Turn Your Book into a … What?
Close your eyes and visualize your book as a keychain. Can you do it?
In a previous post I discussed the best way to market your book online: by slicing up the content of your book into smaller pieces and republishing them on your blog and other sites accepting similar content.
However, your book can be turned into other media as well—not just online and not just written. Here’s a list of ideas, both offline and online, just to get your imagination going:
Paper book: The foundation of your “content empire,” from which all other media originate. You can also start with just an ebook, but that doesn’t nearly provide the authority a real book does.
Ebook: Tap into a growing market of ebook readers by releasing yours.
Blog posts: Copy and paste information (chapters) from your book and periodically post them on your blog.
CD: Put your ebook or book preview on a CD and give it away to prospective clients and readers. If you also create an audiobook, put that on a CD as well.
Podcasts: Turn your book into a podcast by recording your chapters and make them available on iTunes. Release a new segment weekly.
Online articles: Submit your nonfiction book chapters as online articles to dozens of article sites. Provide a link back to your website or blog.
Teleseminars: Run a series of teleseminars based on your chapters and invite your prospects and people on your contact list to listen to the call.
Audio downloads: Make your recorded podcasts or teleseminars available for download as mp3 files on your website.
Flash drive: Much like a CD; why not put your ebook or mp3 audio files on a promotional flash drive? For fun, tell people it’s the most intelligent keychain ever!
Prerecorded iPods: Consider putting your audio files on iPods or mp3 players that you can give away as prizes.
PDF reports: create a number of special reports that are available as PDF downloads from your website. Print them out and give them to clients as well.
Prerecorded messages: set up a “24-hour hotline,” a phone number where people can listen to a 10-, 30-, or 60-minute presentation that you’ve prepared from your book. Always include a call to action at the end.
Booklets: Distill the key points of your book into a tips booklet and give them away as a promotional tool.
Print articles: Submit article-length content from your book to magazines and newspapers.
Tweet series: Broadcast a series of 140-character tips or messages from your book to your Twitter followers.
Facebook update series: The same concept as the tweet series, but on your Facebook page or profile.
Ezine series: Include excerpts in an email newsletter to your list.
Email autoresponders: Turn your book into a series of emails that people can sign up for on your website.
Workshops: Develop a curriculum for a series of workshops straight from your book for people who need the help you provide. Make sure you record them.
Online course: Much like the workshops, except delivered online.
Public speaking: Prepare and give speeches about your topic straight from your book.
Talk radio: Start your own radio show on BlogTalkRadio or get an interview on another show, all about your message.
Online video: Create short clips or record yourself talking about key themes and concepts from your book and upload them to your YouTube, Vimeo, or other online video channels.
DVD: Put the above videos, your workshop, and speeches on a DVD to give away or sell.
Phone coaching: Offer your advice from your book via private phone coaching sessions.
Can you come up with other ideas? Have you done some of these already? I would love to hear your story; leave a comment.
A Game Changer
Ninety-nine degrees is the average high temp in June here in beautiful Tucson, Arizona. As you might imagine, we Tucsonans do just about anything we can to stay indoors during this time. So, while most of the country is outdoors hiking, picnicking, camping, and playing softball … we’re indoors reading books, watching movies, playing volleyball and, yes, bowling. How appropriate then that our current bestselling book is The Game Changer: A Simple System for Improving Your Bowling Scores by Mark Baker. Published in early April, The Game Changer sold over two thousand copies by the end of that month, qualifying it for our Great Expectations program, where we financially reward the author by issuing a credit. In Mark’s case that’s $2,000. At the rate the book is selling it will soon cross the five thousand-copies-sold mark and qualify its author for an additional $5,000 Great Expectations credit. (At Wheatmark we reward bookselling success!)
Why is The Game Changer selling so well right out of the gate? Because Mark Baker has a large author platform! Mark is one of the most well-known bowling coaches in the world with tons of fans and followers, both online (especially on Facebook) and offline. When Mark Baker promises “a simple system for improving your bowling scores,” bowlers listen. Mark’s been involved in bowling for over thirty years. In his early career, he was a competitive bowler, earning four PBA titles along with numerous other awards and accolades. Later he was a sales manager for Cal Bowling Supply. And now he’s a renowned bowling coach with top-tier clientele, including several of the best bowlers on the PBA Tour. Along the way he developed Camp Bakes, one of the premier bowling camps in the world. So, when Mark announced the publication of The Game Changer thousands rushed to buy.
