According to Forbes Magazine, United States audiobook sales reached nearly $1 billion in 2018 (final 2019 figures aren’t in yet), which continues a 7-year double-digit growth since 2012. One can only assume the sales will be even higher in 2019, and now in 2020, even higher still.
Is your book an audiobook yet? If it’s not, it should be, especially if your book falls into one of the following categories, which, according to Amazon, are the top-10 best-selling audiobook genres:
Mystery & Suspense — narrators are particularly good at being spooky!
Anything on the bestsellers list — surprise surprise!
Science Fiction & Fantasy — during these pandemic times, is this really a surprise?
History & Biographies — narrators have a knack for sounding knowledgeable
Business & Self-Improvement — who has time to better themselves? Oh, yeah! I have a 1-hour commute!
Children & Young Adult — who knew children like having books read to them?
Inspiration & Religion — now your listeners can join those who hear God speak to them
Erotica & Romance — is this really a surprise to anyone?
Sports — now people can play fantasy football while they watch football AND listen to football!
Westerns — Giddy-up! Listen, cowboys and cowgirls, it’s time to publish YOUR audiobook right now
In 1997, a small reading task force at the National Education Association developed an idea to get kids excited about reading. They called it NEA’s Read Across America, and as March is National Reading Month, the task force chose to kick off the event on March 2nd, Dr. Seuss’s birthday.
Children and teachers embraced the concept with enthusiasm, celebrating the beloved children’s author’s birthday with Seuss-sational school and community events and helping to promote literacy nationwide.
The NEA has partnered with 40 nonprofits and associations all over the U.S. to keep Read Across America alive. They invite schools, libraries, churches, community centers, hospitals, and bookstores to organize events to promote reading for children.
National Reading Month is an opportunity for authors everywhere to benefit themselves and others at the same time. If you’re a self-publishing author, this is the perfect opportunity to contribute to the celebration today and throughout the month of March. Here are some ways you can contribute:
Find out if your local community has reading events planned and volunteer.
Plan your own event in conjunction with your school or community centers. You’ll find lots of ideas at the NEA website.
Contact local media outlets to build relationships as an author and a promoter of Read Across America Day. The more local press the celebration receives, the better.
Donate one of your books to your local school or library.
National Reading Month is not limited to children, and many people now participate in activities to encourage reading to both children and adults. What better time for authors to celebrate (and promote!) their own books?
To support your efforts, Outskirts Press has created a list of 31 ways you can promote yourself and your work during the month of March. Truly successful authors market their books on an ongoing basis, and participating in National Reading Month will give you a chance to share your love of reading with others as well. Visit the Outskirts Press Facebook page throughout the month of March to get daily tips and advice that will keep you actively marketing your book all month long.
Are you ready to make your publishing goals come true? There’s no better time than now! If you’ve been dreaming of seeing your book in print (or e-Book!), take advantage of a great incentive from Outskirts Press and make your goal a reality. There’s $300 of Mad Money at stake!
During the month of February, when you purchase the Diamond or Pearl publishing package and enter the promotion code MADMONEYFEB16 upon checkout, you will automatically receive a $300 reward — Mad Money credit to use toward anything you choose. And there are a lot of options to choose from!
Here are three ways YOU can use Mad Money to make your book stand out among the rest:
Copyediting. Whether you’re a bestselling author or publishing your very first book, having an objective professional carefully go over each line of your book is a crucial step. Unedited books are often labeled as amateur, and the readers you’re hoping to attract will be more willing to hit that BUY button if they’re not distracted by typos and grammatical errors. Why not use your Mad Money toward the cost of an editor? Outskirts Press has some of the best! (Click HERE for more details.)
Go digital! For under $300 you can offer your readers an Amazon Kindle edition or a Barnes and Noble NOOK edition of your book. Having a digital version is a great way to level the marketing playing field. If you want to reach as many readers as possible, releasing a digital version of your book is the way to go!
Your own Personal Marketing Assistant. You’ve written your book, published it, and now it’s time to get people to buy it. For most authors, the biggest hurdle to marketing is time. For others, inexperience in book marketing is a serious stumbling block; and others simply want to get back to what they do best — writing. Here’s where a Personal Marketing Assistant from Outskirts Press comes in. Your PMA will help you map out a plan to market your book at all the right times and in all the right marketplaces, not to mention targeting all the right book-buyers. Use your Mad Money toward five hours of expert help and sell more copies of your book!
With the Mad Money promotion and the $400 of free upgrades already included with the Diamond package (standard press release distribution, Spring Arbor Christian distribution, streaming audio excerpt on author webpage, and cover photo selection from an image library), we’re talking about $700 worth of inclusions!
