What does every good marketer really do? He creates relationships. She make friends. When you begin to think of marketing in this way, everything about marketing becomes more fun. Suddenly there is no foreignness, no fear, no feelings of inadequacy. We can all make friends. It's a talent we've had since we were little children. Use it.
Don't do what Harper did with the following testimonials, which are simply way too obvious and salesy. These are just too terrible. I almost hate to reprint them. No author would write a real testimonial like the ones below.
The 2007 publishing schedule includes bestselling fiction author Susan Elizabeth Phillips, who says of the new imprint, "It's about time! HarperLuxe is exactly what I've been waiting for, both as a reader and a writer." She continues, "I'm thrilled to know my books will be published in such a stylish and accessible fashion with the HarperLuxe imprint, and I also know I'll be a devoted consumer. Thanks, Harper, for making life just a little easier for all of us."
I bet she's not been sleeping nights because there wasn't an imprint such as HarperLuxe.
New York Times bestseller James Rollins adds, "Innovation has always been a trademark of HarperCollins Publishers: from the multiple stepback covers of my first book, Subterranean, to the holographic lenticular cover for one of my latest books, Sandstorm. So I was thrilled to hear that HarperCollins is again moving forward to anticipate readers' needs by introducing the new HarperLuxe editions for easier reading, proving again that there is still room in publishing for simple yet progressive improvements." Rollins continues, "HarperLuxe will certainly enhance the comfort of the reading experience for the average person, but it also holds the promise to broaden the accessibility of books to those with compromised vision. Such an innovation is long overdue."
Where has this bestselling author been for the past 50 years? What innovation in using larger print? He cites no other innovation in the new HarperLuxe line. What simple progressive improvements?
Who wrote these testimonials? Pity the poor authors who had these words put into their mouths. Alas.
In a recent Forbes online column, marketing author Jack Trout wrote about his favorite book, Obvious Adams: The Story of a Successful Businessman by Robert R. Updegraff. As Trout notes, "to give you a taste of what Mr. Updegraff writes, here are his Five Tests of Obviousness:"
* The problem when solved will be simple. The obvious is nearly always simple--so simple that sometimes a whole generation of men and women have looked at it without even seeing it.
* Does it check with human nature? If you feel comfortable in explaining your idea or plan to your mother, wife, relative, neighbors, your barber and anyone else you know, it's obvious. If you don't feel comfortable, it probably is not obvious.
* Put it on paper. Write out your idea, plan or project in words of one or two syllables, as though you were explaining it to a child. If you can't do this in two or three short paragraphs and the explanation becomes long, involved or ingenious--then very likely it is not obvious.
* Does it explode in people's minds? If, when you have presented your plan, project or program, do people say, "Now why didn't we think of that before?" You can feel encouraged. Obvious ideas are very apt to produce this "explosive" mental reaction.
* Is the time ripe? Many ideas and plans are obvious in themselves, but just as obviously out of time. Checking time lines is often just as important as checking the idea or plan itself.
To Trout, "Those five principles are worth a thousand books on marketing, mine included."
I just saw the end of this year's ceremony for the Quill Book Awards. Nice production. The show was carried on my local NBC affiliate. It was great seeing a TV ceremony for books.
Well, now that OJ's book has been cancelled, it is still available on Amazon.com. Users there have already voted. They've been tagging the book title with all sorts of judgments, none good. Here are a few of the tags: pathetic, racist killer, boycott, disgusting, shameful, murderer, guilty, repulsive, scum, shame on Amazon, sick, blood money, boycott regan books, evil, liar, killer.
All I know is that I'd hate to have to sell a book with those kind of reviews.
Obviously, few people think that O.J. was really not guilty.
Recently there has been a lot of fuss among booksellers on whether or not they should stock and/or sell O.J. Simpson's new book. All the discussion hinges on free speech. Should potential readers have the right to buy the book if they want to read it? Should a bookstore be able to not stock the book because they disagree with the sugject?
Well, first, bookstores censor all sorts of books so I don't know why they are talking about free speech. Bookstores don't stand for free speech. Not at all. They stand for what they see as good books. If they really stood for free speech, they'd be traumatized every day in selecting which of 6 million titles to fit into their stores. I don't know of any bookseller who is so traumatized.
Second, and perhaps more important, a jury trial determined that O.J. Simpson was not guilty. And our country used to pride itself on a person being presumed innocent until proven guilty. Yet, in this discussion no one has questioned the underlying assumption: That O.J. Simpson is guilty despite a jury finding him innocent.
