Marketing -- a Must Part of Publishing

            Most people don't recognize marketing as a part of publishing, but it is. Once a publisher accepts a manuscript or an author decides to self-published, marketing on the part of an author (and an illustrator) needs to begin.

         Somehow someway, the rumor that an author's job ends once a manuscript goes to press spread throughout the world. However, nothing could be farther from the truth. Remember, authors and illustrators are the best promoters of their books. If an author like James Patterson has to promote his books, those of us not as well known or as popular must promote even more.

         Below is a list of ideas whose sole purpose is to assist authors and illustrators in their marketing efforts. No one needs to try all the ideas but should try several. If some don't work, try something else. However, a few are needed, such as numbers 1, 8, 9, and 12.

1. Promote on Facebook and other on-line social media. (Contracts state authors should have a blog, a website, and be at least on Facebook.) Get that website up and running -- before the book is released.

2. Send handwritten notes, cards, or greeting cards to inform friends or the public of your new book or existing books as well as any appearances you are making.

3. Use handwritten fonts as an alternative to actually handwriting cards.

4. Use Sendoutcards.com or a similar medium as a way to contact others.

5. Search out and enter contests. Researching online is one way to find contests. OWFI has a writing competition every year (owfi.org).

6. Join the Chamber of Commerce and use its networking opportunities.

7. Promote your book on radio, t.v. spots, and/or talk shows.

8. Talk to your librarians about purchasing your book for their shelves or fill out a book request. The library will often purchase that book after the request. Also, have friends and relatives request your book at their local libraries.

9. Have a giveaway once in a while. There are different ways to do this. Be creative. B.J. Daniels gives away special bookmarks, magnets, aprons, and other mementos of her books. Personally, I prefer not to give away a current book, but if you have previous books, you might give away one or more of them to build an interest in your new book.

10. Set up a booth in art, crafts, street, or book festivals. Sell your books directly. Authors and illustrators usually make more by buying their books at a discount, selling at retail (or slightly lower), and pocketing the profit.

11. Donate a copy of your book to one or more local schools and get media coverage, even if in a small local paper.

12. Write a very short story about one or two of your book characters and post it on your blog or other places as a FREE item, a lead-in, or attention-getter for your book.

13. Build your name's brand, or that of your book, by giving away pencils or pens with your name and email address on them, bottles of water, bookmarks, postcards, etc. Always have business cards to give away.

14. You should provide information (links) on social media and on handouts such as fliers and postcards so that people know where to find your book or books.

15. Prepare postcard-sized inserts with your autograph to place in each book: On the card, have your photo, brief info about books, and a polite request for the reader to place a rating and brief review on Amazon if book pleased reader.

16. Prepare and keep an event diary for annual events in which you are interested in participating. In that digital or hard-copy diary, keep a compilation of press releases, press clippings, email blasts, photos, marketing materials, a monthly to-do lists, and anything else that would be helpful for you to plan the next year's attendance or that would be helpful for the next year's publicity person. For example, OWFI has a conference annually. If you attend, speak at that conference, and/or have your book or books in their conference bookstore, then have an event diary for that event.

17. Don't write just one press release. Customize the release for each specific media. A different slant is needed for media out of town than for local media.

18. Promote your book at least 3-4 months before it's released officially. This idea may not work or be wanted for every book, but it will help for some books.

19. Find local places to host a book signing for you and/or to carry your book(s). For example, a book about sports might grab the interest of a sporting goods store; a book about dolls might interest a toy store; a book about a dog or cat or other pet might interest a pet store.

20. Have a guest book for people stopping by your booth at an event. Be sure visitors write their emails so you can send messages (with a way for the recipients to "opt-out" of receiving more emails) go share writing tips and information about upcoming events or books.

21. Be aware of opportunities to promote your book.

For example, one 4RV author carries a copy of her book and another book to read with her. While waiting for an appointment or for a friend, she reads the extra book and looks around to see if anyone else is reading. When she sees a person reading, she asks the person the title of the book. She tells the person she is an author and is interested in what people like to read. That short conversation provides an opportunity for her to talk about her books. She doesn’t always sell a book, but she can give the person a business card and flier about her books.

         Finally, search for other ideas to promote your book. Be creative, but don't be afraid to "borrow" ideas from others. You are the best person to promote your book because you know it better than anyone else. Be proud of your "baby" and present it to the world. You may not be a James Patterson, yet, but you can promote as hard as he does.

Tips to Balance Writing Time and Marketing Time

One of the things I often hear from fellow writers is that marketing takes a substantial amount of time, which means less time for writing. Many feel there is no easy way to balance writing time and marketing time.

