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September 5, 2020 by Laura Resnick

Nink: Social Media Promotion, Part 2 ~ Best Practices for 2020

This article, written by Mindy Klasky  is from the September 2020 edition of Nink, the monthly newsletter of Novelists, Inc.  (NINC). Nink, which is packed each month with informative articles for career novelists, is a benefit of NINC membership. 

Author Note: Social media remain a linchpin for many authors’ promotional efforts. This article outlines current best practices for five relatively under-utilized social media networks: LinkedIn, Snapchat, TikTok, WeChat, and WhatsApp. (It also includes a brief update about Tumblr.) Last month, we looked at some of the more established players in the field: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube. Please note, paid advertising on social media platforms is beyond the scope of this article.

Editor’s Note: As of Aug. 6, President Donald Trump issued an executive order which will ban any US companies or citizens from making transactions with ByteDance, the parent company of the video-sharing social networking service TikTok, in 45 days. Trump also issued an order taking similar action against Tencent, the Chinese company that owns WeChat. On Aug. 5, Instagram debuted Reels, its version of TikTok.

 * * *

New social media networks seem to pop up every day, and as they do, authors might want to target these apps, even if there is no guarantee they will be around, for these networks attract users who are international and young. Each platform’s unique rules and configurations encourage users to develop new modes of engaging users. As with legacy social media, savvy promoters choose platforms that play to their strengths, keeping abreast of changes at those sites.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn was created specifically to connect business partners (sometimes referred to as building “B2B leads”). According to LinkedIn, the network includes over 660 million users in more than 200 countries. While some authors use LinkedIn as yet another platform to correspond with readers, the network’s strength is in bringing together publishing professionals—authors, book designers, editors, publishers, etc.—to discuss matters specifically related to the publishing business. The following best practices, therefore, focus on that business mission, rather than on socializing with readers.

  1. Optimize your profile. LinkedIn’s algorithms favor profiles that list at least five relevant skills, include a professional profile picture with an appropriate background photo, and are complete with up-to-date information. LinkedIn recently added a “Services” feature helping members highlight their range of services; authors should complete that profile section. Users can endorse the skills of business colleagues, which frequently leads to reciprocal endorsements. They can also request recommendations (personal testimonials).
  2. Be engaged. LinkedIn’s algorithms reward engagement. Therefore, users should be active.  Follow industry influencers, comment, message, add connections, and otherwise interact with other members on the site.
  3. Create long-form content. The most successful content on LinkedIn solves members’ problems by providing specific answers to users’ questions. How-to information and lists result in the most popular posts. Individual entries can run up to 1300 characters; titles of 40-49 characters perform best.
  4. Build real relationships. LinkedIn users tend to be savvy business people who don’t respond well to spam, hard-sell messages, or general posts. But users who focus on building true business relationships through the system see responses. For example, LinkedIn claims that its in-system messages (“InMail”) are 300 times more likely to receive a reply than a standard email.
  5. Observe traditional business hours. Because LinkedIn is primarily a business tool, its users are most active during traditional business hours midweek—from 8 a.m. Tuesday to 4 p.m. Thursday. Users tend to be less responsive on Mondays (when they’re catching up from a weekend off) or on Fridays (when they’re preparing to leave the office for the weekend.)

Snapchat

Snapchat is a social media network with more than 218 million daily users, the majority of whom are under 35. The mobile-phone app allows members to post “snaps”, photos and short videos that can be modified with filters, stickers, and text. Each snap has a timer, limiting how many seconds that snap can be viewed. “Stories” made of multiple snaps persist for 24 hours. (Snaps can also be saved as screenshots.) In 2019, rumors flourished that Snapchat was losing business; however, its parent company set a new record for quarterly revenue in the first quarter of 2020. Therefore, Snapchat seems likely to stick around, at least for a while.

