Category Archives: Networking

Goodreads for Authors: 8 Easy Ways to Raise Visibility for Your Books by Lynn Emery

Book geek heaven, that’s a good description of Goodreads. Even now that Amazon owns the site, it’s still very much reader centric. The czar of customer service seems to have recognized this and mostly left the way GR works alone. If you want to increase your reach with serious book lovers I recommend considering these tips to leverage GR.

Disclaimer: I’m not trying to convince writers that they MUST be on Goodreads NOW or their writing careers are OVER! I have few extra hours or energy to invest in another time suck, like many writers. Still there are low cost ways to get your info flashed to readers without spending a lot of time.

1. Do giveaways. Ignore the GR advice. Have short giveaways of 5 to 15 days. Why? GR promotes new giveaways and those about to end, urging readers to hurry before the deadline. In between your giveaway is merely listed with thousands of others.

You don’t have to give away 10 + books. Do less. Some writers do just one. I think that’s a bit restrictive. I’d say 5 is a good number. But you should open the giveaway to all countries, or at least multiple countries. I hear you, “But Lynn, GR only allows print books as prizes. That’s a lot of postage!” Drop ship your books directly from your POD company. Mail books to foreign winners from Book Depository (www.bookdepository.com). You can ship one book to worldwide for free! Check their list to make sure your winner lives in a country they ship to, but it’s a long list. Tip: you can only send one book to another country for free during a shopping episode, but I found a work around. I had three foreign winners. I discovered that if I waited a day to send the next one it was still free.

2. Add books to your shelves. GR members love seeing what other members are reading. They want to know you’re not just hanging out to push your books, but you’re a reader, too.

3. Post what you’re reading so your friends (and their friends) will see the books you like.

4. Post reviews. Members read reviews. It’s word of mouth. While they’re doing that guess what? They notice you’re an author and check out your titles.

5. Post book trailers on your author profile. We’re living in a visual world like it or not.

6. You don’t have a GR author profile filled out? Create one.

7. Try GR ads. They’re surprisingly affordable.

8. Open up the new “Ask the Author” feature. One tip I read is to pose a question yourself, answer it and give visitors insight into your process. I just started using in the last month, so far no questions. Still it’s another useful took to reach out.

None of these will guarantee your sales will jump. What you will do is get your name and book covers in front of hungry reader eyes. The goal of advertising is to reach your target audience so as not to waste time and money. GR members are some serious book fans.. I don’t hang out on GR a lot, and I haven’t searched for and added a bunch of friends. But I actually enjoy posting my current reads, when I finish each book, and doing short reviews.

My results: sales increased about 7%. Several hundred GR members added my books to their “To Read” lists. GR sends out updates to members, so others see my book covers listed in their friends “To Read” lists. GR reviews increased significantly (about 35%). Admittedly I don’t have a huge number of reviews per book, but that’s a lot more than I had before. Updates also show reviews to the friends of those members, therefore e visibility for my books increased. This led to more reviews. Print sales went up, but not significantly.

Give it a try. You don’t have to spend any money or a lot of time. Where else can you find millions of book-a-holics looking for their next favorite read? It just may be worth it.

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Lynn Emery: Mix knowledge of Louisiana politics and forensic social work, with the dedication to write fiction while working each day as a clinical social worker, and you get a snapshot of author Lynn Emery.

She sold her first novel in 1995 to Kensington publishing for their groundbreaking Arabesque line. NIGHT MAGIC went on to be recognized for Excellence in Romance Fiction for 1995 by Romantic Times Magazine. Her third novel, AFTER ALL, became a movie produced by BET and aired on December 3, 1999. Holly Robinson Peete stars as Michelle Toussaint, an investigative television reporter. In 2004 Lynn won three coveted Emma Awards. She was chosen Author of the Year and her novel KISS LONLEY GOODBYE won Best Novel and Favorite Hero. GOOD WOMAN BLUES was nominated for the Romantic Times Best Mainstream Multicultural of 2005.