Here are a few tips that might help:

Add Marketing Time to Your To-Do List

Without a list, you can lack focus and organization, which means time slips away and you’re not even sure where it went. Daily and weekly to-do lists keep you on track, and they motivate you to keep going.

See where you can add fifteen minutes to half an hour of marketing time to your daily schedule. I find that after I drop the kids off in the morning is my best time because my phone isn't ringing with real estate calls and there's no one in the house except me and the furry beasts.

Create an Online Media Kit

Every published writer needs a media kit. A media kit should include: a long and short bio, author photographs, novel covers, book trailers, excerpts, audio clips, links to previous interviews, and a schedule of events. If you write articles, it should include a list of those articles, where and when they appeared, and direct links to any articles that appear online.

By having this information available on your website and in PDF format, you’ll save time when you contact people for interview and book review requests. Even if you’re still waiting for that first sale, it’s a good idea to have a biography and quality photo available for those who request them.

Use Social Media Effectively

I have numerous social networks that I post to multiple times a day. Can you imagine how long it would take if I had to post to each site separately? By using Buffer, Hootsuite or TweetDeck, I can create one post that is submitted to all my social networks at once.

Support Local Schools and Events

Who says marketing can’t be fun and fulfilling? With tightening budgets, schools are often looking for guests to come and interact with students. When my girls were younger, I held writing workshops at their schools. I would speak to the teacher about their current course of study and then tie my workshops into that.

One year, I visited during National Poetry Month, which is held in April. The kids had also been studying Colonial America and the America Revolution. My two-day workshop was on using your senses in writing and on how to develop your powers of observation. We started off by reading excerpts from classic children’s books and seeing if the kids could point out the senses the authors used. Then the students pulled items out of a bag and had to use their senses to describe it. On the second day, they observed me reciting “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and we discussed their observations. Finally, they put all they learned into practice by using their senses and power of observation to write a short story based on a field trip they had taken earlier in the year to an early American settlement. The kids enjoyed it and they shared it with their parents, many of whom asked about my work. It was great exposure to teachers as well.

When my first book came out, I held a book signing at my church during their annual Christmas Bazaar and Tag Sale. I got a chance to sell my book, and a portion of the proceeds went to the church--a win for both of us.

Marketing is part of the business of writing. Using these tips will help you strike a better balance between the business and creative sides of your career.

Cheryl C. Malandrinos is a freelance writer and editor. She is the author of Little Shepherd, A Christmas Kindness, Macaroni and Cheese for Thanksgiving and the recently released, Amos Faces His Bully. A blogger and book reviewer, she lives in Massachusetts with her husband and two daughters. She also has a son who is married. Visit Cheryl online at http://ccmalandrinos.com and her children’s book blog at https://childrensandteensbookconnection.wordpress.com

Promote Your Book, No, Promote Yourself

 

Promote Your Book Yourself

         Before authors promote a book, they should promote themselves. Of course, if a writer hasn't promoted herself yet, doing so can occur after the book, but promotion should first be about the author. Before writers have books to promote, they need to build an interest in themselves. Allow me to share some of the tips the sources, listed below the article, mixed with a few ideas and thoughts of my own.
 
         Often writers wait too late to promote themselves. Joan Steward says authors should become "experts" and build a personal base before promoting a book. Nonfiction writers have a built-in topic about which to write articles or present workshops: the theme or sub-themes of the future nonfiction book. However, fiction writers can also be experts, if they have researched information for their books correctly. For example, research for a book dealing with kidnapped children can create an author who is an expert on the aftereffects of being kidnapped on the children and families; what steps to take to find kidnapped children; or how to survive being kidnapped or having a child kidnapped.

         Authors who have studied and developed their own writing expertise can share their knowledge of writing and become an expert on writing. But, that expert level should probably come after proving through being published that they know the subject. To gain more knowledge about writing, a person can attend classes, workshops, and conferences about writing. He/she can read articles and books about writing, keeping the knowledge that usable and deleting the rest.

         Another way authors can promote themselves and create themselves as experts is to create cheat sheets and checklists. Joan Stewart, the Publicity Hound, states the following: "Readers love chunks of information they can digest easily in just a minute or two. That's why they're wild about cheat sheets and checklists. These powerful one-page PDFs are like digital crow bars that can pry an email address out of a website visitor faster than any other lead magnet you might offer." She goes on to say:

                   Checklist/cheat sheets can be released before the book for promotion or used in a the appendix of a book or both. These lists don’t have to be about serious topics. Be helpful and have fun.

