Category Archives: publishing strategy

Strategies – both traditional and new – that publishers can use to manage risk and increase profitability

Fifty Shades of Grey (and Green)

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Tom Masters

The book Fifty Shades of Grey, published as the first in a trilogy in 2011 by E L James, turned out to be more than just a surprise bestseller. According to a recent article in  Bloomberg BusinessWeek, it has now … Continue reading →

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Priced to Sell – e-Book Sellers Discover the Hidden Joys of Flexible Pricing

Posted on December 30, 2012 by Tom Masters

There has been a lot of discussion about how to price an e-book over the last few years.  Book pricing conventions from the print world–e.g., 5 times the cost of production or standard retail price points–offer no guidance in the … Continue reading →

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Crowdfunding – The New Way to Fund Book Deals?

Posted on December 24, 2012 by Tom Masters

Self-publishing has been propelled by print on demand technologies that have made it possible to produce books to order and thus control the investment in book inventory.  But many authors have discovered to their dismay that distribution, publicity and marketing … Continue reading →

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The New New Bookstore

Posted on July 23, 2010 by Tom Masters

Just as libraries have been steadily overtaken by technology – in the form of computerized indexes, so too are bookstores now being drawn into the techno vortex.   Commentators have alternately speculated about the death of the book retailer and also … Continue reading →

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Slow Cooked Branding – An Interview with PR Expert Patricia Vaccarino

Posted on February 19, 2010 by Tom Masters

Successful authors – whether intentionally or not – usually develop a strong brand identity for their work and themselves.  In the past, this often entailed an expensive PR and marketing campaign.  Now, the advent of social media has made brand … Continue reading →

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Too Big to FAIL – FAIL Blog to WIN Book

Posted on January 25, 2010 by Tom Masters

The FAIL blog is a blog for our times.  It’s a visual celebration of human foibles and fallability.   The Wikipedia describes the site and its community thus: . . . a comedic blog website originally created by Leechio in January 2008. The blog … Continue reading →

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A New Ecology of Book Publishing

Posted on December 13, 2009 by Tom Masters

Several interlinked shifts are leading to a whole new ecology within book publishing.   First is the loss of jobs in the industry.  Over the past year, for example, employment in print related industries, including book publishing, has fallen by almost … Continue reading →

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Murder She Twote – Here Come the Twitter Novels

Posted on November 15, 2009 by Tom Masters

As social media, like Facebook and Twitter, become more embedded into our lives, it seems only natural that writers would begin exploring how to use them as a new literary medium.  At first glance, it doesn’t seem feasible or sensible to consider … Continue reading →

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How m-books Could Change Reading

Posted on October 11, 2009 by Tom Masters

The day of the m-book (e-books on mobile phones)  is rapidly approaching.  Recently one of the founders of LexCycle, the company that makes the Stanza e-book reader for iPhone, recently spoke at a Book Publishers Northwest meeting.  Stanaza’s numbers are impressive.  … Continue reading →

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The Google Book Un-Settlement

Posted on September 21, 2009 by Tom Masters

The Google Book Settlement has become the stuff of great courtroom fiction – a battle of titans over the future of digital publishing.  Google’s agreement with the American Association of Publishers and the Authors Guild had been plodding along toward … Continue reading →

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