The Savvy Book Marketer

No Platform, No Problem! How to Build a Community for Your Book.

Building a strong platform and community are essential to a successful book launch. In this guest post, book marketing expert Joel Pitney shares his practical tips for developing a network of people and organizations who can help launch your book to success.

Some of us are natural born networkers. You know the type - they never lunch alone, they seem to specialize in connecting people in ways that benefit both parties, they have no problem promoting themselves or their projects or ideas in ways that aren’t off-putting.

In my experience, most authors aren't natural born networkers (if you're an exception, my apologies). We tend to be more of the wallflower types, happy to write and create and let others do the talking and promoting. But in this day and age, most authors can’t afford to sit on the sidelines and more and more is being demanded of us to actively promote our own work. In fact, when it comes to launching a book, networking—or learning how to best leverage your networks—is perhaps the single most important factor driving your success. As I like to say, "It takes a village to launch a book."

The good news is that even the least networky among us can still employ strategies to help build and rally a tribe to promote our book. Most people I work with are surprised by how many people they already have in their lives who are willing to help them out in promoting their books. And with a little time and dedication, they find that the process of building new relationships is much easier and more rewarding than they ever would have expected.

Of course, networking can be difficult, so I’ve put together a step-by-step battle plan that I use to help people leverage and grow their networks, or what I like to call “relationship ecosystems.”

Book Publicity: Tools that will make you more confident when delivering your message

In today's guest post, publicity pro Joel Kessel offers authors some terrific tips for preparing to publicize your book.

I recently posed this question in two private Facebook groups for authors working on their book marketing campaigns: “What one word comes to mind when it comes to getting publicity for your book?”

The responses ranged from trepidation, yikes, and oy vey, to clueless, confusion, and uncomfortable.

I get it. Authors experience anxiety when it comes to getting publicity for their book and book marketing in general. You’re not alone. I do too and I’ve been working in this business for close to 25 years.

What to do in dealing with or mitigating that anxiety?

It starts with preparation and having a solid foundation and understanding of our message: What we want to say, how we want to say it, and who we want to say it to. Here are a few tools to stay focused, build confidence and keep us grounded.

Elevator Pitch – Value Proposition – Brand Promise

We’ve heard all these phrases before. Call it what you will, but we need to establish that answer to the question, “What do you do?”

How we answer this question can lead to a meaningful conversation. Whether it’s with a reporter, podcast host, online through our blog, in a presentation or in person, our answer helps set the tone and direction, and keeps us focused on the message and story we want to tell.

Overcome Your Fear of Book Marketing

In today's guest post, novelist Louise Cole shares some advice about overcoming your fear of book marketing and talks about her participation in the Kindle Scout program.

Whether authors are traditionally published or self-published, they are usually beset with an overwhelming fear of marketing. Of stepping out from behind the page and revealing themselves. Many of us are well suited to a job where we spend most of the day alone, thinking ourselves sociable if we talk to more than our family and the cat. We live in our heads, our imaginations, our creative cave. It can be both daunting and jarring to present yourself alongside your book, to say: ‘Yes, that’s mine. Whether you liked it or hated it, it was my creation.”

Unfortunately for writers, the days when a publisher had a large professional marketing team to introduce your books to readers is long gone. More than 99% of the writers published today end up doing the bulk of their own marketing. And that marketing is more personal, more revealing of who we are than ever before. Why? Because it takes place in the social media arena where people do not just want to buy your book, or ask shyly for an autograph. They want to be your friend, to discuss things with you, to have a relationship based on equality.

Writers therefore need to be prepared to see themselves as a brand but a brand whose values are egalitarian, sociable and welcoming. I had to face up to this myself not so long ago. I decided to put one of my novels on Kindle Scout. I did this for two reasons. One, I actually think Amazon is offering a pretty good deal to writers, if their campaign is successful. And two, I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and be forced to have a marketing strategy. Kindle Scout takes a relentless 30-day campaign, and you need to reach readers in ways you have never tried or thought of before.