The $300 Mad Money reward can also be used toward custom cover design, cover scribing, custom interior formatting, book trailers, celebrity endorsements, writing consultations, and so much more — all designed to give your book an edge in a competitive marketplace.
But this popular promotion ends soon, so take advantage of February’s Mad Money today and realize your dream! It’s the perfect time to begin the publishing process with Outskirts Press.
START PUBLISHING NOW AND COLLECT A $300 REWARD IN YOUR SHOPPING CART!
The most valuable self-publishing promotion of the year gives back $300 to authors that begin publishing a book with either the Diamond or Pearl book publishing services in February.
During this promotion, authors are rewarded with a $300 credit to use any way they wish. Just enter the promo code of MadMoneyFeb16 during checkout-it’s that easy!
For the full details on our Mad Money promotion, click here.
Don’t miss a chance to receive $300 that you can use to make your book stand out above the rest! Click the button below to order securely online or call 1-888-672-6657 ext. 706 to order over the phone. Publishing consultants will be available by phone through 8 p.m. MST to assist you.
“I would like to express my sincere thanks to all individuals associated with the publishing of my book. It has been a great experience. I appreciate all that was done from the beginning to the publishing stage. May God continue to bless each and every one of you at Outskirts Publishing.”
Debra Davis is married and has 1 son, 2 daughters and 1 granddaughter. Debra is a Substitute Teacher for grades K-12th, in Pittsylvania County Virginia, organizer of a community-based non-profit organization, a community activist and a former Qualified Mental Health Professional Counselor. She is also very active member at her church. Debra spends countless hours volunteering, serving others in need. Debra has obtained an Associate Degree in Business Administration and a certificate in Education.
In fear of being rejected, many youth tend to hide who they are deep inside fearing the pressures of life if the inner person would appear. Teachers feel as though they are overworked, underpaid, babysitters, counselors, and parents to some. Some parents feel as though they are the victims of life, while others soar above life’s challenges. What do you do, when life causes you to substitute the unexpected and you begin to endure the problems that need adjusting? As I share my experiences, personal insight and biblical principles, I pray that you will begin to view life “Through the Eyes of the Substitute.”
– Debra Davis, author of Through the Eyes of the Substitute
It is vital that self-publishing authors take advantage for the ever-growing social media market as it has become one of the most important aspects of marketing a book. Through social media, authors can reach a broader audience of potential readers all while increasing their overall internet presence and exposure.
As of July 2015, Facebook had 1.49 billion users, Twitter reached 315 million active users and LinkedIn had 400 million registered monthly users. These numbers continue to grow monthly so it is important for an author to get his or her book integrated with the Internet world and in front of these users.
With minimal information from you, Outskirts Press can create a social media and online presence through the Author Platform Set-Up package using the following techniques:
Set up social media profiles on each platform (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, WordPress and YouTube)
Identify and establish relevant connections with users on each social media platform
Assist you in building their unique online presence
Are you ready to take your marketing to the next step with Internet marketing? Start today with the promotion code FreeSocial2016 when you choose to publish with our industry-leading Diamond publishing service or our full-color Pearl publishing service to receive the FREE Author Platform Set-up Through Social Media option. Don’t delay!
Book marketing is one of the most important pieces of being a successful self-publishing author. Outskirts Press is an industry leader in providing post-publication support, products, and services to its growing family of published authors.
Your book is written. Your book is published. Now what? Our list of Top 10 Book Marketing Tactics can help you prioritize your book marketing efforts by providing you with excellent marketing and promotional tactics you should consider pursuing.
These are the marketing products and tactics determined to be most popular by our authors for the month of November 2015, listed below in alphabetical order:
Amazon-Branded Featured Book-of-the-Week:Get your book and cover, along with an easy way to order your book directly from Amazon into the inbox of a wide audience of literary enthusiasts.
Amazon Kindle Submission Service:Make your book available on Amazon’s Kindle ebook reading device. More formats on Amazon means more exposure on Amazon, and the Kindle is heavily promoted by Amazon.
Amazon Search Inside the Book:Amazon claims that books participating in this program enjoy “significant” sales improvement, on average, over books that do not.
Author Platform Set-Up Through Social Media:Authors can take advantage of readily available social media outlets in a more cost-effective way and target the appropriate audience for their book.
Barnes & Noble NOOK Submission Service: Millions of books are available on Barnes & Noble’s NOOK. If your book isn’t one of them, you are missing out on tapping a very important, and growing, market of readers.
