source: http://bookpublishingnews.blogspot.com/2010/05/book-writing-5-reaso…

Surprisingly, book stores are not always your greatest source of book sales. Most authors and publishers do want their books to be available in all of the book stores, and rightly so. You want your book to be there, too. You want your book to be a “household name” – a topic of conversation in coffee rooms and at dinner tables everywhere. Your publicity campaign is designed to create interest in your book, and to drive buyers to the book store market.

Unfortunately, those traditional book store sales aren’t always “sold”. The books might be returned over and over again. That’s the sad reality of the book retail industry.

Your book’s fame, however, can help you to acquire nonreturnable sales in the nontraditional market where a sale actually is a sale – where sales of 25,000 copies and more are not uncommon.
Here are 19 strategies that will help you acquire those sales:

1. Write your book for a very broad market – nonfiction works best.

2. Write a book that people will be happy to give as a gift.

3. Add as many photos and illustrations as you can afford.

4. Keep the topic light – avoid heavy social commentaries, controversial topics, scientific theories and other “heavy” subjects.

5. Have your book professionally designed.

6. Have your book professionally edited.

7. Give your book a catchy name – avoid boring titles such as How to Have a Happy, Fulfilling Life.

8. Make sure that the cover design is appealing, appears three dimensional and can compete with all of the major publishing houses. Hire a professional designer.

9. Sell the benefits of your book on the back cover. That is where you will sell buyers on the reasons why they just can’t live without your book.

10. Price the book competitively in your genre.

11. Make your book look like it is good value for the price – it’s all about perceived value in the minds of the buyers.

12. Don’t write for yourself – write for the end buyer. Fulfill a need for them or make them feel better.

13. Think of the corporate market when you are writing. Make a list of corporations that can benefit from your book, and then contact them.

14. Submit your book to the book clubs at least six months before you publish.

15. Find an agent who sells to the gift market.

16. Find an agent who sells foreign rights.

17. Find an agent who sells to the display market.

18. Don’t be afraid to offer large discounts on nonreturnable sales.

19. Seek licensing agreements – they are a great source of income for no work on your part.

A professionally designed book opens many doors while an amateurish appearance closes many doors. It is vitally important that you invest in your book at the beginning to create sales in the long term. Plan for publicity and marketing before you print your books – printing is not the final expense in your marketing plan. It is the beginning. You can have the best book in the world, but if no one knows about it, no one will buy it.

Create a book that buyers just can’t resist.

© Copyright 2004 Ink Tree Ltd.
Ink Tree Ltd. helps authors publish, market and sell books. We have all the tools you need to succeed in book publishing. Let us help you make your book a success. http://www.inktreemarketing.com

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source: http://bookpublishingnews.blogspot.com/2010/05/book-writing-5-reaso…

Good project management says that planning before you start a writing project is a good thing. And many writing systems say you need to plan your writing before you do it. But people seldom come out and tell you straight up why.

So here are five reasons you should plan while writing a non fiction book:

1. Provide focus for your book. If you start off just writing a non fiction book you could end up with just about anything. Your book could go off into a side discussion. You could end up repeating information three or four times from different viewpoints. You could end up with a whole different book than what you started from. While a fiction writer can live with this (but shouldn’t) since the story lives only in the writer’s head, a non fiction writer can’t. After all, a non fiction writer’s subject is well known by many people. And they will know where the book should go. Even if the writer didn’t.

2. Narrow down the options. There are a lot of options when writing a non fiction book. Even just in the physical form of the book. You need to limit those options or the tasks of designing and writing a book will become overwhelming. Besides, if you don’t plan you may find out that your book is outside the parameters your chosen distribution method can accept. Finding out your wonderful tome is too long for a publisher is not a good thing!

3. Ensure there is a market for your book. A book without a reader is a lonely, pitiful object without purpose or value. By determining your market before you begin, and then writing to meet that market’s needs, you will ensure that more than just your mother will read your book.

