Benjamin Wallace's Blog, page 23

That Part Where

There are still a few spots left in the launch of our new book promo site That Part Where which will feature The Greatest Scenes from the Latest Books.

The idea behind the site is to feature a scene from your book that makes it awesome. These are the scenes that make readers love a book. No one ever leaves a movie, turns to their friend and says, “I’m so glad that was a sci-fi movie starring Will Smith!” Instead they say, “I loved That Part Where they upload the virus to the alien ship!”

Okay no one said that either, because that was extremely lame. But you get the idea.

We’re looking for 60 authors to help launch the site. Your post will be free. All we need from you is the following:

1. An image of your book cover

2. A short description of the book

3. A quick intro to the scene

4. The scene itself

5. Your website if you wish to include it

6. a warning if there are any dirty words (I’ve got no issue with em but folks may want a heads up)

Send it all to contact@benjaminwallacebooks.com with the subject THAT PART WHERE.

The scene can be as long as you want it to be and should be one of the scenes that sets you book apart from others in the genre. (It shouldn’t be the one available in the preview on Amazon, BN or wherever.)

Also, we’ve decided not to feature samples from erotica.

Thanks for playing,

ben

 

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The Top 3 Reasons People Buy Books

I’ve been doing a lot of research lately and one thing I’ve found to be consistent is why people buy books.

1. The biggest reason, by far, that  people buy a book is because everyone else is buying that book. Remember that every time we try to claim people are individuals. They buy because everyone is talking about it. Maybe they think it’s a homework assignment they forgot or something.

2. They read a book because of a recommendation from a personal friend. Not recommendation from a blog, or a tweet but a personal friend.

3. The third most stated reason for buying a book was because they read a sample, enjoy it and pick it up.

Of the top three reasons, the third is the most exciting to me. I can’t make my book ubiquitous. And I can only hope that people recommend my book to their friends. But, I can get a sample in front of someone.

One problem I, and imagine other authors run in to, is that the samples we want people to read aren’t necessarily in the sample provided by Amazon.What if you could pick the sample you wanted them to read?

So, I’m starting a new website called That Part Where that will feature the Greatest Scenes from the Latest Books and I want you to be a part of it. It will launch in a couple of weeks and I’m looking for 60 authors to kick it off.

All you’ll need to do is provide the scene you want featured, a paragraph of setup and the cover art to your book. (probably a warning about any foul language) Each scene will be featured for the whole day and live on the site after that.

It’s some free marketing for ya.

If you’re interested please contact me here

 

 

Edit: I’ve had some people ask what kind of scenes they should submit.

What I’m looking for, and what readers are looking for,  is the scene from a book that people remember, that people talk about, the scene or character the makes a book distinct within its genre. It’s like the scene from a movie that is talked about when the audience leaves the theater. The scene a person brings up by saying, “that part where.” I think these are the things that will sell a book, more than a cover, more than a deal. Those are the scenes you’ll want to feature.

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Dumb White Husbands vs Zombies: Friday

The penultimate installment of DWH vs Zombies is now available. I’m digging in to The Weekend now and hope to have the story told in the next two weeks.

I hope you’re enjoying the story so far. I’ve really enjoyed telling this one.

You can get it here: http://amzn.to/19WFNmk

Thanks for reading,

ben

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USING MY WORDS: THE AUTHOR WISH LIST

Authors, what do you wish?

For me, being an author is a wish come true. I get to spend most of my time playing make believe. Well, not most of my time. Some of my time. A little of my time. The truth is I end up spending more time being an author and less time writing.

It seems selfish to wish for anything more, but I daydream a lot so I do. I’m not even talking about the movie deals or bestseller lists kind of wishes.

I wish I could spend more time writing and less time marketing.

I wish I didn’t always have to worry about blogging.

I wish I didn’t have to resort to spammy type tweets – because now matter how clever and unspamlike we think they are, they’re annoying someone somewhere.

My list goes on like this but I want to hear from other authors. If you were to find some magic monkey’s paw that granted you three wishes, what would they be. Ignore the fact that the monkey paw from the story granted wishes with curses. That’s not the case with this little hypothetical. Nope. Totally curse free wishes.

