The Savvy Book Marketer

Why Self-Publishing Authors Must Think Like a Publisher

So many authors write for their love of writing or their desire to share their story or message, but if we want to sell books, it's important to treat publishing like a business. In today's guest post Stacey Aaronson discusses the mindset of thinking like a publisher. 

Why Self-Publishing Authors Must Think Like a Publisher

After working with over twenty independent authors over the past two years as their editor, book designer, and publishing partner, one glaring issue has come to light:

The majority of self-publishing authors don’t realize that they can’t merely think like a writer; they must think like a publisher—if, that is, they want to sell books.

The thing is, it’s not easy for writers to shift into this mode of thinking—and I would venture to guess that most writers don’t even know they should be thinking this way before they even begin a manuscript. As a writer myself, I confess I didn’t consider the publisher’s mentality until I became a book production professional in the indie publishing realm, so I know firsthand how foreign it can seem.

But here’s the unsavory truth: the various self-publishing portals that have opened the door for would-be authors to get a book into readers’ hands are great, but many writers are running to upload all degrees of manuscripts—from the languishing and rejected, to the unedited and poorly designed—without honoring the legacy of traditional publishing. In short, thousands of substandard books are entering the literary marketplace because a multitude of writers are sadly stuck not only in ego mode, but in the belief that producing a book is somehow not a craft and an art. If we don’t want to destroy the reputation of books altogether—and if we want to reap a financial benefit as an author—this mindset has to change.

Putting a Radio Show Together

Hosting or appearing as a guest on online radio shows and podcasts is a terrific way for authors to gain publicity for themselves and their books. Nonfiction authors can use these shows to build their reputation as experts in their fields, and some show hosts even earn revenue from advertising or sponsorships. 

In today's guest post, Irene Conlan shares her strategies for hosting a successful radio show. Irene's show is on the Voice America network. Blog Talk Radio is another popular place for authors to host radio shows. 

Putting a Radio Show Together

I had never considered hosting a radio show until my son came home one day with the announcement, "Mom, you're going to do a radio show!" After a good bit of thought and a lot of trepidation, I agreed. I had started The Self Improvement Blog in 2007 so a show on self improvement seemed to be a good choice for a topic. The blog and the show together could offer a "double whammy." I was asked to put thirteen shows together as a starter and the first show aired on November 4, 2010.

This is me, three years and a hundred and seventy shows later, loving my job as host of The Self Improvement Show.

What do I love about it? Well, a lot of things, but I am blown away by my guests, their stories, their accomplishments and their triumphs, and I now have friends all over the world. In the beginning I didn't know where to find guests—that was the scary part. Francine Silverman came to my rescue a couple of times, helping me fill in some of those early gaps. Now I am booked six months in advance and have a waiting list of people who will come at a moment's notice. Gotta love it!

How to Use Subtitles for Targeted Book Marketing

by Dana Lynn Smith

Adding subtitles to books is an effective way to appeal to potential customers and increase the odds of a book being found online. Subtitles are useful for both fiction and nonfiction and they can even be added to books that are already published.

Nonfiction Subtitles

Nonfiction books often have a short, catchy main title, followed by a longer, more descriptive subtitle. The subtitle is a good place to clarify the benefits of the book, identify the target audience, and include keywords that people might search for online. Here are some sample subtitles:

• 15 Ways Young Adults Can Build Good Credit
• The Easy Way for New Mothers to Lose Weight
• A 10 Step Plan for First Time Entrepreneurs

Novel Subtitles

Subtitles can also be effective in promoting novels. They are especially useful in clarifying the genre or storyline, identifying the target audience, and in denoting series books. Here are some fiction subtitle examples:

Book Party: Five Steps to Success

I'm pleased to welcome back Ellen Cassedy with today's guest post on how to plan for a successful book promotion party. Book parties are often used as part of the launch of a new book, but keep in mind that you can also plan a party to celebrate a book that's been out for a while. 

Book Party:  Five Steps to Success

I recently hosted a book party for my poet friend, Yermiyahu Ahron Taub, whose new book is Prayers of a Heretic (Plain View Press). A big success! Follow these five steps and you can’t go wrong.

1. Make a plan 

Ask a friend to host. The emotional support is priceless, and you won’t have to worry about cleaning up your own place. Instead you can focus on getting ready to present your book.

Choose a convenient time. Ours was Sunday afternoon from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. 

Don’t be afraid too few people will come. Right from the start, Ahron and I agreed that we’d go ahead with the party even if numbers were small. A book party is great practice for talking about and reading from your book, and the contact with supportive listeners – no matter how many or how few – supplies you with energy and confidence for doing more.

