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Check Out More Episodes of Our Book Marketing Podcast

Important Considerations for Deciding to Write Under a Pen Name: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

How to Know if You Should Be On TikTok: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

Check out KM Weiland’s site, she’s an excellent resource

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Book Marketing and Publicity: Why Writers Conferences are Crucial to your Author Success

Tue, 28 Jun 2022 17:00:43 +0200

Reading Time: 5 minutes

I’m a big fan of author education, and there’s no better way to further your book marketing and publicity success than taking a class or two. But even better than that is a chance to immerse yourself in your industry via a writers conference!

With writers conferences finally returning to in person, now is a good time to start planning your next event. And though I loved that many of these events still happened virtually, there’s nothing like meeting other writers and industry professionals in person.

Sadly, many authors attend writers conferences for the wrong reasons. I often hear authors say, “I’m going to land an agent.” And while it does happen that an author finds an agent at a writers conference, it’s rare.

What Should You Expect?

Well, that really depends on the event. So first, I recommend you review all the classes offered before deciding to commit to something. Some conferences focus only on craft, while others are more heavily marketing-focused, so it depends on the event itself. Don’t get pulled in by some flashy headline if the speaker tracks and content aren’t appealing to you. I suggest finding at least four sessions that you feel are worthwhile before plunking down the money. You’ll probably want to take more classes, but four is a good start. That’ll give you enough time to network, maybe take in an agent meeting or two (if that’s something you want to do), as well as attend keynotes and luncheon speakers.

If you’re attending an event just to meet an agent (or two), make sure that there are agents attending the event who handle your genre. That can be a big disappointment if you base going to the event solely on finding an agent, only to discover that none of them work in your particular genre.

Types of Conferences

As I mentioned above, there are literally as many writers conferences as there are genres (well, almost). There are romance-specific events, mystery and thriller events, and even writers conferences geared to lawyers who write fiction. And you’d be surprised how many attorneys we’ve worked with over the years who write fiction!

So first and foremost, start digging through some events and maybe even consider attending events outside your genre. Let me explain.

I’ve spoken for Romance Writers of America multiple times, which always puts on a great conference. And though I write in non-fiction, I always find their classes helpful. I know a lot of authors who attend events outside of their genre, like fantasy authors who go to Thriller Fest and on and on. The point is, though the sessions will be very geared to the specific event genre, you could glean a lot from attending these events if the tracks seem appealing to you.

How to Find the Right Conference for You

You can start on Google, but magazines like The Writer always have a monthly listing of events (and it’s pretty extensive). Also, any local writer’s group may be linked to events that may also appeal to you.

What Are Your Book Marketing and Publicity Goals?

A big piece of deciding on what kind of events to go to will depend on your goals. If you’re looking to sell your manuscript to a publisher, you’ll want an event with many agent appointments. But if education is your interest, you’ll want to identify what you want to learn. Do you need to get more versed in social media? Are you interested in getting more influencers to review your book? Want to know more about how to work the Amazon algorithm? Knowing what you’d like to learn will help you decide which event to attend.

Hybrid vs. In-Person (and why you want to purchase conference recordings)

Some events still offer a blend of in-person and virtual, though not all – and some have gone all virtual for the foreseeable future. So if you can’t afford to take time off to attend, that’s definitely another option. Though it’s such a great investment to attend in person, so I highly recommend it whenever you can.

Most conferences record sessions, and I encourage authors to get a set of recordings. Why? You miss stuff, even when you attend sessions in person. Also, you may hear of sessions that you didn’t get to attend, so it’s always good to have recordings to listen to later!

Be Prepared!

Now that you’ve booked your writer’s conference, let’s get ready to make the most of it.

Join the conference Facebook group: This is a great way to start networking early and get to know some of the speakers, topics, and attendees.
Bring business cards: You don’t have to spend a lot of money creating these, but bring something professional looking that you can hand out.
Collect business cards: Also make sure that you note on the back where you met the person and briefly take down what you discussed.
Be prepared to talk about yourself: I know this is tricky for many authors. We live in our world, and networking is hard, but the better prepared you can be, the easier this will flow. Here are a few things you should be ready to talk about:
- What kinds of books do you write? Get very clear on your genre; not knowing what genre you write in is the #1 way to look like an amateur.
- Describe them in one succinct sentence.
- If you’re writing non-fiction, what are your qualifications?

Bring swag if you have it: Swag can be anything from bookmarks to character trading cards – swag is optional but if you have it, bring it.
Hit the bar: Some of the best conversations happen after the last session, so be sure and stop by the hotel bar and don’t be afraid to tee up a conversation or two while you’re there – just don’t, you know, partake too heavily. This is a work event, not a vacation.
Never sit alone: It’s easy to want to sit alone during lunch or dinner but don’t, and most events won’t let you anyway. You’ll be seated at a table of eight or ten, generally. Also, don’t sit with the same people all the time. Get to know as many other writers and speakers as you can.
Don’t hog a speaker’s time: This is from personal experience. As a speaker attending events, I can tell you that being courteous to others who want to chat with a speaker, whether after a session or during a meal, will be greatly appreciated by not just the speaker but other writers who want a chance to ask some questions.

Writers conferences come in all shapes and sizes, and they can be a fantastic way to learn about your craft, dig into more book marketing and publicity, and network with other authors in your same boat. It can be both inspiring and career-building if done right!

Have you attended a conference you loved? Tell us about it in the comments!

Here are a few I love:

San Francisco Writers Conference

IBPA’s Publishing University

Emerald City Writers Conference

Southern California Writers Conference

Romance Writers of America

The 805 Writers Conference

(there are literally hundreds more, so this is just a small smattering of ones I’ve spoken at and really enjoyed!)

Resources and Free Downloads

Check out our Podcast for more Book Marketing and Publicity tips!

Check out the Alliance of Independent Authors for news and resources

Promoting a New Book: 5 Book Marketing Strategies all Authors Need to Try

Ideas for Promoting a Book with Hybrid Author Events

The post Book Marketing and Publicity: Why Writers Conferences are Crucial to your Author Success appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Promoting a New Book: 5 Book Marketing Strategies all Authors Need to Try

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 17:00:17 +0200

Reading Time: 4 minutes

I love it when I find helpful book marketing ideas for authors – especially when it comes to promoting a new book – which often feels like an uphill climb!

The issue for many authors is that with each new book release, you feel a bit like you’re reinventing the wheel, which is another reason why I loved this piece. Let’s dig into some ideas about how to maximize readers and build on each book launch!

5 Book Marketing Strategies All Authors Need to Try

Create Exclusive Content for Readers Through a “Members Only” Page

I love this idea because readers love exclusive content. And by exclusive content, I mean early access to books, sneak peeks at upcoming titles, games, quizzes, you name it. But a “members only” page may be out of reach if this is your first book. I suggest starting with a mailing list, which I’ll discuss in a minute, and building your reader fans from there.

The idea is that you can still create an exclusive “group.” While I love the idea of the “members only” page, it’s a lot of website work to create this – but it’s absolutely a fun goal to strive for. So start with your newsletter and offer this exclusivity to readers who want to participate in your success. By that, I mean your street teams (I’ve written a lot about this, I’ll post some links below).

Building your street team early will save you a lot of time later on. You may only start with a few fans, and that’s fine! You can keep building from there.

Generate an Engaging Newsletter

Connecting with readers through a newsletter is always a great idea, but more than that, you want to push a blend of some personal and engaging content. One recommendation is a contest. A contest can be anything from a book raffle to a gift card or some cool swag.

And here’s a tip to get people reading to the end: tease the contest in your intro but have the contest winners listed at the bottom of the newsletter, so readers have to scroll through your content in order to see if they won. Allow winning readers five days to respond, and if they don’t, their prize is forfeited to the next prize drawing. A contest is a fun way to drive engagement, but so is great content – so don’t overthink this.

Start with a piece of personal news; maybe you got a new dog or had your first family vacation in two years. Share a photo if you’re comfortable with that. Readers love small personal details.

Share information on your next release or ask for reader input (which readers also love).

Newsletters don’t have to be hard, but I highly recommend starting one early – because it’s a great way to build your fan base, which will benefit you long-term.

