Ten Lethal Marketing Mistakes

Feature Article: Ten Lethal Marketing Mistakes Almost Everyone is Making

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People always ask me what's the single biggest mistake authors make. I'm not sure it's just one mistake, though the truth is that one mistake can sink your entire book. Often when I tell a group of authors what I'm about to share with you they shake their heads in disgust, yet so many authors continue to make mistakes that can be fatal to their book's success. Most of the time, though authors know that publishing a book is like starting a business, they're still shocked when their book is a failure, despite the fact that they didn't market it.

"I don't have the time," they'll say. Well, guess what? If you don't have the time to market then don't spend the time to publish it. Unless it's just a "thing" you wanted to do, then fine. Publish away, but don't expect success beyond your immediate family and close friends. Most authors, however, seek to publish for other reasons, most of them tied to their platform, business, or speaking. If you fall into this category, here are ten things you should avoid like the plague:

1. Waiting to see what happens: Often authors will put stuff out there and wait. They'll wait to see if it works, wait to see what comes back, or wait to see what kind of sales they make. Authors often tell me this, too when they hire us. "I'm going to wait till your work is done before I market." Why do they do this? Sometimes they want to measure the effectiveness of what we've done which I totally get. But it's just not a good idea to wait, at least not in this climate. You should keep working, whatever you can do.

2. Feeling like you have to do everything: You don't. Yes, I know it often feels like you need to do everything. There are social media sites calling your name, blog posts to be written, book events to attend, blogs to read. There's a lot that you can be doing but focus on what you should be doing and, to that end, make sure you're doing the right things. Spend your time wisely. Don't get distracted by the latest big social media craze. If you can't be on both Goodreads and Library Thing then pick one. You're better off being in one place and having a solid presence there than just dabbling in networks. Dabblers typically don't make sales.

3. Not putting out enough content: The reason that it's important to pick your battles in social media and marketing is not just because of the "dabbling factor" but also because you have to create content. Lots of it. Blog posts, Twitter updates, YouTube videos, engaging pins on Pinterest, and the list goes on. Creating content can be a full time job if you let it, but there are hundreds of articles out there that can teach you simple ways to create helpful, engaging content for your readers. Good content is the single biggest driver of audience attention. Don't have time to create content? I was listening to a talk by Gary Vaynerchuk on social media and content. Someone asked him, "But what if someone doesn't have time to create a lot of content?" He smiled and said, "Then you shouldn't be doing this." I couldn't agree more.

4. These rules don't apply to me: I was doing a series of speaking events recently and after I was done, an author came up to me and told me about his book. I asked him what he was doing to promote it, he said: nothing, really. Not because he didn't have the time, but he felt that his topic was such a hot trend, he didn't need to. This might be the worst mistake authors make and the most frequent. The basic rules of marketing today do apply to you. I don't care if you are somehow connected to someone who is famous, writing about someone who is famous, or slightly famous yourself. If you don't work for it, the results will still be the same: crickets.

5. Not staying on top of trends in your industry: The basic idea here is that you stay on top of not just your industry, but the industry you're in, too. That is: publishing. Why should you stay on top of what's going on in publishing? Because the trends might affect you. Let's say you have a book you want to put out and because it's short, you figure it's not substantial enough to warrant publication. Guess what? If you'd been staying up on trends you'd know that for a variety of reasons short is the new long. Thanks to consumers who want quick bites of information and things like Kindle Singles, consumers love short. I just published a book called How to Sell Your Books by the Truckload on Amazon.com. Every single email I've gotten back from readers is that they love it because it's packed with information, no frills and, most of all, short.

6. Lack of engagement: If someone (a reader) writes you a note or an email, are you responding to them? Often times the answer to this is no, which surprises me. Reader engagement is crucial, not because you need to be polite (didn't your mother teach you that?) but because in an age where bloggers are inundated with review copies and review space is shrinking, guess who will be your next best ally? Yes, your reader. Engage with them, thank them but most of all, respond to them.

7. Waiting till the book is done to launch the website: This is one of my favorites actually. Well, not really. I speak with authors all the time who are a week away from having a book and have no website. "It's coming," they tell me. When? I ask. The answer is often, "Oh, when the book is out." That's about three months too late. Now, granted, sometimes this can't be avoided, I totally get that. Delays happen. But in 90% of the cases when I hear this, it's because the author didn't know that it can take months (and in some cases years) to get traffic to a website. Start early and the minute the site is up, start blogging, too.

8. Being in a rush: A few weeks ago I got an email from an author who asked me for my recommendations on a publisher. I told her and the next day she emailed back and said, "I got so excited that I just uploaded it. I didn't have it edited but that's ok, I still have a book!" Well, I'm not sure of that. Ok, yes, you still have a book but in the long run, did this really benefit you? She said she was using this book to promote herself. Let me ask you this: would you send a potential employer a resume that wasn't edited? Likely not, right? Yet many authors have published books that aren't edited, either. While I know there are a lot of options for publishing and a lot of very quick ways to get your book "out there" fast is not always good, sometimes it's just fast. If you just want a book for family and they won't judge you on your horrible editing, then go ahead and rush to publish. But if you want something that you can be proud of, that's going to help you build your platform, don't rush. Just because you can publish quickly, doesn't mean you should.

