Tony Eldridge's Blog, page 9

The new phone book is here! By Christopher Hudson

We have a treat today with a new guest post by author Christopher Hudson. He will be discussing the problem that all authors face when they add their name to the big list of published authors. Undoubtedly, millions of authors find themselves in this situation. It's going to be interesting to see the comments as authors share their experience with this and how they all deal with it.



 















The new phone book is here!

By Christopher Hudson




When Steve Martin's character in the movie, The Jerk, see's his name in the new phone book, he exclaims, 'I'm somebody.' That's exactly what I said when I received a copy of my first book, Northern Cross.It was a long time coming ... a decade or more ... and seeing my name on the cover of that book actually brought tears to my eyes. But I soon discovered that having a book published is pretty much like getting your name in the phone book ... it doesn't mean anyone ... other than the occasional psychotic killer who picks out your name at random ... is going to notice you. (If you happen to be a psychotic killer, pretend you didn't read this, okay?)




The hard lesson for me was that sales hinged on marketing ... no one (and that included family and friends) knew, or cared about my book unless I waved it in front of them ... constantly. It is just the way of the world. "Early to bed, early to rise, advertise, advertise, advertise," is a quote I heard once attributed to a successful corporate titan ... and who could argue with effectiveness of relentless marketing?




Now that's all well and good ... if you have a marketing department, ad agency, and an endless supply of money ... but my publisher was just a small ... make that mini ... er, micro print-on-demand outfit. They told me that they depended on their authors to provide 'marketing support'. What I was to learn was that meant 'all marketing' ... if I didn't beat the drum and blow the horn, it just wasn't going to happen ... and I was going to have to do that via the only tool available to me ... the Internet.




Now, here is the good and the bad news about the Internet ... it provides you with access to people, places, and forums that were previously unattainable ... it also provides everyone else with access to those same people, places, and forums. Oh, there are methods of cutting through the noise ... Tony's site provides a lot of tips and tricks ... but they usually require some technical skill and a large amount of tenacity on the author's part ... traits that I'm ... well ... lacking.




To me, the Internet is just another phone book ... a gargantuan, electronic phone book filled with hundreds of millions of names ... just being present doesn't guarantee that anyone will ever notice you ... unless they are a spammer ... or psychotic killer.










Christopher Hudson
Website: www.northerncrossonline.com
Blog, Socially Awkward: http://essenceofperformance.blogspot.com/











  




























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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 . His new novel, The Lottery Ticket , was just recently released on Kindle.

Adding Customer Images to Your Amazon Page To Increase Your Sales By Laura Pepper Wu

Today, I'm thrilled to introduce you to author Laura Pepper Wu. Laura will share a fascinating  tip she learned on how to make your Amazon sales page more effective by adding your own images to it.



My continued thanks to everyone as I still catch up with scheduled posts that I'm working to get out to you.













Adding Customer Images to Your Amazon Page To Increase Your Sales 

By Laura Pepper Wu




Not all book marketing efforts come equal. Some are large endeavors (book tours, ad campaigns, guest posts), others are small tweaks that bring surprising results.




One such thing is adding customer images to your Amazon product page.




On every Amazon product page (including print and eBook pages) there is the option to "Share your own customer images". Find this option under the image of your book cover.




Anyone can upload these customer images, including the author or publisher. So why is this worth your while?




In the case of my non-fiction wedding guide, I uploaded four images to compliment the existing book cover image. These include my author profile picture, an image of the paperback book in a real life setting and two images of the text on my Kindle.




When I made this small change, I noticed a leap in my sales. Coincidence?




Perhaps. Perhaps not. It's hard to know which marketing efforts are working since we do not have direct statistics from Amazon, and I suspect that it's a sum of the entire equation. Here is why adding customer images works, using an example of my favorite vice, Peet's coffee.




Here is what Peet's coffee looks like in it's bag. We can more or less draw a parallel of the coffee bag to the image of your book's front cover:
































Now, we can add an image that gives the consumer a feeling; a desire to enjoy the product for them self:






















We can even go one step further and add in an image of someone enjoying the coffee, to show the customer the joy and experience this purchase will bring them.
























Photo Courtesy of KatLevPhoto on Flikr




It's obvious which image is going to entice you to buy the coffee more effectively. In the case of your book, this could be a picture of someone reading your book on the sofa, by the pool or even at the beach.




Adding customer images is a simple, effective, yet underused tool. Use this to your advantage and give customers more than just a book cover to judge your book by.




Now please excuse me while I go get my coffee.