Now, of course, it's hard to think that Simpson was truly not guilty. Most of us think that the jury erred (and that the prosecutors were incredibly inept). But will anyone else stand up for our jury system? Or will we all drape ourselves with flags and the sanctity of free speech and shout Guilty! Guilty! Guilty! If so, we should do the same for every other man or woman found innocent by a jury -- especially if we disagree with the verdict.
I do think that Simpson was guilty. I don't want to believe that, but if I had been on the jury, I would probably have voted guilty. I say probably because I didn't watch the trial closely and I don't know even half the evidence that was presented on either side.
I cried when Simpson was driving around in a white Bronco. I cried for the lost opportunity of a good life, for the sad fact that many marriages end horribly, for the brutality of many men against women, for the fact that Simpson had been one of my heroes. All of that. I wanted him to be innocent. I came to believe that he was not. So sad.
His new book, from what little I've read about it, is junk. As a publisher, I would never have published it. I would have demanded a true telling of his story. I don't think we got that with this book.
So, it should be obvious to many of you that my thoughts on this subject are jumbled. My emotions certainly mixed. But, still, will anyone stand up and say, "Hey, a jury found this man innocent! Are we to become the new judge and jury, and ignore the due process of the legal system?" Oh well.
Planned Television Arts is now offering a new service to help authors to market their books via the Internet. They guarantee you at least 25 placements on the Internet over the course of a three-month program customized to your book. Here are just a few of the services they offer via PTA Interactive:
* Online Book Tours (using teleseminars combined with Internet tech) * Viral Email Blasts (sending email to ezines and blogs) * Podcasts (develop and record a series of podcasts, distribute via online stores like Audible.com and iTunes.com, and distribute via RSS feeds) * Viral Videos (produce and promote author-related videos for Internet distribution) * Author Blogs (create micro-sites for authors and titles) * Virtual Book Readings (Promote virtual readings via communities such as Second Life) * Placing information on other people's influential blogs, podcasts, and online media sites) * Creating original content for your blog, social networking pages, etc.
Or call Brian Feinblum at 212-583-2718 and tell him I sent you. He'll give you a great deal. You can also email him if you prefer at feinblumb@plannedtvarts.com.
Mike Stewart, founder of http://www.InternetAudioGuy.com, will be giving a free teleseminar on why you should own the right equipment to record your podcasts, create other Internet audio, and put together quality audio and video products that sell for big dollars.
To participate in this teleseminar sponsored by Planned Television Arts, call 620-294-4000 (then press in this code: 222089#) at 8:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, November 16th.
If you miss the call, you can dial the replay line at 620-294-2837 after the call.
Just in case you didn't already know, I love reading Seth Godin's blog. In today's entry, he wrote about the best time to start. After listing twenty standard best times to start, he concluded with: "Actually, as you've probably guessed, the best time to start was last year. The second best time to start is right now."
Personally, I think the best time to start is right now. Or ten seconds from now. But no more than 24 hours from now. Last year is too late.
BookExpo America will be held in Las Vegas, Nevada in 2010 (New York in 2007, Los Angeles in 2008, and New York in 2009). One bookseller from Washington DC strongly disapproved of holding a book convention in the city of sin. Hm, I thought, her comments could easily apply as well to DC, where the expo was held last year. See if you don't agree (I substituted DC for Las Vegas and politics for gambling):
Holding the convention in DC gives "our tacit support to an industry that is corrupt and corrupting. I know that DC is bigger than politics now, but politics is what the hotel and restaurant industry is about and depends on." Having a convention "in a place like DC is inappropriate for an industry that depends on print, books, editorial judgment."
I especially like the part about editorial judgment as it applies to politicians and the comment about an industry that is corrupt and corrupting, which certainly also applies to DC (both Republican and Democrat). I'm a universal disapprover of politics as it is practiced now.
In the coming days, you're going to hear the Democratic leaders continue to assert that voters have chosen the Democratic agenda and have demanded its implementation. Bosh!
It's the same false conclusion as the one George Bush made in 2004 when he said that voters had given him a mandate. Bosh again!
In this election, the voters chose to vote against George Bush, scandals, and the war in Iraq. They did not vote FOR the Democratic agenda. First, every Democratic campaign ad I saw during this election cycle focused on bashing Bush, the war, and Republican congressional leaders. Not one promoted any Democratic platform points. The people voted against the Republicans not for the Democrats.
Are you also sending the wrong message? Are you surviving because your competitor is simply incompetent? Or are people actually choosing to buy and read your books because they truly are the best? Are you gaining sales because your message is getting through or because your competitor's message sucks?
