Whether you're a self-published author or one who is published by a large house, there's one thing for certain. You need an editor who will help your writing be the best it can be. So often, especially with self-published books, the writing could be vastly improved. In fact, the writing is horrible, alarming, just plain bad. They authors didn't bother to self-edit and they didn't hire an editor (with the reasoning that they just don't have the money to hire one). That is a huge mistake. An editor's role is to take what we writers write and make it sing! There are far too many poorly written books out there to count, especially with the advent of e-books. That's when the rule comes into play about "just because you can publish doesn't mean you should publish." We want to add something... Do not publish until you've had an editor help you with your work. Even the best writers require an editor's assistance! We are not saying that you shouldn't write if your talents aren't in that arena. We say everyone has a story and should write it down. But if it's going into the public domain for consumption by the masses, hire a professional editor. Otherwise, you might end up with a very special award for poorly crafted wording. In this article, you will see what we mean.

New Smashwords Survey Helps Authors Sell More eBooks (Re-posted with permission from Smashwords)

Last year at the 2026 RT Booklovers in Chicago, I released a first-of-its-kind study that analyzed indie ebook sales data.  Our goal was to identify potential factors that could help authors sell more ebooks.

Last week at the 2026 RT Booklovers convention in Kansas City, I shared new, updated data in a session titled, Money, Money, Money — Facts & Figures for Financial Payoff.  Now I'm sharing this data and my findings with you.

Some of the results were surprising, some were silly, and some I expect will inform smarter pricing and publishing decisions in the year ahead.

For the study this year, we analyzed over $12 million in sales for a collection of 120,000 Smashwords ebooks from May 1, 2026 through March 31, 2026.  We aggregated our sales data from across our retail distribution network, which includes the Apple iBookstore, Barnes & Noble, Sony, Kobo and Amazon (only about 200 of our 200,000 titles are at Amazon).  As the world's largest indie ebook distributor, I think our study represents the most comprehensive analysis ever of how ebooks from self-published authors and small independent presses are behaving in the marketplace.

As I mention in my free ebook, The Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success, its helpful to imagine dozens of levers and dials attached to your book that you can twist, turn and tweak.  When you get everything just right, your book's sales will increase through viral through word-of-mouth.  In my Secrets book, I refer to these tweakable things as Viral Catalysts.  A Viral Catalyst is anything that makes your book more available, accessible, discoverable, desirable or enjoyable to readers.

This survey attempts to identify Viral Catalysts by analyzing the common characteristics of bestselling (and poor-selling) Smashwords ebooks.

We posed a series of questions to our data - including several new ones - to reveal answers that might help authors reach more readers.

The questions included:

• Do frequent price changes help authors sell more books?
• Do longer or shorter book titles sell more books?
• Do longer or shorter book descriptions sell more books?
• How do sales develop over time at a retailer, and what factors might spark a breakout?
• Do longer or shorter books sell better?
• What's the average word count for the 60 bestselling Smashwords romance books?
• What does the sales distribution curve look like, and how many books sell well?
• How many words are the bestselling authors selling for a penny?
• What are the most common price points for indie ebooks, and what changed since last year? 
• How many more downloads do FREE ebooks get compared to priced ebooks?
• How have Smashwords sales grown at the Apple iBookstore in three years?
• How does price impact unit sales volume?
• What price points yield the greatest overall earnings for authors and publishers?
• What does the Yield Graph portend for the future of publishing?

New Smashwords Survey Helps Authors Sell More eBooks from Smashwords, Inc.

KEY FINDINGS

1.  Ebook Sales Conform to a Power Curve
Most books don't sell well, but those that do sell well sell really well.  This finding wasn't a surprise.  Just as in traditional publishing, very few books become bestsellers.

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However, the underlying dynamic of the power curve is extremely significant, especially when you consider it as a framework for evaluating the survey's findings.  As a title moves up in sales rank, its sales grow exponentially.  We see this in our sales results all the time.  On any given day, a #1 bestseller in an ebook store might be selling twice the number copies as the #5-ranked title on that day, and triple or quadruple the number of copies as the #10 bestseller.  In our data over this 11-month period, the #1 Smashwords bestseller, measured in dollars, sold 37 times more than the book ranked #500, and #500's sales would put a smile on most authors' faces.

The opportunity for every Smashwords author and publisher is to make decisions that cause their books to move up in sales rank.   This is power of my Viral Catalyst concept.  When you consider that there are potentially dozens if not hundreds of factors that can make your book more (or less) discoverable, desirable and enjoyable, then you realize that you - the author/publisher - have more control over your book's destiny than previously thought.  Your opportunity is to make dozens of correct decisions - big and small - while avoiding the poor decisions that will undermine your success.

The next finding, when viewed through the lens of the power curve, is especially significant.

2.  Viva Long Form Reading:  Longer Books Sell Better
For the second year running, we found definitive evidence that ebook readers - voting with their Dollars, Euros, Pounds, Krone, Krona and Koruna - overwhelmingly prefer longer books over shorter books.

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The top 100 bestselling Smashwords books averaged 115,000 words.  When we examined the word counts of books in other sales rank bands, we found the lower the word count, the lower the sales.

Now consider how authors can use this finding, combined with the knowledge of the power curve, to make smarter publishing decisions, and to avoid poor decisions.  Often, we'll see an authors with a single full-length novel break the novel into chunks to create a series of novellas, or worse - they'll try to serialize it as dozens of short pieces.  When you consider that readers overwhelmingly prefer longer works, and you consider that bestselling titles sell exponentially more copies, reach more readers and earn more money than the non-bestsellers, you can understand how some authors might be undermining their book's true potential.