Notice that Mark had been building his author platform for thirty years before he actually became an author. It’s never too early to start building your author platform. The converse is also true: It’s never too late to start building it either! There are many authors who use their published books as the tool to open up opportunities and to build their platform. Wherever you are in the writing/publishing process, however small or large your current platform, to succeed as an author and sell more books, you want to grow that platform. Read our blog for more success tips and be sure to join the Authors Academy to learn about how you can grow your author platform. It could be a game changer.
Book Marketing Strategy vs. Tactics
It’s one of the most common misconceptions in marketing: that a marketing tactic is the same as a marketing strategy. Not understanding the difference between the two leads to a whole lot of pain and frustration for many authors as well as entrepreneurs, speakers, and other professionals who use the written word to grow their businesses.
Have you ever heard someone say “I’m going to use Twitter to market my book,” or “I’m going to use the Internet to market my business?”
This sort of statement rarely leads to success.
This is because most of the time, the speaker is already talking about marketing tactics but has skipped not just one but two critical steps: setting a specific, measurable goal and developing a strategy for reaching that goal.
(If you’ve ever said this sort of thing yourself, don’t worry, practically everyone has at one time or another. I’ve made this same mistake myself; multiple times, in fact!)
The first thing you need to do before you can develop a marketing strategy is to identify a specific, measurable goal.
Let’s say that your goal is to sell a hundred copies of your book in the next month.
Your book is a how-to guide for new moms about how to navigate the first six months of motherhood. (It could just as easily be a techno-thriller in the same vein as a Tom Clancy novel.)
The first thing you’d do is identify where your target market—new moms, in this case—hangs out.
You’d brainstorm a list of all the places new moms might be found. Maybe they shop at certain stores. Maybe they subscribe to certain magazines. Maybe they visit certain websites. And so on and so on.
Then you’d develop a strategy for reaching these new moms and getting your message in front of them. You know that building goodwill with your target audience is a tested, proven approach, so your strategy might include offering a sample chapter of your book, “7 Tips to Stress-Free Grocery Shopping with Your Newborn,” as a free download from your website.
Then, you’d deploy one or more tactics, including running print advertisements in new mom magazines, or guest blogging on popular mommy blogs, or planning a workshop at a local baby boutique to let new moms know about the sample chapter of your book available as a free download on your website.
Predictably, this approach works like magic. As a result of your tactics (print advertisements, guest blogging, and boutique workshops), a thousand new moms download your sample chapter. Ten percent click through to visit Amazon to buy your book, because it’s exactly the sort of information they need.
You sell one hundred books, thus achieving your goal!
Again, to summarize: your goal was to sell a hundred copies of your book. Your strategy was to get in front of your target market where they hang out and offer them something of value that they want or need (the free sample chapter.) The tactics were the methods you deployed in the service of your strategy.
It seems so simple when you take the time to reason it out, but it’s also so easy to overlook an important step. The most commonly overlooked step—your strategy—is the “secret sauce” that leads to book sales or whatever other goal you set for yourself.
Come up with a book marketing strategy for your titles, and marvel at the results!
If you feel like your book sales could use a shot in the arm, why not join us for this month’s Authors Academy presentation, which will be about developing your book’s marketing plan?
Your book’s marketing plan should contain all three of these critical pieces: your goal, your strategy for reaching your goal, and the tactics you’ll use to execute your strategy.
Our guest presenter, Echo Surina, has a ton of experience developing effective book marketing plans. She’s also a direct-response copywriter who’s written for one of the top marketers on the planet. That means she knows how to get folks to buy what she’s offering!
If you’re not already an Authors Academy Gold member, what are you waiting for? It’s never too early to start working on a marketing plan for your next book—or too late to start creating a marketing plan for a re-launch of one of your current titles!
You can claim your charter Gold membership in the Authors Academy at www.authorsacademy.com/join
Until then, happy marketing!
How to Create a Strategic Marketing Plan for Your Book
It’s one of the most common misconceptions in marketing: that a marketing tactic is the same as a marketing strategy.
Not understanding the difference between the two leads to a whole lot of pain and frustration for many authors as well as entrepreneurs, speakers, and other professionals who use the written word to grow their businesses.
