3 free press release sites
While you will have greater results if you send a targeted news release to a specific journalist, there are times when sending press releases out to the masses is not a bad idea. The chances of getting results are much slimmer, but if your release is timely and powerful, it might get picked up by media that you would never have contacted.
In many instances, it might be smart to do both types of news releases. Make sure that each release is different enough in content and focus so that your ideal targeted journalist will not feel like they are getting a mass letter. After all, if you go to the trouble of finding a journalist, connecting with them and writing the release to fit their coverage, then you want to build an ongoing relationship.
If you are ready to send your release out to the public, here are free press release sites to get started:
1. onlineprnews.com – This is a free and paid release submission service. The free version offers one live URL in the Media Contact area and includes a SEO title and meta tag. The releases are live for ninety days and there is one submission allowed per day. The paid versions range from $22 to $349 and offer many more features. They offer an article, “How to Fix Common Press Release Writing Mistakes,” that is helpful if you are new to writing press releases or want to improve.
2. openpr.com – This site was started in 2004 and is operated out of Germany. At the time of this article, it had published 133,814 releases by 107,118 companies. Since those two numbers are pretty close in range, it tells me that there may not be a lot of repeat business. However, it is a free service and the site does not offer paid news release options.
3. newswiretoday.com – This site has been involved in online advertising since 1998. It offers both free and paid news release campaigns. To sign up, you must have a corporate email and a business-related website. Releases are strictly for business purposes, though if your book is on business topics I am sure that would fit the criteria. The site also maintains http://www.przoom.com/; paid versions start at $99 per release to $249.
To learn about book marketing strategies and to get a jump start on your marketing, check out the Authors Academy.
Christmas Publicity – Don’t knock it!
You may think it’s not ethical to do something “nice” and make money off of it at the same time. But if you had a choice between creating publicity through a nice project and simply creating some publicity, you’d probably choose the nice project every time.
The news is full of media darlings doing anything possible to get a little camera coverage. Instead of yelling and getting drunk or married or divorced in order to get attention, how about doing something nice?
WestJet Airlines created a bit of Christmas cheer with its latest publicity video. The airline asked 100 people on two different flights what they wanted for Christmas as they boarded the plane. Then the WestJet “elves” went into action to buy and wrap the gifts and fliers received them at baggage claim when they landed. The whole video is about six minutes, which is long for an advertisement, but it was more of a “story” than a pitch to buy a ticket on WestJet.
It was a feel-good PR effort that took a lot of money that, as a few Grinches pointed out in the comments, could have been spent on the “real” poor. But it was more than that; tt was fun.
It also related to the audience WestJet wanted to connect with: people who travel.
The Christmas holiday is about gift giving. Although it can become a headache, a hassle and a drain on the pocket book, giving is a high priority in people’s lives this time of year. Non-profit organizations cash in big time on the “giving” spirit. The bell ringers in front of every major shopping outlet are a prime example. Thousands of volunteers sign up for a few hours of bell-ringing in order to make a difference that will last throughout the whole year.
Create a Christmas and holiday promotion that brings joy and happiness to others. If you are going to spend time and money on promoting your book anyway, why not deck it with a little holiday cheer and make a difference.
Setting the proper price point for your book
As an author, you want to receive a fair price for your book. You’ve put in hours of hard work to get to the publication stage, and now that the book is ready, you must figure out the best price point for selling.
There is no hard and fast rule, but a good starting point is to research the prices of similar books on Amazon and in bookstores. Overpricing your book can be disastrous, but underpricing has its downfalls as well. Oftentimes publishers will put a printed price on the book cover, knowing that they plan to offer a discount for most of its selling history.
If you want your book to be sold in bookstores, pricing it too low may discourage bookstores from stocking it. Bookstores are interested in making a profit and if that profit is in pennies and nickels, then they are not going to bother with ordering your book. If your book is priced too high, of course there is the danger of making few sales.
Do you choose fewer sales and more profit or lots of sales and less profit? It’s always a judgment call, but again look at your competition and, unless your book is vastly different, you can use your competition as a benchmark. Look at both highly popular books and moderately successful books.
