By: Jill Exler
Source: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/140980/publishing/5_tips_to_start_selling_your_self_published_book.html

Here are five simple tips to help you get started.

1. Figure out your market.

“Bookstores are lousy places to sell books,” says self-publishing guru Dan Poynter in USA Weekend . “Find the places where your audience gathers and sell directly to them. If your book is about cats, go to pet stores.”

To start selling your book, take the time to research your target audience. Who will be interested in purchasing your book and sharing it with their friends?

Once you know your target market, look at the places they shop and spend their leisure time. What media venues do they watch, read and listen to on a regular basis?

Create a list of all potential organizations, business and groups. This will give you a good understanding of the online sites and brick-and-mortar locations where you need to focus your marketing efforts.

2. Spread the word.

When you are ready to start selling, don’t be shy. Talk about your book, carry a copy around with you and look for every opportunity to mention it. Also be ready to give copies away to influential people who will build buzz about your business.

If you are a good speaker, try to give presentations to groups catering to your target audience. You can partner with various organizations to promote your appearance and build word-of-mouth. This may include issuing a press release, giving books away during radio or television interviews or getting involved with charitable activities.

“Speaking to local, target audiences is a great way to start building buzz about your products and services,” says Melanie Rembrandt, small business PR expert and owner of Rembrandt Communications, www.rembrandtwrites.com. “But in order to build credibility, you need to offer valuable information pertinent to your book’s subject without being sales-oriented. You can always have a book-signing after your presentation to sell your books and meet potential customers.”

Another trick is to leave a copy of your book at your local bookstore or library. If visitors pick up the book and read it, they will ask for a copy of it. Then, the person at the counter may contact you to purchase additional copies.

3. Venture outside your target market.

After you’ve pursued all venues focusing on your specific audience, start marketing your book to other groups outside your target market.

Look for secondary sources that may be interested in purchasing your book as a gift for a friend, co-worker or family member. Perhaps you can partner with a business, charitable organization or hobby-group related to your book-topic?

Think “outside of the box” and try to let as many people know about your book as possible. You can issue a press release, offer special discounts and create newsworthy events to draw attention to your book. And these activities don’t need to cost a lot of money. You just need to think of some ways to stress the unique benefits of your book and take the extra time and effort to plan, coordinate and follow-through with your ideas.

4. Take advantage of business relationships.

If you used an online publisher in developing your book, advertise on their site. If you used a local printer, ask if you can leave a couple copies at their front desk.

Visit all of your local establishments and leave some kind of information about your book. If you are a regular customer, most of these businesses will be happy to help you and the local economy.

And when preparing these “leave-behinds,” think about the benefits for the business and customers. Perhaps you can print up small calendars, checklists, quick tips, bookmarks and other items that advertise your book while offering something of value to potential readers.

You may even be able to partner with various businesses to offer special joint coupons and discounts. Use your imagination, but always keep the benefits for the customer in mind.

5. List your book online.

This may be obvious, but you really need to list your book online to reach the broadest possible market and increase “buzz.” Review your target audience and try to get information about your book posted on all of the pertinent sites they visit.

Also create a simple website. And don’t worry. Today, there are many services that offer cost-effective or free websites to self-published authors. You don’t need to be a technical genius or have a lot of money to take advantage of these services and create an online presence.

However, in your online copy, be sure to stress the unique benefits of your book and provide customer testimonials (for credibility). Also include some information about your background to help you stand apart from others in your genre.

Once your site is up and running, research free, press-release posting sites. Also look for online organizations that may be willing to post reciprocal links to your site to help build search-engine optimization.

These are just a few, simple tips. There are many ways to sell your self-published books. But you can start by focusing on your target audience, work the business relationships you already have and be creative. And soon, you’ll be well on your way to being a top-selling author!

For more tips and information, visit www.jexbo.com.

About The Author, Jill Exler

Jill Exler is a Mompreneur and founder of jexbo, http://www.jexbo.com.

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By: Steve Manning

Source: http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/141466/publishing/zero_cost_self_publishing_and_how_to_get_it.html

Ever heard of product placement in movies? The star walks into the kitchen, opens the refrigerator door and pulls out a can of Coke. The concept had it’s modern beginnings when E.T. was lured from his hiding place with Reece’s Pieces. And it reached its zenith in the movie Castaway (the whole film could have been seen as a subtle infomercial for FedEx). Corporations pay money for that sort of stuff. And you can understand why. It’s the equivalent of an endorsement of the product by the star or the movie itself.