The blueprint for your book’s marketing strategy is your book’s marketing plan.
This is the single most important piece of marketing collateral for your book you will create – besides the actual book itself!
Join us on Friday, May 11 as marketing plan expert Echo Surina walks us through “How to Create a Strategic Marketing Plan for Your Book.”
During this LIVE online presentation, you’ll learn the secrets to:
- Creating your big picture
- Applying SWOT analysis to your project
- Identifying your target audience
- Crafting your key messages
- Selecting your outreach methods
- Evaluating your efforts
- Drafting a work statement
Echo Surina is an award-winning writer turned marketing specialist with experience doing both strategic and tactical work. She specializes in helping entrepreneurs and organizations identify and communicate what makes them special and different to niche audiences.
As owner of Philanthropology LLC, which has been ranked a top woman-owned business in Arizona in Ranking Arizona since 2008, Echo manages marketing campaigns, provides book manuscript critiques and book consulting services, and writes sales copy.
Here are the important details about this one-time-only event:
Friday, May 11 at 2 PM EST / 11 AM PST
This webinar is available only to Authors Academy Gold members and higher. All Authors Academy members will have access to the recording of the webinar and will be able to participate in the exclusive members-only Q&A discussion the following week.
Not a Gold member already? To claim your spot alongside the world’s most forward-thinking authors and get instant access to the 4-webinar series, “Secrets of Highly Paid, Highly Successful Authors,” as well as full access to this month’s presentation:
Click here now to join the Authors Academy as a Gold member.
Give Away My Book for Free?
It’s one of the most common misconceptions in marketing: that a marketing tactic is the same as a marketing strategy.
Not understanding the difference between the two leads to a whole lot of pain and frustration for many authors as well as entrepreneurs, speakers, and other professionals who use the written word to grow their businesses.
The blueprint for your book’s marketing strategy is your book’s marketing plan.
This is the single most important piece of marketing collateral for your book you will create – besides the actual book itself!
Join us on Friday, May 11 as marketing plan expert Echo Surina walks us through “How to Create a Strategic Marketing Plan for Your Book.”
During this LIVE online presentation, you’ll learn the secrets to:
- Creating your big picture
- Applying SWOT analysis to your project
- Identifying your target audience
- Crafting your key messages
- Selecting your outreach methods
- Evaluating your efforts
- Drafting a work statement
Echo Surina is an award-winning writer turned marketing specialist with experience doing both strategic and tactical work. She specializes in helping entrepreneurs and organizations identify and communicate what makes them special and different to niche audiences.
As owner of Philanthropology LLC, which has been ranked a top woman-owned business in Arizona in Ranking Arizona since 2008, Echo manages marketing campaigns, provides book manuscript critiques and book consulting services, and writes sales copy.
Here are the important details about this one-time-only event:
Friday, May 11 at 2 PM EST / 11 AM PST
This webinar is available only to Authors Academy Gold members and higher. All Authors Academy members will have access to the recording of the webinar and will be able to participate in the exclusive members-only Q&A discussion the following week.
Not a Gold member already? To claim your spot alongside the world’s most forward-thinking authors and get instant access to the 4-webinar series, “Secrets of Highly Paid, Highly Successful Authors,” as well as full access to this month’s presentation:
Click here now to join the Authors Academy as a Gold member.
Do You Know Why People Buy Your Books?
Do you know why people buy your books? It seems like a question that any author should be able to answer in their sleep. Unfortunately many authors and book marketers (one and the same in my view) don’t know the real answer to this question at all. Most authors can tell you in exacting detail what their books have to offer readers, but often don’t have the first clue what actually motivates purchases of their books.
Take sports books, for example. My friend Rich Wolfe, the number-one selling sports book author over the last decade, once told me that that the majority of his books were purchased by women, even though the majority of rabid sports fans are men.
Counterintutive, huh?
It turns out that most sports books are purchased as gifts (by women) for the rabid sports fans in their lives (usually men). Think about just a few of the implications of this simple fact:
- Sports books should always come in hardcover editions, because hardcovers are generally perceived to be better gifts.
- Marketing copy for sports books should specifically suggest that the books be purchased as gifts, as in “If you have a Michigan fan on your gift list, YOUR SHOPPING IS OVER!”
