. Look at who you want to attract which will drive your strategy. It does need to grow organically and not just be ‘me too' marketing. Jane has a great article on author platform here.

On author platform and then the breakout novels that aren't related to the size of a platform. This is out of our control – is it just luck? It's hard to break down the breakout novels that do crest on media mentions, serendipity and other factors we can't control. There is magic but we can only be prepared by putting in the effort to try to kickstart the process. People are impatient. People put in a few weeks of effort and then wonder why they aren't a bestseller yet. Set tasks that you can sustain for months and then adjust as you understand what people respond to. It's a continuous journey and if you're new to marketing, there is a lot to learn. The ‘overnight' success often comes from years of persistence.

Jane wrote a tongue-in-cheek book on The Future of Publishing, which I recommend. She says ‘You can't be just a writer of stories and books anymore‘, and this is true depending on your priorities. Jane mentions the Seth Godin comment that writers shouldn't expect to make money anymore. The old attitudes don't cut it in this new world.

On introverts and marketing. Jane and I are both introverts. Before social networking, marketing was foreign. But the new ways allow us to connect in non-threatening ways that allow us to be authentic and real. This is life-changing! It's not about a pushy, fake persona in marketing. It's about being you and this is sustainable over the long term.

On twitter. Jane has over 150,000 followers. Jane was an early adopter but didn't understand it initially and so abandoned it. Once she had figured it out, she loved it and used it strategically. Her early start was part of the growth of her account. She was one of the first people in writing and publishing tweeting useful links and has stuck to this strategy. She tweets 3-6 times per day and doesn't use it very conversationally. Twitter has had an amazing impact. Jane explains some of the opportunities that have come her way through the connections she's made online. [I second this – Twitter, along with blogging, has changed my life.] Social media opportunities also snowball over time. It doesn't happen immediately. Have patience. Be authentic. Enjoy the process.

You can find Jane at JaneFriedman.com and on twitter @janefriedman

Lessons From Publishing Innovation The Domino Project With Ishita Gupta

January 4, 2012 by Joanna Penn 3 Comments

Podcast: Download (Duration: 43:34 — 25.6MB)

Subscribe: Android | RSS

In the first podcast of the 2012, I discuss The Domino Project with Ishita Gupta who has worked with Seth Godin on this exciting publishing experiment. [Video version at the end of the post along with notes].

In the introduction, I also announce the publication of my latest novel, Prophecy. It's currently in ‘soft launch' phase as I gather reviews. Other achievements in 2011 include: The Creative Penn made the Top 10 Blogs for Writers for the 2nd year running. Pentecost has sold over 16,000 copies. I have moved continents from Australia to London and also quit my consulting job for full-time author-entrepreneur status. I also discuss some of my goals for 2012 and some publishing rumours about Apple.

Ishita Gupta has helped create 6 bestselling books as Head of Hoopla for The Domino Project, Seth Godin's publishing experiment. She also runs Fear.less online magazine, described as Fast Company meets Oprah.

How Ishita got started with her online magazine, Fearless, and as a participant in Seth Godin's alternative MBA course. She had previously learned about stories and how powerful they can be. The alternative MBA introduced her to all the real-world necessities for running a business online. There are so many aspects to a business: personal initiative, writing, marketing, sales and much more. Working with Seth meant things took off.

Ishita and I wax lyrical about the opportunities of the internet these days. We're both so excited!

On the Domino Project, a publishing experiment. It was a short project and here's Seth's post on lessons learned from it (must read!) It was powered by Amazon so they partnered with Seth to publish the books which were all short, inspiring business books. The main difference was the internet which means speed and targeted marketing as well as mass distribution. They produced a book a month and brought them to market much more swiftly than traditional publisher. But Domino was still a ‘traditional' publisher in terms of curation, editing, design, marketing etc.

Domino targeted Seth's tribe by writing books for them – entrepreneurs, marketers, business people. The aim was to make books that people want to buy, aimed at that market and building in the ideas of the internet. [Note: this tribe includes me – I bought most of the Domino books & have all Seth's books, so I know this works!]

