| ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE BOOK MARKETING EXPERT NEWSLETTER! A newsletter all about SUCCESSFUL publishing and POWERFUL promotion. March 5, 2009 Issue #190 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ in this issue -- Note From The Editor -- Boost Your Brand -- How to Have a Great Social Media Presence and Still Have a Life -- Awareness Magazine -- AME-University: Book Marketing, Publishing, and Internet Marketing classes -- Are You Ready for Social Media? -- Book Bits and Bites -- Checking Your Username -- Top 5 Mistakes Authors Make After the Interview -- Where Are We Buying Books? -- How Effective is Your Web Site? -- Check Out The Publishing Insiders -- Hear All About Us -- This is the Best Time to Promote Your Book -- Reader tip: Maintaining Your Brand, Visually -- Ways to Buzz Your Book! -- Twitter Tip - How to Choose a Name -- Twitter Tip - How You Can Use Twitter -- Reader Tip! -- WHO ARE WE -- ------------------------------------------------------------ Welcome to a new issue of THE BOOK MARKETING EXPERT NEWSLETTER.
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Note From The Editor ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Welcome to another issue of the Book Marketing Expert Newsletter! Dear Author,
Well, I'm writing you today from Vegas and the EPICON conference where I'll be teaching and keynoting their session on Friday. I'm so thrilled to be invited back to this event, it's a great group of savvy authors. If you're here this weekend, please drop by and say "hi." Is the idea of Twitter, Facebook, Squidoo, and YouTube making your head spin? If you've spent some time marketing yourself on these sites and are wondering where your time went, you'll love this week's article. Having a life while promoting yourself online has become a big discussion point of late. And if I had a dime for every time someone has asked me whether I sleep or not I'd be very wealthy. (I don't sleep by the way, in case you were wondering). I was fortunate enough to go to Books for a Better Life in NYC last week with my good friend Larry Kirshbaum. Sponsored by the New York Chapter of the National MS Society, the Awards honor the best self-improvement titles released in the past year. It was a great night and frankly, a nice little shot in the arm to remind us that what we do really does matter. I know we know this, but sometimes it's nice to be reminded of what an impact we can have on the world. When all everyone seems to want to talk about is how bad things are, let's try and remember all the good that's going on and how we are (one book at a time) changing the world. That, at the end of the day, is why we do what we do and love working with some of the fabulous books we're lucky enough to promote. So get out there, spread the word, promote your book and remember, sometimes that's all it takes - one book, one message and a belief that you can. Wishing you continued publishing success, Penny, Paula, Susan, Alex, Nancy and everyone at Author Marketing Experts, Inc. Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/Bookgal. P.S. Have you been wanting to dip your toe in Internet marketing but aren't sure where to get started? We have just launched a series of effective, innovative, and super-affordable marketing programs. Send an email to: bookmarketingonabudget@getresponse.com to find out more! |
Boost Your Brand ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Here's a fun little marketing tip for your presentations. If you're using a laptop, why not get a skin for your cover that lists your book/company and URL? That way it's always in front of your audience. You can order custom skins for your laptop, phone, Blackberry, virtually anything from this site: http://www.skinit.com/. Happy Branding! |
How to Have a Great Social Media Presence and Still Have a Life ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If the idea of Facebook, Squidoo, Twitter, and YouTube (not to mention your own site and blog) are overwhelming you: Take heart! You're not the only person overwhelmed with choices. With more places to post and keep track of, our days seem to shrink . Here are some helpful, time-saving tips for making the most of your social networking without having it take over your life. 1) Blogging: first off, try and plan as many blogs as you can so you can preload them and forget about them. You can still post additional content but ideally you want to have at least one or two posts a week that are scheduled. 