9. Ask for what you want: I was speaking with a group of authors recently and there was an author in the crowd who said that every book event she does always has a great turnout (lucky her!). I asked her how she was using these events and she looked at me sort of confused. "What do you mean?" she asked. I told her that with that kind of a turnout, she should be signing folks up for her mailing list and then following up with them (think reader engagement). I asked her what she really, really needed for her book. She said she needed more reviews. I told her to ask her readers for help. "You can do that?" she asked. You bet you can. Readers really do want to help authors they love so let them and tell them. Whether you're doing live events, online promotion or whatever. If you want reviews for a book ask your readers. I have an author who, every time someone writes her about her book, she will thank them and ask them to review it. Almost all of them do this. It's a fantastic way to build your reviews on Amazon. Because of this she now has hundreds of reviews on Amazon. Wouldn't you like to have that? Just ask.

10. Wanting to make a fast buck: With all the news around eBooks and the money some authors are making in this industry, it's tempting to think, "Hey, I need some cash, let me publish something." But as with any industry, these stories are the exception, not the rule. Yes, many authors are doing very well but they're also working on it every day. This isn't a "set it and forget it" type of market. You can't just throw content out there and wait for the sales to roll in but you'd be surprised how many people do this.

I often find myself telling authors that "publishing is a business" so much I feel like I should get it tattooed to my forehead (and what a conversation piece that would be!). But the reality is that it is and, though many who are reading this will feel like this article is written for beginners, that's not true. I've seen authors who have spent years in this industry, struggling for success because they keep making the same mistakes over and over. 

Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com

Book marketing - The Proactive Author Wins

FORMULAS FOR MARKETING SUCCESS!

I asked four book marketing gurus, all of which have catapulted books to the #1 spot on Amazon.com, to write formula that summarizes their secrets. The experts are Kathleen Gage, Nikki Leigh, Penney Sansevieri, and Carolyn Howard-Johnson.

I specifically asked the experts not to write any detailed explanations. The reason for this is that any explanation would be a book length response. In fact all the experts have written extensively on the subject in books, newsletter, blogs and articles.  I was really looking for a simple, bottom line equation that would summarize their basic approach to book marketing success—something that could even be put on a vision board, taped to the computer and stuck on the fridge.

The notion that if an author publishes their book readers will flock to buy it is a myth.  All marketing experts agree that the real work only just begins before the ink is dry and, actually, should begin well in advance of publication.  According to Bowker, U.S. book production alone is around 300,000 titles/ year or close to 6,000/week, (Worldwide the number is around 1 million titles). For some 90% of all titles, the average number of books sold each year, by title, is less than 100.  Clearly, if an author wants to have any kind of sales at all, something more is required than just having the title on Amazon.

Assuming you have a well written book and that there is truly an audience, or niche, for your title, how do you rise from the murky depths of that 90% well?  When you look at the following formulas, I think you will see that simple is best. By simple I do not mean little work, I mean that the way to book sale success is not complex, but it does require vision, determination and constant work. Here is what KATHLEEN GAGE has for her formula:

Desire + vision = success

Opt in list + online marketing = book sales

Bonus offers + opt in box = Subscribers and buyers

Passion + excellence = success

As both a writer and promoter of the conscious use of the Law of Attraction, Kathleen’s use of words like desire, vision and passion are near and dear to my heart. If an author is not passionate about their work, either fiction or non-fiction, chances are they will just end up with a book that sits in the dusty “no sales rank” category on Amazon. What does she mean by ‘opt in list’ and ‘bonus offers?’ My suggestion is to look at the contact information and ask her!

Kathleen Gage works with spiritually aware speakers, authors, coaches and consultants who are ready to turn their knowledge into money making products and services.

 P.O. Box 551, Pleasant Hill, OR 97455 (1.541.654.0426)

http://www.kathleengage.com, http://www.themarketingmindset.com

http://www.dailyawareness.com

NIKKI LEIGH’s approach is a bit different. She says, “Authors and Any Other Business People — Yes, authors are business people. They created a product and offer it for sale - that's a business.  There are many authors who, and rightfully so, see themselves as artists and not businesspeople.  To some, the mechanics of selling a book is to be left to the business agent.  Okay, that may be fine if you are a proven NYTimes bestselling author, but I do not think that the vast majority of authors travel in those circles.  So, if you want more than just seeing your book in print, an author must become a businessperson if they want sales.  Nikki says, “I like to focus on the online opportunities for authors and businesses, so a formula I recommend includes:

Start by offering a high quality product + effective and consistent blogging + utilizing the internet to build your brand and credibility + consistent and targeted social media and Web 2.0 interaction + reaching out to the right target market = Getting your quality product or service in front of the people who need and want what you are selling

I love the product side of the equation because it hits at the heart of the matter and is something that we at All Things That Matter Press stress: get your book in front of those who need or want what you are selling.  I am constantly amazed at how many authors do not even begin to put together a web site or blog until after their book is published.  Most marketers tell authors that if you can start pushing even a year ahead of publication that is not too soon. In fact, it takes at least a year for anyone to know that you exist.  Building a credible presence on the internet is not an overnight process, especially since every week that goes by, 6,000 new authors add their pages to the search engines.  Further, some authors might think that these types of efforts only apply to non-fiction. Well that is fiction! Any novel worth reading has some kind of message and there are those who need and want what you have to say.  If you do not believe that, then why write at all?

