Karen's blog: BookBaby newsletters

Here are the latest BookBaby newsletters for my followers to peruse:

Saturday, July 21, 2018

There’s nothing more satisfying for a writer than to create memorable sentences like these:

“To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.”
— Yann Martel, Life of Pi

Alternatively, how about:

“She held herself very straight, like Audrey Hepburn, whom all women idolize and men never think about.”
— Jeffery Eugenides, The Virgin Suicides

And this one is probably my favorite:

“A book should be an axe to chop open the frozen sea inside us.”
— J.M. Coetzee, Summertime (from Franz Kafka)

My writing doesn’t compare to these classics. However, it’s a good idea for us to focus in on individual sentences at times to get the most out of our writing.

BookBaby blog contributor Dawn Field has some ideas about how you can do a quality test on your sentences. She wrote a popular post for us last May, and you can read it here.

Finally: Here’s a fun story about how France’s first independent bookstore, Librairie Mollat, has carved a unique niche on Instagram with its #bookface portraits. Have a look here.

All the best,

Steven Spatz
President, BookBaby

Learn more

Self-publishing is all about you. It’s about making your book on your terms, not doing everything on your own. You come first—your questions, your problems, and your needs. And while CreateSpace is ending its editing, design, and marketing services for authors, we’ll always be here for you.

Here are three ways we can help you make your book its best:

Book Editing

Give your manuscript a fresh pair of eyes with professional copy and line editing priced for independent authors. Learn more.

Cover Design

It’s not just a look. It’s a necessity. Our pro designers will help you convey your book’s themes and stop readers in their tracks. Learn more.

Book Marketing

Readers can’t love your book if they can’t find it. Learn how to engage your readers and sell more books with expert-led mentorship by Smith Publicity. Learn more.

Don’t take our word for it

“It was my first time using BookBaby after publishing my first four books with CreateSpace. I am completely happy with BookBaby’s service and will use them again for book six.” — Marie Gilbert

Not sure where to begin? Let’s find your self-publishing starting point today.

Learn more

Featured Article:
Voices silenced: 12 authors who died in 2017

We take a moment to recognize 12 notable contributors to the written word who passed last year. Please, populate the comments with tributes to those who meant the most to you. Read more.

How to read, edit, and evaluate your writing with fresh eyes

Reviewing your own writing from an editor’s perspective can be a challenge, even for experienced writers. Here are strategies that can help you bring fresh eyes to your own written work. Read more.

Five things you need as you begin a career as a self-published author

The most important part of being a writer is writing, but if you want a career as a self-published author, you have to do a whole lot more than just write: you have to learn the business of writing and market yourself. Read more.

How to improve your author website

Your author website is a reflection of you as a writer and of your book as a work of art. It pays to make sure it is as enticing as the story you’ve spent months (or years) laboring over. Read more.

The five emotional stages of publishing a book

You’ve finished writing your book! Well, hold on tight because you’re on a wild roller coaster, and while that ride takes you to remarkable highs, it plummets to lows you never imagined. Welcome to the emotional stages of publishing a book. Read more.

What’s the best way to publish on Amazon? With BookBaby. See how we make it easy to publish, promote, and sell your book on Amazon.

Top Stories:

Things I wish I had known before self-publishing my book

How to get holiday book sales: Steps 1-3

Read, study, and learn from free book samples

The delights and dangers of first-person narration

Conducting interviews for research: Identifying and contacting expert sources

Make a plan to start writing your book

Get 300 books. Save 300 bucks. Use code EM300OFF at checkout.

Saturday, July 14, 2018

Season’s Greetings,

That message might seem a little odd—or extremely early—as the nation is baking in the extreme summer heat. But if you still hope to get your yet-to-be-completed manuscript published in time for the holidays, Christmas is practically tomorrow.

Now you know my feelings about indie authors trying for a big holiday book release. Basically, my message is to publish anytime you like! But if you’re bound and determined to have your book show up under Christmas trees around the globe, we need to get you on schedule.

Each July we publish our handy holiday book checklist and calendar, so authors understand what needs to be done when. It’s on the BookBaby blog right here.

I’ll leave you this morning with a fascinating mystery! When a strange document appeared in her shop, an Australian bookseller turned detective. Here’s the rest of the story.

All the best,

Steven Spatz
President, BookBaby

Get 100 Books. Save $100. Use code 100OFFBOOK at checkout.

Getting printed books as beautiful as you imagined? That’s great.

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So here’s the deal: buy 100 printed books and you’ll save $100. All you have to do is use code 100OFFBOOK at checkout.

Why print your book with BookBaby?

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A wide variety of trim sizes, paper stocks, and other options.
Have your books ready in as fast as 5 days.

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Offer ends 7/31/18. This offer is non-transferable and cannot be combined with any other coupon.

Featured Article:
Things I wish I had known before self-publishing my book

The first time I self-published, I was new to the process and endured many failures before I finally held my book in my hand. Here are nine things I wish I had known about self-publishing before starting the process. Read more.

How to get holiday book sales: Steps 1-3

Christmas in July? It’s not too early to start thinking about holiday book sales. Here are three of the most effective, tried-and-true tactics and strategies we’ve seen authors use to hit it big at the cash register. Read more.

Read, study, and learn from free book samples

Browsing book samples refines your knowledge and can give you a way to measure your own writing. How does your book’s opening compare to the classics? Read more.