Book Marketing Blogs

You’re ready to create your very own author site, or maybe you’re updating your old one. We all know there’s a lot that can go wrong with a website (server gone down?) but there’s also a lot you can do in the early stages to avoid some mishaps down the road. Here’s a checklist that you can take with you as you work through the design elements of your website:

1. Cluttered: Let’s just start there. A cluttered site is the kiss of death to conversion. Make sure the site you choose is clean, uncluttered and easy to navigate. If you can’t figure it out, I guarantee you your visitor won’t, either.

2. Confusing: Tell them what you want them to do. Several times. In order to make a sale, you have to tell your visitor what you want them to do – over and over and over. When we were redesigning our website (http://ame.wpengine.com) I kept hearing this from my web designer: let’s tell them again and again what we want them to do. I responded to her, “But my visitors aren’t stupid, they’ll know what to do!” The problem is most surfers don’t. We’re busy, we’re distracted, we want information and we want it now, also we want to know right away if we’ve landed on a site that can help us. If you repeat your primary message, they won’t be able to miss it, and if the site is what they’re looking for, they will stay. Which takes me to… (more…)

Guest post by Brett Duncan:

Why is it so awkward to ask friends to help you out?

Image via Wikipedia

I don’t have the answer. I just know that it’s never easy. Which makes no sense, because friends should be more than willing to help out. Especially if you just launched a new book. In fact, friends should be your biggest supporters, your strongest evangelists. But they so often are not. {Sigh….}

My guess is that most friends don’t really know how they can help you promote your new work. My guess is they really want to help, really badly, but they don’t know how.

So why don’t you enlighten them? There are so many ways that “the common man” can help promote your book now, it’s silly to think a group of a few friends and an Internet connection couldn’t do you a solid and get the word out.

Here’s what I suggest: email all your friends, make sure they know about your new book and then ask them to help out. Yeah, you might think it’s a little uncomfortable at first, but think from your friends’ perspective. They want to see you succeed, and I bet they’d love to help.

Image via Wikipedia

Then, in that same email, choose a few of the cool ways to share the news below to get your pack of pals off and running. Give them detailed suggestions so they can’t claim ignorance here. Most of these tips are super-simple and no-brainers. Anyone worthy of being called a friend (or even an acquaintance) would be happy to do at least one of these things. I bet most of them will do several.

Easy Ways to Promote Your Book

1. Rate it on Amazon. I know, this one should be obvious. But even the best of friends don’t completely “get” that this is a big deal, and can help you immensely. So briefly explain it to them, and ask for an honest review of your book on Amazon. Let them know that this simple act, more than anything, can vastly help fuel your success as an author, given that it can influence how often your book shows up in searches to closing the deal once someone lands on the page. (more…)

Here’s a look back at some helpful book marketing Tweets from the past week, courtesy of bloggers, marketers, authors and others. The topics include why websites need Facebook “Like” boxes and buttons, planning a successful book signing, understanding why your book title matters and much more. Happy marketing!

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* Judging Books by Their Covers – Things to Know

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Your cover should look professional, and that involves your choice of font, color and text placement:

http://theoldshed.me/?p=257 (more…)

We had a great show featuring Dana Lynn Smith about the importance of book reviews and the various ways authors can seek reviews for their books.

About our guest: Dana Lynn Smith, The Savvy Book Marketer, has 16 years of publishing experience and a degree in marketing. She helps authors and indie publishers learn how to sell more books through her how-to guides, blog, newsletter, and private coaching.  Dana is the author of several book marketing guides, including How to Get Your Book Reviewed, which is the topic of this interview, http://www.GetBookReviews.net

Learn more about Dana and her marketing tips at  http://bookmarketingmaven.typepad.com/

There are an estimated 1,500 books published every day – so it’s tough to get noticed. Book reviews can be one way for a book to gain more exposure.

