We’ve all seen them: ringing endorsements from famous people (and those we’ve never heard of, but who are likely famous in some circle we should know about) lining the front and back covers of books, sometimes even filling the first few pages.
We’re often asked how books get onto bestseller lists. Do you need to sell a certain number of books? Is there a mysterious algorithm you need to crack? What is the secret of bestselling authors?
We’re thrilled that Page Two was featured in the Globe and Mail‘s Report on Business this week in an article about professional self-publishing and book publishing innovation. “There’s actually a whole spectrum of ways of getting your book into the right hands, and to us, it’s about publishing strategically,” says Page Two principal Jesse Finkelstein.
As well as being authors, our clients are subject-matter experts, professionals, business leaders, and entrepreneurs. They are interested in publishing well not just for the sake of selling books, but for many other reasons: the dissemination of new ideas; promoting their business and brand; getting the attention of the right customers and stakeholders; to name a few.
Today we spoke with a writer who asked, “Doesn’t every author want a bestseller?”
Believe it or not, the answer is no.
We work with people who publish books for a wide variety of reasons: some want the additional revenue of a book; some want to share information as broadly as possible; some want the credibility a book can confer that may lead to bigger speaking engagements, more consulting contracts, and a higher profile in their fields.
Our client Michael Bungay Stanier is one of those savvy authors who knows how to write brilliant books and who also knows how to make the most of the support he enlists to produce them.
We’re delighted to announce the launch of BC Books Online, an initiative enabling librarians, booksellers, educators, and the public alike to easily browse thousands of books from the province’s publishers, for the first time through one central website.
A publishing industry trend is hard to predict. Who could have known that a boy wizard would take the world by storm, or that Fifty Shades would bring erotica further into the mainstream than ever before?
The benefits of having a literary agent are significant: they explain the publishing world to you, shape your book ideas and proposals, negotiate your deals and parse your contracts, and open doors to publishers that you might not be able to access yourself, among other things.
Last year Canadian poet and spoken word artist Shane Koyczan aimed to raise $15,000 on Kickstarter to fund his next poetry book. He ended up raising over $90,000. When it works, as it did for him, crowdfunding is a great way to cover the costs of editing, design, website development, and other costs associated with self-publishing.
Page Two’s summer intern recently asked us how she could stay up-to-date with the latest news in publishing. After all, commercial publishing is filled with just as many buzzwords, hot topics, complexities, and developments as any other major industry and can be confusing and intimidating to people on the outside.
Inevitably at some point, our self-publishing clients ask whether they should distribute their ebook exclusively through Kindle, or whether they should take a different approach. In most cases, we advise selling to a variety of ebook retailers.