  1. Be original. Snapchat users enjoy access to exclusive material that isn’t available on any other platform. Originality is more important than perfect photo composition, lighting, or other formatting.
  2. Show “behind the scenes” activities. Snapchat users love the impression of participating in everyday moments of one another’s lives. This makes the platform especially useful for teasing not-yet-released books, including pre-orders. Authors can also share live events, writing conferences, or one-off celebrations, such as selling the 10,000th copy of a book.
  3. Be succinct. Snapchat users are looking for fun, quick interactions. Users tend to be distracted easily; therefore, stories should be no longer than two minutes. Strip all unnecessary information from your posts.
  4. Post frequently. Since snaps disappear in 24 hours or less, frequent posting is vital to preserve your Snapchat presence. At a minimum, you should post 1-5 times each day.
  5. Partner with influencers. Like other social media network, Snapchat has established influencers who court numerous followers. Connect with influencers in your genre to spread information about your books.

TikTok

TikTok is a social media network offering short (15 seconds, by default) video content. It boasts 800 million active users, 41% of whom are 16-24 years old. The average user spends almost an hour a day on the mobile phone app. As of Aug. 5, Chinese tech company ByteDance owns TikTok.  Because of alleged national security concerns, some companies and the military have banned employees from putting the app on their phones.

  1. Complete your profile. At the moment, only select users are allowed to add a website link to their bio; however, all users can add Instagram and YouTube profiles to their TikTok profiles. (TikTok and Instagram seem to have a substantial affinity for identical or similar content; however, the feed post dimensions differ.  Instragram feed posts are 4:5; TikTok videos are 16:9.)
  2. Follow the trends. Music and dance are hugely popular, with many videos earning “copycat” viral spread. Other popular trends include lip syncs, fitness workouts, pranks, and a wide range of challenges.
  3. Make videos fun. Keep your posts humorous, and don’t attempt to engage in serious communication. TikTok’s short videos are intended to be “snacks,” not rigorous nutrition.
  4. Create unique content. TikTok users expect unique content, created and distributed within the app. Repurposed content is typically ignored; some users will call out repurposing and urge others to mock it.
  5. Unclear algorithms. TikTok is so new that no industry leaders have fully parsed its algorithms. Nevertheless, it seems as if those algorithms begin by spreading videos based on similar geo-locations. Using trending hashtags and sounds seems to boost discoverability as well. Videos (even older ones) can go viral in a flash, often because a hashtag or a sound spikes in popularity.

Tumblr

Tumblr is included on this list of  social media platforms, but its network has largely fallen into disuse. Extensive research on best practices revealed no articles more recent than 2018, with most of the articles substantially predating that. Current user data was virtually non-existent from any credible source. Therefore, authors are likely better served to focus on other platforms.

WeChat

WeChat is a social media network based in China. Its “Moments” platform allows users to post images, text, and short videos. Moments can be linked to Facebook and Twitter accounts. WeChat’s more than one billion monthly users are regularly tracked by Chinese authorities. The service censors topics it believes Chinese authorities will consider politically sensitive. At present, very little content at WeChat goes viral.

  1. Target Chinese citizens living overseas. Many Chinese citizens live abroad as students or as residents. They’re prime contacts for this evolving social media network.
  2. KOL v. KOC. WeChat doesn’t have “influencers” like those found on US-based sites. Rather, there are Key Opinion Leaders (KOL) and Key Opinion Consumers (KOC). KOLs build up large numbers of followers, and they accept money to promote goods or services. They don’t, however, yet have the social legitimacy to make posts go viral. Instead, KOCs are perceived by many users to be less cynical and less likely to have their opinions purchased by outsiders. Even though KOCs have smaller groups of followers than KOLs, they might actually have greater influence. Focus on finding KOCs who communicate with people likely to read your books.
  3. Follow the format. WeChat posts resemble blog posts. When crafting posts, maintain user interest by getting to your main point quickly. Finish strongly, in hopes of getting users to click the “Wow” button.
  4. Hone content. WeChat posts aren’t likely to be seen by a large community of users. Therefore, it’s very important to have a specific goal for each post—provide book launch information, inform readers about sales, etc.
  5. Harness in-app search. WeChat has an internal search feature designed to help users find specific content amid the huge number of posts made on the platform. Standard SEO practices (e.g., including strong keywords in titles and headings) is important to make the best use of this feature.