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BIO:
Laura Pepper Wu is a writer and the co-founder of 30 Day Books: a book studio. She successfully marketed 30 Day GMAT Success to become the number 1 selling GMAT guide on the Amazon kindle, top 10 in print, as well as in the top 3 of all study guides on the Kindle.

She blogs about her marketing experiences at laurapepperwu.wordpress.com. Laura is available for book marketing consultation and advice, and would love to hear from you! laura {at) 30daybooks {dot} com, http://twitter.com/#!/LauraPepWu























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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 . His new novel, The Lottery Ticket , was just recently released on Kindle.

5 Tips For Marketing Your Novel The Second Time Around By Dan McGirt

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One of the reasons I love to do this blog is to discuss tips like the ones I'm discussing with you today. Actually, they come from an author who shares his experience when it comes to resurrecting a blacklist. New authors may not appreciate just how great this "Golden Age" of publishing is for us, but those with backlist books sure do. Author Dan McGirt shares 5 powerful tips for those who have a previously published novel that you want to shake the dust off of and put back into circulation. There's some great tips here, so let's get started.









5 Tips For Marketing Your Novel The Second Time Around 

By Dan McGirt



We all love a good comeback story. A growing number of authors are reclaiming the rights to their out-of-print backlist titles--books that may have been first published years or even decades ago--and bringing those books back as ebooks or print-on-demand titles.




Some authors do it themselves, using tools like Amazon's Kindle Digital Platform and Smashwords. Others work through an agent, e-publisher, or small press. Either way, marketing an old book the second time around requires learning new skills and a new mindset--especially if your previous experience was letting your publisher do most of the work.




My fantasy novel Jason Cosmo was published as mass market paperback in 1989, followed by two sequels in the early 1990s. All vanished from bookstore shelves within a couple of years. After more than a decade away, I decided to resurrect and relaunch my Jason Cosmo series a couple of years ago.




Starting with steamy Gothic tale Dark Splendor in 1986, my mother, author Andrea Parnell, wrote ten romance novels published in the 80s and 90s before also moving away from writing. I've recently helped Mom relaunch her backlist as e-books too. She offers this take on what promoting her books was like back in the day:




"I traveled to conferences, writing workshops, book signings and other events to promote my books. Much of this travel was at my own expense. I created bookmarks, flyers, brochures, postcards, wrote articles for fanzines and took out ads in those same publications. Most of this was at my own expense. Fans sent self-addressed-stamped-envelopes (SASE) requesting the bookmark or other item I was giving away. All of this effort was geared to a three to six month make or break window for a mass market paperback. Keeping that book around and selling longer was largely up an author, many of whom, like me, who had little understanding of the book business or marketing."




Mom gets few SASEs in the mail these days--but her books are selling again, and so are mine. Here are five things we've learned about marketing your novel the second time around. (These points apply to new writers and new books too):




1. Your Readers Are Looking for You: If you've ever been published, then you still have fans out there. Make it easy for them to find you online. I put up my first website in 1999. My books had been out of print for several years. To my surprise, I soon started receiving emails from Loyal Readers asking when I would write another book! This inspired me to eventually relaunch my fantasy series--how could I say no? My Loyal Readers of yesteryear are the core audience for my new works--and my best ambassadors for finding new readers.




You don't have to devote significant time to online activities--your time is best spent writing your next book--but you should establish a basic presence. If blogs and social media are new to you, take your time and ease into it. I suggest starting with a website/blog, a Facebook page, and a Twitter account. These three make for a powerful combination. You can get them all set up in a couple of hours at no cost, then read, experiment, and figure out how to use them. As your comfort level grows you will develop your own online style and build a following. Like any marketing activity, the more time and effort you put into it, the greater the results. A minimalist approach is fine if that is what suits you... but you must be online. Your readers are looking for you--let them find you.




2. The Ebook IS the Real Book: As survey results recently released by the American Association of Publishers (AAP) show, the market share of hardcover and paperback formats is shrinking, while the market share of ebooks grew more than 1200% from 2008 to 2010. Print still accounts for the vast majority of books sold—but if you're an author republishing your old novels for new readers, the smart move is to focus on ebook sales.




As a traditionally published print author--and as the owner of thousands of print books--it took me a while to wrap my head around this dramatic change in the nature of publishing. I spent most of 2009 preparing to publish my novel Hero Wanted using print-on-demand technology. As an afterthought, I also published as an ebook on Smashwords. I had no expectation anyone would actually pay for an ebook, so I gave it away for free. I was completely focused on the print book--what I considered the "real" book. I was only vaguely aware of something called the Kindle. The iPad was still a couple of years in the future.




