"After the Book" Marketing in the 21st Century by Sylvia Hubbard
I'm excited to introduce you to our guest author today, Sylvia Hubbard. Sylvia is a suspense romance author and the founder of The Michigan Literary Network and AAELN.com. She is the author of 14 novels and a prolific blogger. Today, Sylvia will discuss a topic at the heart of what this blog is about: Book Marketing. It's my pleasure to introduce you to her today!
"After the Book" Marketing in the 21st Century
by Sylvia Hubbard
Gone are the days of just sitting behind a table or creating billboard websites to sell books. Now you have to get up and get out there in front of your audience whether you're online or offline. Marketing your book with your brand is about engaging and creating relationships with visitors.
Authors should be trying to create the most powerful selling technique with your customers and potential customers, which is word of mouth marketing. True you should be your loudest cheerleader, but if others aren't selling tickets to your game, you will never fill up your stadium - hence, you will never sell out of your books.
Let's start at the beginning of the path to book marketing in the 21st century.
Once a writer becomes an author, they are now in the business of writing. This is no longer a hobby and every business needs a plan.
For authors, there should be a marketing plan.
Like Pam Perry, a book marketing expert, states book marketing should start taking place six months before the book is published. Some other experts have said even earlier than six months.
Yet, if you're the author that has just made the plan to publish a book with no further plans in mind, then I hope these tips will help still.
Create a Marketing Plan
A Marketing Plan will address how your book will be sold and outline the promotion strategies you will initiate to gain book sales. This isn't a college thesis and an author can pretty much draft a solid plan in one night.
Three most common places where authors can sell their books can be through major bookstore chains, online bookstores and independent bookstores. I advocate always selling books directly from your website as well, which will be your most important tool in your bookselling and marketing success.
Include in your marketing plan your press release. A press release is simply a notice to the media your book is now available for sale. The first part of the press release should introduce your book and then a little bit about the author. (Not a long drawn out bio.) Near the end, ask recipients to contact you to schedule an interview or request a review copy.
Great press release and marketing plan tips and examples can be found at John Kremer's site, Bookmarket.com. I also highly recommend checking out other authors marketing plans and press releases to see what they are doing to make your book marketing a success.
Promotional Products
Simple promotional items can be: Business Card, Postcards, Bookmarks, Rack cards and booklets
On these items you want to have your book cover or a picture of you along with your business name, website address and your email.
What brings these items into the 21st century is that you add the social networks you are connected with by using the social network's logo or your name on that social network.
For instance on twitter, my handle is @sylviahubbard1. I have placed these on different marketing materials so others with twitter accounts can quickly engage with me or connect with me immediately. I've seen success with this especially at offline events and I see the same people who may not have bought a book from me at the event, but have connected with me online and then later bought a book from me.
Other promo items can include: shirts, pens, discount cards, downloaded cards & bags
Vistaprint.com can manage most of these items for you and there are others as well even local printer shops. I've even seen authors get items from OrientalTrading.com in bulk they can pass out as novelty items, but place specialty labels from Avery.com on them to mark them as promo items.
Remember to try to get the best price for your dollar.
Yet the point of promotional items and marketing plans is for your material to create an impression for possible customers and to create a connection with loyal customers.
Book Signings... NOT!
Let's not just do book signings, let's do events! Nowadays, people just don't want to come and hear an author read out of their book. They want something that will change their life, they want to have a good time and most importantly they want value for their dollar and time. This is where your brand comes in.
Promoting your brand with your event should move people to come, spread the word and prompt people to want to buy the book personally autographed by the author.
Authors should be promoting these events on their own mailing list. Also at the different venues where you are doing your book signings, ask them to promote the event on their own mailing list. I've seen authors create postcards just for the event and have the store pay for the postage. You can hang posters up in advance weeks before the signing. Partner with non profits and organizations that coincide with your brand as well.
Media Interviews
Before you even think about buying an ad on radio, magazines, newspapers or televisions, please try to request interviews. I think it was Carolyn Howard Johnson, an expert frugal book promoter, who advocates get the free first.
There are so many books that cover promoting through radio, magazines, newspapers, and television stations, but a lot of authors forget not only are there offline media, but also there are millions of online media platforms that cater to their book and their brand. Getting on and in these platforms can be as simple as emailing or faxing a press release to producers requesting an interview.
