Marketing

13 March, 2013

7 easy ways to market Christian fiction

By |2023-06-09T11:30:27-07:00March 13, 2013|Marketing, Resources|Comments Off on 7 easy ways to market Christian fiction

Seventy-six per cent of the population in the United States is Christian. Of this, studies show that about 25 million actually buy Christian-themed products. That’s a pretty big number to make a connection with.

Granted not all who profess to be Christians actually want to read Christian fiction, but there’s certainly enough of a market for any Christian author.

The pathway for marketing a Christian novel will be to place your book in the places where readers are looking for books. Here are seven tips to help you get started.

1. Make sure that the phrase “Christian Fiction” is on the back cover of your book, so it will be categorized correctly in bookstores and easily discerned by readers. Don’t make the mistake of trying to appeal to everyone. A reader who doesn’t like Christian-based novels will drop your book once he realizes it was written for a Christian audience. Likewise, a reader […]

10 March, 2013

6 reasons your self-published book will flop

By |2023-06-09T11:30:33-07:00March 10, 2013|Marketing, Resources, Social Media|Comments Off on 6 reasons your self-published book will flop

Last year over 200,000 million books were self-published. The average self-published book probably sold less than ten copies.

The reasons for a book not to make it are many. Most self-published books need much more time, energy and yes, money, put into them than the author expects. If you plan to self-publish, here are ten important factors that stop most self-published books from making it big.

1. Poor writing. You cannot be your own judge. Nor can you expect your mother, siblings, and best friends to give you honest feedback. Your best and honest feedback will come from readers who judge your writing by the book they hold in their hand. Offer your book for free or at a low price and pay attention to the feedback. If it’s bad, don’t despair. Keep writing. You will get better.

2. Little or poor editing. No one can catch their own mistakes. You are too […]

8 March, 2013

10 steps to developing your author brand

By |2023-06-09T11:30:40-07:00March 8, 2013|Marketing, Resources, Social Media|Comments Off on 10 steps to developing your author brand

What is author branding? Author branding is presenting yourself in such a way that when readers think of you they associate a feeling, a message, a book with you. A type of book, a style of writing that, like your fingerprint, is you. Even if you write in different genres, the essence of how you write will always be yours.

Today’s popular authors have a style of writing and message unique to them no matter what they write about. Their readers come to know, love, and trust their writing.

Have you ever fallen in love with a book and, immediately upon finishing it, wanted another one just like it? That’s the power of branding.

Developing your author brand is important if you want to sell a lot of books this year, more next year, and a lot more the year after that. Write each book and blog post with the goal of building […]

21 February, 2013

7 surprising reasons why you should use demographics to sell more books

By |2023-06-09T11:30:50-07:00February 21, 2013|Marketing, Resources, Social Media|Comments Off on 7 surprising reasons why you should use demographics to sell more books

Almost every author wants to sell more books.

New authors think if they can just get one lucky break the yellow brick road of fame and fortune will magically open and their worries will disappear.

If only that were true.

The truth is even if an author does get a few lucky breaks there will still be periods of time when they will have to grab their bow and arrows and go hunting for readers.

In order to do that successfully you need to find the hunting grounds where your readers are feeding.

Your readers.

Not the reader of another author who writes in a different genre than you do or appeals to an audience that has nothing in common with your style of writing.

Finding the common threads between your book(s) and your book buying audience is the basis of target marketing for authors. There are many different factors in breaking down an audience demographic. Some […]

20 February, 2013

Is Amazon Author Rank a good thing for Authors?

By |2023-06-09T11:31:00-07:00February 20, 2013|Marketing, Publishing, Resources|Comments Off on Is Amazon Author Rank a good thing for Authors?

On October 9, 2012 at 3:55 am, Amazon rolled out another feature for their readers called Amazon Author Rank. It rates the most popular authors by the hour. Readers who are floundering for what to read next can jump on the “what’s popular” train and make a winning selection.

So, is this good news or bad news for beginning authors who are miles away from the “Most Popular” zone? Is this a case of where the popular gets more popular and the rest of the herd slips further and further back into obscurity? You can be the judge. Here are some pros and cons for what Amazon Author rank does for authors.

The Good News

If you have any ranking at all on this list, it can be a definite pat on the back. A confirmation that you are doing a few things right and making progress.

