Archive for the ‘Book marketing’ Category

Before you write even one word of your novel or nonfiction book, your first step should be to identify your target audience. Ask yourself, “Who will read my book?” (BTW, the answer is NOT “Anyone who can fog a mirror.”)

Marketing experts, literary agents and book editors all agree that the more specific you can be about your audience, the more likely that your work will be saleable. Guidelines for defining your readership include the answers to these basic questions:

What is their gender?
What is their age range?
What is their economic bracket?
What is their level of education?
Where do they live?
What do they want and need?
What do magazines/newspapers do they read?
What are their favorite TV shows and/or radio programs?
What Internet sites do they visit?
What social networking sites do they use?

Armed with this knowledge, you can target your writing by “talking” directly to your audience. For example, you would use different tone and words when writing to a senior audience than to teens; women rather than men; techno-savvy vs. computer newbies, etc. Highly targeted writing with idioms and phrases the audience wll recognize is far more effective than bland, “this has to appeal to everyone” writing.

In addition, knowing the habits and haunts of your readers enables you to find them and market your work! A previous post highlighted how one author googled three words that described his target audience, found and joined the discussion groups where his would-be readers chatted, and drove enough traffic to his website to secure a publishing contract for his novel. Other steps you might take include writing articles for the publications your audience reads, commenting on popular blogs about your topic or subject, speaking at professional associations or memberships groups where your readers are found, and so on.

A last, but not final, reason to know your readers is so you can position yourself and your work to provide new/different information, solution to a problem or entertaining material for their enjoyment. Writing that caters to the readers’ interests and needs is an almost sure winner in any market.

The publishing world is being turned upside down by innovative and empowered authors whose messages are just too timely and important to wait for those old traditional avenues to give them the nod of approval. Are you ready to join the ranks of the “I’m in charge” authors? If so, then you can learn something from authors who are taking their futures into their own hands.

Here are just two success stories.Faced with burgeoning businesses and a desire to position themselves as experts, these two women took charge of connecting with their audiences.

Feng Shui expert and artist Pat Heydlauff has been writing a weekly article for a Palm Beach newspaper for years and sending it out to her email list via her personal email program as well. When we began working together, I suggested she use an Internet-based email delivery program to manage her list as well as put the information in a more attractive and easier-to-read format. Pat was driving traffic to her site in a number of ways: speaking engagements, her column, articles in national publications and art classes, but wasn’t getting many new subscribers as a result. I also suggested she include a highly visible sign-up box on her home page and include a bonus report as incentive for subscribing. Her subscriptions skyrocketed. Just a week ago, Pat mailed out the premiere issue of Chaos Busters(TM), her biweekly ezine, in an attractive new html format with expanded content. In addition to an article, she now answers readers’ questions and also has an opportunity to showcase her artwork and upcoming new book, Feng Shui, So Easy Even a Child Can Do It (The Lotus Circle). You can learn a lot about Feng Shui and see how to package yourself effectively by visiting her website, Energy By Design.

Life coach and cancer survivor Paula Holland De Long took a folder full of notes about article and book ideas and decided to put them to work for her. When we started working together, Paula was long on great ideas and short on organization. After separating, categorizing and prioritizing her list of ideas for writing projects, giving seminars and leading support groups, Paula went to work on her list. In just eight short months, Paula has generated some amazing results. She has started a very successful program to help cancer survivors adjust when treatment ends, given at two major medical venues in South Florida as well as a teleconference action group for women. She recently had an article published in a national magazine and her monthly ezine newsletter, Thrive! debuted two months ago. Paula also uses a prominent subscription box on her home page with a bonus incentive for joining her mailing list. You can find great information for cancer patients and their families and observe how to present professional services and products at her website, Coach for Living Online.

Neither Pat nor Paula are graphic designers or technology experts, and they prefer to apply their time and skills to the best use in their professional work. They both use Constant Contact to manage their lists and deliver their newsletters. I use Aweber to deliver this newsletter. Aweber offers additional features that I wanted such as autoresponders and a “hover” subscription box. There are many other services available as well. The ones mentioned here are the ones I have used, so I feel comfortable recommending them.

One more tip about starting an ezine. If you have not published a regular newsletter before, start with a monthly issue. You may love it and want to increase frequency later on. However, a weekly issue is a big commitment. It’s always better to increase your frequency than to decrease from weekly to monthly distribution.

Most services offer a free trial period, so get started today!

Sometime back when you were in middle school or high school, some English teacher probably taught you about the concept of the main idea and how to use it to develop a paragraph and ultimately, an essay or composition. Like everything else in today’s fast-paced techno-society, the main idea has been abbreviated to single words or short phrases now known as “key words.”

Your attention to this detail may have begun when some techie told you that no one would find your website without good key words. SEO (search engine optimization) experts seemed to have developed a whole industry around the use of key words. While I’ve yet to master the concepts of SEO, I have found one great use for key words, thanks to Google.

