Author: selfpublishingadvisor

Book Promotion, Conversations with a Self-Publishing Writer, Royalene Speaks, Uncategorized

Conversations: 9/23/2016

PROMOTING YOUR BOOK—EVERY WAY—EVERYWHERE!

A book-lovers miracle took place back in 1939. The Pocket Book publishing company began printing book for $0.25 cents. Traditional publishers did everything they could to stop it. They were going to lose money if this crazy idea caught on. Well, it did! Suddenly people in the U.S. began reading all the time! The first books were reprints of best sellers and classics such as The Lost Horizon by James Hilton (sold 2,514,747) and Topper by Thorne Smith (1,546,000). Can you imagine not having affordable access to those—or our own recently published books?  This revolution in marketing was a blessing to the world much like the production of eBooks today.

giftcard

Now the question for us is, “How can we do ALL that we need to do get our books noticed and purchased?” Often our budgets are small to begin with and the marketing column is the smallest. Several years ago, one of the self-publishing companies I’ve worked with came up with the idea of providing Gift Cards for authors no matter what stage of writing or publishing they were in. This was before the Facebook “GoFundMe” pages began to appear, however the concept is basically the same. Family, friends, author-communities and neighbors can help financially support an Author—basically donating funds to give the author more options for such things as: completing their book with editorial assistance, hiring a professional cover Designer, or working with an experienced Graphic Designer to prepare a video-trailer to market the book online. This is such a great way for a lot of people to share in the publishing adventure right at the beginning of our own writing journey.

The first place I recommend for investing Gift Card funds is with a Marketing Expert who specializes in promoting book and the genre of books you are writing. Even before your book is ready for release, this person will become your new best friend. I cannot express how valuable their expertise is in today book-world. Much like the innovative thinker who began the Pocket Book company, your personal marketing assistant will be the person who thinks WAY outside the box giving you priceless strategies for getting and keeping your book in view of Readers everywhere. First they will listen to you and collect all the information about your book that you can give them. Then they will develop a plan of action—tasks for you or them—to do today, tomorrow and next year. Arranging book signings at local venues from bookstores to book-friendly coffee houses is high on their lists. They will also help you create a brand and/or platform as well as an “online presence” through all the social media sites possible. Yes, indeed, these folks are amazing people whose gift to us is moving us forward beyond our own expectations.

Also right up top of my helpers list is the PRESS RELEASE writer. An author’s relationship with this person may be short. However, an exceptionally written Press Release is a top priority. One thing to ask when selecting the person you’ll work with is HOW WIDE is their distribution. The publishing of your book is not only a remarkable event in your life it is also an Event that needs to be noticed in the publishing world. Working with a professional and creative Press Release writer will help your launch your book and grab the attention of reviewers in newspapers and online—everywhere. ⚓︎

Royalene

ABOUT ROYALENE DOYLE: Royalene has been writing something since before kindergarten days and continues to love the process. Through her small business—DOYLE WRITING SERVICES—she brings more than 40 years of writing experience to authors who need “just a little assistance” with completing their projects. This is a nice fit as she develops these blogs for Outskirts Press (OP) a leading self-publisher, and occasionally accepts a ghostwriting project from one of their clients. Her recent book release (with OP) titled FIREPROOF PROVERBS, A Writer’s Study of Words, is already receiving excellent reviews including several professional writer’s endorsements given on the book’s back cover.  

Royalene’s writing experience grew through a wide variety of positions from Office Manager and Administrative Assistant to Teacher of Literature and Advanced Writing courses and editor/writer for an International Christian ministry. Her willingness to listen to struggling authors, learn their goals and expectations and discern their writing voice has brought many manuscripts into the published books arena.

Book Marketing, elizabeth speaks, in your corner, Marketing Your Self-Published Book, Uncategorized

In Your Corner: Know Thyself (& Thy Genre)

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve spent some time looking a few of the many choices authors have to make during the self-publication and marketing processes, starting with the Big Whopper (“Choosing a Self-Publishing Company“) and then moving into choices regarding the text itself (“Choosing a Trim Size for Your Book“).  This Thursday, however, I’m writing less about making a choice than I am about detecting past choices you may not have been aware you were making … and then totally exploiting them for marketing purposes.