Be sure to be proactive. Know why people should buy your book. State why people should buy your book. Sell them on why your book is the best. Don't settle for sales by default as the Democrats have done.
In his blog today, Seth Godin writes about polite fictions, where everyone agrees to a story so they can go on doing what they are doing.
For instance, many of us like Ben & Jerry's ice cream so we applaud them for all their cleverness and devotion to social causes. But the truth is that ice cream is really bad for us, especially eating too much of it. Eating Ben & Jerry's (or other ice cream) can lead to being overweight, getting diabetes, developing heart disease, etc. But with Ben & Jerry's, as compared to many other ice cream brands, we can feel somewhat good about it because Ben and Jerry are so nice.
Now, if Ben & Jerry really wanted to do some good, they would lead the fight against heart disease (which, if they were honest with themselves, they might actually have a hand in creating more instances).
If they were to embrace true cause-related marketing, they'd get behind and support heart disease research -- AND they would encourage people to eat their ice cream in moderation. They would create an entire campaign encouraging people to watch what they eat. It's hard for them to condemn McDonalds (I don't know if they do) when they are selling high-fat, high-calorie ice cream that can do as much damage as eating at McDonalds.
Of course, with the polite fiction that many of us participate in, we can feel much better about eating Ben & Jerry's than eating at McDonalds. That's why a man can make a movie about McDonalds (Super Size Me) but I doubt anyone would make a similar movie about Ben & Jerry's. They're some of the good guys, while McDonalds is simply a big, evil corporation.
The truth is that both foods are terrible for us in excess, but probably okay in moderation. But try telling that to people who attack McDonalds while happily eating their Ben & Jerry's. Polite fictions, they are a way of life.
What polite fictions are you living with? What have you agreed to ignore?
How does this all relate to book marketing? Well, if you're going to get involved in cause-related marketing, make sure that the causes you support are ones you can live with, ones that lessen the damage you do to your body, your environment, or your society.
For instance, I believe that book publishers and authors should support associations that help to reforest our land or preserve the wild areas that are left. Why? Because books use a lot of paper -- and that, right now, means lots of trees. Until we as a society begin using hemp for paper, book authors and publishers need to support reforestation and nature preservation.
Check out some of the groups I support. I list them all on my website at BookMarket.com.
If you'd like a list of the Top 10 Ways to Get a Technorati Top 100 Blogger to Link to Your Blog or Website, check out Michael Pollack's blog here: Top 10 Ways.
#1 -- What's even better than having your own radio show? #2 -- What key marketing tool did one first-time author use to hit the New York Times bestseller List? #3 -- How can you go on a national book tour for less than $100 without ever leaving your home? #4 -- What's one of the fastest ways to make more as an author (or expert in your field)?
In each case the answer is: Do Your Own Teleseminars!
If you're not using teleseminars, you're missing out on one of the least expensive and most effective ways to market a book (and many other things).
In addition to promoting your books, doing your own teleseminars is also a great way to make big money as an author because you can repackage the info from your book into a series of teleseminars for which people will gladly pay $295 to $2,500.
Free Teleseminar This Wednesday
Ready to learn how to do your own profitable teleseminars?
You're invited tomorrow Wednesday, November 8th for a free teleseminar on: How You Can Use Teleseminars to Sell Truckloads of Books and Make Hefty Profits
On this 90-minute call, you'll hear Steve Harrison interviewing Alex Mandossian, an author and speaker who sells tons of books and does over $1.2 million a year with teleseminars:
To enroll for Wednesday's teleseminar -- which is offered at your choice of two times: either 2 pm Eastern (11 am Pacific) or 7 pm Eastern (4 pm Pacific) go here now: Alex Call.
Be sure to make the call Wednesday because I'm not planning to make recordings of it available any time soon. This may be your only chance for quite a while to learn Alex's methods such as:
* Eight different models to use teleseminars to sell books/products and make buckeroos. * Why hosting teleseminars is even better than having your own radio show and can quickly make you a celebrity in your field. * How anyone with expertise can get started doing profi.table telseminars without leaving home even if you're a total unknown -- all for less than $100. * How Alex sold 1,782 books in a single teleseminar. * The time he made $13,000 from the delivery room at Mt. Sinai Hospital when his son was born. * Why you're lucky to get 10 people at a bookstore signing but Alex has two models for virtual book signings he's used to get almost 1,200 people on the phone and sell tons of books! * The case history of how Alex used teleseminars to help a first-time author hit the New York Times bestseller List. * How Alex has used teleseminars to network with and do business with famous authors including Mark Victor Hansen, Stephen Covey, Brian Tracy and Harvey Mackay. * The small, but important, details most people ignore that can dramatically increase the number of people you get on your calls.