The Best Ways to Promote Children's Books

Online marketing can reach a huge audience, but one of the best ways to sell children’s books is in person, doing presentations at schools, libraries and other events for kids or families.

The great thing about school presentations is that authors are often paid a speaking fee in addition to being able to sell their books.

See these two articles for tips about promoting in schools:

How to Market Children's Books in Schools by Melissa Williams

Making School Assemblies Fun by Sheri Bell Rehwoldt

Virtual Author Visits

You aren't limited to schools and libraries in your area, because you can do presentations to kids around the world through the magic of Skype. And if your day job prevents you from visiting local schools and libraries, you can visit kids in other time zones through Skype. In this podcast, Margot Finke shares her experience with doing Skype visits to schools.

More Resources for Children's Book Authors

Children's Book Marketing Tips Newsletter

Author training program: How to Sell More Children's Books

10 Tips on How To Use the Media To Sell Books

In today's guest post, media coach Gina Rubinstein shares her expertise in using the media to promote books.

10 Tips on How To Use The Media To Sell Books

by Gina Rubinstein

FACT 1: The marketplace for books is crammed with competition – over 3 million titles a year in the U.S. alone, the majority of which are self-published or public domain.

FACT 2: The average non-fiction title sells less than 250 copies a year, and less than 3,000 over a lifetime. This isn’t surprising since reportedly only 1% of books actually make it onto bookstore shelves.

FACT 3: Authors have to do their own marketing – the days of leaving it up to publishing companies is long over.

FACT 4: Despite Facts 1 through 3, there’s still a lot of value in writing a book. You can use the book to gain credibility, raise your business’s profile, and make a name for yourself as an expert in your field. AND, if you’re like many authors today, you can beat the odds and make money on your books. But you have to know how to market yourself.

FACT 5: The media, in all its forms, is the best marketing tool there is.

Here are 10 tips on how to use the media to sell books and grow your business.

1. Go from author to expert – Become an expert in your field, if you’re not already. Being an author gives you credibility as well, so build on that. Experts are widely used on TV and radio to give background and perspective on current events.

Why Successful Authors Give Away Free Books

Did you know that some of the most successful authors are giving away their work?

In fact there are several ways that authors can profit from giving away free ebooks, reports and other valuable content:

KDP Select

The main reason authors sign up for Amazon’s KDP Select program is to be able to give away free copies of their book on Amazon for five days out of every 90 days. These “free days” tend to generate lots of downloads, push books up the bestseller ranking for their niche, and generate reviews.

Of course, there are advantages and disadvantages to KDP Select, so you’ll need to decide if this program makes sense for you. Recently I wrote a detailed article in my book marketing newsletter about the pros and cons of KDP Select. (If you aren't already getting my newsletter, sign up here.) 

PermaFree Ebooks on Online Bookstores

Some authors give away free ebooks on Kindle and other bookstores all the time! Recently I had the chance to interview Shelley Hitz about this highly effective strategy for growing your mailing list. Get the details in this podcast. 

Mailing List Bonuses

Once you get people to your website, it’s important to persuade them to sign up for your email list so you can continue to communicate with them. The most effective way to increase a mailing list is to offer an “opt-in bonus” to everyone who signs up.

Nonfiction authors typically give away a free ebook or report, or some kind of a useful template or tool. On my website, I offer a free report, How to Create a Book Marketing Plan That Sells Books.

How Can I Write a Press Release to Promote My Book?

Press releases are a great way to get media coverage that can build your reputation as an author and lead to book sales.

Some press releases announce the publication of a new book, while others are designed to gain interviews and media attention for the author by showcasing the author's expertise or background. Press releases are also used to spark story ideas for journalists and bloggers, and are sometimes published verbatim.

To get the most benefit from press releases, you'll need to have a specific goal for each release and know how to write it in the proper format and get it in the hands of the right people.

