Amy Collins, President of New Shelves Books, says that a comparable authors list is the absolute key to publishing. She does not believe that it’s an overstatement to say that this is the most important part of publishing a book. Building your comparable author list should be done before a book is even written. This list is not about the authors—it’s about their readers. You want to find existing communities of readers who are already eager to engage with you and your work. In this video, Collins goes into the logistics of market research, which is now easier than ever because readers are on social media. You no longer have to schedule focus groups, invite people to the meeting, curate lists of questions, and provide snacks. Planning a focus group is as simple as creating a Goodreads account. Writers have immediate access to their communities, and the importance of this cannot be overestimated. Listen to Collins in the clip below to discover how to create a comparable authors list. Be prepared: it may change the way you write, edit, market, and publish your books.
Hi,My audience at the moment is sci-fi fiction readers but I am turning the fiction into reality with advanced concepts. My book is about the specification for a Holodeck which introduces the reader to the various concepts and technologies in a step by step fashion and then in part 4 of the book introduces the Holodeck sections which deals with static scene, scrolling scene, networked and multi-user same complex holodeck theory. The photonic computers used for a test case in the book will be designed with my own self designed software. I found your talk useful.