Visit Lynn Online: http://www.lynnemery.com/

Don’t have a copy of the SECOND EDITION of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US) or Barnes & Noble

Five Reasons Authors Need GoodReads By Terry Whalin

I am no GoodReads expert. Millions of readers are on this site talking about books. Over four years ago in 2011, I learned about this site through some email or article or bit of information that came across my computer screen. I registered at GoodReads then for three years I almost never returned.

Earlier this year, I saw GoodReads likes book reviews. I have reviewed over 450 books on Amazon (who also owns GoodReads). I took about an hour and cut and pasted some of my Amazon reviews on the GoodReads site. Currently I have reviewed about 85 books.

Almost two months ago, my friend Sandra Beckwith interviewed Cynthia Shannon, the Author Marketing Coordinator at GoodReads. The teleseminar was excellent and if you did not hear it, you can follow this link and get this inexpensive educational teleseminar.

As I listened to this event, Cynthia spoke about the need for authors to claim their Author Profile Status. While I had not done much on my profile, I had taken this step to be identified on GoodReads as an author. Next Cynthia talked about the incomplete profile which didn’t have the author’s photo or links to the Author’s website or twitter account. As I followed along online during the event, I discovered, I was one of “those” authors.

Immediately I fixed my GoodReads profile. I added my photo and filled out my profile adding my twitter link and much more. Yet I didn’t complete the teleseminar and was pulled away from my computer. It wasn’t an issue because the event was recorded and Sandra sent us the recording (which is still available). Days and weeks passed before I caught the final portion of this event this week.

There was a place for book trailer videos so I uploaded my two videos. Also I saw a little shadow image at the top of the GoodReads home page with a number next to my small photo. It read 495. To my horror, I discovered this number was people who had requested to be my friend on GoodReads and I had not responded or answered. Thankfully I’ve resolved all of these requests and accepted these friends and grown my friends on GoodReads.

Now you can tell the truth of my opening statement: I am no GoodReads expert—but I am learning and growing in my knowledge of this site. In fact, this week I learned the salesmen at Ingram Publishing Services can see a little icon when they look up our names. It is a GoodReads icon and shows whether the author has an active GoodReads presence or not. IPS is the distributor of the Morgan James books. My Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and Billy Graham biography are both published through Morgan James Publishing. It is important that I work at reporting my promotion activities to these sales people because they sell the book into the bookstores. Every bookstore buys books based on the perception of what the author is doing to promote the book. See why I became more interested in being active on GoodReads?

If you are an author or want to be an author, here are five reasons authors need to be on GoodReads:

1. There are 30 million readers on GoodReads. Yes 30 million. Earlier this year they touted 25 million and now it is 30, so it has increased five million in nine months. Just look at the growth curve for this site and that is a good reason for your involvement.

2. You want to interact with people who love books. GoodReads is all about readers and reviews and finding good books then talking about them. Marketing Expert Penny Sansevieri had a lengthy section about GoodReads in her Ebook HOW TO GET REVIEWS BY THE TRUCKLOAD ON AMAZON. I wrote about Penny’s book several months ago (follow this link).

3. You want to be involved in reading and talking about books. On GoodReads, there is a section called Groups. There are thousands (no exaggeration) of groups on any imaginable topic related to talking about books. Join a couple of groups and just like any forum or group, observe and read the conversation before jumping into it. If you can contribute to the discussion, then that is terrific. You will find more readers through tapping into these groups.

4. You want to get more reviews of your own books. I’ve discussed this important aspect of books in other articles but book reviews sell books. If you want to get more reviews, then as an author I encourage you to participate in Giveaways.

5. If you are a book author, you need to claim your GoodReads author profile. One of the relatively new features on GoodReads is a section called Ask the Author. The author has to turn on this feature. Then on your dashboard (that only you can see), you will see new questions to answer. It gives you a place to interact with your readers.

I’ve only scratched the surface of this extensive site. There are many more reasons than these five to regularly visit and learn about GoodReads. It will pay off for you in ways you can’t even begin to imagine.

