Why you should create small realistic book marketing goals
Every author would like to sell a million copies.
More authors can achieve this goal if they go about it with a realistic plan.
For instance, while you may not sell a million copies in a week or a year, there is a much stronger possibility that you might sell that many books over a longer period of time.
It’s better to make a reasonable goal that you meet and then, once it is achieved, set the bar higher for the next round. Make the first goal easy and doable. Success builds upon success. With each achieved goal you will have the knowledge and expertise, contacts and methods for raising your next level of book selling.
The first goal should be small because you will be putting in a lot of the ground work for future sales. That ground work will take more time and have a deeper learning curve as you get started. Some of the big stones you need to put into place will be creating a website, getting established with several social media outreaches and, of course, creating your first book marketing plan.
Start with a number of books that you can sell in six weeks. Perhaps it will be only 100 books. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but it actually will take a lot of work to sell that many for a first-time author. Breaking down that 100 into weeks you might think that it means selling 15 books every single week. This is probably not how it will work. Your first week you might sell only one or two. The second week five and the third week 20. Each week as you put more things into place you will sell more books. The fourth week you might sell 25 and the fifth week 30! By week six if all the wheels are churning and turning you may reach that 100 book selling goal.
To learn about real book marketing strategies and to get a jump start on your marketing, check out the Authors Academy.
Paid book reviews by Publishers Weekly: A dangerous place for self-publishers?
Getting book reviews for your book is one of the prime ways for authors, old and new, to sell more books. Unfortunately, the stigma of self-publishing, though rapidly disappearing, is still a factor to be dealt with in seeking the more established book review channels.
Publishers Weekly has a program called PW Select that is open to self-published books. It comes with a catch though. And, a price tag.
For $149, you can enter your self-published book and get a possible review. They state that approximately one out of every four books is reviewed in their magazine. Now for a regular, mainline, published book getting a book review by Publishers Weekly is usually a good thing. Even with a poor review a sentence, or even a part of a sentence, can be found redeeming and be put to good use.
The fact that Publishers Weekly has broad-mindedly opened their book reviewing doors to the self-publishers of the world sounds like a wonderful thing. But, a little Google research revealed some interesting feedback on their program.
Turns out those promised reviews may not be what you want even if your book is one of the prized 22% selected.
Kim Strickland made an interesting observation on her blog with this post. Publishers Weekly seems to relish scathing reviews of self-published books. She goes on to share that during the time she monitored them, out of 52 reviews for self-published books, only 4 were positive. The negative reviews were not simply mild suggestions that the books be left on the shelf but were as she put it, “completely scathing.”
A general rule of thumb when it comes to reviews of any kind is, that if you have to pay for them, don’t!
To learn about real book marketing strategies and to get a jump start on your marketing, check out the Authors Academy.
How to use a storyboard to plan your next book
While storyboards are commonly used for creating video scenes and movies, they can also be used for planning your book. Whether your book is fiction or nonfiction creating a storyboard can help you to plan a timeline, plots, subplots, characters, and events.
To get started you will need a wide board that is smooth enough for sticky notes to stick. A 4 x 8 poster board can be rather expensive but you can make one yourself either with butcher paper that you tape to a wall or cut a large cardboard box cut to make a single surface. Use a big enough size that you can spread your notes apart and read them easily.
Initial Idea Session
You will need a small pad of 2- or 3-inch Post-it notes. To start, simply put a single idea about your book on a Post-it note. One idea per note. Slap it on the board. Any place will do at this point. Any idea that comes to mind should be added to the board. Write down as many ideas as you can think of. Plan on working on this stage in several sessions. Once your mind gets percolating on ideas you will find that more and more will come to mind as the days go by.
The Plotting Stage
The next part of your storyboard process is to group different ideas together. These will become future chapters. Because Post-it notes are easy to move around you can change their order as many times as you need to make the most sense for each chapter.
You can also create different storyboards for different aspects of your book. If your book is fiction, you might want a separate storyboard for each character, setting, or event. For nonfiction, you might consider separate boards for the main book chapters, indexes, and resource sections.
