Original article February 24, 2022; last updated May 13, 2022. When planning your book launch, one consideration is whether to make your book available for pre-order, which simply means that readers can order your book prior to its publication date. In this article, we’ll discuss why you might want to do pre-orders (or not), and […]
Strategy
New Author, 700-page Book: How to Set the Price
The logistics of self-publishing can be overwhelming at first, and I get questions regularly via email. Here’s a recent one about a challenging book price: My self-published print book is very big at 700+ pages. On KDP I was able to set my price at $20 and make a small royalty. On IngramSpark I have […]
Book ROI: It May Not Be What You Think
Writing a book can feel like climbing a mountain—a big, steep, frustrating one sometimes. Once you reach the summit, it would be great to just sit back, see your book on the New York Times bestseller list, and watch the royalties flow in. But for many (maybe most) nonfiction authors, book sales are not where […]
Use Writing Constraints to Increase Your Creativity
Powerhouse children’s author Beverly Cleary died last month at the astonishing age of 104, leaving a legacy of having written 50-plus books. Chances are you read some of her books as a child—Henry Huggins, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Ramona and Beezus. Maybe your children learned to read with them; maybe you’ve heard the Ramona […]
How (Not) to Query a Literary Agent
Dear Karin, I’m an assistant to the author AUTHOR NAME, and we are seeking representation for his children’s picture book intended for middle grade audiences. BOOK TITLE is complete at 570 words and features a heartwarming tale of wisdom passed on from the older generation, and relatable and educational reasons as to why children need […]