Marketing Online
I could write a book about online marketing... Matter of fact I did! It's called The Internet Marketing Guide for Authors and Businesses.
Basically, I cover the step by step process for newbies to understand marketing products on the Internet.
I would need at least a minimum of five hours to go into hows, whys and whens of Internet Marketing, but for now, I will give you five tips.
1. Have a website or now it's called a content management site, i.e., blog
Websites can no longer be just stagnant billboards for visitors to come in, buy something and leave. In the 21st century marketing for authors, now you must be able to engage with each visitor and keep their visits longer at your website to create relationships with them and to make sure they are leaving their information so you may be able to stay connected to them.
A content management system is simply a blog that is masked behind a great page or site. Don't depend on a Facebook page or LinkedIn page to be your website because this is not something you own. Get your own website and your own domain!
Subscribing to your mailing list, downloading free reports, sharing your information on the social networks they are connected with are ways to get your visitors to become your cheerleaders.
I cannot stress how important it is to have your own website. You are now in the business of being a writer and every business needs a storefront, which your website becomes. Your website is open twenty four hours a day and I cannot even tell you how good it feels to know you can sell books in your sleep. Yet an even better feeling is that when other people are visiting your site just from a recommendation by someone who previously visited your site.
2. Update your blog at least once a week
Not just with buy my book, buy my book messages. Contribute content as to why you wrote your book, how your book and brand is important to society or humanity and even journals of your book marketing journey. Get testimonials, reviews and so forth or others speaking about how your book changed their lives and even provide photos, videos and even PowerPoint presentations.
In addition to this, you can also add interviews of people who are doing things like you and especially authors or experts who are authorities in your brand.
3. Connect on the social networks
Authors should have connections in at least the following social networks:
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, and also have your profile updated on Google.
Most important tip I can share with you is to: stay social. Connect with others who will benefit you and who will share your information. Connect with your readers and potential readers. Be ready to help others who reach out to you in these networks with tips and information, because these could also be the people who become your ticket sellers and sideline cheerleaders.
Another good tip for social networking: Contribute and comment to on other pages and profiles.
Respond to request for information if you know something or can connect people together that you know whom others don't know without expecting anything in return.
4. Connect offline with people you've met online. Social networking doesn't have to just take place online. There are lots of events and ideas that start online that eventually go offline and meet. A great place to find local people who meet up offline is at meetup.com. Meeting people face to face solidifies your online relationships and these people can become part of your cheerleading team.
5. Article Marketing - One of the most powerful ways to generate traffic to your website is writing articles about your book, brand and platform. As an author, you are considered an expert at what you do and writing articles to show your knowledge of your subject that you submit to article sites can bring in potential customers and awesome traffic. Sites such as EzineArticles.com let you submit articles where media can use for their websites and more. In return, they place your byline at the end of your article, which connects their readers back to your site.
Other tips can include having a professional email; Either with your name, book name or brand title. Pam Perry gave an excellent tip about keeping your brands constant across the board. This meant if I use Sylvia Hubbard on Facebook, I should use Sylvia Hubbard on Twitter and LinkedIn. Brand confusion comes when authors decide not to use constants across the Internet and their readers or even potential customers can't find them.
Create an e-book of your product or another by product and sell these on your site or at different online booksellers such as Smashwords.com and even Amazon.
Have video and audio podcasts broadcasted from your site and available to download.
Make sure your website is mobile friendly. Putting flash, large pictures and videos on the front page is not conducive to most mobile programs. If you do have this, you should also make a mobile friendly site for people who use their phone to search the web.
For more tips, tricks and resources, please look into the Internet Marketing For Writers & Businesses available Amazon.com.
Once you do all of these steps that I've spoken about, go to the beginning and start again . Never stop marketing and promoting yourself and you'll always be ready to book market in the 21st century.
Online Resources:
Bookmarket.com
howtodoitfrugally.com
writersguide2internetmarketing.com
VistaPrint.com
OrientalTrading.com
Wordpress.com
Blogspot.com
MarketingTipsForAuthors.com
Smashwords.com
Amazon.com
Book Resources:
Jump Start Your Book Sales
Guerrilla Marketing for Writers.