Five examples:
                   1. Create a checklist of advice from your main character on how to overcome a challenge or solve a problem mentioned in the book.
                   2. Offer a cheat sheet for tourists who want to visit the city, state, region or country where your novel takes place. If your book is about Venice, your cheat sheet could be titled, “Favorite Foodie Hideaways to Explore in Venice.”
                   3. Do your sci-fi characters have their own language? Create a cheat sheet of words and their definitions.
                   4. Create a checklist of “7 Most Romantic Places to Propose” that ties into your romance novel.
                   5. Does your children’s book include a fairy as one of the main characters? Create a cheat sheet of “What the 5 Most Famous Fairies Can Teach Your Child.” (The Tooth Fairy, Tinkerbell, etc.)

         Include a short blurb about your book at the end, with a link to the sales page.

         Writers need to become familiar names on social media, familiar in a good way. They can post encouraging comments on other people's blogs, social media posts, etc. They can post reviews of other authors' books on their blogs and the other authors' blogs. Posting bits of information on Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and other media helps to build interest in the writer and in his/her topic. The more readers are interested in a writer as a person, the more they will be interested in reading the writer's book.




         Every writer needs a blog and a website and have an account on Facebook and Twitter. Some like to have accounts on other social media, also. However, accounts, websites, and blogs should be started before a book is released. If an author hasn't become active in social media, he/she should immediately begin.

         I hope to share more tips about promoting and marketing in the future.


Sources: Joan Steward, The Publicity Hound [blog and various email Tips of the Week]; Brian Feinblum [The Writer, September 2017, page 16-19,
“Promotional Pitfalls”]; 
Kirkus Reviews [kirkusreviews.com]; Author Unlimited [authorunlimited.com];
Brad Phillips @MrMediaTraining. 

Are Your Writing and Marketing Efforts Really Productive? (2 Tips to Keep You Moving Forward)

By Karen Cioffi

Sometimes the moons and stars align and information that is relevant to your life bombards your week, directing you onto paths you should take.

Well, this happened to me.

Time management is one of my ongoing struggles, as with probably most of you reading this. So, what do you do? How do you create more hours in the day? How do you accomplish all the writing and marketing tasks you must, aside from keeping up with everything else in your life?

Ah, the $25,000 question.

Productivity Strategy Number One – Keep a List and Stick to It

I found a great site (JamesWedmore.com) that offers some very useful content. Interestingly, the post I read on this site pertained to being productive. This was the fourth article I came across within a few days dealing with time management, prioritizing, and productivity.

Part of the content discussed a $25,000 lesson by public relations and efficiency expert Ivy Ledbetter Lee.

The story (true story, just not sure of the exact account) goes that Charles Schwab, steel magnate, wanted to increase his company’s efficiency, so he contacted Lee. Lee requested 15 minutes with each of Schwab’s managers. Schwab asked how much would it cost. Lee told him that after three months, if he saw productivity improvement he could send Lee whatever he thought the training was worth. Three months later, Schwab sent Lee a $25,000 check. This was back around 100 years ago.

So, the $25,000 lesson?

It’s reported that Lee said to write a list of six must-do items that each manager needed to accomplish the next day, in order of importance. Whatever wasn’t completed that day would go over onto the next day’s list of six must-do items.

According to QuotationsBook.com, Lee instructed:

Write down the most important things you have to do tomorrow. Now, number them in the order of their true importance. The first thing tomorrow morning, start working on an item Number 1, and stay with it until completed. Then take item Number 2 the same way. Then Number 3, and so on. Don't worry if you don't complete everything on the schedule. At least you will have completed the most important projects before getting to the less important ones. (2)  

Pretty simple, right?

Simple and powerful. Having a list of what you need to do gives you focus and that focus helps clear your mind, which in turn boosts productivity, allowing you to get the job done.

One thing James Wedmore said that I thought is also a good idea is to have a “brain dump” folder or notebook. If something pops into your head that you don’t want to forget, put in in the ‘brain dump file.’ This too helps keep your mind clear of clutter.

I call my ‘brain dump file’ My To Do List. If anything pops into my head, I open the file and type it in, leaving my mind free of the worry of remembering it.

Productivity Strategy Number Two – Meditate

If you make time for meditation, you’ll have more time. I read this or something like it recently, but forgot where or by who (if you know the author, please let me know, so I can give attribution). A case in point of information overload. 

But, how can you have more time if you take time out of your already hectic day to meditate?

According to Laboratory of Neuro Imaging, the average person has 70,000 thoughts per day. Since there are 1,440 minutes in a day and 86,400 seconds, this means you’re having thoughts almost every second of every day. Is it any wonder many of us have trouble focusing?