To see more about Nikki and her approach to marketing, visit the following:
Book Promo 201: Harness the Power of the Internet with Web 2.0 and Social Media Marketing
Follow Me on Twitter - www.twitter.com/litekepr
Promotional Services - www.bookpromotionservices.com
WE Magazine - 101 Women Bloggers to Watch for 2009

PENNY SANSEVIERI offers several additional elements to the success formula. She says, “So, in my view there are a few things. First off, it's consistency. Whatever you do, be consistent in your communication. So often authors get weary of their campaigns or impatient for results so they change messages, focus, whatever - before the other direction has a chance to launch or get lift off. I predict that in an age of media coming at us from every direction, consistency of message will be what sets us apart. Then, it's persistent - so whatever you do, keep doing it. It's the long runway of promotion. Often it can take a while to get lift off.

Finally, authors need to know how to harness inbound marketing. It's not about being on Facebook, Squidoo, Twitter or YouTube and keeping folks there, it's about bringing them back to the author's website. Then, on the website—author's need to spend some money on this. Don't design your own site or cut your own hair :) two must-never-dos for sure. For example, we just had our site redesigned - in 24 hours it quadrupled in conversion rate, meaning that folks who land on the site are doing something: signing up for the newsletter, requesting a consult. Frankly, since the site has been launched it's been like drinking from a fire hose. All sites should be like this. The site must work for you otherwise all the work you do is a bit wasted.

So what is Penny’s formula?

consistency of message + persistency of the author + understanding and managing your inbound marketing campaign + a website that works for you = success

Penny C. Sansevieri, Adjunct Instructor NYU
Author Marketing Experts, Inc.
http://www.authormarketingexperts.com, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/penny-c-sansevieri

Office: 858/560-0121 Hotline: 619/808-BOOK
Listen to the Publishing Insiders on BlogTalkRadio

In a way, Carolyn Howard-Johnson sums much of this discussion very nicely. Her formula is:

marketing = marketing = marketing > learn from other industries

She adds, “I like it because I think authors often think, Oh, that's for big business, not me.”  The scenario goes something like this:

You have a desire and vision that must be marketed

You have a quality book and brand that must be marketed

You have a consistent message that must be marketed

Marketing is not a dirty word! There is probably very little in your life that is not there due to marketing.  Let’s face it; even your spouse or life partner is there because you marketed yourself as being someone worth spending time with.  Carolyn also points out that authors should learn from the success of others.  Why are some authors’ campaigns very successful and others not?  Why does one product catch the consumers’ attention and the other fades to oblivion?  Authors can learn from those who successfully sell their books and adapt those techniques to their own efforts. You can also borrow from the success of any product.  Perhaps the right logo, a good sound bite, phrase, or proper niche effort is what makes a product a success.

Carolyn Howard-Johnson
Instructor for the renowned UCLA Extension Writers' Program  
Web site: http://www.HowToDoItFrugally.com
E-mail: HoJoNews@aol.com

Award-winning author of the HowToDoItFrugally Series of Books for writers, including USA Book News' award winners
The Frugal Editor http://budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor
The Frugal Book Promoter http://budurl.com/FrugalBkPromo
Blogs for Writers:http://www.SharingWithWriters.blogspot.com ,
http://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com ,
http://www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com

Does all of this imply that only authors with big budgets can have a high sales ranks and numbers?  Not at all.  In fact, so much can be done for nothing, or with minimal expense, in this day of instant information access.  You just have to know how to do it and hopefully, the above formulas will set your marketing efforts in the right direction.

 

If you don't do this...By Kathleen Gage

If you don't do this, you are not serious about marketing your book
by Kathleen Gage

YOU ARE INVITED TO ASK QUESTIONS VIA THE COMMENT SECTION OF THIS BLOG-KATHLEEN WILL BE AVAILABLE TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTIONS THROUGHOUT THE DAY, 2/20