2) Social networking: sometimes an author will come to us with 35 social networking sites. Frankly that's about 34 too many. With the popularity of social networking growing, these niche social sites are popping up everywhere. I'm not telling you not to post something there but if you are stretched too thin and can't keep them updated, what's the point? Personally I recommend posting to two sites: Facebook and Squidoo. Start with one or the other and get your feet wet, then once you have an audience built and a social networking routine in place you can expand your networks. If you're unfamiliar with these sites (and many are unfamiliar with Squidoo, I'll explain why in a minute) know that these are the two powerhouses when it comes to social networking. You can get on there and start a page, build a fan base and promote your book. It's very easy to do and best of all, it's entirely free. Squidoo.com is (like Facebook) very integrated in Google's ranking system. Any Search Engine Marketing expert will tell you that you need three things: Facebook, Squidoo, and Twitter. Squidoo (again free) is very easy. Also take advantage of time saving options on both of these sites. Both Facebook and Squidoo let you feed your blog and Twitter account through there which will help with keeping the page updated. You should plan to update each page once daily, and here's a quick Facebook tip for you and a great way to expand your network. Go in and wish folks a happy birthday. Birthdays are always posted on your page so go in and write on someone's wall and wish them well, it's a great way to network with your FB peeps and trust me, it will also help to expand your network! 3) Twitter: First let's explain what Twitter is. Twitter is a microblogging system that lets you drop bites of message into the Twitter-verse and gather followers who are interested in your message. This is good because it's all about permission-based marketing. So people who are subscribed to your messages (or tweets as they are called) can follow them and any corresponding links you might have. First off, it's important to get used to the fact that there's a lot of noise on this site. Lots of posts, lots of tweets, millions of updates. This is where services like tweetlater.com and postlater.com come in handy because you can pre-plan your posts. That way you can have a running list of tweets without having to be on top of your computer all day. Also, using a service like Twitterfeed.com will also help you link your blog through Twitter so any blog posting you do will show up there too. It's a very simple process to link this and once you do, you're done. Since there is so much noise on Twitter it's a good idea to repeat your tweets. I generally schedule mine to reappear every two weeks. How often you have them reappear is up to you and also based on your content but if you're running helpful tips that are evergreen, then there's no reason you can't rerun them. 4) Keeping your site updated: everyone will tell you to keep your site current with fresh content. Let your blog do that for you, it's simple and effective and you don't have to wait to wrangle your web person into getting back to you for updates. 5) Keeping track of what's being said about your topic and about you can be tough but there's an easy way to stay in touch with this: Google alerts. Most of you probably know about Google alerts but now might be a good time to get back in there and refresh your list. Make sure you're tracking not only your name and book title, but others in your industry. Social media, when managed correctly, can bring you an enormous amount of new business. So far I've gotten two new speaking gigs off of Twitter and dozens of new authors have found their way to AME. Once you have a system in place, stick with it and don't alter from it until you've gotten into a routine. The key is repeat exposure. Blasts and sudden blips are just that: short term and without a lasting effect. The thing that will carry you to success is the consistency of your efforts and message. Don't let it consume you, instead make it a manageable effort that you'll keep up for a long time to come! |
Awareness Magazine ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Awareness Magazine is in its 16th year and dedicated to making the planet a better place for us to live. The bi-monthly magazine has a circulation of more than 210,000 and covers a range of issues, including alternative health treatments, natural health products, fitness & personal growth, spirituality and the environment. The January/February 2009 issue focuses on women. Articles include:
* Awakening
* Why Women Settle and Give Up on Their Dreams
* Rejuvenate Physically, Emotionally and Spiritually
* The Diamond Approach
* Harnessing the Power of Women
* Does My Human Experience Make My Spiritual Butt Look Big?
* Women's Health Issues with Aging
* The Calling of the Medicine Woman
* Break the Yeast & Parasitic Curse
* Shedding Light on Mommy Blues
* 2009: Finding Perfection within the Chaos The magazine welcomes submissions that fit its themes. Articles should range from 500 to 1,000 words; features can run 1,200 to 1,500 words. Submissions can be emailed to the general email address for the site in order to be reviewed and considered for publication. Upcoming themes include:
* Indigenous Peoples - July/August 2009
* Prosperity - September/October 2009
* Angels/Holidays - November/December 2009 Awareness Magazine
5753-G Santa Ana Canyon Rd.