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Colorado. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. To help writers, he has created 12-lesson online course called Write A Book Proposal. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com.

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Book Buzz by Deatri King-Bey

How do you get people talking about and wanting your book before it’s released? If you’re a multi-published author with a track record of releasing high quality reads, it’s easier because you’ve already built your brand. What about new authors? What about those authors who may not be as new to the game but need a little boost? I think we could all use a refresher on building book buzz every now and again.

One of the great things about creating buzz is it isn’t expensive. What it is and must do is call attention to your book. Your writing. YOU (the author)! Once the buzz grabs the attention, it should create excitement and wanting for your book. So how do we do that?

RESEARCH
Yes, the dreaded “R” word. You must do your research and find your target audience. Why waste all of your wonderfulness on people who don’t want what you have to sell in the hopes of finding those few who do want it. Instead, set yourself up for success. Find large groups of your target audience and get to buzzing there. How, you ask? The web has been a great place to find pockets of target audience since well before Facebook and Twitter. Long ago before the social media craze there were Yahoo Groups, MSN Groups and other types of groups online. Find groups specific to your genre.

Many authors are focused on taking over the World Wide Web, that they forget to start at home. Find your local target audience. I love the site http://www.MeetUp.com. You can also do an Internet search for literary events and groups in your area.

Get to know the readers who love your genre and let them get to know you, because these are the most important ones who will be spreading the buzz about your book. Yes. You need to be personable. Many authors are like me. Introverts. But when I talk books, I open up. Warning, don’t just talk about your book. Show the readers you are about more than just you all the time. Show your interest in other’s works in the genre.

Compile a list of authors and bloggers who write and/or focus on your genre. Eventually you’ll be asking these folks to buzz about your book via their blogs and such.

Compile a list of reviewers for your genre.

So now that you know where to find the readers, authors, and bloggers who will buzz for you, what’s next? Give them something to buzz about.

FREE
Many years ago, when I began my publishing journey, there was no Facebook or Twitter and many people didn’t have computers or know much about going on the Internet. There were also no smart phones… It was a very different time. Though times have changed, people haven’t. They still love getting free stuff. Back in the day, I wrote several short stories and had them edited. Stories that fit my genre. As you get to know readers, give them a free story. The best are prequels to your upcoming title. Get them invested in your characters and wanting to hear their whole story. Warning: Be sure to have these edited. This is your brand. Don’t just throw anything out there. You want it to represent what they can expect to see from you. If the readers enjoy your free story, trust me, they’ll be telling other readers about it (buzzing).

I like to upload free stories at http://www.Smashwords.com then have them distribute it elsewhere. It can take MONTHS to finally appear on Amazon and BN, but I’d rather do that than give Amazon exclusivity. I also like to post the free books on my website to draw traffic there so readers can see my other titles also.

SAMPLE CHAPTER
Post a sample chapter on your website. Yes, you need to have a website where you aren’t in competition with all the noise on social media. Where you control the tone and content of the pages. Of course share your sample chapter online and everywhere else people want to hear about it.

CREATE A CONTEST
Have fun with the readers. Create contests.

A few years back, I wrote a series about four brothers. I allowed the readers to decide what order the books were written in.

I’ve had contest where I allowed readers to submit Titles for the book.

Scavenger hunts are fun. This is where you ask questions that are easy to find on your website. The reader who answers the questions correctly wins.

Stay away from contest such as rewarding for giving a review. That looks like you are paying for reviews.

GUEST BLOGS
Break out that list of authors and bloggers you compiled and get to making guest appearances. Write posts related to your title.

STREET TEAM
Street teams are great in some aspects but bad in others. Street teams are readers who you get to promote your book to other readers. These are great for spreading the word about your book quickly. On the other hand, many readers are starting to ignore the posts from street team members. It’s like they are starting to be considered promoters instead of readers. It’s great to have readers who are enthusiastic about your books. It’s SMART to ask them to spread the word, but if you organize a street team, make sure you don’t have them hitting the same places. Make sure they are hitting places that they usually frequent about things other than YOUR book, so when they talk about your book, it doesn’t look like they are a promoter instead of a reader.

