~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THE BOOK MARKETING EXPERT NEWSLETTER!

A newsletter all about SUCCESSFUL publishing and POWERFUL promotion.

October 16, 2008 Issue #180

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

in this issue

– Note From The Editor

– Learn How to Make News

– Getting into Bookstores

– Mother Earth News magazine

– AME-University: Book Marketing, Publishing, and Internet Marketing classes

– Article Marketing with Videos

– Book Bits and Bites

– How Twitter Can Help You

– Learn to answer questions as ‘Soundbites’

– Top Newspapers Turn to Blogs

– Making the Most of Your Web Images

– Book Review Special on The Publishing Insiders

– Winning Results From the Red Hot Blog Tour

– Now IS the Time to Promote Your Book

– Reader tip: Add Links to Your Email Signature

– How to Buzz Your Book!

– Study Says: Less Spending Over Holidays

– Virtual Author Tour Success Stories

– Reader Tip!

– WHO ARE WE

– ————————————————————

Penny C. Sansevieri, Editor penny@amarketingexpert.com

Welcome to a new issue of THE BOOK MARKETING EXPERT NEWSLETTER.

You are receiving this newsletter compliments of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. To opt out, please scroll down to the bottom of this newsletter.

Note From The Editor

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Welcome to another issue of the Book Marketing Expert Newsletter!

Dear Reader,

We’d like to introduce you to a new member of our team: Earnest Gildon. Based in San Diego, Earnest will support the local San Diego office. Aside from being my fabulous assistant, he’s also a whiz at computers, and when he tethered my blackberry to my laptop so I can get an internet connection no matter where I travel to I knew he was a keeper. Well, I knew before then, but that sort of sealed the deal. Our COO Paula Krapf is a bit worried that with two new male additions to the AME team we’re tipping the chick-vibe balance of a once all-girl company, but little do they know that on the AME retreat we’re planning an all-day Sex and the City fest, with lots of chocolate and cosmos. If that doesn’t bring AME back into the chick-sphere, then nothing will.

The last article I wrote got a lot of response from authors. It would seem that everyone wants to get into New York, well maybe not everyone, but quite a number of you. I got several emails asking me, “Ok Penny, we know we need to market, we know we need platform. What now?” In answer to that question, I’m following up last issue’s article with a new one dedicated to doing local events. This is one step to building and increasing your regional platform and audience base. In the coming weeks, we’ll look at more ways you can enhance or establish your platform, build your marketing momentum and work towards your goal of selling books, attracting attention for your message and who knows, maybe even getting a New York publishing house to make you an offer.

From us to you we, as always, wish you publishing success. Thanks for reading and being a part of the AME family!

Penny, Paula, Susan, Lauren, Alex, Earnest and everyone at Author Marketing Experts, Inc.

P.S. Check out our blog!

We offer great tips and insights, such as: ‘Seven Ways to Make a Down Economy Work for You (and your book):’

http://amarketingexpert.com/ameblog/?p=354

Learn How to Make News

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A new service in the beta (testing) stage, allows you to test the newsworthiness of your pitches. Newsvetter allows you to run your pitches by people in the media, that way you’ll know that what you send out is suitable, pertinent and more likely to get noticed. The goal is to prevent poorly written and badly targeted PR from being sent in the first place. See what it’s all about.

Getting into Bookstores

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Let’s face it, regardless of the odds we authors still want to get into bookstores. But if you’ve been having a hard time with this, take heart. It’s getting harder and harder to get into stores but not impossible. We’re going to look at some of the possibilities here.

First, it’s important to understand the pressure stores are under right now. With the increased focus on publishers to get their authors out there, bookstores are being given most of their marching orders by their corporate office. Bookstore shelf space is bought and paid for by the New York publishers, making getting on the shelves or display racks a bit tricky, if not impossible. So here’s a game plan for those of you trying to survive outside of the traditional market.

1) Get to know your local store. I know this might sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how many authors don’t really know the people in their local store. The thing is, if you know them, they know you – and when you’re ready to promote your book they might be more open to having you in their store if you have taken the time to get to know them.

2) Start to follow the types of events they do at the store. Get an events calendar or get on their email list. You’ll start to see trends emerge. For example, they might have an independent author night you could participate in. Also be cautious for big releases like the recent Stephenie Meyer events many stores had planned. If you are trying to capture the attention of a store when they’re in the middle of a major book launch, you’re likely to get ignored.

3) Buy a book. Don’t just wander the store trying to make friends: shop there. Support your local stores regardless of whether they are a chain or independent. You’d be surprised what a difference this makes when you’re trying to get to know the folks who could book you for an event.

4) Book signings are boring, offer to do an event instead. Events are a draw, book signings aren’t unless you’re a celebrity. Plan to do a talk, educate, entertain, or enlighten. This will be a more attractive pitch to the bookstore and will draw more people to your talk.

