Cheri Speaks

POLL: What’s Important to You?

When publishing a book, it’s important to make sure that you have all of the right tools/knowledge at your disposal. To help you acquire those tools/knowledge, we run this blog. From time to time, we like to get your feedback. We’d like to know what published authors wish they had known during the publishing process? What is it that you “kick” yourself about now? What mistakes did you make that you feel that others can learn from?

Also feel free to share things you wish you knew “then” in the comments below. Your feedback will be use to tailor future blog posts to what you want to hear.

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.
Book Promotion

How Authors (and Others) Can Use Klout to Check Their BRAND

A few months ago, we discussed the importance of building a BRAND that has SWAG. We defined BRAND as:

B oldness (You have to be able to say things others are afraid to.)

R elevance (Are you talking about the things your audience wants to hear about?)

A nd

N otable (Are you saying things that are “newsworthy”?)

D edication (Are you dedicated to yourself and your audience?)

There are many tools available to check your BRAND. One of the most popular is Klout. You can use this to check your relevancy to your audience. Once you enter your Twitter account information, you will get a profile that will begin with something like this:

The top portion of your profile shows your Klout score (which is a number between 1 and 100). The higher the number, the greater influence you have on your audience. You are also able to see important information from your Twitter profile, top topics you in your realm of influence, and how many people you influence. You can learn even more about the Klout scoring system HERE.

As you scroll down the profile page, you are able to see your score broken down even further to show how many people have retweeted (or shared) your information, how many direct replies you get, etc. Ideally, it shows how much people care about what you say on Twitter. You can use this as a report card to see what areas you need to improve in social networking and can also add your Facebook and LinkedIn accounts for a more accurate score.

If you’re on Twitter, check your Klout score today (if you’re not on Twitter, you should sign up for the party). What’s your score? What does this say about how you interact with the online community? Could you improve?

If you aren’t satisfied with your score, it’s OK. Just make sure that you are adhering to “guidelines” for BRAND spelled out above. After a couple of weeks or so, re-check your score and see if you’ve improved.

Book Marketing, Kelly Speaks

Good luck to the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award Finalists!

ForeWord Reviews will be announcing the 2010 Book of the Year Awards in an award ceremony on Saturday, June 25!

New this year, ForeWord is announcing the winners at the American Library Association Conference in New Orleans. Gold, silver, and bronze awards will be revealed in each of the sixty subject categories. Finalists do not have to be present to receive the award, but they are welcome to attend along with the librarians, booksellers and publishers who will be present.

I’m sure it will be an exciting afternoon filled with anticipation and high spirits as ForeWord Reviews announces the Best Fiction, Best Nonfiction, and Independent Publisher of the Year prizes.

Best of luck to the ForeWord Reviews Book of the Year Award Finalists!

DISCUSSION: What award contests have you entered for your book?  

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 Reviews, Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week

Self-Publishing Book Review of the Week: Blood Country by Dan Jewell

Book reviews are a great way for self-publishing authors to gain exposure. After all, how can someone buy your book if they don’t know about it? Paired with other elements of your book promotion strategy, requesting reviews is a great way to get people talking about what you’ve written.

When we read good reviews, we definitely like to share them. It gives the author a few (permanent) moments of fame and allows us let the community know about a great book. So, without further adieu, here’s this week’s book review:

Burned: A Tragic Mystery book cover

Blood Country

Dan Jewell

Publisher: Outskirts Press, Inc.

ISBN 9781432765835

Reviewed by: Kam Aures for Rebecca’s Reads

“Dan Jewell’s Blood Country: A Nashville Sideman Mystery begins in January in Nashville. Joe Rose, guitarist and private investigator, receives a call from his ex-wife Patty Hill, an Associate Math Professor at Vanderbilt. Patty had just been talking to her friend Roxanne Hamlin, a country singer, on the phone. Roxanne is trying to leave her husband Vern, also famous in the country music industry, but Vern is not allowing her to leave. Roxanne doesn’t want to involve the police so Patty thinks that Joe may be a good choice to help out.

The domestic situation actually turns into a job opportunity for Joe as he ends up being hired by Vern for a different matter. Vern had received a letter from an anonymous source regarding his father’s murder which happened twenty years prior. In the letter, it is suggested that the man who was accused of killing Vern’s father was not actually the person who committed the crime. So, Joe is sent to investigate and to try to unearth the truth as to who killed King Hamlin.

Jewell does a wonderful job with character development. The individuals we are introduced to throughout the novel are very memorable and intriguing people. The story itself is fast-paced and has many twists and turns. I recommend Blood Country: A Nashville Sideman Mystery for those who enjoy mystery and suspense, particularly those who are also fans of country music as there is quite the focus on the Nashville music scene. I am sure we will see more Nashville Sideman mysteries from Dan Jewell in the future.”

DISCUSSION: Are you trying to obtain book reviews as part of your overall book promotion strategy?

Book Promotion

New Conference Alert: AFTA Book Exhibit

The American Family Therapy Academy (AFTA) is hosting a book exhibit at their conference this June, and if you have written a related book, you may be interested in attending.

They are interested in books with stories in the following categories (taken directly from their entry form):

  • Health
  • Economics
  • History
  • Recreation
  • Religious Life
  • Generations
  • Psychology
  • Therapy
  • Law
  • Relationships
  • Life Education
  • Demographics
  • Planning
  • Violence
  • Social Work
  • Sexuality
  • Bibliographies
  • Surveys/Studies
  • Kinship
  • Marriage
  • Multicultural Issues
  • Child Abuse/Neglect
  • International Families
  • Structure/Socialization
  • Clinical Assessment
  • Policy Making
  • Dependency Studies
  • Women’s Issues
  • Reference
  • Textbooks

The entry fee is $99 for 1 title and $25 for each extra title. They also have packages for multiple title entries.

You can download the entry form by visiting this link: http://bookexhibit.com/Announcements/2ndQtr11/AFTA.pdf.

Are there any other interesting conferences, etc. coming up that self-publishing authors should attend?