Let me explain.

You Don’t Choose A Genre So Much As Discover It:

It Probably Only Matters for Marketing Anyway

Thinking back over the history of publishing, I can’t begin to count the number of times a book has been rejected as “too weird” or “too out-there” when really, the issue at hand was the fact that the book in question didn’t fit neatly into one of the prescribed genres (Fiction, Non-Fiction, Fantasy/Science Fiction, Western, Biography, etc).  And the marketing folks at a traditional publisher know: it’s hard to market something that doesn’t fit neatly into a category, because doing so requires flexibility and out-of-the-box thinking.  Hybrid thinking.  Opinions are changing, slowly, but not fast enough within the Big Five traditional publishing houses.

Self-publishing gives you a third way. You don’t have to pick a genre while writing, but you can take advantage of a book’s genre or genres plural by approaching genre as a diagnosis after the fact, and an expedition in search of what the Atlantic’s Noah Berlatsky calls “a ‘web of resemblances’ created by intertexual references” that are “constituted basically by social and cultural agreement,” quoting John Rieder and Jason Mittel.  It’s a hunt for markers that point you toward certain resemblances … resemblances you can capitalize on for their social currency.

genre

The diagnosis process is simple:

  1. What books have you read that influenced your work in a measurable way?
  2. What books on the shelves in bookstores now bear resemblance to yours in style and content?

Once you sketch out a couple of lists to answer this question, it’s time to hit the bookstore and your library.  Libraries tend to scale the number of genre sections they stock according to how much shelf space they have, so bigger libraries will have finer distinctions between genres, while bookstores tend to pick the genres they’re going to stock according to what’s popular.  If you survey both your local Barnes & Noble, Tattered Cover, or (*gasp*) actual real-life physical Amazon Bookstore as well as your local public library, you’ll pick up on some of the more common genres out there, including:

  • Action/Adventure
  • Biography
  • Fantasy/Sci-Fi
  • Horror
  • “Literary” Fiction
  • Mystery
  • Thriller/Suspense
  • Romance
  • Self-Help
  • Westerns
  • Women’s fiction

But the list could be a lot, lot longer.  I haven’t, for instance, mentioned more obscure genres like Steampunk and Grimoire.

Once you’ve found the shelf or shelves on which you could picture your book sitting in a bookstore or library, you’re ready to start integrating genre into your publishing and marketing processes.  Now, your book may have “resemblances” to any number of genres, but for simplicity’s sake it’s a good idea to pick just one or two that have left very clear thumbprints on your text.  You can take a quick poll of your early readers, or consult the professionals, for what they find most striking about the style and tone and voice of your book if you end up stuck for answers.  And before committing to your genre or genres, you’ll want to consider your readership.  What are they likely to connect to the most in terms of language?

Genre safely discovered and stowed away for future use, it’s time to start putting it to work.  The language of genre is rich with possibility in terms of “buzzwords” for marketing purposes, so sow them liberally amongst your back-cover blurbs, your press releases, your Amazon and Goodreads listings, your website and blog posts, as well as your social media interactions.  (Genres like #biopunk and #horrorlit make for great hashtags, don’t you think?)

There are lots of ways to use genre once your book is already written and ready to meet the world…but remember, it’s all a matter of timing.  You don’t need to write your entire book to meet a genre’s proscriptive requirements…just your promotional materials.  Genre can be confining, so it’s best to bring it into play only after the creative work is already done.  In my opinion.

