Online Travel

Blog tours are becoming the new book tours, according to industry experts. By using the Internet to reach readers around the globe, author save time and money on travel costs. Appearing on blogs can have a tremendous impact on book sales. G&P experienced this firsthand when one client, a conservative radio talk show host, wound up with three endorsements from bloggers—and, three days later, an order from Barnes & Noble for 20,000 copies of his book.

On My Own

Once again we see that the independent publishing naysayers are knocking self-publishing. But they are leaving out the most important fact of all: for most self-publishers, there is no choice. The mainstream publishers simply don't want them. However, to suggest that self-publishing is a dead end is a lie. Many traditional publishers even admit that they’ve found their books among the self-published. Even if mainstream publishing is not a writer’s goal, he or she has the right to spend his or her own money and take the chance of self-publishing his or her own work; it’s a gamble, just as mainstream publishers gamble on manuscripts. What’s the difference if you do it on your own?

For John Kremer's Self-Publishing Hall of Fame, go to: http://www.bookmarket.com/selfpublish.html

Between the Pages

Ads in books are making a comeback. Yes, friends, there was a time, back in the ‘60s, ‘70s and ’80s, when paperbacks sported advertisements and not just promotions for the publisher’s other books. These were real ads selling products from music to appliances. Well, get ready for their return: Houghton Mifflin has told the Wall Street Journal that the move is "inevitable." Think about the possibilities for this in e-books, where you can continuously slot in new ads and, better still, tailor them to the reader! E-books may become the new TV shows of the 21st century—selling soap, food, cars, appliances and everything else you find in the traditional media!