Book Marketing Blogs

So what’s really the point of your press release? Well, it’s to have a stunning headline. Why? Because you want the media to read on. I see hundreds of press releases that have great content but terrible headlines. Most media people won’t get past a soft headline to read the stunning release you’ve written, so spend more time crafting the perfect headline and get them to read on!

Ready to go to a bookfair online? Project Gutenberg and the World eBook Library are making a third of a million ebooks available for free for a month during the first eBook World Fair.

http://www.worldebookfair.com/

Speaking engagements are a very powerful way to sell books but sometimes it can be tricky to figure out what sells and what doesn’t. Here are a few tips to help you sell more at your next event!

* Let your personality and passion for your topic sell your book. People love passion so let it shine through, enthusiasm is contagious.

* Don’t sell your book, sell the stories or sell what your book can do for the audience.

* The first minute is very important, so don’t waste the first impression your audience will get! 

* Never, ever read aloud from your book – at least not at first. Don’t start off your session by reading from your book, tell a little bit about yourself, why you wrote it, etc. 

* Get sign ups. No matter what: have a mailing list. If you don’t sell people a book there, you’ll want to make sure you are able to contact them after to remind them of your fantastic book or product!

Have you ever wondered where those magazines get the items they give away? Perhaps greedy advertisers looking for additional product placement? Well, sometimes. But most of the time those magazines are eager to find product for the monthly giveaways they do. Why not your book? Next time you’re in the grocery story pick up a few magazines that have monthly giveaways and see how you can pitch your book or product for a placement in one of their upcoming issues!

Did you know that Oprah’s producers don’t actually like to get pitched? It’s true. While sending samples and books to the Oprah Show is pretty standard fare for most publicity people Oprah’s producers actually prefer finding products or books on their own? Instead of pitching the show why not pitch some publications in the Chicago area instead and let a Producer at the Oprah Show “stumble” on it themselves!

If you think that Oprah’s producers are just in Chicago, think again. The show is known for having “scouts” all over the country; this means that if you’re in Seattle publicizing your book, you might just be getting on the radar screen of one of the most powerful shows on television.

If you’ve got a media room on your Web site (and you should), then you’ll want to make sure that it’s “media friendly.” If you want your media room to help drive the press to you and your topic, give them all the tools they’ll need to do their job. Here are some pieces you’ll want to have in your media room:

*How you can help the media:This is a great place to list all the topics you can comment on. This is especially helpful if a media person is perusing your site to see how you can help them on future stories.

*Your bio

*Your picture (in 300dpi)

*Your press releases

*Speaker topics (if any)

*Media appearances and mentions: we scan all print media and include it in a PDF format. If possible you might also want to link to broadcast interviews you’ve done as well.

Here’s a sample of our media room: http://ame.wpengine.com/media.html

If you use e-mail signatures, great! Now it’s time to make them work for you. First, consider rotating files for sales, specials, announcements or when you’re pitching the media to push a particular book, topic or segment for your business. You can even customize your signature line for the media that includes things like your “hotline” numbers and how they can reach you instantly! Also, if you get a lot of e-mails requesting the same information like services or book information, consider creating a signature line just for that so all you have to do is pick it once you hit the reply button and then send it off! You could even have a signature file “of the week” with a quote or new saying.

Trying to find articles you were quoted in? Go to Google and type in your name and articles. Make sure to use quotation marks around your name so Google knows to only search for your name (if you don’t do this you’ll get a series of hits based on your first and last name too which can be confusing).

If you’re looking for a new and powerful way to get repeat exposure to your audience, you might want to consider launching an electronic mini-course. The key is to build trust and offer useful content your reader can benefit from. As you build trust, you’re also going to build a readership and a following. This will lead to increased book sales.

In its most basic form, an electronic mini-course is a free how-to information product that contains three to seven lessons from your book. Nonfiction authors can excerpt portions or chapters from their books; fiction authors can serialize their books and offer readers a taste  without giving away the entire thing. Getting the reader hooked on your book, product, or service is what this is all about.

As you go through and create your mini-course, I recommend that you not create it in Word or WordPerfect, as these programs aren’t compatible with all e-mail programs. Your reader might end up with an e-mail filled with symbols because their e-mail program was unable to read what you sent. Instead, create a text-based course by using whatever text editor came with your computer or by going to TextPadr (www.textpad.com) and ordering a copy from there. Once you’ve drafted your lesson plan, you’ll want to make sure that your final lesson gives people a reason to buy your book. Whether it’s through a bonus or other subscriber offer, make sure there’s some sort of call to action.

As far as launching your mini-course, start experimenting with auto-responders so you don’t have to worry about sending each course individually. You can set up auto-responders to automatically deliver your course at the exact time and in whatever format you decide. I recommend launching one course a week, but if you’d rather not have your reader wait a week to get his or her next course, you can certainly launch one every other day.

A subscriber list that you can pull from your Web site or personal appearances -or both-is where you should start targeting your mini-course. Offer your list members a chance to benefit from this free informational tool. You can also ask your Web designer to include a link on your Web site or a pop-up that encourages people to sign up. Once you’ve started launching your electronic mini-course, get some feedback from your subscribers and continue to improve or add to it as needed.

Make a recommendation!

Recommend an item on Amazon.com that’s similar to yours! This is a great thing to do whenever a new book comes out in your genre.

So You’d Like To . (SYLT) Guides!

This is another great place to promote your articles. You can load your advice, articles, or book excerpts onto the “So You’d Like to. Guides” at Amazon.com by clicking on the “Friends and Favorites” link at the top of the Amazon.com site, then the “Write a `So You’d Like to . ‘ Guide” link, and start the process. The key is to make sure you have a list of recommended books to go with your SYLT guide – including yours! The links to your article will be featured on each of your recommended book pages.