You are not alone. ♣︎

Elizabeth

ABOUT ELIZABETH JAVOR: With over 18 years of experience in sales and management, Elizabeth Javor works as the Manager of Author Services for Outskirts Press. The Author Services Department is composed of knowledgeable publishing consultants, pre-production specialists, customer service reps and book marketing specialists; together, they all focus on educating authors on the self-publishing process to help them publish the book of their dreams. Whether you are a professional looking to take your career to the next level with platform-driven non-fiction or a novelist seeking fame, fortune, and/or personal fulfillment, Elizabeth Javor can put you on the right path.
Book Design, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized

The Book Beautiful: The Back Cover

It’s More Than a Graveyard for Details

A potential reader has your book in their hands, they look at the front illustration, they flip through and subconsciously note how the book it formatted, and then they turn the book around to read the back cover. The back cover becomes a crucial piece for a reader deciding whether or not they are going to purchase your book. You essentially have 150-200 words to sell your story to the reader, anything more than that will appear cluttered or have to be excruciatingly small in order to fit, alienating some potential readers who didn’t bring a magnifying glass along with them to the bookstore.That being said, a great thing to do before you begin brainstorming the back cover of your own book is to go through your own library and look at the back covers of some of your favorite books for reference.

Is your book fiction? If so, provide a short summary of what the story is about, including some enticing plot points to hook your reader in (don’t give the ending away!). An exciting way to end your back cover blurb is with a question or introducing a point of tension that the reader will feel compelled to explore further.

Is your book nonfiction? Begin by addressing the primary purpose of your book, or the ‘why’ a reader should choose your book. Proceed by making a bullet-point list of the topics your book will cover, i.e. what the reader can gain from reading your book.

Once your blurb is written, it’s time to introduce yourself as an author. A professional photograph of yourself (a face shot with no background noise, the focus is on you here) with a short bio is another essential component of a back cover. This bio won’t be as detailed as the formal bio on a page inside the book (or book jacket if a hardcover), and is not meant to be. If you are a nonfiction writer, this is a good place to list your qualifications, experience, or training in the area you’ve written about.

Endorsements are another appropriate feature to add to your back cover if you have them. An endorsement is just a short little quip written by a well-respected author in your genre (if fiction) or professional in your field (if nonfiction). If you don’t have someone well-known to endorse your book, it is best to omit this feature as it will simply look like you couldn’t obtain a more reputable endorsement and instead settled for anything.

If you’re struggling with any of the components of your back cover, Outskirts Press’ one click publishing package includes a personalized back cover that is professional and polished and relieves you of the stress of choosing the right few words to include to reel in potential readers.

Thank you for reading!  If you have any questions, comments, suggestions, or contributions, please use the comment field below or drop us a line at selfpublishingadvice@gmail.com.  And remember to check back each Wednesday for your weekly dose of marketing musings from one indie, hybrid, and self-published author to another. ♠

Kelly

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com
from the archives, Kelly Speaks, Uncategorized, Wendy Speaks

From the Archives: “HUGE MISTAKE: Using ‘Traditional’ Business Cards as a Coach/Speaker”

Welcome back to our Tuesday segment, where we’ll be revisiting some of our most popular posts from the last few years.  What’s stayed the same?  And what’s changed?  We’ll be updating you on the facts, and taking a new (and hopefully refreshing) angle on a few timeless classics of Self Publishing Advisor.

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[ Originally posted: February 28th, 2011 ]

You’re an AMAZING speaker. You know how to work the room when you’re in front of an audience. Once your presentation is over, though, you make a HUGE mistake. This one is really big, but no one told you what you were doing wrong: you hand out a business card. That sounds harmless enough, right? Not if you’re a coach or speaker.

A business card can’t portray the true value of a speaker’s knowledge in their field. Last week, I presented at Kathleen Gage’s New Horizon’s Telesummit on the topic “Your Book – Your Business Card”. If you haven’t published a book, you are doing your business (yourself) a great disservice. Think about how easy it will be to attract/retain clients and book speaking gigs if you had a published book —

  • Your audience can get to know more about you and your business
  • You can share your expertise with your target customer and others in your field
  • Coaching is intangible. A book allows the client to touch the coach via the book.
  • A well written content rich book will validate the author as an expert. Experts get to charge more.