On Amazon, the lower the book is priced compared to its retail listed price, the better the book will sell. This is because Amazon wants to beat the competition. A book that is listed for the full retail price probably has little or few sales. At the beginning, your book may not have a lot of sales, so you may want to go for the higher price point to bring in more income, if it’s needed. Undercutting a book as a giveaway may not only undervalue its worth but may also create the perception that the book is not worth owning.
If you are working with a publisher, this problem will probably not be a concern of yours. Publishers must know the best price points in order to make a profit, sell a book well and ultimately stay in business. You can rest assured that they are constantly studying the fluctuating book markets and adjusting prices in order to compete wisely.
10 Reasons why I am going to write today
Remember the freelance writer who shared 10 reasons why she didn’t want to write. Well, surprisingly she has had a change of heart after settling down and meeting her latest deadline, and she has shared this list.
10 reasons why I am going to write today:
1. Surprise! I like to write. I really do. Once I get started, everything else fades around me and I lose myself in my writing. Don’t disturb me — I’m writing!
2. My writing is improving. It is not happening overnight, but when I compare how I write today with how I wrote last year, I see a big improvement. In fact, when I use the “Spelling and Grammar” check on Word, it doesn’t find nearly as many mistakes as it used to. Apparently that little checker has been teaching me along the way.
3. I’m staying more connected with my friends. I have a blog and when I write posts, I get comments and feedback that is very positive.
4. Writing gives me an excuse to research topics that I am interested in. I am learning so many things simply because I have to write something new and interesting all the time. It’s like a game. What shall I write about next?
5. The more I write and put it out on the Internet, the more I am building exposure. It is amazing. I search for my name on Google and it shows up!
6. Remember I said I hated deadlines? Truthfully, deadlines are the only way I get things done. I need deadlines. I may not love them when I get behind, but I accomplish so much more with them than without.
7. Writing helps to clarify my thinking. It doesn’t have to be self-reflective journaling. Even writing articles, blog posts and another chapter for my next book is a way to connect with my inner self.
8. Writing is making me an expert; at least it is making me more of an expert. Thinking, researching, reading, sharing and getting feedback work together to expand and enrich what I am doing in my field. In just a year’s time, I am more solid than ever in what I write about.
9. I have greater confidence in my ability to write well. I am no longer afraid to write about subjects that once seemed out of my reach. I may not be the best writer out there, but I’m a far cry from the worst one. And I can improve by writing and writing and writing.
10. My goals seem more attainable than ever. Writing is such a great way to move forward in almost any field I want to excel in. I am glad that I am a writer and I am going to write today and tomorrow and the day after that.
At Wheatmark, we believe in helping authors with every step of the writing and publishing process. Whether your new book is is in the beginning or final stages, tell us about it.
10 reasons why I’m not going to write today
You know the drill. You start out with a grand and noble idea to write every day without exception. But, then things happen.
Your little brother and his wife and ten kids decide to visit for a month. When unexpected events occur, it’s perfectly understandable to reprioritize your schedule a bit.
Of course, you may find other excuses to not write — ones that are not so noble and that make it harder to explain why you didn’t quite meet that deadline. The following examples of excuses were shared by a freelance writer who has experienced those bad writing days.
10 reasons why I’m not going to write today:
1. Not enough time in the day. This needs no explanation. I just have a lot of other commitments that need to be done.
2. I don’t know what to write. My mind is blank. Nothing enters or leaves the black hole of my mind.
3. I don’t feel like writing. Some days this just happens and what can I do? Nothing. It’s how I feel and that’s all I can say about it.
4. I want to do other things. I have a long list of the other things. In fact, almost anything I can think of sounds better than writing.
5. I’m not seeing any results, so why bother?
6. My writing is not improving. It is just the same as it was yesterday and the day before that. When is it going to improve? This is taking longer than I expected.
7. I’m revealing too much of myself in my writing. It’s true. Even when I write about dull things like 10 ways to eat more vegetables, my friends say they immediately recognize I’m having a bad day. This is not good.
8. I don’t know enough about the topic. Other people know more than I do and they write better too. I will only embarrass myself by pretending to be an expert on a topic, especially this topic. Yes, I do realize I know more than 90 percent of the population, but that big 10 percent that knows more than I do has me crushed.
9. Writing is hard work. I never realized this. Things just don’t flow. Those words need to be pried out of my skull with a pickax and a crowbar. I don’t have the energy for this.
