Tony Eldridge's Blog, page 21
April 9, 2011
Resource Of The Week: Open Clip Art Library
This week's resource of the week is the Open Clip Art Library. If you have a blog or website and you are looking for some simple images to use, then this might be a resource you'd want to look into. All images uploaded by their creators have relinquished all rights of use, personal or professional and no attribution is needed if you use these images. Best of all, they are absolutely free to download and use.
While these images might not be what you're looking to put on the cover of your book, they are great for blog posts, PowerPoint presentation (or Prezi) and a host of other uses where you're looking for a simple image to grab and use.
The site has a robust search feature that makes it a snap to find your perfect clip art. So, give it a try and see if you can find the perfect clip art to use today.
Last 4 Resources Of The Week
QR-Code Generator
Incometech- Truly Royalty-Free Music
Prezi- Online Presentation Tool
FotoFlexer.com- Free Online Photo Editing Tool
-------- Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
April 8, 2011
Book Marketing Strategies And Tips Around The Net: April 8th
It's Friday and that means it's time to sit back and go through some posts that have caught my eye with advice to help you better market your book. It's also April 8th, an important date in the Eldridge household. The patriarch, my father, was born on this day a few decades ago. So, let me take this time to say, "Happy birthday, Pop! I wish I were there to celebrate with you."For the rest, grab your favorite beverage, raise a toast to my dad, and let's get started on this week's trip around the net...
1.Locate the RSS or Atom Feed for Your Blog- MaAnna Stephenson starts us off today with an easy way for us to find our blog's RSS/Atom Feed. She will also be our guest author next Tuesday, April 12th.
2. Who Is NOT a Good Candidate for Social Media Marketing?- Phyllis Zimbler Miller asks the tough questions and gives strait talk about what it takes to be a success with social media marketing. Her business partner, Yael K. Miller, will be our guest author next Thursday, April 14th.
3. 3 Barriers You Must Eliminate to Maximize E-Book Sales- Jane Friedman gives practical advice on successful e-book selling.
4. Social Media Marketing Strategy With Marian Schembari- Joanna Penn talks with Marian Schembari about developing an online social media strategy.
5. A to Z Challenge: Articles- L. Diane Wolfe created her A to Z Challenge, posting tips for writers, starting with this one about articles on April 1st. Make sure you check each challenge out. They're awesome!
6. 5 ways technology is making self-publishers more powerful-
7. Getting Started with Barnes & Noble's Pubit!—A Mini-Tutorial- Joel Friedlander shows you just how easy it can be to publish your e-book for the Nook on Pubit.com
8. The ingredients of a perfect writer's blog- Steven Lewis invites Patty Jansen to discuss the things that make's your blog perfect.
9. Tips for Writing Effective News Releases for Your Self-Published Book- Dana Lynn Smith invites Sue Collier to talk about writing effective news releases.
10. Interview With Me, Tony Eldridge- Shelley Hitz sits down with me as I talk about writing and marketing my books.
11. Publishing Insiders Wrap-Up: The Dos and Don'ts of Book Distribution- Paula Krapf sits with Sherrie Wilkolaski for a fascinating discussion on book distribution.
12. Use Evernote.com to track competing authors in your field- Roger C. Parker introduces you to the powerful free tool, EverNote.
13. Do You Have these 4 Unrealistic Expectations of Blogging?- Darren Rowse discusses 4 blogging expectations that we need to be on guard for.
14. The Smart Way to Plan a Successful Blog Post- Daniel Scocco invites Joshu Thomas to discuss some great tips on creating a post that's great for your readers and the search engines. Look for my guest post on Daniel's blog next Wednesday, April 13th.
15. The Achilles Heel of the Kindle- Pamela Newton talks about the difference between her book and the Kindle that the person sitting next to her on the plane is reading.
16. 10 Things Not To Do When Writing A Novel With Your Ex (PHOTOS)- Okay, this is cute- Co-columnists Lisa Lutz and David Hayward for The Huffington Post, who also happen to be each others ex, talks about the dangers of writing a book together.
17. Author Claims To Manipulate Amazon Rankings By Buying Own Book- Steve Weber talks about the author who kept on buying his own book to move it to the #1 spot on Amazon.
18. Top 16 Reasons I Like Facebook More Than Twitter- Larry Brauner lists out his reasons why Facebook is king in his book.
19. Networking at a Seminar. How I Did it- Warren Whitlock shares some cool tips on effective networking at a seminar.
20. Top Google April Fools Day Pranks- Quick Online Tips shares some fun April Fools Day pranks centered on Google.
Well, that's it for this week's trip around the net. I look forward to seeing you bright and early tomorrow with another Resource Of The Week.
Last 4 Tips Around The Net:
April 1st
March 25th
March 20th
March 11th
-------- Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
April 7, 2011
Top 5 Marketing Tips for Authors By Rai Aren
Today, I'm excited to introduce you to an author who will share her 5 best marketing tips for authors. Rai Aren is the coauthor of the sci-fi thriller, Secret of the Sands
, and has been very active in marketing her book. She gives you a glimpse into what has worked for her as a template for what you can do for your own book marketing efforts.One quick announcement before we get to Rai's post: Starting April 22nd, we will have our next Twitter contest and I have to say that I have lined up some great prizes from some top book marketing experts. This year, we'll have daily winners as well as one winner of an unbelievable book marketing grand prize. So, get your Twitter action warmed up, because showtime is in two weeks from today. Stay tuned for more details...
Now, on to Rai's post...
Rai's Top 5 Marketing Tips for Authors
By Rai Aren
Marketing can be a tricky thing for an author. We are often a private, reserved bunch, who just like to be lost in our inner worlds, tell tales and whisk our readers off on adventures of one kind or another. At the start, we can be a little like deer in headlights in effectively managing the marketing aspects of our work. It isn't always the most comfortable thing, but it is absolutely necessary. If you are reading this post, you probably know deep down that this is true.
I've been around the *interwebs* for a little while now, and I can assure you that there is a big difference in results between those authors who get out there and effectively market their work and those who don't. If you do not commit to a solid and continuous marketing program for your work, you run the risk of fading into obscurity and attaining only a very small readership. I've seen examples of this time and time again.
The following five categories have been integral parts of my own marketing program. I revisit each and every one of these categories regularly. After all of the hard work, love, and dedication you put into crafting your work, don't you think it deserves every chance to succeed? I do. So here we go…
1. Be Seen Online and Always Offer Quality
These are definitely not mutually exclusive. Yes, you do need to be "find-able" online, but simply putting up a profile isn't enough. You need to infuse it with your own sense of style, creativity, and personality and stay with it. This is a marathon, not a sprint. Marketing needs to be a long-term commitment on your part to be successful.
People have their favorite online places, so they are not all in the same place, or to the same degree. It is a good idea to cast a wider net to market your work, but not one that is so wide that you will be unable to manage it effectively, keep up with communications, and most importantly enjoy it!
Some of my favorite online places are Goodreads, Twitter, MySpace, Facebook, certain Amazon discussion threads, and Kindleboards. There are lots of ways to get involved and participate in all of these places, as well as avenues to promote your writing (such as profile design, blog posts, and bulletins). One thing I would emphasize is that authors don't just try to advertise their work all over the place. That is generally not well received and people will just tune you out. Instead, join in discussions and participate in places where you have something of interest and value to share. Share, dialogue, be engaging, offer interesting things and seek out places that seem welcoming to authors. Do a little reconnaissance before jumping in, to get to know the people there, the types of discussions they're having, and what the proper etiquette is. Be positive and courteous and respect others. After all, you are your own ambassador, and developing a good reputation is vital to your long-term success. Word of mouth travels fast.
I also encourage you to keep your presence on all of the sites you join active. That way, whenever people find you, they will see you are still engaged there. You don't want to create profiles that will only appear abandoned. People won't come back if you don't give them a reason to. Think of it as your personal garden, and tend to it regularly.
2. Get to Know Your Fellow Authors
This alone is worth its weight in gold. Most of the helpful advice I have come across has been from my fellow authors. The authors that I have come to know and/or follow online have been a constant source of useful information and welcome support. They've been in the trenches, and can point you in the direction of both fruitful avenues and pitfalls to avoid. You are only truly in competition with yourself, so see your fellow authors as allies. In turn, share your learnings, what has or hasn't worked for you, and ask questions. Nine times out of ten, you will elicit very helpful responses.