5) Get to know the local authors in your area and then offer to plan events for them. Here’s how this works: Bookstores are inundated with local authors asking for a time slot, but what if you went to the bookstore manager and said that you’d be willing to coordinate a once a month event featuring all the local authors. The bookstore could just refer all local Independently published authors to you, you could coordinate this, and guess what? Not only are you helping the store but guess who’s getting a monthly showcase in their store? You. You can do this with more than one store if you have the time, but keep in mind that with cut backs often one store manager will oversee a few locations so you might only have to go through one person.

6) If they won’t let you coordinate a monthly event, suggest that they have an Independent author night if they haven’t already started this. If they have an Independent author night you should definitely participate, it’s a great way to gain exposure, not to mention network with some local people.

7) Try as best you can to funnel everyone to one store to purchase your book. If you’re having a tough time getting shelf space (and aren’t we all), funneling folks to one store might prompt that store to keep a few copies of your book on hand. Whenever you do local speaking or media, let them know by name and address where they can get your book. Stores have been known to take in books that they’re getting lots of requests for, regardless of how they are published, so if you’re sending people to one store instead of fragmenting them to a bunch of different ones you could start building an ongoing interest in reorders.

Getting into bookstores isn’t impossible, but it does require a dash of creativity. Keep in mind that if bookstores aren’t receptive after you’ve tried the tips in this article then maybe you’re sitting in a tight market. Areas like Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago might be tough areas to get noticed because these are often the first stops traditional publishers seek when planning author tours. If you’re near those areas, try looking outside of the city for alternatives that are often overlooked by New York. If that doesn’t work for you then consider non-bookstore events. Over the years we’ve planned events for our authors in all sorts of non-bookstore venues such as: video stores, electronics stores, gyms, even grocery stores – so if events are your focus, keep an open mind and remember: often the biggest piece of getting an event in bookstores are the relationships you build with them.

Mother Earth News magazine

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mother Earth News is the guide to self-reliant living, covering sustainable homesteading, organic gardening, real food, country skills, alternative energy, green transportation, natural health, environmental consciousness, farming and livestock.

The print magazine, launched in 1970, is a bimonthly with a circulation of 1 million. The magazine is supplemented by an interactive website offering daily updated news, blogs on topics including energy, gardening, how-to, food, cooking and the latest issues, as well as an e-newsletter, online communities and video and e-book projects.

Articles in the current issue include:

* Build Your Own Tables

* Gardening for Keeps

* Simpler Living

* Trusty Tarp Tie-downs

* All about Growing Spinach

* Why Wind Power Works for Schools

Submissions are welcome for two departments: “Country Lore” and “Firsthand Reports from the Field.” “Country Lore” presents handy how-to tips of 100 to 300 words. “Firsthand Reports from the Field” are first-person stories (1,500 to 2,000 words) about sustainable lifestyles of all sorts. The editors encourage potential contributors to read several back issues of the magazine first. To learn more about their guidelines, go to: http://www.motherearthnews.com/writers-guidelines.aspx.

Submissions should be sent via e-mail to letters@MotherEarthNews.com. To submit by U.S. mail, send materials to the address below.

Mother Earth News

1503 SW 42nd St.

Topeka, KS 66609-1265

Website: www.MotherEarthNews.com

Phone: 785-274-4300

Email: letters@MotherEarthNews.com

AME-University: Book Marketing, Publishing, and Internet Marketing classes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These free teleclasses from AME-University may be just the thing to get your book marketing savvy ramped up!

Red Hot Web 2.0: Tricks to Sell More Books!

When: Thursday, Nov. 6, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Description: You’ve heard the term “Web 2.0″ but can it really help you sell more books? You bet it can and this class will show you how. Packed with tons of information and super simple things anyone can to do get themselves into the Web 2.0 marketing world, you’ll walk away with fun ideas, simple tricks, and tons of helpful advice. Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Creating “feeder” sites that feed traffic into your web site!

• Using book videos to sell more books

• Using Wikipedia to market yourself

• Why linking to other web sites is a bad idea

• How to get more web site traffic right away!

• Got blog? The one thing you should NEVER do with your blog!

Web Site WOWII: Convert Traffic into Revenue

When: Friday, Nov. 7, 4 p.m. – 5 p.m.

AME-U classes offered by Jeniffer Thompson

Description: Web Site WOW II: Convert Traffic into Revenue There is no reason to drive traffic to your site if your site is not converting. Learn how to track your traffic effectively and see what is working and what is not – and what you can do to fix it. Understanding the elements that convert traffic into revenue is the first step to Internet Marketing Success. In this second class of the Web Site WOW series, you will learn how to:

* Encourage viral marketing

* Create a buzz that takes on a life of its own

* Create a community among your visitors

* Turn your blog into an effective marketing tool

* Create engaging opt-ins and stay in touch with your visitors

* Sell the benefits not the features

How to join in:

To sign up or learn more about these classes send an email to author@amarketingexpert.com.

