Author: Melinda Clayton

Melinda Clayton is the author of the Cedar Hollow series, as well as a self-publishing guide. Clayton has published numerous articles and short stories in various print and online magazines. She has an Ed.D. in Special Education Administration and is a licensed psychotherapist in the states of Florida and Colorado. Lear more about Melinda at her Amazon author page

Bad Publishers: How Can I Protect Myself?

Predatory Publisher Month at Indies UnlimitedI’ve known for a while now that Indies Unlimited planned a month of posts regarding bad publishers. Some know my story, but not most. I’m under a “gag” order, you see. The specific words of my termination contract were:  “In addition, the author agrees not to discuss the Author’s Group or any information from that group, or discuss [redacted], nor speak as an agent or former agent of the publisher, either by verbal, written, or electronic communication with any persons, groups, or agents, either publicly or unsolicited, and [redacted] will adhere to the same standard. [Bolding mine.]

And I haven’t, not in nearly two years. Continue reading “Bad Publishers: How Can I Protect Myself?”

Book Club Reading List: Is It Worth It?

Book Club Reading ListSeveral years ago, I came across Book Club Reading List (BCRL), a site that claims to connect book clubs and readers with authors and books via, among other avenues, a monthly newsletter sent to 8,000+ book clubs. In addition, BCRL partners with various book clubs that agree to review exclusively books they’ve found through BCRL.

In their instructions to clubs, “Each month, our clubs are presented with three titles by local authors. Authors compete for your attention, and members vote to select the book that their local chapter will read. Once a title has been selected, the winning author acts as the ‘guest host’, scheduling a day, time and location through the chapter’s group on Meetup.com.” Continue reading “Book Club Reading List: Is It Worth It?”

Increasing the “Look Inside” Preview on Amazon

Look Inside the BookOne of the best marketing tools self-published authors have is the “Look Inside” feature on Amazon. If things go well, your title, cover, and book description will catch the attention of a reader who eagerly clicks “Look Inside” to read a sample of your writing, and they see…

…nothing more than your copyright page and table of contents? Well, that’s not very helpful, is it? I’ve honestly never known anyone to buy a book based on the “Look Inside” preview of a copyright page. This is especially problematic if you’re hoping to send your book out for reviews or list it on a site that vets books for quality (ahem…IU, anyone?). From formatting to tone, to grammar usage and typos, the first pages of your story show it all. But what if they aren’t displayed? Continue reading “Increasing the “Look Inside” Preview on Amazon”

Is AuthorsDen Worth It?

Authors Den LogoAuthorsDen was one of the first places I joined after publishing my first book several years ago. Back then, my publisher encouraged all of us to actively join any relevant (and not so relevant) social networking sites we could find, and AuthorsDen was not only free, but also easy to join.

Like many of the sites I joined back then, AuthorsDen fell by the wayside as I found new and different ways to market. About a month ago I began receiving emails from them inviting me to upgrade my membership in order to gain access to more services and marketing tools. I decided to take a look. Continue reading “Is AuthorsDen Worth It?”