WhatsApp

WhatsApp is a social media network with two billion users located primarily in India, Brazil, and other non-US countries. (WhatsApp was acquired by Facebook in 2014, but it has been maintained as a separate platform.) While it began as a messaging service, allowing users to send text messages to other users’ telephone numbers, it now permits users to share media. Its simplicity, encryption of files, and refusal to share information with third parties have proven attractive to younger users. Users have a median age of 36, and 71% of all users are in the age bracket 18-44.

  1. Get permission. WhatsApp terms of service prohibit you from searching for or buying contacts. Instead, you must ask users to share their phone numbers with you or to message you first. This restriction results in an audience that is highly motivated to hear what you have to say.
  2. Engage with your contacts. WhatsApp messages enjoy extremely high engagement rates. According to HootSuite, 98% of WhatsApp mobile messages are opened and read, and 90% of those messages receive a response within three seconds of receipt. Harness this engagement by actively communicating with your WhatsApp contacts.
  3. Keep it short. One marketing firm found that its WhatsApp messages enjoyed the most engagement when they were 15 words or shorter.
  4. Do not share newsletters. Mass-mailing users is strictly forbidden by WhatsApp’s terms of service. The app reserves the right to sue any user who distributes newsletters or similar communications through the service.
  5. Consider doing consumer research. WhatsApp Business (a separate, pay-to-play service that runs on the WhatsApp platform) provides many tools for consumer research. Business users can ask direct questions, send surveys and polls, and respond to individual queries, such as customer-service complaints.

________________________

USA Today bestselling author Mindy Klasky learned to read when her parents shoved a book in her hands and told her she could travel anywhere through stories. As a writer, Mindy has traveled through various genres, including romantic comedy, hot contemporary romance, and traditional fantasy. In her spare time, Mindy knits, quilts, and tries to tame her to-be-read shelf.

Filed Under: Nink Tagged With: brand, branding, career, Discovery, hashtags, marketing, PR, promotion, social media

August 5, 2020 by Laura Resnick

Nink: Social Media Promotion, Part 1 ~ Best Practices for 2020

This article, written by Mindy Klasky  is from the August 2020 edition of Nink, the monthly newsletter of Novelists, Inc.  (NINC). Nink, which is packed each month with informative articles for career novelists, is a benefit of NINC membership. 

Author Note: Social media remain a linchpin for many authors’ promotional efforts. This article outlines five current best practices for five of the oldest, best-established social media networks: Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and YouTube. Next month, we’ll look at some newer players in the field, including LinkedIn, Snapchat, Tik-tok, Tumblr, WeChat, and What's App. Please note, paid advertising on social media platforms is beyond the scope of this article.

No author can possibly interact with readers on all social media channels; there simply aren’t enough hours in the day. Successful promoters pick and choose among platforms, selecting the ones that play to their strengths (e.g., long and detailed essays, short and witty observations, photos, or video.)

While many services allow authors to create one post and disseminate it across multiple platforms, those distributed posts might not put the author in the best promotional light, because each platform’s users expect interactions consistent with the platform’s design. (For example, Twitter’s 280-character limit means that a long, insightful observation about the publishing industry will be reduced to a hyperlink or Twitter thread many users will never follow.)

The following best practices should help authors identify the social media networks most in line with their skill sets. All facts and figures on social media usage cited below come from the Pew Research Center’s Social Media Fact Sheet, which was last updated June 12, 2019.

Facebook

Facebook, the second-most-popular social media platform in the United States (after YouTube), counts approximately 69% of US adults as users. Among all Facebook users, 74% visit the site daily, and an additional 17% visit the site weekly.

Facebook applies complicated often-changing algorithms to determine which posts to show to which accounts. While the precise nature of those algorithms is secret, the system favors posts that generate a great deal of interaction (likes, shares, and comments) from users. In recent months, the algorithms seem to favor the distribution of posts from the profiles of family and friends over those of commercial pages.

