by Laura L.
on June 18, 2013
in Book, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
If you have a decent webcam on your computer you can create short videos about your book and post them on your site, on YouTube and share them on social media sites.
This should be particularly easy if you write fiction because you can create a video for each important character. You can talk about their history, motives, feelings, etc. The list is endless.
For non-fiction you could create a video for each chapter. Expand on the main theme, offer additional resources, discuss reader feedback, etc.
There are many people who are visual learners and video appeals to them more than any other medium. Learn how to optimize your videos for search and drive your website rankings higher in the search engines.
by Laura L.
on June 13, 2013
in Blogs, Book, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
Communicating with readers and potential readers is your main goal with promoting your book. Consider creating a Twitter account for your main character(s) and using it to communicate with readers. Some authors are having luck with this but be sure to read Twitter rules first. If you decide to do this create a robust profile for your character but make sure that you disclose that your character is fictional. If you already do this successfully let us know in the comment section and we’ll feature your account on our blog!
by Laura L.
on June 6, 2013
in Book, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
You see book buyers everywhere you go. In the drugstore, library, grocery store or at the local beauty salon. Readers are everywhere. An innovative idea to sell to these potential readers is to create business cards featuring your book and hand them out to people you meet. For example, if you wrote a children’s book hand out your cards to people with children. Romance books… hand out your cards to women. Business books… hand out your card to business people. The options are endless. One place where you can get affordable business cards is Vista Print.
by Laura L.
on May 30, 2013
in Book Reviews, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
You already know how important reviews are for Amazon and Goodreads but have you thought about reviews for your Facebook Fan Page? If you have an active and well developed Fan Page ask your readers to post their reviews on it. You can add a link to your book on that post and pay a small fee to sponsor it so everyone that “Liked” your page will see the review! This is a great idea to help you sell more books without selling. If you decide to try this out come back here and leave us a comment on how it went!
by Laura L.
on May 28, 2013
in Book Marketing, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
This is me with books!
We’re always looking for marketing ideas for our authors and we just came up with this one. Whens someone buys your book ask them to take a picture of themselves with your book. With their permission you can post this picture on your blog and social media sites and if your reader has a website of their own offer a link to that site with their photo! Start a Pinterest board with these pictures. Each month select your favorite photo and send that person a special gift. This could be another book you wrote, a bookmark, a special report, etc. Get creative and have fun.
by Laura L.
on March 6, 2013
in Authors, Blogs, Book, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
Author Jennifer L. Jacobson shares an excerpt from her book “42 Rules of Social Media for Small Business” that is great advice for authors who blog:
While blog types vary, here are a few points to remember when writing a blog for your business:
- Keep your entries short. Generally, a blog entry is no more than a couple of paragraphs in length.
- Keep your entries focused. Find one subject and stick to it.
- Keep it consistent. Blog readers expect consistent content, so I suggest blogging anywhere from once a week to once a month.
- This way your readers keep coming back, and they generally know when you’re going to add a new blog entry.
- Keep it personal. Blog entries are a “behind the scenes” look at your business. Find a way to let blog readers and potential customers see the inside of your business, without giving away trade secrets, and you will find a balance that is worth treading.
A blog is a very personal thing and, if you have one, I suggest keeping in mind the persona from which your blog is written. Is your company a snowboard manufacturer, that has an edgy, super-cool blog voice, designed to glamour teens into thrashing the slopes through a wave of pure white powder? Or, perhaps your organic wine company is looking for the Über-Neo-Foodie voice entrenched in pagan culture, and opposed to anything that may block the very karma that holds all life forces together. Regardless, write your blog for your audience and expect that it will be read.
