Book Marketing Gazette Marketing Strategies, Tips and Reviews for Authors, Publishers and Book Marketing Experts
Volume I - Issue 3
From D’vorah’s Desk I’m very excited to share with you that we exceeded our ―1001 member’s in 100 days‖ goal! In celebration, 40 members were selected as prize winners in a very special draw-
D’vorah Lansky
ing. In addition to some great prizes that I provided, I would like to
Inside this issue:
thank, Kathleen Gage, Kristen Eck-
Blog Tours for Book Promo * Kathleen Gage
2
Mining the Gold * Lynne Klippel
3
Book Marketing with a Blog * Judy Cullins
4
Fastest Way to Bestseller * Jennifer S. Wilkov
5
The Buck Starts Here * Brian Jud
6
Testimonials for Your Book * Daniel Hall
7
Featured Social Network * FiledBy
8
A Key Decision for Writers * Terry Whalin
8
inspiring and enjoyable.
Attract Sponsors * Caterina Rando
9
Stay tunes for the coming season
Creative Book Marketing * John Kremer
10
store for you!
Featured Guest Speaker * Kathleen Gage
11
Enjoy this month’s Gazette and check
Chasing Coverage *Shel Horowitz
12
Cool Tools for Authors * DropBox
12
The Oldest Marketing Form * D’vorah Lansky
13
Reach More Readers Resources
14
stein, Dana Lynn Smith, Jennifer Wilkov, Val Waldeck, Jay Boyer, Susanne Myers and Nicole Dean for their generosity in adding some incredible prizes to our drawing.
Now that this seasons, Book Marketing Teleseminar series is complete, be sure to keep an eye out
I would also like to thank our 1,036
for your weekly ―Featured Interview‖
members for your participation and
email. Many of our members joined
for taking the time to
part way through the series and thus
fill out and submit
were not able to benefit from the
your surveys. Your
knowledge of our guest experts.
respons-es will allow me to best plan for future telesem-inars as well as online courses to best meet your needs. At present it seems that the most popular topics are, ―Book Launch Formula‖, ―Publishing to Kindle‖, ―Promoting Your Book with Teleseminars‖, and ―Blogging for
Each week, over the past season, we featured training from guest experts. I hope you found their sessions
where we have new surprises in
out our new contributing authors! All the best, D’vorah
Authors.‖. Stay tuned as we have some fun things planned.
www.BookMarketingGazette.com
Book Marketing Gazette
Page 2
Why Blog Tours Are Great for Book Promotions By Kathleen Gage If you're like most authors you have set a goal of selling more books in the coming
hance your tour. I have done, and advocate, both guest blogging and blog tours. Blog tours can be among one of the most
year. In theory setting goals regarding sell- far-reaching methods of marketing your ing books is great. In reality many authors
book launch. A well planned tour can reap
who have the best intentions soon give up
incredible benefits.
on their goal for any number of reasons.
Kathleen Gage
bility; generate a buzz about your book;
start. It's not for lack of what to do. Quite
reach more of your target audience; be
the contrary, it's due to so many choices. One of my favorites is a well planned and executed blog tour. A simple definition of a
“Participating in a blog tour has replaced the need to make "personal" book store appearances.�
You can build credibility and increase visi-
A primary reason is not knowing where to
viewed as an expert and it's a great way for potential readers to learn more about you in a very authentic way.
blog tour is a virtual tour where you stop
Any successful book launch takes time,
at (visit) a number of blogs and post rele-
planning and effort. To conduct an effective
vant information.
tour you do need to put time into it, but
Participating in a blog tour has replaced
done right it is definitely worth the effort.
the need to make "personal" book store appearances. Not only do you save time, fuel costs, shipping expenses and the frustration of only a few people showing up to a traditional book signing, you can do a blog book tour from literally anywhere in the world as long as you have Internet access.
************** Kathleen Gage is known as The Street Smarts Marketer. Kathleen is creative and effective Internet Marketing Advisor who works with spiritually minded coaches, speakers, authors and consultants who are ready to turn their knowledge into moneymaking products and services. She does
In the purest sense, a blog tour is done
this by teaching them eProduct develop-
over a specific period of time where the
ment, Internet marketing, multi media pro-
author "visits" several blogs.
gram development, self-publishing skills,
A blog owner hosts one stop of the tour unless, of course, the owner has several blogs on which you are posting. Some authors prefer to do sporadic guest blogging rather than a structured blog tour.
