Kathleen Meyer and Mike O'Mary's
WOW! WOMEN ON WRITING TOUR
OF
LitNuts.com
Tour Begins November 2nd
For Readers
So, LitNuts brings you books of short stories, essays, or poetry that many other newsletters refuse to include (because collections don’t sell as well as novels). LitNuts also features new releases and award-winning books that other newsletters exclude because of price. (Many newsletters feature ONLY ebooks priced at $2.99 or less, which is fine – but not all great books are $2.99 or less!).
For authors, you'll be happy to hear that LitNuts founders Mike O’Mary and Kathleen Meyer handled publishing and marketing for an indie press for more than 10 years. This is important because that means they understand the challenge of getting your books in front of readers.
For Authors
LitNuts is an affordable vehicle that focuses on indie books and has engaged subscribers. Their goal is to help authors increase their book’s sales rank with online retailers, generate more reader reviews, and create positive word-of-mouth.
Toward that end, they are building a subscriber base of booklovers who want to hear from indie presses. And we are focused on keeping things simple and flexible for authors. They offer a flat price of $25, so it’s simple. No tiered pricing or convoluted advertising offers to analyze.
At the same time, they give authors the flexibility to advertise short story, essay and poetry collections, to link to your website so book lovers can purchase directly from you, and to set the price of your e-book according to your needs.
About LitNut and owners Kathleen Meyer and her father, Mike O'Mary:
LitNuts is a woman-owned, family-run business founded by Kathleen Meyer and her father, Mike O'Mary, who share a love of literature and reading. Kathleen is an avid reader with 10 years of marketing experience, including with Dream of Things, a small press founded by Mike in 2009. During its 10 year history, Dream of Things published three New York Times Bestsellers, three winners of the Hoffer Award, and one book that has been optioned for a film. Kathleen and Mike drew upon their experience of publishing and marketing books on a shoestring budget to create LitNuts, in the hope of helping other indie presses achieve success.
Authors and readers, visit LitNuts.com to sign up for their newsletter, where you can hear about incredible books from indie publishers that you wouldn't hear about anywhere else.
A Conversation with Kathleen
Meyer and Mike O’Mary, Co-Founders of LitNuts v2
Kathleen:
Greetings, and thank you to Caroline for having us as guests. We are booklovers
who also have 10+ years of experience publishing and marketing books with an
indie press, and today we’d like to take a quick look at indie publishing, book
promotion newsletters, and tell you a little about LitNuts, the newsletter we
launched in 2020 to bring the “Best of the Indies” to readers.
Mike:
Independent publishing is alive and well in America, which is amazing when you
consider that the Big Five (Penguin/Random House, Hachette, Harper Collins,
Simon and Schuster, Macmillan) and their 250 imprints control about 60% of commercially published books. But
that means 40% of books are still coming from independent publishers, which is
a good thing.
Kathleen:
It’s a good thing because many regard indie books at the lifeblood of the
industry. While the Big Five focus on million dollar books deals and the next
bestseller, indie publishers are focusing on creativity and originality. So if
you’re not tapped into the world of indie books, you’re missing out on some
great reading.
Mike:
Of course, the big challenge for indie publishers and authors is marketing. I
started an indie press in 2009, and quickly realized that finding and
publishing a good book is only half the battle. I spent most of my time on
marketing – and had good success: three books made the New York Times Bestseller list, three others won Hoffer Awards, and
one was optioned for a film.
Kathleen:
One of the keys to that success was using newsletters and websites that promote
books. You’ve probably seen or heard of some of them, like BookBub, Bargain
Booksy, Book Riot…there are dozens of them.
Mike:
For booklovers, these newsletters are a great way to discover new books to
read. And for authors and publishers, it’s a way to get your book in front of
readers.
Kathleen:
So with all of these newsletters already out there in the marketplace, why did
we launch LitNuts – and why should you subscribe to it?
Mike:
There are lots of good reasons to sign up for the LitNuts e-newsletter –
starting with the fact that it’s free!
Kathleen:
More important, it’s the only e-newsletter focused on independent publishing –
and even then, we cast as wide a net as possible. In addition to nonfiction and
fiction across all genres, we also feature collections of short stories, essays
and poetry that many other newsletters exclude, simply because they don’t
usually sell as well as book-length works.
Mike:
Other newsletters also tend to focus on bargains. Everybody loves a bargain,
but the reality is that not all great books are $2.99 or less. And you might
have to wait a long time for a new release or award-winning book to be reduced
to $2.99.
Kathleen:
So while LitNuts includes plenty of bargains, we also let authors and
publishers decide how to price their books. The result is that we feature a
wider variety of high-quality books across a range of price points.