Promoting a New book: Focus on Your Prior Books

if you have multiple books out, I absolutely love this idea. So often, authors forget to use older books in their promotion or to create rotations of promotions with previous titles. The author of this piece suggested Bookbub Featured deals- which I love but are hard to get. So you absolutely want to try for one of those, but consider more options like Bookbub Advertising, Goodreads promotions, eBook promotions, or an Amazon countdown deal. Find three to five strategies you can easily implement, and then rotate all of your backlist titles in and out of these strategies!

Give Away Excerpts

I love this idea, it really helps to whet the appetite of your reader! However, if you’re giving away excerpts, you’ll want to get something in return, like their email. So create a landing page on your website, and if that’s too complex – get a landing page through Leadspages. It isn’t free, but Leadpages is a great resource when you need to create a landing page for a new book release, book experts, or other promotions and you don’t have to worry about adding new pages to your website.

Build Personal Connections

Goodreads did a study several years ago and found that the #1 thing readers want to do at the end of the book is to connect with the author, so whenever you can, build reader connections. You can do this through your newsletter, social media, or even at events. Creating personal connections should be one of your highest priorities – as is finding ways to foster these personal connections. If you have a Facebook account or Instagram account, don’t post and ditch. Always respond to a comment or feedback you get, even if it’s just to say ‘thank you” – readers appreciate this, and it’s a great way to foster a lot of reader goodwill.

Releasing a new book doesn’t have to feel arduous. In fact, your book marketing should get easier with each new book. With a bit of planning and some attention paid to your readers, promoting a new book doesn’t have to feel like you’re starting from scratch each time.

I’d love to know what you do to promote a new book in the comments!

If you want to read the original article you can find it here.

Resources and Free Downloads

Check out our Podcast for more tips on promoting a new book

Check out Jane Friedman’s site, she’s an excellent resource

Infographic: Street Teams vs. Superfans and Boosting Your Book Publicity

How to Market Your Book: 9 Tips You Need to Know For Your First Book

How to Turn Readers into Superfans: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

The post Promoting a New Book: 5 Book Marketing Strategies all Authors Need to Try appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Infographic: The Top 5 Social Media Strategies for Author Marketing

Tue, 21 Jun 2022 17:00:00 +0200

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Promoting a book on social media is a great strategy for author marketing. You have nearly your entire readership in the palm of your hands, and you can perfectly curate the message you want them to see.

Because of this, social media can be a quick fix for any book marketing plan, no matter the size of your online presence — if you know how to use it. It’s free, and it can reach readers far and wide. However, you may find yourself wasting valuable time if you don’t know where to start.

When promoting your book on social media, the most important thing you must remember is why people use it. People use social media to connect. Most of the time, people are not looking to spend money, but that doesn’t mean promoting a book won’t serve your larger author marketing goals!

You just have the right mindset and work with buyer behavior instead of against it.

Here are my top 5 social media strategies for author marketing:

Using social media for your author marketing is a great way to reach your readers. Make sure you are putting in the effort where it counts, and avoid wasting time with platforms that don’t meet your reader demographic.

Let me know down in the comment sections which of these 5 tips surprised you the most, or which you will be implementing into your author marketing plan.

As always, I’m here to help. Consider signing up for personalized coaching— I’d love to brainstorm with you!

Resources and Free Downloads

Free Monthly Book Marketing Planner

Free Quarterly Amazon Planner

Check out our Book Marketing Tips & Author Success Podcast

Infographic: Street Teams vs. Superfans and Boosting Your Book Publicity

Infographic: Reader Centric July Observances to Bolster Your Author Branding

Ideas for Promoting a Book with Hybrid Author Events

The post Infographic: The Top 5 Social Media Strategies for Author Marketing appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Important Considerations for Deciding to Write Under a Pen Name: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

Thu, 16 Jun 2022 17:00:09 +0200

Reading Time: 2 minutes

We decided to do a book marketing podcast episode on author pen names because they can be a lot of fun. Pen names gives authors an opportunity to get creative! However, choosing a pen name is not a decision you should make lightly because everything you put out there is your brand. I really don’t recommend you “try on a pen name to see if it works” with the idea that you can just turn it on and off. It’s definitely not that simple.

Define “Why” You Need A Pen Name

Authors use pen names for different reasons. Suppose you’re doing it because you really need to protect your identity. In that case, your considerations will be different than if you’re doing it because you want to create an alternative persona for branding reasons. The level of secrecy will also affect your marketing to some degree; if anything, it will help shape the execution.

Do A Search Before You Commit

Assuming you have a pen name in mind, or you’ve landed on an idea or two, please, please do a Google search. It sounds like a no-brainer, but there are very few unique names anymore. And if you’ve had one in mind for years, this could be disappointing – so be prepared. Similar to not falling in love with the first draft of your cover – you have to be somewhat flexible in this industry and not let minor bumps in the road derail you. But seriously, if you’re going to start a brand around a pen name, you want a clean slate and a clear path to your books.

Check all the major social media sites, including Goodreads, because we’ve had authors who haven’t done their due diligence and accidentally picked an author name for someone who already existed!

Think Ahead

The entire point of this book marketing podcast episode was to encourage those of you considering a pen name to think about your entire platform – including your website. That’s another potentially tricky road to navigate if you don’t think things through. Maybe you’ll want to branch out and not use your pen name for other titles at some point. It could happen! And it’s not typically easy to have multiple genres, let alone multiple published author’s names, all under a single website or brand.

So if you use a pen name but might not use it for everything, you’re pretty much taking on the responsibility of managing two separate brands and platforms. At least be prepared for that to be your reality!

I hope this book marketing podcast episode was helpful. We love the creativity that a pen name can afford authors, but it definitely comes with next-level branding and planning – so just be willing to put in the early work to ensure it supports your goals along the way!

Do you have any suggestions for a future book marketing podcast episode? I would love to hear from you down in the comment section!

Resources and Free Downloads

Infographic: Street Teams vs. Superfans and Boosting Your Book Publicity

Check out the IBPA for publishing industry news

The post Important Considerations for Deciding to Write Under a Pen Name: Book Marketing Podcast Episode appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Ideas for Promoting a Book with Hybrid Author Events

Tue, 14 Jun 2022 17:00:28 +0200

Reading Time: 4 minutes

I’ve always loved doing events, and when it comes to ideas for promoting a book, there’s really nothing better than doing in-person author events. But 2020 changed how events are managed, and even with lots of events still coming back online, many conferences and book-centric events are transitioning to the hybrid format.

One thing I’ve heard repeatedly from speakers was that it’s often hard to monetize an online event, and hybrid events are no different. In this blog post, we’re going to look at how to get more events but also how to monetize them.

Understanding Hybrid Author Events

So, what is a hybrid author event? Well, it’s an event that combines both in-person and virtual elements. Your event pulls in an in-person crowd and is broadcasted over Zoom or some other video conferencing format. This means that you’re presenting to both a live and online audience. This can feel a bit tricky the first time you do it – but after one of these sessions, you’ll quickly get the hang of this way of presenting your talk or teaching.

I strongly feel many conferences, bookstore events, and other speaking opportunities will morph into hybrid if they haven’t already done so.

Author Event Types Come in All Forms

Over the 21 years I’ve been in business, I’ve done a lot of different types of events and booked many for the authors we work with. Book signings are just one of the many types of events that an author can do. But if you opt to do a book signing, make sure you’re doing a book talk too! Because let’s face it, sitting at a table all afternoon isn’t a great use of your time, and a book talk and signing combined is much more interesting both for the attendees and the readers.

You may be called to speak at a conference or teach a workshop at a bookstore regardless – speaking can be a great opportunity to present your book to an even wider audience.

Ideas for Promoting a Book: Securing Your Author Event

The first step in securing an event is really deciding the type of event you want. Do you want just to do a talk and sign books? Great, you’ll probably want to get to know your local bookstores and speak with their events manager.

If you’re looking for some next-level author events, you’ll want to consider conferences related to your topic or even trade shows with speaking opportunities.

If you want to get really creative, you might even want to do in-store events. I’ve done events in Hallmark, at big electronics stores, and even (and now I’m going to date myself) at Blockbuster video.

