Up the Bestseller Lists! [Paperback]

Kathleen Brehony (Author), Karen Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 2000

Most books for potential authors show how to pick subjects, find agents, and connect with a publisher. Veteran authors Kathleen Brehony & Karen Jones explain that writers also need to lead the promotion of their book-either working with a publisher or on their own-to determine whether it will be a bestseller or a bust.

They offer a step-by-step introduction to the fundamentals of book promotion-from getting reviews to setting up bookstore events-with plenty of practical advice and examples of what to expect. It also includes an emphasis on the creative strategies authors can use to make their book a commercial success.

Their unique new approach focuses on the exciting side of getting published-showing authors how to be published both happily and successfully-and have a ton of fun while promoting themselves and their work.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"Birthing a book is a lot like birthing a baby," say Kathleen Brehony and Karen Jones. "You've suffered through a long gestation process [but] ...your work, in many ways, has just begun." Their book, Up the Bestseller Lists!, is a basic guide to book promotion. The title may be a bit fantastic (unless you're selected for Oprah's Book Club), but there are many fine ideas for newly (and soon-to-be) published writers here. Brehony and Jones guide you through the entire book-promotion process: selecting titles and cover designs, garnering blurbs, getting your book into stores (and strategically placed once it's there), finding alternative outlets, conducting signings and interviews, having your friends run a guerrilla marketing campaign. There's not a lot new here, but the information is clearly and amiably presented. And there is some gold to be mined. For instance, don't sign your books on the first blank page. "When you're a famous writer," the authors explain, "your autographed copy will be worth a great deal more when it is signed on the page that includes your title and publisher." --Jane Steinberg

About the Author

Kathleen Brehony is a clinical psychologist and author of Awakening at Midlife. She lives in Norfolk, Virginia. Karen Jones is a veteran of the radio and television industries, as well as the author of the romance novel, Kingdom of Hearts. She lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Adams Media Corporation (August 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 158062409X
• ISBN-13: 978-1580624091
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,108,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jones' first novel, Kingdom of Hearts was published in 1997 by the duplicitous and financially corrupt Commonwealth Publications in a disaster of epic proportions. The resulting scandal inspired former FBI agent Jim Fisher's book Ten Percent of Nothing The Case of the Literary Agent from Hell.

Her second book, Up the Bestseller Lists, Adams Media, 2001, co-authored with Kathleen Brehony offers hands-on advice and guerilla techniques for authors who want to aggressively and successfully promote and market their work. Her third book, Death for Beginners, a nonfiction how-to book, is a practical guide for arranging a graceful exit written with baby boomers in mind. It is scheduled to be published in 2009 by Quill Driver Books. Karen freelances for Virginia Superlawyer and The Daily Press, and has written Chic's Beach, performed by Playwrights Premiere Theatre and published in A Chesapeake Celebration, San Francisco Bay Press, 2004

Jones has fifteen years of experience in television news at WVEC, an ABC affiliate, as an on-air anchor and feature reporter. In addition, working as a series producer she wrote and hosted the long-form series The Haunting of Virginia which won an Associated Press Award. She also collaborated with the BBC on its award winning series Pocahontas. Karen's media experience also includes stints as an on-air personality at WNOR, WAFX, and WNIS, in both the talk-radio and rock-n-roll radio format.

She directed the Virginia Writers Conference for five years, is an advisor for the Bay School for the Arts, and is a member of the National League of American Pen Women and The Authors Guild.

Karen has worked for ten years as an educator in the public schools, both teaching and writing curriculum. She has taught writing workshops and seminars at Louisiana State University, Austin Peay University, Old Dominion University and has taught courses in romance novel writing at the University of Richmond and Christopher Newport University.

Her fourth book, the historical romantic suspense The Highland Witch is under consideration with various publishers. Karen is currently shopping her fifth book, The Marcell Glide, a southern literary fiction coming of age story.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An enthusiastic, upbeat, and information-packed primer, January 6, 2002

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Up the Bestseller Lists! (Paperback)

Up the Bestseller Lists!: A Hands-On Guide to Successful Book Promotion is an enthusiastic, upbeat, and information-packed primer for any aspiring author looking to earn a niche on the coveted bestseller lists. Chapters cover everything from getting your book into the bookstore, cyberspace publicity, self-promotion, book signings, print media, contract negotiations, and much, much more. A superbly presented, down-to-earth, "user friendly", basic reference easily accessible to the lay reader, Up the Bestseller Lists! is a "must" for anyone looking to turn a profit on the words they have labored so long and hard to get published.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL!!!, November 11, 2001

By 

"sallys-stuff" (Virginia Beach, Virginia USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Up the Bestseller Lists! (Paperback)

As a novice writer, but a serious one, I've found and purchased dozens of books on writing. This one, so much more than any of the others, gives the reader (the budding author as well as those who have been successfully published) the nuts and bolts of marketing tactics and promotion....methods to get your published book flying off the shelves and creative ways to make certain it continues to do so.

I think every writer needs to read and refer to this book often. It should be on your shelf next to your basic reference books, your Thesaurus and your best Dictionary.

Its written with a delightful sense of humor - Jones and Brehony are rib-tickling, belly laughing funny in their approach - and it's obvious that their love of writing and support of others is sincere. Casual and "living-room-put-your-feet-up-and-stay a while" friendly, their writing style is warm and easy to understand...but completely thorough and jammed with necessary information you'll need if you follow their down-to-earth advice, including names and addresses of suggested "contacts"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Packed with Information, May 7, 2006

By 

Rene Jackson "RN" (Port Charlotte, FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Up the Bestseller Lists! (Paperback)

Good chapter on the media. Make sure to update the addresses, phone numbers and contact names. All around full of useable information. Should be a part of the library of do-it-yourself book promoters.
Rene' Jackson RN BSN MS
Co-author with Alberto Righi MD of Death of Mammography
Caveat Press 2006