Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks

5 Ways to Increase Book Sales by Giving Away the First Chapter

I love Amazon!  I frequently search for books on Amazon.  I pay attention to what Amazon recommends for me.  I have a Kindle and often check Amazon’s list of “Top 100 Free” Kindle Ebooks.  As a reader, the choices for “what to read next” are endless.  My “to read” list is never under 25 books.  Readers have so many choices these days, so, as an author, how do you convince readers to choose your book to read next?

One idea is to give away the first chapter of your book.  Everyone likes getting something for free, right?  The first chapter will give the reader a taste of the book and will entice them to want to read more.  There are a few ways you can get your first chapter into the hands (or onto the screens) of your potential readers:

  1. Add a message in your email signature asking your contacts to let you know if they would like to receive a copy of the first chapter of your book.  For those who reply, send them a PDF copy of the first chapter and let them know where to buy the hardcopy if they like it and want to read more.
  2. Put an ad in your local newspaper with a short (1-2 sentence) synopsis of your book, inviting potential readers to email you for a PDF copy of the first chapter for free.  When you email the file to these contacts, let them know where to buy the hardcopy if they like it and want to read more.
  3. Similarly, put an ad on Craigslist (in the “free” section) with a short synopsis of your book, inviting potential readers to contact you for a free PDF copy of the first chapter.  And – you guessed it! – when you send it to them, let them know where to buy the hardcopy if they like it and want to read more.
  4. First Chapter Plus publishes and distributes a monthly e-catalog, which includes the first chapters of print and digital books, and mp3 clips of audio books to over 35,000 opt-in subscribers.  This listing will include the necessary details for where potential readers can find and purchase a copy of your book.
  5. If you’re a blogger, publish the first chapter of your book in a blog post or link to a PDF file where your readers can open the first chapter and read it.  Be sure to let readers know where to buy the book once they’ve read the first chapter and want more.  Author Ian Lurie actually allows his viewers to read the entire contents of his book, Conversation Marketing, online.  See how he does this here: http://www.conversationmarketing.com/internet-marketing-book/

DISCUSSION: What are some other ways that you might distribute the first chapter of your book to potential readers?

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 June

Summer has begun, but don’t forget to do something every day to promote your book!  Here are five ideas for promoting a book in June:

  1. Flag Day is June14th.  From now until July 4th it’s a perfect time to promote books about America, patriotism, US government or similar topics.
  2. Set up a Twitter account and start networking.  Learn about which hashtags to use and watch in this post: 10 Twitter Hashtags for Self-Publishing Book Marketing.
  3. The Annual Conference of the American Library Association (ALA) is taking place June 23-28 in New Orleans.  To learn more about the ALA, visit www.ala.org.
  4. Father’s Day is June 19th.  If your book is about parenting, fatherhood, family or a related topic, now is a good time to promote your book as a Father’s Day gift idea.
  5. Write a pitch letter to a radio or television producer following these tips: 1) Keep your letter short.  2) Include a “hook” to grab their attention. 3) Use bullet points. 4) Tell the producer what’s in it for them. 5) Be available to respond to his/her interest immediately.  Find contact information for your local radio stations here: http://www.radio-locator.com/

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

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.
Cheri Speaks

Who Needs an LCCN?

So, you’ve heard the term LCCN, but you’re not too sure if you need one.

That’s understandable. To determine whether this is something you need – let’s start by defining the acronym. LCCN standards for Library of Congress Control Number. Wait, that’s not a real definition! You’re right – that was fairly vague. The control number is an identification number (similar to the ISBN) that an author acquires before publication. The number is printed on the title page of the book and (traditionally speaking) is often very helpful when marketing your book to libraries.

But do you absolutely need one? The long and short answer is a firm no. Will libraries not accept your books if you don’t have one? Not likely. It’s very true that libraries very rarely “order” self-published books. Does that mean you should you take libraries off your radar? Not necessarily – there are still more creative ways that you can include libraries in your book promotion strategy. You can donate a copy (or copies) of your book. You can host book readings at your library. The possibilities are essentially limitless, but you must be creative and not rely on a library to come after you.

Have any of your included the library in your overall marketing plan? We’d love to hear about it in the comments.

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.
Cheri Speaks

More About Using an Imprint

A couple of weeks ago, we discussed the benefit of using your own self-publishing company under your own ISBN and what’s called an imprint.

Some self-publishing authors prefer to secure their own ISBNs for full control over how their books are identified, discovered, and sourced. Using an imprint means designating your Publisher Name as the publisher-of-record for your book. Many authors who produce textbooks must print under their own imprint and ISBN for those special service wholesalers to do business with them.

This imprint also lets your book stand alone in the sea of books available. For instance, if you are using a self-publishing company that publishes many science fiction books and an author opts to bypass copyediting and has a less than appealing cover, an author may not want to be associated with that book, though they want to utilize the services of the publisher. Publishing under your own self-publishing company is ideal is ideal in cases like this.

If you decide to publish under an imprint, we recommend that you thoroughly research the name of your company to make sure that there aren’t any duplicates on the market.

Many companies, such as Outskirts Press, can assist author with the hassles handling book orders and inventory, sales/accounting, etc. but allow the author use their own imprint (publisher name). This will give it more credibility in the marketplace and can become the name under which the author publishes further titles.

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.
Alternative Marketing Methods

Alternative Marketing Methods at BEA

Yesterday, one of the events at BEA was “Surprising Marketing Practices from Around the World and What We Can Learn from Them“. We have been discussing these for the past two weeks with our Alternative Marketing Methods Series. Learning about each of these methods will help you and your book stand out from the crowd.

Though I didn’t attend BEA this year, I do want to share some interesting marketing methods that we will be discussing over the coming weeks:

  • Post an ad on Craigslist. Craigslist is a fairly under-utilized marketing tool available to authors. Posting an ad is relatively simple, free, and gives you quality exposure to potential readers.
  • “Host” a YouTube reading/signing. You can read your book in a brief video and post it to YouTube. You can then put up a PayPal link so that readers can purchase the book for a discounted price. You can send them a signed copy of the book when they order.
  • Host a Webinar. Everyone is an expert at something. Why not share your expertise with the world and gently guide them to purchasing your book? These can be planned for and hosted at any time. There are many free webinar services available that can be found using a Google search.
  • Have a Twitter party for your book. If you are active on Twitter, this is a fun and creative way to promote yourself and your book. Pick a #hashtag, plan the time/date, and tweet away!

Do you know of any other creative book marketing strategies? Did you attend the BEA and get information about new strategies that you are focusing on implementing? Please feel free to share them in the comments.