Authors with new book releases are gaining exposure by turning to blog tours more and more, says online publicist Diane Saarinen. Instead of physically traveling from bookstore to bookstore, authors are scheduling virtual online tours where their new novels or memoirs are featured in popular book blogs.

“An author might be scheduled to appear in anywhere from eight to eighteen blogs.

Book description seems straightforward enough. However, there are challenges, and then there are the descriptions themselves. Read on to find out how to handle the challenging areas and the actual descriptions.

A) Some exceptions from the usual standards

If the book is out of print and very hard to find, you can sell it even if it has a splotch here and there and writing all over it.

FastPencil continues to remove inefficiencies in the book authoring, publishing and sales processes by launching the FastPencil BookBuy Widget bringing the bookstore to readers everywhere they hang out on the web. The next generation FastPencil publishing service gives authors full control of content, price, distribution and new integrated features to offer direct selling and increase book awareness.

With the book selling widget, FastPencil completely changes book commerce for authors by extending beyond the limitations of Amazon and other on- and off- line bookstores.

If you want to know what to read next, consider this list of five Southern novels recommended by Elizabeth Spencer.

Tate Publishing announced today the creation of a new service for Tate Publishing authors. The company will create an iPhone application so that users can connect with Tate Publishing authors and buy their books directly from the Tate Publishing bookstore.

The new Tate Publishing application can be used on computers and iPhones and will allow the user to connect directly to the author to learn their motivation behind the creation of their favorite books.