Where you will find them is the same places I recommended for your online marketing travels. Seek out authors whose work you find interesting and who seem to be doing a good job of online promotions. Find and follow their blogs and see what advice they have shared. Comment when you have something to add to the discussion. Watch how they answer questions, how they present themselves, and how they are doing in their own sales rankings. Assess for yourself what seems to be working, or not. Use what is helpful to you, leave what isn't, and assemble your own toolkit.
Your fellow authors can also offer you a wonderful sense of community and friendship. Their support can be invaluable and make the journey a lot less lonely, mysterious, and confusing. They can help you succeed.
3. Develop Your Brand
It's very important to work to develop your own unique brand and online voice. When people find an author they love, they tend to pick up everything else that author has written. They enjoy what the author has to offer and want more of it. It's because of how the author makes them feel. The same thing is true of your online presence - cultivate and develop your brand, your online personality. That may be made up of a combination of things - such as interesting facts or world developments related to your books, enticing tidbits about upcoming works, philosophical musings related to key messages in your writing, your sense of humor, etc. It also includes images that people will associate with your book. If you consistently offer interesting things, are engaging, and stay focused on what you are really there to do, people who are interested in your work will grow to like and trust you. You will become a familiar presence to people, kind of like a friend, and they will come back to you again and again for more of what you have to offer.
4. Have New Things in the Pipeline
This creates excitement amongst your readers and fans and demonstrates energy and enthusiasm for your work. Whether it's a short story, a new novel, a new series, or a non-fiction piece, have something cooking on the stove. This will get people hungry for more, so share this news. The more you have to offer, the more people will keep coming around. You need to continuously be focused on building your own future. Keep new things coming, but keep your existing marketing alive as well - both are needed. Besides, developing new work keeps your creative fires burning, and that's a very good thing.
5. Be Authentically You
Your best asset in marketing yourself as an author is YOU! There is a quote that I really love that sums this up:
"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you." - Dr. Seuss
This is the absolute truth - you are probably a lot more interesting to other people than you realize because you are unique and your journey is unique. People don't respond to marketing gimmickry - they respond to other people. It is a hallmark of who we are. Therefore embrace your true self, and don't try to be something you're not. I will assume you are in this for the long haul, so it wouldn't really be sustainable to always be trying to be someone else, whether that is who you desire to be, or who you think others expect you to be.
Debut authors, especially, need to build their confidence when marketing their work online. It should help to know that the most important thing is to just embrace who you are and your own writing - that will be interesting enough. You don't need to try and be someone else, someone more interesting, outgoing, or whatever, because there is only one you. Just share from your own unique perspective and what is intriguing about your stories and be authentic in the process. People respond warmly to that.
I hope these tips are helpful to you. I am happy when I see my fellow authors succeeding. There are a lot more avenues you can pursue, but these are some of my faves. Marketing is about finding a way to get your special gift, your stories, noticed. Even if marketing makes you a little uncomfortable, there are ways to make it fun and enjoyable and the best part is that you will probably come across people you genuinely like and have a lot in common with. That has been one of the biggest upsides for me on my marketing journey.
To your success!
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Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands
www.secretofthesands.com
-------- Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
April 5, 2011
Pre-Publication Book Marketing Tips By Rachel Thompson
One of the things I love about having a book marketing blog is working with authors to market their books! Today, we have a special treat and you can play a big part in a book marketing campaign. I've invited author, social media teacher, and cofounder of the Indie Book Collective Rachel Thompson to share her author marketing tips with you.What makes today special is that today is her Bestseller For A Day campaign. This is a cool marketing activity that you might want to look into for your book. But today, we get to help her book reach #1 status! After Rachel shares her book marketing tips with us, she'll let us know how we can help her book climb the charts today. So sit back, take some notes from this book marketing expert, and then jump in to help create a best seller today.
Pre-Publication Book Marketing Tips
By Rachel Thompson
I teach a free social media for writers workshop every month for the Indie Book Collective, which I helped cofound back in October of last year with fellow indie author and founder Carolyn McCray and cofounder and indie author Amber Scott. Our focus is to teach writers how to harness the power of social media, particularly Twitter, to help market themselves and sell more books.
I also run the @IndieBookIBC stream. Here's a sampling of what I hear every day: What if I don't have a book out yet? What if I'm too busy to learn Twitter? Should I hire someone? How will I have time to write if I'm online all the time?
Okay, breathe.
Let's review:
WRITE Yes, we are writers. Writing is what we do. So…write! Easy, right? Not so fast. Family, job, bills, social activities, marketing (more on that in a sec) – sometimes it's hard to find the time. But if you are in it to win it, so to speak, you must set a goal to write every day. Even if it's just a few hundred words – which by the way is very doable – you need to prioritize your activities so writing is at the top of the list.
If you want to make that leap from writer (unpublished) to author (published), write your book.
I worked on my current release, A Walk In The Snark, over the past six months and released it in eBook format this past January. I have two children, a husband, and I'm a WAHM (Write At Home Mom) who writes and teaches social media. I still write at least two pages of my upcoming book The Mancode: A Survivor's Tale every day in the midst of all my craziness. We all have reasons not to write.
Ask yourself this simple question: Do you want to be published or not?
BLOG Blogs are a wonderful way to get your writing samples out into the world. It's your first foray into self-publishing, where you show people your style, genre, quality, and skills. I'm a huge proponent of blogs for the simple reason that, when combined correctly with social media tools like Twitter and Facebook (and others), your exposure jumps exponentially.
On the IBC, we publish a weekly blog (every Monday—more on why that particular day in a moment) full of tips, interviews, and more to help you learn best blogging practices or improve what you're already doing. I recently finished up a three-part series regarding blogging for writers which you may find useful.
A few quick tips: install easy to find social buttons on your blog as well as a feed burner. Every day I go to blogs where I cannot find a person's Twitter or Facebook button. Very frustrating and an excellent way to lose followers. Use a link shortener (like bit.ly) or the Twitter TweetMeme (blog retweet) button for your posts. Blogger and Wordpress have all these goodies. And make it easy for people to comment. If they have to give their first-born child to leave you a comment, they'll likely never come back.
Finally, the IBC offers several high-traffic promotions for authors that you are eligible for only if you have a blog: Blog Tour de Force, Bestseller For A Day, Sustainable Sales... all are website-driven programs that involve readers to click through to your blog and comment to win prizes (free Kindle, Amazon gift cards, etc.). So, um yea. Blog required.
TWITTER Twitter is, bar none, the best free marketing tool available. If you're not using it, you're missing out. It's not about what you had for lunch and if you think it is, it's because you're not educated on how it will help you target readers to buy your book. The paradigm has changed; so must you.
In the free monthly Social Media for Writers webinar workshop we teach for the IBC (every second Tuesday of the month – sign up at indiebookibc@gmail.com ), we pack into one hour everything you need to know about how to target readers and grow your Twitter account. It's not rocket science. Twitter is like anything else that's new and scary when you're an adult – effort. But it's not hard or time-consuming if you know some tips and tricks. We help you with that.
One year ago, I had 600 followers on Twitter and 80 on my blog. Using our practical advice, I now have almost 6,000 targeted, quality followers (read: buyers, readers, reviewers, book bloggers) and almost 500 blog followers (via Google connect, Feedburner, and Facebook Network Blog). No auto following programs, no tricks.
Point is, I did all of this BEFORE I released my book! Many writers think they can just jump into Twitter and spam strangers with their book link over and over after they publish. I see it every day on the IBC stream and not only is it annoying, it's actually against Twitter's TOS (Terms of Service) guidelines. And a great way to be blocked or unfollowed.
Start NOW. Build your following. Provide content (no links) as well as promotion (links), interact, RT (retweet), while you grow. Make lists (not hard), be friendly, get involved in memes (rhymes with "theme") like #MentionMonday (which is why we release our blog posts on Mondays. Follow me or @IndieBookIBC for more info on #MentionMonday). Tweet how you want to be tweeted. (We always say no one is watching until you mess up – then everyone is watching. So be polite!)
MARKET As much as I adore Twitter, I do believe you need to create a platform that includes other social media such as Facebook (admittedly, not my fave), Goodreads (a fabulous book hangout), and LinkedIn. If this all sounds like a time suck, it can be. However, there are many excellent third-party applications out there that help you manage your marketing time. Personally, I adore Hootsuite (though many people like Tweetdeck or Social Oomph) which allow you to bank your tweets and (Facebook) messages hours, days or even weeks (if you're a planner) ahead of time.
Of course you should interact live with your followers – we're not saying to be a spambot. Not at all. Banking your tweets is simply a fabulous time-management tool which allows you to market and write and then check in live when your writing is done.