4. Keep your readers coming back for more. Getting an agent, editor and publisher interested is a good thing. But keeping a reader reading until the end is even better. That’s what will ensure your agent, editor and publisher talk to you again. The only way to keep a reader interested to the end with a non fiction book is to write what interests the reader from the start. You have to solve their problems or help them avoid a pain point. That’s the only way to guarantee your reader’s interest.

5. Identify alternatives to this book. Look, you’ve done all the research. You’ve spent a lot of time, effort and maybe money up to this point. You’ve identified your perfect reader. Maybe you’ve even written your book. And sold it. Wouldn’t it make sense to get as much out of this expense as you can? By planning up front, you’ll be able to identify where you can write a second book. One that doesn’t rehash the same information. Or you can identify where you can present a course. One that will help sell copies of your book. By identifying alternatives to this book, both up front and as you go, you’ll be prepared when opportunities knocks.

Do you want to learn how to write a book in 24 hours? Take my brand new free course here: http://www.learningcreators.com/

Do you want to read more free information like this? Go to my blog: http://www.learningcreators.com/blog/

Glen Ford is an accomplished consultant, trainer and writer. He has far too many years experience as a trainer and facilitator to willingly admit.

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source: http://www.go-publish-yourself.com/articles/book-marketing/pramschuferm.php

By Matt Pramschufer

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Do what you can with what you have right where you are.” There is no better way to implement your resources than with your own website. A website provides three invaluable tools for self-publishers: worldwide advertising at the click of a mouse, lightning fast responses to customers, agents and publicists, and a website ultimately gives writers a virtual book tour without ever leaving the comfort of home. Best of all – this is an affordable option for self-publishers.

Who needs a website? Don’t the classifieds or banner exchanges on the internet do the trick?
The bottom line is that banners and classifieds turn people off. A website is a great method of advertising that targets not only local interests but reaches a market worldwide. And it can say as much as you want, and you leave it up to the viewer to decide what they want to read. Think of your website as a virtual brochure. It provides readers with invaluable information, at a reasonable cost, about the book and the author. The more information made available, the more buzz that can be generated about your writing.

How would my own website facilitate communication to customers, agents, and publicists?
The internet is now the place where journalists, and agents seek out new writers, so you can reach them without actually going to them. Journalists are looking to find the newest story about upcoming authors, and agents do the same. Either can contact you via your website and this way they are the ones doing the “knocking on the door” so to speak. And of course, customers can research invaluable information about you and your book and hopefully place orders too.

How can my website create a virtual book tour?
It is daunting to realize the average shelf life of a book is only three to six months and this only applies to 15% of the books that make it into stores. So how are the other 85% of books sold? Through self-promotion! Websites aid in self-promotion in that they create a virtual worldwide book tour open 24 hours a day. The website can include book discussions, purchasing information, information about the author, and so much more! This virtual book tour travels the world faster than you could ever hope to.

Is a website really that hard to make? Can’t I do this myself?
There are many aspects involved in developing a website that people take for granted. For instance easily understood navigation, effective color schemes, overall look and feel of the site, and proper maintenance and upkeep, not to mention proper programming for effective results in search engines. The entire process is not that hard if you know what you are doing but for the amateur it can be quite daunting. If you feel that you would like to take on the proposed project yourself by all means go for it, but just remember that a poorly designed website can hurt your advertising campaign more than not having a website at all.

It sounds like worldwide advertising is effective, but is it cost effective for a self-publisher?
Absolutely! Whereas other forms of advertising can be quite costly – potentially ranging into the hundreds of thousands of dollars – a website is wholly cost effective. In fact, companies like Go Publish Yourself and E-Moxie Data Solutions, Inc. offer self-publisher website design packages from $375.00.

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In the league of business and advertising, competition is rigidly fierce. In the self-publishing industry, you have to be the cut above the rest to generate “buzz” among your consumers and race neck to neck with your competition.

Angela Hoy, co-owner of WritersWeekly.com and Booklocker, published a forum thread entitled “BEWARE OF BOOKWHIRL! -commonly mis-pronounced BookWorld” WritersWeekly.com last May 6, 2009.