Don’t worry that too many people will come. If some guests have to stand, that’s fine – and exciting! My place isn’t huge, and we didn’t have a chair for everyone, but we made it work.

Do Authors Need a Website and Blog?

by Dana Lynn Smith

As an author, do you need a website and/or blog? The short answer is YES! But there’s a lot more that authors need to know to harness the promotional power of author websites. This is the first in a series of articles addressing some of the most common questions authors ask about blogs and websites.

Q: Why do I need an author website?

A website is an online hub – the place where authors can send potential customers, media, reviewers, and anyone else who needs information about the author and his or her books. A website gives authors a platform for promoting themselves and their work that’s entirely under their control, and it’s an essential tool for building a following.

Q: What’s the difference between a website and a blog?

A website is collection of online “pages” containing information and images. A blog (short for “Web log”) is a specific type of website where articles are posted periodically, displayed with the newest entries at the top of the page. These articles (called “posts”) are typically written by the site owner, but “guest posts” can also be included from other people. Blog posts were originally a sort of online diary, and they are often written in an informal, personal style. Most blogs allow readers to post comments on each article.

Blogging is a great way for authors to share news, information and promotions with their target audience and develop an online following. Blogs are also an ideal tool for nonfiction authors to showcase their expertise in their topic. Blog posts are valuable in attracting readers to the site. They even help websites rank higher in search engine results, because search engines value sites that are updated frequently.

So, do you need both a website and a blog? For most authors, I advise creating a combined site that incorporates both traditional information pages and blog posts. This is very easy to do when you set up your site on a blogging platform. (More about that in a future article.)

What questions do you have about author websites and blogs? Just leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to answer.

Twitterquette: 5 Tips For Getting The Most Out of Twitter

 

In today's guest post, novelist Linda Poitevin shares some great advice for using Twitter in book promotion. 

Twitterquette: 5 Tips For Getting The Most Out of Twitter

Ah, Twitter. Even if you haven’t yet succumbed to its potential marketing lure, you’re probably at least familiar with this rapidly growing social media platform. With roughly 555 million active users—and another 135,000 jumping on board every day (source: Statisticbrain.com)—it’s a difficult platform for authors to ignore.

Just as with any other social medium, however, your success on Twitter will very much depend on how well you use it. And sadly, many authors aren’t using it at all well. Rather, they’re committing the kinds of faux pas that cost them dearly: in followers, in sales, and in just plain goodwill. These authors are oftentimes the same ones who complain that Twitter does nothing for their sales, claiming it doesn’t work, telling others not to bother, and abandoning the platform altogether.

In my experience, however (gained over almost three years of trial and error), the exact opposite is true: used properly, Twitter can be an effective part of your marketing strategy. And much of your success with it will be rooted in basic etiquette.

1.  Your profile: It’s fine to include something about your work, but your profile shouldn’t be just about that. Followers want to know something about the person behind the work. My own profile reads like this: Author of The Grigori Legacy, where police procedural meets angel mythology. Wife, mother, gardener, coffee snob. Twisted sense of humor. Prone to random tweets. As you can see, I identify my work, but then I tell people about who I am…and I guarantee I get just as many followers (if not more) because of my twisted sense of humor, coffee addiction, and random tweets asI do because of my career path. Have fun with your profile and make it unique. Then, before you post it, put yourself in a potential follower’s shoes and answer this question honestly: would you be someone you wanted to follow?

Oh, and please don’t include buy links to your book(s)! The only link that should be in your profile is one to either your website or your blog—anything more screams “sales pitch” and will turn off potential followers.

Legal Issues in Promoting Books to Children and Young Adults

Q:  Hedy M asks whether authors who are promoting books to minors should put an email sign-up form on their website and whether there any legal considerations.

A:  An email sign-up form an important tool in allowing authors to build a mailing list and keep in touch with readers and potential book buyers. Most authors use blog-based websites and place the sign-up form in the sidebar so that it appears on all pages of the website. 

In the United States there are federal regulations regarding collecting personal information about children under the age of 13. Websites designed for children (and websites geared to a general audience that knowingly collect information from people under 13) must comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. 

This page on the Federal Trade Commission website has information about compliance. Because these regulations are so complex, it may be best to place a notice on your email sign-up form stating that only people who are 13 years or older may sign up. See paragraph 14 on this page. 

This article is for informational purposes only. Consult an attorney for legal advice.

5 Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing a Blog Tour Post

As many of my readers know, I'm a big fan of virtual book tours and I've even written a book on the topoic. Today I'm pleased to share a guest post from Bryan Cohen as part of the tour for his new book, 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts, Volume 2.

Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing a Blog Tour Post

Blog tours are taking over the internet. After staring my latest blog tour to celebrate my new book, 1,000 Creative Writing Prompts, Volume 2, I searched for #blogtour on Twitter to see what I was up against. The search came up with tweets for hundreds of blog tours! Blog tours were relatively young when I did my first tour two and a half years ago. Nowadays, you need to figure out how to stand out. Here are five questions you should ask yourself before writing a blog tour post.

1. How is this new?

While "there's nothing new under the sun," there's always a new way to say something. Are you going to write the millionth post with the top five fiction writing tips? Instead, why not go outside the box? Whether you think big or think small to get to your new idea, make sure it hasn't been done one too many times before.

2. Is the post relevant to this blog?

You've done it! You've scored a guest post on a blog with 10,000 followers and you're bound to find new readers and a rabid fan base! Before you start counting up your prospective book sales, make sure your post idea syncs with the blogger's usual subject matter. If you're posting on a book marketing blog, your post on creating unique characters for fiction is unlikely to hit home. Your post doesn't have to be a retread of what the blogger has already written, but you need to make sure your new potential fans are interested in reading the post in the first place.

3 Top Strategies to Guarantee Book Sales

In today's guest post, author and online marketing expert Kathleen Gage shares her top book promotion strategies. This post is part of the launch for her terrific new book, Power Up for Profits.

3 Top Strategies to Guarantee Book Sales

“Writing the book is the easy part. Then begins the work,” went a recent conversation I had with a new author.

Peggy (not her real name) was incredibly excited about her recently released book. Like many first time authors, she was convinced the book would take on a life of its own and somehow, someway be found by an agent. The agent would then find a big name publisher. The big name publisher would get Peggy on a bunch of major shows.

I have watched this scene unfold countless times with naive authors. The fact is, as an author it is up to you to take control of marketing and promoting your book.

If you’re serious about selling books you have to put more effort into marketing your book than writing it.

Recently I surveyed a group of several hundred authors. "What's your greatest challenge with marketing and selling your book(s)?" was the only question asked.

The results were as follows:

• 38% knowledge
• 33% time
• 17% money
• 7% fear
• 5% other

Sadly, even when many authors are told they must market their book they fail to get into massive action to raise awareness about their works.

4 Steps to Take Charge of Your Book Launch

In today's guest post, Shannon from Duolit shares some words of wisdom for planning a successful book launch. Keep in mind that book launch tactics are not just for new books - they can also be used to jump-start sales of books that have been out for a while.

4 Steps to Take Charge of Your Book Launch

I made a huge mistake with my first book.

I got caught up in the excitement of finally finishing my manuscript that I rushed straight through to the publishing part, ready to share my book with the world and watch the sales roll in.  

A few purchases from family and friends took me through my first week, but then things took a nosedive. In the absence of anything close to a marketing strategy, my big book launch was less like the roar of a space shuttle lift-off and more like the fizzle of a bottle rocket dud.

I learned my lesson the hard way.

Like all the kids say these days, it’s all about YOLO: You Only Launch Once.

(That is what the acronym stands for, right?)

So how can you take control of your book launch and make it count? How can you set the proper tone and put your sales on a good growth trajectory from the outset?

You just need to follow these four steps and the sky’s the limit for your book launch (pun intended).

Sell More Books with a Virtual Book Tour

by Dana Lynn Smith

Virtual book tours (also called blog tours) typically involve making guest appearances on book review sites or on blogs, websites, and/or forums that are related to the topic or audience of your book. You can even do teleseminars, podcasts, or live interviews on Blog Talk Radio as part of your tour.

Virtual tours have several advantages over the traditional in-person book tour:

• It's free (unless you hire someone to organize the tour) and there's no time or money spent on travel.
• You can generally reach far more people and reach a more targeted audience.
• A virtual tour provides quality, lasting links to your own author website.

Look for tour hosts that are a good fit for your book and provide unique content to each host. Here are some suggestions for content:

Why Google Plus is Essential for Authors

by Dana Lynn Smith

I can just hear some of you saying “not another social network to keep up with!” Bear with me while I explain what’s different about Google Plus and why authors need to use it.

Google Plus combines many of the features of Facebook (personal profiles, business pages, groups/communities) and Twitter (add people to lists called “circles” and follow them). An additional feature with potential for authors is “hangouts” where you can do live video chats.

More importantly, data from Google Plus is being integrated into Google’s search engine, which means that your activity there could have an influence on the amount of traffic that flows to your website through search results. Google Plus pages are even showing up in search results, so remember to make your profile keyword rich.

