Troubador launches new audiobook marketing services for indie authors

by Book Guild | Oct 19, 2020 | News

Following the launch of Troubador’s indie author audiobook production services in 2018, we are delighted to announce that we are now offering a range of audiobook marketing services to help our digital authors promote their audiobooks.

“We already offered extensive and popular paperback and ebook marketing services and have been wanting to increase the range of digital marketing we offered to include specific audiobook marketing options,” says Megan Lockwood-Jones, Troubador’s Head of Digital. “We have carefully curated our newly launched audiobook marketing services specifically for our indie authors.”

Troubador’s audiobook marketing service focuses on the digital nature of the product. Services are built around audiograms (which combine audio, visual and a moving sound wave video to give listeners a teaser of the product), a digital press release plus exposure to bloggers and online review sites. In fact, Troubador’s Digital Team have curated a range of services which include:

1. An Audiogram using an audiobook sample and the book cover.
2. An Audiogram advert using the book cover and the audiobook narrator talking about the audiobook.
3. An Audiogram teaser using the book’s cover and the audiobook narrator reading the blurb.
4. Distribution of the above audiograms on our social media and YouTube channel, as well as sending copies to the author for use on their own website or social media pages. The audiograms could also be uploaded to the author’s Amazon Author Central page.
5. A Digital Press Release in PDF format for distribution to reviewers. A copy will also be sent to the author to use in their own marketing efforts.
6. Contacting dedicated audiobook bloggers and reviewers on the author’s behalf with a view to gaining independent review coverage.
7. Inclusion of the audiobook in our Goodreads account where a large group of dedicated audiobook listeners and reviewers suggest new titles and review recently listened-to audiobooks.

This new service costs £350 + VAT. There is also a range of add-on and standalone services to suit every audiobook marketing budget:

1. Additional options to promote the audiobook alongside the ebook on NetGalley.
2. A ‘Meet the Audiobook Author’ video about the author that is posted to social media channels.
3. A Podcast ‘Minisode’ – a short podcast (approx.. 10-15 minutes long) dedicated to an author and their audiobook
4. Additional options on BookBub to promote and advertise the audiobook.

Prices for the above are all available here.

If you have any questions about any of our audiobook services, please get in touch by emailing [email protected]

Writing a Book That Will Age Well

by Book Guild | Oct 14, 2020 | News

Rachael Cooper from Jericho Writers looks at longevity for your writing.

The oldest known literary work, the Epic of Gilgamesh, was created almost 4 thousand years ago. Although we don’t know who the author is, he would definitely be delighted with the long life of his creation.

Every author is curious about how long people will read their books, and many of us consider the time to be the ultimate judge of a writer’s quality. And even the most zealous ministers of the craft occasionally think about what can be done to interest several generations of readers.

No one can guarantee the book’s longevity and too much is up to fate and whimsical chance. But a writer can tip the scales in his favour with insights from the work of old masters, psychology and common sense. Not to mention, that following advice on how to write a book that will age well may also improve your writing.

Read a lot of great literature of the past

We learn to write by reading and almost every good writer is also a prolific reader. The advice to read more sounds obvious but surprisingly many aspiring writers read very little. The entire library of classical literature is full of books that aged well and their authors can share a lot of secrets of the craft if you know where to look.

Close reading can be a helpful way to study literature. Francine Prose discusses it in her book Reading Like a Writer. We usually swallow prose too quickly to experience the richness of the brew. Close reading is akin to wine tasting. You take your time and study the page. Try to find all the subtleties of the wording, all the nuances of the paragraph, to unravel the details in images, words, rhythm and tropes…

A lot of writers from Leo Tolstoy to Chuck Palahniuk are notorious close readers. They make notes, analyse and study the material. Take them as an example and start with close reading – it’ll help you to hone your style and find inspiration. More than that, the work of your predecessors can become your literary beacon and help you navigate your writing in volatile and uncertain times.

Think big

Big ideas survive better. Some of the greatest books started movements, not to mention that in the foundation of every major religion lies a very special book. Surf your memory of literature and you’ll see that books that live longer tend to have a lot to say about polarising issues.

