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.
During a recent teleconference, I suggested to listeners that they might share the ten best reasons to buy their book as a text listing or a video on their website. And then also share the ten reasons why someone shouldn't buy their book. Website visitors are more likely to become buyers if you give them an objective view of your book -- both the pros and cons, why they should buy and why they might choose not to buy your book.
Sister Patricia Proctor made a video giving the two best reasons to buy or not to buy her book 101 Inspirational Stories of the Power of Prayer. You can check out her video above.
I think she does a wonderful job of selling her book even as she tries to give reasons not to buy her book. It's a good exercise for any author to do. It will help you understand why some people choose not to buy your book.
Check out my own list on why you should take my 10 Million Eyeballs Event -- or why you should not at http://www.10millioneyeballs.com.
Kate Nowak, the creator of the May You Be Blessed video, kicked off her movie by emailing it to 10 people. The movie, forwarded on to many, many friends of friends, was seen by 3 million people in the first six months. Her Better to Bless website is now a community of blessers as well as a thriving gift shop.
MTV's 300 websites attracted 90 million unique visitors in December 2007. Their income from the websites exceeded half a billion dollars in 2007.
One of the keys to their success has been to free the content so it is accessible from more than just their own sites. As their president noted, “We need to make sure our content is everywhere our audiences are ... to keep our brands relevant.”
Since its January 2008 debut, the Stuff White People Like blog founded by Christian Lander and Myles Valentin has racked up 22.5 million hits. Lander, the main author of the blog, has just been offered a $350,000 book deal by Random House.
I just finished writing a great sales letter for the 10 Million Eyeballs Events I'll be doing in late April in West Palm Beach, Florida, and in late May in Los Angeles, California (right before BEA). It's a great letter. I think you'll like it.
To promote Personality Not Included, Rohit Bhargava invited fellow bloggers to send him five questions about the book. As part of the offer, he promised that the best interview would win a signed copy of the book and a $100 gift certificate from Amazon. 55 bloggers took him up on his offer.
One blogger, for example, asked for Bhargava's elevator pitch. His response: "Faceless companies don't work anymore. In the social media era, personality matters."
Another asked him if he considered himself a Simon, a Randy, or a Paula (the American Idol judges). He responded, "Definitely Simon, because he's authentic. Authenticity to me means not blowing smoke up people's behind when you think they are stupid."
Still another asked him if the weird little wind-up chickens on the book cover had any significance. Nope. They were simply used to help the book stand out in the business section of bookstores. As Bhargava noted, "Have you seen chickens on any other marketing books?"
Now, the one thing he did not report was the effect on sales. Yes, he got featured in 55 blogs. Neat. But did he sell any books? I just checked his Amazon rank (17,329 as I write this blog post). For a comparison, here's the Amazon rank for 1001 Ways to Market Your Books (with no blog campaign going on recently): 6,599.
So, while some of the bloggers praised his book marketing campaign, he never reported the key stat: how many books did he sell. Alas.
Now, I liked what he did. You might try it yourself to promote your book. But if you do, please tell me how it affected your book sales. That's the key to marketing books. You must sell books.
John Kremer is hosting a two-day live seminar on how to market your books online. This is very short notice. The seminar will be held in Prescott, Arizona on March 29th and 30th (Saturday and Sunday). Times: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. both days.
During this seminar, John will be teaching four insider ways to get five to ten million online impressions for your book, your ideas, your website, or whatever else you want to promote. That simple. I'll teach you the fastest way, a slower way, and a really inexpensive way that doesn't take a lot of time or knowledge to implement. But, if you don't know how to make use of 10 million impressions, this course is not for you.
The above statement is blunt, but realistic. Don't take this seminar if you're not ready to handle that kind of interest. As part of the course, I'll reveal the five best ways to convert that sort of interest into book sales -- lots of book sales!
Please note that the four key ways to reach lots of people online will not include Google AdWords (too expensive), social networks like MySpace and Facebook (too time-consuming), knowledge networks like Squidoo or Wikipedea (again, too time-consuming), or tagging networks (no control). These tools will be discussed, however, in the context of the other quicker, easier, and cheaper ways that will be revealed.
I know this is very short notice, but if you can make this seminar, you will be very glad you did.