I hope this article has given you some helpful insights into writing, marketing, and social media. Whether you choose to self publish or go traditional, you'll still need to establish your platform and split your time fifty-fifty between marketing and writing. It's simply the state of the publishing industry, eBooks, and the influence of online media. Accept that self-promotion is a part of your job as an author and dig in!
Time for MY self-promotion!
Books and Prizes! Be sure to hop over to the BestsellerForADay website and find out all the details to purchase my book on Wednesday, 4/6/2011 for only 99 cents. Help me launch up the Amazon charts this one day only! Tell your friends, your mom, even your dog! Remember, you don't need a Kindle to read my (or ANY) eBook. Just a computer or a smartphone.
As our Bonus Buy (2 for the price of 1), you can also purchase a fabulous collection of short stories and poems by fab fellow author Kimberly Kinrade. Her book Bits of You & Pieces of Me is also just 99 cents BUT if you return to the site and fill out our fairly painless form, Kimberly will rebate the purchase price. #Woot! Also, you get five entries into my contest to win up to FIVE $10 Amazon Gift Cards!!
Please email me if you have any questions or comments at RachelintheOC@gmail.com or come visit my blog anytime RachelintheOC.com or Twitter or Facebook or GoodReads. I'm everywhere (except, ya know, the kitchen). I also teach writers epublishing, social media and stuff over at the Indie Book Collective so find me there as well.
Thanks for reading and thanks to Tony for this wonderful opportunity. I love writing and teaching social media. Next time I'll cover ePublishing and why you MUST publish an eBook.
Thanks for spending time with me today!
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Rachel Thompson is the author of A Walk In The Snark, a humorous collection of essays based on her popular blog, RachelintheOC.com. She cofounded and teaches social media to writers at the Indie Book Collective. She's also the only redhead in a sea of blondes in the OC (Orange County, CA), home of Disneyland (mice, eek). When not chasing after her two kids or reminding her husband to change the toilet paper roll, she likes sarcasm, coffee, and dirty martinis. She hates walks in the rain and pina coladas, if you're keeping track. --------
Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
Why Aren't People Reading Your Blog And What To Do About It
So, you finally did it. You held your breath and took the leap into blogging. Everyone said that having a blog was an important piece to building your platform and so you set one up and started to publish posts. But after a few months, you face the cold reality that the only people reading your blog are you and your spouse, and you give your spouse the benefit of the doubt that they are actually reading your blog.So, what's the problem? Why aren't people reading your posts. More importantly, what can you do to change reality and start to find readers for your blog? Here are some practical issues for you to consider:
You're speaking in a vacuum- Let's face it, you can have a million dollar sound system and if you're speaking to an empty auditorium, all that technology is pretty much worthless. The same is true when you talk about blogging. You can have a lot of well written posts on the best blog platform, but if no one sees your posts, all your technology isn't worth much to you.
What to do about it? Simply, you have to find an audience. You can do this through effective marketing. What are you doing to let people know you have a blog? Try these tips for marketing your blog:
Tweet your new post title and shortened URL 3 or 4 times the day it goes live.
Highlight a person, website or tool and send the link to the person in the blog. Chances are good they will share it with their followers.
E-mail people in your network and ask them to comment on your post. Most people are willing to help a new blogger get started.
You make it too hard for people to find your blog- Are you relying on people to come to your blog each day to see if you released a new post? If so, you are making it too hard on yourself. You need to make it easy for people to find your post when it comes out.
What to do about it? You need to lay out breadcrumbs that lead your readers to your new post. If you don't you'll never have a steady readership. Here are some breadcrumbs you can set up for your readers:
Set up an e-mail subscription for your readers. By setting up a service like Feedburner, you can give readers an opportunity to get your new post delivered right to their e-mail inbox. This increases the likelihood that they will read your post because you made it convenient for them.
Syndicate your feed. If you have a Facebook, Linked-In, GoodReads, Ning or a plethora of other social networking sites, you can automatically burn your post to those platforms. Usually, you have the choice of burning the title, a teaser, or the whole post along with the link to the post on your blog.
Let your newsletter subscribers know you have a new post out. In fact, if you have any other communication list, let those people know about your new post.
Your writing is full of technical problems- Most people will overlook the occasional typo or editing error (unless the reader is an editor), but most people will only put up with so much before they make the decision not to return to your blog. There is too much info out there for people to put up with technically poor writing.
What to do about it? You need to make sure your writing is solid, as entertaining as possible, and accurate. Each post needs to:
Be proofed for common errors. Spelling and grammatical errors need to be kept to a minimum. If this is a problem for you, consider securing a second pair of eyes to check your work.
Be checked for accurate data. People read blogs for information. If you give out a constant diet of bad information, you will betray the trust of your readers which may be an almost impossible thing to win back.
Be written from original content. As a writer, you should know the dangers of plagiarism, so don't let this enter your work. If you use it, give credit.
Your blog posts have no star power- At the beginning of your blogging career, there is wisdom in reaching out to others who can bring their readers to your blog. If you try to create a blog without reaching out to others, you are taking a long road to blogging success.
What to do about it? Simply, you need to find ways to highlight people with an established follower base to encourage them to share your posts with their readers. Here are some ways you can do this:
Engage in a Q&A with an expert in your niche. Not only will that person likely share the post with their followers, it will also bring credibility to your blog as a source of quality information.
Invite a guest blogger to submit a post. Most bloggers and experts are looking for ways to market themselves and your blog can be another piece to their marketing plan. In return, you get the benefit of knowing that they will most likely share your blog with their followers.
Write a review. Whether it's a product, a book, or a cool resource, reviews not only give your readers important news they can use, but the creator of the product that you're reviewing will jump on the chance to send people to your review. If you write a review, make sure it's truthful. If you lie just to get someone to send you traffic, you will hurt your credibility and the review may backfire on you.
Spend time on your title- Like the cover on a book, your post title can be the most important factor in whether someone reads your post or not. A poorly worded post title can ensure that no reader ever gets past the title.
What to do about it? Rather than go into a lot of detail on this important factor in the success of your blog, let me point you to a post I wrote a few days ago that covers this issue in detail: 7 Tips For Writing Titles That Will Cause Readers To Click On Your Post.
There are other things that you can look into when you try to find out why your blog is not drawing the readers you had hoped for by now. But these tips should be a solid starting point to get you on the road to a well-read blog. Remember, building a readership takes time and commitment. Keep chipping away at it, follow these tips, and you should see your readership continue to ramp up.
If you want a great resource to help drive traffic to your blog, check out Shelley Hitz, A Step-by-Step Guide to Guest Blogging. I've read it and you can read my endorsement on that page. While you're there, check out her Q&A interview she held with me. I share my experiences writing my books and a whole lot more.
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Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
April 4, 2011
Q&A With Smashword's Mark Coker On The E-book Industry
We have an exciting post planned today. Mark Coker, founder of Smashwords, sits with Marketing Tips For Authors and answers questions related to the e-book industry. He sprinkles his advice with industry statistics for an interview packed with valuable information.
If you've been to this blog before, you'll notice that I changed the look and layout of the blog. The old template was a classic Blogger template that had major limitations. I found this one that gave me more flexibility that I needed. I'm sure I will be tweaking it over the next few days, but I hope you find it much easier to locate the great content hidden away in close to 400 past posts and counting. Go ahead, poke around and let me know what you think.
Now, on to our interview with Mark Coker...
Mark, thank you for taking time out of your schedule to sit with the readers of this blog and share your thoughts on the following questions:
1. E-books are getting a lot of attention. Where do you see their place in the industry as this technology starts to settle?
According the data from the Association of American Publishers, ebooks accounted for about 8% of the overall trade book market here in the US in 2010, up from 3% in 2009, 1% in 2008 and 1/2 of 1% in 2007. These numbers are the best around for trending information, yet they understate what's really happening with ebooks.
The data only includes reported results from about 12-14 large publishers, so it doesn't include data from the hundreds of thousands indie authors and the thousands of smaller independent publishers.
Some of the larger, more progressive independent publishers like Sourcebooks are already reporting 1/3 of their revenues coming from ebooks based on January 2011 sales.
Many of our best selling indie authors are selling hundreds of ebooks for every print book they sell.
The AAP data understates the true market share of what consumers are buying, since ebooks are generally priced less than print. This means the unit share for ebooks is much, much higher today than people realize.
I think the overall book industry will see ebook sales eclipse print sales within three or four years, and we'll see that happen faster for self-published authors if it hasn't happened already.
It's really difficult to predict when these tipping points will hit, and in the end the date doesn't really matter. All authors should know now is that they need to release their books asap as ebooks, and if they're selling well in print then by all means continue to sell in print as well.