The forum thread contained negative reviews by Angela Hoy against BookWhirl.com, claiming the business entity as a spamming telemarketing outfit that lures self-published authors.

However, BookWhirl.com would like to point out the following facts:

With the availability of the company’s website, www.BookWhirl.com, consumers are given the opportunity and the freedom to directly send concerns and queries with regard to the company’s quality of service. BookWhirl.com has provided a ‘Feedback Form’ for consumers to inform poor customer communication or unsatisfactory performance. Moreover, visitors can also send questions, suggestions, or concerns through info@bookwhirl.com. BookWhirl.com provides these avenues of communication for it vows to continuously uphold its standards, especially to its employees and to the kind of quality they render to potential clients.

We would also like to clarify that all links that contain negative publicity against BookWhirl.com has remained as allegations in the absence of any proof. It is for a fact that all links posted were authored by individuals who have not experienced any marketing services from BookWhirl.com.

BookWhirl.com would also like to point out that the forums’ thread ‘Whispers and Warnings’ contained hundreds of complaints that was authored by just one person. Our research confirms that the said forum is managed by one person; posting, moderating, and administering forum posts.

Amidst negative reviews and scam allegations, BookWhirl.com will continue to provide high quality online marketing services. We, at BookWhirl.com, will stand firm for our clients who have trusted their money and confidence in our capabilities.

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Publicity is crucial for every business entity. But whether if it’s good or bad publicity, it is still publicity. Even the oldest and well-established businesses and corporations have their own share of good and bad publicity. Every person is entitled to an opinion. After all, we value the freedom of expression.

Author Lee Goldberg once published an article about BookWhirl.com. He entitled his post, “BookWhirl Can’t Even Sell Itself”. Published last August 2008, the article features Goldberg’s first and only impression about BookWhirl.com.

But contrary to Lee Goldberg’s first impression, we, at BookWhirl.com strive for excellence in the best way that we can to provide assistance to self-published authors. Despite negative reviews, BookWhirl.com continues to sufficiently address and accommodate online marketing needs. With cost-efficient marketing tools, self-published authors are given the chance to efficiently market their books even on a shoestring budget.

With our pool of professional web designers and ad copywriters, BookWhirl.com is constantly providing a series of uptrainings and workshops to consistently render high quality and excellent services.

Here are some of our client’s experiences on our Email Advertisement Campaign. Elizabeth Clayton, author of the book Songs from the Eleventh Month expressed, “A representative called, and I was pleased with the plan he presented to advertise my book… I was most pleased with the write-up and overall layout of my book (ad). I could not have done better myself”. Moreover, Thalia Cayetano, author of Heart-Warming Stories of Love and Miracles adds, “It’s excellent! Nothing more, nothing less. It is superbly written… I am very pleased with the design and layout of the advertisement. It is striking and interesting.”

Furthermore, BookWhirl.com’s team of Marketing Consultants also undergoes a series of rigid uptrainings on customer relationship skills. That’s how much we value our consumer’s comments and suggestions. BookWhirl.com is continuously improving and ironing the quality of its business communications.

BookWhirl.com is grateful to its consumers who have extended their commendation on the improvement of our customer communications. Dr. Nate Lowe, co-author of the book To Be Somebody, addressed his experience with BookWhirl.com’s marketing services, “I am extremely pleased with your services and feel I can recommend you to others without hesitations or reservations. Just continue to provide service to others as you have done for me”.

But above everything else, BookWhirl.com reserves the highest respects to all of its reviewers. It is, after all, through objective criticism that we find the best room for improvement and sustainability.

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GREEN BAY, WI (5/25/2010) – BookWhirl.com, warns the public on recent “Phishing Attack” email scams that have been targeting self-published authors.

Phishing is a cyber crime that involves sending emails to a user falsely claiming to be a legitimate enterprise in an attempt to extract personal information for monetary gain.

Upon learning of such phishing incidents, the management of BookWhirl.com has taken necessary steps to advise the public of the existent phishing attacks. According to the management, they have strongly secured their systems to combat ‘phishers’ and protect potential consumers.

