Saturday, July 16, 2011

Top Five Industry Changes All Writers Should Know...and Embrace!

INDIE BOOK COLLECTIVE
1. EBooks. In December 2010, Amazon reported that eBooks on their site outsold all other forms of books. 85% of the electronic book market is dominated by Amazon.com. While print and audio formats will never die out, the sooner authors embrace this new, viable format of eBooks as the forward trend, the better their careers will be for it.

2. The Power of Free. Whether it’s the buy one book in a year and get ten free option of book clubs or your weekly visit to the library, then and now, free reads can earn future dollars and new fans. Harnessing the power of creating a free reads, and giving free reads away in a strategic way, will expose authors to tons of new readers they can earn into fandom. 

3. Book Bloggers. The new grocery store line is online. Where readers used to look to magazines for book reviews, the blogosphere is evolving into a reader-centric place filled with bloggers who love to read and love to talk books. Readers are finding their additions to their To Be Read pile through blog hops, guest blogging and contests thrown by members of this tight community. Become a good neighbor by visiting a blog a day and commenting in a positive way.

4. Even traditional is going indie. Bob Mayer, JA Konrath. The list goes on. Having a New York contract doesn’t mean authors aren’t going indie. Because of massive innovations and a plethora of author friendly self-publishing platforms, being indie is no longer a dirty word. Authors of all sorts of backgrounds are dipping a toe in the indie waters and creating extras through self-publishing for fans during the down time between traditional releases.

5. Social Media. Twitter, Facebook, blogging or any other social media platform will not sell books. It will, however, forge relationships that authors can nurture into a tribe of readers who then create the word of mouth buzz that does sell books. Word of mouth buzz comes in many forms now thanks to tweets, status updates, blog posts and more. Reviews, hitting the ‘like’ button on an Amazon page and more all create popularity and stem from social media relationships. If authors keep this platform fan-centric, their readers will repay them in kind, and do so spontaneously. Because readers love to help authors that they love!

Co-founded by Carolyn McCray, Amber Scott and Rachel Thompson, the Indie Book Collective is made up of authors who love to help fellow authors succeed. Membership is as easy as following @IndieBookIBC on Twitter or hitting the 'Like' button on Facebook. We have monthly webinar classes on Social media, Facebook start-up, getting Goodreads, Blogging basics and much more!



11 comments:

Tam Linsey said...

Wow, great list, here. I like the idea of Indie Book Collective. I just "liked" you on Facebook. Keep up the great work!

Judith Ashley said...

I'd love to hear your top three ideas for keeping a blog and other social media 'fan-centric'.

Sarah said...

Great list! I definitely have to agree about the Book Bloggers thing. Not just cause I am one either.

But, that's where I look for ideas to add to my to-read pile. I don't even look in magazines for that because they usually only list books I'm not really interested in.

♥ Sarah @ I'm Loving Books

ElaineCharton said...

So true on the blogs. I find more great books that way. Keep up the good work

Diana McCollum said...

Very informative blog! I'll definitely check out IndieBookIBC.

Unknown said...

This is a fantastic list, very informative, and SO true. I'll wager nearly 95% of my TO READ stack derived from surfing blogs, staying in tune to what everyone else is reading, what's hot, etc. Especially with YA. And this whole self-publishing bit just blows my mind--in a good way! I can personally attest to how many books I've either gotten for free or for .99 on Amazon, all of which are self-published.

Great post. Thanks for sharing!

Jean Paradis said...

I get that word of mouth sells books, but how do you get readers to take a chance on a new author in the first place?

Anonymous said...

why not:)

Vonnie Alto said...

I guess it all comes down to fans--how many an author can acquire. That's why book blogging and social media are so important and why I'm slowly putting a toe into everything online so that when my book sells I'll be fully loaded.

Paty Jager said...

Great information! Thanks!

Sarah Raplee said...

Great info, and I have lots of questions, so I'll check out IBC. Thanks!