Ask most authors why they write and they will likely tell you it is respond, “To make a difference.” Regardless of whether they are fiction or nonfiction authors, something drives us to get our message out.
Unfortunately, a great many authors will never have more than a handful of people reading their works other than family and friends. This is directly related to their lack of knowledge and understanding of their need to promote their own books.
Prior to all the choices available due to the Internet and Social Marketing the greatest limitation in marketing was time and money with money being at the top of the list for most authors.
Because of Social Marketing what is possible is far easier and much less costly than ever before. One would be foolish not to take advantage of even a few resources available literally at their fingertips. A few minutes a day of focused online marketing effort can increase your visibility and book sales in leaps and bounds.
In the past one plus one equaled two. In the world of online marketing this is not at all the case. Online one plus one equals lots of other ones who are spreading the word for you with the press of a button. That is, if they like what they see and if they believe what you have to say is worthy of their button pushing.
Although very much talked about, Social Marketing is also very misunderstood. Take Twitter for example. Lots of authors don’t bother with it at all because they have no clue as to the real (and far reaching) benefit.
Truth be told, there are many trains of thought regarding exactly how to use twitter. Recently, I attended one of the top Internet marketing conferences where a main topic of conversation was social marketing. Not only did I have the opportunity to share the platform with experts like Willie Crawford, Jeff Herring, David Perdew, Denise Wakeman, Lynn Terry and Kevin Riley, I also sat in on a few sessions as a student.
If the names I mentioned aren’t familiar to you, a quick google search will show you just how knowledgeable these experts are in the areas of Internet and Social marketing. Each brings a wealth of information to the table. While one expert said, “I use Twitter to connect with people and be very casual without any overt promoting,” another expert said, “I overtly promote on Twitter and it works for me.” Who’s right? Actually, both.
The one who overtly promotes has such an incredible following that people know him, like him and trust him to the point that they look forward to his promotions.
As an author you might be wondering what this has to do with promoting books. Actually, everything. And here’s why. With Social Marketing you have global reach to potential readers. However, to make your efforts worthwhile, you must be strategic in what and how you use the Internet.
Blogs are the hub of what your social marketing efforts should include. From there, everything else feeds into your blog. You can build a wonderful following with your blog by writing and posting short articles, post excerpts from your books, put book trailers for your fans to enjoy and much more.
In that the blog is the hub, the idea is to drive every other part of your Social Marketing position back to a specific location like your blog.
Here’s how it works. Say you post your book trailer on YouTube. You then use the embedded code from your YouTube video in a blog posting. Once you have the blog posting done you do a tweet about the video with the permalink in the Tweet so that you are driving readers back to your blog.
You can also take the blog permalink and post on your Facebook wall to drive people back to your blog. If you belong to groups in Facebook, you can post a short note about the video with the permalink driving people back to your blog.
To optimize your YouTube position, be sure to put the permalink from your blog posting at the beginning of the video description. Use the http:// at the beginning of the link so it is live. This way, with one click readers are right back at your blog.
This is a process that can be done in literally 15 to 20 minutes a day. To really gain visibility for you and your books, add this to your daily activities. Within a very short period of time you will definitely see an increase in your blog traffic.
Your blog must be optimized in order to gain the greatest benefit when someone visits the location. Set it up in a way that people know what the blog is about, that you are the owner, and some way for them to subscribe to your blog. Without these essential elements you could miss readers for future books you write. Miss readers, you miss buyers.
About the author
Kathleen Gage is an Internet marketing advisor who works with spiritually aware speakers, authors, coaches and consultants who are ready to turn their knowledge into money making products and services. Find out how you can learn from Kathleen on how to become more visible and sell more books using the Internet through her Street Smarts Marketing VIP Club at http://tinyurl.com/y8jokrz


PART II

Attention authors! Sell more books for less by utilizing Internet systems
By Kathleen Gage

If you’re like most authors you have a very important message you desire to share with as many people around the globe as possible. Unfortunately, many authors never sell more than a handful of books because of one primary reason; marketing and promotions of your book.

I have been an author for many years and I can assure you, hands down, a well planned and well executed online promotional campaign can open up incredible opportunities both in the short term and the long term.

Below is some essential information regarding what you can do to begin your book launch.
Online book launches can be a springboard into other opportunities such as additional product development, speaking and consulting jobs and increased expert status.

There are three phases to a successful campaign

Phase I Pre launch preparation
Phase II Launch
Phase II Post launch

Checklist of what you need to do to launch your campaign

Create a budget for your launch
Select the date of the launch
Complete your book before the launch date
Register your book with Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble.com
Secure Joint Venture Partners
Secure appropriate, high value bonuses
All web design work done
Copy write various pieces of information for the campaign
Automate your process
Develop a backend plan for multiple streams of revenue
Take time before your book is published to plan your book launch. The more thought you put into marketing and promoting the book, the more likely it is that you will have a hugely successful book on your hands.

About the author

Kathleen Gage is an Internet marketing advisor who works with spiritually aware speakers, authors, coaches and consultants who are ready to turn their knowledge into money making products and services. Find out how you can learn from Kathleen on how to become more visible and sell more books using the Internet through her Street Smarts Marketing VIP Club at http://tinyurl.com/y8jokrz

MARK YOUR CALENDAR: 2/20

If you don't do this, you are not serious about marketing your book
by Kathleen Gage

The above topic will be a guest blog posted on Saturday, February 20th.

Kathleen will be available to answer any questions you might have via the comments section of the blog.

We hope you will all stop in and participate in this marvelous marketing session.

Please feel free to post this announcement and invite others to come on by and participate.

MARKETING TIPS FROM AUTHOR JOHN GORMAN

At ATTMPress we have a Yahoo group just for our authors. The group has become a family of sorts where they share marketing ideas, book reviews and connections. Not too long ago, we posted an article about 'author platforms.' John Gorman, author of SHADES OF LUZ, posted an excellent response that we feel can be shared with all authors. Here is what john said:

"I think I keep reevaluating the concept “Author Platform” in my head. To me, it’s much like the process of revision. I might get off to some good starts with my prose, but after while, after I have really looked it over, I realize boy does it need work. Only after the blood sweat and toil (the polishing) does the story take shape.


Building a platform takes a lot of work, but there’s a smart way to approach it. I have a much better idea of how to put one together now. But, I can guarantee the launch of my second book will not be nearly as good as the launching of my third book. Okay, so I think I am parroting a bit of what Phil says when he mentioned in the first post that building a readerships takes time. Indeed. I think I hit my wall a month ago. I went on a bloodless campaign to enlist all my former classmates, co-workers, I even reached out to family which showed my desperation or exuberance. It paid off, but it was a one-trick pony. The moment you lighten up everything comes to halt. But you can’t keep at it 24/7. Actually, it’s more like you need to be at it 35/8. In order to do that you need leverage. People who can spread the word for you.