These articles have some terrific tips for writing effective press releases and the mistakes to avoid:

5 Tips for Writing a Strong Press Release by Marsha Friedman

5 Ways to Make Sure Your Book’s Press Release Doesn’t Get Used by Sandra Beckwith

For detailed step-by-step instructions on how to create and distribute a press release that gets results, I recommend Get Your Book in the News: How to Write a Press Release That Announces Your Book, by Sandra Beckwith. It even includes a fill-in-the-blanks template and 11 sample releases in several genres, so you can see how it's done right.

For an even more extensive collection of templates and examples for various types of book promotion press releases, check out Sandra's companion workbook, Publicity Forms & Templates. 

Want to learn more about how to use press releases to boost your book sales? Listen to this highly informative podcast interview with Sandra Beckwith:

Use Press Releases to Sell More Books

The Ultimate Guide to Finding Images for Book Promotion

When someone lands on your website, book sales page or social post, you may get only a fraction of a second to capture their attention before they decide to move on. Photos and illustrations (along with strong headlines) are key to drawing the eye and breaking up large blocks of text to make it more inviting.

Carefully selected images can also convey a sense of the message contained in the text, but sometimes bloggers choose beautiful or whimsical images to capture the reader's attention. (I ran across this gnome image while working on this article and just couldn't resist!)

Copyright Concerns

Like our writing, the work of photographs and illustrators is protected by copyright. The creators of photos and illustrations can choose to make their work available to others through various types of licenses that govern how and where the images can be used and how they are compensated.

It doesn't make sense to buy an image for every blog post or social post, but it can be a challenge to find images at no charge. Following are some tips for finding and using images in your book promotion.

Creative Commons Licenses

Many images are available free under a "Creative Commons License". Although there is no charge for using the image, there may be restrictions on how it's used and you may be required to give credit to the creator. See the bottom of this page for an explanation of various types of creative commons licenses.

Here are two sources of free creative commons images:

Flickr Creative Commons is especially good for photos of places and nature, but a wide variety of images can be found here. Be sure to check which type of license is being offered for the image you want.

Wikimedia Creative Commons - Enter a search term in the box at the top and then scroll down the page to see images. You're free to copy, use and modify images found here as long as you follow the terms specified by the creator. The license conditions of each media file can be found on its description page.

Royalty-Free Images

Images available for licensing are often called "stock photos," but you'll also see the term "royalty-free." That means that the creator allows the image to be used multiple times according to the terms of the license, without paying a royalty fee for each use or viewing.

Royalty-free images are offered through several online agencies. Typically you pay a one-time fee to license the image and then you can use it as many times as you like within the terms of the license. Some sites offer royalty-free images at no charge, but attribution to the source may be required.

Nonfiction Writers Virtual Conference

Learn how to publish, promote, and profit from nonfiction books at the 5th annual Nonfiction Writers Conference, May 6-8, 2015. 

This virtual event features 15 speakers over three days, with attendees participating via phone or Skype.

I'm honored to be speaking at the conference again this year, with my presentation on “How to Launch and Market Your Book.” Here’s a rundown of the topics to be presented:

• Julia Cameron – The Writer’s Way: Q&A with a Legendary Author 

• Dan Poynter – From Author to Speaker: How to Sell More Books and Fill Your Speaking Calendar 

• Mark Coker – Hot Promotion Strategy: Sell Ebook Preorders 

• Michael Larsen – Special Event: Pitch the Agent! 

• Cathey Armillas – How to Pitch, Prepare and Deliver a Killer TED Talk 

• Bob Erdmann – Build Your Foreign Rights Revenue Stream 

• John Lee Dumas – Podcasting for Promotion and Profit 

• Pam Lontos – Publicity Strategies That Get Results 

• Joanna Penn – How to Make a Living from Your Writing 

• Joel Friedlander – Essentials for Author Websites, Blogs and Book Sales Pages

• Amy Collins – Book Distribution 101: How to Get Into Bookstores and Beyond 

• Maria Nemeth – From Author to Coach: Build a Thriving Coaching Practice Around Your Book 

• Roger C. Parker – Write Three Books This Year! (Or, How to Write Faster) 

• Stephanie Chandler – Social Media for Authors: Proven Tactics to Build Your Audience and Sell More Books

• Dana Lynn Smith – How to Launch and Market Your Book

Don’t miss the opportunity to learn from these industry leaders! Register now!

