Marketing

For many of us, marketing our titles is one of the most tedious tasks of being an author. Even authors who published with large New York houses are expected to take part in marketing and promotion. Many articles and several books have been written to give us guidelines. One thing all marketing experts stress is the importance of being professional. Here are several extras that other industries use, and we authors should too, to boost our professional credibility. Remember BUYERS are your clients....

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Many of us are trying to do business and don't know how to define these words. We read articles and think, this could have just as easily been about me! We wonder why the reporter picked that person instead. We wonder how someone got into magazines and onto radio shows. We attribute big successes with an expensive publicist. We are not sure what a publicist does but since the guy on Entourage has one, they must be a good thing. Some of use have publicist and secretly wonder why they can't get us on the Today Show or Good Morning America....

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To have your work accepted for hard copy publication is a thrilling achievement but to have it bomb at the bookstores is to see your reputation go down the tubes simultaneously. And so to avoid this unpleasant scenario, I have developed over the years a series of 160 vital steps; steps that not only get my books published and into the major chains but selling online and offline as bestsellers in their genre. How's this for convincing evidence of the power of these unique steps? My latest work 'Your Retirement Masterplan' (How To Books ISBN 1857039874) is not only published but already an online bestseller just three weeks after publication....

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Whenever someone suggests you do a book signing and you do not want to, here are five reasons you can give them: 1) It's not worth the time; there's not enough money in it. 2) Speaking is where the money is. 3) You have more important things to do. 4) When you do a book-signing, maybe nobody will show up andyou'll feel foolish sitting there all alone. 5) There are other ways to sell books. Then, again, there are five good reasons why all authorsshould do a book signing and a book-signing tour....

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First, the disclaimers: Since the algorithm Amazon uses to generate its sales ranking is proprietary, the details contained herein are extrapolated from research and field tests. The resulting consensus finds Amazon's system to provide marginal sales data at best. To whit, read Amazon's own definition of its system, slightly paraphrased from their FAQ: "The Sales Ranking system exhibits how books are selling. The lower the number, the higher the sales. The calculation is based on sales and is updated each hour to reflect recent and historical sales of every item sold....

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Marketing your book whether you went the POD, e-book, or traditional route can be a daunting process. Figuring out what works and what doesn't can take time, energy, and if you're not careful a lot of money. When I first self-published my science fiction novel GETTING OUT ALIVE, I had already done quite a bit of research into ways to market my novel that didn't eat into my pocket book. Here are the top 8 ways I've marketed my book and seen results: *Sign other author's guestbooks. The author is not the only one who reads the entries, and make sure you add your website address even if they don't give you a spot to put it....

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Is your mind muddy on book marketing? Do you wake up each day and say, "I'm not a social person and I hate to beat the drum for my book" or "I just wish someone else could market my book for me"? If you could market your book a pleasurable way, you may not think it a chore. Natural marketing refers to the action you take to get the word out about your service and product that rings true to your heart. It feels effortless without struggle, where ideas pop out, you lose track of time engaging in them, and you can't act on them fast enough!...

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Since I live in Virginia and travel frequently to Washington State, I plan my travel and schedule around these two areas to start. Virginia Washington Take a few minutes, visit the Library of Congress' web site, and find the ones that fit into your schedule and location. Get bold and stand out, do book signings at Wine Festivals too (no matter what your topic). For other possibilities to expand your book sales, visit your local and state government web sites for events, libraries, school district events, business organizations, civic or private clubs, bookstores at museums (private or public)....

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1. Make sure the text on the front and back covers is compelling. It should state plainly and simply what the book is about. For example: "Buy this book, and learn how to master the craft of teaching in 15 lessons". 2. Why should anyone buy the book from YOU? Don't waste limited space on the back cover telling the potential reader about your 3 cats - unless it's a book about cats, of course! Write something like: "The author has been a practising teacher for 13 years, and writes regularly for the Teaching Times....

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Congratulations, you've written a book and even gotten it published! Now, all you have to do is get people to buy it. Getting people to actually enter a bookstore with the purposeof buying your book is not easy because you're not a "brandname" yet. But you do have a potent weapon at your command--the telephone. Use it. Call the editor of the books section of your paper. Say you'dlike to send a copy to him or her. Ask if he has a few minutesso you can briefly tell him about the book on the phone....

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