To Kill a Mockingbird tackles serious problems of race and rape. War and Peace talks about the neverending opposition between chaos and order. The Grapes of Wrath explores the darkest period in America’s recent history. Through Anna Karenina, Leo Tolstoy offers a new perspective on marriage, motherhood, and infidelity. Quite a bold and controversial perspective even today.

The issues that trouble the writer determine the scale of his creative personality. Heavyweight social problems call for heavyweight authors. That is why you should choose your topics wisely. They don’t have to be pretentious and pompous, they just have to be important and meaningful for you. It can be mental health and women’s rights or loss of a loved one and life after stroke. Ask yourself “Can I not write about that?” and if the answer is “yes”, then you should find another topic.

When we talk about serious issues, great old literature comes to mind, but it would be a mistake to dismiss popular contemporary fiction. It could be argued, that Stephen King’s It raises questions of child abuse and The Handmaid’s Tale explores themes of religion and gender roles.

Write about the general human experience

Erik Bork in his book The Idea argues that a great story should be, among other things, relatable. Relatable equals engaging, understandable and interesting. The minute your reader loses interest, you lose a reader.

Myths, parables, and fairytales age well because they describe archetypal events and characters that a lot of people can relate to. We all can understand what it’s like to endure pointless labour, fly too close to the sun or descent into the unknown. And we all have similar fears, hopes and dreams. Concentrate on things people have in common and your readers will thank you. And your book will age well.

You can find inspiration in your life. There is nothing closer to the author than his own experience. A deeply personal story will resonate with the reader if the writer is brave enough to be sincere. That means if you write about recent events you can create a detailed and believable world and share your perspective on circumstances. The answer to the question “Why am I the best person to write about it?” can help you find the story that no one else can tell.

Consider writing about historical events

Think about writing historical fiction. Historical events or figures can provide a solid foundation for the story and become an almost inexhaustible source for the details and trivia that make the realism genre so appealing.

Plenty of writers from the Literature Hall of Fame have woven historical detail into their books that have outlived their authors by far. Homer, Sir Walter Scott, Charlotte Brontë, Honoré de Balzac, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, Victor Hugo, Virginia Woolf — are the few names that come to mind. Works of Russian writers like Dostoyevsky, Gogol and Tolstoy are good accounts of the Russian Empire of their time.

The downside of using historical events and figures is the potential loss of relatability. These books live a long life but with time it becomes harder and harder to relate to the worlds of the distant past. Memories fade, society changes, technology grows and the stories of Ancient Rome or Old England start to more resemble fantasy rather than realism.

George Orwell once said that “You are noticed more if you stand on your head than if you are the right way up.” That might be the motto of every writer. We should try to see things that others can’t and dive into waters that others avoid. Mechanical copying of things that worked before won’t do the trick. We should be willing to walk an extra mile, to push the boundary a tad further, to stretch ourselves a little more. In that unique journey, the experience of the past dreamers, passion for telling engaging stories, your courage to think big can be your shield and sword. With that armour, you can fight your meaningful battle on the page, creating the brave new word.

Rachael Cooper is the SEO & Publishing Manager for https://jerichowriters.com, a writers services company based in the UK and US. Rachael has a Masters in eighteenth-century literature, and specialises in female sociability. In her free time, she writes articles on her favourite eighteenth-century authors and, if all else fails, you can generally find her reading and drinking tea!

Tag 9560 by Jane H Wood

by Book Guild | Sep 16, 2020 | News

Jane H Wood, author of GoldenEars: The Whispering Mountain and the upcoming GoldenEars: The Pale Skulls shares a short story which raises awareness of Compassion in World Farming:

It was another dark-time; for the lights that glared overhead had, at long last, been extinguished. Long hours of darkness lay ahead. She could hear bodies either side of her shift restlessly. The hours passed in a bored stupor, standing on the hard concrete floor, though she had managed to doze once or twice. They were blissful moments that had been all too fleeting. The ache returned in her feet bringing her fitfully awake. She desperately wanted to turn around to ease the throbbing in her legs and vanquish the ache tearing into her back muscles, but even that small movement was denied her. The moist atmosphere remained a constant where a fug of fresh excrement circulated on the air. She lifted her head, trying to see over the iron railing that surrounded her body. She released a low grunt, sensing a warm body a few inches away. The familiar despondency resurfaced and she lowered her head again. There was no way out, she was trapped, confined as though she had done a terrible wrong. Why was she being treated like this? She thought very hard, perhaps she had displeased the long-shadows that had hovered around her. A shiver rippled down her back, as she recalled the pain and discomfort that always accompanied the long-shadows arrival.

