BookBaby’s Top 10 of 2012

It was an amazing 2012 and we pumped out a ton of helpful articles for both aspiring and working authors. Below you’ll find a list — as selected by you, the reader — of the year’s most consumed content on the BookBaby Blog. So brew yourself a nice, warm cup o’ joe, kick your feet up, and absorb some articles that will have your creative juices flowing (and business mind buzzing) come 2013.

1. 20 Free Sites Where You Can Promote
Your eBook
The fine folks at GalleyCat have compiled a list of websites where you can promote your eBook for free, engage with an active online community of readers, and hopefully win yourself a few new fans. Read more.

2. Pinterest for Authors: How to Promote Your Writing on the Fastest Growing Website…
Pinterest — isn’t that a website for travel planners, lovers of delectables, and vintage-clothing aficionados? Well, yes; but many authors are finding creative ways to promote their books using the social scrapbooking site too. Read more.

3. 9 Things Authors Do That Irritate Their Facebook Fans
Winning and losing at the Facebook promotion game: The secret to Facebook success is simple: follow the Rule of 4 C’s—consistently create compelling content! Read more.

4. 3 Steps to Increase Your eBook Sales
You spend months writing your masterpiece, eager to establish your credibility and become the next Kindle success story like John Locke. You sign up with BookBaby to design and convert your prose into an eBook so thousands of people can buy it. Read more.

5. Promote Your Book on a Budget: 20 Thrifty Ways to Get Your Writing Out There
Some folks say that the success of a book is 10% quality and 90% marketing. As an independent author you’re probably not working with a big promotional budget. Read more.

6. The Social Media Mistake All Authors Should Avoid
You’ve almost finished writing your book and you’re starting to piece together the beginnings of a “promotion strategy.” Part of that effort involves Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+, Tumblr… Read more.

7. 7 Ways to Sell More Books with Pinterest
Pinterest may be the hottest ticket in town these days — but what are the best ways to use it to promote your book? How can you create targeted, effective Pinterest campaigns, so pinning doesn’t turn into a time-wasting social media sinkhole? Read more.

8. 7 Blogging Tips for Authors
Everyone is blogging these days, from unknown authors to literary legends—and you should be too. But since blogging has become ubiquitous as a book-promotion tool, it’s important to do things right! Here are 7 ways to make sure your blog has a positive impact on your writing career. Read more.

9. How to Write a Book in Six Weeks (and Live to Tell About It)
When I was writing a proposal for my recent book on Pinterest marketing for John Wiley and Sons, my prospective editor asked how quickly I might be able to write the manuscript… Read more.

10. Janet Fitch’s 10 Tips That Can Help Any Writer
Last weekend at the Pasadena LitFest, BookBaby president Brian Felsen had the opportunity to interview Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander (picked for Oprah’s Book Club) and Paint It Black. Read more.