Today, the print version of Hero Wanted sells a few copies each month through Amazon and other online stores. But most of my book sales are ebook sales. Not surprising--that same AAP survey found e-books are now 13.6% of the net revenue market share in Adult Fiction. The dynamics may be different for non-fiction, or if you're working with a traditional publisher--it is still true the vast majority of books sold are print. But the trend is clear. And for a do-it-yourself publisher of fiction, the trend is sparkling diamond crystal clear--lead with the ebook. The ebook is the real book now. Print is the afterthought. All of your marketing strategies and tactics should flow from that fact.




3. A Free Story Spurs Sales: A writer should not be reluctant to part with a story for free. Free pays. Readers appreciate it. A free story can serve as your introduction to new readers. If they like what they read, they'll buy your other work.




Mom mentioned that when Dark Splendor was originally published, her editor asked her to cut the first three chapters and start the action later. She still had the deleted chapters. I suggested she turn them into a novella--Dark Prelude--that we would give away for free. She was a little skeptical at first, but after she released Dark Prelude as a free lead-in, sales of Dark Splendor took off. Sales of her other titles perked up a bit too, but Dark Splendor has left them all behind, propelled by the free prequel.




Even for a book you wrote years ago, you may have deleted scenes you can repurpose into a freebie, or an idea for a short related story that introduces readers to your novel's characters and to your writing.




A word of caution: Be sure your free story is complete in itself, with a definite ending. Readers are not paying with money, but they are paying with their time and attention. If your free short story ties in to your novel, but leaves the reader hanging so she is forced to buy the book to get a resolution, that is likely to backfire. Readers don't like to be manipulated. Dark Prelude stands on its own--but it ends with an invitation for the reader to follow the characters she just met into Dark Splendor. A good many readers accept that invitation.




4. Word of Mouth Still Works: The Internet is an amazingly powerful tool for connecting with readers and letting the world know about your book. But the old-fashioned ways of getting the word out are still valuable too. This is from Andrea Parnell (aka Mom) again: "I made up business cards featuring the covers for my ebooks with sales and contact information on the back. Friends and family are kind enough to pass them along to others. I've gotten some sales from these and the opportunity to let people in my area know about my books and what I'm doing. Old-fashioned word of mouth is still effective." 



You can still meet your readers in the real world too!




5. Everything Changes. Then Changes Again: As I mentioned above, over the last couple of years I shifted my thinking from focusing on selling print books, to focusing on ebooks. It seems like I'm adjusting my thinking every few weeks in response to new developments: Smashwords adding new distribution partners. Apple's entry into ebook-selling. Amazon shifting their ebook royalty split in response. Borders going belly up. Trying to learn from the success of DIY authors like John Locke, Amanda Hocking, J.A. Konrath, and others.




Just when you've got your Facebook page perfected, Facebook scrambles the format of their site again. Google launches Google , which means a whole new social media site to figure out--or ignore. You read that Amazon is proposing a "Netflix for books" and wonder how that will affect your own book. And Marketing Tips for Authors keeps pumping out new ideas to try!




It can feel overwhelming trying to keep up with all the changes in publishing. But this is a golden age for authors. If you are willing to seize the moment, learn a some new skills, keep writing, and keep experimenting until you find the mix of marketing moves that works for you and resonates with your target readership, you can take charge of your own writing career and destiny to an extent authors of the past could only dream about. My final tip: Keep Writing, Keep Learning, and Keep At It!













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DAN MCGIRT is the author of the Jason Cosmo fantasy adventure series, beginning with Hero Wanted. His previous books include the original Jason Cosmo Non-Trilogy: Jason Cosmo, Royal Chaos and Dirty Work . His other published stories include Sarah Palin: Vampire Hunter. He writes the oft-neglected Apology Index blog, which covers public apologies. He is the founder and publisher of Trove Books LLC. Dan is a member of Novelists, Inc. and the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America. He was named 2006 Time Person of the Year (It's true! Look it up!)






Twitter: @JasonCosmo 

Blog: http://JasonCosmo.com

Website: http://DanMcGirt.com

E-mail: Dan@JasonCosmo.com

Facebook: http://danmcgirt.com/facebook







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ANDREA PARNELL is the award-winning author of ten novels, short fiction and articles, with more than one million copies of her books in print. Her works include Gothic (Dark Splendor, Whispers at Midnight), Western (Delilah's Flame), and other historical and contemporary romances. Several of her books have been set in her home state of Georgia. Andrea has received both the Maggie and Romantic Times Reviewer's Choice awards for her writing, and is a member of Novelists, Inc. (NINC) and past president of the Georgia Authors Network. She is fond of cats, travel, overgrown gardens, and old houses with lots of crooks, crannies, and interesting shadows.