teleseminar development and developing mentoring courses that they can offer their clients. Kathleen is an award winning speaker and business owner who has hundreds of books, eProducts, teleseminars, and interviews to her credit. www.KathleenGage.com
In essence, guest blogging is exactly as it sounds. You post on a blog as a guest. But, you must get the blog owner's permission to do this type of posting. Although guest blogging has advantages a well structured blog tour can greatly en-
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Book Marketing Gazette
Page 3
Mining the Gold from Your Book: 3 Ways to Discover More Money and More Transformation from Your Book
By Lynne Klippel There is a dirty little secret in the publishing industry. That secret is that the vast majority of authors don’t make enough money from their book sales and royalty payments to live on. Unless you write a string of smashing bestsellers like J.K. Rowling or Nora Roberts, you are going to need to supplement your income from your books, especially in the nonfiction genres. However, this is actually really great news! When you write a nonfiction book, you are writing to entertain or educate your readers. You want to help them learn something, solve a problem, or transform their lives in some fashion. It often takes more than just reading a book to fully transform a life. Just think about all the books that have been written on money management, parenting, or weight loss: there are millions of pages written on those topics but many people are still struggling in those areas. So how can you use your book to create a sustainable living for yourself and help your readers on an even deeper level? These three mindset shifts will help you begin the process: See your book as a first date. When a reader finishes your nonfiction book, she will want more from you if she loved your book. Your book is just the beginning of a long term relationship with your readers. When you create additional opportunities for your readers to connect with you on your website, blog, social media presence, and through products and services, your readers have a reason to stay in your world after turning the final page of your book.
ditional support implementing all the things you taught them in your book. Even readers with the best of intentions encounter obstacles, brush up against fears, and struggle with procrastination. It can be challenging to change. See your book as your curriculum. Nonfiction writers are teachers, using books to teach new concepts and ideas. Your book holds many opportunities to expand on the concepts it contains when you view it as a textbook. If you were sitting down with your perfect reader and teaching him the methods in your book, where would you begin? Once you shift your mindset and open to the idea that your book is more than just a book, you can begin to create opportunities for your readers to learn from you in other ways, and opportunities to earn additional income from coaching programs, workshops, audios, courses, and presentations. Then, you’ll have discovered the real gold in your book. ************** Best-selling Author Lynne Klippel has been an author, publisher, ghost writer, and book coach since 2004. Her business, BusinessBuildingBooks.com, serves entrepreneurial authors writing non-fiction books. Are YOU ready to write your book? Take Lynne’s FREE assessment and find out if you have the requirements for author success at www.LynneKlippel.com
See your book as Step 1 in a transformational process. If you are helping your readers solve a problem in your book, they will most generally need ad-
www.BookMarketingGazette.com
Lynne Klippel
“The best way to overcome those nagging doubts is to collect evidence that people are interested in your information.”
Book Marketing Gazette
Page 4
Book Marketing with a Blog: 7 Rules By Judy Cullins
Judy Cullins
“Make your posts compelling, professional, and inviting. Remember to ask people to leave their opinions, and get some buzz going. If you are an author, post points or tips that relate to your book.�
Want a lot more book sales? Want your business to stand out from the crowd? A blog, one of the best content marketing techniques, can give you much higher results than you ever imagined. It helps you build a following, build a reputation as the go-to person in your field, and make increased book sales!
back, to see if you're on the right track. 2. Make sure your content arouses a discussion. Ask questions at the end of the blog. Elicit opinions that keep it fresh.
ular market to your website where your other offers are. Your sales funnel is all important!