How to Publish and Promote Online
Red Hot Internet Publicity
Publicize Your Book
Self Publishing Manual Volume 1 & 2
1001 Ways To Market Your Books
Sylvia Hubbard, Suspense Romance Author and Founder of The Michigan Literary Network and AAELN.com has independently published over 14 novels in the past ten years. As a blogger at LoveABlackWoman.com and WritersGuide2InternetMarketing.com, she also provides live books on her website at: http://sylviahubbard.com
"After the Book" Marketing in the 21st Century
by Sylvia Hubbard
Gone are the days of just sitting behind a table or creating billboard websites to sell books. Now you have to get up and get out there in front of your audience whether you're online or offline. Marketing your book with your brand is about engaging and creating relationships with visitors.
Authors should be trying to create the most powerful selling technique with your customers and potential customers, which is word of mouth marketing. True you should be your loudest cheerleader, but if others aren't selling tickets to your game, you will never fill up your stadium - hence, you will never sell out of your books.
Let's start at the beginning of the path to book marketing in the 21st century.
Once a writer becomes an author, they are now in the business of writing. This is no longer a hobby and every business needs a plan.
For authors, there should be a marketing plan.
Like Pam Perry, a book marketing expert, states book marketing should start taking place six months before the book is published. Some other experts have said even earlier than six months.
Yet, if you're the author that has just made the plan to publish a book with no further plans in mind, then I hope these tips will help still.
Create a Marketing Plan
A Marketing Plan will address how your book will be sold and outline the promotion strategies you will initiate to gain book sales. This isn't a college thesis and an author can pretty much draft a solid plan in one night.
Three most common places where authors can sell their books can be through major bookstore chains, online bookstores and independent bookstores. I advocate always selling books directly from your website as well, which will be your most important tool in your bookselling and marketing success.
Include in your marketing plan your press release. A press release is simply a notice to the media your book is now available for sale. The first part of the press release should introduce your book and then a little bit about the author. (Not a long drawn out bio.) Near the end, ask recipients to contact you to schedule an interview or request a review copy.
Great press release and marketing plan tips and examples can be found at John Kremer's site, Bookmarket.com. I also highly recommend checking out other authors marketing plans and press releases to see what they are doing to make your book marketing a success.
Promotional Products
Simple promotional items can be: Business Card, Postcards, Bookmarks, Rack cards and booklets
On these items you want to have your book cover or a picture of you along with your business name, website address and your email.
What brings these items into the 21st century is that you add the social networks you are connected with by using the social network's logo or your name on that social network.
For instance on twitter, my handle is @sylviahubbard1. I have placed these on different marketing materials so others with twitter accounts can quickly engage with me or connect with me immediately. I've seen success with this especially at offline events and I see the same people who may not have bought a book from me at the event, but have connected with me online and then later bought a book from me.
Other promo items can include: shirts, pens, discount cards, downloaded cards & bags
Vistaprint.com can manage most of these items for you and there are others as well even local printer shops. I've even seen authors get items from OrientalTrading.com in bulk they can pass out as novelty items, but place specialty labels from Avery.com on them to mark them as promo items.
Remember to try to get the best price for your dollar.
Yet the point of promotional items and marketing plans is for your material to create an impression for possible customers and to create a connection with loyal customers.
Book Signings... NOT!
Let's not just do book signings, let's do events! Nowadays, people just don't want to come and hear an author read out of their book. They want something that will change their life, they want to have a good time and most importantly they want value for their dollar and time. This is where your brand comes in.
Promoting your brand with your event should move people to come, spread the word and prompt people to want to buy the book personally autographed by the author.
Authors should be promoting these events on their own mailing list. Also at the different venues where you are doing your book signings, ask them to promote the event on their own mailing list. I've seen authors create postcards just for the event and have the store pay for the postage. You can hang posters up in advance weeks before the signing. Partner with non profits and organizations that coincide with your brand as well.
Media Interviews
Before you even think about buying an ad on radio, magazines, newspapers or televisions, please try to request interviews. I think it was Carolyn Howard Johnson, an expert frugal book promoter, who advocates get the free first.
There are so many books that cover promoting through radio, magazines, newspapers, and television stations, but a lot of authors forget not only are there offline media, but also there are millions of online media platforms that cater to their book and their brand. Getting on and in these platforms can be as simple as emailing or faxing a press release to producers requesting an interview.
Marketing Online
I could write a book about online marketing... Matter of fact I did! It's called The Internet Marketing Guide for Authors and Businesses.
Basically, I cover the step by step process for newbies to understand marketing products on the Internet.
