Tag Archives: Pete Nikolai

Pete Nikolai: How to do a Book Giveaway on Goodreads

Goodreads is a “social cataloging” site that has become a hub for connecting authors and readers. A popular marketing tool authors and publishers have employed in recent years are Goodreads Giveaways. With more than 20 million monthly visitors, Goodreads — which was acquired by Amazon in 2013 — provides a valuable platform to allow unknown…

Pete Nikolai: Maximizing Results from Writer’s Conferences & Events

Pete Nikolai, publisher of WestBow Press and director of publishing services for Harper Collins Christian Publishing, is a frequent attendee and presenter at industry events. Last month Nikolai spoke at the Orange County Christian Writers Conference and, in June, he will present at the Southern Christian Writers Conference. Nikolai looks forward to these gatherings as “they provide…

Judging Books By Their Covers

Book covers matter. Every potential reader forms their opinion of a book based in part on their impression of the book’s cover. That opinion helps them answer the following questions: Is the author credible? Is the book high quality or low budget? Was the book professionally produced or created by amateurs? Does the value of…

Ingredients of a Bestseller

James Hall’s book Hit Lit: Cracking the Code of the 20th Century’s Biggest Bestsellers attempts to do what publishers and authors have failed to do since Gutenberg: identify what determines whether or not a book will become a bestseller. While Hit Lit focuses on novels, much of what he attempts to do should go into…

The Big Trend in Book Publishing

Tim O’Reilly recently gave an interesting speech and interview at the Tools of Change conference on the future of book publishing. Following are some key points that I took away from them: Obscurity is the biggest threat that authors face. Things change because creative people see problems to solve and are not afraid of the future. The people who…

Book Marketing: Self-Publishing vs. Traditional Publishers

One reason authors want to have their book traditionally published is to capitalize on the publisher’s marketing resources and experience. Traditional publishers, such as Thomas Nelson, have a staff that focuses exclusively on driving sales through advertising, publicity and other marketing tactics. They have connections with various media and sales outlets that very few self-published…