  1. Polish your cover photo. (“Cover photo” is Facebook’s term for the banner at the top of a profile, page, or group; it is not the “profile picture,” which is often a user’s portrait.) Your cover photo, which is your first chance to snag a passing user and make them a fan, should reflect your brand, instantly conveying your genre and your specific books. View your cover photo on multiple devices; the entire photo is not visible on mobile devices. As there are still millions of users who access Facebook via computer make sure your cover is optimized for that platform. The new desktop interface places a user’s profile picture in the bottom center of their cover photo (a change from past placement, to the lower left.)
  2. Engage your followers. Facebook’s algorithms promote posts that receive a lot of engagement. Therefore, authors should post with the specific goal of creating interaction. Consider asking direct questions (especially ones with easy, straightforward answers). Acknowledge responses to your posts by clicking “like,” adding stickers, or making a comment. (Those acknowledgments build a personal bond with your followers. At the same time, they increase your points of contact with your followers for future Facebook algorithms.)
  3. Use videos and images. According to Social Media Today, more than 8 billion videos are viewed on Facebook every day. Still photos, memes, and other images also catch readers’ eyes as Facebook posts scroll by. Similarly, short text-based posts stand out when accompanied by one of Facebook’s prepared background designs.
  4. Create groups. While Facebook notoriously limits the visibility of posts to profiles and pages, they give far greater visibility to posts made in groups. Rumors abound that Facebook will start to charge for group; however, no charges are yet in effect. Your groups can be relatively small (e.g., a street team or an ARC team) or quite expansive (e.g., a book club for your genre.) Many authors foster the appearance of exclusivity by making their groups private.
  5. Avoid hashtags. While Facebook supports hashtags, they are not commonly used on the site. If you do use hashtags, never use more than two in a single post. Multiple hashtags may send a message to Facebook’s algorithms that your post originated on another social media network.

Instagram

Approximately 37% of US adults use Instagram, with 63% visiting the site daily and another 21% visiting the site weekly.

  1. Deliver quality posts. Of course, all social media require quality posts—but quality photos really matter for Instagram. Learn your camera’s settings. Consider creating a uniform feel by using the same filter on all your posts or by adopting a color scheme for specific periods of time.
  2. Use hashtags. Instagram followers respond well to two types of hashtags: A) Long, witty, and entertaining hashtags that may be unique within the Instagram world and B) Precise, common hashtags that link communities of users. Study the hashtags commonly used by authors in your genre and plug into their networks.
  3. Use stories. Stories are built from images and video, with added text, GIFs, stickers, filters, and polls. They last for 24 hours before disappearing from your feed.
  4. Run a contest. The best contests are simple ones—ask your followers to comment on one of your posts, then select a winner. You don’t have to give away expensive new technology like a Kindle or an iPad; instead, you can award your own ebooks. If you run a contest, make sure you follow Instagram’s rules.
  5. Remain social. Perhaps because of the relatively sparse textual interaction on Instagram, many users forget to engage with their followers. Respond to comments, answer questions, and thank people who compliment your posts.

Pinterest

Approximately 28% of US adults use Pinterest. Statistics about daily and weekly visits are not readily available.

  1. Pin fresh content. Fresh content goes beyond merely adding new pins. Rather, Pinterest wants to encourage the addition of pins that aren’t available anywhere else on its site. If your pin isn’t unique, consider adding unique (but relevant) titles, using a different font in the text overlay, and using different graphics, patterns, or colors. (Generally, it’s not sufficient to use only one of those methods to create content considered “fresh” by the Pinterest algorithms.)
  2. Pin the most important items first. The first five pins you post each day will get more engagement than the rest of your board, no matter what time of day you make those pins. Consider which items are most important and pin them first.
  3. Emphasize quality over volume. Pinterest finds more value in quality pins (fresh content, quality images, etc.) than in the number of pins you make. Use your limited social media time to create consistently good pins, rather than a multitude of mediocre ones.
  4. Use keywords. Keywords increase the value of your pins to Pinterest users. Use keywords in descriptions, focusing on the terms a user is most likely to type when trying to find content like yours. When possible, include relevant keywords in your profile and board descriptions.
  5. Limit use of group boards. Pinterest created group boards to allow communication about specific, limited content. Over time, those group boards became ways for authors and others to cross promote. Pinterest has now indicated that it will provide greater distribution of relevant individual boards, rather than group boards.

Twitter

Approximately 22% of US adults use Twitter, with 42% visiting the site daily and another 29% visiting the site weekly.

