How to reach your readers
12 December 2019
Last month, we cleared your marketing schedule of all the tasks that waste your time. This month, I am going to show you how to perform effective outreach that will...
Finding what works (and doesn’t work) in your marketing plan
28 October 2019
Cultivating an active, long-term fan base for your work is key to becoming a successful independent publisher. However, building a substantial body of work is also critical, so you need...
Know your metadata, and other tips on modern marketing
28 October 2019
When asked to nominate the biggest challenge facing marketers today, publishing consultant Rachael McDiarmid says her answer often surprises: ‘My tip for all marketers is to know your metadata—it’s all...
Your number-one book marketing tool
12 September 2019
Authors often struggle with book marketing or get frustrated with poor returns despite spending more time marketing than writing. Of all the lousy advice a budding author can find online,...
Tenielle Stoltenkamp on securing stockists and reaching schools
12 September 2019
In June, Readings Kids assistant manager Dani Solomon named My Family Doesn’t Look Like Your Family by Tenielle Stoltenkamp as ‘hands down, the most popular’ self-published title stocked at their store. Stoltenkamp...
How the self-publishing industry has changed
8 August 2019
Nigel George is an educator and author of five books on technology and self-publishing. In his first piece for Australian Self Publisher, he surveys the past five years of the...
Offset printing with Ellie Marney
8 August 2019
While print on demand (POD) is the most heavily promoted model of book printing for self-publishers who need physical copies of their books, it’s not the only choice out there....
Self-publishing essentials with Ellie Marney: Promo, marketing and all that jazz (part five)
9 July 2019
Advertising Welcome back! In the last article, we started talking about promoting in concrete ways—you can catch up with that article (and the three before it) right here. Now we’re...
Selling indie authors in bricks-and-mortar stores
9 July 2019
Recently, Readings Kids bookstore in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton ran a self-published children’s books promotion. The two-month-long initiative included a feature window and an in-store display. Australian Self-Publisher spoke...
Excerpt: ‘So You Want to be a Writer’
9 July 2019
In June, the Australian Writers' Centre (AWC) published So You Want to be a Writer, by AWC CEO Valerie Khoo and bestselling author Allison Tait. Sharing the name of the...
Self-publishing essentials with Ellie Marney: promo, marketing and all that jazz (part four)
3 June 2019
Get promoting! We’ve reached the fourth instalment of this series on book promotion—and congratulations! You’ve done all the preparation for marketing your book! You’ve made a marketing plan, figured out...
How do bookstores find out about self-published titles?
3 June 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 bookstore’s shelves—how they find out about new books...
Self-publishing essentials with Ellie Marney: promo, marketing and all that jazz (part three)
30 April 2019
Welcome back! In the first article in this series on book marketing, we explained the difference between promotion and marketing, and why it’s good to have a marketing plan. In...
The author next door: Stocking self-published books
28 March 2019
Kelsey Oldham talks to booksellers about 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,...
Debunking copyright myths for self-publishers
29 November 2018
This month, Jo Teng, a senior lawyer at the Australian Copyright Council, explains Australian copyright for self-publishers. As a self-publisher, you have total control over your book. You get to...
Selling books at Comic-Con: The self-publisher perspective
28 June 2018
While most marketing and promotional strategies are directed online these days, fan conventions can offer self-published authors a way to meet and sell directly to potential readers and add a...
Comic-Con author profile: Marianna Shek
28 June 2018
Describe your latest book in under 50 words. The Stolen Button is a fairytale picture book about a spoilt girl, Mei Ling, who gets lost inside a mirror maze and...
Comic-Con author profile: Felix Long
28 June 2018
Describe your latest book in under 50 words. My latest book is To Conquer Heaven. It follows Jeremy Wang, who has found a clue to the location of the lost...
Comic-Con author profile: Marissa Price
28 June 2018
Describe your latest book in under 50 words. Into the Abyss is Shakespeare meets Outlander. The latest instalment, Scourge of Scotland, is a magical realism novel where worlds collide, based...
Self-publishing essentials with Ellie Marney: the legal checklist
26 April 2018
New to self-publishing? Then it’s important to tick all the legal boxes related to releasing your work, so you don’t run into trouble. It’s particularly worth noting for hybrid authors,...
Self-publishing essentials with Ellie Marney: hybrid authorship
23 March 2018
The publishing industry has gone through big changes in the last few years—and perhaps the biggest change has been the emergence of a new model of authorship. What is a...
Self-publisher essentials with Ellie Marney: tackling distribution
22 February 2018
Author Ellie Marney has experienced two sides of the publishing process, both as a traditionally published author and a self-publisher. Her first book, Every Breath (2013, Allen & Unwin), was...
Double act: Hybrid authors on publishing both ways
18 December 2017
A new breed of hybrid authors are experimenting with self-publishing alongside traditional publishing. Jackie Tang and Andrea Hanke, editors of book industry newsletter Books+Publishing, spoke to John Birmingham, Judy Horacek...
Talkback: Authors and booksellers on stocking self-published books
9 November 2017
With a number of traditionally published authors moving into self-publishing, there’s never been a greater demand for bricks-and-mortar bookstores to stock self-published titles. Books+Publishing's editor-in-chief Andrea Hanke asked hybrid author...
