Spilled Ink

September 2023

Catch up on all the latest news and what we’ve been up to this past month.

Inside the Press

Still MORE Author Resources

This month we added another resource for our growing author family. This one discusses the complicated world of bookselling, or the distribution via bookshops of your book. With more books being published each month than ever before, it’s becoming harder and harder to get books onto that elusive and ever more crowded space, the local bookstore shelf.

What is going on with Amazon?

It seems as though Amazon, in its never-ending quest to take over the world, has jumped headfirst into the AI algorithmic soup with abandon.

Amazon got into the Print-on-demand (POD) business in 2015. As more and more people self-published they recognized the market for POD services and thus enabled their own publishing services (now KDP) to be able to offer POD books.

Ever since, there has been some concern, and more than a little consternation, about how Amazon prioritizes books they print via their own POD and those offered by other distributors (such as the Ingram Book Groups ‘Ingram Spark’ and others).

There is rampant speculation, bordering on conspiracy theories, that Amazon will delay, or even delete books that are not printed by them. Others complain of slow servicing and price gouging issues.

At Journey Institute Press, we can honestly say that we too are beginning to experience issues with Amazon as it relates to books we do not distribute directly through them. Before we get into that, let’s take a brief glance how this works.

Since Amazon’s POD launch they have slowly begun to offer more services, however, the services they offer as of this writing are limited. They do (as of a year ago) offer both hardcover and paperback printing, however they do not offer dust jackets (only laminated covers) for hardcover books and their size availability choices are fewer than other POD services.

What this has meant for JIP is that we publish Hardcover via Ingram Spark and paperback via both Ingram Spark and Amazon directly. This offers our authors the widest possible distribution outlets available.

However, lately we have noticed that books printed solely via Ingram Spark are taking longer and longer to appear on Amazon and often when they do, they appear without cover images for weeks (sometimes up to a month). All the while other distributors such as Barnes & Noble immediately offer the same book, with cover images, often within a day or two.

We have complained to both Amazon and Ingram Spark with little success as both blame the other. Given that this has been an issue for years and only seems to be getting worse over time we are likely to believe this is an algorithm issue at Amazon that they have no interest in repairing and so we will continue to monitor the way books are distributed via Ingram and Amazon and update you when we have more information.

Mary Grant

NEW AUTHOR SIGNING

We are excited to have signed a new author to the Journey Institute Press family in May: Mary Grant.
Mary comes to us from our TEDx family as she is one of the women on this year’s 2023 TEDxCherry Creek Women’s stage on November 5th. Her book, like her talk, has to do with Style Stereotypes and is based on a storied career in the fashion industry and what she has learned about women’s fashion. More specifically, as she puts it, what she has learned about how to help women step our of their bedroom every morning ready to conquer the world.

You can find out more about Mary and her work here: https://www.marygrant.com/

FALL BOOK RELEASES / SIGNINGS

Our fall lineup of book launches is shaping up. More details will be coming soon.

OCTOBER 14th

C.C. Cervantes Dunn

OCTOBER 26th

Michael Jenet

NOVEMBER 11th

Andrea Gelfuso/Lindy Lou Losh

NOVEMBER 16th

Michael Jai Grant

We have a lot going on this fall and will be excited to share all the upcoming events with you.

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Spilled Ink Archives

The back cover copy you write for your book is among the most important marketing messages you’ll craft. It’s the essence of your book’s most exciting features, distilled into a few hundred words. It typically serves as the foundation for your online book descriptions, as well as any press releases or pitches you make to the media. It will get re-used and re-fashioned for dozens of purposes. Whatever labor you expend on perfecting it will reward you in the long run.

Here are the key principles that publishers and authors alike use to create what should become a masterpiece of your book marketing and an essential piece of your book metadata.

Back Cover Copy for Nonfiction (Non-Narratives)

The most important question you must answer in your back cover copy is: Why and how will the reader benefit from this book? If you know your audience well, then you know the problems they face; your back cover copy should tell how your book addresses these problems head on and helps readers overcome a challenge or succeed.

Two of the most common mistakes that nonfiction authors make in crafting their back cover is:

Focusing too much on a description of the book’s content, rather than how the content will help, inform, or entertain the reader
Focusing too much on the author’s background, rather than how the author’s credentials or experience helps them expertly address the subject matter

Rather than crafting copy that’s a long, solid block of text, you can help ensure the copy is read by including (in this order):

A headline at the top of the cover that succinctly sums up the key benefit or selling point of the book—or consider a convincing quote (blurb) from a recognizable authority who recommends the book
About a 100-200 word summary that expands upon the headline and demonstrates the value of the book
A bullet list of features and benefits the book provides to readers
A final sentence or two to close the message, with a mention of the author’s credentials if not earlier described
(optional) Praise (blurbs) for the book from recognizable authorities
(optional) A brief author bio and author photo at the bottom of the cover

A professional designer can work wonders in arranging this information in a way that helps it get read, especially if you have a range of elements you’re trying to assemble (description, blurbs, bio, photo, awards, and so on).

Back Cover Copy for Fiction (and Nonfiction Narratives)

It’s not uncommon for traditional publishers to put nothing but blurbs or book reviews on a novel’s back cover, especially if it’s by an author who is already well-known. But that’s rarely the best strategy for authors who don’t already have an established audience. Potential readers will want to know what the story is about before committing, and the hook you provide may determine whether they start reading the first page or chapter. (The same is true of memoir and other true-to-life stories.)

The hook for the back cover isn’t so different from the hook you’d put in a query letter to a literary agent. The hook needs to convey:

Who is the main character(s)?
What do they most deeply desire?
What stands in the way?
What is the setting or context for the story?

If you can’t identify what the main character deeply desires, then ask: What challenge do they face? What sets their story in motion?

Ultimately, what you’re trying to get across is an intriguing story premise. For example, My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult tells the story of 13-year-old Anna, who was born as a “savior sister” specifically so she can save her older sister’s life. When Anna turns 13, she is told that she will have to donate one of her kidneys, and she sues her parents for medical emancipation.

That length of description is all you need to sell the story to potential readers. To improve your own story description, read the book marketing copy for dozens (even hundreds) of books in your genre, and pay attention to length, point of view or voice, as well as how much of the story is described. For example, it’s very popular for contemporary romance novel descriptions to be written from the point-of-view of the heroine. Here’s how the book marketing copy for Baller by Vi Keeland starts:

The first time I met Brody Easton was in the men’s locker room.
It was my first interview as a professional sportscaster.
The famed quarterback decided to bare all.
And by all, I don’t mean he told me any of his secrets.
No. The arrogant ass decided to drop his towel, just as I asked the first question. On camera.

In those 60 words, we know who the main character is, a good idea of what she desires (or will desire!), and what her challenge will be. We also know the setting or context.

No matter what category or genre your book falls into, you have to pack a lot of punch into a couple hundred words, sometimes less. Don’t just write one version and consider it done. Write multiple versions, test and gather feedback, and improve it until you feel it’s the best possible sales piece for your book.