- Sport books should be advertised and offered where women shop, and, more precisely, where they shop for gifts.
- Marketing dollars and efforts for sports books should be focused on gift-giving seasons and occasions.
Another example is children’s books. Yes, it’s important that children’s books appeal to children, but if you want to sell a lot of copies it’s more important that you appeal to those making the purchasing decisions: parents and educators. Kids want a fun read and a good story, but their parents may have quite different motivations when they buy books for their kids. Such motivations include getting their little tykes over their fear of the dark and to sleep, growing their children’s vocabularies so that they can be successful in school, etc. Because they are the ones making purchasing decisions, it is the parents’ motivations that ought to be the central focus of marketing campaigns for children’s books.
The tendency to pay more attention to the features of a product or service than to the motivations of buyers themselves is a common oversight in business. I can talk to you all day about the superior features of Wheatmark’s publishing services, and explain in detail why Wheatmark’s Authors Academy offers the best path to your career development as an author. But frankly, I don’t understand as well as I should what motivates authors to write and publish books. And I don’t understand as well as I should why authors purchase publishing and marketing consulting services from us. So maybe you can help me out and show me how I can make Wheatmark of more service to you. Please tell me what motivates you to write and publish books, and why you chose to work with us. Send email to shenrie [at] wheatmark.com. I’d love to hear from you.
Get Motivated!
Recently, I attended the all-day Get Motivated! seminar when it came to Tucson. I didn’t actually go to get motivated—an entrepreneur for many years now, I’m plenty motivated as it is. I also didn’t go to buy any of the stuff they were selling—they didn’t have anything I need right now. I went to hear the celebrity presenters, and to study one of most successful marketing processes in the world. First, for $2.95 (essentially free) Get Motivated! attracts nearly 10,000 attendees with the promise of seeing celebrity presenters like Colin Powell, Terry Bradshaw, Steve Forbes, Rudy Giuliani, Kurt Warner, and many more. (Pictured: Terry Bradshaw getting ready to motivate.)
In between celebrity speeches were presentations from companies with something to sell. One such company was Ameritrade, a major discount brokerage firm, whose representative gave an exceptional sales presentation demonstrating the impressive array of online tools Ameritrade now offers to help clients make money selling covered calls. At the end of his presentation he offered the audience attendance at full-day seminars specifically about making money selling covered calls. All of these full-day seminars were held at luxury hotels in Tucson over the next couple of weeks. Audience members were given the opportunity to sign up for the seminars on the spot for $99, and I’m guessing that at least a thousand did.
I didn’t attend the seminars myself, but I’m sure they sold other training and brokerage services there. I suspect that their ultimate goal was to get some of the discount brokerage account owners who were with Schwab, Scottrade, etc., to move their accounts to them. I also suspect that they were successful in getting hundreds to do just that. The entire marketing process demonstrated so many powerful sales and marketing principles, which I won’t even try to cover in this short space. Suffice it to say that to be successful selling your books, and your related content and services, you too need a well-thought-through multistep marketing system. At Wheatmark we constantly study marketing systems like Ameritrade’s and Get Motivated’s. We distill what we learn and teach about it in the Authors Academy. In fact, we’ll be giving an entire presentation focused on the Get Motivated! marketing and sales processes later this month in the Authors Academy. If you’re not already a member, you’re missing out on a chance to learn how to apply these powerful marketing techniques to your book projects and skyrocket your sales. You can correct the oversight by visiting the Authors Academy today.
We’ll see you at the next presentation in the Author’s Academy!
Why You Don’t Want to Delay Your Ebook Any Longer
You may remember that a little over three years ago we asked you if now you thought ebooks were going to make a difference to you as an author. That is the time when Amazon released its Kindle reader.
I know what your answer is now. But back then, we had spent the previous decade waiting for ebooks to come of age, to no avail. There were multiple formats and substandard readers that few people wanted. The early Kindle could have seemed to some as simply the latest untested entrant into an otherwise failing e-reader market.
There were early signs, however, that an e-reader like the Kindle would actually stick. You see, the biggest obstacle ebooks had faced prior to this was the inability for people to download them to their readers without having to hook them up to a computer first.
That all changed in late 2007 when Amazon introduced the Kindle, capable of downloading books wirelessly.
