My husband is in the food business, so the debate over whether higher prices mean better quality is constant in our household. Pricier restaurants are usually better, right? And those underpriced gems? Why are they underpriced if they’re really gems?
The same debate is raging in the book world right now. An e-book priced at $9.99 has got to better than one at $2.99. And let’s not even talk about those 99-cent “dollar dreadfuls.”
But… wait. Haven’t you ever been disappointed — disgusted, even — by a meal you’ve paid a lot for? Or delighted to discover a cheap neighborhood café where someone’s uncle or grandma is cooking up family recipes with a dash of love?
(Don’t even get me started about what actually goes on in the kitchens of those pricey joints. You don’t want to know.)
The parallels are eye-opening. Fancy restaurants have fancier amenities and higher overhead costs to cover. Many are run by corporations backed Continue Reading
You may have already heard me shouting in excitement about the fact that the Kindle version of Veronica’ Nap has been selling like crazy!
Since the free promo I ran on Friday, January 13, it’s been downloaded by over 6100 people, has reached #1 in the Kindle Jewish fiction category (it’s now hanging in there at #4, just a few spots below international blockbuster Sarah’s Key) and hit #2 in the overall contemporary fiction category. Sales have continued steadily since the promo at about 40 per day.
People have been asking: “What’s the trick to making this happen?”
While there’s no single trick, there are many steps authors can take that’ll up the chances of making Amazon work to sell their books. Most importantly right now is: Enroll in the Amazon KDP Select program, which gives authors who agree to sell their e-book exclusively on Amazon the chance to run 5, 24-hour promotions over the course of 90 days.
With millions and millions of users each day and all sorts of mythical algorithms that supposedly help get books in front of their most likely audience, Amazon is perhaps the single most powerful book promoter there is.
I’ll also venture to guess that two things may have contributed to Continue Reading
A great post this week on Jane Friedman’s blog got me thinking, as I often do, about the word “literary.”
It’s everywhere: Literary festival. Literary agent. Literary success. Literary web site or blog.
Maybe I’m an anachronism, but when I hear the word “literary,” my former-French-literature-major mind skips immediately to titles by authors like Tolstoy, Dickens, Voltaire and Sartre. Or on the contemporary side, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Toni Morrison, Salman Rushdie, Annie Proux. I don’t for a minute think of Amanda Hocking, Jennifer Weiner, Steig Larsson or Tom Perotta. (Sorry, guys.)
But they’re among today’s “literary” stars.
According to both Dictionary.com and my good old paper edition of Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, the word “literary” relates first and foremost to “literature,” which in turn is related above all to “the expression of ideas that are of permanent and universal interest.”
Not permanent OR universal. Permanent AND universal.
Do books represented by literary agents and featured at literary websites or at literary Continue Reading
Warm wishes to all for 2012!
To kick off the new year, I’ve published Veronica’s Nap as an e-book, available exclusively in the Amazon Kindle Store.
Swing by and grab your e-copy, priced “to sell” at $2.99.
Amazon Prime members can download it for free. :-)
As always, feel free to tweet about this, post it to Facebook and generally share with your friends.
When I launched this blog in September of 2010, I had no particular outcome in mind but knew that it would generate momentum toward…something.
That “something” has indeed materialized. In the form of many things, in fact. So heads up about a number of exciting changes in the air:
1. I’m officially launching myself as a book publicist.
The active role I’ve played in the blogosphere’s writing community and as an advocate for independent authors has led not only to a position as Indie Alley book reviewer at Reader Unboxed, but also to number of unanticipated freelance jobs publicizing novels.
It’s been exhilarating and profoundly gratifying to be an ally and friend to authors and to help tell their stories. Making it a focus of my professional life is truly the next logical step for me as an author, a PR pro and book lover. More on this soon!
2. I’ve started writing a new novel.
Immersed in books now more than ever, I finally gave in to the temptation to write again and found a way over the hurdle of fear. It was inevitable — just a matter of time. More on this soon, too.
3. As you’ve surely noticed, I’ve slowed down my blogging here at Veronica’s Nap.
Dedicated to a busy day job on top of everything else (not to mention to a husband and two kids!) my plate’s incredibly full. So something had to give even though I’ll miss it terribly. Going forward, I’ll keep posting the serialized novel excerpts till they’re done and will still write the occasional post on motherhood, parenting, work-life balance, etc.
4. I’ll soon be sharing tips and insights about book publicity and publishing at my forthcoming book PR web site.
As always, stay tuned!
Time Magazine’s October 5 cover story, “Why Mom Liked You Best,” claims that nearly every parent has a favorite kid. And that parents who deny this are lying through their teeth.
Is anybody else offended?
Aside from making sweeping generalizations like “If you absolutely must have a favorite (and you must),” the story tosses around phrases such as “best-loved” that completely underestimate parents’ ability to sift through the nuances of their emotions.