EVENTS
The first thing you did was research, now go where your readers are. Everyone wants to do everything online. There’s nothing wrong with online, but when you can, get out and MEET the readers. You don’t have to conquer the world in a day or spend a lot of money. Start the buzz locally and allow it to grow organically. The readers you get to know locally usually have broader connections. You can also create events.

REVIEWS
Obtaining reviews from review groups is a pain, but a great way to spread the word. I’m not a fan of paid reviews, but some people swear by them. Do what works for you. Obtaining reviews can take months, but go for it anyway.

ENGAGE
When posting online, be sure to have great visuals to draw the attention of readers and be engaging. Posting a “Buy My Book” type promo falls on deaf ears. Post something of substance about a topic in your book and have a discussion. ENGAGE the readers. Keep them coming back for more and BUZZ will follow.

CONCLUSION
The most important thing about building buzz is to be genuine. I love reading and writing my genre. I am a reader first. So I always try to look at things from a reader’s point of view. Why do I tell people about so and so’s book? What draws me to so and so’s book? What will makes me want so and so’s book now? Get to know the readers and let them get to know you.

Now get out there and create some BUZZ.

Deatri King-Bey

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $8.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Build Publishing Habits by W. Terry Whalin

If you are writing a novel or a nonfiction book, what are you doing each day to succeed with this writing project?

Yes, it is important to craft an excellent work with terrific storytelling and craft. We learn these skills through our own reading and continual practice. Writing should be a habit which you continually cultivate and practice on a regular basis.

Yet what about other areas of publishing where you need to develop habits?

Recently I heard from an unpublished author who was getting rejected or no response from literary agents. She was sending out a children’s book and couldn’t understand why she could not succeed. I wrote this author that she needed to do more to understand the marketplace. Only a few literary agents that I know represent children’s books for several reasons. First, the advances are very low for children’s books.

Also it’s hard to get a children’s book published and much of the writing work is Work Made for Hire or something an agent wouldn’t be involved in. Finally agents are looking for writers who demonstrate that they have been published. You have to show this skill through writing for print magazines or other recognized forms. This unpublished author was floundering because she had not done the basics to understand the market. As a daily habit, she needed to be reading published authors and how-to books as well as connecting with someone to help her.

Reading in the field is another publishing habit that every author or would-be author should be developing. There are free newsletters and many ways to learn from others. Are you tapping into these resources?

Another publishing habit is to constantly build your connections to others. It doesn’t require tons of time but it does require consistent effort. For example, posting on Twitter and Facebook in your area of expertise is a publishing habit. You can use tools like Hootsuite so it does not have to consume much time but the consistency will pay off.

I spend the majority of my days working with authors as an acquisitions editor at Morgan James. My personal goal is to help as many authors as I can to achieve their dreams of getting published. As a result of these goals, I’m on the phone with authors or literary agents. Or I’m answering emails or interacting with my Morgan James colleagues about book projects. I have a series of habits that I execute each day related to my work at Morgan James.

What goals do you have for your publishing life? Have you written them down and are you looking at them on a regular basis? What habits do you need to develop in order to achieve these goals?

As you are consistent, it will pay off for you in the marketplace. I have a great deal of free information in my ebook, Platform-Building Ideas for Every Author. If you haven’t read this Ebook, I suggest you get it and study it, then apply the lessons to your writing life.

What new publishing habits are you developing?

________________________________________

W. Terry Whalin, a writer and acquisitions editor lives in Irvine, California. A former magazine editor and former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. He has written more than 60 nonfiction books including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. To help writers, he has created 12-lesson online course called Write A Book Proposal. His website is located at: www.terrywhalin.com.

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Publishing Leeches by Deatri King-Bey

A lot has changed in the many years that I’ve been in the publishing business. One thing that hasn’t changed is people who want something for nothing. This occurs in all walks of life, but I want to focus on publishing today. I want you to take a cold, hard, honest look at yourself and see if you are being a leech, then stop it if you are.