If you go for something like a Hallmark, or specialty store, you’re probably looking at just doing a signing, which is fine for those venues. But anything outside of a specialty store, you absolutely want to push for an author talk.

A Few Tips for Hybrid Author Events

Before diving into the idea of doing events, there are a few things to remember.

First, make sure you have a good tech support person at the venue or (if need be) bring someone with you. This is because you want this event to be seamless for those attending online as it is for the in-person attendees. Can they see you? Where is the camera? Are you using your computer’s camera, or is there a separate one?

Most venues migrating into hybrid events will have a separate camera connected to Zoom. This is because your laptop camera often isn’t sufficient to capture all of the elements of your talk, especially if you’re not standing directly in front of your computer.

Dive into this event by first focusing on the digital experience, creating something highly visual, so the online group doesn’t feel left out. Make sure that you know how to toggle between the faces you see in the boxes and the chat box, so you can see if folks have popped in questions. Some venues may do this for you, but some won’t be able to spare the extra staff, so make sure you’re super comfortable on Zoom.

Create some kind of a bonus that both online and in-person folks can benefit from. One thing I did for a recent event was an offer to mail swag to those attending online. The conference loved this and even paid for the postage to do so. If you have swag, especially, don’t leave the online folks out in the cold. And keep in mind that if you’re eager to monetize the event (and aren’t we all!), swag can be another great way to do that.

Monetizing Author Events

This is where things start to get interesting because many authors who did virtual-only events in 2020 showed up, gave their workshop, or talked and walked away, often pretty disappointed. Did they sell a book? Well, maybe, but frankly, it was hard to tell.

After doing a bunch of online events, here is what I learned: you need a special offer, some way to get folks to sign up for your list so that you can market to them again. At its most basic, I offer to send a copy of my slides to all attendees, even those who attend online. I did a simple Google form to capture email addresses, and poof! Now I have a mailing list, and the attendees get the slides; everyone is happy.

For a recent hybrid event I did, I created a special book deal – so two books for $15, and for the online folks, I added $5 for shipping. I was amazed at how many books I sold. Don’t be afraid of creating these kinds of deals, even if it means personally mailing copies of your books out.

If you only feel like you can offer swag, then do that – or even just your slide deck, whatever it is, don’t leave a single event without collecting email addresses. Not to spam, but to send a follow-up email with more information about you, your books, and perhaps a special thank you offer for attending your event. You’ll be surprised at how much this can help to drive sales.

Events are great, but if your talk is part of a conference, you’ll especially want to make sure that you create an offer because attendees are probably bouncing from speaker to speaker, and at the end of the event, you’ll want to make sure they remember you.

Whether virtual, in-person, or hybrid, author events, talks, workshops, or lectures are all great ideas for promoting a book.

Get creative and good luck!

Resources and Free Downloads

How to Market Your Book Without Social Media

How to Market Your Book: 9 Tips You Need to Know For Your First Book

Check out our Podcast for more Ideas for Promoting a Book

Book Lover Reviewer Program

Check out KM Weiland’s site, she’s an excellent resource

The post Ideas for Promoting a Book with Hybrid Author Events appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Infographic: Street Teams vs. Superfans and Boosting Your Book Publicity

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 17:00:53 +0200

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Personal recommendations are the biggest sales generator — not just for books but most things. Think about the last time you heard a friend tell you that something was an excellent product, or a book or kitchen widget. You probably went onto Amazon or wherever you shop online and looked. I’d even be willing to bet that you purchased it, too. A personal recommendation is the best and most powerful book publicity strategy you can have.

Superfans and street teams are created with this strategy in mind! By creating a team of loyal readers, you increase the chance of your book being a personal recommendation.

I’ve talked a lot about both superfans and street teams and the major differences between the two groups. In short, superfans love everything you do. They have probably reviewed all of your books, and they love your characters. Or if you’ve written non-fiction, they follow all of your advice!

Street teams take this to a new level. They will not only engage with you, but they’ll also help you with your book marketing. You must carefully cull this list, and not every superfan will wind up on your final street team list. That’s okay because it’s not a bad idea to have both when it comes to book marketing.

Here is an infographic outlining how to tell the difference between the two types of fans to figure out what jobs to give which readers to boost your book publicity!

I’d love to hear your ideas down in the comment section! How will you be using Street Teams and Super fans to boost your book publicity?

Resources and Free Downloads

Check out our Podcast for More Book Publicity Tips!

Check out the Alliance of Independent Authors for news and resources

Why Every Self-Published Author Should Hire A Marketing Company

QUIZ: How to Turn Browsers into Buyers while Boosting Book Publicity

The post Infographic: Street Teams vs. Superfans and Boosting Your Book Publicity appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Carol Michel Discusses How to Market Your Book Without Social Media

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 17:00:54 +0200

Reading Time: 6 minutes

I absolutely wanted to share this article on how to market your book without social media because first off, I think it’s very brave. But also, it’s a dilemma we all face. We have a finite amount of time to do all the things and social media sucks up a lot of those “things” as we know. Even more startling was how long a post actually “lives” on social media (you’ll see what I mean farther down the page in this article).

I think leaning less on social media for exposure is really smart and I hope you enjoy this article! And even if the idea of scrubbing social media entirely from your list of to-do’s is scary (or even impossible), there’s still a lot of things in this article you could easily implement into your book promotion plan!

How to Market Your Book Without Social Media

By: Carol Michel

Today’s post is by Carol Michel, an award-winning author of five humorous gardening essay books and one children’s book.

I gave up social media in July 2020.

I did what the computer scientist/author Cal Newport calls a 30-day digital detox. I signed out of Facebook (2,200 followers on my business page, 750+ friends), Instagram (1,100 followers) and Twitter (7,000+ followers). I removed the apps from my phone and other digital devices and stopped using them for 30 days.

Those accounts don’t have great numbers, but they aren’t trivial either. Some people thought I was crazy for doing it. Other people were envious and wanted to do it too. Another friend told me she would love to do a digital detox but thought her publisher would freak out since she was just getting ready to promote her new traditionally published book.

Fortunately, since I self-publish my books, no publisher was leaning over my shoulder telling me to get back on social media before I lost my followers.

Instead, after 30 days, I decided I liked my new digital-light world. My next brilliant marketing move was to winnow my Facebook friends down to a manageable 75 people, mostly relatives, and continue to ignore it and Instagram. Then I deleted my Twitter account.

It’s been over a year now, and I have no regrets about junking the big three—Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram—though I keep my accounts on Facebook and Instagram for occasional visits. I also kept LinkedIn, which technically falls under the umbrella of social media. (I never used TikTok and I have a Pinterest account I ignore.)

Social media has a shelf life

Recently I ran across some information about the shelf life of a social media post that has given me the courage to keep moving forward without social media, even though I now have a new book to publicize. Most sources credit an IT services company, Mamsys, for these stats. In ascending order, the shelf lives are:

Twitter – 18 minutes
Facebook – 5 hours
Instagram – 21 hours
LinkedIn – 24 hours
Videos – 3 months
Blog post – 2 years

How I’m promoting my book without social media

We all know that my smug feelings about being one of those people who broke their ties with social media (I refuse to say I was addicted) won’t get the word out about my books. But there are still many avenues on and off the Internet to help drive book sales. Here’s my first dozen.

