We recently launched an exclusive two month free offer for NOOK Press publishers to try the social tools at Bublish. Bublish helps authors tell the story behind their story by creating social “bubbles” that authors can utilize in social posts. For a deeper look at the story behind this author-focused company, read our Q&A with CEO and Founder Kathy Meis:

1. At Bublish, you encourage authors to tell the story behind their story. What’s the story behind Bublish?

Yes, we do encourage authors to share the story behind their story at Bublish. It’s powerful, and seems natural that authors should use storytelling to connect with their readers. The story behind Bublish is based on my journey as a professional writer. I have been in media and publishing for more than 20 years. A few years ago, with the movement of content to the Web and digital formats, I began to see a profound change in the relationship between content creators and their audience. The amount of content was growing rapidly. Readers were increasingly distracted and less willing to pay for content. I asked myself, “What matters to readers? What would help authors break through the noise?” The data pointed toward the importance of brand building for authors. Readers are 15 times more likely to buy books from author brands they recognize, and they’re willing to pay more for books written by authors they love. But building an author brand can be complicated and expensive. What’s a self-published author to do? That’s when I came up with Bublish, a platform that integrates crucial author brand-building and discoverability elements into every step of the publishing process. The heart of the platform is the book bubble. As you can see, it’s packed with visual and storytelling elements to help authors break through the noise, engage new readers, and draw them into a long-term fan relationship. Consistently creating and sharing book bubbles also helps authors and their books become more discoverable to search engines like Google.

2. Bublish isn’t your first foray into the content world. Can you talk about how your journalism and writing experience influenced your work at Bublish?

From a very young age, I’ve had the opportunity to work with  a number of celebrated editorial brands. In high school, I worked with Seventeen magazine; in college, CBS television, and during my career, Forbes. I was a founding editor of Forbes’ MediaCritic magazine, a unique editorial brand within the iconic Forbes family of publications. With MediaCritic, I had a chance to help build an editorial brand from scratch. I learned so much during those years about the power of high quality content, the huge role visual elements and design play in editorial brand building, the importance of developing a unique editorial voice, and just how important the physical container was to protecting the integrity of an editorial brand. Interestingly, MediaCritic told the story behind the day’s major headlines, so I guess telling the story behind the story is a theme in my career.  Author Michael Crichton of Jurassic Park fame was a big fan. I saved his emails. It was a fun and exciting time. When magazines and newspapers started moving online, the physical container could no longer be depended upon to safeguard editorial brands. Editorial brands were separated from their design, broken apart, and became diluted. Watching this happen first hand impacted me greatly. I wanted to create a digital container to help author share their content without losing those powerful brand building elements…a container that would support brand building online and on mobile. After much brainstorming and with the help and amazing design expertise of my business partner, the book bubble was born.

3.Self-publishing authors are entrepreneurs. As the founder of a start-up, what one business lesson from your Bublish launch would you pass on to self-publishing authors?
There are so many similarities between entrepreneurs and self publishers. At Bublish, we call them authorpreneurs. In the world of startups, it is common to hear that it’s not the idea that builds a great company; it’s the execution. It’s the same with self-publishing. An author’s success is not built on an idea for a book; it is built on a life-long professional commitment to producing great reading experiences for your audience, and building an authentic community around your creative life.

 
4. What’s the best way to use a Bublish book bubble?
Book bubbles make it easy for authors to share samples of their work without feeling like salespeople. Book bubbles can help you capture impulse buys or draw new readers into your community. By enriching book excerpts with unique author insights — and combining those content elements with visual brand building elements and calls to action — book bubbles become a powerful discoverability tool for authors. Create and share book bubbles frequently across your social channels. Team Bublish spotlights all the latest books bubbles in weekly reader events and the Bublish Floating Bookstore. Through your dashboard metrics, you’ll be able to track where and when reader engagements are happening, and see exactly which retailer readers are visiting after reading your bubbles. Our mission is to empower authorpreneurs. We help you share your stories and start reaching your readers.

Try the NOOK Press publisher offer here.