Without a doubt, I was late to the blogosphere, book club circuit, and lit communities. Honestly, I thought it would be much easier to line up readings. It turns out venues I had read at before, places I was counting on reading at again couldn’t find spots for me even after I had given them head’s up. The readings I lined up came from new areas. Important lesson learned. Get used to cold calling and exploring new places. Also, expect setbacks.


I learned that one can list readings for free in Poets and Writers Magazine http://www.pw.org/calendar. A pretty awesome thing with a large national readership. Also, that you can get grants to fund your readings but this needs to be done in advance. http://www.pw.org/content/funding_readingsworkshops


Another thing I regret not doing sooner was approaching bookshops. When I had a little pushback from a few indie shops I decided to focus online. Good. But, if I stuck with it I would have bound the St. Mark’s and Bluestockings that were pieces of cake and very receptive. A lesson in it’s all a numbers game.

Once I had my blog, Facebook, and Twitter a-going I focused there. I rode a short wave of interest from Pacific University, where I studied for my MFA, and then was lucky enough to get some old elementary classmates into the John Gorman the author movement.


Big Publishers spend budgets and have a lot of lead time to get their book into the market. Small Fries need to think critically and leverage whatever resources they have. Here’s something I still haven’t done because I am a lousy procrastinator, but I am making it a top priority for the New Year. I am going to podcast readings and author Q and A's. You’ll notice whether it’s the New Yorker, Poets and Writers, A Public Space, or the myriad of journals and writers out there, and especially the established ones, they are all keying into the wired world.


Kindle is going to be a priority for me too. Also, I intend to release a single short story through Amazon. That’ll be another title under my name. This is all small potatoes but it builds a cumulative effect. I also want to get better acquainted with my local libraries. That seems like a no-brainer. I think there’s a lot of great stuff out there, but one needs to put together a master checklist of the things that ought to get done daily, weekly, monthly. You need to keep putting yourself back on track."



Check out the modern day Don Quixote
http://www.shadesofluz.com

Paper Cut: Blog that covers lit, pop culture, and all the cracks in between
http://jgpapercut.blogspot.com

Follow me on Twitter
http://twitter.com/Wonderboy33


Thanks for sharing these insights, John. The world of books and marketing is changing dramatically. Our authors are exploring and sharing some great insights and ideas that will bring them into 21st century marketing.

INCREASE YOUR PRESENCE ON AMAZON

Please review the following information as it can be beneficial to your Amazon sales. At the bottom of this page there is a link to AuthorCentral. I would advise that you sign up-it is free!

If you go to http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001JOVPOG you will see my personal page at Amazon. Click any book, and if you scroll down-you will see my photo and a link to my bio. All of these things are picked up by Google and increases your internet presence and this is what this tool is all about-increased presence and sales!

Subject: Amazon.com Author Central Update - August 18, 2009
Hello,

We are excited to let you to know about a simple but important change that will help many more Amazon customers find Author Pages and Author Blogs and learn more about you and your work.

In short: We now link to Author Pages from book detail pages on Amazon. A new feature called “More About the Author” can be found right under the Product Details section on book detail pages. Examples below:

http://www.amazon.com/Skeletons-at-Feast-Chris-Bohjalian/dp/0307394964/

http://www.amazon.com/Family-Man-Elinor-Lipman/dp/0618644660

http://www.amazon.com/Goth-Girl-Rising-Barry-Lyga/dp/0547076649

This is a simple and perhaps obvious feature. But it’s also one that many authors asked us about, so we wanted to tell you the good news as we rolled it out. We thought it also might be a good opportunity to share a bit about what we’ve been doing with Author Central and what to expect from us in the coming weeks and months.

At Amazon, we’ve made our goal to give authors a more prominent “customer-facing” role within our store. This will not only be helpful and fun for Amazon customers, but we love the idea of enabling authors to better promote themselves and their work and to reach both fans and new readers. In pursuit of this goal, we think Author Pages is a great new feature. They are further improved by the data you contribute via Author Central. So why wait to launch “More About the Author”? And what about features like Author Blogs?

When we build something new at Amazon, we often introduce it in a “soft” way at first, allowing us time to work out some kinks before we increase its prominence within our store. Over the past few weeks, we’ve had the chance to find and fix any number of bugs, many of which you told us about (We’re not done, of course, so please keep the feedback coming!)

As we’ve improved Author Pages, we’ve steadily made it easier to find them. For example, a few weeks ago we made them easier to find in search. We also added a link from author names on detail pages (take a look right under the book title on a detail page – hovering over a hyperlinked author name will yield a link to the relevant Author Page). “More About the Author” is another step forward as we methodically increase the prominence of author information across our store.

Of course, there’s still so much to do – we have many new features in the works, including improvements to what you see already. For example, we want to allow customers to navigate from Kindle detail pages to Author Pages the same way they do from detail pages for physical books. Also, the current “More About the Author” feature is extremely simple -- it doesn’t yet do “smart” things like link directly to fresh Author Blog content. We expect to add both of these features in the coming weeks. (If you’re wondering about the change from the “old” Author Blog feature, the simple explanation is that the previous implementation proved a relatively inefficient use of detail page space. We want those pages to be as tuned as possible to selling your books –we think our new implementation will not detract from that goal while still exposing your Author Blog content for interested customers.)

So stay tuned and thanks for your patience and support while we keep improving the beta version of Author Central. Contact us any time at: https://authorcentral.amazon.com/gp/help/contact-us.


Best regards,

The Amazon Author Central Team
http://authorcentral.amazon.com

KATHLEEN GAGE TELESEMINAR-BECOMING A BESTSELLER!