An author website. My books are featured on the main page of my author website. I’m searchable on the web and try to have everything anyone needs to know about me and my books on my website
A blog. I’ve had a blog since 2006, if you don’t count those three posts I attempted in 2004 and 2005. That blog, which I started on Blogger, now lives on my author website under WordPress. I try to update it at least once a week. I also set up MailChimp to send an email to those who subscribe to my blog.
An email newsletter. Once I gave up social media, I found I finally had the time to write and publish monthly newsletters. I always include something about my books, plus other tidbits about gardening and life. My subscriber base is currently around 375 with a few new subscribers added each month.
Guest posts. If you don’t have a blog, are just starting a blog, or want to see if you can reach an audience beyond your blog, offer to write guest posts for others. People all over the Internet are looking for good content to share with their readers. Ask them to include a link back to your website.
A weekly podcast. I record and publish a weekly podcast with another garden writer. It brings in readers and book buyers who might not otherwise find me. What’s the shelf-life of a podcast episode? I’d guess around one week or longer. We get most of our listeners the first week after publishing the episode, and then the number of listeners per week for that episode tapers down quite a bit.
A YouTube channel. From personal experience, I can tell you that you can waste as much time on YouTube as you can on any social media platform. I have a small (micro) channel with per video views measured in double-digits. Why bother? Shrug. I enjoy making the videos. A video might reach another dozen people.
Professional organizations. Most writing genres have a professional group you can join which puts you in contact with like-minded writers. I belong to Garden Communicators International (GardenComm) which puts me in contact with hundreds of other writers and garden communicators who are looking for gardening related books to review on their own platforms, which include newspaper columns, magazines, radio shows, podcasts, etc. And when they publish something about my book, they are likely to promote it via their social media channels. I also belong to a local writing group which helps me keep track of local opportunities for promoting my books.
Guest appearance on a podcast or radio show. Many podcasters rely on guests for content, and radio shows usually like to feature guests on their programs. Everyone is looking for someone interesting to feature. Be interesting. Ask to be a guest and tell them what great information you have to share.
Review copies of my books. I freely send out review copies of my books to anyone who might have an opportunity to tell someone else about it. I just published a new book this month and have already sent out close to 80 copies, many to people I know through the professional organization, GardenComm. Right along with review copies I occasionally offer to provide copies as giveaway prizes on radio shows and podcast episodes when I’m a guest.
Speaking. I sell copies of my books when I speak to groups about gardening. I include information on my author website about how to hire me to speak to a group, plus I am registered on a site called Great Garden Speakers where I’m found by people who otherwise might not know anything about me.
A LinkedIn presence. I remain on LinkedIn and try to keep my professional information up to date. I’ll occasionally post information about my books or other achievements related to my writing.
Local bookstores. I shop at a local bookstore and the owner is more than willing to purchase copies of my books via IngramSpark to sell in her shop. (I use IngramSpark as my book distributor instead of Amazon.) Another bookstore a bit further away takes a few books on consignment and has hosted me for a book signing, which they promoted. And don’t forget author fairs sponsored by libraries, historical societies, and others where you can set up a table and sell your books.

By now, you may have decided it would be easier to just keep posting and tweeting to get the word out about your next project rather than follow some of the suggestions I’ve listed above.

Or you may be doing many of the items I suggested, plus exhausting yourself by regularly posting and interacting on social media channels.

Regardless of what else you are doing to market your books, ask yourself if that time spent on social media is really getting the word out about those books.

Or would it be better to spend that time on activities that might have a longer shelf life? Only you, with your own stats and observations, can decide if it is.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article and discovered new ideas for how to market your book! Let me know down in the comment section which tips you plan on implementing into your own book marketing plan.

Resources and Free Downloads

Check out more helpful articles from Jane Friedman’s website. She’s an excellent resource!

Check out our Podcast for more tips on How to Market Your Book

Infographic: Reader Centric July Observances to Bolster Your Author Branding

How to Market Your Book: 9 Tips You Need to Know For Your First Book

How to Market Your Book Without Losing Your Mind

The post Carol Michel Discusses How to Market Your Book Without Social Media appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Infographic: Reader Centric July Observances to Bolster Your Author Branding

Sat, 04 Jun 2022 00:00:48 +0200

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I thought I would give you a head start on some July Observances that feature reader and book-centric themes to support your author branding and content ideas!

You can use these holidays as inspiration for your newsletter, blog, or social media posts.

As always, your posts should encourage your fans and followers to respond, chime in, share their feedback, insight, stories, etc. Don’t forget to work that angle: let them know you want to hear from them!

Also, remember: Your goal is to encourage engagement – never post flat content; be creative with how you pull others into the conversation and offer ways for them to engage easily.

You can do polls, giveaways, fan art contests, or anything else! This is an opportunity to get creative. Just remember to make it about your readers – not about you – and you’re guaranteed to see better engagement.

If you need additional support on translating these author branding and content ideas into actual posts, consider signing up for email coaching with me, and we’ll get personal! I’ll link the sign-up down below.

And don’t forget to grab our Monthly Book Marketing Planner from the Free Resources and Downloads section at the end of this post. Planning ahead is essential to your success!

Remember, being an author demands creativity, and it also demands authenticity when developing a marketing plan.

I hope this reminder is a good head start for July! Let me know down in the comments how you plan to use these holidays for your content and author branding.

Resources and Free Downloads

Check out Jane Friedman’s site, she’s an excellent resource

How to Know if You Should Be On TikTok: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

6 Strategic Benefits to Self-Publishing an eBook

The post Infographic: Reader Centric July Observances to Bolster Your Author Branding appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

How to Know if You Should Be On TikTok: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 17:00:07 +0200

Reading Time: 2 minutes

We thought it was time that we did a book marketing podcast episode on TikTok because while we realize it’s not a new-new platform per se, as social media sites go it’s relatively young, and it’s gotten such great buzz. Especially with the #BookTok hashtag building so much interest for books- which we always love!

How TikTok Impacted The Book Industry

What really got me really interested in the #BookTok hashtag was when I started seeing specific #BookTok tables at major book retailers like Barnes & Noble. And what was happening (or what IS happening) was these retailers were curating content from TikTok via the #BookTok hashtag, which helped to drive author interest to the platform.

Essentially, retailers and other platforms with a big reach are excited about tapping into TikTok because they feel it’s a great way to stay on top of trends in certain demographics – instead of only relying on costly market research.

Should I Be On TikTok?

We say it all the time, everything you put out there is your brand. You don’t want to promote something you’re not proud of. And you don’t have to be everywhere, just everywhere that matters. So while TikTok has carved out a unique niche for itself, you have to understand that like every other social platform, you will be judged based on your content – so you want to be really smart about how you plan to use and more importantly, you need to do your research to ensure that’s really where your people are hanging out, otherwise you can funnel a lot of time into something that won’t give you a realistic return for your efforts.

If you feel your demographic warrants exploring your options on TikTok, you definitely want to start by using the platform the way your readers would. So find hashtags that are relevant to your genre or topic, and start following accounts that are performing really well for those hashtags. Get to know the kind of content that’s working. This is your market research and your TikTok education in action.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this episode of our book marketing podcast and gained some insight into all things TikTok! Make sure to follow me @Iamtherealbookgal! I will be trying my hand at some of these recommendations as well!

New episodes of our book marketing podcast go live every other Friday! You can stream full episodes from our website or wherever you listen to podcasts. Plus, you’ll want to follow us on your preferred podcast platform to catch our helpful- and often hilarious- minisodes!

Resources and Free Downloads

6 Strategic Benefits to Self-Publishing an eBook

The Real Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing a Book: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

Check Out More Episodes of Our Book Marketing Podcast!

The post How to Know if You Should Be On TikTok: Book Marketing Podcast Episode appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

6 Strategic Benefits to Self-Publishing an eBook

Tue, 31 May 2022 17:00:30 +0200

Reading Time: 4 minutes

We get a lot of authors that come to us looking for help with a new release, that don’t realize how strategic self-publishing an eBook can be.

And this happens for two primary reasons:

The author is using a publishing service and just assumes they need to use them for every edition of their book. Or likes the convenience factor, which is fair!
The author wants to test the market with their print book first and just doesn’t have a set date for their eBook.

Now, if you fall into the first category just know you can absolutely use a publishing service to help you get your print book out there, secure distribution, make your title more accessible to libraries; the list goes on for print benefits. But these services typically don’t insist you use them for all editions.

So a perfect balance is using a service for your print book, and then self-publishing an eBook through Amazon directly.

If you fall into the second category everything I’m going to cover automatically applies, so let’s get to the good stuff!

Self-publishing an eBook broadens your reader market

For the most part, people have preferences about how they consume books, whether it’s via Kindle, in print, or even audio. Typically, these preferences don’t change much, so by limiting the editions you put out there you’re limiting your buyer market. What I’m saying is, you’re not going to force a Kindle reader into buying your print book for twice the cost. That’s not a bet you want to make and leads me to the next benefit.