Think that the whole is always more than the sum of its parts, so as you build each part of your promotion plat3. Keep it simple. Do what form, results will be so much you can, and if your blog larger than you thought. For needs some graphics, or myself, the minute the blog style, contact a webmaster went up and I marketed it in who does this kind of work. these ways, my number of You'd only need him/her for a The most important thing to target web visitors went up remember is to write at least few sessions. 35% each month, and is still two entries a week. Make 4. Hire a professional person growing accordingly to my your posts compelling, prowho is also a writer to give Alexa.com rankings.. fessional, and inviting. Reyou feedback. One comment It's consistency that counts. member to ask people to that helped me was to keep You are building a body of leave their opinions, and get the blog entries short and to work that will eventually imsome buzz going. If you are the point. I'd say from 300press your market. Clients an author, post points or tips 900 words. Many pros offer may not come right away. that relate to your book. If short term coaching and conSome take 2 years to get to you are a service business, sultations. know you and trust you. give how to's that you also give as a consultant or coach. 5. Respond to any comment To showcase your skills don't that is relevant to the blog How Can You Keep your let your blog die--just bepost, so you keep your readcause not many came come Blog Fresh? ers coming back so they will to it. Blog numbers often Look at other places or blogs subscribe to your site and build slowly and naturally, in your field to gain ideas. My stay informed on what's new. unless your site already ranks favorite is joining LinkedIn 6. Commit to a particular high with Google and other groups that relate to your amount of time to make your search engines. expertise. These people post blog get more readers. I write If you have a question, need discussions that they want blog entries 2-3 days a week advice, or have another great info on. So, it makes sense to for about 2 hours of creation tip to share, feel free to constay abreast of these, and time. I wait a day or two to tact me. comment as often as you can submit after I get feedback with useful tips. These dis************ by a professional business cussions or news articles writer like myself. To some Book Coach Judy Cullins keep my blog alive with alhelps you transform your people, typos make your ways up-to-the-minute good book idea into a helpful, enwriting worth a lot less. information about book writtertaining, and engaging ing, self-publishing, and book 7. Comment on a discussion book. Now you can get far or news article, on any and business online marketmore visibility and credibility LinkedIn group you belong ing. for your business. Author of to. Get other comments And, when people are ready, 13 business books including through email and choose to they will contact you for spe"How to Write your eBook or respond to the ones you can Other Short Book-Fast!," and cific help from your books, add good information to. "LinkedIn Marketing: 8 Best teleseminars and coaching. Then, leave a benefit-driven Tactics to Build Book and blurb and link to your blog What are the Big Rules of Business Sales." article when it's appropriate. Blogs? www.BookCoaching.com 1. Keep improving your blog. You may be thinking, this is Get educated with books and too much work or time. You are mistaken. Think of this as take teleseminars. Get a an investment to get a much short phone social media bigger amount of your particcoaching session, for feed-
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Book Marketing Gazette
Page 5
Your Marketing Platform – Fastest Way to Becoming A Bestseller When you can present your plan and
By Jennifer S. Wilkov
marketing platform to a publisher, liter-
As authors and writers, we’re always
ary agent or publicist, you’ll be leaps and
learning about resources and industry
bounds ahead of the other authors who
tools that we can use to improve our book project performance and the enjoyment of our writing and marketing experiences. Today let’s talk about multiple
tial information. No publishing industry professional wants to take on a project these days that is not accompanied by a
methods of marketing.
solid strategic plan to market it.
Book reviews are one of many ways that you can market your book.
The investment of their time, energy and effort must also be considered carefully.
Jennifer S. Wilkov
They cannot afford to invest in your pro-
Whether you want your books to grow
ject if it doesn’t have a clear substantial
into major motion pictures like books by James Patterson, John Grisham or Nicholas Sparks, or if you’d prefer to market your books on the small screen or from a speaker’s platform, the world is your
marketing plan associated with it. When you have a well-thought out approach and can easily explain it to someone else, you’ll find the road to being a
oyster. You can truly market a book in
bestseller is much smoother and a joyful
any way you choose.
one indeed.
Most authors don’t realize that marketing a book requires a foundational strategy
Not sure where to begin with your marketing platform? Join me at the end of
and plan in order to succeed, whether
July for the Market It Now Training to
you want to market it in a big way or
create your marketing plan and execute
not. Getting clear about what the top
your platform. This training is limited to
outlets are for your project will support
24 authors so each participant receives
you with making decisions amidst the
quality attention during each session.
plethora of opportunities that confront the eligible author.
Jennifer S. Wilkov: Media personality, host and producer of the #1 radio talk
The road to being a bestseller begins
show ―Your Book Is Your Hook!‖ on
with a strong strategic plan and clarity
WomensRadio. Jennifer is a best-
about what is congruent with your mar-
selling award-winning author who has
keting strategy – and what’s not.
been published five times, an awardwinning freelance writer and a respect-
This clarity also helps you to make more
ed book business consultant in her
informed choices about where you will spend your resources, namely your time, energy and money.
submit their projects without this essen-
business by the same name, ―Your Book Is Your Hook!‖ To connect with Jennifer visit: www.YourBookIsYourBook.com
www.BookMarketingGazette.com
“Most authors don’t realize that marketing a book requires a foundational strategy and plan in order to succeed, whether you want to market it in a big way or not. ”
Book Marketing Gazette
Page 6
Special Sales: The Buck Starts Here (Part One) By Brian Jud The term special sales is commonly used to describe revenue opportunities outside of bookstores. Special-sales marketing can be a profitable source of new sales if you divide the opportunity into two manageable segments and sell to buyers in each according to their traditional ways of purchasing.
Brian Jud
“Special-sales marketing can be a profitable source of new sales if you divide the opportunity into two manageable segments and sell to buyers in each according to their traditional ways of purchasing.”