This seminar will be very interactive. Bring your computers and online access so you can begin testing John's tips right away. Wi-Fi will be available in the seminar room.
The cost is only $497 for two days of the most intense and useful tips you'll ever receive on how to market your books and services online.
I haven't set the location yet for the seminar, but it will be somewhere close to downtown Prescott, Arizona. If you need to book a hotel or motel in the Prescott area, check http://www.prescott.org/lodging.htm. They have many low-cost motels as well as wonderful slightly higher cost bread & breakfast inns. Prescott is a two-hour drive from the Phoenix, Arizona airport.
John Kremer's Online Book Marketing Seminar
March 29 to 30, 2008 (Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.)
Prescott, Arizona (specific location to be named later)
A reader of this blog brought my attention to the above cover. As she wrote:
"I always enjoy your blog posts about book covers. I came across a wonderful cover for a book called Pocket Psycho. Unfortunately, the book is only available in Australia, but gosh, I'd buy it here in a heartbeat just based on that cover! It so perfectly conveys the feelings of a modern day cubicle worker trapped by a malevolent boss. I thought you'd get a kick out of the cover, as well."
She's right. I did enjoy the cover, especially the image. The typeface on the title -- that I'd change. But I can see why she'd buy the book based on that image.
1495 authors have now joined the Book Marketing Network on Ning. Let's make it 1,500. If you haven't joined yet, do it today. You can add videos, blog, add photos, join in discussions, make friends, network, create relationships, join in joint marketing programs, etc. You can join the network here: http://bookmarket.ning.com.
Here is a music video a young lady added to the Book Marketing Network not long ago. Lovely song. Enjoy:
Here's the second part of Fred Gleeck's article from yesterday. In this article, he lists the seven sins authors make and how you can avoid them. Good advice.
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The most recent data I've seen says that 99% of authors make less than $50,000. Sad but true. Want to find out how to end up in the 1% who make more? Keep reading and avoid these deadly sins that most authors make.
1. Going with a Traditional Publisher. Unless you are a fiction writer, you'll make more money publishing a book yourself. My friend and client Bob Bly has had over 70 books published by traditional publishers. Every time I sit down with him he tells me that if he had it to do over again he would have made a LOT more money publishing the books himself.
2. Not including bounceback offers in your books. Whenever I do a seminar with writers in the room the vast majority don't even know what the word "bounceback" means. That's because most writers/authors/publishers have been taught the traditional model. Sell books and make money from the books. NOT. Use your book to get people to go to your website and sign up for your list. Then you can sell them much higher priced items forever!
3. Worrying about people STEALING your books published in e-book form. If you understand the new publishing model you should care less about people acquiring your e-books without paying for them. Instead, make sure to include a lot of bouncebacks AND make sure to include the following line in multiple places in the book: "Registered users of this e-book are entitled to the following free bonuses." Want to get people to pay for your e-book fast? Include this line and the bootleggers will come running back to pay for what they stole.
4. Not understanding how people learn. Although you're a writer, you'll have to understand that people learn using different modalities of learning. Although someone picked up your book, their PRIMARY method of learning may be by listening (audios) or watching (videos). It thus behooves you to create content in your subject matter in a variety of forms, not JUST the written word.
5. Not building a LIST of people who are interested in your topic. As a writer, your single biggest asset in your publishing business will be a list of dedicated fans of you and your work. Make sure to capture the names of any and everyone you can who visits your website that sells your book. Use a program like WebMarketingMagic to quickly and easily build your list. The list you build will be worth (if properly cultivated) between $.10 and $1.00 per person per month.
6. Sending people to a brochure site to sell your book(s). The line I always use is: A CONFUSED MIND ALWAYS SAYS NO! If you send people to a catch-all site that has every possible bit of information about who you are and what you do, don't expect people to end up buying the book. You've given them too many options. Instead, create a site that sells JUST your book. It's fine to have other sites, but each book must have a single site geared to selling just that book. Full stop. No exceptions.
7. Not understanding that you're no longer a writer, but an information marketer. Sure, you may think of yourself as an author or writer, but if you sell your knowledge in any other form as well, you're an information marketer. Do you do coaching or consulting on your topic? Do you do training and seminars? What about speaking? If you do anything in addition to writing, you, my friend are NOT a writer, you're an information marketer! Behave appropriately! Learn from other savvy individuals how to best leverage your skills and talents to maximize your returns!
