Dear Readers, This week and next is a blog sabbatical. It is August and the best of summer is spent by editors everywhere reading and writing and relaxing. We’ll be back before the end of summer with a new and improved look to our website.
In the modern publishing world, there are many new challenges authors face in promoting their books, but there are also many new avenues to aid in digital marketing of forthcoming releases. NetGalley provides a resource for authors and publishers to accumulate quality reviews from relevant readers, an essential pre-publishing marketing step. Strong early praise from a notable reviewer can draw in significantly more readers once… [Read More]
There is a war raging in book publishing. Amazon v. Authors, Books, Bookstores, Publishers, and Readers. There has been a long buildup to this conflict. It’s recently heated up over the pricing of ebooks with Hatchette. To bring in reinforcements, Hachette announced a three way deal. It intends to purchase Perseus Books and sell off distribution services to Ingram. Germany launches an investigation of Amazon… [Read More]
In a three-story former police precinct on University Avenue in the heart of Rochester’s Neighborhood of the Arts, you’ll find a bustling center of activity: a group of older folks heading upstairs for their workshop on memoir writing, a bunch of eight-year-olds, notebooks and pencils in hand, stepping out to find magical creatures in the Eastman Gardens, and laughter bursting from an improv comedy class… [Read More]
I am sad to announce the death of Arlene Swenson, my loving mother, and accounts manager for Swenson Book Development, LLC. Services will be held on Monday, June 16, at 2 pm at Memorial Lutheran Church in Afton, MN. In lieu of flowers, please send a memorial to Memorial Lutheran Church. Your kind thoughts and wishes are greatly appreciated.