Furthermore, BookWhirl.com Management continuously reminds the public to strictly verify emails through double checking the contact information. They have also emphasized that only email addresses with the domain name of “bookwhirl.com” and the contact details which are stated on their website are considered authentic.

If there are users who have suspected ‘phishing emails’ that claims to be from BookWhirl.com, they are encouraged to immediately report the incident through calling toll free number 1 (877) 207 1679 or by sending an email at info@bookwhirl.com.

For more information, please log on to http://www.BookWhirl.com.

About BookWhirl.com
BookWhirl.com is an online book marketing service company, specializing in providing low-cost, high-quality marketing services for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books. Through its unique, inexpensive book marketing services, BookWhirl.com helps authors promote their published works more effectively and connect to readers in a more effective, more efficient system.

BookWhirl.com employs an experienced team of online marketing strategists, ad copywriters, graphic artists, and web designers, whose combined talents ensure an effective online marketing campaign at easily affordable rates.

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GREEN BAY, WI (5/25/2010) – BookWhirl.com, the leading marketing services provider for self-publishers launches its Affiliate Marketing Program, open to all self-publishing companies. This is another major feature that the company has launched within this year aside from the Refer an Author Program (RAP) which benefits their former and existing clients.

BookWhirl.com’s Affiliate Marketing Program is a product of the company’s long-term purpose to create relationships among self-publishing companies that are potential affiliates for sustainable developments. “We are inviting all self-publishing companies to be our affiliates. This is definitely an opportunity to widen and increase brand awareness without monetary requirement. We also believe that creating affiliations with other companies can broaden a consumer’s options; trust is a very important factor”, expressed Jake Olvido, BookWhirl.com’s Marketing Officer.

Furthermore, the Affiliate Marketing Program involves an exchange of an ad line consisting of the company’s logo and description that links directly to a specific landing page. BookWhirl.com will also offer 30 free online directory listings to the affiliate’s clients with newly published books. All of these at no cost at all for the affiliate.

For more information, log on to http://www.bookwhirl.com/Affiliate-Marketing-Program.html

About BookWhirl.com
BookWhirl.com is an online book marketing service company, specializing in providing low-cost, high-quality marketing services for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry books. Through its unique, inexpensive book marketing services, BookWhirl.com helps authors promote their published works more effectively and connect to readers in a more effective, more efficient system.

BookWhirl.com employs an experienced team of online marketing strategists, ad copywriters, graphic artists, and web designers, whose combined talents ensure an effective online marketing campaign at easily affordable rates.

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by: Tony Eldridge
source: http://blog.marketingtipsforauthors.com/2009/12/4-tips-on-making-your-book-available-to.html

Book clubs are wonderful reader organizations that get together, usually once a month, to discuss a book that every member has read. The discussion is usually deeper than the kind you would find two friends having over a latte.

For fiction, members may discuss what role setting plays in the story, themes that run through the book, how characters evolve through the story or maybe what societal challenges presented themselves in the story.

For nonfiction, the members may discuss questions about how the information was presented: was is biased or fair, did the author adequately present the information in the book or were there unanswered questions, did the book change the readers opinion on the book’s subject.

As an author, there are few opportunities better than getting your book before a book club. Not only will members of the club read the book, but they are usually great “word-of-mouth” marketers for books they enjoy. Here are some tips at making your book “club friendly.”

• Prepare a list of discussion questions- By preparing a list of discussion questions and posting them on your website, you can help spark interest in your book while providing a resource specifically tailored to clubs.
• Offer to hold a Q&A for the club- What a wonderful time to be an author! You can literally visit book clubs around the world from the comfort of your home. Teleconferences and webinars are commonplace technologies that require almost no tech skills to use. It’s a real treat for book clubs to be able to speak to the actual author of the book they are reading.
• Get your publisher involved- Many publishers will set up a resource page for book clubs on their site that includes anything from PDF discussion questions to special discounts for club members. If your publisher does not currently offer that resource, bring it up to them. If they believe it will help sell books, you may be surprised what they will do for you.
• Contact book clubs directly- Prepare an e-mail to the club contact introducing yourself, including a link to your book club resource page, and your willingness to make yourself available to address the club or to hold a Q&A session. Start with Google to find a list of clubs or go to MeetUp.com for local groups. It returned over 10,000 results for the term Book Club.