Like every finding from this survey, you should use this information as one data point.  There will always be exceptions to any rule.   If your story deserves 50,000 words - nothing more and nothing less - because this is the length packs the biggest pleasure punch for readers, then by all means don't bloat your perfect story with extra words just because the data shows that longer books, on average, sell more.  Do what's right for your story because that's what's right for your reader.

3.  Shorter Book Titles Appear to Have Slight Sales Advantage

This year we asked our data if bestselling books had shorter or longer titles.  We looked at character count, which indicated slight advantage for shorter titles, and then we looked at word count, where the advantage appeared to be more pronounced.

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The top 100 bestselling Smashwords books averaged 4.2 words in their book title.

For titles ranked #1,000-#2,000, the average word count was 5.7, or about 36% more words than the top 100.

Books ranked #100,000-#101,000 (not a sales rank any author wants!), the book title word count was 6.0 words.

Why might shorter book titles have an advantage?  I can only speculate.  Maybe shorter titles catch the reader's eye and attention more effectively.  After all, reading requires mental energy, so maybe the additional mental energy to read and comprehend a longer title creates friction that causes some readers to click away?  Or maybe some retailers' inability to list super-long book titles on the merchandising page reduces effectiveness?

My advice:  Think less about word count and more about choosing a title that, like good writing, is concise, clear and intriguing.

4.  How Indie Authors are Pricing Their Books:  $2.99 is the Most Common Price Point

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At Smashwords, our authors and publishers set the prices.

The most popular price points are FREE through 2.99.

They chose $2.99 more frequently than any other price point. In last year's survey, $.99 was a more common price point than $2.99.  In this year's survey, $2.99 was about 60% more often.

$.99 remains a popular price point.

$5.00 and up has lost favor with indie authors and publishers compared to the same data a year ago.


5.   How Price Impacts Unit Sales Volume:  Lower Priced Books (usually) Sell More Copies

How does your choice of price impact the number of books you sell?  It's an important question, because as an author or publisher, you want your words to touch the eyes of readers.

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As you might expect, we found there's a definite relation between price and unit sales volume.  Lower prices generally sell more copies than higher prices.  But not always.

We normalized the data so we could understand how the average book priced at a given price would perfom compared to a book priced over $10.00+.  We set $10.00+ as equal to "x."

So, for example you'll see in the chart that $.99 is 3.9x.  This means that a $.99 book will on average sell 3.9 times as many books as a book priced over $10.00.  A $2.99 book sells about 4 times as many units.

Note how books priced between $1.00 and $1.99 significantly underperform books priced at $2.99 and $3.99.   $1.99 appears to be a black hole.

What price moves the most units?  The answer is FREE.  Although not shown in the chart, my presentation includes an analysis I performed of our sales at the Apple iBookstore over the last 12 months.  FREE books, on average, earned 92 times more downloads than books at any price. If you've written several books, consider pricing at least one of the books at free.  If you write series, consider pricing the series starter at FREE.  Nothing attracts reader interest like FREE.  But remember, it's one thing to get the reader to download your book.  It's an entirely different challenge to get them to read it, finish it and love it.

Smashwords can get your book priced at FREE at every retailer. 


6.  The Yield Graph:  Is $3.99 the New $2.99?

It goes without saying that a $.99 book will usually sell more units than a $10+ book.  But will the $.99 book make up in volume what the $10+ book earns in margin?

 

 

That's the question answered by the Yield Graph.  We computed book earnings for all the books in each price band, and then divided the results by the number of books in that band to determine the average yield of for a book priced in each band.

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We labeled each bar with a percentage so you know how the yields of each book in that band, on average, compare against against the overall average of all the bands.

So, for example, books priced at $3.99 will earn about 55% more than the average book at any price.  Books priced at $1.99 are likely to earn 67% less than the average.

One surprising finding is that, on average, $3.99 books sold more units than $2.99 books, and more units than any other price except FREE.  I didn't expect this.  Although the general pattern holds that lower priced books tend to sell more units than higher priced books, $3.99 was the rule-breaker.  According to our Yield Graph, $3.99 earned authors total income that was 55% above the average compared to all price points.

 

The finding runs counter to the meme that ebook prices will only drop lower.  I think it offers encouraging news for authors and publishers alike. It also tells me that some authors who are pricing between $.99 and $2.99 might actually be underpricing.

What might account for the magic of the $3.99 price point?  First, I think it means readers will pay for quality books.  You don't become a bestseller at any price - including FREE - if you haven't written a great, reader-pleasing book.  Next, it might indicate that some percent of the readers are shying away from the ultra-low price points.  Anecdotally, I've hear multiple reports from authors where they raised prices and unit sales increased.  While I do believe some of this is happening, I don't think all readers operate the same mindset.

As much as we all would like to discover that one magic secret for success, reader behavior is much more nuanced and diverse.  Diversity of behavior was certainly the primary high-level finding in my ebook discovery survey in September, 2011.  We found that different readers have different methods of discovering books.  Some readers will be attracted to low-priced books, and other readers will be repulsed.  Viva diversity!

Other highlights from the Yield Graph:  Books priced between $.99 and $1.99 continue to underperform when we look at the book's total earnings.  $1.99 performs especially poorly.  It's a black hole.  I'd avoid that price point if you can.  Price the book instead at $2.99 and you'll probably earn more, AND sell more units if your book performs near the average.


7.  A Closer Look at the Yield Graph Reveals Why Indie Ebook Authors Have a Competitive Advantage over Traditionally Published Authors

 

I think the most important findings of the entire study are found in these last two charts above about how price impacts unit sales, and in the Yield Graph, where I examine how price combined with unit sales impacts author earnings.

The Yield Graph reveals why indie authors are gaining significant advantage over traditionally published authors.