Her tongue slid over her rough teeth. The raw pain had subsided, though they still felt tender after she was so brutally handled by the long-shadows when the last light-time flooded from above. She had closed her eyes as the taste of metal rasped against her molars and dug into the soft flesh on the inside of her cheek. She had tried to move her head, to twist away and cry out for mercy, but it was useless. Her pleas were ignored, the long-shadows continued, deaf and blind to her pain. The blood had now stopped flowing, the cuts beginning to heal in her tattered mouth.

A loud clanking of something metallic stirred the air… then a hum of machinery whirled into action. Others like herself began to wake, the sounds escalating into a hubbub of chaotic noise. As though they had disturbed an invisible power, the light suddenly dazzled from overhead. The contraption in front of her rattled, then a liquid ooze flooded from the tip of the metal pipe, filling the trough at her feet. She watched it flow like she had so many times before; a measured quota of nourishment was allocated her. Instinct drove her to eat. It was expected of her, after all, she didn’t want to feel the hot spike of a metal pole jab at her flank. She had learnt her lesson: retaliation was futile.

Both of her ears had already been clipped when she was but a few weeks old. The notches denoted the litter size, and the ear tag piercing her right ear displayed her identification number. She had cried, but that didn’t matter. The long-shadows hadn’t finished and held her upside-down by her hind legs in preparation to dock her tail… leaving behind a painful and bleeding stump. Then she was cast away from her mother. That was the last time she ever saw her. It had been a bad time when the choking sadness had engulfed her.

Pain was her life; not a moment of kindness or consideration was shown her. She endured it, endlessly, and without thought or malice towards her tormentors.

Each light-time was the same, the incarceration absolute. Her mind had grown slow, but her senses had remained heightened to the hostility that was forever surrounding her.

Then a new occurrence began one unusual light-time. The long-shadows arrived, making much noise and fearfulness. She cowered in fright as many of her kin were herded past her narrow crate, their cloven hooves clattering on the concrete floor. Unseen machinery banged and whirled and a great squealing resounded in the air, only to fade.

It puzzled her. What was in the light beyond? She pressed her face against the bars trying to see further down the passageway that led into oblique darkness. It was impossible to get a clear view, her fat body prevented her from moving but an inch or two in either direction and pressed uncomfortably against the cold hard bars in protest.

Young voices roused her from her inertia. Sensing new neighbours sparked a slight interest and she snorted in response. She tried to manoeuvre herself so she could see their faces. The simple action brought her to a stop as her belly dragged on the ground bringing a new hurt to her swollen nipples, now sore and engorged from the repeated pregnancies she had been forced to endure. Thirst made her seek her drinking spout. She licked the end, but no water came forth. A mounting panic made her grasp the iron bar before her, grinding her teeth upon it. But the bars didn’t yield an inch, but then they never did. It was stiflingly hot in her confined space and she licked her dry mouth as a new panic rose inside her. The air was unmoving, the constant hum of machinery had ceased, and also the long-shadows that tormented them daily were absent. This light-time was different, she hadn’t experienced this before. No food or water came in its usual automated way.

Suddenly a great disturbance resounded from the dark passageway. Then the latch on her crate was lifted, and a gentle hand touched her rump. A soft voice coaxed her, and obediently she began the slow walk down the dark passageway with a group of other sows at her side. Together they ascended a ramp and entered a place strewn with fresh straw and a long trough filled with cool water. Her eyes watered in wonderment as she gazed around. Then the doors were gently closed behind them; unaware that very soon, they were all to begin a new life at the Farm Animal Sanctuary.

Supporter: ciwf.org.uk

A new record for publishing

by Book Guild | Aug 11, 2020 | News

The results are in – 2019 was the ‘biggest year for publishing since records began…

Last week saw the publication of the Publishers Association Yearbook – an annual ‘state of the nation’ view of the UK publishing industry, in which Stephen Lotinga, the Publishers Association Chief Executive, hailed 2019 as the ‘biggest year ever for UK publishing.’