A storyboard is a useful tool for creativity. It allows for spontaneity and yet develops a cohesive structure as it grows. Even when you have written the first draft of your book, you may still want to refer back to your storyboard for revisions.
At Wheatmark, we believe in helping authors with every step of the writing and publishing process. Whether your book is is in the beginning or final stages to tell us about your project, tell us about it.
Create an easy feedback form for your author website
One way to interact with your audience is to have a form to get feedback or receive input for special events. With a form, you can ask for book reviews, endorsements, or submissions for a book contest.
Putting up a form can be done in a myriad of different ways. One of the easiest is to use a simple, free online tool such as JotForm. With this tool, you can put up a form on your site in a few minutes. It’s a simple drop and drag tool that creates forms as simple or complicated as you like. You get 100 free submissions a month. In most cases this will be all you need unless your site is wildly popular.
The site has over 3,000 form templates. You can find one for almost anything that you can think of such as story submission forms, sharing feedback, or even ask for a donation. You can edit any form or simply start from scratch and create a brand new one.
To get started, watch the two-minute tutorial video. In no time at all you can put a form on your site and start collecting email addresses, information, or anything else that you can dream up for your readers to share with you.
Once you get a submission, you can reply to the writer if you like.
A few ideas are:
- Collect recipes for a cookbook
- Collect humorous instances of something in your niche
- Collect stories for a book
- Collect testimonials for your book
- Ask for feedback about anything relating to your book such as book title, cover, characters, plot line, and location details
- Collect submissions for a free book drawing
It’s important to keep connected with your readers. If you have a blog, of course they can always leave comments but sometimes the information is such that you would like to receive it privately for use in your book or research. A form keeps that information private between you and the sender. (Well, and perhaps the NSA.)
If you do collect information such as emails and address information, it is a good idea to include a privacy statement that you will not use their information for any purpose other than what it is intended.
Should you enter a Writer’s Digest eBook contest?
Writer’s Digest holding a contest for self-published eBooks?
Whoa! Times are a changing.
If your eBook has been self-published since 2008 (and yes, using Wheatmark qualifies you), you can enter your book for a chance to be on the front cover of Writer’s Digest magazine and win $2,000. You can submit a print edition of your book as well as an eBook version as long as it is self-published.
While Writer’s Digest does not have a huge circulation, a little over a hundred thousand subscribers, being noted as a winner by this established writing magazine will certainly give your book great credibility.
Wonder if your book has a chance? Here is what your eBook will be evaluated on:
Content
Writing Quality
Production Quality
Appearance
This is where Wheatmark’s continued insistence that your book have an awesome cover, professional layout and top-notch editing will give you a legs up on the competition. There will be one grand prizewinner who takes the gold prize of $2,000 and the front-page cover. However, the winners of each category have a chance at fame and fortune as well.
Here are the main categories for fiction and nonfiction eBooks, but the rules state that this is not limiting. Meaning if your book doesn’t quite fit in a category tightly, submit it, and give it a try.
Fiction:
• Mainstream/Literary Fiction
• Children’s/Picture books
• Genre Fiction
• Middle-Grade/Young Adult books
Nonfiction:
• Reference Books
• Cookbooks
• Life Stories
Here are a few things to be aware of before submitting.
There is a pretty steep entry fee for the contest. $75.00 for the first entry and $50.00 for additional entries.
The competition will be with some of the best writers on the market so unless you feel confident your book is good you may want to try for smaller, less known contests.
That said, spending $75 to give your book a chance for top national exposure in the book world might be worth the risk.
Why every author should create a book marketing blueprint
Writing a book? Ask yourself these three questions:
Question: What do you do once your book is written?
Answer: Get it published.
Question: What do you do once your book is published?
Answer: Sell it.
Question: How?
Answer: Create a step-by-step book marketing plan.
A friend of mine is an avid fan of Robert Middleton, Action Plan Marketing. His latest post she told me is about creating an action plan for marketing your business. Leaving things up to chance, Middleton says, “Is simply going around in circles with your marketing.”