Anaheim, CA 92807
(714) 283-3385
Email: info@awarenessmag.com
Website: http://www.awarenessmag.com/ |
AME-University: Book Marketing, Publishing, and Internet Marketing classes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ These free teleclasses from AME-University may be just the thing to get your book marketing savvy ramped up! How to Promote and Sell More of Your Books with Tips Booklets by Paulette Ensign
When: Tuesday, March 10, 4 pm - 5 pm
Description: Leverage your book into at least 6 products, with minimal costs, if any. Identify bulk sales clients, with no returns, ever. Create "rights" deals for any product, online or offline. Increase profits whether you like selling or not. (Is there an author who likes selling?) How to WOW your Readers with Kim Pearson
When: Tuesday, March 24, 4 pm - 5 pm
Description: How to WOW Your Readers (HINT: It's NOT About YOU) Writing is a communication medium. All good communication is TWO-WAY. It's not enough to have a scintillating idea or transformative message. In order for that idea or message to have an impact or create change in another's life, it must be heard and understood by those all-important people, your READERS. But how do you write for people you don't even know? This teleclass gives you writing tips and techniques on how to:
· Identify your target readers and what is important to them
· Discover where your potential readers "hang out"
· Make sure your readers "get" you" - how to tailor your writing so your ideas will be heard
· Structure the content of your book for easy access
· Choose what information to include - and what not to include |
Are You Ready for Social Media? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The online marketing world moves in waves, with the majority of businesses following a trend not because it is fashionable but out of commercial necessity. - Going online, just to be online.
- SEO was king for many years.
- Then it was Adwords.
- Blogging came next.
- Now it is Social Media that is gaining all the attention. In the past competitiveness and innovation played the largest part, but I have no doubt that worries about the global economy are driving the most recent direction. Although Social Media has been growing steadily for a few years, it seems now most businesses are looking towards these tools and services to find a good ROI alternative to their offline marketing, without the heavy prices that Adwords requires.
Why Social Media? There are many advantages to social media over and above just "Traffic":
- Modern version of traditional PR.
- Speed up your reaction times.
- Super-efficient word of mouth marketing.
- World wide focus group.
- Instant answers to business or technical questions.
- Brand awareness.
- Be on top of market news and moves.
- Grow your network. There are also valuable indirect benefits. Attention creates the opportunity for links and traffic, which drives search rankings, which in turn will attract people who want what you offer. Buzz does not need to be the end you strive for, but can also be a means to an end. Tip offered by Susan Gilbert, AME's Search Engine Marketing Expert and Web 2.0 company owner, http://www.JoomlaJump.com, which provides Social Networking websites and services. |
Book Bits and Bites ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ D-lister commands $2+ million for memoirs: Ballantine buys Kathy Griffin memoir; you know, the loud redhead from the E Channel. She's an admitted D-lister and her advance is raising eyebrows - it's less than the $2.5 million offered to Comedy Central comedian Sarah Silverman and the $5 million offered to Saturday Night Live/30 Rock star Tina Fey. Eh, and this will help a troubled publishing industry? The Best Bleeping Memoir Evah: But we're waiting with bated breath for impeached IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich's memoir coming out in October. Phoenix Books signed Blago, known for bad hair, foul language and even worse ethics, to a six-figure deal in which he "plans on exposing the dark side of politics that he witnessed in both the state and national level." While the book has a working title of The Governor, a contest on Twitter this week offered up a better name: "Thy Rod and Thy Staff: The Blago Corruption Bible." Lots of Love: Kindle 2 has been out for nearly a month now, and the reviews across the board are really good! Users are happy with the streamlined, faster, lighter device and even the big names at the New York Times and Wall Street Journal weighed in favorably on the device. NYT took it a step further recently with a look at the top three e-readers. Also, Amazon launched Kindle applications for iPhone and iPod touch. A Sign of Things to Come? Thomas Nelson Books is going to make its books available to consumers in all formats - print, audio and digital - for one price. NelsonFree, as the program is called, will offer its first two titles later in the month: Scott McKain's Collapse of Distinction: Stand Out and Move Up While Your Competition Fails and Michael Franzese's I'll Make You An Offer You Can't Refuse: Insider Business Tips from a Former Mob Boss. More titles will be released by year's end. |