The AME website has a complete class listing for handy reference: http://www.amarketingexpert.com/iclasses.html.

Missed a class? Here’s an easy way to catch up on past classes, go to: http://bookmkr.audioacrobat.com/download/49713933-a2ef-a9f6-4f98-376f0809e90b.mp3.

Article Marketing with Videos

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Everyone knows that submitting articles to article directories is a great way to get high quality links and traffic to your website. But what about reworking your article into a video?

You’ll need to have a way to create an audio for your video; and, then create the video content. Using your preferred method for creating the article, you will read your article. Then it’s quite easy to use Microsoft Power Point to create template slides and you can use Windows Movie Maker to put the audio and template slides all together.

You want to create at least 3 to 5 slides with key bullet points in your article. When you create your slide make sure to save them as a picture file like “jpeg” so that you can import them into Windows Movie Maker and build your video.

Now you’re ready to start submitting your video to video submission websites. Everyone is aware of Youtube.com but did you know that there are hundreds of other sites like GoFish.com, Revver.com, Sharkle.com, etc?

If you have a blog, after you have uploaded your article video to YouTube, you can copy the video code into the code section of your blog. Next you can copy your written article and post that in the view section of your blog. Then you hit the publish button and that’s it!

Last but not least, now you can take your audio file that you created and turn it into a podcast.

Tip offered by Susan Gilbert, AME’s Search Engine Marketing Expert and Web 2.0 company owner, http://www.JoomlaJump.com, which provides Social Networking websites and services.

Book Bits and Bites

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Who’s Who in the Top Ten: Sure everyone knows that J.K. Rowling has made considerable money in book publishing, to the tune of $300 million just last year. However, Forbes magazine takes a look at the top 10 money earners, who have made more than $500 million combined – and that’s from one calendar year. Guess who’s on the list, and then see if you’re in the know.

The Race is On: To add financial books to bookstore shelves in the wake of the economic collapse. Wall Street Journal reports that bookstores are rushing to create front-of-store displays for finance and personal finance books. Borders is seeing considerable interest in Charles Morris’s “The Trillion Dollar Meltdown,” and David Smick’s “The World is Curved,” among others. Check out the scoop.

A Whale of a Mess: In Massachusetts, legislators found themselves in the midst of a book brouhaha after selecting Moby Dick as the state’s “epic novel.” No one objects to the literary merit of the classic, but given the number of literary giants the state has produced, many question the choice. Decide for yourself by seeing who else is eligible for the designation.

Don’t Read These Books – Really: Everyone’s got lists of books to read, whether their own or someone else’s list of books to read (often before you die). As a result, Britain’s Times has a fun column on books not to bother with – our recommendation is to take it all as tongue in cheek and see what you think of this list.

How Twitter Can Help You

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With only 140-character messages, Twitter might seem an unlikely ally for your career/brand/product. But if you haven’t yet checked it out, you should – Twitter can be a great way to network, build your brand, share ideas and engage customers. See what the NYT’s Shifting Careers blog has to say about this phenomenon.

Learn to answer questions as ‘Soundbites’

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A ‘Soundbite’ is a short, snappy ‘memorable’ statement that reporters love to use in their stories and hosts love for the quick sizzle they add to any interview.

For example my client Pam Waterman, author of The Braces Cookbook, uses these soundbites whenever possible:

1. Bracket friendly breads & breakfasts

2. Be-nice-to-me beverages

3. Soothing tips for difficult days

4. Mellow main meals

5. Recipes you and your orthodontist will love

Times have certainly changed. Years ago a soundbite was roughly 50 seconds. Today, it’s down to 7.3 seconds or 20 to 25 words. The increasing speed of communications has created a demand to get news and information NOW. As an author you must be prepared for the fast pace and fickleness of the media in 2008.

Create sizzling soundbites and then practice, practice, practice until they are second nature. You’ll be glad you did!

~Tip offered by Media Veteran Laura Holka, who is the producer of the Pat McMahon Show & a Media Consultant. She can be reached at http://www.arizonasown.com or email lholka@live.com.

Top Newspapers Turn to Blogs

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Journalists are turning up more and more online: in fact, 95 of the top 100 newspapers now have blogs. Blogs make news faster and more available, and can offer additional opportunities for coverage, since keeping a blog requires frequent – if not daily – updating. Learn more about the newspaper blogosphere, including how journalists use their blogs.

Making the Most of Your Web Images

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Social networking is an important part of getting added exposure for your book and often calls for the need to upload an image like your picture and or your book cover. Or perhaps you upload images to your newsletter or your blog. Then you’ll want to be sure and optimize those images. This can be an issue if you do not have some type of photo editing software like PhotoShop or PhotoShop Elements. There is an easy-to-use alternative that anyone can use from anywhere: http://www.webresizer.com/.