2. As an author begins to look into publishing in the e-book formats, what do you recommend they consider; what should they avoid?
Back in October I wrote a post and presentation over at the Smashwords blog called The Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success. Here are the five most important tips:
Write a great book – If you don't honor your readers with a great read, they'll either give you negative reviews (an instant book killer) or they'll punish you with the worst fate any author can experience – they'll ignore you. Readers are in control here. If they love your book, they'll talk it up to their friends and that will drive sales.
Write another great book – Each book you publish affords you the opportunity to reach new readers, earn their trust and admiration, and introduce them to your backlist. Make sure at the end of every book you provide a hyperlinked summary of where fans can discover your other books (Most of our authors link back to their Smashwords author page. Click here to see my author page).
Maximize distribution – Get your book in as many retailers as possible. Retailers spend millions of dollars to attract readers to their stores, and all the majors, including Apple, Sony, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Amazon and Diesel, welcome indie ebooks. Don't limit your distribution to only one or two.
Have patience – It can take months or years to build a readership and build sales. In the old traditional print world, if your book didn't immediately sell through within a few weeks, it was forced out of print. With ebooks, you never go out of print. Your book is immortal. We've had authors who experience very slow sales at first, but then they increase over a period of years, and then suddenly their book pops into the best-seller lists at a retailer. Often, these books will pop at one retailer but not another.
Marketing starts yesterday – Don't wait until your book is published for the marketing to start. Instead, start your marketing with social networking the moment you decide to write a book. Build your social network, and most importantly, contribute to the network. If you add value to your networks, and if you help your fellow authors succeed, they in turn will help open doors of opportunity for you. Authors need to help authors. Your fellow authors are not your competition, they're your partners.
The accompanying presentation can be found here at Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/Smashwords/the-seven-secrets-of-ebook-publishing-success
We spend a lot of time at Smashwords creating free resources to help guide even novice authors down the path to publishing success. In our FAQ at Smashwords, we even provide a glossary of common ebook terms because if you don't know the language of ebook publishing, it makes it more difficult to learn.
We also go out of our way to remind authors that the path to success is not easy. Many authors don't sell a single book. Keep your expectations realistic. I wrote two free guides that between them provide a crash course on ebook formatting, production, marketing and distribution. The first is the Smashwords Style Guide. It's the formatting bible here at Smashwords. Even if an author doesn't publish and distribute with Smashwords, it still provides a good overview of how ebook formatting and distribution works. The second resource is our Smashwords Book Marketing Guide. It provides authors over 25 marketing ideas they implement at no cost. For both of these guides, I tried to explain everything in clear simple language. I talk about not only what you should do, but also the thinking behind it. This context behind the recommendations helps authors truly internalize the knowledge.
In terms of what to avoid, avoid spending money. Ebook publishing and distribution is available to every author at no cost. At Smashwords, for example, all our publishing and distribution services are provided at no cost. We earn our income by taking a small commission which works out to 10% of the retail price for sales through our retail distribution network.
Expense mitigation is important because you, the author, are running a business. The fastest way to go out of business is to overspend and have expenses exceed your revenues. Keep your sales expectations low and realistic. For most authors, sales rarely meet expectations. Most best-selling authors today toiled in obscurity for years before they broke out. Don't break your bank to run your publishing business, and by all means never borrow money to finance your book publishing.
3. Right now, e-book prices vary considerably from title to title. What advice do you have for authors when considering the pricing of their book?
Ebook customers expect ebooks to be priced lower than print. $2.99 to $4.99 is a good price range for many authors. If you're just starting out, consider pricing your first book at FREE, if even only for a short period of time so you can gain your first readers and reviews. Readers are hesitant to take a chance on authors they don't yet know and trust, so sometimes you need to drop your prices to reduce the reader's risk.
Price is one of the most powerful marketing tools for indie authors. Some of our best-selling authors write series of full-length books (see my second secret to success above), and they give the first series-starter away for free. This is what Brian S. Pratt does. His first book, The Unsuspecting Mage: Morcyth Saga Book One is over 140,000 words. He gives it away for free. Many readers then return to buy the other five books in his series for $5.99 each. This strategy only works if you're honoring the reader with a great book.
Amanda Hocking, who has sold over 1 million ebooks, prices her series starters at $.99 each, and then prices her other books at $2.99.
The quality of your book is more important than price. If your book is a horrible read, you'll get hundreds of downloads with FREE but you won't get many readers.
4. Is there any special marketing activities that you find especially effective for e-books?
In addition to experimenting with low prices as I mentioned above, I'd encourage authors to participate in the online communities and message forums where their target readers congregate. Another of our best-selling authors, Randolph Lalonde, has found good success by participating in online message boards that reach his target readers (he writes fantasy). But he's not there flogging his book. Readers don't want that. Instead, he joins in discussions and participates in the community. In the signature of his profile, he lists his books. It's a very subtle, respectful method of marketing. Each time he posts, he's advertising his book. Each of the major ebook retailers operate their own message forums.
Let's say you wrote a book about growing tomatoes. There are probably dozens of online forums frequented by gardeners who could benefit from your knowledge and expertise.
5. As the leader of an e-book distributor, what would you say is important for authors to look for when they are considering a company to help distribute their e-books?
Look for a distributor that doesn't charge setup fees or conversion fees. Inspect their online publishing platform. Is it self-serve, easy to use and well-documented? Do they give you full control over pricing and metadata? Is it free to update your book if you make changes in the future? Do you know other authors who have used them? Does the distributor offer broad reach? Is there a large satisfied community of fellow authors who use them?
At Smashwords, we're publishing over 40,000 books from over 17,000 authors. We have a large online community of authors from around the world. It's easy to get help from these fellow authors. Our official Smashwords Facebook page launched about a month ago and has already become a thriving community where thousands of authors and readers congregate to share tips and talk about Smashwords ebooks. It's all about authors helping their fellow authors.
6. Regarding Smashwords specifically, what formats do you help authors publish their books in? How much technical knowledge does an author need to work with Smashwords?
To publish at Smashwords, an author formats their book as a Microsoft Word .doc document, per the instructions in our Smashwords Style Guide. Next, they upload the book and a separate front-cover image to our site. We then take those files and automatically convert the book into nine different ebook formats. These formats include PDF, EPUB (what we ship to all retailers), MOBI (for Kindle), two text formats, LRF, PDB and two online browser formats.
Authors need no technical knowledge other than what's covered in the Smashwords Style Guide. When I wrote the Style Guide, I was very careful to avoid technical jargon. Everything's explained in clear, simple words, and I provide a lot of pictures. I understand that Microsoft Word is a frustrating mystery to most of us normal human beings, so the Guide walks the author through the formatting process step-by-step.
So bottom line, all you need is a word processor and the patience to carefully read and implement the Style Guide. For authors who don't have the time or patience to implement the Style Guide, they can hire one of the formatters on our official Smashwords list – it's called Mark's List – by sending an email to list@smashwords.com. They'll receive the list via instant autoresponder. All the formatters are fellow Smashwords authors. We don't earn a commission or referral fee.
7. I read that you offer your services for free and you even give an option for authors to acquire ISBN numbers for their books at no cost. How can Smashwords do all this for authors at no cost?
We earn our income by taking a commission on all sales. If we don't help an author sell their book, we don't earn anything. The ISBNs cost us thousands of dollars, but we make it up through book sales.
8. Where do you see the ebook publishing industry heading in the next decade?
10 years from now, ebooks will be the dominant format for book publishing and consumption. There will be more published authors and more published books than ever before. It'll be a great time to be a reader, because readers will have instant, low-cost access to virtually every book ever published, and access to incredible authors they never would have been able to discover were it not the ebook publishing revolution.
Ebooks shatter the traditional economic and geographic barriers of print publishing. Ebooks are cheaper to produce, distribute and sell, and their lower costs mean that the authors and publishers can sell them for lower prices. Lower prices, combined with the magic of instant digital distribution, means that more books will become more available and more affordable to more readers.
9. Are there any new technologies or services on the horizon for Smashwords that you can share at this time?
We're constantly evolving our publishing and distribution services. We're always asking ourselves, "how can we make the publishing process faster, cheaper and easier for our authors?" So you'll see non-stop incremental updates to the platform over time.
Our Smashwords Coupon Manager feature, which allows authors to generate their own custom coupon codes for marketing purposes, is a good example of the type of new marketing tool we'd like to develop for our authors in the future. We're also going to spend a lot of time improving the discovery of our books so readers can more easily find what they're looking for, not only at Smashwords.com but at our retail partners as well.