Mike:
Your experience as a subscriber starts when you sign up and select the genre(s)
you’d like to see in your customized newsletter. You can change your
preferences at any time.
Kathleen:
We’re currently sending out LitNuts every Monday, Wednesday and Friday – and
we’re giving away gift cards and other prizes with every edition during our
launch.
Mike:
In addition to books that are submitted to us by authors and publishers,
Kathleen and I also hand-pick books that we think readers might like. I’m
currently keeping an eye out for literary fiction, general nonfiction and
romance (I’m partial to historical romance!), and Kathleen is picking science
fiction, mystery and children/young adult books.
Kathleen:
The other thing we should mention is that we will also feature self-published
books that rise to the level of quality of the other books we feature.
Mike:
Estimates vary, but about one-third of all e-books are from self-published
authors. In addition to readers who want information about indie books, our
subscribers also include many independent publishers who advertise with LitNuts.
Small publishers sometimes acquire self-published books. When I was publishing
books, I acquired two self-published titles and subsequently sold more than
5,000 copies of each of them, which is a “home run” for a small press.
Kathleen:
The bottom line is that between our focus on indie books, inclusion of more
forms of writing (short stories, essays, poetry), and a range of price points
that includes bargains but doesn’t exclude other titles,
readers will see books in LitNuts that they might not find elsewhere. So we hope
booklovers will give LitNuts a try – and help support indie authors and
publishers in the process.
You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
-- Blog Tour Dates
November 2nd @ The Muffin
What goes better in the morning than a muffin? Join us WOW's blog The Muffin as we celebrate the launch of LitNuts.com. Follow along the tour for excellent guest posts written by the owners, reader their interview with us, and enter a giveaway.
https://muffin.wow-womenonwriting.com
November 4th @ Caroline Clemmons
Join Caroline as she features LitNuts and their guest post about what kinds of books readers will find at LitNuts.
https://carolineclemmons.blogspot.com/
November 4th @ Reading in the Wildwood
Visit Megan's blog where she spotlights LitNuts and tells you all about their book newsletter.
https://readinginthewildwood.com/
November 5th @ Karen Brown Tyson
Join Karen Brown Tyson as she features LitNut's guest post about how to market yourself as a writer.
https://karenbrowntyson.com/blog/
November 7th @ Michelle Cornish
Visit Michelle Cornish's blog today and you can read a guest post about a closer look inside the world of publishing.
https://www.michellecornish.com/blog
November 10th @ Books, Beans and Botany
Blogger Ashley Hubbard shares LitNut's experiences with some of their favorite authors. A fun guest post you don't want to miss!
https://booksbeansandbotany.com/
November 11th @ Literary Quicksand
Jolissa will be interviewing the LitNuts founders, and discussing everything you'll want to know about this amazing new bookish newsletter.
http://www.literaryquicksand.com/
November 14th @ Boots, Shoes, and Fashion
Come by Linda's blog today where she interviews the owners of LitNuts.com
http://bootsshoesandfashion.com/
November 15th @ Choices
Visit Madeline's blog today and you can get a deeper dive on LitNuts and what makes it so different from other book newsletters.
November 18th @ Create Write Now
Visit Mari's blog today where you can read an informative post about how to sell 5,000 books in 6 months.
https://www.createwritenow.com/
November 19th @ Knotty Needle
Join Judy Hudgins as she features LitNuts and everything they have to offer readers and authors.
http://knottyneedle.blogspot.com
November 20th @ Author Anthony Avina
Join Anthony as he features LitNuts and their guest post about the book eNewsletter industry and why you want another newsletter about books.
https://authoranthonyavinablog.com/
November 21st @ LM Harley's Blog
Join Laura as she features a few excellent book recommendations from LitNuts.com.
https://lmharleywriter.com/blog.html
November 23rd @ The Frugalista Mom
Join Rozelyn as she shares LitNuts' guest post with some excellent book recommendations you'll add to your reading list.
https://thefrugalistamom.com
November 24th @ Editor 911
Join Margo as she features the LitNuts guest post about how to launch your book on a shoestring budget.
November 25th @ World of My Imagination
Nicole will be featuring LitNuts on her blog and discussing what readers can expect from this amazing newsletter.
https://worldofmyimagination.com
November 27th @ Deborah Adam's Blog
Join Deborah today where LitNuts features a collection of writing books that you will want to add to your reading list.
http://www.deborah-adams.com/blog/
November 30th @ Memoir Writer's Journey
Join Kathleen as she features the LitNuts guest post discussing advice for booklovers on finding good books.
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