Just like being able to identify the main idea or key phrases to bring your audience to your website, you can use these same words to bring your audience to your email box with Google Key Word Alerts. By setting up a free account and identifying a series of words or phrases, you can register to receive hourly, daily or weekly notification about articles or blog posts on the Internet that contain your key words. The “alerts” are delivered directly to your email box, for you to read at your leisure.

For example, my key words for the Alerts are book publishing, self-publishing, book marketing, my name, my book title, my publishing company’s authors’ names and book titles and my husband’s name and company. I receive my alerts daily (hourly was too intense and distracting and weekly was too overwhelming). I know when someone mentions our names or books/products in a blog, article or press release posted on the Internet. I’m also informed when someone writes about any of the topics I’ve identified.

Why would I want this information? In the case of the industry-related key words, it helps keep me current on trends and important events and relieves me of the task of having to scour dozens of publications for the information. If I’m following a story in the news, I receive timely updates.

By receiving alerts for name, book title and company as well as key words, I know when someone is talking or writing about people and/or subjects relevant to me. It gives me an opportunity to review the information, and in the case of blogs, comment if it is appropriate.

For example, I recently received an alert for Adair Cates‘ Live with Intention, a book published by my company, Visual Impressions Publishing. The alert linked to a discussion board called Live with Intention, and all the members were people seeking the kind of information that Cates covers in her book. I forwarded her the information so that she could join the discussion group and talk with her potential audience. (See previous post that mentioned how Jeff Rivera built his readership through discussion groups, and eventually landed a publishing contract?)

Blogs are heavily monitored by the search engines, and posts and comments to posts show up almost immediately. I have found my name turn up in a search for a key word simply because I made a comment on someone else’s blog post–so you don’t even have to have your own blog or website for this to work for you. Of course, it is better to have somewhere to link your name so you can take advantage of the traffic, but having just your name in print in the subject area helps to build your platform.

If you haven’t identified your key words yet, do it now. Then sign up for Google Key Word Alerts and try it out. The beauty of it is that besides being free, you can add and delete words and phrases at any time and the changes are effective immediately. You may have to experiment until you find the right combination of words, but it’s fun and illuminating. And so cool.

If you’re interested in making substantial and immediate headway into gaining exposure and what agents and publishers term a “platform,” then the Internet should be your weapon of choice.

Here are just two stories making headlines this week that illustrate the power of the Internet.

A recent commentary on Forbes.com by Sramana Mitra reported that Elle Newmark, 56, a former advertising professional who had gone through four different agents on four separate book projects, decided that she “didn’t have time for this anymore” and self-published her new book, a historical novel. Once the book came out, she “looked to the Internet to build a readership.” Newmark decided to throw a virtual book launch party and sent out 500,000 email invites to agents, editors and reviewers. (The article did not say how she did this without spamming, but that must be another story.) The result? Her book became an Amazon bestseller the day of the virtual book launch, and she secured a William Morris agent and a contract with Simon & Schuster within two weeks.

If you’re thinking that Newmark was an advertising exec who probably had a lot of insider friends and experience with Internet marketing, consider the story of Jeff Rivera, as told to Jim Kukral.com via a podcast on Kukral’s blog.

Rivera, with no writing or marketing experience, self-published his book and set his mind to building a readership via the Internet. He googled three words that described his target audience and discovered bulletin boards where his potential readers would talk to each other. He joined the discussion groups and with only an email signature, jpeg of his book cover and a link to his website, he was able to drive so much traffic to his site, he convinced an agent and publisher that he had a strong enough following (platform) to ensure a successful book.

A few years ago, I attended a Mystery Writers local chapter meeting and met MJ Rose, the first author to use the Internet to successfully market her self-published book and garner an agent and publisher. She used the same strategy, but she did it by chance. Shortly after she published her book, she adopted a puppy and was having difficulty housebreaking him. She joined an online group for new dog owners and used her name and book title in her email signature. One day, someone asked about it and the rest is history. Rose is considered the poster girl of Internet marketing. Check out her blog, too.

In her commentary for Forbes, Mitra observed, “The trend also tells me that in today’s world, aspiring authors stand a higher chance of success if they take more of their destiny in their own hands… Indeed, rules of engagement with agents and publishers are changing because of the power of print-on-demand and online marketing, and in that changing landscape, authors need to reinvent themselves as Internet entrepreneurs.”

But you read it here first.

Are you emailing your query letters to prospective agents and publishers? If so, I hope you are using the same etiquette you would use for snail mail. That means you begin your letter with Dear Ms. or Dear Mr. Agent. Then you write out your three or four paragraphs using proper spelling and grammar without any text or email shorthand (lol, 4 instead of for, u for you, etc.).The only real format difference is that instead of having your contact information in the letterhead, you can include this info under your signature.

Make sure you follow the submissions guidelines as far as attaching copy or including your writing sample in the body of the email. And don’t forget to check and double check the spelling of the agent’s or editor’s name.

My new ebook, Four Ps to Publishing Success, has a whole chapter dedicated to making yourself attractive to agents and editors. You’ll find guidelines on how to prepare a professional letter and eight tips for crafting an irresistible query. Check it out!