10. This deadline is making me too depressed to write. Why did I ever say I would write this? Can I plead insanity?
At Wheatmark, we believe in helping authors with every step of the writing and publishing process. Whether your new book is is in the beginning or final stages, tell us about it.
Every writer should use an editor
It’s been said before, it’s time to say it again: Every writer should use a professional editor before the final publication of a book.
In a recent guest post called “Why Do I Need an Editor” on BadRedHead Media, Janie Goltz explains why writers do not see their own mistakes. As a professional writer and editor, Goltz has a good perspective on writing and publishing. According to Goltz, there are three different kinds of editing and the costs of an editing job range from low to high.
When you write something, it has the potential to last for a long time. Therefore, it’s best to present yourself and your work in a favorable light when you are published. Poor grammar may be excusable in text or Facebook messages, but when a possible new employer is looking you up on the Internet, it’s not such a good thing.
You may have a scintillating plot and a powerful story, but if there are jarring misspellings and confusing passages, your readers will not bother with your book. The competition is too steep for any author to succeed with mediocre writing.
The difference between a casual writer and a professional writer in most cases is that the professional rewrites drafts with the help of an editor. Of course, you can rewrite your own work without paying for the expense of an editor, but there comes a point when you cannot see your own mistakes.
You can propel your writing into the “superior” class simply by hiring an editor and carefully revising every red lettered comment that is given. There may be a few times when you will absolutely not want to make a change, but getting a professional to critique your work will be invaluable for your writing.
5 easy tips to lower your Flesch-Kincaid readability Score
How simple and clear is your writing?
Does it make a difference?
Steve Sjuggerud’s writes an investment letter called, “The True Wealth.” He shared in an article for AWAI that one of the biggest reasons he has such a high subscription and renewal rate for his letter (over 70,000 subscribers) is because of its ease in reading.
He explains in the article, How to Improve the Clarity of Your Writing by Michael Masterson, that he found there was “a direct relationship between simplicity and success.” In an informal test he rated a large number of Agora’s writers on a grading scale recommended by Michael. What he discovered surprised him. “There was a direct relationship between simplicity and success. The writers who had the lowest Flesch-Kincaid scores had the highest renewal rates.”
If simple writing makes a dramatic difference in investment letters which are read by a higher-than-average educated reader, what does it say about your target reader? Unless you are writing for a medical or scientific journal, keep your writing simple.
One way to test your writing is to rate it with the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Score. This is a measurement of readability based on students in the United States by grade level. A ninth-grade student is given a value of 9.0 and a first-grade student a value of 1.0.
A good readability score is between 7 and 8 for a general audience. Newspapers commonly aim for a rate below 8 dipping as low as 6. Even if your readers are highly educated, they will still appreciate writing that is simple and to the point. Complicated sentences with big words and lots of juicy superlative adjectives are not helpful to anyone.
Here are five quick and easy tips to lower your readability score.
1. Write about one idea at a time.
2. Keep your sentences short. The fewer words between periods the lower your score. While a few long sentences are not bad and add variety, aim for less rather than more.
3. Five sentences per paragraph is a good amount. Some will be shorter, a few longer but break up text often for greater ease of reading. Some paragraphs can be as short as one or two sentences.
4. Use words with as few syllables as possible. For instance use the word big instead of enormous.
5. Include dialogue in your writing when possible. Natural conversation tends to be short and direct. It also adds interest to an article.
Writing simply takes practice. Study popular writing and copy a page or two to train your brain to ease up on the technical, intellectual side.
Final note. If you write with Microsoft Word, you can use the Spelling and Grammar Review to check your Flesh-Kincaid score. To make sure that option is selected go to File > Options > Proofing, and and select Show Readability Statistics. You can also go to Readability-score.com and paste in your text for instant rating.
This article rated at 6.5.
At Wheatmark, we believe in helping authors with every step of the writing and publishing process. Whether your new book is is in the beginning or final stages, tell us about it.
Use this free Google tool to improve your website loading time
Amazon did some tests a while back and found that removing seconds from the load time of a web page resulted in more sales.
If your site is slow to load, a lot of visitors simply will not bother to wait. That means all your efforts of writing great blog posts, offering a free download and showcasing everything you have to offer are wasted.
You may not notice how slow your website loads because your computer caches images from previous visits, but a first time visitor will have to wait the full loading time.