Twitter: @andreahparnell

Blog/Website: AndreaParnell.com

E-mail: ahparnell@aol.com

Facebook: http://andreaparnell.com/facebook



















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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 . His new novel, The Lottery Ticket , was just recently released on Kindle.

Review: How To Get Your Book Reviewed by Dana Lynn Smith

Today, I'm honored to be a stop on Dana Lynn Smith's book tour for her newest Savvy Book Marketer title, How to Get Your Book Reviewed. As part of her book tour, she is also generously giving away a copy of her book for one lucky reader of this blog. To win a free copy of How to Get Your Book Reviewed, just enter a comment at the end of this review. The winner will be drawn at random from all comments received by midnight on Wednesday, September 14.



When it comes to reviews, all authors want them but few know what to do in order to have the best chances of landing a review that will be read by a lot of people. Just like her other guides, Dana approaches the subject with an exhaustive treatment. She lays out a great case for why book reviews are beneficial to you and then she lifts the hood and shows you how the process works.



Scattered throughout her book are a number of "savvy tips", nuggets of advice that will help you learn practical tips garnered from years of experience. She reaches out to other authors and experts to help you get a well-rounded perspective on book reviews.



In this gem, you'll learn what the book review process is, what potential pitfalls you need to watch out for, how to get and use endorsements/testimonials, and how to use book review as a marketing tool.

One of my favorite parts of the book is how Dana explains all the different venues for book reviews as she relates the pros and cons of each.



If you are an author and thought that your only opportunity for a book review is in the New York Times, then you need to check out this book.



Dana's book is laid out in a logical and easy to read format. The information is also laid out in a way that allows you to go quickly to the part of the book you need for your specific questions.




There comes a time when every author will focus on book reviews. While other resources will give you a few tips on how to secure book reviews, if you are serious about creating a marketing plan around your book launch, then Dana Lynn Smith's book, How to Get Your Book Reviewed is one you'll want in your book marketing arsenal.



Remember, to win a free copy of How to Get Your Book Reviewed, just enter a comment below. The winner will be drawn at random from all comments received by midnight on Wednesday, September 14.



































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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 . His new novel, The Lottery Ticket , was just recently released on Kindle.

Utilizing A Career In Marketing And Business To Get A Book To Market By Donna Galanti

Wow, it's been a long time since we've had a post on Marketing Tips For Authors. It looks like my computer and traveling issues are behind me and I'm looking forward to getting caught back up. To help "relaunch" the blog, we have a guest author Donna Galanti to kick us off today. She will be giving some practical advice on marketing your book.









Utilizing A Career In Marketing And Business To Get A Book To Market



The experts say, build an author platform and network before you get published. This was true as well in my former marketing career. I often created a buzz before the product was even finished. Becoming visible is more crucial to landing a book deal than ever, according to agents, authors, and editors. Writing that book isn't enough anymore. Being an author today means being a small-business owner.  Aspiring authors need to develop a marketing platform to create that built-in audience. Here are some ways I'm transitioning a former career in marketing and business to an author career.



1. Build a brand look.

We all know what brand this is. Coke has it. Nike has it. For my resume business I created an image and message I flowed through my brochures, business cards, and website. This was my "marketing kit".  As an author, you need a marketing kit too with a consistent brand image.  Create your author image now and carry it over into your social media to build your "author brand" and recognition. When I marketed products I included press releases, news, bios, testimonials, and awards in that marketing kit. You can add this to your "kit" too as you become more established in your author role.



2. Know your product.

In my marketing career I had navigated towards new positions. I enjoyed going into a company that had no marketing lead and helping build their brand, message, and visibility from the ground up. I had to find the best places to showcase their products. To get up to speed I attended product training, followed our competition and industry giants, and researched industry trade shows and publications. The same can be said for getting a book to market. I read books in my genre (other products or "the competition"). I also created my sub-list, or submission list. This was a list of ten or so books that were similar to mine. The books where mine would fit on the same shelf (best place to showcase my product). I attended writing conferences (industry trade shows). I researched the craft of writing to improve mine (I learned from the industry giants). I Googled blogs of suspense authors and searched for them on Facebook and Twitter (followed what other authors are doing in the "business").



3. Be passionate about your product  (hint: it's not just your book).

When I marketed products I didn't enjoy the aspect of selling then, but when it came to selling my own product I did. When I launched my resume writing business, I discovered that people were buying me not just my service. I was passionate about the service I provided. In establishing a rapport with potential clients I came to enjoy a 99% close-rate on that first phone call booking them for a resume consultation. This floored me! The same goes for promoting your book, published yet or not. People will feed off your passion and enthusiasm for your book whether it's friends, acquaintances, or agents. Being passionate and knowledgeable about your book goes far. So perfect that pitch, know your book, be excited about it – then go sell it.