One is the retail segment where you reach buyers using a network of middlemen. The other segment is comprised of direct sales to non-retailers that use books as marketing tools to sell more of their products or help their employees, members or students. This month I will describe the opportunities for selling to non-bookstore retailers, and next month I will cover the non-retail segment. Selling to retailers. You are already familiar with this sector. You find distributors or wholesalers to get your books into retail outlets where they are sold off the shelf to consumers. Payments are made in months and unsold books are returned. Retailers display products that 1) will build store traffic, 2) maximize profitability per square foot and 3) generate more inventory turns. Prove that your title can do those things better than competitors’ titles and you can get your books on these retailers’ shelves: Discount stores and warehouse clubs. Books are discounted heavily and do not offer the same margins of some largerticket products. Therefore, these retailers limit shelf space to the ―brand-name‖ authors and top-selling books. The store buyers purchase through established distribution companies such as Anderson Merchandisers and Levy Home Entertainment. Airport stores. Titles for children tend to do well in these outlets, especially children’s ―activity books.‖ Titles on management, investment, economics, business biography, personal finance and health sell well among business travelers. Popular fiction always sells in this environment. Also consider selling to other airport stores, not just bookstores. Wholesalers to this segment include Anderson News, Baker & Taylor, Hudson and Ingram.
Supermarkets and pharmacies. Cookbooks, travel books and regional titles do well in supermarkets, but health-related topics move better in drugstores. Children’s titles also seem to do well in supermarkets, but fiction remains the mainstay there. Consider Choice Books to distribute your books. Museums, zoos and national parks. Most of these have a gift shop, and to get in them you must demonstrate how your books can educate and entertain their guests. Get your books on these shelves using third-party management firms that acquire books for the gift shops. Event Network operates gift shops at zoos, museums, aquariums, science centers and botanical gardens, and Eastern National serves the national park system. Gift shops. This category includes large chains such as Pottery Barn, Yankee Candle, Bath and Body Works, Pier One and Crate & Barrel, Hallmark Stores and Spencer Gifts. It also includes hotel and hospital gift shops. Reach these outlets through direct marketing, sales-representative groups and by attending trade shows and gift marts. Specialty stores. You could sell your books in home-improvement centers, pet shops, auto-supply stores, camera shops, toy stores or business-supply stores – retailers that serve identifiable groups of people with a common interest in your content. Home Design Alternatives is a major wholesaler in this segment. Marketing to non-bookstore retailers is not a separate way of doing business. It is not even a new way of doing business. It is much like distributing books through bookstores, and you can quickly broaden your retail sales by contacting these buyers. ************ Brian Jud is the author of How to Make Real Money Selling Books and now offers commission sales of nonfiction, fiction, children’s titles and remainders to buyers in special markets. For more information contact Brian at (860) 675-1344; or go to www.PremiumBookCompany.com
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Book Marketing Gazette
Page 7
Why Testimonials Are Important For Your Book By Daniel Hall A testimonial is basically a positive review of your business, service or product that is told by someone else. And you should know why testimonials are important for your book and should be a part of every business.
Daniel Hall
Your book gives you a good reason to contact people who are influential in your business and also allows you to stay in contact with your clients and customers. Why is this important? Well if you're contacting other people in your industry that are related to what you are writing about, you are basically borrowing the trust that they have built and adding it to your own. With clients and customers you are allowing them to not only sell you to others but allowing them to keep on selling you in their own mind. They have to justify why they decided to go with you and they now build up more concrete evidence of it simply by writing down what they think of you and your business.
So now that you have this social proof you don't have to justify the prices nearly as much as you did before because other people are already doing it for you and you can also feel good about what you are selling because people are telling you point blank how it has affected them and their business in a positive way. Good thing it's not that difficult to profit from getting testimonials. Books can be completed, on the market and selling internationally real fast - in fact, faster than you ever thought possible - IF you know how. Fortunately, I want to give you my #1 secret for cranking out high-quality, high profit books really fast. ************** Daniel Hall is the creator of the Real Fast Book Program and the author of many books including, Speakers Cruise Free. He's also the host of the Real Results Podcast www.RealFastResults.com
Now these testimonials can be used in your books but they can also serve other purposes with promotional materials, they can be used to sell more information on your website and any other promotional material you might come up with.