I would need at least a minimum of five hours to go into hows, whys and whens of Internet Marketing, but for now, I will give you five tips.
1. Have a website or now it's called a content management site, i.e., blog
Websites can no longer be just stagnant billboards for visitors to come in, buy something and leave. In the 21st century marketing for authors, now you must be able to engage with each visitor and keep their visits longer at your website to create relationships with them and to make sure they are leaving their information so you may be able to stay connected to them.
A content management system is simply a blog that is masked behind a great page or site. Don't depend on a Facebook page or LinkedIn page to be your website because this is not something you own. Get your own website and your own domain!
Subscribing to your mailing list, downloading free reports, sharing your information on the social networks they are connected with are ways to get your visitors to become your cheerleaders.
I cannot stress how important it is to have your own website. You are now in the business of being a writer and every business needs a storefront, which your website becomes. Your website is open twenty four hours a day and I cannot even tell you how good it feels to know you can sell books in your sleep. Yet an even better feeling is that when other people are visiting your site just from a recommendation by someone who previously visited your site.
2. Update your blog at least once a week
Not just with buy my book, buy my book messages. Contribute content as to why you wrote your book, how your book and brand is important to society or humanity and even journals of your book marketing journey. Get testimonials, reviews and so forth or others speaking about how your book changed their lives and even provide photos, videos and even PowerPoint presentations.
In addition to this, you can also add interviews of people who are doing things like you and especially authors or experts who are authorities in your brand.
3. Connect on the social networks
Authors should have connections in at least the following social networks:
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube, and also have your profile updated on Google.
Most important tip I can share with you is to: stay social. Connect with others who will benefit you and who will share your information. Connect with your readers and potential readers. Be ready to help others who reach out to you in these networks with tips and information, because these could also be the people who become your ticket sellers and sideline cheerleaders.
Another good tip for social networking: Contribute and comment to on other pages and profiles.
Respond to request for information if you know something or can connect people together that you know whom others don't know without expecting anything in return.
4. Connect offline with people you've met online. Social networking doesn't have to just take place online. There are lots of events and ideas that start online that eventually go offline and meet. A great place to find local people who meet up offline is at meetup.com. Meeting people face to face solidifies your online relationships and these people can become part of your cheerleading team.
5. Article Marketing - One of the most powerful ways to generate traffic to your website is writing articles about your book, brand and platform. As an author, you are considered an expert at what you do and writing articles to show your knowledge of your subject that you submit to article sites can bring in potential customers and awesome traffic. Sites such as EzineArticles.com let you submit articles where media can use for their websites and more. In return, they place your byline at the end of your article, which connects their readers back to your site.
Other tips can include having a professional email; Either with your name, book name or brand title. Pam Perry gave an excellent tip about keeping your brands constant across the board. This meant if I use Sylvia Hubbard on Facebook, I should use Sylvia Hubbard on Twitter and LinkedIn. Brand confusion comes when authors decide not to use constants across the Internet and their readers or even potential customers can't find them.
Create an e-book of your product or another by product and sell these on your site or at different online booksellers such as Smashwords.com and even Amazon.
Have video and audio podcasts broadcasted from your site and available to download.
Make sure your website is mobile friendly. Putting flash, large pictures and videos on the front page is not conducive to most mobile programs. If you do have this, you should also make a mobile friendly site for people who use their phone to search the web.
For more tips, tricks and resources, please look into the Internet Marketing For Writers & Businesses available Amazon.com.
Once you do all of these steps that I've spoken about, go to the beginning and start again . Never stop marketing and promoting yourself and you'll always be ready to book market in the 21st century.
Online Resources:
Bookmarket.com
howtodoitfrugally.com
writersguide2internetmarketing.com
VistaPrint.com
OrientalTrading.com
Wordpress.com
Blogspot.com
MarketingTipsForAuthors.com
Smashwords.com
Amazon.com
Book Resources:
Jump Start Your Book Sales
Guerrilla Marketing for Writers.
How to Publish and Promote Online
Red Hot Internet Publicity
Publicize Your Book
Self Publishing Manual Volume 1 & 2
1001 Ways To Market Your Books
Sylvia Hubbard, Suspense Romance Author and Founder of The Michigan Literary Network and AAELN.com has independently published over 14 novels in the past ten years. As a blogger at LoveABlackWoman.com and WritersGuide2InternetMarketing.com, she also provides live books on her website at: http://sylviahubbard.com
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