marketing

Quick Link: Book Marketing: How to Skyrocket Sales of Your Book

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Quick links, bringing you great articles on writing from all over the web.

I write because I love stories and find the act of writing to be very satisfying. It is not, unfortunitly, how I pay the bills and I doubt will ever be. I am ok with that. But if you are looking to make any money from your writing, you need to be able to market effectively.  (what a totally cool name!), at Self-Publishing School has a great overview of book marketing!

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Book Marketing: How to Skyrocket Sales of Your Book

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Just because you wrote a new book doesn’t mean that your book is guaranteed to sell. Even if it’s the next Great American Novel, it won’t be a success if it doesn’t get into the collective conscious of the public. This is why your book needs good marketing tactics to back it up.

Marketing takes planning, organization, and consistent action; it’s hard work. But the good news is that marketing is also about fostering connections and relationships, which can be rewarding to you and your fan base. And since you’re the one who knows your book from cover to cover, your backstory, your reasons for writing it, and who your ideal reader is, it’s your duty to put a plan in place to best connect with your intended audience and share your story.

We know, we know…you’ve put a ton of effort into writing, editing, and getting your book ready for publication that the thought of adding another layer of “work” is not the most appealing idea.

But realize that if you launch your book without a marketing plan, FAR fewer people will read it. It will hamper the success of the book you’re working on now, as well as others you plan on publishing in the future. So if you dream of becoming a New York Times bestselling author, or if you want your book to help you reach other lifestyle goals, a book marketing strategy is your essential key to success.

Read the full post on Self-Publishing School!

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Quick Link: To Pseudonym or Not to Pseudonym

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I didn’t think pseudonyms were still a thing these days. There is no privacy on the web and it is pretty easy to find out information on people if you want. So unless you are doing a “Lemony Snicket” type book and a pseydonym is a marketing strategy, honesty is the best policy.  At BookBaby, Carolyn Howard-Johnson shares the pros and cons of using a pseudonym. What do you think?

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To Pseudonym or Not to Pseudonym

by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

There can be benefits to using a pen name, but I believe there are many more downsides to using a pseudonym than upsides.

Nora Roberts, the author of more than 150 romance novels, was asked why she writes romantic suspense novels under a pseudonym. Her answer: “It’s marketing.”

She says that writing quickly makes it difficult for her publisher to publish all of her work with an appropriate amount of time between each release, so she writes works which are “edgier” than her romance novels under the pseudonym J. D. Robb. She says, “Putting it under a pseudonym helps brand it for the reader.” Children’s writers often separate their real names or their “other” writing names from their children’s work to keep work intended for children untainted.

All these reasons are absolutely valid, and there are many more. But I believe there are many more downsides to using a pseudonym than upsides, especially from marketing and organizational perspectives.

Read the full post on BookBaby

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Quick Link: Five Shots At Your Own Sales

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Are you your own worst enemy and unconsciously sabotaging your sales? Find out in this great post from Dean Wesley Smith!

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Five Shots At Your Own Sales

by Dean Wesley Smith

This Was a Fun Post in Late 2011…

Still all true going into 2018. Sadly.

I actually did two posts on this topic because I had to shoot off all ten toes of indie writers. But for a bring forward, this one is the fun one.

See if this almost completely holds up after six years. I think it does and I find that amazing.

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I started noticing how indie writers shoot themselves in the foot as far as sales. And not just once, but often so many times that it guaranteed that no sane reader (past family and friends) would pick up their book.

And they did it all purposefully. And were often very proud of the fact that they did what they did, having no idea what their decisions were doing to their sales.

I call that “Shooting Yourself in the Foot.”

You hold the gun, you aim at your own foot, you pull the trigger. You have no one to blame but yourself when you indie publish.

So, let me detail out a few of the “shots” I have seen indie writers take at their own feet lately.

Read the full post on Dean Wesley Smith!

