One of the great things about being an author is that there always seem to be cool, neat things to discover about about the business of writing. Whether it’s a new publishing platform, new marketing sites, or new ways to interact with readers, there always seems to be something in the works, and finding out about them is like discovering a new species of mammal.
For instance, I recently found out that I have a BookBub Ads audience consisting of several thousand people. Now, I already knew about authors having BookBub followers; basically, readers who like my work can follow me on BookBub, which will – among other things – notify them when I have a new release. A BookBub Ads audience is a little different. As I understand it, my ads audience consists of current followers plus readers who have clicked on a promotion I’ve run but haven’t followed me yet. (For the sake of argument, we’ll call these latter readers “latent” followers.)
Personally, I think this is kind of cool – that thousands of latent followers (aka, potential readers) have at least shown interest in my work. Needless to say, I don’t have a way to contact them directly, but hopefully over time I can make myself a known commodity to them through additional efforts
Of course, the ads audience isn’t the only nifty thing I’ve come across of late. Another is the Kindle app, which lets you read Kindle ebooks on other devices (e.g., the Kindle app for Mac). That said, the Kindle app isn’t really new – it’s been available for quite some time, and I’ve known about it for a while. However, its utility and pervasiveness became more evident to me recently when a reader won a copy of one of my titles through a giveaway. The reader requested a copy for their Kobo device, which I didn’t have because my books are exclusive with Amazon. The reader kindly assured me that a Kindle ebook would be fine, since they had the Kindle app on their device.
To be honest, this was music to my ears. Most readers probably aren’t aware of it, but one of the most divisive arguments in the world of self-publishing is whether it is better to publish exclusively on a single platform (i.e., Amazon) or to put your books with as many retailers as possible. I honestly hate the exclusivity requirement, but it’s actually been more beneficial for me, personally, to be exclusive with Amazon. Moreover, I’ve long held that the advent of the Kindle app made it unnecessary to be on every platform, since the app allowed people with other devices – iphones, Kobo readers, etc. – to still read my books. That one reader’s communiqué helped confirm that view. Of course, that doesn’t mean that everyone out there is using the Kindle app, but it does support the notion that exclusivity isn’t as narrow as some might believe.
The last cool thing I want to touch on is audiobooks – or rather, how to get them. As many of my readers know, I’m a big proponent of audio; it’s the fastest-growing segment of the book market, and for good reason. Audio brings books to life in a different way, and also allows listeners to “read” while doing other things. In fact, I’ve had several listeners tell me that audio is the only way they read now because it allows them to multitask and thereby save gobs of time. (Also, many authors have told me that they’ve become addicted to audiobooks, and have confessed to “getting high on their own supply” in that regard.)
For anyone looking to try audio, you can typically get a free 30-day trial that includes a free audiobook. For instance, if someone wanted to try the audio version of my book Mutation (Kid Sensation #2), they could take advantage of this offer by clicking here. Needless to say, however, this offer is not just applicable to my audiobooks; you can use it to get a free copy of any Audible title.
In short, there are always dandy new things to take note of in the world of publishing. Some are beneficial to readers, others to writers, but they all tend to benefit the world of books as a whole, and that’s pretty cool as far as I’m concerned.