Self-publishing an eBook gives you a product at a lower price point

Closely connected to the above tip, it’s good to have a range of price points for your book. Because yes, while you may not convince someone to spend more than they usually do on a book – you might get some additional sales by having something in the “sweet spot” — which is $3.99. Yes, the largest volume of eBooks is sold on Amazon at the $3.99 price point, so that’s a lucrative spot to position yourself.

Self-publishing an eBook allows you to do limited time discounts

We talk about this a lot, it’s a common recommendation and I stand by it. Limited time price discounts are easy to do with an eBook and it’s a fabulous way to secure some “I’ll give it a shot” purchases, and honestly, none of us are too good for those sales. Because if you wrote a good book, a lot of those “I’ll give it a shot” sales will turn into return sales for your next release if you’re committed to your brand.

Self-publishing an eBook gives you more extensive category options

If you didn’t know this already, the print book retail categories are pretty broad compared to the Kindle options. Kindle gets into sub-genres and niches much more effectively, which gives you additional opportunities to hit an online bestseller list. And the reason this applies to self-publishing, is because not all publishing services make it easy for you to change your categories on a whim. Some don’t let you change them at all once they’re set – but if you self-publish your eBook, you will have your own Amazon publishing account that gives you full access to all the marketing opportunities you and your book deserve (and need!).

Self-publishing an eBook allows you to make updates to your Amazon retail page

The reality is, we rarely hit it out of the park the first time. And that’s okay! This applies to covers, book descriptions, author bios, all of it. I tweak my descriptions throughout the year, I definitely update my bios regularly to keep them current, and I’ve seen numerous clients really revive their book’s success by doing a cover update. But similar to my point above, it’s a lot harder to get these changes made, and sometimes entirely off the table, if you don’t have direct access to your book on Amazon and instead have to rely on a publisher or publishing service to follow through with these requests on your behalf.

Self-publishing an eBook makes special promotions easier and less expensive

I can tell you from personal experience that not all publishers are comfortable with their authors distributing free digital copies at their discretion, and this can limit options for special promotions and BOGOs (buy one get one or buy one give one)- it’s also much less expensive! And while I love the impression a print book with a hand-written note can make, if you’re doing a lot of marketing and promotion it can be hard to keep up with all those mailings. So being able to distribute eBooks to reviewers, as part of social media promotions, and the list goes on, is something that’s extremely nice to have in your arsenal.

At the end of the day there’s a lot to consider if you really want to give your book and your author brand a shot at success in an industry that’s producing 4500 books every single day.

So I won’t ever tell you there’s one right way to do anything in publishing other than educating yourself, and making strategic decisions that take both your current, and future needs into consideration. Sometimes those decisions mean there’s more effort for you at the start, but it can mean a much stronger return in the future!

Resources and Free Downloads

Check out the IBPA for publishing industry news

Why Every Self-Published Author Should Hire A Marketing Company

The Real Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing a Book: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

The post 6 Strategic Benefits to Self-Publishing an eBook appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Why Every Self-Published Author Should Hire A Marketing Company

Thu, 26 May 2022 17:00:51 +0200

Reading Time: 2 minutes

As a self-published author it’s easy to get overwhelmed with all the things, especially the marketing.

And I get it, I’m a self-published author too, so I totally understand the desire to want to focus more on the writing. And that’s why when I need to shift over to doing my own promotion, I don’t actually do it on my own.

I want to be clear it’s not because I have a team at the ready (yes, it’s a great bonus), but the real reason I don’t do all my own book marketing and promotion is because it’s way too easy to get too close to your own work. Especially as a self-published author!

Here are some major benefits to working with a book marketing company and why leveraging the help of a team can really improve your chances at success:

You get some much-needed outside perspective on your unique selling points.
A good marketing team pushes you to be better, they don’t just smile and nod.
You should gain some strategic tips and recommendations for your long-term plan.
You’ll likely save money, with a better potential return in the long-run.

If you’re wondering about #4 let me explain: it can be dangerous as a self-published author to do things on your own, or by going the “cheaper route” if it’s not done correctly.

Amazon ads are a perfect example. More and more companies are going to be offering these services (or variations of a DIY version) now that Amazon has made access easier – but that doesn’t mean they’ll be done correctly – and you may end up blowing through a lot of ad spend while not actually gaining any traction or improving your Amazon Relevancy Score.

Resources and Free Downloads

Let’s talk about you! Sign up for personalized coaching.

Check out KM Weiland’s site, she’s an excellent resource

Why Self-Publishing Your Book is Lucrative if You’re Planning a Series

Before Self-Publishing A Book Make Sure to Answer These 5 Crucial Questions

The post Why Every Self-Published Author Should Hire A Marketing Company appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

How to Market Your Book: 9 Tips You Need to Know For Your First Book

Tue, 24 May 2022 17:00:26 +0200

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Experts often say that book marketing gets easier the longer you do it – and this isn’t necessarily an untrue statement. But what if you’re just starting out? “How to Market Your First Book” was a post I found a while back and loved – it really hit all the high notes. But even the best posts about how to market your book often leave something out (I’ve been guilty of that myself) and with the ever-changing world of book publicity, things move quickly. So let’s dig into this topic and see what’s still relevant, what’s changed, and what you may want to do less of.

1. Creating Your Brand

This is the author’s first call to action in how to market a book, and I agree – absolutely. In fact I’ve written a bunch of posts on the importance of author brands. Starting there is smart, but your brand may evolve as your career evolves and, as you start to finalize book covers, etc. So my word of caution is that yes, absolutely figure out who you are but also know that this may evolve. The easiest way to determine your brand is asking yourself: what is your promise to your reader? Because regardless of what your book covers look like, this statement likely won’t change.

2. Create a Website

Absolutely this is important, and much like your brand this will evolve. I know my website certainly did! Though if you’re just starting out, building a website from scratch may seem daunting. Hiring the right website designer will greatly help you through this process.

If it’s not in your budget to hire someone before you sell a single book, there are a lot of great freebie website systems available now. But a word of caution: own your own domain so that later, when you have the money to do so, you can move the website with ease. Owning your own domain is important and, ideally, should reflect your branding. For example, if you’re a fiction author, you may get the URL: ChristinaGeorgeAuthor.com – or you could do JackSmithMysteries.com – if your book is non-fiction, consider branding your URL to your business or the key benefit your book will give the reader. For example: Speakandmakemillions.com is a big benefit statement if that aligns with what you’re doing. Or, poweryoga.com – you get the idea!

3. Create an Email List

Another solid plan, though I will say that I know it often feels counterintuitive to create an email list when no one knows about you. At first you’ll feel like the only people on your list is your Mother and maybe a few friends. Ideally that’ll change at some point and you want to be ready when it does!

One of the biggest reasons why I like email lists is because you own that list. Unlike followers on Facebook or Instagram, you can reach out to them anytime without having to worry if they see the post, scroll past it, or it gets lost in a reader’s busy social media feed.

4. Choose the Right Audience for Marketing

Personally, I would have moved this up to the #1 spot for how to market a book. Why? Because you can’t really decide on your brand without knowing your market; and I don’t mean your market “in general,” I mean your very specific market. Because 99.9% of readers won’t read anything that’s too general. I mean consider the last book you purchased. You likely got it because of a specific reason, or a specific sub-genre. Generalities will sink your marketing efforts, though it often feels like the broader you can go, the better served your campaign will be. This is never true. Trust me!

5. Reach out to Book Reviewers

Absolutely true! What the author leaves out are influencers – such as Bookstagrammers, TikTok influencers, and Booktubers. To be fair, some of these terms are fairly new to the marketplace, but the idea remains the same: go to where your readers are. Find your tribe, as it were. Sometimes they’re on Instagram, other times they might be on Facebook – or they could be really popular bloggers.

The term “book reviewers” is often a catch-all – so yes getting reader reviews is important and getting lots and lots of book reviewers is every author’s dream, but it’s not always possible. Influencers, so social media people who have large followings is a great way to get the word out there about your book. It’s not always going to net you an Amazon review, per se, but getting a nice mention or review on a blog, social media profile, or a Booktuber reviewing your book on YouTube is a great way to add to your visibility and sales momentum.