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Quick Link: Why The Elevator Pitch Will Always Be Effective In Business Writing

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While this is slanted towards business writing I put to you that all writers need to have an effective short pitch for their projects. Why? Because you are always trying to market your story and people don’t have a lot of time. In fact, your elevator pitch should be the first thing on your Amazon page or where ever you are placing your book.  Readers are rushed and often will look at the first paragraph to decided whether to read further.  During one of my jobs, it is my duty to help authors craft an effective and quick view of their title. I always try to put the author and story in the best light. Having an already great first paragraph that describes the story allows you to stay in control of your narrative and allows others to effectively help you to market your title. Check out the post at Writer’s Write!

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Why The Elevator Pitch Will Always Be Effective In Business Writing

Many readers do not have the time to read everything. The world moves quickly and people have short attention spans. People become bored at a frightening rate.

As Cecil Beaton said, ‘Perhaps the world’s second worst crime is boredom. The worst is being a bore.’

  1. How do we grab their attention?
  2. How do we make them trust us?
  3. How do we change their minds?

In a busy world, the elevator pitch is a powerful tool for business writers. Measured in the time span of an elevator ride, it should take no more than 20 seconds to read. When written, it should not be longer than 100 words.

Cover these points in your elevator pitch:

 

Read the full post on Writer’s Write!

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Quick Link: How Book Bloggers Boost Sales for Indie Authors

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What is an indie author on a budget to do to get reviews and sales? Shayla Raquel, expert editor, seasoned writer, and author-centric marketer has some great tips on how to reach out to book bloggers, including some helpful templates on what to say.

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How Book Bloggers Boost Sales for Indie Authors

I ain’t got no money, honey.

by Shayla Raquel

Got a $0 book marketing budget? No fear! Book bloggers can help you reach your audience without breaking the bank.

What is a book blogger?

A book blogger is someone who will read your book (in ebook or print form) and write an honest review on their blog and/or social media.

Most book bloggers do this for free because they love reading. However, when some book bloggers have accumulated thousands and thousands of followers, they’ll usually charge a fee. And that’s okay and well deserved (getting just one photo of your book on an bookstagrammer’s account can be huge). However, you can focus on the book bloggers who do not charge when you first get started.

Why should I pitch my book to them?

Read the full post on Shayla Raquel!

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Quick Link: Social Media Content Tips for Authors – What to Post

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I don’t know how someone who has such a busy life that there is no extra time can also have such a boring life! One of the reasons I am bad at social media is I don’t like my pictures and I have no idea what to say to keep up my end of the deal.  Thank goodness Bookworks has this post from Frances Caballo Social Media Expert that will get me started. Hopefully, it has some good info for you too! What is your best content tips?

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Social Media Content Tips for Authors – What to Post

by Frances Caballo Social Media Expert

Many people are confused about what they should say in their social media posts. Figuring out successful social media content strategies can be challenging and there is no one-size-fits-all.

Authors often ask me, “If I can’t always post about my own books, what am I supposed to say?” 

You may remember the 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the time, you promote your colleagues, other writers, and great posts, and 10 percent of the time, you can promote your books, readings, and awards.

If you’re still feeling confused about how to best present the information you’ve curated, don’t worry. Just keep reading and you’ll learn how to write the best social media updates.

The Freedom of Just 140 Characters

 

Read the full post on  Bookworks!

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Quick Link: 5 Things Indie Authors Need to Consider Before Giving Up

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You did it, you wrote your book and have it out there for people to buy. But it isn’t selling quite as well as you thought it would. What do you do? The people behind Author Marketing Experts know. Check out their post and let us know if you have any great marketing tips!

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5 Things Indie Authors Need to Consider Before Giving Up

“My book isn’t selling.” It’s something I hear from indie authors all the time.

If you’ve felt this way, know you’re not alone. But also remember that sitting around assuming you’ve failed isn’t going to help anything.

I’ve constructed a short list of 5 things indie authors really need to take a hard look at before they decide the market just isn’t interested in their book.

Are you doing enough?

Sure, maybe you feel like you’re always marketing your book and getting nowhere, but it’s not about doing everything.