Checking Your Username ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you're ready to jump on the social networking bandwagon but want to see if your preferred username is still available, head on over to http://usernamecheck.com. Just enter the user name you'd like to use and the system will check it for you! |
Top 5 Mistakes Authors Make After the Interview ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You've written the book, perfected your pitch, entertained the audience with an interesting and informative interview and now you are striving for another segment or to become that station's topic "Expert". As a producer my top 5 "Don't Screw It Up" suggestions for AFTER the interview are: - Not saying thank you properly. Always thank the host, producer and studio technicians. Camera people and control room technicians control the way you "look" on camera so always thank them if possible. Trust me they will remember and if you do a return interview you are assured you will look and sound great. - Not taking advantage of "The Topic Roll". If your topic is one of continuing interest ride that wave! Be in touch with the producer for possible follow-up interviews. - Not giving the host a signed copy of your book. As silly as you think this may be it's important to give the interviewer your book. Whether they take your book home, add it to the station library or toss it you definitely want your book in the hands of people who can give you another interview. Never forget this very important "touch" of politeness and marketing savvy! - Not getting a copy of your segment for critique purposes. You can't improve if you don't know what you've done wrong. This is the time to hire a media coach for critiquing purposes. It's always easier to learn from an actual interview than role playing. Take advantage of all your interviews and get those copies! - Not putting a copy of the segment on your website: Nothing can promote your book like YOU! Put the good interviews on your website and forget the bad ones - NEVER put a digital copy of an interview on your website if it wasn't really good. So remember: always say thank you not only to the host and producer but to the studio technicians who made your interview comfortable and camera friendly. Always stay in touch with the producer for future interview opportunities. Make a copy of the segment and hire a media coach for a critiquing session because you can ALWAYS improve. Finally and most importantly put the interview on your website. It is the BEST way to promote your book, get other interviews and continue to sell your book long after the interview. For more information or to schedule a coaching session just email me at lholka@aztv.com or call (602) 509-6468. ~Tip offered by Media Veteran Laura Holka, who is the producer of the Pat McMahon Show & a Media Consultant. She can be reached at www.aztv.com or email lholka@aztv.com. |
Where Are We Buying Books? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Featured in a recent issue of Publisher's Weekly, here is a list (based on percentages) of where books are bought. The Publisher's Weekly piece broke this down into micro-segments, but we're going to look at two possible buying options: in store vs. online: Age group: 13-17
46.3% bought in store
16.3 % bought online
Percentage keeping the book after it's been read: 64.6% Age group: 18-28
27.2 % bought in store Percentage keeping the book after it's been read: 70.9% Age group: 29-40
29.9% bought in store
25.7% bought online
Percentage keeping the book after it's been read: 74.0% Age group: 41-59
23.3% bought in store
21.9% bought online
Percentage keeping the book after it's been read: 58.9% Age group: 60 and up
16.9% bought in store
14.2% bought online
Percentage keeping the book after it's been read: 39.5% |
How Effective is Your Web Site? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Think of your website as your dynamic sales team working overtime to sell your book, share your message, and build your audience. Isn't it time you keep track of your online sales force? In order to gauge the effectiveness of your site's message, you will need to track your traffic and see how many of your visitors are converting into revenue. A great tool for this purpose is Google Analytics; it's free and easy to use. Once you understand the surfing habits of your visitors, you will be better equipped to fine tune your sales funnel and convert traffic into revenue. Tip offered by Jeniffer Thompson, author of Web Site WOW, Turn Your Web Site Into Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool, http://www.monkeycmedia.com/web_site_WOW.php. Thompson is also the President of Monkey C Media, a full-service design house offering author web sites, book cover design, book teaser videos and much more, www.monkeycmedia.com. |
Check Out The Publishing Insiders ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Be in the know and hear what the publishing insiders: Penny Sansevieri, CEO of Author Marketing Experts, Inc. - and her guests - have to offer in terms of tips and insights into the industry! Listen here.