Featured Social Network for Authors - FiledBy FiledBy is the most readers can discover and connect
other contributors to represent them-
comprehensive
selves accurately and market them-
directory of author and contributor sites anywhere. It’s also a place for authors and other book contributors to showcase themselves and their work, a place for readers to search and discover new books and a place for everyone to
with authors and buy their books. Authors can gain access to a fast growing network of other authors,
Readers use FiledBy to search for
readers and creative people who are
authors and their work, access exclu-
communicating with each other,
sive content posted by registered
sharing videos, podcasts and docu-
authors, find out more about favorite
ments, posting reviews and forming
authors, leave comments for other
online community.
readers and authors, rate and review
connect and discuss our favorite sub- FiledBy is focused on the people who ject – authors and books, of course. create books! Authors, Co-Authors, FiledBy is much more than just a
place where authors and their creative partners can claim a listing and website. It’s also a community where
selves effectively online.
Illustrators, Photographers, Artists, Editors, Translators and others. Their goal is to help empower authors and www.BookMarketingGazette.com
and receive updates when authors post new content or about upcoming events. www.Twitter.com/filedby
Book Marketing Gazette
Page 8
A Key Decision for Every Writer By Terry Whalin
and saying they spotted my photo. My devotion appears For more than 20 years, I've on December 20th this year devoted my energies toward and it was a thrill to be in learning to tell good stories this publication. Yet being in The Upper Room isn't the and capturing those stories in print. I've learned how to key decision that I'm talking about. write query letters or pitch letters to magazines in a way which garners a goI'm suggesting every writer ahead assignment from an needs to make a key decieditor. I've learned the skill sion to have part of their of crafting a book proposal business as a stand alone which the editor reads, deenterprise. Why? While cides to champion, then isthere is value in writing for sues a book contract. Also publications or writing I've been training other books, when you are taking writers on these insider inthese steps you are dependsights through my telesemi- ent on others to issue pay nars like Secrets About Pro- checks. Many traditional posals. I continue to work book publishers only pay with many different writers royalties once a year or four through my work as a pubtimes a year (quarterly) is lisher at Intermedia Publish- the best payment schedule ing Group. My commitment for a royalty publisher. As has not dimmed to the the author, it is outside of printed page and the power your control and whatever of magazine articles and system a publisher has, books to change people and then you are stuck in that propel them into new direc- system if you want them to tions. publish your book. The same issue is true in the magazine world. Some pubAlmost daily I speak with writers who struggle to pay lications pay on acceptance of the article while many their bills and provide for their family yet they remain publications pay on publication (or a difference of passionate about getting months or years between published and each have dreams and ambitions which when you write the article and when you receive payhaven't come true--yet. ment). This payment system is neither good or bad but I decided to write about a simply what exists in the key decision for every writmarketplace. er. What is your passion? How can you get that pasIn today's market with the sion out to the greatest number of people? Is it get- Internet, every writer has ting your words into a publi- the ability to sell directly to cation like The Upper Room their readers--if they make this decision. Possibly you which reaches millions of people each issue? My photo have no idea where to begin or you are floundering in is on the back cover of the November/ December issue your search for a beginning. My friend, Bob Bly (Robert of The Upper Room and W. Bly) has written an people have been writing
Ebook, Start Or Jump-Start Your Internet Marketing Business, How to Take Your Online Marketing to the Next Level of Profitability and Success. I've read this book several times and highlighted different sections of it. Each time I pick up on a different detail to apply to my own independent writing business. I mentioned the payment from writing for magazines and books. How does payment work if you have your own business? When you sell a product, that money goes directly into your PayPal account. You don't have to wait around for someone else because you've taken action. As Bob writes in his book, "When is the best time to start your new internet marketing business? Quite simply, it's today. And here's how...First, decide to work on your new business venture at least five days a week, at least an hour a day. Second, make a list of 10 things you need to do to get the business off the ground." If you work through the list of 10 things, your life as a writer will take off--provided you make this one key decision and take action on it. W. Terry Whalin is a former magazine editor, book editor and literary agent. He is the author of more than 60 books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams: Insider Secrets to Skyrocket Your Success and an Acquisitions Editor at Morgan James Publishing.
www.BookMarketingGazette.com
Terry Whalin
“I decided to write about a key decision for every writer. What is your passion? How can you get that passion out to the greatest number of people?�
Page 9
Book Marketing Gazette Use Your Book to Attract Sponsors By Caterina Rando, M.A., MCC Your book can open doors to companies that want to get in front of your client base. If you have a good-sized contact list or can fill a room, you may be a candidate for a sponsor who will pay you to introduce its product or service to your clients and other people on your list. There are many possibilities for you to add revenue to your business. There are three different kinds of sponsorship. Traditional—a corporate sponsor writes you a check for something like a speech or being promoted at an event.
Caterina Rando
“Start looking for sponsors in your local community with the bank, retail store or department store with which you already have a good relationship.”
Media sponsor—you give a workshop or a speech, and the local newspaper sponsors you and promotes the event, you promote them in your publicity and at the event, no money is exchanged.
ing you.