It’s about doing everything that matters.

Read the full post on  Author Marketing Experts!

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Throwback Thursday! Blogs: 10 reasons authors should have one

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Throwback Thursday – sharing some of our great older posts that still are important today!

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Blogs are a few years old in the tech industries, but now they are a must-have for authors who want to get the word out. If you don’t have a blog yet, here’s why you need to get blogging!

1. People can find you and your books on the internet.

Google loves blogs and regular content updates. Blog software allows you to update your blog whenever you like, creating extra pages for your website. These are indexed and over time you can build up a great internet presence so people can find you when searching.

2.Connect with like-minded people.

Being a blogger opens up a new world of networking. You can connect with other authors who blog, or literary agents, publishers and communities all over the world.

3.Two way interaction and feedback.

You can allow comments on your blog so people can connect with you directly by leaving a message. You can also comment on other blogs. This allows an interaction that cannot be achieved by a static website or email.

4.Marketing you as an author.

You can add all sorts of information about yourself at your blog, including photos, videos and examples of your work. You can list your publishing credits, your ebooks, articles, media appearances and anything else you want to use to market yourself as an author.

5.Book promotion.

Have a special page for your book where you can add photos, your book trailer, downloads of chapters and any other information on your book. You can do special blog posts, for example, an interview with you talking about your book, or a giveaway.

6.Online sales channel.

You can use your blog as a place to sell your books and services. If you integrate with a shopping cart or use a service like Smashwords or Clickbank, you can add links for these Buy Now pages.

7.Writing practice.

Blogging is a very dynamic way of writing. Sometimes you will get an idea and want to blog on it immediately. You will do some research, try to write something catchy or useful, and then post it all very quickly. Sometimes you might spend a lot longer on one piece, but generally you write between 500-800 words and get it out there. If you get “bloggers block”, then chances are you are not interested enough in the material to sustain a blog on it, so move on!

8.Blog your book.

You can use your book as the key material for your blog. Take excerpts and use them as posts, and then spin off from those posts into new things. This will get you traffic related to your topic/book subject so make sure you have a sales page that allows people to buy your book.

9.Build an audience.

People can subscribe to your blog through an RSS feed which means you can build a following who read your work. You can build relationships with these people and get direct feedback through comments and seeing how people respond to your posts.

10.Build your platform.

Publishers these days want a “platform” meaning that you have a following, people who will buy your books. If you are self-published, this is even more important as you will need to sell it yourself. Blogging enables you to build this platform in terms of a body of work, an online presence, knowledge of the industry and marketing as well as hopefully some people who are interested in what you have to say.

Quick Link: How to Build a Personal Brand While Staying Authentic to Your Craft

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This is the hard part about being an author as opposed to a writer. You have to market yourself. That is hard, a lot of us (me included) have a hard time connecting socially on the web and think of marketing as a dirty word. At The Write Life, has some great information on how to help us so that we can reach others while still staying us.

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How to Build a Personal Brand While Staying Authentic to Your Craft

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You’re a writer, a change-maker, someone who influences culture — not a boring old corporate brand. You roll your eyes when it comes time to talk about working on your personal brand.

I get it; It goes against your anarchist, artist nature.

A few years ago after nearly two decades as an entrepreneur, I came back to my love: Writing.

About a year into my time at the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program, a classmate and I attended an all-day marketing for writers seminar. Somewhere around the second or third presenter, I was totally overwhelmed. I thought the hardest work I’d do as a writer would be the writing. I had no idea just how much the publishing industry had tightened its belt, and how much promotion was now in writer’s hands.

I wanted to create art, not be a one-woman marketing show.

Read the full post on The Write Life!

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Quick Link: Six Smart Ways Indie Authors Can Collaborate When Marketing

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We are all in this together as author and writers, so this post from Angela Ackerman at Writer’s Helping Writers hits the spot with how we can help each other with the hardest task of all. Marketing.