Okay, I’m sold. I know I need to publish a book to build my business. How can I get started? If you decide to self-publish, it’s not as difficult as you think. There are some companies that offer self-publishing packages for coaches and speakers, including Outskirts Press. Packages like these are designed for busy professionals that are always on the go. If you think self-publishing is right for you be sure to choose a self-publisher that can accommodate your marketing and distribution goals. Truthfully, creating the actual book is the easiest part. Make sure that you are maintaining the rights to your material and that you have control over your retail piece and your trade discount.

Some authors don’t want to pay to publish their books. In cases like these, you may consider going the “traditional” publishing route. Remember that you will be selling your rights to the book, but you will still be responsible for promoting your book after the process is complete. Also, publishing your book this way could take months or even years (if it’s accepted).

It is important that you weigh the pros and cons of each option and decide which one works for you.

– by Wendy Stetina

Wendy was right–the best advertisement for an author is a book, and the best means of marketing a new book is to start working on the next one. This isn’t to say you won’t have valuable things to add to the conversation about self-publishing if you yourself haven’t finished publishing your book, but as someone interested in indie publishing you probably know better than most the true importance of timing. It’s worth waiting to give that big presentation until after you have some hard copies of your book in hand, even though waiting is agonizing and fun for no one.

We’re talking about the power of tangibles. There’s a lot you can do with the force of your personality alone in terms of capturing an audience and convincing its various members of your sincerity and authenticity … but there will always be at least one person who will lobby a comment during the Q&A session asking how and where to purchase your book.  If you don’t have an answer for that person, your credibility as a presenter tanks.  It may not tank a lot, but any tanking is a bad thing.  On the other hand, if your book is for sale digitally and you can confidently state its retailers, you’ll earn credibility.  The more at home you are with the particulars of your own publishing experience–the date on which your book was or will be published, the retailers where it can be purchased, and your personal website address and social media account handles where your audiences can seek out more information–the more your image as a worthwhile presenter is built and the more your listeners will see you as an author and not just as any old speaker.

When it comes to speaking about self-publishing, there’s real currency in sharing your personal experience.  This is why I’m 100% an advocate of signing yourself up to be a presenter … and just a tad cautious about signing up too soon.  Make it worth your while.  And if you’re absolutely going to be steam-rolled into a presentation before your book is out in print, make your business card an access point to the publication process.  By which I mean: make sure it not only includes your publication date and website information, but make the giving of it an actual incentive to buy.  Incentivization is king!  You might offer a 15% discount to everyone who can provide proof of business card acquisition at online checkout–perhaps each business card is printed with a discount code–or you might use it as the first clue in a series that will lead your presentation listeners on an Easter egg hunt around town to friendly businesses that are promoting your work.  You can get really creative at this point–my suggestions barely scratch the surface!

Just … don’t let your business card be boring.

Thanks for reading.  If you have any other ideas, I’d love to hear them.  Drop me a line in the comments section below and I’ll respond as quickly as I can.  ♠

Kelly

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.
Kelly Speaks, news from the self publishing world, self publishing news, Uncategorized

Self-Publishing News: 9.19.2016

And now for the news!

This week in the world of self-publishing:

Ever heard of self-publishing sensation Samantha Bond?  If you haven’t already, Maya Fleischmann of the Huffington Post blog fame is here to save the day with this September 14th article on Bond, an author she introduces first as fleeing the corporate sector to find solace in writing–prolifically–for traditional publishers until launching her own self-publishing company in 2011.  “And she hasn’t looked back,” writes Fleischmann before launching into a lengthy interview with Bond, featuring questions like “What was the inspiration for your Coma Girl Daily Serial?” (Bond’s latest series), and “You have numerous books in the works. What makes you want to share your writing progress with your followers? How do you focus on so many books and decide which book to work on each day?”  Fleischmann’s skill at stacking questions is equaled only by Bond’s ability to answer them; if you’re curious to find out her answers and learn more about her latest round of work, you can read Fleischmann’s full interview with Bond here.  (We here on the SPA blog find it utterly relatable.)