How many brand impressions they can expect.
How many people you can bring to each event.
What, if anything, you need from them. What they are responsible for before, during or after an event.
If you’re going to put their brand or their logo on your website and blog, or if you will give them a page on your website.
How are you going to promote them on social networks?
Potential sponsors are going to ask you about how big your contact list is. Large, national companies may not consider you if your list is In-kind sponsor—they give you something less than ten thousand. A community-based but not always a check. Let’s say you do a workshop at a local bank. The bank promotes organization, such as a local department store wants to get people in the store. In that the event, gives you a free venue for your workshop and provides refreshments or some case your list does not have to be as big. However, you do have to have something to staff support. Their efforts save you money and they benefit from the exposure and from offer your sponsor. you bringing new people to their branch. Start looking for sponsors in your local community with the bank, retail store or departYou could have a sponsor in each of these ment store with which you already have a three categories for the same event. For exgood relationship. Propose an in-kind sponample, a fitness trainer could receive corposorship and do everything you can to make it rate sponsorship from a business that sells successful. Invite potential sponsors to see home fitness equipment, media sponsorship you speak. Pay for their lunch and their from a local television station that has a fitness segment on Sunday morning and in-kind transportation. sponsorship from a local spa. After you prove yourself and do a great job, you can ask for money for the next event. Think about who are natural sponsors for you. Take some time right now to brainstorm You can also document the results, go to a larger company and use this success to prosome ideas and write them down. Start by identifying your ideal client because you want pose a paying sponsorship and generate revenue for your company. a sponsor your clients will be interested in and one that is consistent with your brand. If your ideal clients are teenagers, what brands Start now to research local sponsorship opportunities and begin to establish yourself as want access to that population? If your ideal a valuable resource and expert with whom clients are professional women, what products or organizations want access to that cli- companies want to be associated. ent base? Caterina Rando, MA, MCC, is the founder of You need a proposal to persuade potential sponsors to pay you to represent them. Here is what potential sponsors want to know:
The audience you will connect them with.
THRIVE Publishing™, a business strategist and author of many information products, including the national best seller, Learn to Power Think. Visit her website at www.ThriveBooks.com.
The amount of money you are asking for and what it will be used for.
What value they will receive from sponsorwww.BookMarketingGazette.com
Page 10
Book Marketing Gazette 5 of 50 Creative Book Marketing Ideas
John Kremer
“To promote an upcoming book to bookstores, libraries, or readers, print an excerpt from your book in pamphlet or booklet form and mail it out to your major customers.”
By John Kremer - This article is part one in a series which summarizes a two-hour talk I gave at the PMA Publishing University several years ago. I tried to include marketing ideas that I hadn't covered extensively in the Book Marketing Update newsletter or in 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. I hope these ideas will help you think of new possibilities for promoting your books.
3. Offer Your Sales Reps Push Money
money without affecting delivery compared to book rate.
Whether you have a distributor or work with your own sales rep groups, you might find it useful to offer your reps push money—that is, some monetary incentive to push a new book, line of books, or display. For example, if you want your reps to push a new line of books, offer them an extra $5.00 or $10.00 when they sell a set amount of books into one retail account.
5. Stay Alert to Media Opportunities Watch for news items that you can use to promote your own books. Also watch for news items about other books that could tie into your own books.