Inconsiderate, Lazy Leech
This is a common type of publishing leech. I was helping an aspiring author who had a million questions. After about two hours on the phone, she still had a billion questions. I informed her that my book, Become A Successful Author, answers most of her questions, then I gifted her my book and told her to read it first, then ask follow-up questions. The following month this author sent me a ridiculously long email with questions that were answered in the book and asked if we could speak on the phone again. I asked her if she had read the book (maybe she had comprehension issues), and she said she hadn’t had time and wanted me to just tell her what she needed to do.

She didn’t have a few hours to read a book that would answer her questions and give her a good base of knowledge to conduct her own research from, but wanted me to spend hours of my time spoon-feeding her information. Yep, that’s lazy and inconsiderate.

If you expect others to do more for you than you are willing to do for yourself, you are a leech.

Something For Nothing Leech
This is also a very common publishing leech. Editors, graphic artist, proof readers… anyone in the service industry suffers from leeches who want something for nothing. Don’t get me wrong, we all want a good deal, but there are a lot of authors who are trying to make money (increase book sales) on the backs of the editors, graphic artists, proofreaders… If someone has the skillset you need to get the best product out there, you need to pay them for their talent. If you are not willing to invest in your business, why do you expect others to invest in your business by purchasing your books?

Me, Me, Me Leech
We’ve all experienced these. I run two reading groups on social media. I’m shocked—not really—how many authors IM me because I only allow promos two days a week. Somehow I’m responsible for them not making the NYT best sellers list. I’m tempted to share some of the messages I receive from authors whining because they can’t treat the reading groups like their billboard. They don’t care that they are promoting to the wrong genre. They don’t care that we are there to talk about the books we’re reading, not be bombarded with their promos. If it’s not about them, they don’t care. Those type of authors suck the life right out of a group.

Concept Leech
This is one of the more rare publishing leeches. Or maybe they are better at hiding. I was at a writer’s conference a few months ago and overheard an author talking about a concept she had for a novel. I thought, great idea, then went on about my business. Later that day, I heard a second author talking about the same concept with a few differences. They were too similar to be a coincidence. This is exactly why I do not tell people about my book concepts. You never know if there is a concept leech around.

Spirit Leech
This one is very harmful. Be carful. These are the authors who are so negative and nasty that their vibe throws you off. It’s like they suck your spirit dry. You’re trying to be and do positive, but all they see is the negative.

Clinging Leech
These are the authors who hang around a more popular author in hopes of syphoning new readers from the more popular author. This one is hard to explain. We are authors and we hang out in the same places. These leeches are users. Once they get what they want, they move to the next target.

What’s the cure for leeches? I know none of you see yourselves in anything I’ve said, but if you are the victim of a leech, remember, you teach people how to treat you. I’m not saying to stop being a giving person. I’m a giving person and will continue to do so. That doesn’t mean you have to stand there and be sucked dry by leeches.

I wrote this article so you can keep an eye out, but there is good news. There aren’t as many leeches out there as one may think. Social media has made them more visible, so they seem to be in greater number than they are.

Keep your focus without falling into the “It’s all about me” mode, and you’ll be fine.

Much Joy Peace and Love,
Deatri King-Bey

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Advice for Aspiring Authors by Deatri King-Bey

• Listen and verify: You’ll want several mentors with a mix and match of strengths such as writing, editing, business, marketing and networking… Realize that the publishing world is ever changing, so take lessons from others to use as a base for your own research. I’m not saying finding mentors is easy, but you must try. Attend conferences, workshops, join local groups, take online courses, network…. There are many affordable options out there. Get to know the publishing community.

• Learn the craft: Great storytellers are not always great authors or even halfway decent authors. Never stop learning the craft and improving. The moment you think you know it all and there is no room for improvement is the moment you start to lose your edge. I’ve seen many seasoned authors fall prey to losing their edge because they didn’t see room for improvement in their writing.