6. Choose the Right Book Cover

This goes without saying, though I probably would have bumped this up higher. Meaning, you really want to start on your book cover early. Why? Because it takes a lot of time! Going back and forth with the designer, finding other/similar covers you like is also important because going in with some “idea” of what you want will also greatly help the process along.

7. Offer your Book for Free on Amazon

This is one that I’m personally not a fan of. I think our days of free books have long since passed. I would, however, suggest doing a price discount for a day, or two on your eBook to help boost some exposure when first marketing your book.

8. Use Amazon Ads to Boost Your Sales

I love this, too – and for those of you who follow our blog and podcast you know that I’m a huge fan of Amazon ads, if they’re done correctly!

9. Use Facebook Marketing to Build Awareness

For my part, I would rather see this final bullet read: Use Social Media Marketing. Because not all of your readers may be on Facebook. When it comes to social media, in particular, you really want to go to where your readers are. Sometimes they’re on Twitter, for other authors Instagram might be a great hub. But keep in mind that social media raises awareness, which helps with book sales yes, but does social media sell books? Not always.

By the same token, most Facebook ads don’t sell books either. Why? Well it’s not because the ad platform is bad, but because the ads aren’t used in the right away. Meaning you’re just running an ad for the sake of running an ad. Instead, consider pushing readers to a special time sensitive discount promotion!

I loved this piece and I hope you enjoyed my take on these 9 tips on how to market your book!

If you want to read the original article on how to market a book, you can find it here.

I’d love to know what else has worked for you, please share them in the comments below!

Resources and Free Downloads

Amazon Cheatsheet

Master Amazon & Sell More Books Video Series

Check Out Our Podcast for more tips on How To Market a Book!

The Real Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing a Book: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

Why Self-Publishing Your Book is Lucrative if You’re Planning a Series

Check out the Alliance of Independent Authors for news and resources

The post How to Market Your Book: 9 Tips You Need to Know For Your First Book appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

The Real Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing a Book: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

Thu, 19 May 2022 17:00:20 +0200

Reading Time: 3 minutes

We wanted to do this episode of our book marketing podcast because, as a marketing company, we’re on the front lines in terms of wanting to help authors take advantage of every promotional and branding opportunity that makes sense for their books.

We don’t have a horse in the race in terms of how you publish or who you publish with – but we know first-hand the challenges authors face because of various publisher restrictions. Many are common, some are less common, but authors continue to reach out to us to find a loophole – and sadly, they’re few and far between.

What is Self-Publishing?

To start, there’s a lot of confusion about what self-publishing is. When we talk about self-publishing a book, we mean in its purest form – having the book produced yourself and going directly to KDP for Amazon. Or using your files and going directly to Apple Books.

Once you start using a service that takes over any work (and yes, we realize this is where the appeal comes from), you start down a path where you lose some of your autonomy and control over your work. Even using a site like IngramSpark creates limitations, and the reason we mention it is because we get authors coming to us all the time that say they’re self-publishing with IngramSpark. But the small detail that can make a big difference is they’re a self-publishing company. Emphasis on company; emphasis on you giving up control in exchange for assistance.

Access to Amazon

Another area we see a lot of challenges with is Amazon. If you’ve been following us for even a little bit, you know how critical we feel using the right keywords and categories is and how important it is to have a really excellent book description and a head-turning book cover (listen to this recent book marketing podcast episode, Book Covers that Actually Sell Books, for example). We already explained that many publishers and self-publishing companies are not set up to accommodate ongoing conversations with their authors about these important details. You hired them to set things up for you, and they did that, and it’s done. That’s the appeal!

But genres and buyer markets are constantly evolving, so your book details need to evolve too. And it’s not unusual to miss the mark on any of these things the first time, including the cover, and if you’re in a position where you can’t make improvements to any of these things, it could really affect the long-term success of your book.

The Perceived “Clout” of Having a Publisher

The last piece we wanted to address is the presumed clout you get by having a publisher. I did a call recently with an author that was going with a publisher they admitted they had heard bad things about – but they were going to put up with all of that simply to have a publisher tied to their book. I was just so disappointed.

Having a publisher is NOT the secret to success! No more than self-publishing guarantees success. It will not guarantee you sales, reviews, or even media coverage.

Do you know what gets you sales, reviews, and media coverage? A high-quality book with a high-quality cover and positive word of mouth!

Understand the trade-offs, weigh the pros and cons, and make your decision based on your goals for your book and brand one month from now, six months from now, and five years from now. Sometimes the best decision requires a bit more work from you upfront, but it will serve you long-term. Trust me.

New episodes of our book marketing podcast go live every-other Friday! You can stream full episodes from our website, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Plus, you’ll want to follow us on your preferred podcast platform in order to catch our helpful- and often hilarious- minisodes!

Do you have any suggestions for a future book marketing podcast episode? I would love to hear from you down in the comment section!

Resources and Free Downloads

Check out Jane Friedman’s site, she’s an excellent resource

10 Common Book Marketing Mistakes: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

Don’t Let A Bad Cover Ruin Everything: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

The post The Real Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing a Book: Book Marketing Podcast Episode appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Why Self-Publishing Your Book is Lucrative if You’re Planning a Series

Tue, 17 May 2022 17:00:33 +0200

Reading Time: 4 minutes

Self-publishing a book can sound complicated, and I won’t lie to you, it is more work upfront for authors. However, it can also be lucrative for many reasons, and for many kinds of authors! I’d like to focus on one group in particular this time around: the series author.

We get a lot of authors that come to us when they’re ready to release a new book in their series, because they feel stuck. Typically this happens because they went through a publisher or publishing service for book one.

And feeling stuck comes from their lack of access to their first book, and they’re unsure how to navigate continuing the series.

So in an effort to bring some clarity to the situation, I want to cover some of the biggest hurdles we see for series authors and why self-publishing your book series from the get-go might be an option you want to consider.

You Can’t Do an eBook Bundle

Bundle eBooks are a really great way for authors to create another product for their virtual shelf, and it also answers the desire a lot of series fans have to be able to binge books on their own schedule.

When self-publishing your book you have full control over which titles to bundle, when to release them, all the things!

But if your first book is released by a publisher or publishing service, and you don’t retain the full rights to the files and retail choices, this oftentimes ends up not being an option for you, and you miss out on a change to promoting yet another product for your brand with a unique opportunity for drawing in new potential readers.

You Can’t Change the Price of the Book

A popular strategy for series authors is to keep book one in their series priced lower, to really entice new potential buyers to give the series a shot – and this is really smart.

But we’ve worked with a number of series authors who don’t get to control the pricing for their first book so convincing a reader to start the series and pay a premium, really works against typical buyer behavior.

You Can’t Make Updates to the Retail Page

As you evolve as an author and a brand we always encourage you to keep a close eye on your retail pages, keep them current; aligned with genre trends and updated with smart keywords!

Your individual retail pages for your series titles should also support each other. This is especially important for book one, because ideally you’re updating that description to remind potential buyers there’s a whole series to enjoy, you can incorporate current reviews, etc.

If you don’t have access to book one there’s a good chance that retail page will remain stagnant, and won’t be pulling its weight to support your growing brand.

You Can’t Update Categories and Keywords

We talk a lot about the importance of categories and keywords and how they can really help pull in the right buyers for your book, versus floating around in the sea of 4500+ books being published every day.

Well, self-publishing a book on Amazon means you retain full access to everything about your book, including these important keyword and category choices. And this is something non-series authors face as well!

We did a podcast on understanding what self-publishing really is, and we’ve linked to it in our resources section, and I highly encourage you to take a listen if you haven’t already.

I don’t want it to seem like we’re anti-publishers or publishing services. That’s not it – because they can be a great option for some authors.

But the reality is publisher aren’t typically structured to play an ongoing role in your book marketing and brand development – that’s not what they specialize in. So, taking on random requests for price changes, keyword changes, and even category changes – isn’t a part of their core service offering. And it’s something you have to consider when deciding the options that are right for you long term.

You Can’t Rebrand Covers

Listen, no matter how you choose to publish it’s not uncommon for the first cover in the series to miss the mark a bit. And maybe not initially, but once book two comes out, or even three, and your author brand has become more solidified, it might make sense to consider an update across the board so the series really stands out and makes an amazing first impression!