At one time, Leonore Fleischer's Talk of the Trade column in Publishers Weekly 1. Book Excerpts asserted that How to Profit by Setting Up Your Own CorporaTo promote an upcoming book While push money is not com- tion ―holds the record for beto bookstores, libraries, or readers, print an excerpt from mon among book sales reps, it ing in print longer than any other book in its class [nonis common in other retail your book in pamphlet or text business book] in histobooklet form and mail it out to fields. If you do offer such an your major customers (or po- incentive, arrange to send the ry.‖ She noted that the book had sold 300,000 copies in 6 check directly to your reps. tential customers). editions over 13 years. Don't let the money come To promote Gloria Steinem's through your distributor. Make Well, I knew a book on the new book, Revolution from sure the reps know that the same subject that had sold Within, Little, Brown reprinted money is coming from you more and been in print longer: Bibliotherapy, a chapter that because they sold your books. Ted Nicholas's How to Form describes the books the author Thank them for their good Your Own Corporation without found helpful in writing her work. a Lawyer for Under $75.00, book and living her life. They which was originally selfBy the way, if your books are sent 50,000 copies of this distributed by another compa- published in 1972 and has pamphlet to 1,000 of their sold over 900,000 copies. ny, be sure you have the major bookstore accounts who, in turn, passed them out names, addresses, and phone I called the author as well as numbers of the sales reps repto customers. the new publisher, Dearborn resenting that company's line Trade, and alerted them to the 2. On-Line Ordering via of books (which includes error. They followed through Computer yours). Then communicate and received a notice several directly with your reps to let weeks later in the same colDavid Unowsky, former owner them know about new titles, of Hungry Mind, once a major umn of Publishers Weekly. breaking publicity, rights independent bookstore in St. sales, major special sales, and Paul, Minnesota, encourages other noteworthy events. ************** smaller publishers to find a way to offer online ordering 4. Preprint Review Copy John is the author of 1001 for bookstores. This process Envelopes Ways to Market Your Books as makes it much easier for well as the developer of the bookstores to order your Woodbridge Press sends all 15,000 and the Ten Million books. Of course, this sugges- review copies bulk rate inside Eyeballs Inter-net Marketing tion is only valuable if you envelopes that are preprinted Programs and the Book have a line of books that are with their address and the Marketing Magic multimedia popular with booksellers (and legend: ―New Book: Review program. you don't already have a disCopy.‖ This message gets the tributor who offers such an attention of reviewers. option). Also, because they send the books bulk rate (using their meter imprint), they save
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Book Marketing Gazette
Page 11
Book Marketing Teleseminars - Featured Guest Speaker Kathleen Gage of Street Smarts Marketing
Kathleen Gage
Book Marketing
Kathleen shared with us about her member-
Teleseminar Series
ship program where people are walked
provides you with ac-
through the teleseminar formula, step by
cess to many of the top
step. If you are interested in learning how
book marketing experts
to harness the power of teleseminars to
in the world! Each
introduce people to your programs, prod-
month we feature one
ucts and services as well as fill your pipeline
of our guest speakers,
with qualified buyers, you may want to
in the Gazette, and
check out her programs at
share a few gems from
KathleenGage.com
the training they shared with us.
************** Kathleen is recognized as a creative and
This month we are honored to feature Kathleen Gage.
effective Internet marketing advisor who
In Kathleen’s content driven session we
speakers, authors and consultants who are
learned how to build business, increase
ready to turn their knowledge into money
market reach and increase revenue like
making products and services. She does
never before. Kathleen shared insights
this by teaching them eProduct develop-
about building our author platform and
ment, Internet marketing, multi-media pro-
selling more books with teleseminars.
gram development, self-publishing skills,
works with spiritually minded coaches,
teleseminar development and the develop-
5 Gems From Kathleen’s Interview
ment of mentoring courses that they can
offer their clients.
business owner who has hundreds of books,
Teleseminars provide you with a platform to be able to train people anywhere in the world.
Kathleen is an award winning speaker and
Teleseminars can open up incredible opportunities in your business and help you sell more books.
eProducts, teleseminars, interviews and four hard copy books to her credit. She is also the author of her signature series -
Always record your teleseminars! Record every single one. Do not let one single teleseminar go by without recording it. At some point you can repurpose that content into reports, blog posts, eCourses or to us as content for your next book.
Street Smarts Marketing and Promotions.
Get ―centered‖ before your teleseminar. Take a few moments to do some centered breathing and to set your inten-tion for the call. This is powerful and will really benefit you, your guests and your audience.
In Praise of the Book Marketing Teleseminars
Let people know that the purchase of your book also gets them a reserved seat for your teleseminar. This is a fab-ulous way to sell books and grow a re-lationship with your audience. www.BookMarketingGazette.com
“This was a brilliant selection of authors each offering a different perspective on marketing that the listener could draw on depending on their individual needs. Dvorah is an outstanding interviewer gently drawing out a massive amount of information from her speakers and painting them in pictures the listener is hooked on to buy. I have bought some of these programs and they are the best on the market. Thank you Dvorah for bringing us together. The small investment in the series pays huge dividends.” - Nano Pinder
Author Interview Series
Page 12
Never Stop Chasing Coverage By Shel Horowitz
ods, featuring the marketing book I had published with Simon & Schuster six years
Big publishers spout a lot of malarkey
earlier. No help from S&S’s publicity de-
about the brief, tiny window for news coverage on a new book–measured in months. This is absolute garbage, and they should
methods I discuss in Grassroots Marketing for Authors and Publishers.
know better. After all, they’ve invested
And I don’t have some kind of magic secret
many thousands of dollars in each book.