We have over 400 items on our development roadmap for new features and service enhancements. Our challenge, as a small but fast-growing company, is to constantly reevaluate our development priorities so we're focusing on those issues that give the greatest number of Smashwords authors and publishers the greatest benefit.
10. What parting advice do you have for authors who are looking to begin the e-publishing process with their books?
Ebooks will usher in a new renaissance in book publishing. It's a very exciting time to be an author. The opportunity for authors to reach readers has never been greater than it is today, and the opportunities will only increase in the months and years ahead.
My biggest piece of advice is to get out there now and release your book as an ebook. The rules of ebook publishing and marketing are being written today by the early pioneers. Everything is changing so quickly. The authors who are out there now experimenting are the ones who will be most successful in the years ahead. Get out there and publish, learn, share and experiment. Take chances, make mistakes, learn from your experiences and grow.
Above all, don't fear the change. With change comes opportunity for those who learn to seize it.
--------
Mark Coker is the founder of Smashwords, an e-book publishing and distribution company, and the coauthor with his wife of the novel, Boob Tube. He also wrote the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide and the Smashwords Style Guide. You can keep up with the publishing industry by following his Huffington Post column.
(*Check out Tony Eldridge's, The Samson Effect, on Smashwords)
-------- Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
If you've been to this blog before, you'll notice that I changed the look and layout of the blog. The old template was a classic Blogger template that had major limitations. I found this one that gave me more flexibility that I needed. I'm sure I will be tweaking it over the next few days, but I hope you find it much easier to locate the great content hidden away in close to 400 past posts and counting. Go ahead, poke around and let me know what you think.
Now, on to our interview with Mark Coker...
Mark, thank you for taking time out of your schedule to sit with the readers of this blog and share your thoughts on the following questions:
1. E-books are getting a lot of attention. Where do you see their place in the industry as this technology starts to settle?
According the data from the Association of American Publishers, ebooks accounted for about 8% of the overall trade book market here in the US in 2010, up from 3% in 2009, 1% in 2008 and 1/2 of 1% in 2007. These numbers are the best around for trending information, yet they understate what's really happening with ebooks.
The data only includes reported results from about 12-14 large publishers, so it doesn't include data from the hundreds of thousands indie authors and the thousands of smaller independent publishers.
Some of the larger, more progressive independent publishers like Sourcebooks are already reporting 1/3 of their revenues coming from ebooks based on January 2011 sales.
Many of our best selling indie authors are selling hundreds of ebooks for every print book they sell.
The AAP data understates the true market share of what consumers are buying, since ebooks are generally priced less than print. This means the unit share for ebooks is much, much higher today than people realize.
I think the overall book industry will see ebook sales eclipse print sales within three or four years, and we'll see that happen faster for self-published authors if it hasn't happened already.
It's really difficult to predict when these tipping points will hit, and in the end the date doesn't really matter. All authors should know now is that they need to release their books asap as ebooks, and if they're selling well in print then by all means continue to sell in print as well.
2. As an author begins to look into publishing in the e-book formats, what do you recommend they consider; what should they avoid?
Back in October I wrote a post and presentation over at the Smashwords blog called The Seven Secrets to Ebook Publishing Success. Here are the five most important tips:
Write a great book – If you don't honor your readers with a great read, they'll either give you negative reviews (an instant book killer) or they'll punish you with the worst fate any author can experience – they'll ignore you. Readers are in control here. If they love your book, they'll talk it up to their friends and that will drive sales.
Write another great book – Each book you publish affords you the opportunity to reach new readers, earn their trust and admiration, and introduce them to your backlist. Make sure at the end of every book you provide a hyperlinked summary of where fans can discover your other books (Most of our authors link back to their Smashwords author page. Click here to see my author page).
Maximize distribution – Get your book in as many retailers as possible. Retailers spend millions of dollars to attract readers to their stores, and all the majors, including Apple, Sony, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Amazon and Diesel, welcome indie ebooks. Don't limit your distribution to only one or two.
Have patience – It can take months or years to build a readership and build sales. In the old traditional print world, if your book didn't immediately sell through within a few weeks, it was forced out of print. With ebooks, you never go out of print. Your book is immortal. We've had authors who experience very slow sales at first, but then they increase over a period of years, and then suddenly their book pops into the best-seller lists at a retailer. Often, these books will pop at one retailer but not another.
Marketing starts yesterday – Don't wait until your book is published for the marketing to start. Instead, start your marketing with social networking the moment you decide to write a book. Build your social network, and most importantly, contribute to the network. If you add value to your networks, and if you help your fellow authors succeed, they in turn will help open doors of opportunity for you. Authors need to help authors. Your fellow authors are not your competition, they're your partners.
The accompanying presentation can be found here at Slideshare: http://www.slideshare.net/Smashwords/the-seven-secrets-of-ebook-publishing-success
We spend a lot of time at Smashwords creating free resources to help guide even novice authors down the path to publishing success. In our FAQ at Smashwords, we even provide a glossary of common ebook terms because if you don't know the language of ebook publishing, it makes it more difficult to learn.
We also go out of our way to remind authors that the path to success is not easy. Many authors don't sell a single book. Keep your expectations realistic. I wrote two free guides that between them provide a crash course on ebook formatting, production, marketing and distribution. The first is the Smashwords Style Guide. It's the formatting bible here at Smashwords. Even if an author doesn't publish and distribute with Smashwords, it still provides a good overview of how ebook formatting and distribution works. The second resource is our Smashwords Book Marketing Guide. It provides authors over 25 marketing ideas they implement at no cost. For both of these guides, I tried to explain everything in clear simple language. I talk about not only what you should do, but also the thinking behind it. This context behind the recommendations helps authors truly internalize the knowledge.
In terms of what to avoid, avoid spending money. Ebook publishing and distribution is available to every author at no cost. At Smashwords, for example, all our publishing and distribution services are provided at no cost. We earn our income by taking a small commission which works out to 10% of the retail price for sales through our retail distribution network.
Expense mitigation is important because you, the author, are running a business. The fastest way to go out of business is to overspend and have expenses exceed your revenues. Keep your sales expectations low and realistic. For most authors, sales rarely meet expectations. Most best-selling authors today toiled in obscurity for years before they broke out. Don't break your bank to run your publishing business, and by all means never borrow money to finance your book publishing.
3. Right now, e-book prices vary considerably from title to title. What advice do you have for authors when considering the pricing of their book?
Ebook customers expect ebooks to be priced lower than print. $2.99 to $4.99 is a good price range for many authors. If you're just starting out, consider pricing your first book at FREE, if even only for a short period of time so you can gain your first readers and reviews. Readers are hesitant to take a chance on authors they don't yet know and trust, so sometimes you need to drop your prices to reduce the reader's risk.
Price is one of the most powerful marketing tools for indie authors. Some of our best-selling authors write series of full-length books (see my second secret to success above), and they give the first series-starter away for free. This is what Brian S. Pratt does. His first book, The Unsuspecting Mage: Morcyth Saga Book One is over 140,000 words. He gives it away for free. Many readers then return to buy the other five books in his series for $5.99 each. This strategy only works if you're honoring the reader with a great book.
Amanda Hocking, who has sold over 1 million ebooks, prices her series starters at $.99 each, and then prices her other books at $2.99.
The quality of your book is more important than price. If your book is a horrible read, you'll get hundreds of downloads with FREE but you won't get many readers.
4. Is there any special marketing activities that you find especially effective for e-books?
In addition to experimenting with low prices as I mentioned above, I'd encourage authors to participate in the online communities and message forums where their target readers congregate. Another of our best-selling authors, Randolph Lalonde, has found good success by participating in online message boards that reach his target readers (he writes fantasy). But he's not there flogging his book. Readers don't want that. Instead, he joins in discussions and participates in the community. In the signature of his profile, he lists his books. It's a very subtle, respectful method of marketing. Each time he posts, he's advertising his book. Each of the major ebook retailers operate their own message forums.
Let's say you wrote a book about growing tomatoes. There are probably dozens of online forums frequented by gardeners who could benefit from your knowledge and expertise.
5. As the leader of an e-book distributor, what would you say is important for authors to look for when they are considering a company to help distribute their e-books?
Look for a distributor that doesn't charge setup fees or conversion fees. Inspect their online publishing platform. Is it self-serve, easy to use and well-documented? Do they give you full control over pricing and metadata? Is it free to update your book if you make changes in the future? Do you know other authors who have used them? Does the distributor offer broad reach? Is there a large satisfied community of fellow authors who use them?