Check it out: this nifty photo resizer allows you to reduce your image size, crop photos, sharpen an image, and much more. This is one tool you’ll want to add to your bookmarks for future use. Have fun!!

Tip offered by Jeniffer Thompson, author of Web Site WOW, Turn Your Web Site Into Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool, http://www.monkeycmedia.com/web_site_WOW.php. Thompson is also the President of Monkey C Media, a full-service design house offering author web sites, book cover design, book teaser videos and much more, www.monkeycmedia.com .

Book Review Special on The Publishing Insiders

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be in the know and hear what the publishing insiders: Penny Sansevieri, CEO of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., and select guests each week have to offer in terms of tips and insights into the industry! This week featured a special edition on book reviews:

Is getting your book reviewed even possible? With an ever shrinking window for getting book reviews, what does a new author have to do to get their book noticed? This show is dedicated to all things related to getting book reviews. We’ll interview some book reviewers and get their insight and tips on what they need to see, what ignites their interest and how to separate your book from the pack. Listen here.

Winning Results From the Red Hot Blog Tour

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven bestsellers can’t be wrong! In the past six months seven of the books we’ve put into our Internet campaigns have hit the New York Times bestseller lists. Will your book be next? Our Red Hot Blog Tour will get you the kind of action you never thought possible. We’ll tour your book on high-traffic blogs with links back to your site. If you’re ready to promote your book on the ‘Net, try our Red Hot Blog Tour today! For more information send us an email at info@amarketingexpert.com

Now IS the Time to Promote Your Book

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking for inexpensive ways to promote your book? We’ve just developed and launched an exciting series of budget-friendly programs that still pack a powerful punch! Think you can’t market your book in a tough economy? Think again – we’ve got the answer! Email us for more details: info@amarketingexpert.com.

Reader tip: Add Links to Your Email Signature

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On your e-mail signature, keep it short but include a couple of links. Sometimes people are interested in your books but won’t check them out unless it’s simple to just click and see the information or site.

Tip submitted by: Jackie Griffey. Her books are available at bookstores and Amazon.com. For more, Google Jackie Griffey’s books or click on: www.jackiegriffey.com; www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/JackieGriffeyebooks.htm, or her blog, www.breaktimewithjackie.blogspot.com.

How to Buzz Your Book!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We’ve designed our products with your success in mind! Regardless of where you are in your publishing journey, we’ve got a product that will suit your needs. Check out our books, special reports, and our audio programs, all designed to help you reach publishing success!

http://amarketingexpert.com/store/

Study Says: Less Spending Over Holidays

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The economy is affecting decisions about the upcoming holiday season: a new study reports consumers will spend less, and will use coupons when they can. Be sure to keep that fact in mind when planning any holiday sales! See what MarketingCharts reports.

Virtual Author Tour Success Stories

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you’re still not convinced that the Virtual Author Tour (TM) pays off, consider these examples: A social networking page we built on Squidoo for one title we worked with, Rules for Renegades, became so successful it actually outranked her books page on Amazon. And for another book, our video tour gave Alex Webster and the Gods 3,500 new incoming links to his website; at the start of the tour he had practically no visitors to his site.

If you haven’t considered touring yourself virtually, you might want to. For more information on how we conduct our Virtual Author Tour (TM), send a quick email to: virtualauthortours@getresponse.com

Reader Tip!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you’ve got a Reader Tip you’d like to share, please send it to penny@amarketingexpert.com with the subject line “reader tip.” Submissions should be 75 words or less.

WHO ARE WE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Marketing Experts, Inc. is a full-service book marketing, promotion, and publicity company. We serve authors at all stages of marketing and promotion. We offer a full range of packages and services to choose from.

To see a price list or schedule a free consultation, send your e-mail to penny@amarketingexpert.com with the subject line “Author Services Info.” You can also visit our Web site at www.amarketingexpert.com.

Reprint permission

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

You are welcome to reprint any items from “The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter.” However, please credit us as a source with the following paragraph:

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

————————————————————

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Like this newsletter? Pass it on!

We never rent or sell subscriber lists to any third party. Your privacy is very important to us. Always.

To subscribe to this newsletter, click here: subscribe@amarketingexpert.com.

————————————————— ——— Copyright 2008 Author Marketing Experts, Inc. ————————————————— ———

Contact Information

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

email: penny@amarketingexpert.com

web: http://www.amarketingexpert.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Forward email

This email was sent to chemosabe420@gmail.com by penny@amarketingexpert.com.

Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy.

Email Marketing by

Author Marketing Experts, Inc. | Post Office Box 421156 | San Diego | CA | 92142