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Five years ago, author and poet Kwame Alexander gave a fantastic keynote at IBPA’s PubU conference in Salt Lake City. In it, he told a story about how he was frustrated by the lack of sales for one of his early books. His wife suggested that he try selling at the local farmer’s market. AtRead more

Bookstore sales have never been a priority for my company i30 Media Corp. or for new book launches including Lean Media and the titles in the In 30 Minutes series. This blog post explains my thinking, which ties closely into the “distributor” model for book publishing. I know that some indie publishers have fantastic experiencesRead more

Amazon Advertising is a self-serve advertising platform. Authors and publishers can access it through various Amazon programs including Kindle Direct Publishing, Amazon Advantage, Amazon Vendor Central, and Amazon Seller Central. Publishers set daily budgets for campaigns, and declare maximum bids for every time someone clicks or taps on ad. It offers publishers of any sizeRead more

Late last year, Amazon Advantage (see my Amazon Advantage videos) changed its main page and several other features to look more like Amazon Seller Central. I’ve speculated before that Amazon will eventually merge Advantage into Seller Central. Could the latest updates be a sign that Advantage users will be switched over to Amazon Seller Central?Read more

What is a publishing brand, and how can indie publishers build one? This short video explains the elements that typically make up a publishing brand and uses an example from a book series to show how independent publishers can approach the challenge of building their own brands and leveraging them for additional income streams. NOTE:Read more

This short video explains how to prepare an Amazon Advantage shipment using the advantage.amazon.com online tool. NOTE: This is not an official Amazon Advertising video, nor do I represent Amazon. Please read and review the relevant Amazon terms of service to learn more about Amazon programs for sellers, including Amazon Advertising, Amazon Seller Central, and AmazonRead more

I get this question on a regular basis from people who have never worked in publishing: Should I create an ebook to market my idea/product/brand? NO! It’s a bad idea for many reasons, starting with: They introduce delays and barriers to people reading what you have to say. Ebooks usually require a login process toRead more

Dig into Shopify analytics to better understand visitors and customers using the online store sessions report. This short video explains how it works, using real examples on a basic Shopify store. Length: 5 minutes. NOTE: This is not an official Shopify video, nor do I represent Shopify. Please read and review the relevant Shopify terms ofRead more

This Amazon Deep Dive video explores Amazon Advantage, and why publishers may want to try it out for offset-printed books and special types of media products. It includes a review of the interface as well as special marketing opportunities, including Amazon Vine and A+ detail pages. NOTE: This is not an official Amazon Advertising video, norRead more

Amazon Seller Central (sellercentral.amazon.com) allows practically anyone to sell new or used goods (including their own branded products) on Amazon. This video explains the free and pro tiers for Amazon Seller accounts, and the difference between Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) and Fulfilled by Merchant (FBM) when shipping goods to customers. It also covers various promotionalRead more