When an author sells a book, they receive two primary benefits.  1.  They earn the royalty from the sale. 2.  They earn a reader, and a reader is a potential fan, and fan is a potential super-fan who will rush to buy anything you publish, and who will evangelize your book to everyone they know.

I'd argue that readership - the key to building your author brand and fan base, is more important to your long term success than a dollar in your pocket today.

 

Indie ebook authors are earning royalty percentages that are 3-5 times higher than what traditionally published authors earn.  Publishers are overpricing their books relative to indie ebook alternatives.  This means that indie authors can reach more readers AND earn more money selling lower priced books at higher unit volumes all the while earning more per book sold than traditionally published authors at higher prices.  The significance of these economic dynamics cannot be overstated.

Allow me to break it down this way.  An indie ebook author earns about $2.00 from the sale of a $2.99 book.  That book, on average, will sell four times as many units as a book priced over $10.00.  In order for a traditionally published author to earn $2.00 on an ebook sale, the book must be priced at  $11.42 (if the publisher has agency terms, as Smashwords does) or $16.00 (if it's a wholesale publisher).  Remember, traditionally published authors earn only 25% of the net, whereas Smashwords authors earn 85% net.  If your book is traditionally published, and your publisher sells under the wholesale pricing model, you earn only about $1.25 for a book priced at $9.99, whereas an indie ebook author would earn $6.00-$8.00 at that price.

If a reader has the choice to purchase one of two books of equal quality, and one is priced at $2.99 and the other is priced at $12.99, which will they choose? 

If the publisher prices at $2.99 to be competitive, and they have agency terms with the retailer, their author earns only 52 cents (25% net of the 70% list received by the publisher), compared to the indie author's take of $2.00.

These economic dynamics will not play out well for large publishers or their authors.  If ebook sales continue to increase as a percentage of overall book sales, and if print continues to decline as a format, and especially if brick-and-mortar bookstore closers continue or accelerate, it'll become increasingly difficult for publishers to hold on to their best authors.

Publishers need to pray that print remains a strong-selling format, and that the physical bookstores stop closing.  For now, print distribution - a benefit available only to traditionally published authors - is a strong selling point in favor of publishers.

Even with the continued importance of print, I'm seeing signs that some bestselling indie authors are beginning to hold on to their ebook rights and do print-only deals with the publishers.  Recent examples include Bella Andre with her Sullivans series, Hugh Howey with Wool, and Colleen Hoover with Hopeless.

In a future world dominated by ebooks, publishers need to find a way to lower prices while increasing per-unit earnings for the author.  It'll be difficult because the cost structure of traditional publishing is so high.  Publishers aren't feeling the pain yet because the bulk of their sales are still coming from print.  However, look at any ebook bestseller list and you'll see indie ebook authors are taking sales from the bigger traditionally published authors.

I predict that within three years, over 50% of the New York Times bestselling ebooks will be self-published ebooks.  It's possible I'm being too conservative. 

Indie ebook authors can publish faster and less expensively, publish globally, enjoy greater creative freedom, earn higher royalties, and have greater flexibility and control.  It's not as difficult to successfully self-publish as some people think.  The bestselling traditionally published authors already know how to write a super-awesome book.  That's the most difficult task of publishing because the best books market themselves on reader word-of-mouth.

Already, many successful indies, borrowing from the playbook of publishers, are assembling freelance teams of editors, cover designers, formatters and distributors.  Tell me again, what can a publisher do for the ebook author that the author already do for themselves faster, cheaper and more profitability?

As an indie ebook author, your e-rights are valuable.  Don't give them up easily.  Your indie ebook is immortal.  It'll never go out of print.   Your e-rights are an asset - much like an annuity - which will earn income for years to come.  If you write fiction, great stories are timeless.  Your book could earn an annuity stream of income for you and your heirs for many decades to come.  In the presentation, I show charts of how books can sell over time.  For great books, the sales continue long after the pub date.

This doesn't mean that publishers will become relegated to the dustbin of history.  Many authors - including many bestsellers - will continue to want the support of a publisher partner so the author can focus on writing books rather than assuming all the responsibilities of a great publisher like the editing, proofing, packaging, sales, marketing, distribution, foreign rights and backoffice.

I think the percentage who go indie will continue to increase. What do you think?


How to Make Use of the Findings

Our study drew upon an enormous data set, and the findings are distilled down to averages.  We also included both fiction and non-fiction in the survey, and didn't differentiate between the two.  The vast majority of our titles and sales are fiction, so please consider that as you evaluate our findings.

Your book is unique and may not conform to averages.  Although some of our findings will help you make more informed publishing decisions, I urge you to use caution.

Think of some of the Viral Catalyst ideas that came out of this study as the opportunity to fine-tune your publishing. Consider each finding as a single data point.  Consider it as an option for possible experimentation.

Data-driven decision-making can give you an edge, but the edge is worthless if you don't start with the foundation of a super-fabulous book.  If you want to reach a lot of readers, write a book your fans market for you through their word of mouth and positive reviews.

Don't let data-driven decision-making cause you to make stupid decisions.  If the data shows (and it does) that shorter book titles might give you a slight sales advantage, don't change your title to two words if the absolute best and necessary title is seven words.   If the data shows that books over 100,000 words sell the best (and it does), but you think your story works better at 70,000 words, don't bloat your story.  Use common sense and do what's right for you book, and do what's right for your reader, and what's right for your personal ambitions as an author.

Also consider that this survey, like last year's survey, will be read by thousands of other authors and publishers, and may influence their decision-making.  Last year's presentation on Slideshare has already been viewed over 75,000 times (wow, that blows me away!).  Today,  $3.99 price point appears to be an underutilized opportunity because there are fewer titles than $2.99 and readers respond favorably to $3.99.  However, if thousands of authors shift their pricing to $3.99 tomorrow, would the edge diminish?  I don't know the  answer to that.