However, if you don’t have full access to book one, you might be stuck with a series kick off that just doesn’t match the rest of your books, which is a major letdown. We actually worked with a client in this exact situation, he learned a lot about his reader market after traditionally publishing book one and knew he needed to change up his branding, and opted to self-publish the rest of the series but always struggled with not being able to do all the updates he knew he needed to do to book one.

So again, I don’t want it to sound like we only support self-publishing your book, it’s just that we see a lot of authors who make their publishing choices in a vacuum without considering the big picture.

The reality is you should work backwards after outlining the full spectrum of your long-term goals to decide what publishing options are totally right for you.

Resources and Free Downloads

Download and Listen to Our “What Most Authors Don’t Understand About Publishing” Podcast Episode

Check out more episodes of our Podcast!

Before Self-Publishing A Book Make Sure to Answer These 5 Crucial Questions

Simple Book Marketing Strategies this Self-Published Author Used to Sell Over 20K Books with Almost No Money

Listen to more episodes of our Book Marketing & Author Success Podcast!

The post Why Self-Publishing Your Book is Lucrative if You’re Planning a Series appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

QUIZ: How Negative Reviews Can Influence Your Book Marketing Strategies

Thu, 12 May 2022 17:00:10 +0200

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I get it, bad reviews can be hard. As an author, I understand how disheartening getting a negative review can be and how easy it is to get caught up in it. But instead of focussing on the negative, it’s important to understand all of the positive benefits that can come from reviews and how they can ultimately shape your book marketing strategies.

How you chose to handle book reviews will ultimately impact your success as an author. Not everyone is going to love your stuff, thats just the truth. However, how you learn from criticism shows a lot about how serious you are about your success in this industry.

We created this quiz based on our podcast Minisode: What Your Book Review Process Says About You.

If you haven’t listened, I highly recommend it!

We talk about how to approach reviews and what you can learn from them- yes, even the bad ones!

I need to mention again, there’s no hard and fast rule or perfect equation for success when it comes to author marketing.

However, we will always be super honest with you, and success takes work. It requires educating yourself, and it requires committing to doing it better going forward.

The beauty with marketing is you get a fresh start with each title you release as you switch up your book marketing strategies!

So don’t be afraid to share your score and anything you learned in the comment section. I assure you you’re in good company because part of learning is making mistakes.

Resources and Free Downloads:

Keep Track of Your Upcoming Your Book Marketing Strategies with our Monthly Book Marketing Planner

Infographic: Build Your Author Brand From Scratch With These 5 Questions

10 Common Book Marketing Mistakes: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

Check out KM Weiland’s site, she’s an excellent resource

The post QUIZ: How Negative Reviews Can Influence Your Book Marketing Strategies appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Before Self-Publishing A Book Make Sure to Answer These 5 Crucial Questions

Tue, 10 May 2022 17:00:41 +0200

Reading Time: 4 minutes

I always feel like not enough is said about the pre-publication phase, especially when self-publishing a book. And I’m not talking about the early media pitching or anything like that. I mean the process of making sure you’re really ready to hit the ground running when your book launches.

Too many times authors publish a book and then start to ask things like: who is my reader audience and: is this book really ready to be published? The sad part is, asking these questions after you’ve hit “publish” is too late. This is why I was so excited to find this article on what questions to ask yourself before you publish a book. Because it’s better to ask yourself these questions now, rather than spend the time, effort, and money to publish a book that just won’t sell.

Enjoy this article!

Don’t Self-Publish A Book Before Answering These Crucial Questions

By J.J. Hebert

While it might be true that self-publishing a book is now easier than ever, it could also be said that self-publishing a successful book might be more difficult than ever.

In 2018 alone, more than 1.67 million books were self-published, so the competition is fierce. It’s not enough to self-publish your book on Amazon and expect readers to find it among millions of other books. As a best-selling author myself, I believe there are many questions you should ask yourself before self-publishing a book, but here are the most crucial questions:

1. Is your book ready for the public?

Many self-publishing authors ignore this question, creating a stigma around self-publishing. Thankfully, there have been countless successful self-published authors throughout the past decade to offset some of the junk on the market and prove that self-publishing is a viable publishing option if done correctly (i.e., producing a quality book).

If you publish a first or early draft that has not been edited, you can’t expect positive results. It’s true that one of the major perks of self-publishing is that there are no gatekeepers involved. You can publish your book according to your own timeline, and then the consumers ultimately decide if your book is quality by way of reviews and sales. But the lack of gatekeepers can also be dangerous in terms of quality control.

If you’re going to bypass the gatekeepers of the literary world (e.g., literary agents, traditional publishers), then you need to make sure to at least consult with a professional editor prior to publication. And even before that step, give your manuscript to some beta readers to gather feedback. The point here is that releasing your book before it’s ready could destroy your chance of success and reputation as a writer.

2. Which self-publishing platform are you going to use?

Self-publishing platforms are not created equal. Some have serious limitations to consider, including limited distribution, lack of services and support, low royalty payouts, difficult software, only one format and stringent file requirements for publishing. Costs vary wildly. You should choose a self-publishing platform that’s within your budget, of course, but also focus on reaching the widest audience possible with a top-notch book.

If you don’t mind doing the bulk of the work yourself and outsourcing the rest to freelancers, then do-it-yourself self-publishing platforms might be ideal for you. Just make sure you choose an option that allows you to distribute to a diverse group of retailers, not just Amazon. If you’d rather spend your time on writing and marketing instead of producing your book, hire a full-service self-publishing company to help with book design, editing, illustration, publishing, distribution and sales, etc.

3. Which book formats do you plan to offer?

The answer to this might seem obvious. Many new authors dive headfirst into the e-book market, ignoring print altogether. This is a fatal mistake for book sales. Believe it or not, print books are still more popular than e-books, so you should never ignore offering a print version of your book.

For my own book releases, I’ve personally focused on paperback and e-book formats. Paperback is a perfect print format in my experience because, beyond its popularity, a paperback can be sold affordably. A $14.99 or $9.99 retail price, for example, is much more appealing to consumers than a $24.99 price point for a hardcover book. Likewise, an e-book priced between $2.99 and $6.99 can sell a lot of units.

4. Who is your target audience?

As the owner of MindStir Media, a leading self-publishing company, one of the most common responses I hear to this question is “everyone.” Unfortunately, that’s the worst possible answer. Your book is not for everyone. Focusing on everyone will make your book nearly impossible to market because your marketing campaigns will be completely untargeted.

As with any product, you must determine your ideal customer before launching your book product. Some important reader demographics to consider include age, gender, location and interests. Pinpointing your target audience is important because it will allow you to target the proper consumers in your marketing efforts. It will also save you a lot of money because you won’t be blindly wasting your funds on readers who naturally have no interest in your book.

5. Where and how will you market your book?

Digital marketing is king these days because you are able to reach vast numbers of targeted consumers instantly and affordably. Examples of digital marketing include online advertising, social media, email marketing and search engine optimization, among others.

If you’re going to properly target your audience with your digital marketing campaigns, you need to determine where your audience likes to spend their time. If you’re launching a teen novel, Instagram, TikTok and Snapchat are great platforms to leverage. If your book centers on knitting, for example, you could run Facebook ads targeting women who are interested in knitting and then advertise through knitting magazines. Most magazines will allow you to email their subscribers for a fee.

Self-publishing is a wonderful and viable book publishing option for millions of writers. It allows you to keep your rights and creative control, but if you plan on going the self-publishing route, the aforementioned questions can guide you along the way. After all, if you want to self-publish your book, you’ll need to plan accordingly to maximize your chances of success.

J.J. Hebert is the CEO at MindStir Media, an award-winning publishing company.

Resources and Free Downloads

Self Publishing a Book Requires the Right Focus

Check out our Podcast!

10 Common Book Marketing Mistakes: Book Marketing Podcast Episode

Check out the Alliance of Independent Authors for news and resources

The post Before Self-Publishing A Book Make Sure to Answer These 5 Crucial Questions appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Infographic: Reader Centric June Observances to Bolster Your Author Branding

Fri, 06 May 2022 21:00:25 +0200

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I thought I would give you a head start on some June Observances that feature reader and book-centric themes to support your author branding and content ideas!