• Don’t abuse your muse: There are those who say you must write every day. I do not believe in that philosophy. Writing fiction is creative. If you force your creative side to write daily, you can cause writer’s block—or what I affectionately call your muse going on strike. I think you should do something related to your writing most days of the week. Besides writing, you may read, take courses, attend workshops, read articles, teach others…

• One genre at a time: Know what genre you write. I’m dumbfounded how many authors say their books don’t fit a genre. That their books have something for everyone. That all readers will love their books. Sorry, but no. Am I saying your books must fit 100% into a single genre? Nope. There are cross-genre hybrids, but you should understand the rules of the genres to know how you are creating a hybrid. Once you lock in your genre (even if it’s a cross-genre hybrid) start mastering it and building your audience. After you have a nice sized audience, then branch out to include other genres in your portfolio if you’d like.

• Get an editor: The other day, a debut author told me she didn’t need an editor because she was confident in her work. Confidence is a good thing. It’s also not the editor’s job to give you confidence. Editors help you make your manuscript the best it can be. Stop making excuses. All authors need editors. Even NYT best selling authors have editors. Is it expensive? Yes. It’s an investment in your writing career and business that you can carry into future works. With each developmental edit, you should learn more about the craft.

• Know the business: Whether you go the self and/or traditional route, you need to understand the business side of things.

• Avoid the promotion trap: Promotion and marketing are important, but the best way to grow your audience is releasing outstanding books. Be smart when promoting and marketing. Know your genre, then promote to large groups of that genre. Cross promote with other authors in the genre. Stop trying to convert romance lovers to horror. Stop wasting time running after readers. You’re an author. Writing should always be your main focus.

Deatri King-Bey

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Romance Slam Jam 2014 by J’son M. Lee

This year marked the 19th anniversary of Romance Slam Jam. Emma Rodgers, Ashira Tosihwe, and the late Francis Ray founded Romance Slam Jam in 1995 in Dallas, Texas. Their goal was to bring writers and readers together to celebrate Black love—and that’s what happened!

This year’s Slam was held in New Orleans, LA, from May 7 – 11. All conference activities were held at the Hilton New Orleans Airport, located in the suburb of Kenner, LA. With clean, comfortable rooms, a quaint courtyard, several onsite eateries, and ample meeting facilities, the hotel was the perfect venue.

The theme of this year’s Slam was Romancing the Big Easy. Since this was my first Slam, I decided to attend the “First Timers to RSJ” workshop, facilitated by Toni Bonita Robinson. Ms. Robinson described the event as a family reunion of sorts where the focus was love. I immediately felt at home.

Romance Slam Jam offered a series of intimate workshops for both writers and readers. There was something for everyone. Since my focus was continuing education to help hone my craft, I migrated towards the writer workshops facilitated by literary greats like Deatri King-Bey (Point of View), Patricia Sargeant (Plotting), Norwood Holland (Crowdfunding), Seressia Glass (The Art of Writing Novellas), Sheila Goss, and CEO of Smashwords, Mark Coker (Ebook publishing, etc.). If that were not enough, I also had the pleasure of meeting two of the premier storytellers of our time—Beverly Jenkins and Evelyn Palfrey. As were the other facilitators, they were gracious and asked that I reach out to them if I had any questions.

While there was a lot of work (if you want to call learning work), there was also a lot of time allotted for fun. Lunch breaks were leisurely and allowed you to bond with new and old friends. The author panels afforded you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to pick the brains of some of your favorite authors. The keynote luncheon speaker, Author Angie Daniels, was funny and inspirational. Lastly, the night out in the Big Easy, was a wet one, but traversing the flooded streets with new friends made it all worthwhile.

The Slam came to a close with the Emma Awards banquet. The Emma Awards is one of the preeminent awards event for readers and authors of Black romance. I was happy for all of the winners, but I cheered the most when my friend and mentor, Deatri King-Bey took home the award for Heroine of the Year (Isis Michaels in The Only Option). The organizers took us out in true New Orleans style. The second line consisted of readers and writers alike. They danced, cheered and twirled their handkerchiefs in the air.