“There are plenty of perks to self-publishing,” writes Kylee McIntyre for Tech In Asia in this September 14th article: “You get a lot more control over the way your work is presented. You can also can end up making more money in the long run – e-publishers can take just around 40 percent of sales, much smaller than the 75 percent cut that traditional publishers receive.”  But there are downsides, too, she warns–including the assumption “that you’re responsible for plenty of the publishing process yourself, including marketing and design. You also probably charge much less for people to buy and download your work.”  Which brings us to the nebulous “they” of the article’s title.  As it turns out, writes McIntyre, there are some parties out there who are interested in “trying to level the playing field” for authors who choose to publish digitally.  This company, Notion Press is based out of Chennai and was founded by three men, only one of whom has a background in publishing.  The other two, McIntyre writes, have backgrounds in engineering–“appropriate,” she writes, for a company which “describes itself as an accelerator for books.”  With roughly 1,500 books under its belt and 120 members on staff, Notion Press is doing quite well.  Its authors are doing even better.  It has turned what it calls “productivity trash into treasure,” meaning that its founders have a pretty good handle on transforming authors’ experiences in self-publishing by way of social and personal management tools.  To learn more about their fascinating approach, read the full article at the link.

Some self-publishing stories are not standout successes.  Some of them, sadly but truthfully, are horror stories.  As Melissa Nightingale reports in this September 16th piece for the New Zealand National Herald, author Sean Colenso’s story is one such nightmare.  After choosing to self-publish his photo book of material gathered around his home town of Twizel, NZ, through Xlibris, he found himself  “$11,000 out of pocket.”  (These are NZ dollars.)  “Now,” writes Nightingale, “he is using his experience to warn other new authors to be careful choosing a self-publishing business.”  His experience stacked miscommunication upon miscommunication, and he faced repeated demands from Xlibris for more money to cover services they didn’t seem to make good on.  (For instance, he was promised that his book would be published in both print and digital editions, but to date the only version available to buy on Amazon is the e-book.  There’s also the issue of marketing–which as yet Colenso has seen none of, despite paying $3,000 NZ to cover those costs.)  The price of his e-book soared.  His books appeared at none of the promised outlets and book fairs.  His royalty payments haven’t come through and he hasn’t been told why.  “It’s just left me absolutely screwed,” Nightingale quotes him as saying.

Luckily, New Zealand-based authors have at least one advocate: The New Zealand Society of Authors.  “There are honest, reputable self-publishing services that can help a writer who wants to self-publish but who doesn’t feel confident about doing it alone,” NZSA president Kyle Mewburn said, as quoted by Nightingale.  “Unfortunately there are some rogue offshore organisations charging large fees to do very little. They misrepresent their services in order to profit from writers.”  Xlibris may be offshore for New Zealanders, but it’s very much onshore for those of us who happen to be based in the USA.  The moral of this story?  Read the fine print.  Be careful.  Trust no one until you have seen evidence, through previously published authors, of reliability and accessibility.  If this sounds like a mobster initiation rite, that may tell you something about the current state of affairs in self-publishing.  We must continue to advocate for truly ethical practices.  For more of Nightingale’s report, follow the link.

spa-news

As a self-publishing author, you may find it helpful to stay up-to-date on the trends and news related to the self-publishing industry. This will help you make informed decisions before, during and after the self-publishing process, which will lead to a greater self-publishing experience. To help you stay current on self-publishing topics, simply visit our blog every Monday to find out the hottest news. If you have other big news to share, please comment below.

Kelly

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT: Kelly Schuknecht is the Executive Vice President of Outskirts Press. In addition to her contributions to the Outskirts Press blog at blog.outskirtspress.com, Kelly and a group of talented marketing experts offer book marketing services, support, and products to not only published Outskirts Press authors, but to all authors and professionals who are interested in marketing their books and/or careers. Learn more about Kelly on her blog, kellyschuknecht.com.