Failure is hugely important in order to push the envelope on what you can achieve. Domino was trying to teach that there is not only one way to publish. Embracing change is important in publishing but people are scared of their system disappearing. Authors do have more power these days. They can create their own lists, they can be their own sales & marketing force, you can speak directly to readers. It does beg the question – what can a traditional publisher provide? If that's the question, you have to be able to differentiate yourself. [Note: we love publishing in all its forms and we want to help them through!]

Quote from Seth from his lessons learned post: “If you're an author, pick yourself. Don't wait for a publisher to pick you. And if you work for a big publishing house, think really hard about the economics of starting your own permission-based ebook publisher. Now's the time.”

On permission marketing and having your own list. A lot of the authors for Domino had their own list already and it is a critical part of book marketing. However, clearly people can achieve without a huge list but in general, you need a communication channel to your readership. But it shouldn't be me, me, me; it should be more attraction marketing when you create value and people come to you. That is the asset of a list or a blog. You can then see how word of mouth makes a difference these days. Specificity is everywhere on the internet so you have so much choice. People need a way to find things, so be useful and people will come to you. Time and attention are scarce and your recommendations can cut through the noise if you build your list. [Check out How you can build your own email list here]

Other book marketing techniques. The online media tour / virtual book tour means you schedule online appearances in a specific period. Ishita talks about the process and you can see Seth's Book 2.0 media tour here from Linchpin. Traditional media was used but mainly picked up the stories from the web. The default was web first, you can control, measure and see direct results. [You can see my slightly smaller launch for Pentecost here.]

Creating an opt-in list specific to books is also a good idea, even before you have the book ready. [I did this for Prophecy, check out how to do it here]

Ishita is now working with authors on book marketing and will definitely be staying in publishing. She has some information products coming out. She is also continuing to build Fearless magazine which has morphed over the years but tackles these difficult issues.

You can find Ishita at IshitaGupta.com and at FearlessStories.com and on Twitter @ishitagupta

The Future Of Books And Publishing

November 20, 2011 by Joanna Penn 11 Comments

In the last week there have been two great audio interviews on the future of books. I would say it's not the future but more current, emerging and becoming more mainstream every day. I recommend you listen to them both! They will educate and inspire you and that's what this blog is all about 🙂

The Future of Books and Publishing at Six Pixels of Separation

There's one podcast I listen to avidly and that is Mitch Joel's Six Pixels of Separation. It's primarily a marketing blog and podcast but also talks a lot about new media, publishing and Mitch interviews a lot of authors of business books. It's not usually aimed at writers but this episode is a definite must-listen podcast for those of you who enjoy audio.

Click here for The Future of Books and Publishing with Mitch Joel and Hugh McGuire

Here are some key points I found interesting:

Hugh's new software PressBooks (currently in beta) is a simple online book production tool. It's based on WordPress software and produces a print book as well as an ebook but it's also all online so it can be given away for free as well. This enables all the analytics to be tracked as people join in and share online.
How Amazon is a tech company with an amazing amount of analytics on their customers which enables them to compete aggressively. (For us as authors, this is a great thing as it fuels the Amazon algorithms that help sell our books.)

The key thing is the connection between readers and authors. You have to control that connection to the customer and Amazon has this. (This is also why we are building online platforms, so we can connect directly to readers)
“You have talent on one side and customers on the other and the middle is the engine of marketing.” Mitch Joel. Connecting the two is the key and Amazon has this.
Amazon as a publisher has signed Deepak Chopra now, as well as a lot of other authors including Tim Ferriss.

The first book on the PressBook platforms is “Book: A Futurist's Manifesto. A collection of essays from the bleeding edge of publishing” published by O'Reilly media. You can read some of it online here.

A discussion on the value of print books and books in general. The way of reading on the Kindle with sampling and having no time for books that don't immediately grab you.
“It's the context, not the container.” This underlies everything. What can you do as a writer/publisher to make things better for your reader? This is the important thing.

You can find Mitch Joel at Six Pixels of Separation and on twitter @mitchjoel

You can find Hugh McGuire at HughMcGuire.net and on twitter @hughmcguire

On the future of books: A discussion with Seth Godin

In an interview with Leo Babauta on Zen Habits, thought leader and marketing guru Seth Godin talks about:

How the current changes in publishing are scary for those people who want someone to pick them and just write but fantastically exciting for those writers who can embrace the change and pick themselves

There is an abundance of shelf-space online. It's not about shelf space, it's about finding a tribe and developing relationships and selling to those people. Your job is to connect and create your own community around your work. Then you have the power to market to them. It's not about the table by the cash register at Borders, it's your ability to attract a passionate tribe and then fulfil the needs of those people.