4. Connect and be found.

Today even small businesses need to connect with their customers through social media.  In the first year of my resume business, 95% of my resume business came from online advertising, not print. As an author you also need to be found online. On Facebook, Twitter, GoodReads, LibraryThing, IndieBound, LinkedIn. Follow those agents you're interested in and authors in your genre. Start a blog. Add tags (keywords) to bottom of your blog posts so they can be found in a web search by keyword. Become involved in the online community and forums within your genre.



You never know who will promote your knowledge. For example, one of my writing peers, Jon Gibbs, commented on a forum recently through a highly-regarded blog. The owner of that blog, Nathan Bransford, an agent and author, posted the article on his front page. Jon connected and was "found" because he presented information of value. And don't forget your "street team", friends and family. Promote your book, blog, and website to them. Ask them to promote you as well.



5. Referrals.

After 3 years in business, 50% of my new resume business came from referrals. You can do the same as an unpublished author. Other authors out there will refer their network of people to you if you provide value in your blog posts, tweets, commentary on their blogs. Referrals are about one thing. Relationships. If you build positive relationships with others they will spread the word about you. And you can do the same for other authors by referring them.



6. Always be ready to pitch.

When I operated my resume business I created a one minute elevator speech about my service and its benefits. I always had a business card to hand out. I never knew where I might strike up conversations with people in need of my service. As an author today this is where the business of writing comes in to play. Have that book pitch ready so when someone asks "What's your book about?" you can confidently tell them and pass them your card.



7. Know your market.

For my resume business I focused on mid-level professionals as that is what I had been. I understood their career issues and they knew the value in spending money on a well-written resume. As an author ask yourself, are there special qualities, issues, or settings in your book that appeal to certain groups? Hikers, teens, mountain climbers, veterinarians? Find those groups on Twitter and listen to their conversations. Mention your book or blog when relevant. Does your book feature a certain locale? Post photos of those places along with mention of your book on a blog post.



8. Join a professional organization and network.

As a former marketer and business owner, I wanted to learn from the master's. I joined industry organizations and attended conferences to do that. I benefited from my established peers and realized I didn't need to re-invent the wheel in marketing. It's the same being a writer. We can learn from other writers to improve our craft, promote ourselves, and get published.



As a marketing manager I was part of a team. I couldn't "market" alone. I needed everyone's experience and advice to best market our products. Writing is a solitude job but we can't market our books alone either. Band together and learn from your peers. If you write children's books – join SCBWI. If you are a thriller writer – join Thriller Writers of America. And keep up to date on the industry by checking out Publisher's Weekly daily news. Attend regional writing conferences.  Even better, volunteer at them. I volunteered to pick up agent's coming in from New York to one conference and had two agents in my car to pitch to. Also, make sure you follow up after the conference with those new contacts. 



9. Piggyback off others. Share advertising.

As a former marketing manager I networked with other companies in the industry that had products complementing ours. In doing so, we often shared advertising space and promoted each other on our websites. This expanded our audience reach to our target market, reduced advertising costs, and created free advertising.  As an author, invite other authors to do guest blogs on your site and promote their website in your blog roll. You may be asked to do the favor in return. 



Start a blog with a group of authors and expand your publicity. This greatly expands your author reach by sharing your combined knowledge to a wider audience. Check out some author pals of mine who did just this at Author Chronicles. Another blog of thriller writers who combined their forces and YA writers. When you become published take your blog to the next level and collaborate with your author group to do signings together, give workshops, and author network sessions. A good example of a successful writer's group that does just this (and I'm very lucky to have local in my backyard) is The Philadelphia Liars Club.



10. Position yourself as an expert. 

In building my resume business I wanted to position myself as an expert. I wrote articles with resume advice and submitted to local print and online news, gaining free publicity. Even as an aspiring published author you can do this. You can share your path to publication (after all, what am I doing here?). What you learn from your peers and mentors can benefit other writers. Write about it in your blog. Share it in forums and workshops. Offer to write blog posts for other blogs. They will love the material for their site and it spreads your name and blog.  Ask them to do the same for your blog.



11. Toot your own horn – and others too!

When I marketed products, I promoted our awards and recognitions. I also researched awards to apply to. You can do the same thing as a writer. Look for contests to your submit short stories, flash fiction, poetry, and novel excerpts. Win any writing or blogger awards? Win an agent critique? Promote it on your blog and through social media.  Reach out to the other current winners to interview for your website.