So, what’s on your wish list? Put them in the comments.

Maybe all of us together can figure out how to make some of them come true.

Thanks,

ben

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I NEED TO MAKE AMENDS

I spent a lot of years in the advertising industry. In that time I’ve tried to convince you to order weird new kinds of pizza, drink more soda, drink more beer and booze (like you needed the encouragement) eat more chips and pick up a Slurpee. I’ve written radio for casinos, TV for nooks and crannies, and created a whole lot of promotions to get you to eat more chips. Sorry about that.

I thought I was out and done. I thought it was behind me. But it wasn’t enough. I still feel I need to make amends. So, I’ve decided to use my powers for good. To that end, my wife (also an ad vet) and I are going to use our nefarious advertising voodoo to help readers find new favorite reads by helping independent authors sell their books.

Recently I’ve been doing something I never wanted to do again—reading marketing research. It made my eyes bleed, but we found some pretty astounding things that indicate that all of the things we authors have been pouring our energy into (blog tours, promotions, tweeting the hell out of twitter, interviews, begging reviews, etc) are some of the most ineffective things we could be doing.

I want to spend my writing time writing new books and my social media time being social.

Anyone else feel that way?

We’ll be launching the new endeavor very soon.

Thanks for reading,

ben

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Here’s the Deal

I’m starting to play around on Facebook a lot more and I can never get enough attention.

So, if you like my Facebook page I’ll give you a free copy of Dumb White Husband’s vs Zombies: Monday for your Kindle or Kindle app.

Just like my page here and then send me a message on Facebook. Include the email address you use with your Amazon account and I’ll gift you the story. It’s fun.

This is the only thing I’ll use the email for. I won’t even keep it.

So, that’s the deal. It’s a pretty sweet deal, really. I’m fairly likeable anyway. Fairly.

Thanks,

ben

 

Offer expires Friday August 16 at midnight CST. I’m not made of money. Actually, I think it’s mostly water. 90% I hear.

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Market Like a Punk – Revisited

I wrote this post early last year or late 2010. I can’t really remember. I’m re-posting it here now because I need it as a reminder. It’s too easy to get caught up in the numbers day by day and start to get discouraged. I’ve slipped on a few of these even though I still believe it is the best way to market your book without shoving links down Twitter’s throat.

I’m also putting in updates and adding at least one new one.

I grew up listening to punk music. It started with Minor Threat and the other bands on the Dischord Records label. It was, and still is, an independent label. And there were a ton of other labels like it across the U.S.

From this independent scene arose a tremendous DIY ethic. Labels would distribute their records through the mail. Live shows were billed with hand-drawn fliers and you had little choice but to get your tickets at the door. Friends made the cover art. Other friends produced the album.

This DIY ethic became so ingrained in the punk and hardcore music culture that when a band signed with a major label they were labeled sellouts and the fans would abandon them.

I bring this up not to spur teen angst against major publishers. I’m not saying they are the bad guy and there is more honor in self-publishing. I bring it up because there is a direct correlation between how hard these bands worked and how much success they had. Dischord’s biggest band, Fugazi, had an album go platinum. Greenday has done okay and were even able to make the transition to popular music.

I love this aspect of publishing my own books. I can’t complain that some marketing department picked the wrong target. I can’t whine that some big name author got more of a push. I can’t blame anyone but myself if a book doesn’t sell well. It’s just me.

Maybe it is nostalgia, but I like this. It means that the harder I work, the more rewards I’ll reap.

So, put your Mohawk up, it’s time to market like a punk.

Play the right tune. Create a product that resonates with your audience. Musically, early punk was rough and just plain bad. But, it struck a chord with angry teens across the country. Your book has to strike the same. Make sure your book rocks.

UPDATE: Since I wrote this post I’ve released something like 10 new titles. Man, I sure hope my books rock. I know I like ‘em.

Create a scene. These bands didn’t just put up fliers for a show and hope for the best. They rarely put ads in the paper. They relied on local music scenes to spread the word about an upcoming show or new release. You need to create your own scene on Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites that will help spread the word about your books.