Certainly, you may get some random moments of success. But, how about consistent moments? Moments that build up your book selling so that each month you sell more books than the month before?
That is done most effectively by creating a book-marketing plan. Not a “to do” list for today. Not scribbling down a few things you could do in the next week but a step-by-step, three-year book marketing plan.
“Three years? Are you kidding me?”
Not at all.
I’m talking about selling your book over the long haul, about working your plan until it pays off. Slow, steady steps that will create more publicity, attract more followers, and sell more books.
The best thing about a long-range book-marketing plan?
It overcomes the overwhelm factor. The what-to-do-next headache and … the I’m-so-discouraged-about-my-book-ever-selling-a-single-copy syndrome.
With a carefully laid out book marketing plan you know that it is going to take some time to put all the pieces together. It’s figured in. Creating a website. Doing social media. Going to conventions. It’s all broken down into bite-sized pieces that you can do.
If you are serious about selling more books than it makes sense to plan it out. Just as you wouldn’t think of building a house without a set of house plans you shouldn’t expect to sell a “ton of books” without a detailed set of blueprints for achieving it.
At Wheatmark, our work with authors does not stop once their books are published. In fact that is just the beginning. That is why we place an emphasis on educating our authors about book marketing.
5 tips for password protection as you build your author platform
Is your website safely protected for your quick rise to fame and fortune?
As an author, it may come faster than you think. One way to prepare for it now is to safely password-protect your website and other web properties.
Whether you are on Facebook, Twitter, or have your website and or blog, making sure that your content is kept as safe as possible is worth taking a few moments to do.
Creating tough passwords is your first wall of defense. Just as it is no longer safe to leave the keys in your car when you park on a busy street, it is no longer safe to assume that no one will steal your identity, information, or use your email for spamming purposes.
Often people will create a password that is easy to remember or has some relationship to what their site is about. While this certainly makes it much easier to remember, it also makes it much easier to break into.
Here are five tips to create a great password.
1. Use both upper and lowercase characters
2. Include numbers but do not use your phone, address, or zip code.
3. Use symbols such as ! ” ? $ ? % ^ & * ( ) _ – + = {
4. Mix up the letters, numbers and symbols in a random pattern.
5. When you change your password, make it very different from previous ones.
If you find it difficult to come up with a password that is rough, tough, and practically unsolvable, you might want to use a site called StrongPasswordGenerator.com. This site will automatically create a 15-character password that is hacker-proof.
16 Bookstore Review Sites
Looking to get great book reviews for your book? Here’s an idea that may at first seem counterproductive but actually may jumpstart your own book review process.
What’s the idea?
It’s based on the age-old biblical maxim, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Which means while waiting for those five-tar book reviews to come in for your own books, start writing reviews for others.
Writing book reviews is a good way to stay connected with books in your genre, assess your competition,and even help you to craft writing ideas for composing your book releases and sharing information about your books on your blog.
As you write a book release, you will find yourself thinking critically about why you like one type of writing over another. What makes the book stand out? How can you creatively write selling copy for your own material?
Some authors used book reviews to link back to their own books; this is now a red flag for Amazon reviews. If you do that, you’re likely to get your book reviews (and books) removed from Amazon.
Writing five-star reviews is also a warning sign that your book review writing may have an underlying motive. Aim to write honestly. A good review is an honest one. If it’s a two-star book, give it two stars…
Write for the sake of pushing good books into the limelight. Here are 16 bookstores that accept book reviews.
http://www.abebooks.com/Alibris
http://Amazon.com
http://barnesandnoble.com
http://www.biblio.com/
http://booksamillion.com
http://buy.com
http://christianbook.com
http://costco.com
http://familychristian.com
http://lifeway.com
http://overstock.com
http://www.powells.com/
http://www.tatteredcover.com/
http://www.valorebooks.com/
http://walmart.com
To learn about real book marketing strategies and to get a jump start on your marketing, check out the Authors Academy.
