1.
Ricardo, what led you to founding Reedsy,
an online marketplace connecting authors with editors, book designers, and
website designers? It was actually an idea of one of my co-founders,
Emmanuel. We were both early adopters of e-reading formats, and started
thinking about what these changed for the actual content creators. We learned
about self-publishing and immediately the question we had was: if authors
self-publish their books, who does the editing, the design, the marketing? So
we decided to create a marketplace of top-tier publishing talent where authors
would be able to find all these professionals they need to hire throughout
their author career.
2.
What is Reedsy Learning? Reedsy
Learning is a series of free online courses on writing, publishing and book
marketing. There are some very broad topics — like "How to write a
novel" or "How to write a killer short story" — and some
narrower ones: "Facebook ads for authors", "How to get your
books into libraries", etc. Each course gets delivered by email, once a
day, for ten days. Each email is a 5-min read that gets delivered to your inbox
in the morning, allowing you to digest the info while sipping your morning
coffee or commuting to work. The idea is to make this kind of educational
material available to authors for free so they are better armed to take all the
steps needed to build a successful career, without feeling overwhelmed.
3.
What are the typical mistakes authors
make when launching their book? I think most of the typical mistakes
authors make come before launching their book. More often than not, an author
will have this idea for a book but won't know exactly where in the market that
idea fits. They won't know who exactly the book is for. Not knowing your target
market is, in my opinion, the most common and most dangerous mistake you can
make as an author. And this is a question you need to address while, or even
before, you're writing the book. This can sometimes go agains the popular advice
of "writing what you love", but the truth is that if what you love
doesn't have a market, then you can't hope for it to become commercially
successful.
Another common mistake is rushing
the publication. Often I'll see first-time authors with hard deadlines for the
publication of their book: they absolutely want it out before Christmas, or
before the summer, and they rush the editorial and design process to have it in
time. Then, when the book is out, they don't know what to do. It takes them a
few months to realize that it's not going to sell without proper promotion —
and by that time it's too late already.
Given the importance Amazon (and
other e-retailers) gives to new releases, it's vital to promote a book right
after it's released. And this requires planning, a proper pre-launch marketing
strategy. It has probably taken you months, if not years, to write the book. So
take your time to plan its launch, don't rush its publication just because of
an imaginary deadline.
4.
I understand you are working on a book –
care to share a sneak preview? Sure, I'm currently working on a book about
Facebook ads, specifically geared towards authors. Now, there are a lot of
resources (courses, blog posts, books) out there already about Facebook ads for
authors, so I'm looking to make this one more of an "advanced"
resource, aimed at authors who've already experimented or seen success with
Facebook ads and are looking to take things to the next level.
One of the big takeaways I'm
developing in the book is the importance to qualify your audiences
before you serve them ads asking them to buy your book(s). For example: if
you're targeting a broad audience who's not familiar with your brand, it can
often be more effective to advertise in two steps: first a video (e.g. book trailer)
with no call-to-action, and then a proper "buy my book(s)" ad served
only to the people who viewed 10s or more of the video.
5.
What advice do you have for struggling
writers and first-time authors? Keep going, but don't forget to
periodically re-evaluate things. I only know a handful of authors who really
stroke success with their first release — and they all were a bit lucky. It
usually takes several books until you get that influx of sales that can really
launch your career. So don't get discouraged if your first book(s) aren't
selling. That said, do try to learn from every experience and try doing things
differently. If you've been doing your covers on your own so far, try hiring a
professional artist for the next book. If you've never tried discounting your
book to free for a few days, give it a try on your latest book and see what
happens.
Publishing, like everything else in
life, is about trial and error. You can cut a lot of the learning curve by
doing appropriate amounts of research beforehand (that's where Reedsy Learning
comes in), but at some point you need to take the plunge.
6.
Where do you see the book publishing
industry is heading? I think it's evolving towards a more diverse and
fragmented landscape. The rise in ebooks and self-publishing has allowed many
niche authors and stories to find their market. This, in turn, has allowed
readers to refine and narrow their tastes even more, helping these niches to
grow. If you're a fan of paranormal cozy mysteries, you now have enough content
out there in that specific niche to read for a lifetime, whereas a few years
ago the lack of books in this specific niche would have probably driven you to
venture into non-paranormal cozies, or even thrillers.
In turn, this fragmentation of the literary landscape has made it more difficult for the big publishers to create "mainstream hits" like Harry Potter or Gone Girl. All in all, I think we're heading towards a stronger "middle class" of successful self-publishers, at the expense of the big household names from the big publishers.
For more information, please consult: https://blog.reedsy.com/learning
In turn, this fragmentation of the literary landscape has made it more difficult for the big publishers to create "mainstream hits" like Harry Potter or Gone Girl. All in all, I think we're heading towards a stronger "middle class" of successful self-publishers, at the expense of the big household names from the big publishers.
For more information, please consult: https://blog.reedsy.com/learning
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Brian Feinblum’s insightful views, provocative
opinions, and interesting ideas expressed in this terrific blog are his alone
and not that of his employer or anyone else. You can – and should -- follow him
on Twitter @theprexpert and email him at brianfeinblum@gmail.com. He feels
much more important when discussed in the third-person. This is copyrighted by
BookMarketingBuzzBlog © 2018. Born and raised in Brooklyn, he now resides in
Westchester. His writings are often featured in The Writer and
IBPA’s Independent. This was named one of the best book
marketing blogs by Book Baby http://blog.bookbaby.com/2013/09/the-best-book-marketing-blogs and recognized by Feedspot in 2018 as one of the
top book marketing blogs. Also named by WinningWriters.com as a "best
resource.” He recently hosted a panel on book publicity for Book Expo America
and participated in a PR panel at the Sarah Lawrence College Writers Institute
Conference.
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