Please Share This Survey with Your Friends

Thanks for reading.  If you found this information useful, please share it with your friends.  If you like the charts and what they represent, please post them to Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter and then link back to here so writers can benefit from the full survey.

Our mission at Smashwords is to empower all writers with the tools they need to become successful authors.  We provide the free ebook printing press, the distribution to major retailers and libraries, and the best-practices knowledge that helps self-published authors publish more professionally.  This survey fulfills one element of the best-practices piece.  I hope it helps all authors and publishers, even those who don't use Smashwords.

If you're not yet using Smashwords, I invite you click here to learn how to publish and distribute with us.

 

By Sandra Rea

An author walks into a print-on-demand publisher’s office and falls in love with the publisher’s presentation. No… wait, that’s not right. That’s not how it works in real life. The author FINDS the print-on-demand publisher online and becomes quickly overwhelmed by the pretty packages she sees listed out for her on the site.

The author has worked very hard to complete her manuscript; she feels that it is ready for publishing. She either doesn’t know how to find an agent or to write a book proposal for a traditional publishing approach, or she wants her book to go to market quickly and doesn’t want to go through traditional publishing practices. Perhaps she is a never-before-published author, so the chances of her finding and agent or getting published with a big house are slim to none. Either way, she is excited. The author’s mind races as she browses all of the services she can get for her hard-earned cash – and she isn’t reading with the proper mindset. She is about to get stung and she doesn’t even hear the buzzing.

If I had a dollar for every author I’ve chatted with after she’s gone through the self-publishing process on her lonesome and then paid that company for a marketing package that was either disappointing or simply misleading, I’d have a few hundred dollars in my pocket. It actually makes me a little sad for these individuals who put their trust in companies to get their books out to the world in good condition when in fact what happens is a poor editing process and unrealistic promises made by the company that cannot be kept. There are a few of these companies that thrive on the upsell. They call and call and call interested authors who innocently enough queried them for services. Suddenly the author feels like a fly in a spider’s web, struggling to get free.

Here is the truth.

You have the right to query about services, and the companies you query have the right to call you time and time again until you tell them to stop. YOU must set that boundary. Even so, you can expect that you are now on these companies’ lists and they will stay in touch with you. They are in business to make money. You can request that they take you off their call list, but that is no guarantee it will happen. Just be firm whenever they approach you if you truly aren’t interested.

Some of these print-on-demand companies that also offer marketing packages are good at some things and not so much at others. It is up to you to do your homework. Have the proper mindset… not that of an author just hoping to say she is published, but rather of a researcher digging for all the facts. Sometimes what sounds good isn’t going to be good. It’s all in the wording. I’ve mentioned this in other articles in the VAULT, and it is important enough to drill into your brain. Marketing writers know how to entice with the right words. They aren’t truly promising to do what your brain is telling you they are saying they will do. That would be illegal actually. It would be fraud, and these companies don’t want that type of legal trouble. It is up to you to read carefully all information presented. Period. And if you have questions, call a professional book shepherd for assistance. They know what to do to get your book self-published, and they won’t upsell you to a marketing package that A) you may not really be able to afford, and B) you probably don’t need.

But what about book marketing?

You will end up doing a lot of the things that will make your book popular. There are a few things, like trailers, websites and collateral pieces that you likely wouldn’t want to create yourself unless you have the design and marketing writing skills necessary to make the pieces rock and resonate with your reading public. But the social media you will do; the blogs you will do; the interviews and the books signings you will do. You can have others run your social media and blogs. If you find the person who can replicate your voice, there is no harm in that. You can secure the interviews and books signings without hiring someone to help you in that area, too, but if you don’t have phone skills and aren’t good on follow up, you might consider hiring an assistant. If you understand basic PR and how to write a killer press release that will grab attention, you can certainly do that part, too. I have taught authors how to go about this task, and they ended up being interviewed on national television. It is not brain surgery; it just takes savvy and knowing who to speak to… AND you must have something of interest to share with a general or niche audience. Otherwise, it makes little sense to spend money on PR. You can handle the local PR and book-release PR. I promise you that you can.

Recently I met with an author who had spent $4,000 with a well-known print-on-demand publisher that also offers marketing packages. She like so many other authors I’ve heard from was very dissatisfied with this company. She showed me the books (two that she had done with this company). The covers were nice, but they hadn’t listened to her and there were mistakes on them that make it confusing to see which title comes first in the series. Next, it appears that no one really edited the books, though that was supposed to be part of the package. There was no evidence of proofreading either. Beyond that, the company did nothing that was promised in the marketing package that this author purchased. She would have done as well by opening a window and throwing her money to the wind. The company did indeed publish and print the book. It is available in mainstream distribution online. That means readers can order the book in their local bookstores, too. The company did place the book in the catalogs that go out to bookstores and libraries. That’s about where the services stopped.

To recap, this very sweet author who has good stories in her books now has the right to buy at about half the price of retail her own books from this publisher. The book is full of typos, which has a negative impact on reviews, and covers with which the author is not satisfied and eventually had to go through the expense of having new ones created. The company did little of what it specified it would do for this author, and the author has little recourse. Why? Because of the way the contract is written and how the packages are presented on the company’s site. Plus, the author doesn’t feel like taking time out of her life to pursue the company legally. I don’t think she’d win.

