Interview with Nicole of Tribute Books and Changes

Beginning in 2012, Tribute Books will become solely an ebook publisher of young adult titles. I was a bit shocked at this announcement, so I had some questions for Nicole at Tribute Books.  If I have questions, I'm sure others do as well.

1. What inspired you to make this big change to Ebook YA only books?


Our main reason is the explosion in popularity of e-readers such as the Kindle, Nook and iPad. Over the course of 2011, we've watched our ebook sales outpace our print sales by 2 to 1. The under $5 price point of most of our titles and the ease of purchase and delivery are surely contributing factors.


On a business level, the young adult genre sells especially if it is well written and has a paranormal romance theme. On a marketing level, the devotion of the young adult fan base is unparalleled. On a personal level, I thoroughly enjoy a good young adult novel and review many on my blog at http://tributebooksreviews.blogspot.com.

2. Why are you only looking to only publish one author a month?

Tribute Books is one-person operation. It's just me. So in order to devote the time and preparation necessary to launch a new e-title each month, I'm looking to limit the production schedule to 12 a year. I'll reevaluate things in 2013, and if I feel I can handle more at that time and our 2012 releases are successful, I'll surely consider increasing our output.


And I still conduct monthly blog tours for outside publishers and authors in order to help them increase the online presence of a book through Tribute Books Blog Tours which also limits my available time to commit to more than one ebook a month.

3. Do you anticipate that you will be able to commit more time to your authors and their works with this change?

Working with a first time author is an extremely time intensive process. The learning curve is steep. In the past, nearly every author I worked with was brand new to the publishing industry. At this point in my career, I would rather focus on providing our readership with new material instead of devoting the time to developing multiple author marketing platforms from scratch.
I'm most excited about working with authors who enjoy promoting their book on a daily basis. Ones who know the ins and outs of the time and effort it takes to make a book a success because I'm ready and willing to work with them every step of the way.

4. What kind of authors are you seeking? What makes them a great fit for Tribute Books?

My preference is for damn good writing, the particular topic is secondary in importance. However, books written with a series in mind or those that delve into the paranormal will have a slight edge. Manuscripts that have already been professionally edited will receive greater consideration. Our preference is to work with authors who have already been published through a royalty-paying press and who know the ins and outs of book promotion. An established social media platform is a must, and we will not consider writers who do not have a well-followed blog, Facebook page or Twitter account.

In my opinion, social networking is the bread and butter of any author's promotional efforts. Without it, it's like trying to paddle upstream without a canoe. Readers want to connect with the person who wrote the book. They crave interaction with an author. Nothing beats getting a writer to comment on a blogger's book review post or getting a personalized thank you tweet from your favorite author. The days of authors being isolated from their fans is over. They're now able to build an online following and receive instant feedback for their work. They have the opportunity to take part in creating their own literary community.

We try to keep an active online presence with our web site Facebook Twitter and blog. We'd love to have anyone who loves young adult literature to join us for the ride.

Thanks so much Nicole!