At Smashwords, we're publishing over 40,000 books from over 17,000 authors. We have a large online community of authors from around the world. It's easy to get help from these fellow authors. Our official Smashwords Facebook page launched about a month ago and has already become a thriving community where thousands of authors and readers congregate to share tips and talk about Smashwords ebooks. It's all about authors helping their fellow authors.
6. Regarding Smashwords specifically, what formats do you help authors publish their books in? How much technical knowledge does an author need to work with Smashwords?
To publish at Smashwords, an author formats their book as a Microsoft Word .doc document, per the instructions in our Smashwords Style Guide. Next, they upload the book and a separate front-cover image to our site. We then take those files and automatically convert the book into nine different ebook formats. These formats include PDF, EPUB (what we ship to all retailers), MOBI (for Kindle), two text formats, LRF, PDB and two online browser formats.
Authors need no technical knowledge other than what's covered in the Smashwords Style Guide. When I wrote the Style Guide, I was very careful to avoid technical jargon. Everything's explained in clear, simple words, and I provide a lot of pictures. I understand that Microsoft Word is a frustrating mystery to most of us normal human beings, so the Guide walks the author through the formatting process step-by-step.
So bottom line, all you need is a word processor and the patience to carefully read and implement the Style Guide. For authors who don't have the time or patience to implement the Style Guide, they can hire one of the formatters on our official Smashwords list – it's called Mark's List – by sending an email to list@smashwords.com. They'll receive the list via instant autoresponder. All the formatters are fellow Smashwords authors. We don't earn a commission or referral fee.
7. I read that you offer your services for free and you even give an option for authors to acquire ISBN numbers for their books at no cost. How can Smashwords do all this for authors at no cost?
We earn our income by taking a commission on all sales. If we don't help an author sell their book, we don't earn anything. The ISBNs cost us thousands of dollars, but we make it up through book sales.
8. Where do you see the ebook publishing industry heading in the next decade?
10 years from now, ebooks will be the dominant format for book publishing and consumption. There will be more published authors and more published books than ever before. It'll be a great time to be a reader, because readers will have instant, low-cost access to virtually every book ever published, and access to incredible authors they never would have been able to discover were it not the ebook publishing revolution.
Ebooks shatter the traditional economic and geographic barriers of print publishing. Ebooks are cheaper to produce, distribute and sell, and their lower costs mean that the authors and publishers can sell them for lower prices. Lower prices, combined with the magic of instant digital distribution, means that more books will become more available and more affordable to more readers.
9. Are there any new technologies or services on the horizon for Smashwords that you can share at this time?
We're constantly evolving our publishing and distribution services. We're always asking ourselves, "how can we make the publishing process faster, cheaper and easier for our authors?" So you'll see non-stop incremental updates to the platform over time.
Our Smashwords Coupon Manager feature, which allows authors to generate their own custom coupon codes for marketing purposes, is a good example of the type of new marketing tool we'd like to develop for our authors in the future. We're also going to spend a lot of time improving the discovery of our books so readers can more easily find what they're looking for, not only at Smashwords.com but at our retail partners as well.
We have over 400 items on our development roadmap for new features and service enhancements. Our challenge, as a small but fast-growing company, is to constantly reevaluate our development priorities so we're focusing on those issues that give the greatest number of Smashwords authors and publishers the greatest benefit.
10. What parting advice do you have for authors who are looking to begin the e-publishing process with their books?
Ebooks will usher in a new renaissance in book publishing. It's a very exciting time to be an author. The opportunity for authors to reach readers has never been greater than it is today, and the opportunities will only increase in the months and years ahead.
My biggest piece of advice is to get out there now and release your book as an ebook. The rules of ebook publishing and marketing are being written today by the early pioneers. Everything is changing so quickly. The authors who are out there now experimenting are the ones who will be most successful in the years ahead. Get out there and publish, learn, share and experiment. Take chances, make mistakes, learn from your experiences and grow.
Above all, don't fear the change. With change comes opportunity for those who learn to seize it.
--------
Mark Coker is the founder of Smashwords, an e-book publishing and distribution company, and the coauthor with his wife of the novel, Boob Tube. He also wrote the Smashwords Book Marketing Guide and the Smashwords Style Guide. You can keep up with the publishing industry by following his Huffington Post column.(*Check out Tony Eldridge's, The Samson Effect, on Smashwords)
-------- Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
April 2, 2011
Resource Of The Week: QR-Code Generator
This week's resource of the week is a really cool and simple tool that makes your books, products, websites and much more accessible to prospects. It's called: QR-Code Generator.
A QR code is a 2 dimensional bar code that allows you to embed all kinds of info that people can scan with their smartphones to unlock. Everyone with a smartphone either has, or can download a free app to scan these code. Once you create these codes, you can place them online, print them on postcards or on use them on other pieces of advertisements.
Kaywa has created a free online QR generator that allows you to create your own QR codes in less than 10 seconds. Once you create the code, you can place it on your blog or on your mailer for your prospects to scan.
With Kaywa's QR code generator, you can embed a website url, a text block, a phone number, or an SMS message. You can also choose whether you want a small, medium, large or extra large QR image.
Here is how you might want to use the various codes to market your book:
* You can send people to your book's Amazon page. If you scan the code below, your smartphone will go to my Kindle version of The Samson Effect. Go ahead- check it out:
* You can encode a description of your book. If you scan the code below, you will read the description of my novel, The Samson Effect (250 characters or less):
* You can encode a phone number- perhaps your contact number or the number to order your book. If you scan the code below, you will get the phone number to hear the recorded news and weather for my hometown of Indianapolis, IN. If you wish, you can add it to your contact list right from the phone after you scan the code:
* You can encode a SMS message ready for your followers to send to a friend. If you scan the code below, you will have a message encouraging the recipient to buy the wonderfully entertaining novel, The Samson Effect:
I appreciate your indulgence as I used my book in the above examples. But seriously, Kaywa's QR-Code Generator is a simple, but powerful tool you can use to expand your book marketing potential.
And for those who don't have a smartphone, there's no need to worry... you can find the link to my novel, The Samson Effect, below :)
*Note, if you are reading this post from a syndicated source, you may have to visit my blog to see the QR codes I use in this example.
--------
Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
A QR code is a 2 dimensional bar code that allows you to embed all kinds of info that people can scan with their smartphones to unlock. Everyone with a smartphone either has, or can download a free app to scan these code. Once you create these codes, you can place them online, print them on postcards or on use them on other pieces of advertisements. Kaywa has created a free online QR generator that allows you to create your own QR codes in less than 10 seconds. Once you create the code, you can place it on your blog or on your mailer for your prospects to scan.
With Kaywa's QR code generator, you can embed a website url, a text block, a phone number, or an SMS message. You can also choose whether you want a small, medium, large or extra large QR image.
Here is how you might want to use the various codes to market your book:
* You can send people to your book's Amazon page. If you scan the code below, your smartphone will go to my Kindle version of The Samson Effect. Go ahead- check it out:
* You can encode a description of your book. If you scan the code below, you will read the description of my novel, The Samson Effect (250 characters or less):
* You can encode a phone number- perhaps your contact number or the number to order your book. If you scan the code below, you will get the phone number to hear the recorded news and weather for my hometown of Indianapolis, IN. If you wish, you can add it to your contact list right from the phone after you scan the code:
* You can encode a SMS message ready for your followers to send to a friend. If you scan the code below, you will have a message encouraging the recipient to buy the wonderfully entertaining novel, The Samson Effect:
I appreciate your indulgence as I used my book in the above examples. But seriously, Kaywa's QR-Code Generator is a simple, but powerful tool you can use to expand your book marketing potential.
And for those who don't have a smartphone, there's no need to worry... you can find the link to my novel, The Samson Effect, below :)
*Note, if you are reading this post from a syndicated source, you may have to visit my blog to see the QR codes I use in this example.
--------
Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
April 1, 2011
Marketing Tips Around The Net: April 1st
It's Friday, and that means it's time for us to go around the net to find book marketing posts that have caught my eye this week. You know the routine... grab a cup of your favorite beverage and settle into some great reading.
1. Authors should model ebooks & one sheets that sell at a glance- Roger C. Parker discusses modeling a strategy to attract large followings and lucrative speaking invitations.
2. Your Book Launch: Soft or Hard?- Joel Friedlander discusses two types of launches you can use when you're ready to release your book to the public.
3. Author Blogs – Use Categories to Organize Your Posts- Dana Lynn Smith teaches you how to organize the material on your blog to make it easy for people to find. She follows up with a post titled, Author Blogs – Avoid Common Mistakes when Using Categories, where she continues the discussion.