As a mother, daughter, sister, friend and wife, I for one am aware of feeling love and affection in very different ways for different people. I may not share the same knowing, deep-belly-laughter connection with my parents as I do with my sisters, for example, but that doesn’t mean I love them any less. And luckily I don’t have the same kind of affection for the two men in my life: my husband and my father. Yet I love them equally.
Same goes for my children. Twelve-year-old Sam is intense and cerebral. He’s not the cuddly type and never has been, even as a baby. Yet I’m completely enamored by his laser-sharp mind and its constant search for Continue Reading
Tired of the same old take on books and book reviews?
Interested in hearing an *unboxed* perpspective?
Then swing by Reader Unboxed, the brand-spanking-new sister site of the wildly popular blog Writer Unboxed.
With a focus on *unboxed* fiction — that is, fresh works that bring something new to the table — and on the writers and publishers who have the courage to push boundaries, Reader Unboxed offers a community connecting readers with thoughtful book reviews.
As a huge proponent of pushing boundaries, I’m proud to add that I’m the Indie Alley reviewer on the RU team, reviewing gems by independent / self-published authors.
Founded by Writer Unboxed mamas Therese Walsh and Kathleen Bolton with the support of Fairy Godmother Larramie and others close to the heart of the WU team, Reader Unboxed promises to be just as warm, welcoming, dynamic and forward-looking as its sister.
I look forward to seeing you there!
Architect, art historian, teacher and mother of two, Wendy Dubow Polins is also the author of the profound novel Fare Forward, picked by the Jewish Book Council to present as a book festival suggestion in over 100 cities. In order to accept that invitation on time, Wendy had to end her agreement with a literary agent and publish Fare Forward on her own. This bold decision has proven to be for the best, empowering her to take the words of Golda Meir to heart and fight for the things in life worth fighting for. (More on that below!) I’m delighted that Wendy’s here today to talk with us about it and share her inspiring thoughts on daring to make unconventional decisions and balancing wrting, motherhood and art.
Welcome, Wendy!
Q: Architecture is typically a difficult field to balance with family life, yet you’ve mentioned that your professional choices have been shaped by your role as a mother. How?
WDP: I was in architecture school at Columbia University in New York and involved in a long-distance relationship that turned into a long distance marriage. Architecture school was a crazy, intense experience. We would spend endless hours in the studio working on projects and there was really no sense of time there. That passionate and rigorous way of life forms one of the major contexts and settings for the novel. Anyway, when I finally graduated, I began my married life then found myself pregnant with my first child. As fate would define so many things in my life, I did have a wonderful job but was so sick in my pregnancy that I couldn’t work. My husband and I bought a home, we renovated it extensively, the transformation of the house as an architecture and interior design project was published and . . . well, my design firm was launched. I was extremely fortunate to be able to have my own design firm, take on projects according to my schedule and create a life that attempted to balance work and motherhood. It did not always work perfectly, but at least it felt as if I had some semblance of control. I remember when I met a senior designer from a firm called Sherry Wilson and Associates. They are a well-known interior architecture firm that designs beautiful hotels and restaurants all over the world; a very exciting international design firm. They were looking for an architect and I just had to interview for what I thought was my dream job. It sounded so fabulous! Much to my joy, I was offered the position. They wanted to hire me immediately and have me fly to Paris to see whether a chandelier was hanging properly in the lobby of a well known hotel. Sounds wonderful right? I needed some flexibility and figured that candor was Continue Reading
When Veronica’s Nap came out in paperback in July, I mentioned that I’d be pausing the online serialization of the book for a while.
Well, it’s been a while…. So beginning next Tuesday, October 11, the *blovel* serialization will resume here.
(You may have noticed that I’ve switched the site around a little, with my blog now on the front page and the book installments now on the tab called “The Novel.”)
I’ve learned through this blogging experience that most people do want to read at their own pace and not in installments. Still, with many of the book’s themes central to this blog, it’s handy — and fun — to be able to link to sections online. And there are still folks who are asking, “When’s the next episode?”
If you’re one of them — tune in on the 11th. If you prefer paper, I hope you’ll swing by Amazon, see the four- and five-star reviews Veronica’s Nap has been getting and grab a copy for yourself (oh — and one for your book club and your friends!)
Happy reading!
With Veronica’s Nap out in paperback, I’ve been thinking a lot about book promotion and taking note of what seems to work — and what doesn’t. I’ll be sharing my thoughts on smart , easy, cost-free or cost-effective tips here from time to time.
Here’s one I like:
BLOG ABOUT SOMETHING OTHER THAN WRITING.
Surprising as it might sound, blogging about writing isn’t really an effective way to help promote a book, for two simple reasons:
1) The broader writing population is not necessarily your book’s target audience.
While some fellow writers who follow your blog may eventually become your book’s readers, chances are that’ll be a pretty small percentage of your blog’s readership. Your blog followers will more likely be stopping by for your insight about the writing life or your advice about the craft, and to share their own experiences. They may not even enjoy reading the particular book genre or style you work in.
2) The “writing” space in the blogosphere is saturated.
With so many well-established writing blogs already out there, it’s getting harder and harder to Continue Reading
