Comments for Red Sofa Literary

Comment on The Red Sofa Chats – Angela James, of Carina Press by Carin

Carin — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:41:06 +0000

My prediction for ebooks would be even greater than 50%, but that’s just based on anecdotal data.

I know others have asked what the most effective social media platform is in promoting a book. I wonder how you know what’s effective and what’s not.

Comment on The Red Sofa Chats – Angela James, of Carina Press by K.L. Townsend

K.L. Townsend — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 20:42:23 +0000

I think as we move into the next few years, we’ll start to see an even greater balancing effect. More people will have some form of ereader, whether it’s a an actual committed ereader or a tablet of some kind, and that we’ll find a more seamless integration of the two.

You say that social media has impacted the way you promote a book. What have you found to the most effective social media platform in promoting a book?

Comment on The Red Sofa Chats – Angela James, of Carina Press by Mystic Wyngarden

Mystic Wyngarden — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 19:10:31 +0000

If you were still acquiring, how important would an author’s background in technical writing, business writing, English Education, etc. be? That person would have a lot of editing and sentence structure and plain ‘ole writing experience, but maybe none in writing fiction.

Comment on The Red Sofa Chats – Angela James, of Carina Press by Vicky Burkholder

Vicky Burkholder — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:37:48 +0000

What was your training to become an editor? Is it a career you would advocate for those who love books? If so, any advice on how to get on the inside track?

Comment on The Red Sofa Chats – Angela James, of Carina Press by Jody W.

Jody W. — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 18:34:04 +0000

My dog is not self-publishing, it’s the cat. *heh* So…is there any relationship to occupational therapy and nurturing authors?

Comment on The Red Sofa Chats – Angela James, of Carina Press by Angela James (@angelajames)

Angela James (@angelajames) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:30:28 +0000

Hi Jenni,

I think involving your emotions is an important part of reading, so I would never be able to keep them out of reading. Of course, I do need to be able to think somewhat impartially about the market value of a book, but that can be done despite emotions, not without them!

Comment on The Red Sofa Chats – Angela James, of Carina Press by Jenni

Jenni — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:25:47 +0000

I tend to get emotionally invested in the books I read–from wanting to toss it across the room (an impulse I’ve had to curtail since I bought my eReader) to wanting to buy copies for all of my friends, forcing them to read it immediately so we can talk about it.

As a professional reader of sorts, how do you keep your emotions out of the equation? Or do you?

Comment on The Red Sofa Chats – Angela James, of Carina Press by StacieD

StacieD — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:18:00 +0000

I think digital books will be huge in 5 years. I’ve only had my Kindle for 18 months but I have almost 850 stories on it. Most are novellas. That is part of why I love Ebooks. I don’t always have time to read a full length novel. Novellas fit the bill nicely.

Regarding social media: I get almost all of my book recommendations from Twitter. I also think providing an ebook for free for a limited time is great marketing. I’ve bought whole series because of a free book that I loved.

Geishasmom73 AT yahoo DOT com

Comment on The Red Sofa Chats – Angela James, of Carina Press by Amy

Amy — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:57:33 +0000

I see e-books increasing in popularity in the future. I have only had my Nook for about a year and have already read more books than ever on it. I have read a lot of series books based off of a Free Fridays selection by B&N, which is another perk of e-books. I like that you can read them instantly – you don’t have to go to a store, look for it, stand in line, etc. I also like that there are apps to use with them so while we might own one copy of a book my husband and I can read it on my Nook, our phone, or our tablet and we don’t have to “share” the hardcopy. There are just so many functions of e-books. Regarding twitter/social media – I have already met and added several new books to my library just by other people posting about them.

Comment on The Red Sofa Chats – Angela James, of Carina Press by Angela James (@angelajames)

Angela James (@angelajames) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:22:56 +0000

@library addict We make our books available to all libraries via Overdrive. It’s up to the individual libraries to choose to purchase them for their catalogs. We have heard from librarians that they like our books because they’re easy to use to show patrons new to the digital space how to read a digital book on a device, since our files don’t have DRM.

As for print, we’re always working with other Harlequin imprints to explore which of our titles might work for their lists as well. Around 15-20 of our titles have been picked up by our direct to consumer group for mailing to subscription members, and those titles are always available for a limited time for sale in print on the Harlequin site. We’ll keep looking for more options for print, but our first commitment is always going to be to digital.

As to tips, I think it depends on the person you’re recommending to. For instance, my dad travels a lot, so I convinced him it was a good thing so he could not only have access to several books, but he also reads mostly at night so I pointed out the convenience of a backlit device like the nook color or Kindle Fire. Essentially, I look for what’s important to that person and highlight the advantages of digital to them specifically, not as a whole or generically.

Great questions, thank you!