Custom Press Release: Have our professional press release writer compose an original, unique press release for your book, submitted to you for your review/approval, and then distributed to our newswire service on your behalf.
First Chapter Preview Library Distribution:Introduce your book to libraries, bookstores, media, reviewers, bloggers and readers by running a quarter page full-color ad along with a free preview of your first chapter in this catalog for three consecutive months.
Personal Marketing Assistant:Do you need help developing a book marketing plan? Arranging book signings? Establishing/developing your author platform? Hire your own Personal Marketing Assistant today!
Outskirts Press Published authors who are interested in any of these (or many of our other available services) can find further details and ordering information from the Marketing Options page of your author’s center.
Not yet published with Outskirts Press? Today is the perfect day to start and take advantage of our current publishing promotion.
Outskirts Press, the fastest-growing full-service self-publishing and book marketing company, is pleased to announce its top ten best-selling titles for November 2015, according to combined data from Ingram Book Wholesalers and Outskirts Press Direct via http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore. These authors have likely created a solid book marketing strategy and put it into motion either by themselves or with the help of a Personal Marketing Assistant.
In alphabetical order, the top ten best-selling books in self-publishing during the month of November 2015 were:
Congratulations to our best-selling authors for the month of November 2015!
How can you get your book on the bestseller list? While we can’t make any guarantees on sales success, many of our most successful authors invest time and money in marketing themselves and their book. Authors who are in need of a marketing boost often turn to a Personal Marketing Assistant for help.
All of these books (and other Outskirts Press titles) are available from all major online retailers like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Powells, Books A Million, and others, plus conveniently from the Outskirts Press Direct bookstore at http://outskirtspress.com/bookstore for discounts ranging from 10% – 55%.
Are you ready to put a book promotion strategy in place for your self-published book?
2015 is quickly coming to an end. As you begin planning your marketing goals and setting your marketing budget for 2016, we wanted to share with you the Top 5 Marketing Options chosen by Outskirts Press authors this year. The following options have been highest in demand by Outskirts Press published authors in the last 12 months.
Amazon Kindle Edition — This electronic edition makes your book available on Amazon’s Kindle ebook reading devices (and apps) for readers to instantly purchase and download. It’s the perfect way to make your book more visible and accessible to a wider reading audience.
Amazon Extreme Package — Get the benefit of three valuable marketing services for one great price:
Amazon Kindle Edition
Amazon Search Inside the Book Submission — This feature invites prospective buyers to virtually browse through your book, almost as they would in a brick-and-mortar store.
Amazon Cover Enhancement — A larger and more eye-catching cover image on Amazon’s search results page makes your book cover stand out among the rest.
Barnes & Noble Nook Edition — We’ll ensure that your book is properly submitted to Barnes & Noble so you can take advantage of the huge Nook book marketplace.
Google Books Preview Program submission — An inexpensive and extremely effective way to get your book in front of millions of readers quickly and easily. An author’s book instantly becomes more visible and discoverable. When prospective book buyers find a book on Google Books, they’re automatically given access to a limited preview of that book to further entice them to buy.
Personal Marketing Assistant — When it comes time to market your book, all authors could use a little help. Do you need help developing a book marketing plan? Arranging book signings? Establishing/developing your author platform? Our professional book marketing assistants can help you map out a plan to market your book at all the right times and in all the right marketplaces — not to mention targeting all the right book-buyers — so you sell successfully!
Now is the time to start planning your marketing efforts for the New Year. These are just a few of the marketing options Outskirts Press offers. To view the full list, click the Marketing Solutions button below.
Self-publishing gift certificates make the perfect holiday treat for your favorite writer!
As we approach the holidays (Christmas is 10 days away! Yikes!), it’s time to buckle down on your last minute decisions for shopping during the holidays. What kind of gift can you get in a crunch? What about a gift certificate that allows the writer in your life fulfill their dreams of getting their book published?
Here’s how it works:
Click here and complete your purchase of the certificate.
We will email you to find out who the special author is and whether you want to include any special messaging on your gift notification.
If the writer isn’t yet registered with us, we will create a free account for them and apply the $99 credit to their new account.
If they are already registered and/or published with us, we will apply the $99 credit to their existing Publishing Center account.
Once the credit has been applied to the writer’s account, we will notify them via email of your special gift using any messaging you provided to us.
No waiting. No fuss. No rushing to ship off a gift at the last minute. It’s perfect — in every sense of the word!
Get your favorite writer a self-publishing gift certificate today!
This holiday season, we continue to feature authors who have taken advantage of the 2015 Holiday Bundle and the benefits of the New York Times Holiday Edition ad. Co-op ads offer authors effective exposure through a well-known, established publication with millions of motivated book lovers!