  1. Optimize your profile. Make sure your handle is short and simple, without extra characters. (Consider creating a new account if your handle is hard to use and remember.) Review your bio, the first thing on your profile that most people will see when they consider following you. Don’t forget to use relevant hashtags to integrate your profile into existing Twitter communities.
  2. Pin a tweet. Create your very best content, and then pin it to the top of your feed. Along with your bio, a pinned tweet is your “first impression” to newcomers. Consistently put your best foot forward, including when you change your pinned tweet when launching a new book or series.
  3. Build relevant followers. Early marketing efforts on Twitter emphasized increasing the number of followers and harvesting contacts without regard to how relevant those accounts were to yours. Contemporary best practices emphasize building relevant followers—authors, readers, agents, editors, etc. Consider trimming your list of followers so that you’re only broadcasting to people who are interested in you, your books, and your genre.
  4. Engage your followers. As with most forms of social media, followers want to communicate with the genuine “you” (or, at least, your genuine author persona); they aren’t looking for sales pitches and endless promotion. The oft-cited 80/20 rule remains a useful guideline—spend 80% of your time engaging with your followers and only 20% selling to them. (Engagement includes responding to your followers’ tweets, retweeting, and @mentioning others. You might also ask relevant questions, conduct polls, and tweet about trending news. Humorous accounts tend to thrive on Twitter—possibly as an antidote to the flamewars that tend to rage on the platform.)
  5. Use visuals. As with other social media, visuals are increasingly important. Followers engage more with photos, videos, and other media than they do with long strings of hashtags.

YouTube

YouTube, unlike other social media, functions as a search engine, allowing users to initiate research queries. Arguably, this “search engine” function exists separately from the site’s “social media” function. Nevertheless, approximately 51% of US adults visit YouTube daily and another 32% visit weekly, making YouTube the most popular social media site in the country.

  1. Create quality content. YouTube’s primary goal is keeping viewers watching. Therefore, the site’s algorithms heavily favor “sticky” videos, so create your videos with that goal. Eliminate fluff from your introductions, and get to the meat quickly. Script your videos so you don’t have dull moments where a viewer might exit.  Provide interesting visuals, like graphics, animations, and changing backgrounds to break up your speaking.
  2. Optimize your title. You want viewers to choose your video over all the others reported following a search. To maintain energy, keep your titles short, use relevant keywords, and keep in mind the words and phrases people are likely to use when searching for videos like yours
  3. Use compelling thumbnails. Most of your viewers are going to see your thumbnail at a tiny size. Therefore, use bright, contrasting colors (ideally not red, white, or black, because those are the colors YouTube uses for its own design.)
  4. Create playlists. Remember—YouTube wants to keep people on its platform. Playlists make that easy, by presenting viewers with jumping off points for their next video. Create playlists for your videos and display them on your channel page.
  5. Recruit subscribers. Once you’ve invested time and energy in getting people to watch a video, you want them to watch all your future videos. Encourage them to subscribe to your channel. Add a Subscribe button to every end screen, to capture people before they leave the “territory” that you control.

________________________

USA Today bestselling author Mindy Klasky learned to read when her parents shoved a book in her hands and told her she could travel anywhere through stories. As a writer, Mindy has traveled through various genres, including romantic comedy, hot contemporary romance, and traditional fantasy. In her spare time, Mindy knits, quilts, and tries to tame her to-be-read shelf.

Filed Under: Nink Tagged With: brand, branding, career, Discovery, hashtags, marketing, PR, promotion, social media

September 5, 2019 by Laura Resnick

Nink Knowledge: Self-Published eBooks and the Library Market (Access Isn’t Everything)

This article, written by Edie Claire, is from the September 2019 edition of Nink, the monthly newsletter of Novelists, Inc.  (NINC). Nink, which is packed each month with informative articles for career novelists, is a benefit of NINC membership. 

