It’s Publication Day!
PRIMED IS OUT TODAY! Gary Lawlor broke the day his sons were murdered in a car bomb meant for him. He failed to find the killer, and drank himself into a hole of self-recrimination and shame. [...]
By Paddy
In Articles, books, Branding, Business, Design, design, Internet, research, Sales, Selling, writing, Writing
Posted Help me choose my new cover!
I’ve been on this self-publishing journey for a while. But now it’s getting real. I’m starting to think about an actual publishing date, probably right around the beginning of [...]
By Paddy
In Articles, books, Branding, Business, Design, Education, Explainer, journalism, Marketing, Sales, Social Media, Writing
Posted Five Reasons Why Book Covers Are Key (And Worth Paying Up For)
1. They’re basically your book’s first date outfit Let’s be real – people absolutely judge books by their covers. You’ve got maybe three seconds to catch [...]
By Paddy
In Articles, books, Branding, Business, Explainer, Internet, journalism, Marketing, research, Sales, Selling, Social Media, Uncategorized, writing, Writing
Posted How I learned to love selling (my) books
There’s no way to get around this basic fact: writers today can’t just be artists; we also have to be salespeople. Back in the day, the dream scenario used to be that one wrote a [...]
By Paddy
In Articles, books, Branding, Business, Explainer, Internet, Marketing, Markets, News, Non-fiction, Sales, Selling, Writing
Posted Ten secrets to selling IRL
What’s the secret to selling in person? It’s really quite simple: engagement. Remember, every point of contact is a point of sale. You might not sell a book with every point of [...]
By Paddy
In Articles, books, Branding, Economy, Explainer, finance, Marketing, Markets, News, Non-fiction, writing, Writing
Posted Are there too many books?
‘More are published than could ever succeed’ From the Guardian …self-publishing has contributed significantly to book slop mountain. More than 2.6 million books were self-published in 2023 [...]
By Paddy
In Articles, books, Branding, Education, Explainer, fiction, Interviews, journalism, mental health, non fiction, writing, Writing
Posted St Patrick’s with the SCWA
The Southern California Writers Association very kindly invited me to speak at their St Patrick’s Day luncheon on the 15th of March, in Laguna Woods. I decided to speak about the challenges I’ve [...]
By Paddy
In Articles, books, Branding, Business, Economy, Education, Explainer, fiction, Marketing, research, Writing
Posted The arguments against self publishing
From 2016, which seems like another world now, but a lot of this rings true for someone considering self publishing. If you self-publish your book, you are not going to be writing for a living. [...]
By Paddy
Posted How to market your book, part 1
I’m going to be speaking to Sisters in Crime in April about book marketing, and my journey through the dizzying world of how to place and sell your book. So let’s start with the basic question: [...]
By Paddy
Posted How bookstores can cope with rising rents
Rising rent is one of the biggest reasons that bookstores lose their leases. I feel very conflicted about this. On the one hand, I love books and bookstores, and I hate the idea that as business [...]