Really think about what needs to go into a physical book form and whether your ideas could be disseminated in other ways. Seth mentions how books will become 99c or $1.99 ebooks that people devour like popcorn (the John Locke model) and then a few very specific books that will be hardback or collector's items and many more that will need to be sold to the tribe e.g. idea type books like his own.

There's much more in this interview and one of my takeaways is that I feel I'm in the right place for the publishing shift. When I started this blog, there was a huge stigma against self-publishing but that lessens everyday and these two interviews on such high profile blogs prove that this model is not going away.

Click here to download the interview with Seth Godin on the future of books

Read the blog on The Domino Project, Seth's (very successful) experiment in publishing here

Leo's blog Zen Habits is also brilliant and focuses on minimalism if that's something you're interested in.

What do you think? Are you excited about what's happening in the publishing industry?

When is The Tipping Point for an author to go digital?

May 12, 2009 by Joanna Penn 2 Comments

An article last week examined whether The Tipping Point has come for the publishing industry.

It suggests that 2009 is the year that the ebook finally changes the publishing industry to a digital model, helped along by the global financial crisis cutting costs and jobs. When the #1 bookseller Amazon.com acquired the #1 iPhone e-reading application Stanza, it brought ebook readership to the forefront of news and blog talk.

There are many within the book/publishing/writing industry who have already embraced the changes and opportunities digital publishing brings. But there are many more who still talk about “the smell of a new book”, who chase the end of the rainbow for the traditional publishing deal and reject self-publishing as beneath them.

So when does the tipping point come for an individual author to go digital?

For me, it was about a year ago in April 2008. I had written my first book and (briefly) tried to get a publishing deal. It was all too slow and being a first time author, I decided to self-publish anyway.

I was one of the millions of authors who do a self-publishing print run and then look at the boxes for months on end wondering what my mistake was!

Now I know! Within a few months I had learnt all about the other options available to me – the digital options that were free or cheap, that allow me to have a printed book or a digital product online.

With Lulu.com (and many of the other self-pub services) I could load a Word document for free and see my book on Amazon.com within a few weeks. I also now sell my books in India with a similar service, Pothi.com.
With print-on-demand, I can sell my books in the US and other countries while holding NO stock. I don't have to pay thousands for up-front printing. I just load my files and when someone orders, they print it and ship to the customer. No stock, no up-front costs. This still produces a printed book so it is brilliant for the author starting with little budget.
With ebooks, I can load my book onto a website like Smashwords, for free, and people can download it for a fee or for free. My work is out there and it costs me nothing to distribute it. I can even get paid! If I want to give it away for free, it could go viral like Seth Godin “The Ideavirus” and bring me massive traffic to my website and global readership for my next book. (Incidentally, my first book is available for free at Smashwords => How to enjoy your job)
With Kindle DTP, I can have my books in ebook format on the Kindle within about 24 hours. That's hundreds of thousands of readers who can access my book.
With my book as an electronic file with Lightening Source, it will soon be able to be printed from the Espresso Book Machine, (re)launched at the London Book Fair to much excitement. The EBM is already being used in Universities and other places for small, print-on-demand runs.
With free audio software like Audacity and free blog software WordPress, I can make an audio version of my book and create a podcast that can reach many more of the book-buying public. I can meet people in multi-media!

I want to share these digital publishing ideas with you because some authors think self-publishing just means a print run of physical books. You can still do that but you do not need to spend the money on this. Far better to spend that budget on: a professional editor, a professional cover designer, PR and marketing (much of which you can also do yourself for little or no money!)

How can I help you with your personal tipping point from purely print-focussed publishing to digital publishing?

I promise you – it is exciting, easy, liberating, free or cheap and it is creative! 2009 is an exciting year for authors so jump aboard!

************************

Coming 1 June 2009:Author 2.0: Using web 2.0 tools to write, publish, sell and promote your book. This online course focusses on digital publishing as well as many other online tools for authors.