#

Ever since Smashwords broke into the library market in 2014 by distributing self-published ebooks to OverDrive, library access has only gotten easier. Now indies can get their ebooks listed on OverDrive through a variety of distributors including Draft2Digital, PublishDrive, and Kobo (now a sister company to OverDrive, under their Rakuten parent). But merely checking that little “distribute to” box isn’t likely to result in actual sales. There are multiple—and largely invisible—hurdles between self-published authors and acquiring librarians, and overcoming these obstacles will require some dedicated effort.

The Bad News, part one: Discoverability

For a glimpse into how librarians make ebook purchasing choices, I interviewed Mary Lee Hart, the collection development librarian at my local library. As expected, the primary goal of library acquisitions is to anticipate which books will be most demanded by patrons. Hence, the largest part of the purchasing budget will go toward bestsellers promoted by the Big Five. The ranks will be further filled out by books receiving positive reviews in the tried-and-true print media with which librarians like Hart are already familiar. But while some of these discovery vehicles (such as Kirkus Reviews and Ingram’s Advance catalog) are open to self-published works, the playing field is far from even. Paid reviews are generally designated as such. Sponsored slots in Ingram’s print catalog are relegated to the back under the dubious heading of “Publisher Selects.” And even those vehicles supposedly devoted to the underserved, such as Foreword Reviews, have terms incompatible with a commercial self-publishing model, such as requiring submission of a manuscript for review at least four months before its release. In fact, the whole traditional model of library acquisition, built around buying new releases while they’re hot, is a poor fit with the slow-build, long-tail pattern of professional self-publishing.

Acquiring librarians do reserve a portion of the budget for books other than current bestsellers. But librarians have little motivation to search specifically in buckets devoted to self-published titles, particularly when most individuals lack an understanding of the difference between a hobbyist writer and a professional self-published-by-choice novelist. For the same reason, any author attempt at direct marketing to librarians is highly likely to wind up in the trash bin.

The Bad News, part two: Ease of Purchase

While libraries can purchase ebooks from a variety of vendors, the reality is that around 90 percent of U.S. public libraries source their ebooks from OverDrive. OverDrive seems preferred not only because of the breadth of media in its catalog, but also because of easy-to-use apps, which libraries rely on for digital lending. The company’s main competitors, Baker and Taylor Axis 360, Bibliotheca, and Odilo, still command only a minor slice of the pie. But while self-published authors can list titles with OverDrive through various distributors, authors cannot see how those titles are being presented to librarians because OverDrive’s library “Marketplace” is not public-facing.

Curious whether my own titles were as visible as their traditionally published counterparts, I consulted Hart. In accordance with OverDrive’s TOS, the library could not offer me a firsthand look at its dedicated interface. But I was provided with some general information. Like most online catalogs, OverDrive makes searching easy with a prominently placed search box. Yet, a search for my books brought up absolutely nothing, even though I distribute to OverDrive via both Kobo and a direct OverDrive publisher account. My books could only be reached by opening up a drop-down menu under the main search bar and then scrolling down to an option labeled “Self-published.”

Finally, a little good news

Publishing may have changed drastically in the last decade, but the motivation of acquisitions librarians has not: they seek to buy whatever materials best serve their patrons. Herein lies the single most powerful strategy for the self-published: patron recommendations. When I polled my Facebook readers about their library use, I was surprised. Many not only regularly borrowed ebooks from the library, but my readers also knew how to request titles for purchase. One reader informed me that he frequently made recommendations; so far his library has bought every one of them. Hart confirmed that my library system not only considers every request but buys the majority. If the author or publisher is an unknown quantity, the purchase decision may come down to price. But any ebook costing single digits is generally considered worth a shot.

Patrons can submit book requests through the same OverDrive interface they use for borrowing. Some libraries have a “recommend” option associated with their own local online catalog, others use a physical suggestion box with paper slips, and many use a combination. But in this case, OverDrive’s domination of the market is of significant benefit to self-published authors because a patron’s search for a book to recommend includes all OverDrive titles. With one click, your loyal reader can send a request straight to their acquisitions librarian—complete with a dedicated link to your book.

The distribution question

OverDrive customer support says it makes no difference how your titles are submitted to OverDrive. Yet, my own experimentation revealed certain variations. Considering the relative difficulty of using an OverDrive publisher account (which requires Excel-formatted metadata and FTP file transfer), I had hoped this distribution method might save me from the self-published dungeon. It did not, although rumor suggests that others might have had better luck. But one advantage a direct account does offer is access to OverDrive’s free merchandising opportunities, such as their e-newsletters and seasonal focus campaigns. Whether these are effective sales tools is an open question.