Add Kathleen Gage to the mix with Nikki Leigh and Carolyn Howard-Johnson and authors should have all of the tools they need to help sell their books. I just got this email and felt authors would be smart to have a listen.

One of the greatest mistakes an author (or soon to be author) can make is to believe their book will fly off the shelf into the reader's hands with no marketing effort at all. Somehow, someway people will hear about their book, everyone and their brother and sister will buy it because of some magic dust and they can live happily ever after. STOP! This is not the way it is.

The truth is, most authors experience so much frustration because their book never sells more than a few copies; they lose money on the book and their dream of countless numbers of people reading their book remains just that...a dream!

There are other authors who make money on each and every book they write, sell thousands of copies and have the satisfaction of knowing lots of people are enjoying their writings.

The distinction of the author selling lots of books is they have taken full responsibility around the marketing of their book(s).

Which best describes you? The magic dust author or the realistic author who knows you don't have to be a starving artist to be a great writer?

If you want to be an author who not only sells your books, but sells lots of them, join me on August 20, 2009 for my bonus teleseminar How to Become an Online Bestseller.

To have your spot reserved all you need do is get my report by the same name.

http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/bestsellerreport.htm

This is going to be an informative, fun and lively teleseminar. You will learn more in one hour about using the Internet to market your book than most authors learn in years of research.

You will learn the exact formula of how I sold over $23,000 worth of my book, The Law of Achievement, in a 24 hour period. And how the book became an online bestseller. And...how doors opened that otherwise would not have because of the visibility I got from the sales of the book.

If you're among those who want to take full responsibility for your destiny as an author this session is for you.

Go to
http://kathleengage.com/
For more info from Kathleen!

GET YOUR BOOK MARKETING 'HOJO' WORKING!

ANOTHER BOOK MARKETING GURU, CAROLYN HOWARD-JOHNSON, has offered more tips on marketing your book. If your book is on idle, perhaps it is time to look at other ways to promote and market. As Carolyn clearly says, marketing is not a 'one shot' activity. This may be a bit corny, but if you do not put in the time, you will not make a dime. Again, there are many great links in this blog to follow and if you want your book to be a success, there is no time like the present. I have used Carolyn's books in my own marketing efforts. They work!

In terms of promotion it matters not a whit who publishes your book, you, dear author, must learn to promote it if you want to give it a fighting chance on the freeways of commerce. If your name isn’t King, Grafton, Oates or Bradbury, forget a free ride. Even famous names like these once paid their promotion dues and some still are. John Grisham’s story about selling books—store to store, person to person, out of the trunk of his car—is legend, if not letter-perfect true.



Further—and this is the more vital part of this message—no matter how big the budget or adept the publicity and advertising department of your publisher, there are some things they cannot do as well as you can. They, after all, are the publishers. For the public, the magic is in the author’s name, her smile, her story, her signature.



It is said that business and art don’t mix. Actually they mix very well. The chances of success for artists who are natural promoters (Think Warhol. Think Dickens.) grow incrementally compared to artists who prefer to remain cloistered.



The reasons that authors tend to fail at promotion are two-fold. They think they must only show up at bookstores with a good pen because that’s all that is expected of Hilary Clinton or J.K. Rowling. They may be frightened by the magnitude of what they suspect they must do to give birth to this book of theirs—their baby—and so they dig in their heels and go into a severe state of denial.



My HowToDoItFrugally series of books for writers (www.howtodoitfrugally.com) addresses both groups. Unfortunately authors often don't hear about the need to promote until it is too late or nearly too late for their books. That almost happened to me. And that is the reason I wrote THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER: HOW TO DO WHAT YOUR PUBLISHER WON'T. I should have added or CAN'T. There just isn't that much profit built in the sales of book these days. It troubles me because now there are books out there--mine and others--that teach authors to market their book for very little money. The cost of a book should not be too much for a writer to invest in the future of his writing career.



THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER will lead you up the publicity rungs of the publishing ladder. You’ll learn what you might do before your book is published, what you must do soon after it is published and beyond. Consider everything offered in the book, as if you were testing desserts at a smorgasbord; then select what suits your book, your personality and your pocketbook.



You will need to know how to write and assemble a media kit, write a great media release (please call them media releases, not press releases!), how to write a great query letter so you can ask (and get!) reviews. You should have a Web site, and a blog. A newsletter is also a good idea. And this is just for starters.



To do all of the above things, you'll need to know how to build a contact list. Without a list of your personal contacts, your fans (as your popularity grows) and the media, all else is to little or no avail. Marketing is not a one-shot thing. You, the author hold the future of your book in your hands. No matter how much your publisher or publicist or anyone else loves your book, they will not love it as much as you do. So, why would you neglect giving it a great start in life?



When you finish THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER you’ll know what it took me—with a publicity background—three years to learn. Publicity for authors is a specialized arena of public relations. I tripped and fell into many PR potholes; negative experiences can be good teachers but learning from a book like this is less painful.



THE FRUGAL BOOK PROMOTER is not a text. It contains many opinions—some as black and white as the page you find them on. You may also notice omissions. I avoided topics that have been covered ad infinitum and for which I have nothing new to add but you will find some new (or rarely used) ways to promote that have not been scorched, stirred and then warmed over.