The New York Times Holiday Edition will feature Gerhard Oberrsesl self-publishing author of the mystery novel Edelweiss Castle: Death of an Interviewer. Edelweiss Castle brings readers through twists and turns as it follows a group of unique characters, one of whom is a ruthless murderer.
About the Author
Gerhard Oberressl loved to spin stories and write from his early schooldays. He learned quickly that a real writer must have life experience and the ability to understand how people tick; however, he had a wide range of interests beyond writing. He eventually went on to earn degrees in engineering, English, mathematics and computer science for Universities in Zurich, Pretoria and Linz. He worked in industrial management as a lecturer, and during his career, writing was always a part of his lectures. He always maintained a love of books and reading. Once retired, he dedicated himself to his first novel – a mystery of unexpected twists and surprising characters.
Edelweiss Castle: Death of an Interviewer
The combination of greed and insane love can never end good, and in the case of Edelweiss Castle, the combination leads directly to murder. Etienne Friendly grew up in the servants’ quarters of Edelweiss Castle, so never in his wildest dreams did he imagine he’d grow up to train with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and then start an investigation firm in London. However, that’s exactly what he did, and never in his worst nightmares did he imagine he’d return to Edelweiss Castle to investigate a woman’s mysterious death. That is until one day a nobleman who was an advocate of sustainable development, gave an interview which triggered very strange events.
Edelweiss Castle: Death of an Interviewer is a modern-day murder mystery you can curl up with and be lost in for hours. The 500-year-old castle on top of the famous blue rock in Goodland is both the starting point and the destination of this sophisticated novel, which features many facets of human behavior and people of several countries and continents. Readers will live the events through the pages of this book and be prompted with a mystery from years ago that may be intertwined with the sudden death of the interviewer.
Bradford Frank is self-publishing a book with Outskirts Press. And he wants your help deciding his book cover.
Book Summary
Take Control of Your Health Now!
Age is the strongest predictor of developing Alzheimer’s disease. If you live long enough, you stand a good chance of getting it. The brain abnormalities that cause this terrible disease start decades before symptoms appear. There is no treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. Prevention is the only hope. This book is jam-packed with scientifically-based things that you can do now that will help maintain or even improve your physical and mental health—and place you in the best possible position to minimize your risk of getting Alzheimer’s disease.
For those of you who also want to live longer, we have included a special chapter on longevity. This includes the latest research, and points out concrete steps you can take to maximize your life span. Taking resveratrol? Possibly. Taking berberine? Doubt it, but you should be! It’s all in the book!
Augusten Burroughs said, “When you have your health, you have everything. When you do not have your health, nothing else matters at all.” And, Francis Bacon said, “Knowledge is power.” Time to power up and take control of your health. All the information you need is here, at your fingertips. We have included 800+ scientific references for your review. We have done our part, now you need to do yours. Taking action now could literally be life changing. As Nike so famously says, “Just Do It!”
About the Author
Bradford Frank, MD, MPH, MBA graduated from the University of Colorado with a BA in Chemistry and his MD degree. He was Board Certified in Family Medicine and later became Board Certified in Psychiatry. He is currently Board Certified in General, Addiction, and Geriatric Psychiatry. He earned a Master of Public Health (MPH) from Yale, and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of North Dakota, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. He is licensed to practice medicine in New York and North Dakota. He is interested in preventing Alzheimer’s disease, and helping people maximize their health and longevity through a preventive healthcare model. He is married and has three children (and two dogs).
Please take a look at two possible covers below and then vote on the choice you recommend for Bradford.
Click on the thumbnail below to enlarge Cover Option A
Cover A
Click on the thumbnail below to enlarge Cover Option B
Richard Yankloski is self-publishing a book with Outskirts Press. And he wants your help deciding his book cover.
Book Summary
Interstellar Space Craft Powered by Spacergy to Anywhere
A lifetime of studying, analyzing, and interpretation has uncovered a new model of the universe that predicts a vast amount of clean inexhaustible energy. The sintā project is designed to explain the new universe model, apply the understanding, and produce a universe energy extraction device to prove the prediction of the sintā interpretation.
Please take a look at two possible covers below and then vote on the choice you recommend for Richard.
Click on the thumbnail below to enlarge Cover Option A
Cover A
Click on the thumbnail below to enlarge Cover Option B
“I would like to express my sincere thanks to all individuals associated with the publishing of my book. It has been a great experience. I appreciate all that was done from the beginning to the publishing stage. May God continue to bless each and every one of you at Outskirts Publishing.”