In conclusion, the publishing business is changing. Changing rapidly. Don't get stuck using the OLD model. Learn how to maximize your revenue as an author who understands the new challenges. Understand the 7 items above and you're on your way!!
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Fred's advice is something every author should read and apply. It doesn't mean that you have to follow his advice in every instance (I certainly don't), but if you do follow his advice, you'll undoubtedly make more money than if you commit any of the above seven deadly sins. It's your choice: sin or make money.
Whichever choice you make, be sure to do one more thing: Have fun. Enjoy what you do regardless of which way you decide.
The first sessions of my free monthly Q&A teleseminar were held on Wednesday, March 4th. During these sessions, I answered many questions including the most important things for a new book author to do in marketing his or her book, the value of giving away ebooks, how to use Clickbank and other such services, selling books to catalogs and book clubs, selling books as premiums, and much more. You can listen to these two sessions at the following URLs. You can also download the sessions as MP3s for listening on your iPod.
The September issue of Wired magazine featured the work of psychologist Paul Slovic which reveals that we as humans will rush to help a single stranger in dire straits while ignoring the masses who are suffering the same plight.
In one study, Slovic showed a group a photo of a starving child in Mali named Rokia and asked the members of the group how much they would give to help feed her. He then showed another group a photo of two starving children (Rokia and Moussa) and asked them how much they would give. He found that those shown a group of children (two or more) were willing to give 15% LESS that those who were shown only one child.
In another study, he found that people asked to donate money to help a group of dying children gave 50% less than people who were asked to donate to help one child.
How does this apply to marketing books? Simple. If you want people to respond to your the causes in your book, tell stories. But focus the stories on one person. Don't generalize. We do not respond to generalizations the way we respond to the plight of one person.
If you want people to be worried about global warming, don't talk about global warming. Too big. Too hard to grasp. Too hard to figure out how to help. Tell the story of one lone polar bear cub who is losing its home as it melts around him. We will respond to that.
Don't exhort people to be good to their neighbors or, God forbid, to strangers. If you want them to act better, tell them the story of the Good Samaritan. Be specific.
How important is a title? Critical. Indeed, it is possible to sell a book based on the title alone. That's what Cindy and Alan Garner did with their self-published book, Every Thing Men Know about Women. The book was written under a pseudonym, Alan Francis, and is now published by Andrews McMeel.
Why do I know that the title alone sold the book? Because the book had nothing in it except 120 blank pages. Yet the book sold well over 2 million copies!
On Thursday, December 6th, Steve Harrison, publisher of the Radio-TV Interview Report, will be hosting two free 90-minute teleseminars on how you can have ten times more success as an author in 2008. One call will be at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, 11:00 a.m. Pacific. The second call will be at 7:00 p.m. Eastern, 4:00 p.m. Pacific.
The most important New Year's Resolution to make if you want to be a more successful author.
The specific strategy 99% of authors never even consider but which has turned books including The Christmas Box, The Celestine Prophecy, and The Wealthy Barber into major bestsellers.
Why the traditional approach to marketing books is fatally flawed.
A promotional technique which made The Purpose-Driven Life a New York Times Bestseller -- and how you can do it too.
How to become a Million Dollar Author by using the strategies of the top 3% of authors and book promoters.
How to quickly go from feeling overwhelmed and confused to total clarity about your book publishing and marketing strategy.
How you can make a six-figure income from your book even if you only sell 10,000 copies and never appear on Oprah (not that you shouldn't try!).
Would you like to sell more books — a lot more books? If you do, I can show you how! I wrote the book on the subject: 1001 Ways to Market Your Books. For the past twenty years, I've edited the newsletter on the subject: Book Marketing Update. And, also for the past twenty years, I've consulted with some of the top bestselling authors in the country. Who am I? I'm John Kremer. If you want to sell more books, I can show you how!
This seminar is designed to help authors, self-publishers, and regular publishers sell thousands of more copies of their books. All categories are covered, including novels, business books, children's books, self-help, religion, travel, cookbooks, reference books, and more.