Sent out ten Facebook requests to published authors you read asking for an interview on your blog. You may get one "yes". Then send out ten more requests. This can greatly boost your blog readership with "star power". Lastly, if you enjoy a book, write a review for your blog or on GoodReads. Send the author the link and let them know how much you enjoyed it. Promotion of them, brings back around promotion of you. So, don't let your social networking be all about you. Always include your bio in any post/article so folks can link back to you.



Good luck getting your book to market!



BIO:



Donna Galanti is a freelance writer for an advertising agency and the former owner of a resume writing services company. She has a background in communications and marketing, after being a photographer in the U.S. Navy and meandering life adrift for awhile.



She wanted to become a writer when she was seven and fell in love with the worlds of Narnia and Roald Dahl. She lived at the time in England, where she attended school in a Harry Potter kind of castle. The itchy uniform was a treat with bowling hat and tie included. She now lives in an old Pennsylvania farmhouse with her son, husband, and two crazy cats. It has lots of nooks, fireplaces, and stink bugs, but she's still wishing for a castle again someday.



Donna has her paranormal suspense out on submission, A Human Element, and is currently working on a psychological suspense novel. She is also busy writing an adventure middle grade book as a student in Jonathan Maberry's and Marie Lamba's Novel in 9 Months Class. She is a member of the Greater Lehigh Valley Writer's Group. Her memoir on boot camp in the 1980's, Letters from Boot Camp, is available on Amazon. She recently won first prize for the Words on the Wall contest at the Philadelphia Writer's Conference.



Twitter @DonnaGalanti

Blog:  www.donnagalanti.com

Website: www.lettersfrombootcamp.com

E-mail: donnasgalanti@comcast.net

Facebook: @DonnaBeckleyGalanti


















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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 . His new novel, The Lottery Ticket , was just recently released on Kindle.

We Are Back Up On Tuesday

After an inconvenient string of computer issues, e-mail meltdowns, travel, and my twins starting kindergarten, I have brought my technology issues under control and my travel for the foreseeable future is in check. I have over 3000 e-mails to go through, so I ask your patience as I knock them out.





Top on my agenda: 



* Reschedule guest posts that we missed when I didn't have access to the net

* Reschedule our Sunday Kindle Book Giveaways that we missed highlighting

* Post reviews I have promised authors



I hope that after this week, I will have the routine back again and this blog will once again bring you some awesome Marketing Tips From Authors from some of the top experts and authors.



See you all on Tuesday!







  




























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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 . His new novel, The Lottery Ticket , was just recently released on Kindle.

Computer Issues

Just an FYI... I am having computer issues that are being worked on at the moment as well as major e-mail problems. I appreciate all your patience. I will work on catching up on my e-mails as soon as I can and I will work on getting the Sunday Kindle Book Giveaway up as soon as I can.



I will be without my computer for most of this week and half of next week. Again, I apologize for the inconvience and will do my best to get things up to date when I can.



Best wishes,



Tony







  




























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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 . His new novel, The Lottery Ticket , was just recently released on Kindle.

Book Review: Book Marketing made Easy By D'Vorah Lansky

I just finished D'Vorah Lansky's, Book Marketing Made Easy: Simple Strategies for Selling Your Nonfiction Book Online. It joins the list of great resources that I highly recommend for authors. Just a quick note: even though this is billed as a book for promoting your nonfiction books, as a novelist, I can tell you that this is a great resource for fiction writers as well.



D'Vorah approaches her subject from the online, e-promotion standpoint. She walks authors through the technical things they can do spread the word about their book. This includes her advice on blogging, social media marketing, teleseminars, videos and more. But she also goes into the strategies that authors can use to maximize the income stream from their book.



For the author who thinks that all you need to do is start a website/blog, Facebook, and Twitter account to market their book, D'Vorah's book is a needed, refreshing look that will open the eyes of the reader to the potential out there for you. My favorite part of this book are the resources at the end of the chapters. There, you will find "Keys To Success", which are quick tips that give you that extra icing on your book marketing cake and her added "Resources" that will give you a list of web links that will allow you to research the material in that chapter in more depth.



Book Marketing Made Easy is set up exactly the way I like these author resource books to be set up. Each chapter is devoted to a specific subject and allows you to turn to the part of the book you need most too best use the information in a way personalized to your needs. That means you won't have to read the book cover-to-cover to get the benefit from this resource. However, I do recommend that you spend the time on each chapter, regardless of your needs. I walked away with ideas and lessons from chapters that I consider myself an expert on.



