Tag: Amazon

Book Marketing, Book Promotion, Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Self-publishing Marketing Tools

Whether you’ve self-published several books or just now penning your first manuscript, elements of book marketing and sales techniques are no doubt on your radar. Quality self-publishing options provide them. It’s never too early, or late, to begin your research into relevant marketing tools and options like:

Amazon Search Inside
Book Video Trailers
Co-op Advertising in places as relevant in as the New York Times Book review.

How are you going to employ those? The possibilities in today’s marketplace are endless.


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Book Promotion, Choosing a Publisher, Networking, Self-Publishing, Viral Marketing

Self-publishing – know your market and have a plan.

The reason books sell has little to do with content quality. At least initially. Just like any other product on the retail market, books sell because readers know about them.

Some books have the advantage of author platform, or industry applicability, and can hit strong out of the gate. The more nebulous quality of fiction can result in a slower start, but a much longer shelf-life.

The point is this, know your market and leverage your resources to meet those potential readers. Outline a marketing plan with your self-publisher that takes advantage of internet marketing and retail resources like Amazon who has pre-qualified readers based on profiles and virtual book pairings.

Work smarter. Work harder. Become a successful self-published author.


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self-published

Choosing a Publisher

Self-Publishing – A Growing Industry

Did you know that over 40% of all book sales in the United States last year took place online, through e-retailers like Amazon.com and BarnesAndNoble.com? More and more people are becoming comfortable with (and even accustomed to) shopping online. What’s more, consumers are more likely to purchase lesser-known and self-published books, according to Inc. Magazine.

What does this mean for the self-published author? With the convenience of on demand-printing and full-service self-publishing options: Good things. Selling books online is more cost-effective than selling through a typical bookstore, and that means more money in your pocket. Again, make sure your publisher lets you set your own retail price, royalty, and discount to take maximum advantage of shifting consumer trends.

Just something to keep in mind as you write and investigate the publishing options best in-line with your goals.

Have fun and keep writing!

Karl Schroeder


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Book Marketing, Self-Publishing

Understanding the Amazon Marketplace and Self-published, POD titles

If you’ve looked your Amazon.com listing, or any title if you’re just now preparing for publishing or self-publishing your book, you may have noticed “new and used” editions of books available for sale through the what is called the Amazon “Marketplace.”

Think of the Amazon Marketplace like e-Bay; it allows vendors and bookstores the opportunity to list books for sale in a new or used condition. 99% of the on-demand books sold through Amazon Marketplace are brand new and actually, in most cases, have yet to even been purchased by a wholesaler. In fact, most haven’t even been printed yet.

Marketplace is an apt name for this portion of Amazon because these book sellers are using it to “market” their businesses. So if you see “54 New and Used” copies of a book available through Marketplace, that does mean 54 copies have sold and are now available as read-and-used. It simply means that savvy bookstores are trying to draw the buyers’ attention away from the main Amazon listing and to their listing.


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– Karl Schroeder

Choosing a Publisher, Self-Publishing

Tips on Annotation for the Self-Publishing Author

Last week we discussed the book marketing value of professional cover scribing. Annotation provides an avenue to use that externally to enhance that marketing online.

ANNOTATION is used by Ingram during the distribution process. When the book is listed on Amazon or Barnes & Noble’s website, it’s the annotation that fills the PRODUCT DESCRIPTION/OVERVIEW section.   The ANNOTATION is also restricted in length, although very often can be substantially longer than the Back Cover Copy.  Ideally, the ANNOTATION should be as long and as detailed as possible, perhaps requiring multiple headings to separate elements of the ANNOTATION.  The total character count, including spaces, should be as close to 4000 as possible without exceeding it.   It’s okay to include the author biography again in the ANNOTATION, provided a separate heading (Like “About the Author”) separates the content. Both Amazon and Barnes & Noble have the capability of understanding basic HTML formatting tags, so judicious use of several tags can help an ANNOTATION really stand out.  Two specific tags that should be used are the <b>BOLD</b> tags and the <em>italics</em> tags, both of which can help draw a reader’s attention to specific words and phrases within the ANNOTATION. Bullet point and numbered lists are good here, too.

Whew. Have fun. Keep writing.

– Karl Schroeder