Category: Kelly Speaks

Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks

5 Ways to Promote Your Book in May

May is almost here, so it’s time to start thinking about the opportunities this new month brings for you to promote your book.  Here are five ideas for promoting a book in May:

  1. Mother’s Day is May 8th.  If your book is about parenting, motherhood, family or a related topic, now is a good time to promote your book as a Mother’s Day gift idea.
  2. If you only have a hard copy format of your book, consider adding an ebook, Kindle, Nook  and/or Apple (iBook) edition. Additional formats help increase the exposure for your book.
  3. The Book Expo America (BEA) is taking place May 26th – 28th.  Even if you can’t make it to New York to attend the book fair this year, get involved in online discussions about the events.  Keep yourself informed about what’s going on and the major topics being discussed in the industry.
  4. Memorial Day is May 30th.  How can you promote your book for Memorial Day?  Don’t…well, not directly.  While you’re relaxing with your family and enjoying some time off, read a book.  When you’re done, write a review for that book on Amazon.  Make sure your Amazon account includes a bio mentioning your book and a link to your website or blog.
  5. Plan ahead for summer.  With school letting out and many people taking advantage of the weather for much needed vacation time, you may be tempted to put your book marketing efforts on hold.  Because your book marketing efforts are so important to the success of your book sales, set goals for yourself now to keep yourself on task over the summer months.  Plan to do something to promote your book every day, each week or each month.

DISCUSSION: How are you planning to promote YOUR book in May?

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT:
Kelly Schuknecht works as the Director of Author Support for 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 at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks

Amanda Hocking’s Road to Success with Indie Publishing

Today’s post is by book marketing industry expert, Kelly Schuknecht.

Amanda Hocking has become an indie and digital publishing super star.  The author of 17 books, she began self-publishing them as e-books in April 2010, and what a year it has been!  She has earned over a million dollars in royalties and landed a traditional publishing contract for her next series.

How did she do it?  Amanda writes young adult paranormal romance, and prices her books with a marketing strategy in mind.  She published the first book in each series with a price of just $.99 to encourage sales.  Once readers were hooked, the price of her second book in the series was just $2.99.  She would set the price of the final book in the series at about $8.99.  When readers would purchase all of the books in the series, Amanda would make “a pretty decent profit.”

Hear about Amanda’s road to success in her own words in this Associated Press video:

 

DISCUSSION: How do you use marketing strategy when you set your pricing?

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT:
Kelly Schuknecht works as the Director of Author Support for 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 at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks

5 Ways to Promote Your Book in April

Today’s post is by book marketing industry expert, Kelly Schuknecht.

Book marketing is an ongoing effort.  Here are five ways to promote your book in April:

  1. April is National Poetry Month.  If you have published a book of poetry, this is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of National Poetry Month events.  Visit Poetry.org to find a full list of Poetry Month events.
  2. April 2nd is International Children’s Book Day.  If you are a Children’s book author, call your local library and elementary school(s).  Volunteer to read your book during storytime.
  3. Speaking of libraries, National Library Week is April 10-16.  Contact your local library, offer to donate a free copy of your book.
  4. The London Book Fair takes place April 11-13.  If you have not already made arrangements for your book to be represented this year, consider this opportunity for next year.
  5. April 22nd is Earth Day. If your book is about environment issues (or even if it’s not), contact your local schools and environmental agencies and ask about Earth Day events you can get involved with.  Even if you are not directly promoting your book, you will be doing something to help the environment and networking with individuals who have similar interests.

DISCUSSION: How are you planning to promote YOUR book this month?

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT:
Kelly Schuknecht works as the Director of Author Support for 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 at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks

What Does Your Online Presence Tell Your Potential Readers?

Today’s post is by book marketing industry expert, Kelly Schuknecht.

When it comes to publishing a book, no matter what goals you have, as an author your online presence is important and should be thoroughly reviewed and perfected.  Your personal website or blog, your profile on Amazon and any other social networking sites may be viewed by potential customers and should accurately reflect who you are and help sell your book.

If you have a website or blog, you will most likely want to list information about your book.  This can include:

  • About the book
  • About the author
  • Testimonials/reviews
  • Link to purchase the book on Amazon or other retail sites

Have you ever visited a website with so much “stuff” on it that it made it hard to figure out what you were looking at or where you should go?  The ability to navigate a website easily is very important for getting the attention of your viewers.  Be sure they can find what they want easily and that all links work properly.  If you use other social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube or any others, your website should include links to those locations.  Also, your “behavior” on those sites should be professional and appropriate for your target audience.

DISCUSSION: Do you consider your target audience when you post something on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or YouTube?  If so, why?  If not, why not?

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT:
Kelly Schuknecht works as the Director of Author Support for 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 at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks

Improving Your Book’s Presence on Amazon

Today’s post is by book marketing industry expert, Kelly Schuknecht.

After you self publish a book, assuming your book is listed on Amazon.com, you should thoroughly review and perfect the listing for your book and your Amazon profile.  Remember, this is your opportunity to sell your book to potential customers, so your presentation online, including on Amazon.com, is important.

3 Simple Ways to Improve Your Listing on Amazon:

  1. Get Reviews -Reviews tell potential readers why they should buy your book.  They will look at how many reviews your book has in each star category (1-5) and may glance through a few of them to find out what other readers are saying about your book.  If you don’t have any reviews, get some.  If you have some, get more.  Ask everyone you know who has read your book to post a review (preferably 5-star).  Actively seek reviews by contacting potential reviewers and sending out review copies.
  2. Add a Kindle Edition – Additional formats provide more opportunities for people to find (and buy) your book.  I suggest you price your Kindle Edition low to encourage sales.  These sales may turn into reviews, recommendations and even more purchases of the hard copy format(s).  I have my own Kindle and often find that if I like a book I’m reading, I want to buy the hard copy (particularly with non-fiction books).
  3. Utilize the Search Inside Feature -Amazon offers Search Inside the Book to allow viewers to virtually flip through the book.  Utilizing this feature is a good way to enhance your listing and make it easy for viewers to get a sneak peek.

Of course there are many other things you should do to improve your listing (and sales) on Amazon.  Brent Sampson, CEO of Outskirts Press has written an entire book on the subject, which you can find on Amazon here. 

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT:
Kelly Schuknecht works as the Director of Author Support for 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 at http://kellyschuknecht.com.