This is a call you don't want to miss. Sign up today to be in on the call: Alex Call.
Meet John Kremer, editor, Bookmarket.com Interview by Anne K. Edwards
Q. What is the history of Bookmarket.com? Is its focus expanding or do you see changes in it in the near future? What url would visitors use?
A. I started Bookmarket.com in 1995, but have been online since 1994. Its focus has always been to provide lots of useful information and resources for use by self-publishers, authors, and independent publishers in marketing their books. Plus, of course, to help sell my books. I do plan to redesign the website but the content will remain primarily the same. The URL continues to be http://www.bookmarket.com.
Q. What is the most popular sections of your sites? Do visitors often contact for other specific information? What would be the most common questions they ask?
A. I honestly don't know what the most popular sections are. I haven't been tracking them. But many search out the resource sections for publicists, book printers, cover designers, distributors, and POD providers.
Visitors often email me with questions not covered by the site. Generally, I try to answer them unless they are too general. Then I send them to my book. The most common question has to do with distributing books.
Q. Are you an author? If so, would you like to tell us something about your books? Do you have any projects under way at the moment you'd like to tell readers about? Where would your work be available?
A. I am an author. All my books are featured on my BookMarket.com website. The book I'm best known for is 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. The 6th edition came out in May of 2006.
All my books, reports, databases, etc. can be ordered via BookMarket.com. Some are also available on Amazon.com and in many bookstores.
Q. What are the most common errors new writers of any genre make? Do you have any advice for them?
A. New writers don't read enough in their own genre. Because of that, they fail to meet the expectations of current readers within their genre. The most successful writers in any genre are fans first, writers second.
Q. How can a new author with a book coming out most effectively market that book? Since most agents prefer established authors and most of the larger publishers do not consider unagented authors, what is the best way to break into getting a book published?
A. The most effective way to market your books today is via the Internet. Even that, though, is a big subject. I devote more than 100 pages to the subject in the new edition of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books.
To get a book published, most authors, especially novelists, need an agent. The best way to get an agent is via referral. The second best way is to target agents who have worked with authors you admire within your genre. For a list of 1400+ literary agents with sample titles they've sold, including more than 300 agents who have sold a first novel in the past two years, see my special report on Literary, Foreign, and Subsidiary Rights Agents at http://www.bookmarket.com.
Q. What do you see as the future of POD books?
A. POD books will only become more plentiful. Indeed, all books may someday be produced that way -- when the economy of POD becomes better established. Meanwhile, POD is currently a wonderful tool for testing the market for a new book and for keeping older titles in print. In addition, POD is great for books that are updated frequently such as John Kremer's Self-Publishing Hall of Fame, which I continually add to.
Q. What do you see as the future of Internet publishers?
A. The future of Internet publishers is extremely rosy. More and more book sales are being made via the Internet. It is an exploding market, especially for smaller publishers, authors, and self-publishers.
Q. Do you see ebooks becoming more popular?
A. Ebooks will become more and more popular. And sell more and more copies, but printed books won't be disappearing for at least another 20 years.
Q. If you were an author of an ebook that would not be coming into print, what would be the main steps you'd take in marketing it?
A. Totally marketing via the Internet, building relationships with webmasters and editors at the top 30 websites for my keywords. I'd work with them to have my content, sales information, and more featured on their websites in an on-going way. All of them would become my affiliates. Etc.
Q. Do you think book reviews and other online promotions help authors connect with readers?
A. Book reviews can help authors connect with readers. Blog and website interviews can do even more.
Q. Do you have any other websites you'd like to tell readers about?
Q. What part in book promotion do you think online radio interview shows have? Will this get better or not in the future?
A. Online radio interview shows so far don't have much of an impact on book sales. That will change as some of these shows begin to build a real audience. Right now, though, there are not enough ways for people to discover these online radio shows.
Q. Is there anything you'd like to tell readers about your work, your site or yourself? I see you are holding a seminar on marketing in New Mexico. Do you have others planned? Do you offer seminars online?
A. I don't offer seminars online at this point, but I will be doing something like that as part of my Kremer 100 Program.
I hold Book Marketing Blast-Off Seminars three or four times a year. I'll be setting up more of these and your readers can find out where I'll be speaking and doing seminars by going to http://www.JohnKremer.org any time.