I hope you'll learn what you can and do what you can. Give your publisher a break. At a very minimum, the two of you are partners. Know that the publishing world is not operating with the same ground rules they did even a couple decades ago.



The good news is that THE AUTHOR is in charge of his own career these days.

Award-winning author of the HowToDoItFrugally Series of Books for writers, including USA Book News' award winners
The Frugal Editor http://budurl.com/TheFrugalEditor
The Frugal Book Promoter http://www.amazon.com/Frugal-Book-Promoter-What-Publisher/dp/193299310X/

SUBSCRIBE TO NEWSLETTER, HoJoNews@aol.com.



Blogs for Writers: http://www.SharingWithWriters.blogspot.comhttp://TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com

WEB 2.0-WHAT IS IT AND SHOULD YOU CARE?

I have asked several good book marketing friends to help our authors in their book promotional efforts. Their advice is so good that it should be of benefit to all! Nikki Leigh has become a leading expert in Web 2.0 and offers these insights. readers are strongly advised to follow the links for more great information and book marketing tips.

Web 2.0 – What is It and Should You Care?
By Nikki Leigh

Learn to Sell More Books

An Online Home for Authors Who Want to

Learn to Promote Their Books More Effectively
http://www.learntosellmorebooks.com/

Web 2.0 – it isn’t as complicated as it sounds and it is very beneficial for you to learn more about it. Let me start by saying that you are probably already using Web 2.0, but you don’t know it. Web 2.0 is a term that is being heard more often each day. These are great new options that we have on the internet and they can be very beneficial to you and your promotion.
What is Web 2.0
The simplest definition of Web 2.0 is “any option that gives you the opportunity and ability to interact with others”. Interacting with potential customers is something that should be important to any author or business person that wants to get information out about their product or service.
In the past, we were limited by how much and how easily we could communicate on the internet. Think back a few years ago when only people who knew HTML code could post information online. However, with the arrival of Web 2.0, almost anyone can post content online to share with other people.
This is the biggest difference between Web 1.0 and Web 2.0 -
• Web 1.0 – Webmasters could post content and basically had control of what was available
• Web 2.0 – The general public can post content and has control of what is available
Below are questions to give you examples of Web 2.0 options on the internet.
• Have you posted a video on YouTube?
• Have you watched a video on YouTube?
• Have you read or posted information on a blog?
• Have you listened to or recorded a podcast?
• Do you have a profile page on MySpace, Facebook, Linked or other social networking sites?
• Have you posted pictures on any picture sharing sites on the internet?
All of these are examples of Web 2.0 and many people are already using Web 2.0 technology without knowing it. But, why is this important to your promotion?
Why You Care
Authors, artists, and other business people benefit when they get their message in front of their target audience and when they can interact with potential customers. Web 2.0 gives you many ways to do that. One advantage is that you can reach a worldwide audience if you want. A second advantage is that you can do targeted marketing to reach only the people you choose. This targeted marketing gives you the best chance of making a sale because it gets your message in front of the people who want or need the product or service you want to sell.
Below are some social media and Web 2.0 examples and the benefits from each. The ideas I share here are just some of the ways to use these websites to promote your work. The options are only limited by your creativity. One of the things I love about my work is customizing a promotional campaign for business people and their products or services. There are unlimited ways to do this with Web 2.0.
Facebook – Facebook gives you the opportunity to network with new people. You can search to locate your target audience and then present your product or service through your profile page, various applications, groups and fan pages you can easily create to promote your work. Facebook also offers targeted advertising on their site.
My Space – This site offers the chance to meet new people and network with them. Searches for your target audience are possible on MySpace. Your profile page, bulletins, blog posts, comments, videos, pictures and discussion groups provide opportunities to present your information and to communicate with other people.
YouTube – YouTube is a great place to post videos or promotional trailers about you and the products or services you offer. This is a great opportunity to literally speak to your target audience. There are also tools to get your videos in front of more people. You can comment on videos that attract your target audience to get your name in front of them.
Amazon – People with items on Amazon have many ways to build up a presence on the Amazon website, their sales pages, through a blog on Amazon, submitting ratings and comments – to name a few. I’m working on an e-book to help people increase the effectiveness of their Amazon presence.
Linked In – This website is a great place for business people to network. It is different from MySpace and Facebook, but it provides extensive business information and background for members. You can connect with others, write testimonials, share details about your professional background and much more. An interesting area of Linked In is the “answers” section. It’s a great way to boost your online credibility.
Online Credibility
We’ve all seen and heard about scams on the internet. It’s a great place for people to establish and promote a business, but that also attracts people who want to make a fast buck and who cheat people. That is one reason why it is important to build online credibility. Through the internet, you can network and do business with people around the world, if you want. That distance makes it important to prove your expertise and help potential clients see you have something of value to offer. You can do this through the information you share, answers and comments you post, examples of your work, testimonials and references from past clients and much more.
Use Blogs to Promote
Anyone who wants to promote on the internet needs to have a blog. Having an effective and active blog is no longer an option. A blog gives you the chance to get yourself in front of people who need your product or service, share useful information, stay in touch with potential clients, and more. However, once you start a blog, it is critical to keep it active. Search engines love blogs. This means that you and your information will be in search engines almost overnight. When people are searching for something – the vast majority start with a search engine. They need to be able to find you there.
Virtual blog tours are a great way to utilize Web 2.0 options. In the tours I coordinate, I use blogs, podcasts, radio shows, and any other avenues that I can find to get the word out about a client’s product or service. Your information gets into the search engines right away and is archived so people can find your details long after they are posted.
The internet is a gift for people who want to promote their business, products or services to a small or large audience. There are many free promotional options on the internet that we can utilize. Who you target is up to you, but either way, the internet is a gift that you need to unwrap and dig deeper into the opportunities that it offers.

