Category: Kelly Speaks

Kelly Speaks, Self-Publishing Week in Review

Self-Publishing Week in Review: 9/10/13

As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry. This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Tuesday to find out the hottest news.

Kerry Wilkinson: ‘It’s not true that self-publishers can only be successful if they sell for under a pound’

Kerry Wilkinson has self-published six books in a crime series. Although he recently signed a 14-book deal, he says he would “definitely” self-publish again. In this article, he talks about his self-publishing experience and his future publishing plans.

The Rise of ‘Hybrid Authors’ Who Have Self-Published and Had Publishers

This article talks about the impact of self-publishing on the publishing industry as well as authors. The writer suggests that the changes have created an author who is “savvier about her prospects in the publishing industry; one who works hard to understand the economics of publishing and make smart decisions; one who knows how to take the job of being an author seriously and market her books.”

How to Set the Right Price for Your Self-Published Book

Choosing the price for your book is an important decision when self-publishing. This article discusses the average price for self-published books, whether you should price your book high or low, the “freemium” strategy, and price pulsing.

If you have other big news to share, please comment below.

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Kelly Speaks, Self-Publishing Week in Review

Self-Publishing Week in Review: 9/03/13

As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry. This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Tuesday to find out the hottest news.

Tasha Harrison on self publishing: ‘I was sick of rejection’

After trying to publish her work through traditional routes for 10 years, Tasha Harrison decided to take control and self-publish. In this article, she talks about her books and her self-publishing experience.

Self-Publishing on a Shoestring

This article shares how to self-publish on a budget. This self-published author suggests writers can self-publish for as low as $5.

Amazon launches Kindle, Kindle Store and self-publishing platform in Mexico

Kindle is now available in Mexico. This allows authors to reach a broader audience and gives writers in Mexico the opportunity to self-publish books.

If you have other big news to share, please comment below.

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

Back to Writing: Publishing Challenge

August is here and as summer is winding down, it’s time to get back to your writing and publishing goals.  Each week this month I will present you with a writing challenge for the week.  Come back every Wednesday to join the challenge and get back into the habit of writing on a regular basis. As Desiderius Erasmus once said, “The desire to write grows with writing.”

Over the past three weeks, I hope I’ve been able to help you get back into writing by completing the poetry challenge, short story challenge, and 15 minute challenge.

Now that you are feeling motivated and inspired to write, perhaps you have started thinking about publishing. Have you been working on a book you want to publish? Or have you always wanted to write and publish something, but haven’t started yet?  This week, your challenge is to set mini writing goals to get you from where you are now to where you want to be: I call this the publishing challenge.  

Let’s say you want to be a published author by the end of the year and you are about half finished with writing your book.  Imagine what you have left to write and set goals for each week in September, October and November (if necessary).  Give yourself some room the last couple of months as the publishing process can take several weeks.

The more you have left to write, the more aggressive your goals may need to be, but challenge yourself to write a chapter a week (or a certain number of pages or a certain number of words) to get you to your end goal of publishing a book by a reasonable date.  Then, discipline yourself to meet your goal each week and be sure to review your goals often to be sure you’re on target.

Good luck and happy writing!

 

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Kelly Speaks, Self-Publishing Week in Review

Self-Publishing Week in Review: 8/27/13

As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry. This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Tuesday to find out the hottest news.

Romance author finds success in self-publishing

Successful self-publishing author Donna Fasano ranked on the USA Today Best Seller’s List. Since becoming a self-published author, she has sold nearly 500,000 books, won the Best Romance Award in the Books And Pals Readers Choice Awards, and is currently a finalist in the eFestival of Words Awards.

Self-Publishing: Here to Say?

This article discusses the history of self-publishing and why it is here to stay. I love that the article begins by talking about Virginia Woolf setting up a small printing press in the front room of her home in 1917. It shows that self-publishing isn’t a new concept; it is just finally getting the respect and attention it deserves.

Outskirts Press Reveals Top 10 Marketing Tactics for July 2013

Outskirts Press recently announced its top 10 marketing tactics for July 2013. This list included numerous Amazon and Barnes and  Noble options as well as customer press releases, personal marketing assistants, and virtual book tours.

If you have other big news to share, please comment below.

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

Back to Writing: 15 Minute Challenge

August is here and as summer is winding down, it’s time to get back to your writing and publishing goals.  Each week this month I will present you with a writing challenge for the week.  Come back every Wednesday to join the challenge and get back into the habit of writing on a regular basis. As Desiderius Erasmus once said, “The desire to write grows with writing.”

Over the past two weeks, I hope I’ve been able to help you get back into writing by completing the poetry challenge and short story challenge. Both of these tasks were designed to get you back into the routine of writing and to get the creative juices flowing. (If you missed the first two challenges, be sure to go back and check them out by clicking the links above.)

This week, I have yet another challenge for you: the 15 minute challenge. Your goal is to write a fiction story with one main character and a crime.  Here’s the catch — you have 15 minutes.  The “rules” are as follows:

1) Set your timer.

Once you are ready to start the challenge, set a timer for 15 minutes. No working on the story before or after your timer is set.

2) Focus on quantity, not quality.

For the 15 minutes, try not to stress about the details. Just write like the wind. Write whatever comes to mind. Don’t worry about fixing mistakes. Just write as much as you can for 15 minutes. You can always go back and “fix” the story later.

3) Keep going.

After completing the challenge you could do a couple of things. 1) You could be proud of yourself for completing the challenge and taking the time to write. You don’t ever have to look at the story again. You completed the goal. 2) You could let the challenge inspire a new project, such as a self-published crime novel. 3) You could decide you like the story and choose to go back and continue working on it.

No matter what you decide to do after completing the challenge, be proud of yourself for taking 15 minutes to write. The more you write, the more likely you are to find success as a writer.

After you complete the challenge, feel free to comment below. I’d love to hear about the story you wrote this week.

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog at http://kellyschuknecht.com.