You can use these holidays as inspiration for your newsletter, blog, or social media posts.

Also, remember: Your goal is to encourage engagement – never post flat content; be creative with how you pull others into the conversation and offer ways for them to engage easily.

And don’t forget to grab our Monthly Book Marketing Planner from the Free Resources and Downloads section at the end of this post. Planning ahead is essential to your success!

Remember, being an author demands creativity, and it also demands authenticity when developing a marketing plan.

I hope this reminder is a good head start for June! Let me know down in the comments how you plan to use these holidays for your content and author branding.

Resources and Free Downloads

Let’s talk about you! Sign up for personalized coaching today.

Check out Jane Friedman’s site, she’s an excellent resource

Check Out Our Podcast!

Infographic: Build Your Author Brand From Scratch With These 5 Questions

Simple Book Marketing Strategies this Self-Published Author Used to Sell Over 20K Books with Almost No Money

Smashwords Founder Mark Coker’s Explanation of Author Branding is Spot On

The post Infographic: Reader Centric June Observances to Bolster Your Author Branding appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

Infographic: Build Your Author Brand From Scratch With These 5 Questions

Thu, 05 May 2022 17:00:59 +0200

Reading Time: 3 minutes

I get it; creating an author brand feels hard. Your brand is your promise to your readers. It’s how you show up in the world, and your platform needs to reflect this. Your brand encompasses your website, author newsletter, social media, and speaking, just to name a few.

This probably sounds intimidating, especially if you don’t know where to start. But, trust me, the best place to start is with you.

Our author brands are made up of things we love and what we love to do, and a solid brand is a combination of what you write and who you are. It’s also good to share small personal details with your reader market and help them get to know you. Remind readers that you are more than just a name; you are a person with a personality.

Who are my readers, and what do they want?

Understanding who you want to buy your books from is a great place to start. Its crucial to understand what they want – not just “they read these books” but specifically other things they are interested in. This matters because as you find a “theme” to your reader preferences, you can use these to weave them into your author brand and messaging. Try getting started with our reader profile that I’ll link in the resources section of this post!

Who is my competition, and what makes them great?

Success leaves clues. Understanding your competition and what they’re doing right can be really inspiring. Are you following other successful authors in your genre? If not, you should be.

What is my vibe?

This is the fun part! Colors, fonts, tone, and your public persona all work together to create the look and feel of your brand, so while it can be fun, it’s also super important. This includes your website, all social, your Amazon presence, your book covers, and even the kind of swag and bonus materials you create – the better they all compliment each other, the stronger and more professional your author branding will be.

What can I do consistently?

Author branding literally encompasses everything you put out there and what you neglect to do, so be honest with yourself. Consistency is key when it comes to reaching and connecting with current fans and potential readers. The best way to stay on top of this is to create a marketing plan and stick to it.

What are my short- and long-term goals?

As authors, we are constantly evolving but having clear short- and long-term goals will help you better establish an author brand that can support those goals. This will also help you create a clear plan that you can roll out incrementally.

Your Author Brand and Beyond

Details matter, and a smart author brand is all about details. The details are how you show up in the world, and the details are what matter and speak to your reader. Thinking about your author brand doesn’t have to feel intimidating or overwhelming. Sometimes it’s just as simple as paying attention to details and asking yourself the right questions.

Resources and Free Downloads

Smashwords Founder Mark Coker’s Explanation of Author Branding is Spot On

The Top 5 Strategies for Promoting a Book on Social Media

The post Infographic: Build Your Author Brand From Scratch With These 5 Questions appeared first on Author Marketing Experts, Inc..

The Top 5 Strategies for Promoting a Book on Social Media

Tue, 03 May 2022 17:00:58 +0200

Reading Time: 4 minutes

When promoting your book on social media the most important thing you have to keep in mind is why people actually use social media.

They use it to escape, to learn something, to laugh, to find link-minded people – but they typically don’t use it for the sole purpose to spend money.

But stay with me, that doesn’t mean promoting a book on social media won’t serve your bigger picture of building readership and selling more books!

You just have to have the right mindset and work with buyer behavior instead of against it.

Here are 5 important tips for you that will likely change the game and take out a lot of the guesswork.

Make it About Your Followers

People want to feel special, and they want to feel understood and connected. Having a mental or emotional connection to a person, brand or product is extremely important for people to spend their money, even if it’s just a $3.99 eBook.

So with that in mind, promoting a book on social media means understanding who your followers (aka potential buyers) are. Hint: they’re not just readers. They have other interests; reader demographics, how they connect with what’s going on in the news, and popular culture matter.

The point is, your followers are dynamic. So treat them like dynamic people and not just wallets. Give them content they can connect with. This leads to my next point.

Make Yourself a Resource

Everyone is busy. Literally everyone. So yes, while a lot of us are epically guilty of wasting time on social media, we’re still choosy about what we’re scrolling through and what accounts we engage with.

So when I say promoting a book on social media means making yourself a resource, I’m saying you need to post content that’s useful and stands out.

Fortunately, useful can take on a lot of different meanings! Useful to an exhausted working mom could mean funny memes that show other women are experiencing the exact same feelings. Or if your readers are retired political thriller fans and predominantly men they get really engrossed about government conspiracies.

So you make yourself useful by understanding what my first tip means to you and who your people are, and delivering that kind of content on a consistent basis so they can count on you. Which also plays into my next tip!\

Make Your Content Both Predictable and Unpredictable

In the last tip, I mentioned promoting a book on social media requires consistency, that’s how you become a resource for your fans and followers. And that’s absolutely key.

Create a content plan and stick to it!

The number of posts per week should depend on the platform. For example, the common recommendation for Instagram is 3-5 posts a week. But on Twitter, a lot of times you’ll read advice that says 5 tweets per day!

Knowing how many times you need to post every week will give you an idea of how much predictable content you’ll need – meaning, how many funny memes you should do per week, how many inspirational quotes per week, how many book recommendations you should make per month, how many how-to or advice tips you should post per week – I hope you get the idea.

Then there’s the unpredictable content. This should be less common but more personal. Maybe it’s a picture of your dog, or your workspace, progress on your garden, or the barista you count on every morning for your daily cuppa! Be spontaneous and fun with this content because it’s gold – it humanizes you and makes you relatable, and it’s priceless.

Make it Count When You Talk About Your Book

Here we go. Many of you have probably heard of the 80/20 rule. If not, it’s pretty simple; 80 percent of your content should NOT be about your book (or services or business). That’s right, only 20 percent of your content should be blatantly selling your book or reminding people you have books to buy.

That might sound debilitating, but don’t think of it that way. Think of it this way: when you do post about your book, it will stand out more.

And it means you have to make it count, so your book-related content will be better. Have something important to say!

Perhaps it’s a limited-time discount, a giveaway you’re doing, or a stand-out review you want to highlight – or an exciting interview or feature somewhere online or an event at your local library.

Use the idea that you only get to post about your book 20% of the time to fuel your drive to not get lazy and keep the things you have to say about your book exciting!

Make It Easier on Yourself

Did I bury the good stuff on this one? Maybe. But there’s no reason to talk about making promoting your book on social media easier if you don’t first wrap your mind around tips 1-4 first.

And here’s how you make it easier – you plan.

Planning is front-loaded work, but a couple of dedicated hours at one time can save you a dozen hours of scrambling, or even worse, posting lame content that doesn’t give you a return for your effort. Eeek!

But seriously, we’re big fans of themes. Maybe you always kick off Monday with something funny or light-hearted. Perhaps Wednesday is your day to get serious or offer a useful tip or recommendation. Friday could be motivational.

My point is, this is where consistency comes into play – full circle!

When you plan out a month or two of Monday posts, BAM, promoting your book on social media gets so much easier.

At the end of the day, we always say you don’t have to be everywhere, you need to be where it matters. Each social media platform has a majority demographic, and if that aligns with your demographic then that should be your primary focus. And if that means changing things up, embrace it! You’ll get a better return for your efforts when you check all the boxes and stop spinning your wheels.

As always, please reach out if you need some help brainstorming ideas. I’m here to help!

Resources and Free Downloads

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