Nikki Leigh is an award winning and best selling fiction and non-fiction author. She has over sixfteen years of promotional experience. This background has been helpful with her book promotion and her new promotional venture, Promo 101 Promotional Services which offers many online promotional options. Her promotional books - Book Promo 101 and Book Promo 201 lets her share many of the things she's learned. For details about Nikki Leigh, visit http://www.nikkileigh.com. For detailed promotional and virtual blog tour information, visit - http://virtualblogtour.blogspot.com/. She also has a blog where she posts a wide variety of promotional articles - http://promo101tips.wordpress.com/ - check the category list for any specific topics that are of interest to you.

You can see her book on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Book-Promo-201-Internet-Marketing/dp/159431716X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1249135511&sr=1-1

CAROLYN HOWARD JOHNSON OFFERS GREAT TIPS

Carolyn's newsletter for authors is always filled with useful information regarding book promotion. She also has several blogs that are very helpful.

Her newsletter can be found at:
http://www.AuthorsDen.com/adstorage/1713/SharingwithWriters_July_11_2009.pdf

You can get a less formal email version by contacting Carolyn at, Carolyn HowardJohnson"

http://www.SharingwithWriters.blogspot.com, a blog on all things
publishing
http://www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com, all things grammatical and
ungrammatical
http://www.TheNewBookReview.blogspot.com, a blog focused on YOUR reviews
http://www.TheFrugalEditor.blogspot.com, a blog focused on editing,
formatting and craft

FROM HER JULY 12 NEWSLETTER-In the News: The number of members of the American Booksellers Association
(ABA) declined. Their funding has declined, too. Authors who are
emphasizing bookstore sales at the expense of online sales may be making a
big mistake.

LATEST FROM PUBLISHER'S LUNCH

Another Steep Drop in Sales at HarperCollins; Borders Braces for Depressed Spending
Sales at HarperCollins dropped by nearly 20 percent in their fiscal third quarter through the end of March, falling by $59 million to $243 million for the period. The unit swung from adjusting operating income of $29 million a year ago to a $38 million loss this quarter, including a $30 million restructuring charge due to the layoffs earlier this year. The drop in sales is only modestly better than the 25 percent drop-off last quarter.

The publisher is showing an operating loss for the three quarters of this fiscal year of $12 million (compared to profits of $132 million at this point last year.) Revenues for the past nine months of $863 million are 17 percent below the $1.038 billion recorded for the same period in the previous fiscal year.

Overall, operating earnings at parent News Corp. fell by more than half, with results "directly reflect the continuing weakness of the global economic climate."

Elsewhere, new Borders ceo Ron Marshall told a conference in Barcelona that US consumer spending "may be many, many years before we regain the spending levels we enjoyed just last year."

He added, "Our view increasingly is that in certain discretionary categories the total market has shifted down -- depending on the category, by between 15 and 25 percent."

He says Borders is trying to prepare itself for smaller business: "We've worked very, very hard to reduce our permanent cost structure and improve our financial structure so that we could be profitable at that lower level (of consumer activity).
Reuters

ONCE AGAIN-LOOK TO THE INTERNET FOR SALES-SPENDING A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO GET BOOKS INTO STORES IS NOT THE BEST MARKETING PLOY UNDER CURRENT CIRCUMSTANCES-IT MAY NEVER GO BACK TO 'NORMAL!'

WORST OR BEST PUBLISHING MARKET?

Great post on BookMarketing Network on the current state of publishing. read the entire post and comments at:
http://bookmarket.ning.com/profiles/blogs/is-this-the-worst-publishing?xgs=1


"Yes, publishing is an industry in trouble, but as Reidy points out, it's been that way for a long time: "Ever since I have been in the publishing business it has been considered an industry in trouble … you could reliably mark your calendar that every few years the mainstream media would run a big thumb-sucking article signaling the end of our days." Reidy said publishers have met challenges in the past by "adapting to new realities, changing business practices and putting forth their best publishing efforts."

Reidy told PW that "now we have the chance to actually find the reader where they are spending their time-in front of a screen-and cement a relationship with them through e-mail newsletters, viral marketing, mobile delivery and other tools." Yes, yes, and yes!

Publishing as we knew it may be dying ... but if you look at it as simply a way of getting information out to people who want it, publishing will never die.

In fact, looked at this way, now may be the BEST time to publish and be an author.

You just may have to redefine what "publishing" and "being an author" mean. If publishing means only printing and distributing books ... well, that may be in big trouble. But if publishing means "getting information out to people who want it, in the ways they want to consume it, so that a profit can be made"--well, then the possibilities abound!

And if "being an author" means "being enough of an authority that you can garner a following, and serving your followers well by providing truly valuable content that they can consume when and how and where they desire ... then this truly is the best time to be an author."

The old publishing model is broken. But so what? As Reidy said, we can adapt to new realities, change business practices and put forth our best efforts, and we can reinvent what publishing means.

I call it the New Era of Publishing. And I for one am nothing but excited about what can come of it ... because I'm experiencing firsthand the many things that are working.