Book Signing Alert
We announce a major change in the way books are distributed and the effect it will have on book signings at Fred Meyer and SafeWay. TNG, our major book distribution and book signing partner in Alaska has sold their book business to ReaderLink, effective June 2, 2014. In preparation for the change of ownership, both TNG and ReaderLink have asked that we not schedule any book signings after April 30,2014. This will also effect placing new titles in distribution. We have visited with the folks at ReaderLink and are enthused about new possibilities for expanded distribution of our books and increased venues for book signings. We also know that all change comes with a bit of stress and usually takes longer than expected. Kindly bear with us as we go forward working with ReaderLink. There will be no change in our relationship with other national distributors, Barnes and Noble, and independent booksellers. We’ll keep you informed as we learn more and the dust settles.
Here’s what ReaderLink says about themselves: ReaderLink is the largest full-service distributor of hardcover, trade and paperback books to non-trade channel booksellers in North America, including the biggest names in retail across multiple retail channels. This broad customer base is unique in the industry and highlights our unmatched ability to service many different types of retailers: mass merchants, warehouse clubs, department stores, drug stores, grocery stores and others.
The Fussy Librarian
If you have an eBook, the Fussy Librarian may be a way to promote you as an author and let more people know about your books. Just go to <http://www.thefussylibrarian.com>, scroll to the bottom of the page, click on For Authors, and follow the instructions. If you need our help in anyway kindly contact us.
Publication Consultants Weekly Blog
Net Galley: a New Service for our Authors
Here at Publication Consultants, we are always looking for ways to improve our authors’ reach into the world at large.
Getting books into the hands of reviewers nationally and internationally is now a little easier. We have found Net Galley, a fast and simple way for a reviewer or media person to find your book and read it for review, or to plan an interview, have you write an article or send them approval to publish an excerpt; whatever they would like.
Back in the old days, postage and personnel were cheap, so sending out a flock of books to the best reviewers was easy. And that was partly because only about 50,000 books a year were published. Now, more than a million are published in the United States alone, every year.
On the plus side, there are many more media, with many more reviewers, editors, and interviewers who need material each and every day, and often around the clock.
When you agree to make your books available to such media professionals, you fulfill a need of theirs. You become their book supplier, someone they can depend upon. Electronic means through the Net Galley site just makes it easier for them to review each of your new books.
We announce the availability, and those reviewers or TV and radio people can request a copy for a limited amount of time, usually about a month.
If this new service is of interest to you for your books, kindly send us an email right away.
Sleeping Through A Revolution
In June of 1965 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr gave the commencement address at Oberlin College. In part he said, “I’m sure that you have read that arresting little story from the pen of Washington Irving entitled Rip Van Winkle. The thing that we usually remember about this story is that Rip Van Winkle slept 20 years. But there is another point in that story that is almost always completely overlooked: it was a sign on the inn in the little town on the Hudson from which Rip went up into the mountain for his long sleep. When he went up, the sign had a picture of King George III of England. When he came down, years later, the sign had a picture of George Washington, the first president of the United States. When Rip looked up at the picture of George Washington, he was completely lost; he knew not who he was. This reveals to us that the most striking fact about the story of Rip Van Winkle is not that he slept 20 years, but that he slept through a revolution.”
There’s another revolution taking place right now involving authors. For centuries authors have been at the mercy of a few large publishers. But that changed when personal computers, the Internet, and new and ever changing technology opened the door for print on demand, self publishing, and publishers like Publication Consultants. But this wasn’t a revolution; it was a door opener. The revolution I’m talking about is the social media revolution that levels the playing field for authors. Through social media marketing (SMM) an author today can reach readers in the author’s genre like never before in the world’s history. If you’re an author of more than one book, or have plans to further your writing career with more titles in print, you can have your own SMM revolution.
Publication Consultants has put together a SMM package for serious authors who have published, or desire publishing more than one book. Working with John Poll, of Authors Internet, and Lwasampijja Baker, Founder and Director at Tera Tech Ltd., we’ve tested the package’s principles with four authors for four months and are beginning to see positive results. We don’t expect to see immediate, big sales results; revolutions take time. However, here’s what the four authors told us:
“The most obvious way in which the program has helped is giving people from all over the world the information they need to see and potentially purchase my works. Since the program started, sales of my books, especially eBooks from Amazon and B&N have increased.”
Warren Troy, Alaska Wilderness Adventure Author, author of: Jester, Trails, The Last Homestead, and Wilderness Reckoning
“Baker is very responsive to anything I ask him to do, is always looking for more places to spread the word, and is technically adept and helps me understand social media.”
Marianne Schlegelmilch, One of America’s Most Gifted Writers, author of: Feather From A Stranger, Two Tickets and A Feather, Driftfeather on the Alaska Seas, andFeather for Hoonah Joe.
“I appreciate Baker’s work. I like that he posts on a consistent basis in my social media accounts; he has given me an idea for a blog when I’m stuck; he thinks all the time and frequently makes good changes; he is willing to help with items like getting my blog to feed through Author Central. He’s easy to work with and willing to help wherever he can. He takes a burden off me. I haven’t got as much time as I’d like to work the social media angle. So nice to know it’s happening with an hour or so from me a week. I can concentrate on writing . . . .”
Mary Ann Poll, America’s Lady of Supernatural Thrillers, author of: Ravens Cove, Ingress, and Gorgon.
“I am pleased that Baker has been prompt to respond to requests and suggestions, that he makes good and useful suggestions, and that he needs no prompting to keep the social media stream running. I get good feedback from readers.”
Carl Douglass, Neurosurgeon Turned Author Writes With Gripping Realism, author of: Last Phoenix, The Young Coyote, Anything Goes, Heaven and Hell, The Long Climb, ACADEMIA: The Law of the Jungle, The Vulture and the Phoenix, All in Jest, Gog and Magog, Sheep Dog and the Wolf, Finders Keepers, Losers Weep, Though They Come from the Ends of the Earth, Dancing with the Devil, The Trojan Horse in the Belly of the Beast, The End of the Beginning, and Uncharted Country, Uncertain Future
If you’re serious about advancing your writing career and marketing your works to the world, kindly contact us and let’s talk about your personal social media marketing manager package. But whatever you do, don’t sleep through the SMM revolution.
Keep in touch,
Evan Swensen
Publication Consultants
Publishing the works of authors worldwide!
8370 Eleusis Drive
Anchorage, Alaska 99502
(907) 349-2424 Fax (907) 349-2426
evan@publicationconsultants.com
Publication Consultants, book publishers, has established a legacy ofproviding authors opportunities for expression, preserving histories andstories, and bringing joy to readers and writers; and, doing so in anatmosphere of mutual respect and integrity. If you’ve written a book, ifyou’re writing a book, if you’re thinking about writing a book, or if youknow someone who is writing a book go towww.PublicationConsultants.com