Build a Solid Foundation for Book Promotion

It’s important to have a strong foundation in place for promoting your book.

The first step is to start “building your author platform” –  in other words you need to develop a reputation, connections, and online followers.

Building a platform takes time, so it’s best to start as early as possible (ideally when you decide to write a book). Here are some essential steps to platform building:

• Decide how to brand yourself and your business. (I use Dana Lynn Smith and Savvy Book Marketer.)

• Write a strong author bio and get a good author photo made.

• Create accounts and profiles on all relevant social networks.
  

• Buy the right domain name(s) for your website.

• Build an author website. It can be improved and expanded over time, but it’s best to at least get the home page up early.

Buying your domain names and creating social network accounts as early as possible increases the odds of you getting the names that you want, and it allows you to coordinate the branding across networking platforms.

Once you have these pieces in place, begin developing your platform by networking, commenting on blogs and forums, and writing articles for blogs and publications. Over time your reputation and following will grow.

Once your book is published, be sure to write compelling sales copy (the book description), optimize your Amazon sales page, and continue to improve and add content to your website.

With this strong foundation in place, your book launch and ongoing promotions will be much more effective.

If your book has already been out for a while, review these steps and see if there are any areas where you might make improvements. And remember to do something every day to promote yourself or your book!

Photo courtesy of RBerteig on Flickr, via Creative Commons License.

Use This Simple Free Service to Boost Your Amazon Sales and Commissions

Today I'm delighted to have Nick Daws share a clever way to increase revenue from Amazon. After you read Nick's post, be sure to click the link at the end to learn more profiting from Amazon Associates.

Use This Simple Free Service to Boost Your Amazon Sales and Commissions

by Nick Daws

If you have books or e-books on Amazon, you will almost certainly have discovered one problem when promoting them to a worldwide audience.

This problem is that you can only link to one Amazon store at a time. If a visitor from the UK follows a link to your book on Amazon.com, they won’t be able to order, and a potential buyer may be lost.

If you’re an Amazon Associate, it’s even worse. Normally, if you send a visitor to Amazon via your affiliate link, you will get commission on any and all purchases they make. But if your link sends them to the “wrong” Amazon store, not only won’t you get a sale, you will have no chance of earning any affiliate commissions either.

One solution could be to provide multiple links to different Amazon stores, but this is cumbersome, and there will inevitably be some national stores you don’t have room to include.

New Book Marketing Podcast - Now Playing

I’m excited to announce the launch of the new Savvy Book Marketing Podcast, available on my book marketing podcast website, on iTunes and on Stitcher.

In this free audio podcast I share actionable tips and techniques for promoting your books and increasing your income.

I know you’re super busy, so these podcasts are about 15 to 20 minutes per episode. My goal is to give you practical advice in bite-sized pieces that you can take action on right away.

We start at the beginning (a very good place to start!) by talking about developing an effective book marketing plan. Then we dive in and discuss specific book marketing techniques and how to implement them. I’ll also be sharing the best promotional tactics for fiction, nonfiction and children’s books, and I will interview other book marketing experts in some episodes. Here are some of the episodes that are available now:

Your Book Marketing Plan: 12 Steps to Success

Promote Your Books to the Right Audience

Boost Book Sales with Relationship Marketing

Top 10 Book Promotion Tactics for Authors

Book Promotion: Monthly, Weekly, and Daily Action Plans

If you have a topic that you’d like to see covered, or feedback about the podcast, just submit your ideas here. 