Dana wrote How to Get Your Book Reviewed because reviews are important. Many authors don’t realize how important reviews are, and they also don’t know there are a range of opportunities to have a book reviewed, such as:

• Endorsements – this includes experts, other authors, and celebrities in your field. Use these testimonials in your marketing materials. (more…)

Guest post by Sierra Greenman:

Writing about fashion is a love of mine and through a series of events it is now also my job! I write for multiple clients’ blogs or for companies about a variety of topics, mostly fashion. Sometimes it comes easily, but sometimes it is quite challenging. Fashion can be overdone and the same words can be over used, resulting in a cliché post that no one desires to read. I’ve tried my best to keep my articles enticing and exciting, grabbing a hold of the reader so that they want to read more. From what I’ve been learning so far, it seems to be working and I also take pleasure in writing about fashion, which helps immensely. So let me share some writing tips – although I write about fashion these tips will work for any topic. Here are a few to consider:

Research, Research, Research!

Image by JournalDesVitrines.com via Flickr

Do some research on the topic first and this will ensure that you know what you will be writing about before you actually sit down and write. It may be challenging for you, but once you have a firm grasp of the topic, sit down and hopefully your thoughts will freely flow. If you have any doubts about what your topic involves, do more research but be careful not to plagiarize. It’s important that the thoughts are your own. (more…)

We’ve uncovered some of the most useful book marketing Tweets from the past week, courtesy of bloggers, marketers, authors and others. The topics include creating a Facebook media room, writing a compelling ‘About Me’ page, improving your LinkedIn profile and much more! Happy marketing!

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* How to Use Twitter and Facebook for Press Releases

Image by dannysullivan via Flickr

Both Twitter and Facebook are great venues for sharing your publicity. Learn how to make the most of both sites for your PR:

http://smedio.com/2010/10/25/how-to-use-twitter-and-facebook-for-press-release/ (more…)

You’re ready to create your very own author site, or maybe you’re updating your old one. We all know there’s a lot that can go wrong with a website (server gone down?) but there’s also a lot you can do in the early stages to avoid some mishaps down the road. Here’s a checklist that you can take with you as you work through the design elements of your website:

Image via Wikipedia

1. Cluttered. Let’s just start there. A cluttered site is the kiss of death to conversion. Make sure the site you choose is clean, uncluttered and easy to navigate. If you can’t figure it out, I guarantee you your visitor won’t, either.

2. Confusing. Tell them what you want them to do. Several times. In order to make a sale, you have to tell your visitors what you want them to do – over and over and over. When we were redesigning our website (http://ame.wpengine.com) I kept hearing this from my web designer:  let’s tell them again and again what we want them to do. I responded to her, “But my visitors aren’t stupid, they’ll know what to do!” The problem is most surfers don’t. We’re busy, we’re distracted, we want information and we want it now, also we want to know right away if we’ve landed on a site that can help us. If you repeat your primary message, they won’t be able to miss it, and if the site is what they’re looking for, they will stay. Which takes me to… (more…)

Guest post by Sarah Danielson:

It used to be that promoting a product was an expensive undertaking, one that required excessive amounts of funds for television or radio advertising, or slightly less for publications of the paper variety.  And promoting books, in particular, meant making deals with booksellers to get top placement in their stores.

Image via Wikipedia

Authors, of course, would have to go on multi-city tours of their home country and even the world in order to give interviews to television, radio, and newspaper/magazine reporters, as well as hosting signings.  This was both an expensive and time consuming process.  But these days things have changed dramatically.  Not only can writers publish and sell their own eBooks (or paper books) online; they can also promote them in a number of ways that are far less expensive or even free.  Here are a few to try.

1. Build a contact list.  Whether you get contacts through your website, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or any number of other social networks, you can use the strength of numbers to promote your book.  Post messages with excerpts to drum up interest, offer deals for followers, and encourage “friends” to become brand ambassadors, bringing more people on board to enjoy the same benefits of membership that they do, as well as hyping your book online and in real-world settings. (more…)

Here’s a look back at some of the top book marketing Tweets from the past week, courtesy of bloggers, marketers, authors and others. The topics include blogging to support your books, strategic tweeting for authors, methods for promoting your Facebook Page, marketing know-how for authors and much more. Good luck!

* Writers Need to Promote Themselves, or Go Unread

Image by phatcontroller via Flickr

Perhaps nothing inspires more dread in authors than the prospect of marketing themselves. But no one can find out about you and your book without promotion:

http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/writers-need-to-promote-themselves-or-go-unread/ (more…)