Meditation is another mind clearing tool that allows the brain to take a breather. It helps create a calmer you, thus leading to a more focused and productive you.

My acupuncturist, who was a neurologist in China and has been practicing Chinese medicine for over 35 years, says that the number one thing you can do for your health is to meditate.

Give it a Shot – Incorporate these two strategies into your writing and marketing work week.

Every Sunday, make a list of the top six must-do items for Monday. Don’t just breeze through your list of to-dos, take the time to think whether a particular item is REALLY needed. Will it move your goals forward? Will it earn you money?

At the bottom of your to-do list for each day, add: TAKE 15-30 MINUTES TO MEDITATE.

Do this for 90 days, as Lee instructed, and see what happens. Then let us know – leave a comment!

Note: I also read that Lee sought Schwab out to propose he could increase his company’s productivity. Whether Lee sought out Schwab or Schwab sought out Lee, it worked.

References:

(1) http://www.jameswedmore.com/how-to-be-productive/
(2) http://quotationsbook.com/quote/39188/#sthash.HWf9P8Dl.dpuf
(3) http://www.loni.ucla.edu/About_Loni/education/brain_trivia.shtml
(4) http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meditation/HQ01070

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning author, ghostwriter, and online platform instructor. If you need help getting your author-writer platform moving forward, check out her 4-week interactive e-class through WOW! Women on Writing. For details, CLICK HERE!

Selling Online - Ecommerce Shopping Cart Basics

If you’re selling anything online, you’re considered part of the ecommerce business arena, and you absolutely need an electronic shopping cart. But, how does it work and what type of cart do you need?

An electronic shopping cart is simply a software program or code from a shopping cart provider that you can use on your website. This program or code allows visitors to select products and make purchases directly from you.

If you’re selling anything online, you’re considered part of the ecommerce business arena, and you absolutely need an electronic shopping cart.

Webopedia explains that there are two basic forms of shopping carts. “Shopping carts can be sold as independent pieces of software so companies can integrate them into their own unique online solution, or they can be offered as a feature from a service that will create and host a company's e-commerce site.”

So, you can either use a standalone piece of software on your own Web server or you can use code from an e-commerce shopping cart provider/service. Either way, you’ll be able to sell from your website.

Along with its convenience, allowing you to sell digital and tangible products from your website, research shows that using an ecommerce shopping cart increases sales.

In 2009, PayPal conducted an internal study of 79,000 small merchants. It was discovered that adding a shopping cart increased their PayPal volume an average of 19% over a two-year period.

That’s a pretty nice sales increase.

It’s important though to realize that the shopping carts themselves don’t process payments. It’s the service you use that allows the payment process to go through.

The Simplest and One of the Cheapest Ways to Sell from Your Own Website

I’ve used PayPal for quite a while now and can attest that it’s easy and effective.

With the PayPal ecommerce shopping cart process, you create the shopping cart yourself. The instructions are simple to follow and you have a choice of using a single item Buy Button or a Drop-down Menu for multiple products or services. And, as with all services, there is a fee. PayPal charges 2.9% and .30 cents per transaction. That’s not bad for all you can do with this service.

 The PayPal system also has everything you need to customize your cart:

•    Tax
•    Shipping
•    Discount and coupon codes
•    Payment options
•    Tracking
•    Invoicing
•    Testing before you go live
•    And, more

In fact, PayPal is so popular a number of ecommerce shopping cart services have partnered with PayPal for their payment process. And, you can accept payments with your mobile device through another of PayPal’s services.

If you’re a WordPress user and want a plugin that uses PayPal, you can checkout:
http://wordpress.org/plugins/simple-e-commerce-shopping-cart/

Other Options

If you like the PayPal system, but would rather not have your customers sent to its site during the purchasing process, you have options.

PayPal has partnered with several shopping cart services, such as Cashie Commerce and 3D Cart. Using another service has its benefits, one of which is keeping the buyer on your site through the purchasing process, but there’s a drawback to it, an additional cost.

These services charge a monthly fee, along with a percentage of each transaction. This is on top of the PayPal fees. So, be careful when looking into this process. Be sure you’re making enough sales to warrant the additional costs involved.

Keeping it Simple

No matter which ecommerce shopping cart system you use, simple is the way to go online. You want the essential features in a shopping cart without making it too complicated to use. The process needs to be easy to use with clear instructions.

If you haven’t yet taken the ‘sell on your own website’ move, get started now. Simply do an online search for carts or you can check out PayPal.

Remember, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Karen Cioffi is a writer and online platform instructor. Her latest e-class is Get Website Traffic with Inbound Marketing. It's 4-weeks and is through WOW! Women on Writing. Click the link for details.

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