This author is but one of the many I’ve met who’ve had similar experiences. For example, one author before coming to me had spent [GULP] $20K on PR services with a big firm in New York for zero returns. Guess what? That author cannot pursue the firm legally either. There are no promises at all in the PR world, because sometimes even the best efforts are not well received by media. Conversely, sometimes the smallest blips about a book in the PR realm get huge returns. If anyone in the PR community actually guarantees his/her work, well, that would be interesting. I don’t know how one could guarantee results. There is one PR firm I’ve found that comes close. The prices are fair to high, but they do somewhat guarantee results. I would give you the name of that company here, but I have not yet asked for permission to do so. When I have it, I will add that company’s name to my list of companies we trust.

The long and the short of this article is to get you to open your eyes and make better decisions about self-publishing. Before you buy into some insanely priced package of promises from a print-on-demand company that also offers marketing services, put your researcher’s glasses on and really dig into the language and terms the company is using. If the company sends you a contract READ IT thoroughly. Until you have signed it you are under no obligation to move forward.

You will want to ask me which companies I’m talking about herein. Sorry. I can’t divulge. Unlike us, they all have a rather expansive legal department. Suffice it to say there are more companies that want to make you think they’re giving you a great deal than not. Here’s a clue. If you make a query online with one of the print-on-demand companies and they keep calling you incessantly that might be your clue. A couple of calls? Cool. More than five calls in a short time is not. A response email? Good. Several follow-up emails after you’ve told them you are only considering that company’s services is an annoying thing at best.

Here is how you can avoid the ugly discomfort of getting too much attention by these companies. BEFORE you tell them you are interested, go through their sites with a fine-tooth comb. Read and RE-read the information. See if it all sounds the same as all the other companies’ sites. Talk to a book shepherd to see what the real cost of taking your book through self-publishing would be. Compare the services. A book shepherd will edit your book, make sure that her proofreader goes through it with fresh eyes, handle the correspondence with the designer, and then she will take the book through the process for you. As for marketing the book, that is not going to be her area, but she will be able to give you referrals to companies she trusts that offer those services. Your book will be clean, look great and be in full distribution. You can cherry pick the marketing services that you can afford or actually need that you cannot handle on your own.

Send me questions, but do not ask me for a short list of companies that I do not trust. I will not comply. I can refer you to good book shepherds though! And you can search online for shepherds closer to your location, so you can work more closely with one if you want. That part is up to you. And don’t ask me about pricing. You have to do your homework there, too. Every shepherd will be different dependent on their expertise, years of experience and your project. If they provide the editing for your book, it is common to charge a rate of about 10 cents to 13 cents per word. It is worth every penny to have a clean, well-edited manuscript. Paying yet an extra pair of proofreader eyes is also a smart move. If you want a great and clean manuscript, hire the additional proofreader.

By Sandra Rea, co-founder of Full Circle Media & Author Promotions

As the popular Steve Miller Band song tells us, “Time keeps on slippin’ slippin’ slippin’ into the future...” Boy, they got that right. We may not be able to stop time, but we can learn to manage it better. That’s my new mantra. I will manage my time better and take advantage of technologies that allow me to do so!

In keeping with my new mantra, I’m finally using my laptop vs. my dinosaur of a computer, I’m using a wireless mouse for my laptop (which is a whole lot better than depending on my questionable finger coordination in scrolling and clicking the little mouse pad of my Macbook Air), and I am finally using comfortable earbuds for phone conversations. (No more worrying about a phone-related brain ailment.) I’m also using apps over websites, and I’m embracing some of the latest technologies offered by Google. (I think that company’s gonna rule the world.

What I’ve noticed as a result of what turned out to be minor changes that require zero learning curve is that I have way more time to do other things than just write, edit and create marketing campaigns for clients. I even have more time to provide consultation services to authors about matters of writing and publishing. Why? I’m not tethered to my lumbering desktop computer or even to my desk! How freeing. Now all I can say is that I wish I had done this five years ago. I had what I needed to do so even then. But I was stuck. Not by anything external; rather I was stuck by my outmoded mindset... an old and less productive way of thinking. I had a heavy chain of excuses to break through before I could embrace necessary change.

My oldest sons who ran my cyber cafe (so you can see I actually understand technology) would visit me in my office and ask me why I don’t back everything up on my old computer and get something faster. They offered to do the work for me. I would only groan and tell them maybe soon, maybe next year, maybe one day. I was stuck by my anxiety around the perceived time it would take to back things up. I have a lot of files. Most writers who’ve been in the business a long time have too many files to count, and those files... those words we wrote... are like our babies. We want to protect them. We may never look at them again, but by God we wrote them and we love them. So I remained stuck in my uncomfortable executive chair at a desk I no longer like using a computer that lumbered along like a 90-year-old old man with a cane to create my “babies.” No one knew. The outcome was still good writing, but it took me longer and longer and longer to create. It was time for a shift.

Technology would have her way with me, but not in ways you might think. I still had to be shoved. Technology apparently conspired with Nature to push her agenda. I injured my back one day and developed sciatica, something that used to be just a word to me. For the first two days I couldn’t move. I literally couldn’t move without excrutiating pain shooting from an area in my lower back down my right leg and into my foot. There would be no walking for days to follow. There would be severely limited mobility for three weeks. There would be numbness for two months. In fact, as I type these words, I still can’t feel part of my foot. This random and very painful condition meant that I couldn’t sit at my desk. I would be forced to create a new “bed desk” and function with my laptop, with a fat pillow under my knees. Who knew that the injury would actually be a gift?

The next step was to find places other than my bed and desk from which to work. First around my home and then beyond. My world opened. I realized I really could work from anywhere. I tested my theory and headed to northern California. I then flew to Dallas. I’m happy to report that indeed I can work from anywhere, and meetings can be accomplished via phone and Skype. What’s next? I’ll be setting up a Goggle Helpouts presence to offer online consulting and I’m looking at RVs. All it takes is a little hot spot device and I can stay connected even in the highest of mountains and most barren of deserts. To say the least, I’m thrilled.