7 simple letters any author can write to sell more books
One easy way even the most introverted author can sell a few books is to write letters.
Here are seven different kinds of letters you can write. With each letter include a bookmark or business card, handmade or professionally printed, that includes the title of your book, a quote, and a link to your web site.
1. Friendship letters to family and friends. Share whatever is going on with your life and of course, part of that is your book! Talk about how excited you are about it. The challenges you are facing, the successes you have had and ask if they have any ideas to help you to promote your book.
2. Write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper in response to an article that interests you. You don’t have to promote your book, just getting your name out there for a cause that is important may cause someone to check you out.
3. Write a thank-you letter to someone that has done you a favor or is someone you admire. Thank you letters can be short and sweet but will make someone’s day and cause you to be remembered as well!
4. Write a praise letter to the owner of your favorite restaurant complimenting them on their menu, service, or promotion of a cause. Write a letter of praise to your mayor, business leaders, or anyone in your local community that you admire. A letter of praise is a great way to make new friends in high places even if only casually.
5. Write a letter to other authors you admire. Become a fan and perhaps they will become a fan of yours in return. At the very least, it will make you feel good to build someone else up who is in the same profession you are. Your letter may be just what they need on a cloudy day! Another bonus is that you will find in sharing about how you value them as a writer is that it will clarify your own appreciation for the writing profession.
6. Write a letter to a bookstore. Thank them for carrying your book and be sure to tell them that you encourage your friends to shop at their store. A bit of good will mean they will think of you and your book the next time a customer comes looking for suggestions for a good read.
7. Write letters to your fans! Yes, real letters that you put a stamp on and send on their merry way. One enthusiastic fan can do amazing things. The closer your fans are to you the better and bigger your chance of eventual success will be. A short, simple letter of appreciation that takes you five or ten minutes might brighten up their day for a long time.
If you’re an author and feel stuck in your book marketing, get a jump start by learning about the best and latest book marketing strategies in the Authors Academy.
9 places to share a business card about your book
A low-cost way to promote your new book is with a business card. You can print them yourselves at home or professionally for as little as $10.00 for a hundred or more cards.
Most typical business cards are about two by three inches. These are small enough to slip a couple into a pocket, wallet, or bag. Because they’re so small it is easy to have one with you at all times whereas carrying a hard copy of your book is definitely not.
1. If your book is available digitally, you can share download information on your card. Include a sentence or two about the book, awards won and even a winning testimony about your book.
2. You can share your cards with family and friends and ask them to help you in getting the word out.
3. You can leave a business card in a magazine at the doctor’s office like a bookmark. Nothing like having a bored audience to give your little advertisement a quick look. Perhaps you can offer a free chapter or download on your card.
4. You can pin a card to bulletin boards in stores and other locations with community boards. Make sure your offer on your card is clearly visible and attractive.
5. Share a card with your barber or beautician. These people have lots of local contacts! Perhaps they know one or two of their customers who would be interested in your book.
6. Include a card with all print correspondence you send out. Some authors even include them in envelopes when paying bills.
7. Any public waiting room is a prime place for leaving a couple of cards. Bus stations, train, and even airline waiting areas. True, the chances your card will be picked up and trashed is high, but there is also a chance that someone will be intrigued to pick it up, read it, and carry it off with them.
8. Author cards are a “must have” for attending book events, expos, etc. Not only can you pass them out to other book attendees, you can use them to connect with publishers, book store vendors, and other authors and illustrators.
9. Leave your author card with bookstores that carry your book and ask if you can leave a few on the counter or with your book.
Unlike carrying around an actual physical book, it’s easy to give away author business cards whenever you start up a conversation with someone. You may strike up a conversation while waiting in line with other customers or talking to the retail clerk while he or she rings up your order. This works especially well if your book is relevant to the shopping outlet that matches your book’s audience.
At Wheatmark, our work with authors does not stop once their books are published. In fact that is just the beginning. That is why we place an emphasis on educating our authors about book marketing.