4. How to Choose the Perfect Website Type for You- MaAnna Stephenson takes a step back with the author who needs to decide just how to use a website for their online presence.
5. Be Social Media Savvy If Launching a Website for a New Business- How social media savvy is your website? Phyllis Zimbler Miller shares her advice with you.
6. How [not] to deal with negative reviews of your ebook- Steven Lewis chimes in on the book review train wreck this week and follows up with his observations in a post titled, I can't look.
7. Ten Reasons Why You Should be Blogging- Penny Sansevieri gives you rock-solid reasons why you should be blogging.
8. Writer's Block. Take Note- Joanna Penn invites Leanne Dyck to share some strategies for breaking through writer's block.
9. What to do about a Negative Review?- Walt Shiel gives his advice on how to handle a negative book review.
10. Q&A a la Ann Landers: That "Selling Books" Thing Again- Carolyn Howard-Johnson has a Q&A with a reader who asks her if she sells many books on Author's Den.
11. How to Get Reviews for Self-Published Books- Jane Friedman invites guest Joel Friedlander to talk about getting reviews for your self-published books.
12.
13. Free Video Editing Software and Other Cool Video Tools- Shelley Hitz shares another amazing list, this time of free video editing software.
14. Podcasts Are Coming Of Age- Alan Baxter talks about how podcasts have matured as a communication medium.
15. Q & A: Publishing Your Book Digitally- BookBuzzr sits down with Joanna Penn and Gary Smailes for a discussion on publishing books digitally.
16. Traditional publishing is not evil—or why Amanda Hocking made a good decision by signing with St. Martin's- Sue Collier gives her take on the decision that Amanda Hocking made to sign with a traditional publisher.
17. Improve Domain Authority for a Better Blog Ranking- Darren Rowse invites R Dilip Kumar to discuss how you can improve your blog ranking.
18. 5 New Dynamic View Templates for Blogger Blogs [Video]- Quick Online Tips has created a video to explain Blogger's new dynamic view templates they just rolled out.
19. The Anatomy of a Free (Read that Promotional!) E-Book- BookBuzzr invites Carolyn Howard-Johnson to share how free e-books can make great promotional tools.
20. The Author Uprising Against Big Publishing- Mark Coker talks about a revolution going on in the publishing industry.
That's it for this week's trip around the net. I'll see you tomorrow with another cool Resource Of The Week.
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Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
1. Authors should model ebooks & one sheets that sell at a glance- Roger C. Parker discusses modeling a strategy to attract large followings and lucrative speaking invitations.
2. Your Book Launch: Soft or Hard?- Joel Friedlander discusses two types of launches you can use when you're ready to release your book to the public.
3. Author Blogs – Use Categories to Organize Your Posts- Dana Lynn Smith teaches you how to organize the material on your blog to make it easy for people to find. She follows up with a post titled, Author Blogs – Avoid Common Mistakes when Using Categories, where she continues the discussion.
4. How to Choose the Perfect Website Type for You- MaAnna Stephenson takes a step back with the author who needs to decide just how to use a website for their online presence.
5. Be Social Media Savvy If Launching a Website for a New Business- How social media savvy is your website? Phyllis Zimbler Miller shares her advice with you.
6. How [not] to deal with negative reviews of your ebook- Steven Lewis chimes in on the book review train wreck this week and follows up with his observations in a post titled, I can't look.
7. Ten Reasons Why You Should be Blogging- Penny Sansevieri gives you rock-solid reasons why you should be blogging.
8. Writer's Block. Take Note- Joanna Penn invites Leanne Dyck to share some strategies for breaking through writer's block.
9. What to do about a Negative Review?- Walt Shiel gives his advice on how to handle a negative book review.
10. Q&A a la Ann Landers: That "Selling Books" Thing Again- Carolyn Howard-Johnson has a Q&A with a reader who asks her if she sells many books on Author's Den.
11. How to Get Reviews for Self-Published Books- Jane Friedman invites guest Joel Friedlander to talk about getting reviews for your self-published books.
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13. Free Video Editing Software and Other Cool Video Tools- Shelley Hitz shares another amazing list, this time of free video editing software.
14. Podcasts Are Coming Of Age- Alan Baxter talks about how podcasts have matured as a communication medium.
15. Q & A: Publishing Your Book Digitally- BookBuzzr sits down with Joanna Penn and Gary Smailes for a discussion on publishing books digitally.
16. Traditional publishing is not evil—or why Amanda Hocking made a good decision by signing with St. Martin's- Sue Collier gives her take on the decision that Amanda Hocking made to sign with a traditional publisher.
17. Improve Domain Authority for a Better Blog Ranking- Darren Rowse invites R Dilip Kumar to discuss how you can improve your blog ranking.
18. 5 New Dynamic View Templates for Blogger Blogs [Video]- Quick Online Tips has created a video to explain Blogger's new dynamic view templates they just rolled out.
19. The Anatomy of a Free (Read that Promotional!) E-Book- BookBuzzr invites Carolyn Howard-Johnson to share how free e-books can make great promotional tools.
20. The Author Uprising Against Big Publishing- Mark Coker talks about a revolution going on in the publishing industry.
That's it for this week's trip around the net. I'll see you tomorrow with another cool Resource Of The Week.
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Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
March 31, 2011
Brainstorming Non-bookstore Sales By Joel Friedlander
Today, I'm thrilled to introduce you to a top expert in the indie publishing world, Joel Friedlander. Joel is the creator of the The Book Designer blog and he has a new book out, A Self-Publisher's Companion: Expert Advice for Authors Who Want to Publish, that will no-doubt be a staple resource for all indie authors. Today, Joel will share his ideas on why and how authors should consider non-bookstore sales.Before we get to Joel's post, I have one quick in-house announcement. I will be announcing a new Twitter contest next month with prizes from book marketing experts from all over the world. Already, I have some great prizes lined up. Tomorrow is the last day that my Call For Sponsors is open. If you have a book marketing prize you want to make available for the contests, visit my post, New Spring Twitter Contest: Call For Sponsors and fill out the form on the post. I will get back with everyone who submits a prize within a week with details on the contest.
Now, on to Joel's post...
Brainstorming Non-bookstore Sales
Joel Friedlander
When it comes to book marketing there's an old saying that the worst place to sell indie-published books is in a bookstore.
Why? Bookstore distribution is set up to work for large publishers with a national reach, an on-the-field sales force, national advertising and the ability to place a book in thousands of bookstores at launch.
This is a bad match for most indie authors and self-publishers, who don't have the distribution, the sales force, the staff to monitor and track shipments and invoices, and who could be severely affected by massive returns if their books don't sell through in the time the bookstores will give them on the shelf.
We already know that a really great way to sell our books is online, through online book retailers like Amazon, BN.com and others. And for e-book publishers, the online world is just about the only world for book sales.
But there are many other ways for self-publishers to sell their books, particularly nonfiction authors. Generally we call all these non-bookstores sales "special sales" and they can be a godsend for a small publisher.
Advantages of Special Sales Channels
Here are some of the advantages of making special sales to augment your other sales efforts. While some of these points require a book that's offset printed, others can be handled by print runs at digital, print on demand suppliers, too.
Books sold to non-bookstore buyers are not returnable.
By extending your print run, a special sale will reduce the cost of your own books, since the unit cost will go down as the quantity ordered goes up.
Special sales will require payment on delivery, usually at 50% of retail. This can help pay your printing costs.
If you agree to print books with the buyer's branding, like for a corporate sale, you'll get the benefit of associating with a larger company or foundation.
A partner's access to your potential buyers can help you to grow your own list for direct marketing.
How are you going to find these opportunities? This is where the brainstorming comes in. Part of this process borrows from demographics, in which we try to model the typical buyer of your book and then use that information to find other likely book buyers.
Finding Opportunities for Special Sales
As an example, let's say you have a book about family bicycling adventures in northern California.
Your brainstorming would start with looking at who would buy your book, and then going deeper into who those people are, where they buy, and where they hang out. Here are some ideas.
--Think about where they buy their bicycling gear. Bike stores sell lots of books, and that would be the first opportunity you could look at.
--But what about larger outdoor equipment retailers? Stores like REI have substantial book departments and would likely be interested in your book.
--Visitors centers at many parks carry books related to activities you can pursue nearby. This would be a natural throughout the area your book covers.
--Families who cycle together are likely to also camp together, since they are closely related activities. Camping supply stores, whether they sell bike gear or not, would be another venue for your book.
--Tie-ins represent lots of opportunities. For instance, a company that sells kid trailers that you pull with your bike might be interested in making a bulk purchase of your book and using it as a giveaway or premium for their own sales efforts.
