Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks

5 Ways to Promote Your Book in August

Summer is almost over and temperatures are scorching!  During the shuffle of end-of-summer vacations and back to school preparations, don’t forget to keep promoting your book whenever you can.  Here are five easy ways to promote your book this month:

  1. Book Lover’s Day is August 9th.  Check your newspaper for local events.  If you can’t find any, consider planning something at your local library.  Perhaps a reading from a local author?
  2. Create a Book Video to promote your book.  Upload it to YouTube and then share it on all of our social networks (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Google+).  For more ideas on book video marketing, read these five ways to use videos in your book marketing efforts.
  3. If your book was published in 2010 or 2011, enter it into the USA “Best Book” Awards by August 31st.
  4. Back to school time!  If your book is educational, contact schools/teachers about using your book in their class this year or contact  local bookstores who may feature educational fare around this time of year.  If you have written a Children’s book, contact local elementary school teachers to inquire about coming in to read your book to their class.
  5. It’s never too early to plan ahead.  Start planning your fall and winter promotional schedule now.  Consider school and holiday events (Labor Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.) that might present an opportunity for you to promote your book and register for them now, order the promotional materials you will need (such as business cards, bookmarks, posters, etc.), and begin stocking up on copies of your book to give away during the holidays.

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

ABOUT KELLY SCHUKNECHT:
Kelly Schuknecht works as the 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 at http://kellyschuknecht.com.
Alternative Marketing Methods, Marketing Your Self-Published Book

6 Ways Watching Real Housewives of New York Can Help You Market Your Book

Do you watch Real Housewives of New York? If not, surely you’ve seen all the press about the show. Did you know that you can learn a lot about how to market your book and build your author brand by watching it? Here are just a few of the lessons to be learned when watching the show for any period of time (some old and some new):

  • Follow trends: Take note from Ramona and her jumping on the “renew your vows” trend. Sure, it is a good idea to be unique most of the time, but sometimes you have to “do the stuff everyone else is doing” in order to get your momentum going. After all – it works well for everyone else – isn’t it at least worth a “try”?
  • Defend the grapes: Bethenny offered to “stomp the grapes” to make wine. Not if Kelly had anything to do with it – she planned to eat those grapes. If you take a stand on some issue or cause that you really believe in and make this public knowledge, that’s a good way to network and build demand for you and your book.
  • Start your own team: It works for the Twilight saga (remember “Team Edward” and “Team Jacob”?) and is even working for RHONY with the “Team Blonde” and “Team Brunette” fiasco. Have you considered starting “teams” for the main characters in your book? This will build audience excitement for sure because people love to choose sides.
  • Refer to yourself in the third person: Did you see how Sonja referred to herself in the third person on the recent reunion show? Well, don’t do it that way, but this is a great way to write an effective author bio that will stand out amongst the crowd. Author bios should never be written in first person (neither should social media profiles and the like).
  • Toss modesty to the wind: Also in the recent reunion show, Kelly mentioned that Cosmo rated her as one of the Five Nicest Celebrities. Why can’t you do the same as an author? Naturally, you don’t want to tout your achievements at inappropriate times, but don’t be afraid to brag a little – especially when it comes to your bestselling author status.
  • Wear cream to the wedding: This is not the best thing to do in “real life”, but it can be very effective when promoting a book. Don’t allow other authors in your genre to get all of the spotlight. It’s OK to steal the show just a bit for yourself.

Many newly-published authors are faced with the question of: “How do I market my book?” Believe it or not, your answer could be as close as your nearest TV set.

Editing Your Self-Published Book

I’ve Hired an Editor – Will My Book Be Perfect?

Today’s post was written by professional copyeditor, Joan Rogers.

When authors are deciding whether to purchase copyediting services, the question is sometimes asked: “Will my book be perfect when you’re done?”

The answer is no, it won’t be perfect. But it will be greatly improved. Authors who see my copyediting samples are often amazed that a small, randomly selected portion of text – a thousand words or fewer – will have dozens of style errors. This doesn’t mean that the author isn’t a good writer; storytelling, pacing, dialogue, and character development are skills and talents separate from knowing the exact usage of a semicolon. But it is the case that technical and style errors can be distracting to a reader. In the case of nonfiction, errors can undermine the writer’s authority, particularly if the text is educational or informational.

