Category: Features
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From the archive: How do bookshops find out about self-published titles?
This article was first published by Independent Publishing in 2019. For the past few months, Books+Publishing has been asking Australian book buyers—the people responsible for selecting which books are stocked on a bookshop’s shelves—how they find out about new books from self-published authors, as part of its ‘book buyer spotlight’ series. So far, representatives from Big W,…
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Lessons for social media: part three
In this third and final article on social media marketing, RM Marketing Services director Rachael McDiarmid shares her advice on preparing and scheduling social media posts. Social media for independent authors can be quite daunting. Writing, producing and distributing your book has been your focus, but now it’s time to look at the social media…
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Lessons for social media: part two
RM Marketing Services director Rachael McDiarmid shares her advice on developing your social media strategy. As we discussed in our recent article, social media is about starting a discussion. We shared three important lessons: Don’t leave it to the last minute to develop a digital and social media action plan If you don’t think you…
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From the archive: Stocking self-published books
Most Australian bookshops acknowledge that stocking self-published books is important—in theory. In practice, however, store policies are often opaque or ad-hoc, and whether or not a book is stocked is dependent on a number of factors that can vary wildly from author to author—including design, subject matter and price. Unfortunately, despite best intentions, a lot…
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Matt Galanos on the ‘Dane Thorburn’ series
Matt Galanos has a busy day job as chief financial officer of the Australian Turf Club, which owns and runs a number of racing and entertainment facilities across Sydney. He turned to writing—a personal passion of his—during the Covid-19 lockdowns, penning several fantasy fiction novels about a young knight called Dane Thorburn. The third and…
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Eight points to consider before signing with a hybrid publisher
Independent Publishing asked Australian Society of Authors (ASA) CEO Olivia Lanchester whether the ASA had specific advice for authors considering making an agreement with a hybrid publisher. Lanchester’s response is below: Inspect books previously published by that publisher. What is the final editorial and production and printing quality like? Do some simple internet research. Read…