If you are a lover of romance, or just looking to network with people who enjoy a good read, Romance Slam Jam is the event for you. Organized and professional, this event surpassed my expectations. Authors, if you’re seriously interested in honing your craft and truly connecting with readers, please consider attending Romance Slam Jam 2015 in Irving, TX (March 26 – 29). “This isn’t a conference to sell books,” says Deatri King-Bey. This event was about building a lasting network of friends and supporters— this event was truly about love!

J’son M. Lee (Editor)

See you at www.sweetgeorgiapress.com

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $8.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Notes from AwesomeCon DC 2014 by Cerece Rennie Murphy

The Set-Up

– An artist/small press table for AwesomeCon this year was $290. The fee included one skirted table and 2 chairs. The Convention ran from Friday afternoon through Sunday with a reported attendance of 40k people.

– Though the coordinators seemed somewhat disorganized prior to the event, once everything was underway, things ran pretty smoothly and I was impressed with the level of customer service that was offered to vendors.

– The table vs booth distinction was an issue. I thought I paid for a booth, but got a table when I arrived. Fortunately, I had my new retractable banners so set-up was much easier. I highly recommend these if anyone is considering what items to invest in for a show. Unfortunately, I had no room for my RIB rack, so I just bought the books with me and was able to talk about quite a few RIB authors. My list of POC speculative fiction writers came in handy as well.

– The convention was small enough to have just 1 person (me) at my table for both Friday and Sunday, but Saturday, I got help from my mother.

Results

– 94 books sold in 2 ½ days, which I think is pretty good considering that this was the smallest Con I’ve done to-date.

– Had 2 impromptu interviews and made a few connections that I am looking forward to exploring

– I paid $120 for electricity, mostly to power my TV where I play my book trailer as part of my display. But unlike in bigger Cons where you are really fighting for attention, I don’t think I needed it for this event. Next year, I will save the expense.

– The “2 for $20” pitch continues to be a powerful tool. Including some swag also helps to make people feel like they are really getting a great deal for their money. I am still giving away the reusable bags and/or Order of the Seers posters with each book purchase.

Conclusion

– This was definitely a successful event for me and I will be back next year (unless they schedule the event during Easter weekend again!)

– Even if you don’t know someone you can stay with in the DC/MD/VA area, you can find cheap enough accommodations in DC that might allow you to a least breakeven, while increasing your book exposure. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Deatri King-Bey

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Author Interview Prep by Kisha Green

Let’s start with the basics. If you are interested in being featured on a radio show or on a website and etc., first contact the person who is in charge of that and send them your electronic press kit (EPK). This should include but not limited to;

Book Cover jpeg
Synopsis
Page Count
Genre
Distribution Information
Publisher
Author/ Publisher website
Book Reviews
Author Bio

The same check list applies if you are contacting a bookstore about carrying your book but also include flyers and bookmarks (if possible visit the store and deliver your information personally so the owner can get a face with the name/book).

After sending your press kits, wait about a week and then follow up. Do NOT harass anyone asking them “Did they get it yet?” that is annoying and you do not want to get on anyone’s nerves and you haven’t even got the confirmation that you will be interviewed or featured.

Make sure you are in a quiet place when time to do your radio interview. Pay attention to the host but try to relax because listeners will be able to pick up on you being nervous. You do not want dead air or a lot of pauses so make sure you can answer the basics about yourself and your book. Do not try to sound scripted but you do want to appear you know what you are talking about. If it is a written interview, make sure you answer all of the questions thoroughly.

Just like your book is a direct reflection of you, so is your interview.

Good Luck!

