This week I had the chance to speak with Angela James, Executive Editor at Carina Press, Harlequin’s digital-first ebook imprint. We chatted about the following topics:
- Why there is so much opportunity for authors with digital media.
- Why authors must treat their writing career as a business, not a hobby.
- Why more competition is healthy for publishers, because it pushes us to grow.
- The importance for authors to build their brand – focusing their message.
- Why the challenge for traditional publishers is how to structure their digital initiatives, and the focus/skills of their employees.
- A behind the scenes look at how she deals with topics such as how many ebooks to publish, how to position their brand message, pricing, how to best market these books, and so many other issues.
- Why they are publishing fewer books in 2012 (3 releases a week) than they did in 2011 (4-5 releases a week)
- Why she doesn’t like it when a writer says in a query letter: “I have been working on this book for 10 years,” because it means that they can’t expect another book from this same author for another decade.
- How Angela built her own brand via her own blog and social media presence.
- … and so much more!
Click play below to watch the full interview:
You can find Angela in the following places:
Thanks so much to Angela for taking the time to chat!
-Dan
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