Is it possible to achieve a perfect book? Probably not. It’s useful for writers to know that a once-through edit will not catch all errors. This is true regardless of the editing service used; when a book is published with a traditional publisher, it usually goes to a copyeditor, and then to a proofreader. Even with this, extant errors are common in published books; I saw several in Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom, one of the major releases in literary fiction last year.

I work on a large number of manuscripts that have already been edited once by professional editors prior to being submitted to me, and I still find errors. This is not because the original editor didn’t do a good job; it’s reflective of the fact that editing and proofreading are two parts of a process.

Joan Rogers ABOUT JOAN ROGERS:
Joan Rogers has provided services as an Author Representative and Editor for Outskirts Press since 2008. She studied at Oberlin College Conservatory. She also edits for several academic and scientific researchers at UC Berkeley, as well as for a nationally known journalist. She brings all that experience and knowledge, along with an unparalleled customer-service focus, to help self-publishing authors reach high-quality book publication more efficiently, professionally, and affordably.
Book Marketing, Social Media Marketing

Guest Post – 5 Social Tools for Authors by John T. Meyer

You all know as readers of this blog the publishing industry has changed drastically. Whether you are an author or a publisher the game is different today: cost of production is down, marketing channels are everywhere, and you can even eliminate the middle man. Much of this change can be attributed to technology.

As a social technology consultant I spend everyday helping businesses, brands, and bloggers utilize today’s social technology. Today I thought I’d take a look at what specific tools and channels an author can take advantage of. I’m going to focus on authors, and I also want to point out that every single one of these tools is free.

  1. Name Chk – I’m sure the right way for authors to name a book is at the very end, but I just get excited about names. Use a tool like name chckr to scan across all social networks to see if your desired name is available. You still can name your book whatever you please, but you’re going to want to utilize social media to promote.
  2. Search.Twitter – This website is what takes Twitter to the next level. There are plenty of web apps that do similar things, but when it comes to listening on Twitter it doesn’t get any better. Run searches on keywords in your industry, topics related to your book, and influencers who can help promote. You can use Search.Twitter before writing as a research tool, or after publishing as a promotional tool.
  3. Facebook Ads – I know you’re thinking, I never click on a Facebook ad, but that isn’t the point. A successful author today has to target a specific audience of readers. The best-selling books are targeted at a niche that needs the content. Facebook Ads have an incredible ability to target to exactly who you’re looking for. With the ability to sort by age, gender, geography, education level, and interests you are bound to find your book’s audience. Facebook Ads can be affordable and build massive awareness.
  4. Square – When it is time to sell, you don’t need a POS system or the bookshelves of Barnes & Noble, just sell the book yourself – on the go! Square is that nifty sugar cube like credit card reader that plugs nicely into your iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, or Android’s headphone jack. Just swipe a card and receive the payment. No monthly fees, no cost for the device, just a 2.75% transaction fee (which is quite competitive I might add).
  5. Google+ – Part of my job is jumping on and trying the latest and greatest in social technology, but usually I go into a new network with a lot of skepticism. Especially when Google (a search company first) attempts to do something social (e.g. Google Wave, Google Buzz). However, this time around I’m a bit more intrigued. I believe Google did something right this time with Google+ and I want to spend more time digging into it. As a brand new network, I think the opportunity is out there to build a strong brand on G+, and we all know a best-selling author needs a strong brand.

For questions on these tools or others hit me up on Twitter (@johntmeyer) or feel free to email me at john (at) 9clouds (dot) com. Also, learn more about social technology in our product Sandbox, an online community that makes social technology easy.


Uncategorized

Quick Poll: Why Did You Self-Publish Your Book?

Today, we’d like to take a quick poll of the Self Publishing Advisor readers — why did you decide to self-publish your book?

Authors do so for many reasons – we’d like to know yours. Is it because you wanted to maintain creative control? Or because you wanted to set your own price/royalty? How about because you were fed up with the process of searching for agent representation?

Let us know your thoughts.

 

 

 

 

Cheri Breeding ABOUT CHERI BREEDING:
Since 2005 Cheri Breeding has been working as the Director of Production for Outskirts Press. In that time, she has been an instrumental component of every aspect of the Production Department, performing the roles of an Author Representative, Book Designer, Customer Service Representative, Title Production Supervisor, Production Manager and, Director of Production. She brings all that experience and knowledge, along with an unparalleled customer-service focus, to help self-publishing authors reach high-quality book publication more efficiently, professionally, and affordably.