We started publishing books to the Kindle soon after it launched, understanding that all the elements were finally in place. Unlike the long-forgotten attempts of Adobe, Microsoft, and Palm before, the Kindle was built by a company that had already cultivated direct access to millions of readers themselves.
Therefore, we started publishing ebooks to the Kindle only. As the abovementioned “tech” providers faded, other companies entered the marketplace mirroring Amazon’s proven formula: wireless downloads by an already existing customer base.
The most notable entrants following Amazon have been Barnes & Noble and Apple. Barnes & Noble had already been selling books to millions of people, so it was a logical step for them to start selling ebooks on their own e-reader. And Apple? The minute they launched their iBooks app, millions of iPhones and iPods—and later iPads—around the world instantly turned into e-readers for Apple ebooks. Apple didn’t even need to build a reader for this purpose. Their customers were already used to buying stuff at the tap of a finger, so why not ebooks as well?
How can ebooks affect your book sales in 2012?
USA Today recently reported that 32 of the top 50 titles on its most recent list sold more ebooks than print books, including all top ten titles. (A lot of y’all sure got Kindles and iPads this Christmas!)
One of our bestselling authors also reported that his digital-to-print sales ratio had changed from 40:60 to 70:30 in just one year. In other words, a year ago he was selling 40 ebooks for every 60 print copies; today 70 out of 100 sales are electronic. Now, more than ever, your customers prefer to get your book on the electronic reader of their choice.
On which ebook platforms should you publish your book?
The Amazon Kindle is an absolute must, as the vast majority of ebooks (and print books) are sold by Amazon.
Additionally, we’ve identified the top six ebook platforms and formats and have started releasing books to them. After the Kindle, here are the remaining top six:
Apple iBooks: Lets your readers buy your ebook from Apple and read it on their iPads and iPhones through their iBooks app.
Barnes & Noble Nook: The largest physical bookseller is promoting its reader in stores nationwide.
Google eBooks: Though not as popular as the top three above, it doesn’t hurt to hit the ground running with Google as well. Google controls the Android operating system on millions of phones and tablets.
Sony eBooks: The Sony eReader was one of the earliest platforms and it’s still around. My opinion is, why not, since they’re among the top six?
Kobo eBooks: If you don’t want to leave out your international audience, you want to be on Kobo. You may have seen their readers recently as they’ve popped up in retail stores around the country.
How do you get started? If you’ve published a book with us, just visit www.wheatmark.com/ebooks. Or, if you have any questions, give us a call.
7 Writing Mistakes Editors Constantly Fix to Make Your Book Saleable
Do mistakes that authors commonly make keep your writing from being powerful—and saleable?
How can you fix them before you hand over your manuscript for editing?
Barbara McNichol presents an hour-long teleclass on Wednesday, December 7 that addresses seven writing problems you might not easily recognize on your own—and how to fix them.
By participating in this teleclass, you’ll learn how to avoid these seven writing mistakes so your editor won’t have to fix them:
- Losing awareness of what your reader experiences.
- Addressing readers as readers, not as a single important person.
- Skimming the surface, not going deep enough.
- Having no rhyme or reason to the order of the paragraphs.
- Overusing weak verbs, extraneous phrases, and wobbly words.
- Using multi-word noun phrases when one active verb will do.
- Writing sentences that ramble on and on and on and on.
Don’t miss this opportunity to “go deep” and learn what fixes can strengthen your writing!
About Barbara McNichol
Barbara brings three decades of writing/editing experience to help authors, speakers, and experts perfect their nonfiction books and add power to their pens.
Since founding Barbara McNichol Editorial in 1994, Barbara has worked with more than 200 authors—including New York Times and Wall Street Journal best-selling authors—and has close to 250 books on her “trophy shelf.” You can view her portfolio at www.BarbaraMcNichol.com.
Barbara is adamant about improving our written language with her Word Tripper of the Week ezine. It’s based on her word choice reference book, Word Trippers: The Ultimate Source for Choosing the Perfect Word When It Really Matters, available in print and on Kindle at Amazon.com.
Here are the details about this one-time-only event:
Wednesday, December 7 at 1 PM EST / 10 AM PST
This teleseminar is available only to Authors Academy Gold members and higher. Authors Academy members will also have access to the recording of the call, and will be able to participate in the exclusive Q&A follow-up discussion call the following week.