Join me at my next Book Marketing Blast-Off Seminar in December, 2007. Here are the details:
Dates: December 7 to 9, 2007, Friday through Sunday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm
Location: Marina del Rey Hotel, 13534 Bali Way, Marina del Rey, California
“Thanks again for a super fantastic class this past weekend! I've taken over 100 classes and seminars and yours was by far the best in all categories: valuable content, organized delivery of content, interesting, value for the money.” — Jill Ferguson, publisher, Truth Endeavors
“You're fabulous. I'll never be the same again. Thank you a million times for the opportunity to hang out and learn from you, and for assembling such an interesting mix of information, people, and pastries.” — Patt Pugliese, publisher, The Pugliese Group
“We are just a bit excited about being nominated for Book of the Year! You know it all started when Denise and Cari took your workshop. Since then we won the Ben Franklin Award for Children's Picture Books. We spent 10 weeks plus on the BookSense bestseller list and for two weeks at Christmas we were #4 putting us ahead of two of the four Harry Potter Books. We have spent 12 weeks on the NY Times bestseller list and have gone as high as #2. We have won the International Reading Association Young Readers Award for fiction. What we are most proud of is that we have raised over $50,000 for wishes for kids and for protecting special places with the Nature Conservancy since the book was released. Thank you setting us off in the right direction.” — Carl R. Sams II, author/publisher, Stranger in the Woods
Seth Godin, in his normal brilliant fashion, describes in today's blog post how viral marketing is different from word-of-mouth marketing. His distinction is important. The two are different. Viral is better. Want to know how?
Here's a hint: "Viral marketing is a compounding function. A marketer does something and then a consumer tells five or ten people. Then they tell five or ten people. And it repeats. And grows and grows. Like a virus spreading through a population. The marketer doesn't have to actually do anything else."
Jack Canfield said, it "changed the way I have lived the past year."
Jay Abraham said, "It is unlike anything anyone has ever exposed me to."
T. Harv Eker said, it will help you "get clear on who you are."
What would your life be like if you were doing what you love, with the people you love, in places you love? It's called a passionate life and, for the first time there is a simple, effective way to discover your passions so you can create that kind of life.
Everyone knows that following your passions is the key to a successful, fulfilling life. Yet, how do you discover what they are? And even if you think you know what you're passionate about, how do you stay on track?
"It wasn't until I took The Passion Test that I realized one of my top five passions ... my mind was blown!" says Dr. Jacalyn Buettner, one of the most successful chiropractors in San Francisco. She made this statement after using this powerful tool to clarify her top passions and then two days later receiving an invitation to fulfill that passion.
The Passion Test is a simple, powerful tool that allows anyone to discover their passions and clarify what matters most to them in their life.
Yehuda Berg of the Kaballah Center is known and respected by hundreds of thousands of people around the world, including Madonna, Guy Ritchie, Demi Moore, and Ashton Kutcher. Yehuda said, "I couldn't put it down. Taking the Test I realized how valuable it was to hear the story..."
This book is a fun, engaging read that may change the way you live your life. And here is one of the best parts:
Now you have the chance to purchase an incredible book, AND to receive a remarkable collection of thought-provoking gifts to help you live a truly passionate life. These gifts feature people like:
- Dr. Wayne Dyer - Michael Dell - Jack Canfield - former President Jimmy Carter - Tony Robbins - Maya Angelou - Robert Kiyosaki - Dr. Christiane Northrup - Jay Abraham - Mark Victor Hansen - James Ray - Byron Katie - John Assaraf
All told, you'll receive more than 40 life-changing gifts when you purchase the book today. To join in this bestseller campaign, click here: http://www.thepassiontest.com .
The Passion Test has transformed the lives of thousands of people throughout the world. The one thing that all the most successful people in the world share in common is, they have followed their passions. What would your life be like if you were fully living your passions? Are you ready to find out?
The Passion Test - The Effortless Path to Discovering Your Destiny is the road map to your passionate life.
P.S. -- Take a look at the gifts you'll receive when you buy this book now. They're unbelievable. And the best part is this book is such a fun, inspiring and useful read, you won't be able to put it down.