Available for download - The Publishing Insiders March 3 podcast with Special Guest Mindy Gibbins-Klein - The Book Midwife. Also - Publishing Insiders is now available on iTunes, so you can keep up with the show wherever you go! |
Hear All About Us ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Penny is quoted in this month's Publishing Trends article Twitter Isn't Stupid. See what she - and other Net savvy pros - have to say. |
This is the Best Time to Promote Your Book ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Looking for inexpensive ways to promote your book? We've just developed and launched an exciting series of budget-friendly programs that still pack a powerful punch! Think you can't market your book in a tough economy? Think again - we've got the answer! Email us for more details: info@amarketingexpert.com. |
Reader tip: Maintaining Your Brand, Visually ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ You carefully considered your branding when you chose your avatar for all the social networking you do. Unless you made an ill-considered choice, don't change it! You'll lose that all that visual identity you've worked to create. |
Ways to Buzz Your Book! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ We've designed our products with your success in mind! Regardless of where you are in your publishing journey, we've got a product that will suit your needs. Check out our books, special reports, and our audio programs, all designed to help you reach publishing success!
http://amarketingexpert.com/store/ |
Twitter Tip - How to Choose a Name ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Get your branding but also grab your name and don't use an underscore if you're trying to differentiate a name that's already taken. Much like hyphens in domain names, these underscores can be difficult to remember. So what happens when you get two profiles? Do you have to keep both of them going? Not at all, just post a message that says "If you're looking for me, you can follow me at - and then list the account that's active. You can do this for multiple names if you want and/or if you've got several names you've written under and don't need to keep them separate. |
Twitter Tip - How You Can Use Twitter ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you've pondered using Twitter but aren't sure how to use it effectively, here are some quick tips to give you some great twittering-ideas: · Teach stuff - teach a little mini-lesson on Twitter. Delve into your area of expertise or just talk about book publishing and how to get published.
· Showcase your book - don't do this in a "my book is so fabulous" kind of way but offer to give advice (like I mention in Teach Stuff) or share with your Twitter followers how the promotion of the book is going. · Use Twitter as a news source: you can easily announce news both from your world (as long as it relates to your topic) and from the world of your expertise. So for example I've done tweets on book industry stuff, breaking news, etc.
· Widen your network - follow other Twitter folk, this will not only give you some ideas for your own "tweets" but it's a great way to network with other writers or professionals. · Keep the buzz going when you're on the move - it's hard to keep blogging when you're on the road (trust me, I know this first hand) - so when I travel, I tweet. I share what I'm doing, what's happening in my world and try to offer insight and advice.
· Market yourself - remember that while Twitter may seem like a fun little tool, it's also a great way to market yourself. Just like the ideas we mention above, there are a hundred+ more things you can do. |
Reader Tip! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ If you've got a Reader Tip you'd like to share, please send it to penny@amarketingexpert.com with the subject line "reader tip." Submissions should be 75 words or less. |
WHO ARE WE ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Author Marketing Experts, Inc. is a full-service book marketing, promotion, and publicity company. We serve authors at all stages of marketing and promotion. We offer a full range of packages and services to choose from. Reprint permission ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ You are welcome to reprint any items from "The Book Marketing Expert Newsletter." However, please credit us as a source with the following paragraph: Reprinted from "The Book Marketing Expert newsletter," a free ezine offering book promotion and publicity tips and techniques. http://www.amarketingexpert.com |
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