When I take my working RV trip, I’ll be sure to share pictures from the road so you can celebrate my new life with me. I’ll be buying myself a nice, new smart pad to help me!

As always, if you have questions or comments – or when you need book promotions assistance – contact me at [email protected].

By Sandra Rea, co-founder of Full Circle Media & Author Promotions

Have you ever gotten stuck listening to someone drone on and on about his/her work, project, goal, passion or family? When this happens you want to be polite, but after the first five minutes what you really want is OUT of the conversation. It’s not a conversation anyway. It’s a diatribe. A one-sided soliloquey. It is painful.

Now, what if you are the speaker in this scenario, endlessly going on and on and on about your topic of interest? Are you guilty of this? Maybe you are but don’t realize it. Maybe you’re oblivious to the pained, blank stares and the let-me-outta-here panic in the listener’s eyes. There’s a way around this. Practice delivering a SHORT elevator pitch and get it down to about 30 seconds. Yes, 30 seconds.

Why so short? Because it needs to be delivered in a short elevator ride in response to the question we as writers, authors and professionals are always waiting to hear: What do you do? I love that question. My elevator pitch is simple and direct, followed by a friendly handing out of my business card. I say…

“Glad you asked. My name is Sandra Rea and I’m a writer. You know all those books you see on the shelves of your favorite bookstore’s non-fiction section? I might have written some of your favorites! I provide writing services of all types. I write and direct websites, blogs, marketing pieces, articles for national publication and almost anything else you can think of except technical writing! I also provide book promotions services and PR. Here’s my card.” The next question is almost always the same. The listener asks, “Have I seen any of your work?” “Yes,” I get to say, “but I’m not at liberty to tell you all of the titles of the book I’ve ghosted.”

I have permission by some of the people I’ve helped with books to share their titles. Remember, as a ghost you are supposed to keep what you do on the down low. Because we help authors in different capacities, I can direct interested parties to our site (and soon our app!) so they can browse our services. I can add, “I’m also an author. Maybe you’ve seen my e-books? And Then My Lawyer Died is one of my more popular books. I’m thinking about taking it to print.” (This title ALWAYS spawns discussion.)

This approach works well on two fronts. First, I keep my elevator pitch short and informative while weaving a little humor into it, which makes what I say more interesting. This means the listener might visit the company site and Google my name. Good for me and our business. Second, if the listener is also a reader, he/she might Google me and find all my titles. They might Google the titles of the books I am allowed to share for authors, too, which means more sales for them.

I have different cards for different settings. Recently I had a card made that covers all bases, which is a great option. I can’t wait to use ’em! I’m sure they’ll start a lot of conversations, which I’m also sure will begin with my short elevator pitch. I have different pitches for different settings, too. You should practice variations in yours. Just keep ’em short and you’ll do well. If people are actually interested in what you have to say, they will ask you follow-up questions. Your answers to each should be short with well-chosen words.

When it comes to your conversation skills, I’ll give you one tip. Be more interested in the listener than you are in sharing your rehearsed information. When you makes the focus more about them thn you it makes you more memorable. They will remember you because you were honestly and actually interested in them and their story. Everyone has a story.

That’s all for now. And, as always, if you have questions, feel free to shoot ’em to me at [email protected]!

(re-posted with permission)

New Smashwords Series Manager Improves Book Discovery

Smashwords today released a powerful new tool called Series Manager that makes series books more discoverable.

Series Manager allows series writers to attach their books to series, and manage multiple aspects of their series metadata.

The new feature is available now in the Smashwords Dashboard under the Series Manager link.

Once authors organize their series titles within Series Manager, readers can easily identify books within a series, or across related series.  Just as importantly, series metadata will give our retailers greater flexibility to promote books within a series.  Let's say, for example, a retailer wants to do a merchandising promotion of the top 50 bestselling Smashwords series that have a free series starter.  Without the series metadata, it would be nearly impossible for Smashwords or our retailer to accurately identify which books are in a series, and in which order.

It's not uncommon for the books in some series to make no reference to their series in the book title, book cover or book description. This makes it difficult for readers to identify all the books in a series, or books in related series, and makes it difficult for retailers to properly merchandise them.  Series Manager helps solve this problem.

With Series Manager, authors can easily attach books - including preorder books - to a series using point and click check boxes. Simply click to your Dashboard, click Series Manager, click Create New Series, then attach the books.  Authors can select from multiple series numbering methodologies such as Book 1, Book 2; or Book I, Book II; or Part 1, Part 2; or no. 1, no. 2; or you can dispense with series number and simply give the series name, such as "Fellowship of the Rings."

Series books can be members of multiple series, all controlled within Smashwords Series Manager

Authors can even connect books that span more than one series.  For example, the Smashwords Style Guide is a member of two series, Smashwords Guides and Smashwords Style Guide Translations.

If you've written series with spinoff series, this is a powerful feature that will make it easier for fans to identify books within a series, and discover new books in your related series.

You can also identify the ideal sequence of books within a series.  For example, if the Star Wars movie series was a book, you might want to designate that the Prequel to episodes 1, 2 and 3 should be enjoyed after the first three in the series.


Smashwords will provide the new series metadata, as input by the author or publisher, to our retailers.  Each retailer will handle the metadata differently.  Some will make use of all the data, and others might cherry pick.  Either way, the improved metadata will make it easier for retailers to enhance the discoverability of Smashwords books today while having the capability to develop improved discoverability features in the future.

The series metadata will also increase the discoverability of series titles in the Smashwords store. Within each book's listing, whether it's on the book's book page or in the search results, we'll display the series to which the book is connected.