Not a Gold member already? To claim your spot alongside the world’s most forward-thinking authors and get instant access to the FREE bonus 4-webinar series, “Secrets of Highly Paid, Highly Successful Authors,” as well as full access to this month’s presentation:
Click here now to join the Authors Academy as a Gold member.
How to Market Your Book
SPECIAL REPORT FOR AUTHORS: The Author’s Guide to Choosing a Publishing Service. Read this guide to discover how to avoid the 3 biggest self-publishing company rip-offs. Click to Download for FREE.
You’ve finally done it. That book that you’ve been working so hard on is finally finished and you are publishing it with Wheatmark. Now what?
“Well,” you might say, “my book is listed with the major online bookstores where it is exposed to millions of potential buyers. What else do I need to do?”
The answer is—marketing.
Marketing a book is like lunch. You eat lunch so you have the energy to keep going all day. You know that if you skip lunch, you’re tired by 2:00. Likewise, you market your book so it can “keep going” in the marketplace; no marketing may mean that sales will dwindle before they need to. So, where should you begin when you decide to market your book?
The Plan
Every good marketing campaign begins with a plan. A marketing plan is basically an outline of the steps you will undertake to sell your book. It provides you with a guideline of where you are, and where you’re going. A sound marketing plan is essential for anyone who is not content with sitting back and hoping for the best.
* A good marketing plan should answer a number of questions:
* Who is the audience for the book?
* Why is it important that people read this book? Or, what makes my book different from others in its genre?
* What makes me qualified to write this book?
* How will I promote this book? (For example, will you send out review copies?)
* How much will I spend on marketing my book?
The answers to these questions will tell you to whom you are trying to appeal with your promotion plans and how these people can be reached. You will also be able to say confidently why it is that they should read your book, giving your promotions credibility. Finally, knowing how much you can spend will enable you to make the best decisions in order to maximize your marketing budget while getting the best results.
To help you determine who your audience is going to be, even before you start, watch “The 3 Pillars of Marketing Success” in the 4-part presentation series “Secrets of Highly Paid, Highly Successful Authors.” It is an invaluable guide to helping authors focus their book and give them suggestions for crafting their work to make it more commercially viable.
Your Personal Network
How many people do you know? Do all of your friends and family members know you have a book out? If not, tell them. And encourage them to tell everyone they know. Have them spread the word via phone, email, on the street, wherever. Use social networking sites like Facebook to spread the word to all of your friends (and their friends’ friends). Hand out business cards to everyone you meet, and give them a few extras so that they can do the same on your behalf. Word of mouth is an effective and inexpensive way to market your book.
Getting Your Book onto Bookstore Shelves
As a new or first-time author, getting bookstores to carry your book can be challenging. Competition for shelf space is tough and those coveted spots are often reserved for high-profile authors. Often, book buyers want to see a proven track record of sales and a solid marketing plan that they feel will help move the book off the shelves and into the hands of readers. However, there are a number of ways to help your books get onto the shelves of bookstores. First, approach your local bookstores. Talk to the buyers about carrying your book. Many stores have a “local authors” section and may be willing to carry your title based on that.
Don’t forget to mention the magic words that will ensure the bookstore knows that your book will help them make—and not lose—money: the book is returnable, and is sold at the standard bookstore discount.
To get an in-depth look on why or why not should you focus on bookstores, watch “The Secret Hierarchy of Bookselling” in the 4-part presentation series “Secrets of Highly Paid, Highly Successful Authors.”
Book Signings, Seminars, and Talks
Book signings, seminars, and talks are great opportunities for you to sell your book. No one knows your book better than you do, and giving a miniseminar affords you the opportunity to really sell it to potential readers. In order to have an event at a local bookstore, you’ll need to speak with the store’s community relations manager (CRM). You and the CRM together can decide where and when to have the event. Remember: bookstores hold in-store events like book signings or talks to bring customers into their stores, so you should be prepared to promote the event and invite lots of guests. You may wish to use postcards or invitations to ensure a good turnout to your event.
Recommended Reading
1001 Ways to Market Your Books (6th edition) by John Kremer
Guerilla Marketing for Writers by Jay Conrad Levinson, Rick Frishman & Michael Larsen
The Complete Guide to Self-Publishing by Tom and Marilyn Ross