The 12 Best Ways to Torpedo Your Article Writing Campaign and How to Prevent It by V. Michael Santoro of ProAuthors.com
It’s no secret that article writing is one of the most effective ways to help your online business. A good article writing campaign can help brand you as an expert while improving your search engine positioning. However, there are some major drawbacks if you do it incorrectly:
When people are either in a rush or lack writing skills, they:
1. Post articles that are either too general or poorly written. 2. Write articles for a saturated market without providing anything new, different or original. 3. Do not target a specific niche market. 4. Do not use specific keywords nor optimize their articles for search engine placement. 5. Try to sell a product or service within the article. 6. Have a resource box without an effective call to action. 7. Do not provide a URL in the resource box for text display. 8. Use the same title, call to action description, and link for all their article directory postings. 9. Post the same articles on their website and to the article directories. 10. Post their articles all at once to the article directories. 11. Link their posted articles to their home page instead of a landing page. 12. Simulating originality by using word scrambling programs to rearrange other posted or pre-written PLR articles from membership sites.
If you are incorporating any of the above into your article writing campaign, you run the risk of:
* Your articles getting rejected by the major credible article directories. * Your posted articles not being used by webmasters. * The search engines de-valuing your links because you violated the duplicate content rule. * Being banned by the search engines for spamming your content. * Losing targeted traffic because your text version doesn’t contain your URL. * Losing subscribers because your resource box sent them to your home page. * Losing visitors because your word scrambled articles insult their intelligence and communicates that you don’t care about them.
The solution? Stop working in a vacuum and develop a solid article writing campaign.
The list of action items below will ensure that your article writing campaigns are successful:
1. Select a niche that you know or are willing to learn about. 2. Select a primary keyword phrase to use for each article and two to three related secondary keyword phrases. 3. Review the top 20 websites displayed in Google for your primary keyword phrase to review what content is posted. 4. Visit a few article directories and search for articles using your main keyword phrase. Look for new article topics. 5. Visit blogs and forums associated with your niche and review the postings. Look for questions, problems, and more-information type requests that will make good article topics. 6. Research the answers at the library or visit a bookstore. This will provide you with an off-line perspective and may provide more in-depth information. 7. Make your articles either how-to or problem/resolution oriented. 8. Write a series of articles. Post half to your website and half to the article directories. 9. Post three to five articles to the directories per week. Optimize them for good search engine placement. Also avoid penalties by changing the titles, resource boxes and links for each distribution. 10. Link your resource box to a landing page that captures your visitors’ email address. Then forward them to a web page that pre-sells your product. Both the link and URL needs to be included for HTML and text display. Use the following html format as an example:
HTML version: V. Michael Santoro, a published author and Internet Marketer, provides original Internet book marketing information on his website http://www.proauthors.com. Download your free report on becoming an Authorpreneur.
Text version: V. Michael Santoro, a published author and Internet Marketer, provides original Internet book marketing information on his website http://www.proauthors.com. Download your free report on becoming an Authorpreneur at http://www.proauthors.com/freereport.html.
Conclusion
You do not have to be an expert to write effective articles. Write as if you are writing an e-mail to a friend who is experiencing difficulty and you are sincerely trying to help him or her to solve their problem. This tone will help you to connect with your readers. This is as important as providing them with unique and original content. When planning your next article campaign, use the above techniques to satisfy the search engines; then add your serious desire to help people. This strategy will produce the type of return that you are striving to achieve.
Resource Box
V. Michael Santoro is a published author, Internet Marketer, and creator of the Authorpreneur Program. He provides original Internet book marketing information on his website ProAuthors.com. Sign up for the free Authorpreneur e-zine and receive a powerful PDF creation program as a free gift.
Martin Bertram, author of Vanity of Vanities, sent me a link to his trailer. According to Martin, "This was very inexpensive for me and I think it turned out well. I got a grad student in graphics/animation who needed a project for his coursework to do it for $50, plus I paid $150 for the graphics/3D models, $75 for a voice actor to do the 3-minute voice track, and $50 for the royalty-free soundtracks. All in all it cost about $325."
Now I don't think that his book trailer is the best one I've ever seen. And his voice talent was not talented. Indeed, the narration devalued the rest of the trailer. But, for the price, it was a decent trailer. I'll be interested to get a report back from Martin later on how whether or not the trailer helped him to sell any books.
Book Marketing Expert John Kremer is the author of many books including 1001 Ways to Market Your Books,
The Do-It-Yourself Book Publicity Kit, and many other titles. He also developed the New York Times Bestseller Program to help
authors become bestselling book authors and the Ten Million Eyeballs program on Internet marketing.
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