How can you do that with your self-published book? It’s not difficult. I know one author who wrote a book on business etiquette and mentioned several specific business machines. Before she self published the book, she went to the manufacturer, let the director of marketing know about the product placement and asked if they’d like to sponsor the publication of the book. They did.

Another author wrote a romance that took place on a wonderful Caribbean island nation. She sent the manuscript to the director of tourism and asked if they’d like to either sponsor the publication of the book, or buy 3,000 copies for $10,000. They chose the later, but $10,000 underwrote the entire press run of 6,000 copies. The author got 3,000 copies of her book for free!

In each case, the author asked the sponsor or buyer for only one condition. The self-published books the sponsors received for their financial involvement could only be either given away free, or sold for the full cover price. That way, the author was never undercut on price.

Would major companies, government agencies and other large entities really want to be involved with your self-published book? Hey, if you take a look at the cost of advertising, the cost of self-publishing a book is cheap! $20,000 for a single page in a national magazine. And then you come along and give them a promotional tool that has the legitimacy and the integrity of a published book, at a price that’s almost insignificant when compared to their total annual budget.

These steps will make it easy for you.

Make sure your book is complete, but in manuscript form.

Make a list of 20 companies that could benefit from the topic, direction, setting, entertainment value, or information your book has. Make one copy of your manuscript and insert specific product placement throughout the book. By product placement, I mean specific products, or specific strategies that some companies use, or locations, or whatever you think puts the idea of the product before the reader.

About The Author, Steve Manning

Steve Manning is a master writer showing thousands of people how they can write their book faster than they ever thought possible. Here’s your free Special Report, http://www.WriteABookNow.com/main.html

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When is the best time to sell your book? The idea of pre-selling books is definitely a clever move, especially for self-published authors. Although pre-selling will also involve money, there are a lot of ways to promote your book in advance even on a shoestring budget. Pre-selling books is a marketing strategy that’s a must.

While you wait for your books to be printed, it is ideal to maximize time for marketing and promotion. Other authors have sustained the anticipation of their readers by maintaining author websites, blogs, online journals and the like. They pre-sell by keeping their blogs or websites updated with the latest information and details about their upcoming book. This actually works since readers can conveniently keep track. It is always advisable to give a full month or two to market your book before it is printed. Keep the waiting part as productive as possible.

For your marketing to be successful, you will need to seriously consider how to effectively pre-sell your books. How do you persuade readers to purchase your book even before when it’s out in the market? How do we make books sell even prior to its launch date?

The art of pre-selling involves getting the public interested even before a product is out. An example of this is Apple’s iPad. Even before the product was out, the public was already anticipating and the list of reservations was already quite long. How did Apple do the iPad hype? It’s simple. Apple has done extensive pre-marketing and promotional campaigns for iPad. From product reviews, forums, blogs, to viral websites, they totally covered all pre-selling online venues. They made the public start talking about their product before it even came out.

Here are tips for effective pre-selling:

1. Eye-Catching Print Materials. These materials can be bookmarks, flyers, posters, stickers, and tarpaulins. The production of these materials need not be expensive. If you have the designing skills then you can make your own promotional art and print them at your nearest printing press. It is also advisable for your promotional materials to be consistent with colors and fonts. Make sure that your content will be able to attract and stir interest for readers. Enumerate venues where they can read more details about your book. (i.e. websites, social networking sites, etc.)
2. Utilize Your Website for Pre-Marketing and Promotion. Since it’s your website, you can freely post advance information about your upcoming book. Moreover, you can conduct online contests in line with your upcoming book. Contests and other activities generate attention and interest for the public. You can promote and pre-sell your book while gaining high traffic for your website.
3. Offer A Special Pre-Sale Price. Customers love discounts. If you have already decided on your book’s price, you can offer a special pre-sale price to customers who will purchase your book prior to its release. You can offer special rate discounts to your first 100 customers for example.
4. Blog About Your Upcoming Book. Frequently post entries about your book on your blog. Cover any kind of topic that can keep current potential customers interested and to keep attract new ones. Write helpful articles. Remember that attention is gained when you share helpful information. Read other blog sites. It’s also equally important for you to learn from others. When you do read other blog sites, remember to post a comment of appreciation or a courteous opinion. Don’t forget to post a link to your author website or blog page when you leave comments.
5. Trigger Book Reviews from the National and International Media. Posting a press release about your book online or sending it to reputable media targets via fax increases the chances of a critical review on the substantial merits of your book, and a critical praise will bring you national—even international—acclaim.

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