The new year hadn’t even had a week to catch its breath before the first year-end numbers for 2014 appeared. The definitive numbers—if you can call any numbers “definitive” in traditional publishing—won’t show up until late February or early March. But the early numbers reveal quite a bit. Publishers Weekly spent the first full week […]
Continue ReadingIn the past two weeks, I wrote two year-in-review posts, “What Traditional Publishing Learned in 2014,” and “Things Indie Writers Learned in 2014.” Those two posts came after I started this one. I’ve been writing bits of this one off and on since October, as the year has become clearer in my brain. Usually, I […]
Continue ReadingI’d love to say nothing, but that’s not true—if we’re discussing indie writers who have remained in the business for several years. There will always be new indie writers who know very little, and there will always be those with “experience” who turn a year or two worth of sales into a know-it-all platform. However, […]
Continue ReadingTechnically, I’m supposed to be on hiatus from writing, blogging, social media–you name it. I’m resting. I finished The Anniversary Day Saga on Saturday. My first readers have the final two books. I have a lot to do on the project when they finish, plus copy edits, and proofs, and all that fun stuff. But […]
Continue ReadingWMG Publishing has Discoverability, the book based on the posts I was writing from November to April, on the schedule for the fall of 2014, which meant I had to get off my butt and assemble those posts into something coherent. I write the pieces, and then I build the bridges to hold them together. This post is one of those bridges…
Continue ReadingEven though I posted a business blog on Tuesday, I couldn’t let a Thursday go by without a blog post. Especially since this week marks the fifth anniversary of the Business Rusch (and the business blog that came before it, The Freelancer’s Survival Guide). Yep, I’ve hit every single Thursday for five years, without a […]
Continue ReadingYeah, yeah, I was pretty disparaging of the old ways to promote books back fifteen weeks ago, when I was just digging into this series. And there’s a good reason to disparage the way Things Have Always Been Done. But here’s the catch: The old ways work. Occasionally. Sometimes. When done right. They usually aren’t […]
Continue ReadingHere’s the great thing about writing this nonfiction series in public: you folks let me know when I’m not being clear or if there’s something I need to explain. I’ve worked in so many aspects of business, and owned so many different kinds of companies, that some of the knowledge I have which I take […]
Continue ReadingAs expected, I couldn’t answer e-mails or work long on my blog last week. I may take that tactic this week as well, because you folks had a much better conversation in the comments than you would have had with me involved. Besides, I don’t like talking about pricing. Yet here I go with the […]
Continue ReadingI dread writing this blog. Every time I discuss price, free, or discounts, I get carpet-bombed by people who treat price like a religion. Whether that price is free, a 99-cent e-book, or a $45 hardcover, writers seem to “know” what price is too much and what the market will bear. They base this knowledge, […]
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