--You could also tie-in with a travel planning company that specializes in family adventure trips in the area your book covers.
--Corporations looking to encourage employees to get healthy could use your book as an incentive in their wellness program, and might buy a large quantity of books printed with their own corporate logo on them.
--We're obviously dealing with a family with small children. Perhaps there's a local chain of children's clothing stores that would like the book on their counter, or branded as a premium?
If some of these ideas remind you of long-tail marketing, there's a good reason for that. We're drilling down into the demographic to find affiliations in this group.
Finding groups of your target buyers will lead to all kinds of sales opportunities where you're free, outside the confines of book distribution, to negotiate sales to your benefit with your book as your product.
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Joel Friedlander
is the proprietor of Marin Bookworks in San Rafael, California, a publishing services company where he's helped launch many self-publishers. He blogs about book design, writing and self-publishing at www.TheBookDesigner.com. Joel is also the author of the newly-published A Self-Publisher's Companion: Expert Advice for Authors Who Want to Publish.--------
Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect , an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests .
March 30, 2011
7 Tips For Writing Titles That Will Cause Readers To Click On Your Post
When you write a blog post, the title may be the single most important factor in whether people will click on it and read it or not. That makes titles worth spending a little time thinking about before we slap one on and go. Here are some tips on choosing effective post titles that will work for you.
1. Use Keyword Rich Titles- Titles play an important role when search engines return results, so you want to use them as much as possible. While I have been known to write titles for other purposes, I generally try to use keywords when possible. For this reason, I also recommend that you use keywords in your blog's permalink settings rather than a post number.
2. Use Titles That Communicate A Benefit- Writing titles for search engines is important, but you also want to write for the reader who sees your post link and has a split second to decide whether to click it or move on. Benefit statements tell the reader what they will get if they read your post. For example, you could say:
7 Tips For Writing Great Post Titles
or
7 Tips For Writing Titles That Will Cause Readers To Click On Your Post
The second option has a benefit that helps the reader decide to click on the link and read what you have to say.
3. Use Lists- I love lists and apparently so do a lot of people. There is a marked improvement of my traffic when I incorporate lists into my post titles. "10 reasons to...", "5 Ways You Can..." "Top 10 Reasons Why You Need To..."
Lists are perfectly suited for blog readers who often have many blogs they look at each day. They help readers quickly scan the content and make it easy for them to digest your information. They help break down long blocks of text into easily read bits and pieces, which means your post gets a boost when looking to engage readers.
4. Ask Questions- Asking questions in your post title serves the same purpose that using lists serves. It piques the interest of the reader and promises specific answers in your post. Questions in your titles can also be a great catalyst for people to leave comments. "Which is better, Nook or Kindle?" can give you fertile material to blog about while stirring the passions of your readers. Question titles also generally do a good job in engaging Twitter followers.
5. Play On Words- Using a play on words can cause people to jump on your title or avoid it like the plague, so be careful when you employ this strategy. You have to use this title strategy in a way that legitimately ties in with your content, or readers will be disappointed. Consider these "hit" and "misses" for me with this strategy:
Hit: Marketing Lesson I Learned From My Infidelity- This post talks about creating customer loyalty by illustrating how I felt when a barista from my local Starbucks walked into a neighboring store and found me sitting there. This posts still draws in healthy traffic even though it was written in September, 2009.
Miss: Borrow Other People's Mailing List For Extended Reach- This posts has great advice for people who have no audience to tap into by giving tips on how you can get in front of other people's readers. "Borrowing" a list in this context means getting the list owner to write about you to their followers. But the title backfired on me because the play on words was not easily seen and because the play on words was on the practice of taking someone's list and sending out your own content to it (which I strongly discourage). This title generates so much negative feedback on Twitter without causing anyone to actually click on the post to read it, that I no longer actively use it. In fact, I will probably change the title soon and resubmit it, but I like it as an illustration of a poorly designed title.
6. Commentate On Current Events- You can capitalize on current media buzz by writing a post title that inserts yourself into the debate. A few week's ago, I read everything I could about Amanda Hocking, so when I saw a title with her name, I clicked on it. The downside to using this technique is that when the buzz wears off, so do the clicks. While I will use this technique once in a while, I generally opt for a long-term approach to using titles that will have timeless appeal.
7. Generate Controversy- Few things can engage people like controversy, and many use this technique to generate readers for their blog. "Why Publishing An e-Book Will Scuttle Your Author Career" may raise a few eyebrows and cause people to see what you have to say. Be ready for a healthy debate on your post if you choose this title strategy.
Before you publish your next blog post, take a look at your title. What is it doing to encourage (or discourage) people from clicking on it? What promise is it making and are you delivering on its promises? You'll find it difficult to use all of these strategies to create the perfect title, so settle on employing one or two to work for you. After a little testing, you'll find the titles that reach out to the most people and keep them coming back for more.
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1. Use Keyword Rich Titles- Titles play an important role when search engines return results, so you want to use them as much as possible. While I have been known to write titles for other purposes, I generally try to use keywords when possible. For this reason, I also recommend that you use keywords in your blog's permalink settings rather than a post number.
2. Use Titles That Communicate A Benefit- Writing titles for search engines is important, but you also want to write for the reader who sees your post link and has a split second to decide whether to click it or move on. Benefit statements tell the reader what they will get if they read your post. For example, you could say:
7 Tips For Writing Great Post Titles
or
7 Tips For Writing Titles That Will Cause Readers To Click On Your Post
The second option has a benefit that helps the reader decide to click on the link and read what you have to say.
3. Use Lists- I love lists and apparently so do a lot of people. There is a marked improvement of my traffic when I incorporate lists into my post titles. "10 reasons to...", "5 Ways You Can..." "Top 10 Reasons Why You Need To..."
Lists are perfectly suited for blog readers who often have many blogs they look at each day. They help readers quickly scan the content and make it easy for them to digest your information. They help break down long blocks of text into easily read bits and pieces, which means your post gets a boost when looking to engage readers.
4. Ask Questions- Asking questions in your post title serves the same purpose that using lists serves. It piques the interest of the reader and promises specific answers in your post. Questions in your titles can also be a great catalyst for people to leave comments. "Which is better, Nook or Kindle?" can give you fertile material to blog about while stirring the passions of your readers. Question titles also generally do a good job in engaging Twitter followers.
5. Play On Words- Using a play on words can cause people to jump on your title or avoid it like the plague, so be careful when you employ this strategy. You have to use this title strategy in a way that legitimately ties in with your content, or readers will be disappointed. Consider these "hit" and "misses" for me with this strategy:
Hit: Marketing Lesson I Learned From My Infidelity- This post talks about creating customer loyalty by illustrating how I felt when a barista from my local Starbucks walked into a neighboring store and found me sitting there. This posts still draws in healthy traffic even though it was written in September, 2009.
Miss: Borrow Other People's Mailing List For Extended Reach- This posts has great advice for people who have no audience to tap into by giving tips on how you can get in front of other people's readers. "Borrowing" a list in this context means getting the list owner to write about you to their followers. But the title backfired on me because the play on words was not easily seen and because the play on words was on the practice of taking someone's list and sending out your own content to it (which I strongly discourage). This title generates so much negative feedback on Twitter without causing anyone to actually click on the post to read it, that I no longer actively use it. In fact, I will probably change the title soon and resubmit it, but I like it as an illustration of a poorly designed title.
6. Commentate On Current Events- You can capitalize on current media buzz by writing a post title that inserts yourself into the debate. A few week's ago, I read everything I could about Amanda Hocking, so when I saw a title with her name, I clicked on it. The downside to using this technique is that when the buzz wears off, so do the clicks. While I will use this technique once in a while, I generally opt for a long-term approach to using titles that will have timeless appeal.
7. Generate Controversy- Few things can engage people like controversy, and many use this technique to generate readers for their blog. "Why Publishing An e-Book Will Scuttle Your Author Career" may raise a few eyebrows and cause people to see what you have to say. Be ready for a healthy debate on your post if you choose this title strategy.
Before you publish your next blog post, take a look at your title. What is it doing to encourage (or discourage) people from clicking on it? What promise is it making and are you delivering on its promises? You'll find it difficult to use all of these strategies to create the perfect title, so settle on employing one or two to work for you. After a little testing, you'll find the titles that reach out to the most people and keep them coming back for more.
--------
Tony Eldridge is the author of The Samson Effect, an action/adventure novel that Clive Cussler calls a "first rate thriller brimming with intrigue and adventure." He is also the author of the Twitter marketing book, Conducting Effective Twitter Contests.
