The Power of SMALL - Smart Tips for Storytellers

CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE PUBLISHER'S SOUL: 5 Remedies to Protect Your Small Publishing Business from COVID-19 [This post is more for my fellow colleagues in the publishing industry, but anyone with their own business or side gig could benefit from this same recipe for surviving tumultuous times. And, if you are facing an obstacle of a different sort, read on for a little chicken soup.] You may have stocked your personal shelves with soap, toilet paper, medicines, and canned goods, but what would be the equivalent to help your small indy publishing business survive disruptions caused by COVID-19? How vulnerable are you, and what can you do now to protect your business? Look at the publishing events cancelled or postponed to date, and you know the dominoes are falling. Bookstores in high-risk areas around the world show seemingly insurmountable sales loss. We’d like to think books would be the perfect answer to ‘social distancing’ and sheltering in place, but jittery marke...

If you’ve been in a coma the last few weeks of January 2020, then you may have missed the release of American Dirt (Jeanine Cummins, Flatiron Books/ MacMillan, 2020, New York), its synchronous pick for “Oprah’s Book Club,” and the immediate backlash against the author and publisher, as well as Oprah Winfrey, and basically against the entire publishing industry. Two issues were illuminated: First, the claim from certain spokespeople for the Latino community that the Latino voice was grossly misrepresented in the book, written by a “white woman” who they say had no right to speak for them, who stole their identity, and whose publisher made inexcusable errors in both the edit and marketing of the book. I read the book and wrote about this issue, and my take on it, here  in an article titled, "STOP hating on American Dirt - PART I   [Spoiler alert: I don’t entirely disagree, but I still devoured and liked the book.] Second, the assertion that the publishing industry a...

What does Matthew McConaughey share with 90% of Authors? Easy. Both are stars in their very own “Failure to Launch” movie.  While Matthew’s character, Tripp, managed to enjoy a happy ending, it took a powerful motivator to get him to budge; the most powerful motivator, in fact. If you are trapped in your own “failure to launch” scenario, unwilling to fully invest yourself in your book launch or afraid to go this far out of your comfort zone, you may need to get back to your “why.” “It’ll take a stick of dynamite to get me to do a book launch!” Sound like you? Let’s face it. Doing a book launch can be terrifying, costly, and time-consuming. There’s a reason only the powerfully motivated are willing to do it, even though a well-executed book launch can mean all the difference in the success of a new book. The rest of us have to tap in to our mission, that prime motivator that carried us through the painful writing and editing process. We have to remember why we wrote the bo...

Every author struggles with the “M” word – Marketing!   (What word did you think I meant?)   The thought of marketing your own books can strike terror in the hearts of many authors, most of whom, let’s face it, prefer to communicate through the written word. Yet, regardless of what path you take to being published, no one escapes from the need to conquer their fears and face your adoring—or perhaps indifferent, public. The key to overcoming your fear of this interaction is this: it’s not about you. Does your book have a purpose, a message you hope will change someone’s life? Marketing is your way of getting this message into the hands of people who otherwise would never have heard it. Focus on your potential readers; care about them, learn about them, listen to them, and your fear will begin to melt away. Ok, so let’s assume for the balance of this article that you have to take the reins of your own marketing. Now what? Talk to ten different experts on the ...

[If you are a writer or storyteller, a maker or creative genius, this blog is for you, and this is our inaugural post!  From The Power of SMALL Initiative, this blog feeds into the final "L" in S.M.A.L.L: Learners . In highly complicated and ever-changing field of publishing, the only certainty is that we will never be done learning and adjusting. Consequently,  as members of several fantastic publishing and writers' associations, we have access to excellent training, current publishing news, trends, and expert advice. From time to time, we will share what we learn from our peers, industry partners, and the marketplace.] It's our first post! Why not start with a touchy subject: author branding . When I work with my authors on getting their books noticed, by far I receive the most blank stares or uncomfortable resistance when I talk about building their brand. If you have, or intend to have, more than one published book, if you have a vertical market such as spea...