My bottom line on this book is this: It's definitely a book that will give you much more than the value you spend on buying it. You'll treat it as a resources that you'll keep at arm's reach to use as you have the need. Already, it occupies a special place on my bookshelf for the few books that I want to keep close to me. My prediction is that you will have these two responses after reading the book. 1. "Wow, I didn't know you could do that!" and 2. "So that's how they do that!" This is definitely a buy for the author who wants to explore all the options available to them when it comes to marketing their book.











































  



























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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 . His new novel, The Lottery Ticket , was just recently released on Kindle.

Starting Out Simple And Moving On By Shirley Myers

I love guest posts because I get to hear the experience and advice of book marketing experts. They almost always help me expand my own knowledge as I'm sure they do yours. I always believe that if you can find a single lesson in a post or workshop that helps your book marketing, the lessons were worth your time. But I also purposely schedule authors as guests to share their experiences and advice as well. I find it refreshing to discuss with colleagues their experiences and insights. Today, author Shirley Myers will be sharing her insights as she looks back on her publishing experiences.









Starting Out Simple And Moving On

By Shirley Myers



One morning in mid-October, 2010, the doorbell rang. We opened the door to a delivery man who had 16 boxes of books to bring into our very small house. I was elated that after many years my dream of publishing a Bible storybook had finally come true. But as the delivery man drove away, I sat there looking at the boxes, and uncertainty gripped me. What if I couldn't sell them? How would I do it? Because the stories in my book were about the great things God had done in Bible times, I was sure God would help me if I prayed. So I did, even as I had done while writing the book. Here are the simple ways I started. Perhaps some of these ways will work for you also.



1. Be on target. I mostly went to a targeted audience. People who went to church and wanted their children and grandchildren to learn about God and his son Jesus Christ proved to be the most ready to purchase my book, Grandma, Tell Me a Story: 52 Bible Stories for Children. In the two inner-city churches where I preached every Sunday I sold many to people who felt they would make excellent Christmas gifts. You will need to assess the market and choose your own target for your particular book according to its genre and subject material or the appeal some other product might have to a certain market..



2. Be bold. Don't be afraid to ask when you think of something that might work. I looked for churches who were having a special event and asked if I could set up a table and sell my books. One church was having the 200th anniversary of the founding of their church, so I approached a friend of mine who attended there. She asked her anniversary committee and they said yes. That was my first real selling event. I sold 8 books. Approaching Christmas, things got quite busy. I was able to attach myself to two church events that were taking place on the same day. It was a long day, but I sold 19 books that day, and one woman contacted me later to buy a couple more. I didn't even feel tired coming home. I've even sold quite a few in the restaurant where my husband and I eat breakfast.



3. Be gracious. When you get a refusal. Don't show disappointment or anger. Just say, "Thank you for considering it." Then move on to the next idea. Don't let it discourage you or slow you down. I have had a thought that a secondary audience for my book would be the elderly. I went to a local senior center to inquire about selling my books there. They refused me because of the religious slant of my book. I think it was in conflict with some funding they receive. But there are other senior centers with different funding. So I won't give up. My experience with elderly people in churches still leads me to believe they are a target audience. In one of churches where I serve on Sunday, one woman, probably over 80, bought a book. The next Sunday she came back and bought a book for her sister. Still the following Sunday she bought another book for her other sister. All three women were elderly and were delighted to have the book.



4. Be open. The more people learned about the book and bought it, the more they came to me with ideas about marketing. One woman had bought three or four copies. Her husband said to her, "Why don't you take them to the Christmas Gift Festival at church and then see if you could get them in the bookstore for Shirley?" The very large church they attended took 10 books. They sold five at the Festival, and the rest were placed in their bookstore for future sales.



Another friend bought two books for her grandchildren. She was truly delighted with the books, and soon arranged for her large church to place some in their bookstore. Your customers who like the book will have good ideas for you. Keep your ears open and listen to what they suggest.



5. Be innovative. I had another idea that some friends of mine who are traveling singers might be able to help me out. They take the book with them and display it with my fliers on their product table along with their CD's. I have had several sales connected with their publicity. The website is listed on the flier, so several of those sales came by that means. This has also helped me to spread information about the book to additional states, some that are very far away. Faithful friends! How beautiful they are!



I have another idea that my book might be great reading for adults who are learning to read or immigrants who are learning to read English. That's still in its developing phase, but we'll see what happens with it.



6. Be brave. Find some conventions or conferences related to the theme of your book. You may have to lay out some fees for this. You may get a good return on some and not so good on others. Just be thankful for every book or other item you're able to sell, and the total will keep going up. Before you know it, you'll look back and say, "Wow! Look how many I've sold!" An article I read in a magazine said that people who self-publish books usually did not sell more than 100. I felt good that I was beyond that already, and I can soon see another milestone coming up.