You can purchase the book “42 Rules of Social Media for Small Business” by clicking the link!
by Laura L.
on March 4, 2013
in Book, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
Here is another great article about marketing your book by Melissa Breau. Melissa is a copywriter and editor and clearly has a lot of experience working with authors. Read “How To Market A Book In 3 Minutes Or Less” here.
by Laura L.
on March 1, 2013
in Book, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
Examiner.com has a great article about marketing your book in 2013. It really is a marketing plan that you can use to promote your books. You can read the entire article here.
by Laura L.
on February 25, 2013
in Book, Book Marketing, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
Book Marketing Buzz is another site for authors who need help marketing their books. They offer articles, blog tours, book excerpts, book giveaways and book promotion tips. This site has lots of great articles that can be a valuable resource. You can check it out here.
by Laura L.
on February 22, 2013
in Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy, Twitter
John Kremer has created a collection of Twitter tips that can help both newcomers and old timer authors who want to leverage the power of Twitter to market their book. You can download the e-book version or read the online version here!
by Laura L.
on February 18, 2013
in Book, Book Marketing, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
Vincent van Leeuwen shares the lessons he learned at Startup Weekend in September 2010. Our favorite lesson? “Treat The Media As Your Friend.” Apply these lessons to writing a book or marketing your company. Read the entire article here.
by Laura L.
on February 14, 2013
in Marketing And Sales Strategy, Social Media Marketing
Dorie Clark recently attended the New Media Expo in Las Vegas and got an earful of advice on social media. While many people at the event tweet while they are walking down the hallway or carrying a second battery for their phone so they will never be out of touch others spoke quietly about cutting back on social media. This isn’t about abandoning a platform or technique but about choosing the right platform for you and focusing on that platform. This is excellent advice for authors and we recommend you read the entire article “It’s Time To Cut Back On Social Media.”
by Laura L.
on February 7, 2013
in Book, Book Marketing, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
If you have an excerpt of your book you can offer it on sites that publish free offers to readers. Make sure that you include more than just your introduction. Most freebie sites require the excerpt to include one chapter from within the book. You can find these types of sites by searching Google.
by Laura L.
on February 5, 2013
in Book, Book Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
Another marketing idea for your book is to find blogs on the topic of your book and offer to write a guest post. You might be asked to provide an original piece that won’t be published anywhere else. Only offer that kind of exclusivity to a blog with a large readership that may be interested in your book and include a link back to the book in your biography. Many authors have done well using this method.
by Laura L.
on January 31, 2013
in Book, Book Marketing, Internet Marketing, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
Smashwords is a site that works with authors and publishers to help them get e-books published by online bookstores. On this site you’ll find many excellent free resources to help you publish and market your book. Our favorite is the newly updated Smashwords Book Marketing Guide. Some of the information in the guide you may already know but we think you’ll learn a thing or two that you hadn’t thought of on your own. Read the guide and let us know which marketing tactic you liked the best!
by Laura L.
on January 24, 2013
in Book, Book Marketing, E-Books, GoodReads, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
We love GoodReads. It is a great resource for both authors and for readers. We regularly run giveaways for our new books and we always get a good response so we are happy to see that Goodreads doubled in size in 2012. To learn all the good news from Goodreads click here and let us know how you use the site to promote your books.
by Laura L.
on January 17, 2013
in Book, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
Amanda Hocking is a fiction writer who had her books rejected dozens of times before she went into self publishing. She is a bestselling author now and has chronicled her story in this blog post. Whether you want to write a book or if you are already published this is a story you don’t want to miss.
by Laura L.
on January 4, 2013
in Authors, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
So many authors get discouraged and decide they “can’t” market their books. We understand that marketing isn’t easy and it is time consuming but you can do it. Read “Take Responsibility For Your Book Marketing” and get a grip on how you “can” market your book!
by Laura L.
on October 8, 2012
in Book Marketing, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
We just stumbled on a great article from 2011 about how to build your brand (platform) and promote your book in 50 simple ways. Read “50 Simple Ways to Build Your Platform in 5 Minutes a Day” at Writers Digest.
by Laura L.
on September 18, 2012
in Amazon.com, Kindle, Marketing, Marketing And Sales Strategy
Copyblogger decided to experiment with the KDP Select Program to give away an e-book for a 48 hour period. At the end of the giveaway, which requires that you stop selling your book elsewhere, Copyblogger discovered numerous benefits from the giveaway including increased sales! To read about the experiment and the results visit Copyblogger.