The report looks at publisher revenue for consumer, education and academic books and journals and finds that in 2019, the total publishing income for the UK was 6.3 billion – an increase of 3.5% from 2018.

Stand out areas were non-fiction and reference – up by 5.6% on 2018 – and audiobooks, which continue their stellar rise – with a reported 39.3% increase in downloads in 2019.

However, while 2019 was a boom year in publishing, and publishers started 2020 on a high, Covid-19 and the continuing uncertainty around Brexit have already had a significant and negative impact on the industry.

This mirrors our own findings, where digital remains a strong growth area for books sales, and non-fiction sales are increasing year on year. In fact, our own assessments for the first 6 months of 2020 are an interesting snapshot of a country in lockdown – and it’s fascinating looking at the books that have been the strongest sellers. In normal times, we have some key business titles that we can barely keep in stock, and demand for those plummeted. On the other hand, books about relationships boomed. As did most titles related to walking and getting outside. Dystopian fiction, however, was not so much in demand by a public that was already living the plot! As the book trade shut down in March, April and May, digital sales tracked upwards. Our own online bookshop remains very busy after a surge of orders during Amazon’s restricted supply period. Books are always resilient in troubled times, offering hope and escape for readers.

Even with bookshops open again, sales via the trade still remain subdued. However, it is encouraging that the publishing industry went into 2020 in the strongest position in its history – which bodes well for the future.

Supporting your Local Independent Bookshops by Jude Hayland

by Book Guild | Jun 23, 2020 | News

No doubt the dream of many independent writers – and fledgling writers, in particular, is to walk into Waterstones to see their book boldly displayed on one of the prominent tables, grabbing the attention of every browser and customer loitering in the shop. I must be a real writer – a professional! the feeling would surely be.

But the dream is entirely misplaced. It’s an aspiration that should be redirected away from the giants of the book trade and onto the independent stores.

After all, as an independent writer – the focus should be on the markets and outlets that best accommodate and reflect that status.

The independent bookshop is a place to treasure. And in spite of the difficulties of actually surviving financially, given High Street rents and associated costs with such a presence (let alone our current crisis), it appears to be thriving.  And so it should. After all, who does not want to walk into a shop run by people passionate about books, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and welcoming? People whose working day is driven by a commitment to the stock they have selected and for whom the loyalty of their customers is key?

As independent writers, we need to value what these bookshops can offer us and in turn realise how we can serve them. A two-way process, as it were.

Recently (just before lockdown when we were still naively anticipating the seasons of spring and summer obeying normal rules of engagement…) I went to a local writers’ event at the wonderful independent bookshop, BrOOK’S in Pinner. Run by local residents, husband and wife team, Peter and Sarah Brook, the shop also sells coffee, snacks and wine in comfortable, relaxed surroundings so it is much more than just a business. It is part of the community where friends can meet, socialise, browse and share in the world of books. Although I am no longer local to Pinner, I grew up there and still have strong ties with the place and there are references in my two novels to the town – I was therefore considered sufficiently legitimate for inclusion in the local writers’ event!

And what a great evening it was – ten or so writers all of different genres, reading extracts, talking about our books, in a supportive and warm atmosphere, making connections with readers. The evening provided a platform for us writers to communicate in person – something that cannot happen with online sales, however riveting we try and make ourselves sound on our author profile.

For writers of non-fiction and local history, the independent book shop is, of course, a gift. What better place to seek out a readership than in the locality with which the book is concerned? And however long people have lived in an area, unless they are local historians, their knowledge of the region is so often woefully lacking, a vacuum that they may be all too willing to fill if there is a relevant book on the shelves.

Fiction writers too can exploit a local shop that links with the settings of their novels. People like reading fictional stories about places they know. There is even an element of flattery in seeing their village or town featured in a story and it provides the bookseller with a hook to encourage a sale. Last winter, I went to a book fair in Brighton and was among twenty or so writers marketing and aiming to sell our books. On that desperately wet and dark late November day, the author who writes crime stories set in the Brighton area was the one who gained the most attention and sales from the drowned rats of potential customers who came in to shelter from the torrential rain.