7. Be positive. Look to the future. Believe that anything can happen. Everything won't work out, but lots of things will. Keep trying every possibility that comes to your mind. Continue to re-check on possibilities you started working on previously. You never know when something might change, and the time will be right. Don't let it get you down if things are going slowly at times. Last winter things seemed a little slow, but I had a lot of other things to do anyway. So I just kept working at everything as much as I could, and I kept believing that it would soon pick up. And it did!



8. Be up-to-date. I was excited about developing my website, and I had people around who could help me. I've had some trouble getting excited about the social media. But I'm trying to understand how it will help me, so I've got a start with Twitter. That's how I connected with Tony Eldridge who asked me to write a guest blog. I appreciate how he has encouraged me to do this, and I hope it will help my efforts in marketing and that some of my ideas may help all of you as well.



9. Be patient. When things slow down, it may be hard to keep going. Hold on through those slow times. Work on ideas for marketing. Maybe you'll come up with just the right thing to rejuvenate your campaign. I'll admit that winter slowdown seemed a little disheartening. But that was when the orders started coming from faraway places like Texas, Michigan, Alabama, Florida, Virginia, West Virginia, Maine. It made me believe in what I was doing, and I kept forging ahead.



10. Be grateful. Write thank you notes to the people who buy your product and to those who help you find places to sell, or help you with ideas about marketing. They will love to hear if you had success with an idea they gave to you. If they're a great idea person, they might think of other helpful methods for you to use.



Hope to see you on Twitter or LinkedIn or as a customer on my website: www.GrandmasStories.com.

I wish you success in all your marketing efforts.



Best wishes,



Shirley Myers







Shirley Myers has spent most of her life spreading knowledge of the Bible with both children and adults. She taught Bible clubs and worked in vacation Bible schools in her youth. She also has often taught Sunday school throughout the years.



Shirley was a writer of Sunday school curriculum, take-home papers, and daily devotionals for more than twenty years. Several publishers, including Union Gospel Press, the Church of the Nazarene, and American Baptist Churches have made use of her writing skills. She has received writing awards at St. Davids Christian Writers' Conference and became president of that writing association.



Rev. Shirley Myers also has had a second career as a pastor in American Baptist Churches for ten years and continues to do supply preaching. She is a graduate of Davis College when it was known as Practical Bible Training School. She had additional training for ministry with American Baptist Churches.



Mrs. Myers lives near Syracuse, New York with her husband of 47 years. They have been blessed with five children (now adults) and eight grandchildren.



Twitter @GrandmasStories

Website:  www.GrandmasStories.com

E-mail:  sjmyers@twcny.rr.com







  



























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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 . His new novel, The Lottery Ticket , was just recently released on Kindle.

Sunday Kindle Book Giveaway AM: Asylum Lake By R.A. Evans

Sunday morning's Kindle Book Giveaway is Asylum Lake (Parting The Veil) from author R.A. Evans. This is your opportunity to discover new authors and books each Sunday while having a chance to win a copy of the Kindle version of the books directly from the authors. All you have to do for your chance to win this Kindle book from R.A. is to leave a comment below.















Description From Amazon.com

Memories are like water. Some float on the surface bright and clear. Some lie deeper - blurred by time and distance. Others rest far from the light in the depths of the darkness. These memories are best forgotten. At the bottom of Asylum Lake the unremembered are growing restless.



After the sudden death of his wife, Brady Tanner moves to the small Michigan town where he spent summers as a youth. But he soon learns that small towns can be stained by memories...and secrets too. As Brady is drawn into unearthing the secrets of the town and of the abandoned psychiatric hospital on the shores of Asylum Lake, he discovers a new love in an old friend. But there is an evil presence lurking beneath the waters of the lake. What is the source of this evil--and what does it want with Brady Tanner?







R.A.'s Blog: http://www.raevanswrites.wordpress.com

R.A.'s Twitter: @raevanswrites

R.A.'s Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/asylumlake



Reviews

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Message From The Author

After the sudden death of his wife, Brady Tanner moves to the small Michigan town where he spent summers as a youth. But he soon learns that small towns can be stained by memories...and secrets too. As Brady is drawn into unearthing the secrets of the town and of the abandoned psychiatric hospital on the shores of Asylum Lake, he discovers a new love in an old friend. But there is an evil presence lurking beneath the waters of the lake. What is the source of this evil--and what does it want with Brady Tanner?





For your chance to win a Kindle copy of Asylum Lake, all you have to do is leave a comment below. We will randomly choose a winner next Saturday.



Last Week's Winners:

Dead Spell By Belinda Frisch: John Rowlands







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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 . His new novel, The Lottery Ticket , was just recently released on Kindle.