UPDATE: Facebook has made it more and more difficult to reach people. Now, just liking you isn’t enough for you to show up in their feed. It’s going to take more than it use to make Facebook a scene. But, I’m convinced it can be done and I’m working on some ideas now. As for Twitter. I miss it. I felt like I was overpromoting so I backed off. But I backed off too much. I’ve got to play on there more.

Create a zine. These ratty little Xeroxed magazines were the only way to know what was going on in the punk/hardcore scene. And they covered a lot of ground. Punk had a look and style all its own. Weird hair, black clothes, art and skateboarding were interwoven into the culture. It wasn’t all about the music. Your blog is your zine. It shouldn’t be all about your book. Your fans like your writing. Chances are they’ll like the other things you like. Keep your content fresh and quit going on and on about yourself.

UPDATE: It’s possible to spend to much time writing. I need to read more and browse more. I’ve got to remember to keep my other passions alive.

Release a 7”. This was just a 45rpm single, but we punks had to be different so we called them 7 inches. The bands put these out in between the longer albums. From what everyone seems to be saying, you’re not going to make a fortune in short story fiction. But, it’ll give your fans something to read while you’re working on your next novel. Sell ’em cheap. Give ’em away. When you’ve got several, put them together and offer a collection.

UPDATE: I still love the short story. What I need to do now is write even shorter fiction and post it on my blogs. I’ll going to keep related to my already released books though. There was also the Split 7″ which featured two bands. Each band got a side. I discovered some of my favorite bands this way. I’m working on something like this for the near future.

Help the other bands. There wasn’t a lot of room for the rockstar mentality in the punk scene. Whether it was schlepping equipment, lending out your gear or letting a drummer crash on your couch, everyone was willing to help everyone that wasn’t a jerk. Authors helping authors has been a mentality that developed naturally in the ebook world. Let’s encourage it.

UPDATE: This is still important. Blogging and tracking down guest bloggers and authors to interview became overwhelming, but it is something that should not be skipped.

And, of course, keep putting out new material. More books mean more stuff for your fans to buy. It’s more things your fans can love you for. You don’t need one album to go multi-platinum if you have 20 that go gold.

UPDATE: Check. Well, not 20 going gold, but I’m still releasing work.

ADDITION: Kick Ass Graphics. Not just cover art. The Dead Kennedy’s had that cool logo. The Descendants had the Milo graphic. Even Minor Threat had the runaway black sheep. Graphics stick in the mind of the listener. Posters, jean jacket patches, hell you want them carving your graphics into their desk with a knife while stuck in detention.

The point is the establishment sucks. They’re not going to help. It’s you against the conformists. My parents are sellouts. I hate the suburbs.

Okay, it’s not all that bad. Society’s rules aren’t holding you back. But, there are an awful lot of people out there trying to sell their books. That’s a lot of noise. You’ll just have to play heavier, harder and louder.

The good news is a lot of them don’t seem to be trying too hard. They put their crappy little hand-drawn flier out and are playing to an empty room.

But, you’re a punk. Now act like it.

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The Saga Continues

It’s day two of the zombie uprising and John, Chris and Erik have decided to stay put and wait out the apocalypse. But, as the utilities start to fail, they are forced to improvise. All is going to plan when a secret buried in John’s past comes back to haunt them.

Buy Dumb White Husbands vs Zombies: Tuesday now

 

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It Begins on a Monday

 

Neighbors John, Chris and Erik all hate each other. A lot. But, when the dead rise from the grave they end up trapped together. Will these three suburban dads have what it takes to survive the zombie apocalypse? The epic series begins now in Dumb White Husbands vs. Zombies: Monday.

It’s the slow moving and the brain dead vs zombies. Read it today.

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Work In Progress: Dumb White Husbands vs Zombies – Done

The first part of DWH vs Zombies is done. It’s been proofed by a pro, the cover is in place and it should be set to go on Monday.

It’s title is Dumb White Husbands vs Zombie: Monday.

The rough draft of Tuesday is done as well and should be available two weeks after Monday.

You can get Monday for FREE by signing up for my newsletter.

 

Now back to Tuesday.

 

Thanks,

ben

 

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