Check out your website speed with a free tool from Google. PageSpeed Insights.
Start by checking your home page and other landing pages on your website.
Images take up the most bandwidth on your site but are the easiest to fix in increasing your site’s load time. Are you guilty of any of these three problems?
1. Too many images per page. Keep the number of images on your site to a low number — 2 or 3 are enough. A single large image will have more impact than 2 or 3 small ones. Every additional image you add to a page (this works for online and offline display) lowers the rate of its effectiveness.
2. Images have too high resolution. Make sure every image is correctly sized and optimized for the web. If you take a large image (1200 pixels by 900 pixels) and add it to your website and then change the height and width of the image to 300 pixels by 100 pixels, the image will load with the full 1200 x 900 pixel amount even if it only displays as a small picture. Unless you have a program that lowers the resolution to a lower amount, it doesn’t matter how small the picture looks because it will load the full file.
3. Too many plugins. If you are using a CMS (Content Management System) to build your website, such as WordPress, there will be lots of code that may slow down the loading speed of your page. Every plugin you add to your site slows the loading of the page down. If you have plugins that are not being used, deactivate them and delete them. A plugin that is not being used can still slow the site down.
To learn about real book marketing strategies and to get a jump start on your marketing, check out the Authors Academy.
Amazon Source opens profit sharing for Independent Bookstores
Brick-and-mortar bookstores have long been waging a rather futile battle against their enemy of destruction, Amazon.
Who knew that terms of peace were on the horizon?
In a press release dated Wednesday, November 6, 2013, Amazon announced the war might be over. In its latest bid for more of the book market, Amazon will offer brick-and-mortar bookstores a chance to team up.
Amazon’s newest program called Amazon Source, allows independent bookstores to reap some of the Amazon book-buying profits when their customers purchase Kindle products and ebooks. Bookstores can now sell Kindle products in their stores and make profits in two ways. The first option includes a discount on purchasing Kindle devices from the manufacturer and a 10% commission on every book that the Kindle buyer purchases through Amazon for the next two years. This is easily the most viable option for bookstores to take. The other option is designed for general retailers and offers Amazon products at a deeper purchasing discount but no percentage of Kindle ebook sales.
The average Kindle reader buys a lot of books, mainly because the process of purchasing Kindle books is simple, quick and provides immediate gratification.
Amazon Source opens the way for loyal bookstore patrons, who may have been hesitant to use Amazon in the past because it could result in the loss of their local bookstore, to now jump on board with ebooks.
Bookstores now have a bottom line reason to become an Amazon reseller. By joining with their long sworn enemy, bookstores can offer loyal patrons the convenience of digital book purchases, knowing it’s not undermining their bookstores’ ability to stay afloat.
The results should be a definite win/win for both Amazon and the corner bookstore. However, don’t expect it to improve the animosity between Apple and Barnes & Noble because the war is still being heavily contested on those fronts.
Writing for the Christian fiction market
How do Christian fiction books differ from your straight, run-of-the-mill fiction books?
Here are characteristics of most Christian fiction books:
1. An element of faith inspires the main character’s decisions throughout the story.
2. A sparing but appropriate use of Bible quotes — usually two or three that fit the story.
3. Evil exists in the story, but there are no graphic descriptions of sex, murder, and other deviant behaviors.
4. The ending leaves one feeling encouraged and trusting that life will work out for the better.
5. Language is clean with no swearing or violent words. For instance, a character might be described as “swearing a blue streak,” but the actual cursing words are left out.
Don’t be misled into thinking that because the book has a Christian or faith element you can get away with half-baked writing. Christian readers are as critical as other readers in wanting good plots, well-crafted story structure, and believable dialogue. Most readers are looking for enjoyable reads that are inspirational.
Pursue Christian writing as carefully and thoroughly as you would general fiction. Make sure that your book is edited, rewritten, edited, and rewritten again.
Marketing the Christian novel is as challenging as marketing any other book. Know your audience before you write. Where do they hang out? Will your book be directed at a general Christian audience or to a narrow niche such as Baptists, Evangelicals, or Catholics? How will you reach out to them? Through social media, public speaking, or writing articles?
Remember that most authors do not achieve success overnight. Plan on marketing your book for at least three years while you work on other books. Each book builds upon the others and expands and solidifies your following of faithful readers.