Another difference I stumbled upon was that the route by which a title reaches OverDrive affects whether or not that book is “available on Kindle” after purchase. It’s not a matter of providing a mobi file; when a Kindle-compatible ebook is borrowed via OverDrive, the borrower is rerouted to Amazon.com for the actual download. Rather, it’s a contractual matter. Books distributed directly through OverDrive show as Kindle-compatible. Ebooks distributed through Kobo (as their customer service confirmed) will not. Draft2Digital’s customer service asserted that its contract with OverDrive does require Kindle-compatibility, although D2D has experienced some delays in execution.

How much does Kindle-compatibility matter? Since Kindle Fires and other tablets can read ePubs in apps, the only devices affected are e-ink versions like the Paperwhite. Older Kindle ereaders (like my trusty 3rd generation with keyboard) can’t handle library loans in any event. When I queried the librarian who buys fiction at my local branch, she said that although she preferred Kindle-compatibility, lack of it wasn’t a deal-breaker.

Royalties on library purchases differ slightly among the distributors, with OverDrive and Kobo paying 50 percent of list price and Smashwords offering 45 percent. Draft2Digital pays 46.75 percent and offers the option of Cost per Checkout as well as One Copy, One User pricing.

And now, it’s up to your readers

Getting your books into libraries is a two-part process of distribution and patron action. My personal attempt at the second part involves a clickable “Read At the Library” button in the footer of every page of my website, combined with a downloadable PDF giving specific instructions on how to request my (or any other favored author’s) books. (Check it out at www.edieclaire.com.) I’ve told my readers that I’ve done all I could to make my books available for borrowing through libraries. Now, it’s up to them.

 

________________________

         

Edie Claire is a USA-Today bestselling author of 26 novels of mystery, romantic and women’s fiction, and humor. She was first published traditionally in 1999 but went indie in 2009 and has never looked back. 

Filed Under: Nink Tagged With: Discovery, Distributors, indie, libraries, library distribution, Publishing

May 22, 2017 by Laura Hayden

NINC DISCOVERY GUEST UPDATE – SHAWL

Nisi ShawlWho's coming to NINC DISCOVERY 2017?

Nisi Shawl

Nisi is an African-American writer, editor, and journalist. She is best known as an author of science fiction and fantasy short stories who writes and teaches about how fantastic fiction might reflect real-world diversity of gender, sexual orientation, race, colonialism, physical ability, age, and other sociocultural factors.

Quick links--Learn more about:

  • Nisi's website
  • Interview with Nisi at Fantasy Book Cafe

Filed Under: News Tagged With: 2017, Discovery

January 5, 2017 by Erica Ridley

NINC 2017 Conference: Discovery!

In 2017, NINC is all about discoverability!

Join us at the Tradewinds resort in St. Petersburg, Florida from Oct 4 - Oct 8, 2017!

REGISTER HERE:

  • MEMBER Registration
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And don't miss:

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Plus:

  • Buy PROGRAM ADS
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Got questions? Let us know!

Filed Under: News Tagged With: 2017, Conference, Discovery

NINC CONFERENCE

NINC 2020: THE FUTURE IS NOW

Future member? Join NINC for access to great, highly detailed post-conference workshop writeups in the Nink newsletter!

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NINC members are the savviest multi-published fiction writers in the business. We’d love to share our collective knowledge with you!

If you:

  • are a novelist
  • of at least TWO works
  • traditionally AND/OR indie published
  • of at least 30,000 words
  • earning a $2000+ advance OR
  • $2000+ over 12 consecutive months with a traditional publisher OR
  • $5000+ over 12 consecutive months as an indie title

 

Then JOIN NOW to become a member of 1000+ professionals and bestselling authors today!

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Conference FAQ

  • About the NINC Conference
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  • Future Conferences
  • President’s Voice/July 2020
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      • Request “Approved Industry Guest” Status

Members Only Options

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