J.’s Comments (group member since Sep 09, 2014)

J.’s comments from the THE Group for Authors! group.

Lots going on here, thanks for all that. I have started investigating Ingram Sparks based on what I've read here. I've also done some checking into ISBNs and what I've seen doesn't exactly match some of what I've read here. Mainly, if you move a book to a new publisher/printer you will need a new ISBN but there doesn't seem to be anything stopping you from doing it unless you have a contract with the prior house. I'm still looking into it mainly for my own books which are currently POD through CS and I'm concerned that CS is going to disappear. All the best to everyone and keep the dialog going.

Thanks to all who have contributed so far to this very important discussion. I've been away for a while and just now picked up the thread. Currently I have 5 novels in print with CS and as of now it looks like they will continue to POD. I did my own formatting and covers designs so I don't think I've got much of a problem for the time being. However, with any luck (make that work) I'll have a novel ready to publish later this year and I'm not sure what I'll be doing with it. I liked working with CS but now don't trust them to be around. I'm curious about Ingram Spark and will have to check into them. Are there any other POD sources that others here might recommend? I have friends who have used Lulu for non-fiction but I've never tried them for anything. Good thing this thread exists.

Marie, Thanks.

Marie, I need to look for those coupons.

Anna Faversham wrote: "I used TFL when they were fairly new and they were good. But after a couple of years my books seemed not to perform so well, understandably as I only advertise two. I think their number of subscrib..."
Good to know. I'll keep them on the "use" list.
Thanks.

Anna, Marie,
Thanks. I've never tried Book Cave but will investigate and give it a try. Fussy Librarian has been hit-and-miss. At best it's been very good but a few times it was a disappointment.

Heather, I have an illustrated children's book (co-author) that has never done well as an ebook. Most sales have been at physical events where I sold print copies. Not sure what it takes to get any traction with a children's book but there are people who seem to do much better than I've managed. Maybe someone else here will chime in.

Chrys wrote: "I'm active in several Facebook groups for my genre. I put out the offer there, and my fellow writers emailed me their stories. I insisted on Word docs, which I combined. One of the writers combined..."
Let us know how that goes.

Chrys wrote: "I'm trying something new with my newsletter list--a freebie of short stories by other writers in my genre (clean fantasy) with one of my own stories. I put the buy links at the end of each story as..."
Chrys, sounds like a good idea. How did you put it together?

D. I have seen some sites producing poorer results lately. Some have raised prices and then come back with "specials" so not sure what that means. Most of the specials are for lower cost ads at sites that I wouldn't consider productive anymore.
Nothing here about mailing lists though it is one item I have on my serious to-do list for this year. I hope others here can offer some insights.

Gary,
Thanks for that link.
Here's another site I like.
https://www.readersintheknow.com/list...

Seems giveaways are becoming more of a positive for the host business and of little benefit to us. The last thing I read about GR giveaways it looks like it isn't going to be free any more and based on the results I've had with them before, paying to give away books isn't something of value to me. I see more indie authors banding together to do giveaways independently through FB or elsewhere which I think only works if you have a large number of followers or a big mailing list. Marketing is ever changing.

C.J. thanks for the info. I'm not sure if I want to take the time and money to become an indie publisher but just might. I have 5 novels out as of now and a children's book I co-authored with my wife. She is currently editing a book for someone else and I'm not sure but I might end up seeing that book through the publishing phase because the person who wrote it does not seem to have time to do the publishing work. If I do, then likely I qualify as an indie publisher and probably should do what it takes to make it official. All the best.

C.J. wrote: "Thanks for the comment, Jack. When I googled, the first warning was about BookLife's award program, not the advertising. I went down the google list and found a board where authors gave their opini..."

Any more info on what it takes to be considered a small indie publisher? Either from a legal standpoint or just as seen in the industry overall. Curious.

Anne,
Thanks for the follow up. Sounds great and congratulations. Just reaffirms my goal to get an ad at BB one of these days.

Hey Anne, Great news and reinforces the idea that BB is the best. I still have not gotten an ad in there but will certainly keep trying.
Looking forward to your follow up tomorrow.

It is there

Anne, confirms what we've heard before, BookBub is worth it if you can get in. Looks like you have 8 books and they are all in a series which puts you in prime territory for BB to work for you. With only 5 books out, and only 2 of them connected, I wonder if it would work as well for me. Not that I'll stop trying to get in.

Can't agree more with all of you. Sites are not as reliably successful as they used to be and certainly some of it is the increasing number of ads a site accepts for their daily blurb. Also genre is a factor. I am trying to weed out sites that regularly don't work and send my money where I get some value.

I just got an email from BookRaid saying that their servers went down and there was no newsletter delivered on the 29th and that apologized and would be happy to rebook, which I will probably do.