News for Authors

Visual Storytelling: Instagram

by Lauren Donovan|January, 2013

With over 100 million registered users, this social network’s star is clearly rising. Instagram can help boost your visibility by allowing fans to go behind the scenes of an author’s life. Read more

Monthly Marketing Tip: Finessing Photos

by Matthew Albrecht, Daniel Vecchito, and Sophie McNeill|January, 2013

With the rise of new social media platforms like Pinterest and Instagram, and the continued popularity of blogging sites like Tumblr, having great images to share has become increasingly important. Here’s our best selection of simple tips for finding, cropping, resizing, and enabling your photographs to look their best.

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Spotlight: Digital Product Innovation

by Andrea Bachofen|December, 2012

 

The way we transform book content into digital experiences is rapidly evolving.  New devices, screen sizes, and coding requirements are continuously introduced to the marketplace—adding complexity, but also offering great new opportunities to enhance the digital format.

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Webinar Roundup

by Sophie McNeill|December, 2012

If you missed some of our great author webinars, do not fear! They are all recorded and available on the Portal. And, just to whet your appetite, here’s some of the advice we heard from experts from Twitter, Goodreads, Tumblr, and the Random House marketing team. Read more

Monthly Marketing Tip: Writing for SEO

by Kristin Fritz|December, 2012

Search engine optimization (SEO) is that bit of magic that makes web content discoverable, increasing traffic to your website for free. Truly, though, there’s nothing terribly magical about it. In layman’s terms, SEO is about selecting words that people might use when they’re searching for something in particular online. As content creators in the digital space, we can make smart choices about the copy in our headlines and posts, incorporating keywords and terms that are seen as desirable to search engines.

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Deciding Between a Facebook Page and a Profile

December, 2012

One of the core decisions when using Facebook is whether to have a Profile or a Page (or both). Although they function slightly differently, either can work well for an author.

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The Hidden Engines That Support Independent Retailers

November, 2012

 

The upcoming holiday season is the most important selling season in the year, but it also presents special challenges for independent book retailers. Just when it is most important to have lots of staff on the selling floor, helping customers and recommending gifts, it also becomes crucial to keep key titles in stock, which demands time in the back office, tracking consumer demand and sourcing inventory.

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Spotlight: Virtual Author Appearances

by Sophie McNeill|November, 2012

In our increasingly digital world, virtual author appearances have become popular with book-loving audiences in libraries, classrooms, book blogs, and book groups. Here are our tips and thoughts on the virtual platforms we have worked with to date in this evolving area.

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Monthly Marketing Tip: What to Blog About

by Sophie McNeill|November, 2012

For authors who have the time to post regularly, blogging can be a wonderful way to build a following and engage with readers. One question authors often ask us is “What should I blog about?” While every author is different, these are the key factors we think authors should take into account when deciding what to include in their blogs.

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A Letter to Random House Authors from CEO Markus Dohle

November, 2012

 

MARKUS DOHLE
CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF BERTELSMANN SE & CO. KGaA

October 29, 2012

To Our Authors,

Our most important mission will always be to publish the work you entrust to us for everyone, everywhere, in every format, and on every platform. That mandate is a primary motivation behind Bertelsmann and Pearson, the parent companies of Random House and the Penguin Book group, signing an agreement this week to combine our respective trade book activities. Read more