If the book is attached to more than one series, then the other series will appear as well.   In the example at left which shows the book page, the Smashwords Style Guide is a member of two series.

Series names are clickable.  Readers can click the series title and view a dedicated series page, such as my page for the Smashwords Guides.  Incorporate the link into your marketing.  If you're doing a marketing campaign around a single series, provide fans a direct to your series page.

We look forward to your feedback as we enhance this feature. See original post here.

By Sandra Rea, Co-Founder, Full Circle Media & Author Promotions

Nothing will ever be perfect. If you are perfectionist, you could actually be holding yourself back from success as a writer or in business. You may wish to argue with me, but I've been in business a long time and I've been a writer for a long time. I've made plenty of mistakes. However, I haven't let them hold me back.

By Sandra Rea

The short answer to this question is YES, but for my money they should be honest. Otherwise, it’s just a scam perpetrated on readers by authors. Of course, that’s just one woman’s opinion. If you don’t agree, it’s easy for you to get a bunch of fake reviews for your book. I’ll explain that in a minute. For now, let’s focus on the potential effects of honest and balanced reviews.

Just today I was moved to make a book purchase based solely on a book review. The review didn’t rate the book highly, so you might wonder why I want to read the book. Because the review was written in a very balanced manner. It covered the good and the bad of the writing. The title is Confessions of a Sociopath, by M.E. Thomas. In this case, the book was about a topic of interest to me. I love psychology. I just can’t seem to get enough of brain games. Sociopaths and borderlines intrigue the heck out of me. They are so very counter to who I am as a human being that I can’t help but want to study them and learn more about them. I want to look at them… at least in the pages of books.

Here is a link to this particular review so you can see why it may have moved me to purchase a book that the reviewer didn’t particular enjoy:

Confessions of a Sociopath, by M.E. Thomas,
reviewed by Jon Ronson at the New York Times

After I read the review I came to one conclusion. I simply must read the memoir of a truly self-absorbed sociopath who explains in her own words her apparent soulessness. That is something unique. It would give me a glimpse into what the author actually thinks of herself and of others, and how she pretended to be nice or thoughtful or caring when in fact she admits to feeling absolutely nothing for other people. If nothing more, it might be a good scare, and who doesn’t enjoy a good scare now and then? Might be better than a horror story!

As an author, I’ve pondered whether I should actively seek book reviews. I’ve decided the answer is yes, but only if I could find logical, balanced, truthful reviewers with a large following because then maybe I’d sell more books. The reviewer may not like the book, but maybe his/her followers would find it interesting enough to hit the buy button online like I did with the sociopath’s book today. I can live with that.

I bring this up because I’m tired of hearing about how authors want only “good” reviews of their work. Why not an honest review instead? As a writer, one must develop a very thick skin. If you can’t take honest input of your work, you need to fix whatever it is that’s broken in your ego. Not everyone is going to like what you write, and that’s okay. Get used to it. Besides, there are plenty of readers who will like everything you write. If you gather honest reviews of your work, you can use their input to improve your writing. If you only want glowing reviews that you paid someone to give you perhaps you are cheating yourself. You are most certainly cheating your potential readers.

Reviewers come in all shapes and sizes, genders and ages. Lots of reviewers don’t charge a dime to give their honest feedback about books. They do it because they find joy in reading and joy in sharing their views. I like these avid readers. I like their contribution to the industry. They are far more useful, in my never-humble opinion, than reviewers who are paid to give authors good reviews. I won’t name the companies that exist solely to provide such positive reviews, but there are quite a few. I feel the same way about these companies as I do about using Yelp for business reviews.

With Yelp, a business owner can (and plenty of them do) pay people to Yelp positively about them, and the Yelpers will do as they have been instructed to get their payment either in dollars or in trade at the retailer’s business. This is true even if the Yelpers have never set foot in the business. This happens more than you might think. A large cyber café in my neighborhood paid yelpers in computer gaming time for saying nice things about the place. This company could afford to do it, and like the good little Yelpers they were, the people who wanted video gaming hours left glowing reviews of the place. In the long run it didn’t help the reputation of that business, but they have a whole bunch of positive reviews online, which might capture some new business now and again. One trip into the actual location would show that the reviews weren’t real, so how does it help in the long run? Aren’t customers still going to walk out disappointed with the customer service or the filthy state of the place? Isn’t that real-life experience going to work again the business over time?

Let’s take that concept back to your book(s). Let’s talk about Amazon reviews. Say you have your book on Amazon and you’re excited. You have heard that if you have a lot of positive reviews on Amazon that your book will get bumped up the ranks and maybe if you get enough reviews your book will be considered a best seller. You ask your friends and loved ones to leave positive five-star reviews. They do it, but they haven’t really read the book. They leave glowing reviews. What happens if your book doesn’t hold up to the reviews? Maybe it has typos and is out of sync or has plot or character consistency issues? Maybe you were in a rush to finish your book and throw it on Amazon, so you didn’t have it edited as deeply as you should have. In short, maybe the book isn’t really ready to be read by the general public that can be a very harsh critic.

Next thing you know, your book is being found by the public. Readers buy your book based on the reviews and maybe some of them are disappointed. The book doesn’t match up with the glowing reviews. What do you think happens next? Does this reader leave you a positive review or does she call you on what she thinks might be going on? Maybe she steps it up a notch and leaves you not only a realistic review but perhaps an angry or very critical review. She might not have done so had your first reviews been fair and balanced and REAL.

On Amazon, you easily browse titles that match your interests. When you find a book you might like to purchase you have the option of scrolling through the reviews section on that book’s page. You think the book looks good. You buy it and await your book either in Kindle format or in print. If the book turns out to be well written and interesting, you’re going to recommend it to other readers. You’ll leave a review if you have the time. But what if the book you just purchased isn’t at all what you were told online that it would be via reviews?