It can also be a goal, […]

18 February, 2013

7 ways Goodreads helps authors to sell more books

By |2023-06-09T11:32:54-07:00February 18, 2013|Marketing, Resources, Social Media|Comments Off on 7 ways Goodreads helps authors to sell more books

To sell more books you have to let more people be aware of them. If your audience is small, the number of books you sell will be small. If you have a large audience but no one sees your book, you have to work to make it stand out. This article will show you seven ways to make your book stand out among the 14,000,000 readers on Goodreads.com.

1. Become a member of the Goodreads Author Program

This program is completely free. It is designed to help authors reach their target audience and promote their book(s) to them. Over 44,000 authors, including New York Times bestsellers and other national bestselling have their books listed with an author profile. If you are not on it, don’t waste any more time! Sign up and get started.

2. Advertise your book. Yes, sometimes you have to put […]

14 February, 2013

7 offbeat book-marketing ideas

By |2023-06-09T11:33:06-07:00February 14, 2013|Marketing, Resources|Comments Off on 7 offbeat book-marketing ideas

If the standard way of marketing your book doesn’t seem to be making any connections perhaps it’s time to try something new.

Something not everyone is doing; something that makes your book stand out above the crowd of 15 million other books being dumped on the market in 2013.

Granted, it may not make enough difference to put you on a bestseller list but often even a small incremental push in sales can put you on a new level of recognition in the book world. Sometimes doing something different creates a buzz that builds in bigger ways than you can imagine.

So, ready to go into vistas where the author stampede is not as thick and heavy? Try one of these ideas. They might be what works for you or, at the very least, kick start your imagination into finding your very own offbeat marketing idea.

1. Sell your book in a shop or […]

8 February, 2013

How important is building a brand name for an author?

By |2023-06-09T11:33:10-07:00February 8, 2013|Marketing, Resources, Social Media|Comments Off on How important is building a brand name for an author?

How important is building a brand name for an author? Very important!

Most readers don’t remember titles of books as well as they remember an author’s name or the main character of a novel. As an author writes more and more books, it becomes increasingly difficult to remember single book titles. Readers will walk into a bookstore or start searching on Amazon or Barnes & Noble for the latest book by the author’s name.

That’s what they remember. That’s why you as an author must build up your author brand if you want to sell more books.

Fiction writers may create a character that becomes very memorable. Think Harry Potter, Nancy Drew, etc., but even with memorable characters the author’s name will still be very important.

If you write nonfiction, it is even more important that you make your name as widely known as possible.

Once your name is established, any product or topic you […]

25 January, 2013

Authors: How to sell more books with bookmarks

By |2023-06-09T11:33:15-07:00January 25, 2013|Marketing, Resources|Comments Off on Authors: How to sell more books with bookmarks

The journey of selling thousands of books begins with selling one. If you can sell one, you can sell two.

Many times authors will neglect doing small book marketing practices because the results appear to be insignificant. But the truth is that a small practice done regularly over time can build up your marketing sales very effectively.

Book marketing is all about making connections. You never know when one connection will make a big difference. Providing as many different avenues for people to find and read your books should be an important part of your book marketing strategy.

Today’s book marketing strategy is using bookmarks to sell more books. And yes, even if your book is only available for eReaders, bookmarks can still be used quite effectively.

The basic marketing idea behind bookmarks is to showcase your book in an attractive way before your target audience. Following are seven simple tips and strategies for […]

23 January, 2013

7 myths about being an author

By |2023-06-09T11:33:23-07:00January 23, 2013|Marketing, Publishing, Resources, Writing|Comments Off on 7 myths about being an author

Ever dream about becoming an author? Today it’s easier than ever. And I will be first in line to encourage you to pursue your dream. But making your dream come true means one also takes into account the cost, the reality, and the practicality of how to make that dream actually happen.

The following seven “dream-busting” myths are not meant to discourage you but rather to toughen you up for the exhilarating but often difficult journey almost every author encounters.

1. Publishing a book will make you an instant celebrity. The truth is, it may make you a celebrity in your circle of family and friends but there’s a lot of book competition. In 2011, three million books were published in the United States and the count has been doubling, tripling, rising steadily every year.

2. Becoming a published author will make you rich. The average book sells 500 copies. That’s an average. […]

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