Three Critical Ingredients Your Book Marketing Strategy Needs for Long-Term Impact

By Elizabeth Marshall Over the past 20 years, the publishing landscape has evolved dramatically. Tactics and trends have come and gone, only to return in new forms. New factors, such as AI, have created significant disruption. As a result, it’s easy to feel confused about which strategies to follow.  Despite all the changes, some things […]

New Podcast Episode: Integrating Business and Author Brands with Jack Murtha

What is the difference between a business brand and an author brand? To do a business brand in the right way, you really have to start with their customers, specifically, their target consumers. Who are they? What are the problems that they’re facing? What matters to them? Then you consider what you offer that target […]

Smith Myth: 3 Myths about Book Promotion

By Olivia McCoy As an author you are constantly exposed to expert advice—“Do this! Don’t do that!”—especially from other authors. You may have a friend, family member, or colleague who successfully published a book years ago deciding to offer you some sage advice, but we caution you to take everything with a grain of salt. […]

New Podcast Episode: The Resurgence of Indie Bookstores with Bookshop.org’s Steph Opitz

What is Bookshop.org? Bookshop.org is an ecommerce space that helps independent bookstores compete against Amazon. We work with a bunch of different bookstores, over 2k throughout the country, but we also work with individuals, book influencers, and affiliates of all kinds. We really help support authors selling their books online and get people away from […]

Smith Myth: 4 Myths about Self-Publishing

By Andrea Kiliany Thatcher In the often opaque and labyrinthian publishing world, self-publishing emerged as a beacon of creative autonomy. It offered authors the keys to unlocking their literary destinies. But amidst this shimmering promise, lurk shadows of misconceptions that often obscure the path to success. As aspiring self-published authors, it’s crucial to navigate through […]

New Podcast Episode: Discussing the Indie Author Landscape with Amy Edelman

What defines an “indie author”? Well, we say small press, hybrid, and self-published authors are indie authors. Any author who is not traditionally published. What are some stigmas associated with being an independent author? I have to say it’s changed a lot in 15 years. Originally, when I started IndieReader, there was a distinct separation […]

5 Top Publishing Considerations for Independent Authors

By Astra Crompton, FriesenPress Independent authors have more avenues for manufacturing, formats, distribution, and promotion than ever before. With all the BookTokers and Bookstagrammers out there promoting their favourite reads, the options can seem overwhelming. How can you get your book noticed? The truth is, there are choices an author makes all along their publishing […]

Smith Myth: 3 Myths About Media Interviews

By Courtney Link and Mariam Ata Communicating effectively when speaking publicly can be a daunting task at first. There is always the fear that we might embarrass ourselves, are not prepared enough, or don’t have enough knowledge to speak to an audience. Even celebrities, entrepreneurs, and well-known authors have had struggles with confidence during media […]

New Podcast Episode: Introduction to Professional Speaking with Josh White

Speaking is becoming more and more of a priority for many authors looking to grow their professional brand, so we’ve invited Josh White, the Managing Director of Epic Keynotes, to explain how to begin developing your speaker brand, where your book fits in, and goals to consider. Why might someone want to be a speaker? […]

Upcoming Webinar: From Pages to Stages

Discover the Intersection of Authorship and Speaking Writing a book and writing a keynote are very different practices, but each can inform the other, and should if speaking is a big part of your author platform, or vice versa. In fact, many authors are in-demand speakers as one of the opportunities that arise from publishing […]