Shel Horowitz
partment on that one, but I just follow the
sauce; I’ve heard from many other authors
It’s in their interest to succeed, although sometimes it seems they don’t realize this. Even if you’re a big-publisher author, you
who routinely get publicity for books that are five, ten, even fifteen years old. Of course if your book is something like ―How
can continue to breathe life into it long
to Survive the Coming Y2K Crisis,‖ you’re
after the publisher’s publicity department
out of luck. But for most of the rest of us,
has given up.
there will always be topical angles, fresh
Several of my books have gotten signifi-
pitches, perennial tie-ins, and plenty of
cant coverage long after publication. In
publicity if we just reach out for it.
one case, a book I published in 1995 was
**************
mentioned in both Reader’s Digest and the MSN home page in one month–eight years
Which would you rather read? "Electronic
after publication and after the book was
Privacy Expert Releases New
already out of print and converted to an e-
Book" (snore!) or "It's 10 O'Clock—Do You
book! 16 years after publication, that book
Know Where Your Credit History Is?" Press
still gets me print, radio, blog, and other
releases, book jackets, sellsheets, web
coverage. I do get a kick when radio hosts
pages from Shel Horowitz, award-winning
introduce me as ―author of the new
author of Grassroots Marketing for Authors
book‖ (and yes, I correct them, quickly
and Publishers (and seven other books) tell
and gently: ―the book’s actually been out
"the story behind the story."
for some time‖–I don’t want to mislead
Say goodbye to boring copy! Shel will write
people).
material so compelling that people thank
In another case, Bottom Line (an extreme-
you for letting them read it.
ly popular newsletter) did an extended
www.frugalmarketing.com/
three-page feature on my marketing meth- publishers.shtml
Cool Tools - Amazing Resources for Authors This month our featured ―cool tool‖ is Dropbox. www.Dropbox.com Dropbox allows you to synchronize all of your files, between all of your computers! Gone are the days of searching through computer folders for a specific file only to realize that it is on your other computer! Simply add the folders you want to be available from all of your computers, to the Dropbox folder and voila!
Each time you turn on your computer, Dropbox synchronizes all of the files. That way, regardless of which computer you login to, you’ll find the same files available in your Dropbox folder! This is also a handy way to share files between business associates as Dropbox allows you to create sub-folders and grant permission to specific people to access specific folders! To find out more about Dropbox visit: www.DropBox.com
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Book Marketing Gazette
Page 13
The Oldest Form of Marketing on the Planet referring them to others, and, when ap-
By D’vorah Lansky
propriate, being available to brainstorm
If you were to Google the term
ideas with them, you will ensure that
―relationship marketing,‖ you would find a wide range of definitions. The same would
they’re going to want to know you and potentially want to do business with you.
hold true if you were to take a cross section of people who are actively involved in relationship marketing and ask them what
Relationship marketing is the type of
they do. You would hear a slightly differ-
marketing that will not only bring more
ent definition from each of them, because
value to your business but will bring a
even though the concept has been around
sense of purpose to what you do.
for centuries, relationship marketing is a new and budding field in today’s business
Relationship marketing is about building a
environment. The bottom line is that rela-
strong community of people, who come to
tionship marketing is about marketing se-
see you as a go-to person because they
cond and building relationships first.
know that you care about them and they know that you’re knowledgeable. The rea-
To put relationship marketing in perspec-
son you want to know about relationship
tive with your own life, think back to when
marketing is because it’s the key to grow-
you have needed the services of a plumber
ing your business.
or painter. Did you flip through the phone book and make a random phone call, or
While it seems like common sense that
did you call someone you knew and ask
this is how business should be done, this is
for a referral to someone that person could
not the norm. While ―info-mercial‖ sales
highly recommend, someone they had a
tactics may seem to work, you’ll sell more
relationship with?
products and services and increase your repeat customers and referrals by con-
Doing business with people with whom
necting with your market. People want to
we’ve built a relationship or with people
buy from people, not from a faceless cor-
who come highly recommended by people
poration.
we have a relationship with is a big piece What can you do to strengthen relation-
of relationship marketing.
ships and thus grow your business? There are many reasons to practice rela**************
tionship marketing:
To learn more about online and offline re-
Relationship marketing is more enjoya-
lationship marketing strategies visit:
ble than traditional marketing. By build-
www.ReachMoreReaders.com.
ing relationships, you are building friendships and building your network.
By helping people in your network, by www.BookMarketingGazette.com
D’vorah Lansky
“While “info-mercial” sales tactics may seem to work, you’ll sell more products and services and increase your repeat customers and referrals by connecting with your market. ”
Action Guides for Authors by D’vorahLansky www.ActionGuidesForAuthors.com
Visit Us Online ReachMoreReaders.com BookMarketingGazette.com
Listen to Reach More Readers Podcast www.ReachMoreReaders.com/podcast
Join in the fun at Reach MoreReaders www.ReachMoreReaders.com/learn
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