Once you get in the book club scene, you can have a blast. It can be one of the most enjoyable ways to market your book. Be sure to check out Book-Clubs-Resource.com for more resources on book clubs. This site will help you prepare by learning how most clubs are organized.

Also, as you are checking things out, remember that “reading groups” are often used interchangeably for “book clubs”, but “book clubs” can also refer to the buyers clubs that people join where they purchase 6 books over 3 years (ie, Oprah’s Book Club, Double Day Book Club, etc…)

Tony Eldridge

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Best Tips For Book Marketing For The Self Publisher

By: Helen Hecker

Assuming you’re a self publisher or book publisher and you’ve already published your book, you need to immediately implement a strong, no-holds barred, book marketing and promotion strategy to sell your books fast. Your book selling, book marketing, and book promotion planning should begin before the manuscript is completed. Self publishers need to have a good marketing plan to sell books and should be written prior to writing your book and in place a year prior to publishing your book.

Your book press release should not be written as you would a sales letter or flier, it should be written for the editor and tell about your book in a factual way, no opinion or glowing remarks. Press releases can generate thousands of dollars in sales when picked up by national trade or print media. Using press releases can be a very effective marketing tool if used properly.

Make sure you have at least one good press release, written in AP style, which you can send out for the lifetime of your book. Send out the same press release to the editor of your local daily newspaper every week until you are called for an interview or are written up. When picked up by wire services, a press release can easily end up generating hundreds of mentions for your book.

Mail a press release to all the trade journals in your field over and over again; you can use the same release. Don’t underestimate the value of a good press release for making book sales.

When you get a nice write up or feature about you and/or your book, have it laminated and set it up on an easel at trade shows. Create an online contest and list it in online contest directories to drive traffic to your website. Remember to make sure your book is listed in Books-in-Print; don’t assume it’s already listed.

Get as many testimonials about your book, as possible, from experts in the field relating to your title, not customers; use on your fliers and back of books. Market your book to your number one market first, and then go after the secondary markets. If your book fits a specialty market, find a store that fits the genre and offer to leave books on consignment; many publishers have sold thousands of books this way.

Build a web site that provides another avenue for ordering, a virtual online press kit and link exchanges with sites that relate to your topic. Submit articles to online article directories that focus on your book’s topic to drive customers to your website. It’s important to publish a website that focuses on your title; you’ll be able to refer editors and customers and all interested parties to your book information with the click of a mouse.

Make sure not to overlook the Internet; get yourself interviewed or profiled for sites both about writing, publishing and about the topics covered in your book. Every day it’s important to focus on a variety of marketing approaches. Offer to trade writing a monthly column in a trade publication in your books’ genre, in trade for display ads on the same page.

Local radio shows and television appearances are good but are often forgotten within hours of the broadcast; make sure to make or get a copy of any television broadcast for future promotions. Make five telephone calls a day that relate to marketing your book.

Print and online publications provide longevity to your marketing campaign in terms of having something tangible for people to reference ongoing. Make sure your sales letter or flier is first class; this is your formal presentation of your title to the prospective buyer.

Make sure to test, test, and test some more before you lay out large sums of money. The success of any book marketing effort depends on a good book and just plain hard work; its been done many times before and you can do it too. I hope this article has provided you with helpful tips to accelerate your book marketing and book promotion efforts.

About the Author

For more information on book marketing tips and selling more books go to http://www.TwinPeaksPress.com founded in 1982, specializing in help for authors, self publishers, ebook and book publishers with tips, advice and resources, including information on media, library and other mailing lists, and press releases – online, wire service and offline distribution

(ArticlesBase SC #137140)

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/ – Best Tips For Book Marketing For The Self Publisher

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source: http://www.authorinsider.com/article.php?misc=search&subaction=showfull&id=1157573494&archive=&cnshow=news&start_from=&ucat=1

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