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Six Smart Ways Indie Authors Can Collaborate When Marketing

by Angela Ackerman

The control and freedom indie authors have can be a big asset when it comes to marketing. The problem is time. Shouldering the weight of writing, editing, researching, publishing, marketing, and promoting alone can be exhausting, especially knowing our industry is growing more crowded and competitive by the day.

There’s a silver lining here, though: Indies are business people (let’s face it, you have to be to make it in our world) who know the value of collaboration. After all, working together means spreading out the marketing load, sharing audiences, and leveraging everyone’s platform and connections.

Finding other authors to collaborate with might take some time, but it’s worth it. Look for authors who 1) write books very similar to your own 2) have a good work ethic 3) believe in give and take, and 4) have a platform and the trust of their readers (influence).

Built your crew? Awesome! Here’s six ways to collaborate.

Swap Valuable Links

Read the full post on Writer’s Helping Writers

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Quick Link: How to Transform Your Single Story Into a Complete Series

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Gone are the days of the one hit wonders for authors. You have to build your audience and if you don’t already have a built audience you a great strategy is to write a series. This allows you to start building a following and do clever marketing such as pricing your first book for free to get people hooked. At Write To Done, Sandra Haven has some great hints on how to build on a story to make a series.

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How to Transform Your Single Story Into a Complete Series

By Sandra Haven

Okay, so your single book story jumped to an idea for a nifty book series but … now what?

Even the best of series ideas can miss the mark after only one book.

Ever come to a screeching halt while reading a series because the story just fell apart? Or the character changed? Maybe you moaned, “What is this author doing?”

Not everyone will love every book in a series. There will always be some readers who set your series to the side as times goes on. But readership can also take a plunge and no author wants that to happen.

Good news:

Scary as that is, there are some basic reasons a series fails—and there are ways to avoid them.

Read the full post on Write To Done

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Quick Link: 15 Book Publicity Commandments

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At the Book-Baby Blog (say that 10 times fast!) Carolyn Howard-Johnson gives us 15 must follow commandments for publicity. What do you think? Did she nail them or are there others you would add?

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15 Book Publicity Commandments

by Carolyn Howard-Johnson

16. Thou Shalt Not Annoy Others

If you can’t really afford to spend a lot on a book publicity campaign, carve out some time to do it yourself and apply these 15 commandments.

If you read the newspapers or watch TV, you know that advertising sells. But even those big guys who do all the advertising aren’t sure what works best when it comes to advertising.

A huge retailer once said that advertising works, we just don’t know how, why, or where it works best. Publicity is advertising’s less mysterious cousin. It is the more reliable relative because it is judged on its merit alone and carries the cachet of an editor’s approval. It also is surrounded by the ever-magic word “free.”

Book publicity and marketing are easily identified as kin. They often walk hand-in-hand and yet they can be incompatible. The editors of good media outlets will not allow the advertising department to influence them. Still, in an effort to be completely impartial, they reserve the right to use advertiser’s stories editorially if they deem them newsworthy. That is why it is helpful to use advertising as a vehicle that plays to the audience you would like to see standing before your cash register or clicking to buy your book online.

Advertising can be an entrée to the decision-makers. A contact in the advertising department may be willing to put a news release on the desk of one of his editors, maybe even encourage her to look at it. They can make no promises, but it does sometimes work. If you’re going to try this route, choose a “little pond” – a bookish brochure, an “arty” weekly, or a literary site – so the dollars you spend get noticed.

Read the full post on Book-Baby Blog

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Quick Link: Building an Author Platform with Ginger Monette

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You did it! You finally finished your book, it is edited and ready to go. Now what? Ginger Monette from Romance University has some great tips on the next steps.

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Building an Author Platform with Ginger Monette

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Welcome Ginger Monette who is here to show us how to build an author platform and send your book off with a bang!

our manuscript is in the hands of your editor, and you’ve got the big release day circled on your calendar.

What now?

Should you start advertising? Tweeting?

It’s little early to alert the media, but there are a host of pre-launch foundations new authors need to put into place before they release their baby to the world. Let’s get right to the checklist.