Learn More About Google Plus for Authors

Why Google+ Will be Critical for Your Blog’s Success in 2013, an excellent article by Larry Deane, explains the importance of Google Plus in more detail.

10 Steps to Developing A Niche Following on Google Plus by Amanda Blain has some great tips for growing your influence.

Are you already using Google Plus? Think about how you can enhance your profile and gain more from the site. If not, get started today!

And I invite you to connect with me on Google+.

Hashtags on Twitter - How to Create Your Own

Using hashtags on Twitter is a great way to find people to follow, contribute to conversations that appeal to the interests of your target readers, and attract people to your tweets.

For example, I can search on Twitter to find out who’s tweeting about #BookMarketing, and I can include that hashtag in my own tweets to attract followers.

In today’s guest post, Sue Collier shares her tips for creating hashtags in Twitter. Be sure to click through to her terrific list of hashtags commonly used by authors.

Hashtags on Twitter - How to Create Your Own

Twitter hashtags (#) are used to categorize tweets according to subject matter. If you attach relevant hashtags to them, your tweets are more readily found by others interested in your subject matter. This gives you a better chance to increase your followers and it makes it easier to interact with other “tweeps.”

I’ve compiled a list of hashtags that pertain to writers, authors, and self-publishers. But what if you want to create your own? There are no specific rules in place for doing so, so here are some tips.

Make it short. Since each Tweet is limited to 140 characters, your hashtag should take up as little of that as possible. Try to keep your hashtag to 10 characters or less.

7 Ways Friends Can Support Your Book (and How To Ask For Their Help)

In today's guest post, book publicity expert Sandra Beckwith shares some great ideas for enlisting friends (and colleagues) to help spread the word about your book, without being a pest.

7 Ways Friends Can Support Your Book (and How To Ask For Their Help)

I recently read an article that detailed seven ways people could support their author friends. It was well-done and offered the type of specific information I'm always looking for, but honestly, it felt a little . . . well . . . self-centered. I mean, really, am I supposed to expect my friends to ask me how they can promote my book?  Or, worse, am I self-absorbed enough to think that my friends are using Google to find ways they can support my book marketing? I could never send any of them a link to that article with a note saying, "Please read this and see what you can do.

I'm also one of those people who would never say, "Please buy my book." But that was one of the suggestions in this article - "buy the book." Most of my friends aren't interested in my book topics, so why would they buy any of them? Your book might be different, of course, but my books are on business topics and many of my friends are social workers, teachers, and so on.

In  reality,  while our friends think it's "cool" that we're authors, it probably doesn't even occur to most of them that they are  in  a  position  to  help us get the word out. It's our responsibility to ask for that help. The challenge is in finding a way to make the request in a way that works for you - not me, not my friends, and not another author.

Here are some things you will want to consider asking friends to do along with suggestions for making your request something they can act on quickly and easily. You might not be comfortable with all of these suggestions, but there might also be a way for you to get the end result with a different approach.

1. Share information about your book with the "right" people in their e-mail address books.

Remember that you didn't write your book  for everyone. You wrote it for a specialized audience, whether  it's  fiction  or  nonfiction. (Not everybody likes mysteries,  right?)  It's  okay to ask your friends to share information about your book with their networks, but when doing so, make it clear that you realize .that they might want to be selective about who they share the information with. Send an e-mail  that  describes  the book, explains who will find it interesting, details how they will benefit from reading it, and includes a link to an online purchase site. Suggest that they forward that information to appropriate people.

Save 30% on Book Marketing Tools for Authors

Kick off the summer season with the Savvy Book Marketer's Summer Sale, now through May 28.

Save 30% on these powerful book marketing tools for authors and indie publishers:

Guidebooks

• How to Get Your Book Reviewed
• Virtual Book Tour Magic
• How to Sell More Books on Amazon
• Selling Your Book to Libraries
• Facebook Guide for Authors
• Twitter Guide for Authors
• Pinterest Guide for Authors

Author Training Programs

• How to Sell More Novels
• How to Sell More Nonfiction Books
• How to Sell More Children's Books
• The Ultimate Book Marketing Plan Workshop
• Make Money with Teleseminars and Webinars

Each of these resources features practical advice and step-by-step instructions to help you build your author platform and boost your book sales.

Remember, the summer sale ends at midnight on Tuesday, May 28, so head over to SavvyBookMarketer.com now.

To claim your 30% savings, just enter "summer" (without the quote marks) in the Discount Code area of the shopping cart, just above the Contact Information. You can return to SavvyBookMarketer.com and add additional items to your cart before checking out.

Don't miss this opportunity for big savings on the tools you need to sell more books!