Amazon’s system is not to blame here. The system is abused by authors who ask family and friends to give them positive reviews. I like it when I see an honest review in Amazon from someone who actually read the book and gave accurate feedback, good and bad, about the story. Amazon tries to keep things under control, but it can’t control human nature. Amazon established a rule that you cannot review a book unless you’ve purchased from Amazon in the not-too-distant past, but I can’t say this is a bulletproof failsafe. I know authors who actually cover the cost of the e-book version for reviewers in trade for positive reviews. I’ve also seen posts on fiver and Craigslist by “reviewers” offering to do leave positive remarks for a fee. A very low fee, in fact. I am not shocked. The people posting ads to review books are trying to make a living. What I am shocked by is that so many authors think this is a good idea.

Why do authors participate in seeking fake reviews? Perhaps it’s the pressure to have a top-ranked book on Amazon. That seems to weigh heavily on an author’s mind these days, which makes sense because we all want to be heard above the noise of the massive crowd. With so many books published every year, it becomes more and more difficult to be heard. So people take short cuts. What they may not understand is that top rankings on Amazon or other online book retailer sites doesn’t always imply tremendous boosts in sales figures. The popularity of a book doesn’t automatically equate to sales. But then sometimes it does. For example, being a New York Times bestseller or a USA Today bestseller actually does reflect healthier sales figures. What author wouldn’t want to be top ranked in those lists? Authors who get on those lists get there because their books are popular with readers and they have received a lot HONEST positive reviews. A lot of readers bought their books and shared their recommendations via social media with other readers who bought the books and shared their recommendations online and in the real world. This means so much more than fake reviews. At least to me it does. How about you?

I’d love to hear what you have to say about book reviews. Contact me at info(at)fullcircle-media(dot)com.

Posted with permission.

If you’re an owner of a small business who wants to find inexpensive ways to promote your product or service, listen up. You have options. Download the attached for the full story!

By Sandra Rea

I am asked frequently how I keep writing every day or how an author can get un-stuck when they hit a creative roadblock when writing. The answer might be a little simpler than you think. Just write SOMETHING, I tell them. In all honesty, I get stuck, too, sometimes. At that point, I turn to something else and write a little bit on that other piece, which helps to stimulate the creative process and always seems to help me when I’ve returned to the first piece I’ve been writing. But that is not the only tactic I use.

One surprising thing I recommend for a stuck writer is to get up from her computer and get out of her head for a bit. Take a shower or bath, read a book, sit outside in the sunshine, take a drive, get a couple of errands done or just put her feet up and relax. Watch a favorite show on TV. All of these activities seem counterintuitive to the creative process, but they aren’t. In fact, while doing any of these things, a writer should keep a pen and notebook handy… especially when driving alone in the car. I get some of my BEST ideas during those drives.

Why does getting away from the computer help the brain be more creative? It needs rest, too. I’m blown away sometimes by how I can be sitting at the computer trying unproductively to come up with points for an article or trying to massage interview points into a business profile that is cohesive and makes sense only to find myself staring blankly at the screen, my fingers unwillingly to move. Then I get up and do something. Just for 30 minutes. I sit outside, water the lawn, plant some flowers, do laundry, clean the kitchen or run to the store. When I sit back down at the computer, my creative juices have been recharged and I get through the piece I am writing.

Okay, you say, that might be good for when you’re writing short pieces, but what about my book? How can I get un-stuck when coming up against a wall when writing my book? With every wall, there is a way around the wall. You just have to find it.

First, a book is an ongoing process. It’s mighty rare to hear that an author sat down and wrote an entire book in one sitting. I won’t say that for short books this isn’t possible, but it’s improbable. Otherwise, wouldn’t we all just do that? Second, writing a book starts with a plan, a story outline, character development, etc. A lot of writers type out their outlines and notes so they can refer to them when they get stuck in the writing process. Conversely, some very successful authors I know have a free-flow way of doing things. While they have their basic ideas about the plot, setting(s) and characters, they sort of just let the story happen over time. Sometimes they admit to being just as surprised as the reader is about twists and turns in the plots and the development of characters over the span of the manuscript. If you ask me, that’s sort of like life. One never really knows what’s around the next corner. Hopefully it will be exciting and memorable… and not too heart wrenching. However, there’s plenty of heartache in life. It’s all part of the grand story of our lives, right? Wouldn’t life be a bit boring without some of those up’s and down’s?

When you are writing a book, you’ll hit a few stuck points, especially when you have limited time every day in which to write it. The good news is that you live with your story in your head at all times. Your brain is working on the book even when you are not aware of it! When you sit down at the computer every day, read through your last few pages. That will help jog your creative mind toward taking the next steps. Then start typing. A lot of writing and being successful as a writer is in simply taking action. That’s like everything in life if you think about it. Nothing will happen if you don’t take action steps. As you’ve heard all your adult life, every journey begins with your first step. Baby steps, big steps and giant leaps. I guess what I’m saying is that if you want to have a finished manuscript, you need to keep taking action. Keep writing. Keep jotting down notes about your story and characters. Keep a notepad with you wherever you go, and keep one at your bedside. (I frequently wake with thoughts for a story that I want to remember, so I write the thoughts down.)

If you get stuck in your writing and none of the tactics I’ve presented help you, there’s one more thing you can try. You can play a few creative mind games. Word games are great. And there are some interesting creativity-enhancing card-based programs available to you online that might help get your brain on track. For my money, however, a short drive does the trick!

This piece is meant to be motivational. I am sure you might have a few good ideas that might help other writers get un-stuck. If so, we welcome you to send them in to us at i[email protected]. We can collect them and will credit you for the ideas we use!