Weeks before it was released, it was already a #1 Amazon.com bestseller. Order your copy now and get your own library of transformational gifts by going to: http://www.thepassiontest.com
Note: You can also hear the authors Janet Atwood and Chris Atwood give The Passion Test live and in person at these bookstores:
October 9, 7:30 PM - Boulder, CO - Boulder Bookstore, 303-447-2074
October 10, 7:30 PM - Denver, CO - Tattered Cover Bookstore, 303-470-7050
October 11, 7:00 PM - Phoenix, AZ - Changing Hands Bookstore, 780-730-0205
October 15, 7:00 PM - Chicago, IL - Transitions Bookstore, 312-951-7323
October 17, 7:00 PM - Seattle, WA - East-West Bookstore, 206-523-3726
October 24, 7:30 PM - Los Angeles, CA - Bodhi Tree Bookstore, 310-659-1733
October 25, 7:00 PM - Santa Cruz, CA - Gateways Bookstore, 831-429-9600
October 30, 7:00 PM - Sebastapol, CA - Copperfield's Books, 707-823-2618
November 7 - San Diego, CA - Warwick's Books, 858-454-0347
December 9 - Corte Madera, CA - Book Passage, 415-927-0960
Again, your can order a copy now and get a fantastic library of transformational gifts by going to: http://www.thepassiontest.com .
The above is an incredibly powerful sales letter for anyone wanting to run an Amazon.com Bestseller Campaign. Model it. Check out the sales letter on their website as well. See how many people have partnered with them by offering bonus materials. The last time Janet and Chris ran this campaign, they sold thousands of copies of The Passion Test. Follow YOUR passion today!
Many of you have emailed me and asked whether Steve Harrison is offering a replay of a teleseminar he conducted recently on how authors can sell a truckload of books to one buyer. The answer is no, but he's got something even better to show you.
Steve has created a short video explaining how several authors have sold huge quantities of books to companies like AT&T, Coors, Kellogg's, Proctor & Gamble, Bamberger's Department Store, and Working Woman magazine. They include religious, romance, travel, self-help, food, health and business books. Even autobiographies and memoirs.
These smart authors found companies and organizations that were a perfect fit with their titles.
Or go directly to http://www.SellBooksByTheTruckload.com/?10005 and take advantage of the $1,000 savings for those who attend Steve's boot camp called Sell Books by the Truckload in November. The discount is only good until 6 PM Eastern Time today, September 28th.
Note Steve is offering a money-back guarantee if you aren't completely satisfied after the first day. Just think, if you like the first day, how much more you'll like the entire 3-day event!
Besides Steve and Matthew, I'll also be speaking at this incredible seminar. Plus we'll be inviting some big-time buyers from catalogs, chains, corporations, and other mass markets so you can pitch to them or at least get feedback on how best to approach them -- in their own words!
In a post today, Seth Godin reminded book authors that they should be promoting themselves on Squidwho. Here are the basics of his message:
Authors are brands. Some are billion-dollar brands, some are tiny ones. The web is custom made for authors, but so far, it's largely going unused.
Which brings us to Squidwho. Since we launched it a month ago, people have added more than 7,000 biographies. And most of them, alas, aren't authors. We've got movie stars and politicians and yes, JK Rowling. I wish I had been surprised and had discovered scores of my fellow authors there, but alas, no.
Books aren't the universal medium they used to be, but the industry still ought to be selling more books than we are today. I'm afraid that publishers and authors have embraced a broken system, even though there are tools out there ready to help.
When I set out to build my page on Philip Roth, I discovered some very cool interviews, videos and entries about him. But no one had pulled it all together. No one made it easy to figure out what to buy and why. Forgive me for promoting my own project, but Squidwho just feels right to me. Useful and profitable and easy.
So, here's the challenge. If you're an editor, an agent, a publisher, an author or a fan, go build a page about an author you like. Or yourself. The worst thing that will happen is you'll sell a ton of books and raise some money for charity.
I am the author of many books including 1001 Ways to Market Your Books,
The Do-It-Yourself Book Publicity Kit, and many other titles. I also developed the New York Times Bestseller Program to help
authors become bestselling book authors. I often speak on book marketing,
book publishing, writing, branding, and book and website rights.
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