As independent writers, we know that writing our books is the relatively easy part. It’s finding outlets to sell them, to seek out and communicate with a readership that so often entirely baffles and bewilders.

That’s why we need to connect and befriend our local independent book stores. Surely, as writers and readers, we applaud everything they stand for – a love of books, a belief in the power of the written word to entertain and to communicate, a desire to reach out to the local community with more than just an eye on profit. Of course, as businesses, they have to make a profit to survive – no good being ingenuous about that. But if we as local writers can be part of that process, by offering to take part in author and reader events to increase sales, by befriending the shop and encouraging our friends and family to do the same, the healthy survival of our vibrant and proudly independent bookshops will be helped.

So in Independent Bookshop week, let’s make sure that any book purchase we make in the next seven days is from one of them – and keep the habit going.

After all, we need them just as much as they need us!

What will bookselling look like post lockdown?

by Book Guild | Jun 15, 2020 | News

Jonathan White, Troubador’s Sales and Marketing Manager was recently at a virtual publishing conference where James Daunt, the Head of Waterstones, Daunt Books and Barnes and Noble spoke.

James Daunt must easily be the most powerful figure in traditional bookselling in both the UK and the USA. With his position as head of both the Waterstones book chain in the UK, which now also includes the Foyles bookshops, and the Barnes & Noble chain in the USA, and not forgetting the fact that he also independently owns the Daunts bookshop chain, if anyone can speak with complete authority on the realities of operating bookshops on both sides of the Atlantic it is he.

James was appearing, via video link, at the IPG Conference and was going to shed some light on what the current situation was for these bookshops – in both the current climate and the future.

Barnes & Noble are beginning to open their stores in the US, as the lockdown is easing much more quickly in the US than it is over here. The first Waterstones shops are starting to reopen shortly in the UK too – but with a range of measures that will make the art of bookselling very different from what it was.

James Daunt, as always, spoke with complete honesty about both the problems that bookshops are going to face in reopening their doors to the public and how much market-share they will now have lost to the internet book retailers. Internet retailers have also faced considerable difficulties during the recent period of lockdown, but they, at least partially, been able to operate. On top of this for many during this period the idea of buying books on the internet, as with everything else, has become the complete norm.

Daunt’s argument is that bookshops have always been able been to sell themselves as a very safe environment for buying books where booksellers put together a curated selection of books and encourage customers to browse through these before making their purchases. This is now going to be one of the most difficult things for them to maintain during the Coronavirus fears and restrictions. Daunt spoke about how Waterstones will likely introduce some kind of ‘quarantining’ of the books which customers have handled to make sure that customers can feel completely safe in handling books in bookshops. As with other retail staff will be in PPE and shop layouts will change to assist with social distancing.

As customers, we have already had to start getting used to retail staff being protected by screens and masks. The idea of browsing in shops, picking up the merchandise and then putting it back down again if you decide not to buy it, is only now having to be considered – and most readers buy books by engaging physically with the product on the shelf.

The concern remains that if customers do not feel safe they will no longer come into bookshops and then you might just as well buy all your books on the internet. Similarly, bookshops work best when booksellers can recommend, and hand-sell titles to readers – and they will also have to significantly change how they interact with customers. Separately, many indie bookshops break even from extra activities, reading groups, author events and via their coffee shops – none of which will be returning any time soon either.

Having said that, it is very good to know that the book retail business will be opening up again. Already we believe there have been some major casualties within the UK book world, and no one can doubt that this is going to be an extraordinary Summer for the bookshops.

Daunt always comes across as someone with a huge passion for selling books and a complete belief in the importance and viability of bookshops both now and into the future. During his keynote, he was very successful at showing that bookshops are very seriously looking at how they can reopen safely and successfully and bounce back from the horrible Spring they have had.  He did though sound cautious in a follow-up article in The Bookseller, where he urged publishers to not expect a quick bounce back on sales. We’ll end with his words: “For us and most independents the end of the March, April and May sales are gone, and that’s a huge financial hit. It’ll also take a while to get back to normal so there will be a further loss through the following months.”