New episodes are published weekly and you can subscribe through iTunes, Stitcher, email or an RSS feed reader using the links in the right-hand column on this page. If you're new to podcasts, this article explains how to listen to podcasts on Android or Apple mobile devices. 

I hope you find this new podcast helpful in learning how to sell more books, and thanks for listening!

Conquer Author Overwhelm

by Dana Lynn Smith

Let's face it – writing, publishing and promoting books is a lot of work. Sometimes authors can feel overwhelmed with all of the things they need to do. Here are some tips for coping with the myriad of tasks authors face:

Know Thyself

How many hours per day or week can you realistically spend on your publishing business? Block out the time on your calendar like any other appointment.

Are you a morning or evening person? Do you work best in short bursts or long sessions? Find the best time for you to work productively.

Are you easily distracted or prone to procrastination? Develop strategies to combat that.

Find a Balance

One of the best ways to make more money from your publishing venture is to publish more books. But it can be a challenge to find time to write new books while you are promoting your existing books. You'll need to consider your own situation and work style to find a way to balance writing, publishing, and promotion.

For example, I tried writing for one hour a day, but I've found it's much more productive for me to work on a book in large blocks of time so I can dig in and really focus. So I tend to put marketing on hold for a few weeks when I'm working on a new book. But another system may work better for you.

Sell More Books This Year!

Each new year brings the promise of new beginnings and new opportunities. As you make the usual resolutions (lose weight, get into shape, save more money) be sure to add one more: develop an effective book marketing plan and take action to implement it.

Now is the time to write your book marketing plan, or update your existing plan. Once you have a strategy, then schedule promotional tasks for specific days, weeks and months of the year. For help with your plan, get my free report, Create a Book Marketing Plan That Sells Books. 

If you’re a long-time follower of the Savvy Book Marketer, you’ve probably noticed I haven’t been around much the past year, due to family issues. I’m excited to be back and looking forward to sharing lots of new book marketing tools and advice to help you sell more books. 

• I’ve just completed a “makeover” for my website, with a brand-new header and new elements in the sidebar. After six years, it was time for a change!

• This month I’ll resume regular blogging and email newsletters. Subscribe here to get updates via email or RSS feed each time a new article is posted on this blog.

• If you aren’t sure whether you are on my newsletter list, try signing up here and you’ll get an error message if you’re already subscribed.

• From time to time, I also send out marketing tips related specifically to promoting fiction, nonfiction and children’s books. Register here to get advice tailored to the kind of books you write.

• During the year I’ll be updating some of my existing book marketing guidebooks and author training programs and adding several new ones. Stay tuned for more details.

• My new book marketing podcast will be launching in a few weeks - subscribe now so you won’t miss any episodes!

It’s going to be a great year and I hope you’ll join me as we continue to explore the best ways to sell more books.

And don’t forget to get your book marketing strategies down in writing now and do something every day to promote your book – even if it’s just a quick email or social post. Each action you take moves you closer to your goals.

I wish you a happy, healthy and prosperous new year – and lots of book sales!

 

Why Marketing Your Book is Like Trying to Lose Weight

In today's guest post, Chris Weber shares some clever tips for getting your book marketing on track (and losing a few pounds!)

Why Marketing Your Book is Like Trying to Lose Weight

The weight-loss business is a booming industry that makes billions of dollars a year, and yet the people trying to lose weight often feel isolated, frustrated, and confused. Sound like any other industry you know?

 Authors trying to market their books share a lot of characteristics with people who are trying to lose weight - and successful strategies for weight-loss are surprisingly transferable to successful book marketing.

 In the following post, we’ll show you how using these strategies can help you lose your book marketing anxiety – and keep it off!

The Problem: You set unrealistic goals for yourself

It’s natural to want to set a big, audacious goal for yourself so that when you achieve it, you feel like you’ve really done something amazing! The problem is that big goals are really hard, and take a long time – and can sometimes even make failure more likely.