-Create a new email address to use exclusively for your author correspondence. It will keep your writing correspondence separate from your emails from Aunt Sue and Old Navy and allow you to see at a glance any unopened correspondence and emails needing immediate attention.

–Create an email signature line and maybe a “one-liner” that describes in a nutshell what you write.  Begin using it so your friends and associates will know you’re an author. Mine is:

Read the full post on Romance University

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Quick Link: Author Platform Building: How to Create a Valuable Email List For Your Book

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An email list is one of your best marketing tools. Just think about it, people actually signed up for your email because they are interested in you! At Writer’s Digest, guest poster Gabriela Pereira gives some great tips on how to start your email list.  Personally, I love MailChimp and have used it for many clients but they are all good. Also, adding one more tip to Gabriela’s list – you need to reassure people somehow that you will not sell or abuse their email.  Unless you plan on abusing that privilege, in which case you are an awful person.

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Author Platform Building: How to Create a Valuable Email List For Your Book

By Gabriela Pereira
If I could point to one external factor that has had the biggest positive impact on my career as an author, it would be my email list—and I’m far from alone. Most writers today know they should probably have an email list, but misinformation and confusion abound about what exactly that list should entail, why it’s so crucial and, of course, what to do with it.
This is a guest post by Gabriela Pereira—author, speaker, and self-proclaimed word nerd—whose new book DIY MFA: Write with Focus, Read with Purpose, Build Your Community shows you how to recreate the Master of Fine Arts experience without going back to school. As the founder and instigator of DIYMFA.com, Gabriela’s mission is to empower writers to take an entrepreneurial approach to their education and professional growth. She earned her MFA in creative writing from The New School and teaches at national conferences, local workshops, and online. She also hosts the podcast DIY MFA Radio, where she interviews best-selling authors and book industry insiders about the art and business of writing.

Why You Need an Email List

The Internet is always changing. From Facebook to Foursquare, Pinterest to Periscope, it sometimes seems as if a new social media platform pops up every minute. Who can keep up? The beauty of email is that it’s evergreen. While websites, forums and social networks might come and go, email has solidified its place in how we communicate.

Email is a direct line between you and your readers. There’s no “middleman” to get in the way. In a digital world where social networks change their algorithms, sites get hacked and servers crash, direct communication is invaluable. You can export that list and take it with you wherever you go. As long as you build that list correctly, it’s yours and no one can take it away from you.

Read the full post on Writer’s Digest

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Quick Link: How to Write a (Romance) Blurb by Rosalind James

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Your book blurb is one of the best tools you have in marketing your book. You have gotten the potential reader interested enough to come look a little more at your title. This is where you can make a big impact on sales. While Rosalind James is writing specifically about Romance blurbs, the tips she provides at Romance University works for everyone. Also, as someone that prepares an ebook newsletter please please please start your blurb with a two to three sentence paragraph the captures the essence of your book. Then go deeper. Not only are you helping people like me who want to present your book in the best light possible, but you also give a good description for people who like your story to tell their friends. It puts you in control of your marketing message!

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How to Write a (Romance) Blurb by Rosalind James

by Rosalind James

Welcome Rosalind James in her first blog post for RU – and it’s a doozy! =)

As some folks know, I spent my misguided youth—all right, all right, my misguided middle age—as a copywriter. Which means that writing blurbs for my books was a piece of cake, right?

Wrong. I had to learn how to do it, because writing one type of copy isn’t the same as writing another. But maybe it was a little easier and less scary to learn. So, OK, here are my tips for Writing Your Kickass Romance Blurb.

Look at other blurbs. (You thought this was going to be some technical post, huh?) I learned to do it by going to the library and pulling down books in my genre from the paperback rack. Somehow, it was much easier to spot trends and pick out blurbs I liked from physical books. I read and took notes for an hour. I noticed what I hated as well as what I liked. Which blurbs made ME want to read the book? Because I write the kinds of books that I like to read. After I did my research, I came home, and . . .

Read the full post on Romance University

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