Kisha Green

Kisha Green is a Author/Publisher who has a passion for writing and sharing her witty personality with many through social media. For more info about Kisha, visit her website www.divabooksinconline.com and you can also follow her on Twitter @KishaGreen

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Build OFFLINE Relationships with Readers! by Deatri King-Bey

The other day one of my new mentees asked me why I attend reader events when most readers want eBooks now days and you can promote your books online for free. First off, print books have more sells than electronic, but that’s neither her or there. Secondly, time is money. So the hours of time she spends chasing down readers should be calculated into her marketing cost. What worried me is my she thought there was no need to meet the readers in person anymore. She told me she doesn’t waste time with conferences because she won’t make the money back in sells. Soooo, I decided it’s time to write an article about why you should meet the readers.

In a few weeks, I’m headed to the Romance Slam Jam—the place for readers and authors of Black romance to meet. I’ve been attending this annual even over ten years. I originally attended as a reader of Black romance, then became an aspiring author and finally a published author of Black romance. I attend reader events quite often, because I am a reader, but this is the only conference that I attend regularly as an author. Readers read all year around. So by the time the conference comes around, the regulars already have my books, thus I don’t sell many books at the conferences. So why continue to go?

Because this is my way of saying “Thank you for investing in me over the years and your continued support. The least I can do is spend a few days to hang with you.” You’d be shocked at how much readers appreciate authors not just being in sell mode. How much they appreciate you taking a little time to talk about what they love to read—your genre books. They want to see you as more than the author who just shows up when they have a new release saying, “Buy my book.”
Because this is where a large group of my target audience meets each year with the purpose of talking about what I write. Yes, having people travel across the country or even across town who want what you have to offer is a good thing. They are there for your genre, not to weed through Facebook and other social media to happen upon a post you made.
I choose to attend one conference in my genre regularly because I want to get to know that set of attendees and the new attendees each year. Building relationships with readers and others in the business (offline) is a good thing. If you are a new author (new to the reader) they are more willing to give your work a try if they know you. If they already know and like your work, they are more likely to spread the word about your work if they know you personally.
My opt-in mailing list grows every time I attend a reader event for my genre. The opt-in mailing list is your most powerful tool in your marketing arsenal. Unlike social media where they control when and who gets to see your promos and post, you own your opt-in list. It’s like I say, don’t keep all your eggs in one basket. Especially a basket someone else owns (social media).
Speaking with others in the publishing business in person, learning from each other. Getting leads. Giving pitches. Taking workshops… As an author, you should invest in your business. This means networking, learning the craft and the business. Conferences and reader events are great places to do all of these.

So do I get a good return on investment by attending this yearly conference? Yes I do. I get an outstanding return on investment. Not from the books I sell at the conference, which will be minimal, but from the connections I’ve made. Because of those connections, when I have new releases, I have a pretty sizable base that purchases my books and spreads the word about them. This base took years to cultivate and is ever growing. Many of my readers promote my titles not only because they like the book, but because they’ve gotten to know me as more than that chick on Facebook who starts to pop in a few weeks before she has a new release.

Now get out there and find a conference that focuses on your genre. You want readers who are there for what you have to offer! Can’t afford to travel, use the good ol’ Internet and find something local.

Deatri King-Bey

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Increase Your Sales Numbers by Deatri King-Bey

I write because the characters in my head will drive me crazy if I don’t. As I like to say, I put my psychosis to work. I enjoy writing and love sharing my stories with readers. That’s the artistic side of me. I sell my titles to make money. I know a lot of authors who say they aren’t in it for the money. Granted, that’s not the only reason I’m in the business, but if making money weren’t part of it, I wouldn’t charge for my titles.

There are no quick fixes, and overnight success is luck that most of us don’t have, so take steps to increase your sells. Below are a few tips to help you along your way.

Plan For Success: No groaning. It takes time, but proper planning will save you time and money while increasing your sells. Set measurable goals and strategies to reach them. Work your plan and make adjustments where needed. Don’t know how to set goals? Here’s a little help: Creating S.M.A.R.T Goals that you can apply to creating your plan. Here’s an article I wrote a while back that shows planning in action: Proper Planning Testimony: A Key To Publishing Success.

Invest In A Successful Outcome: If you are not willing to invest in your product, why should your customers? Learn the craft and strive to make each novel better than the previous. You can not edit your own book and expect it to be the best it can be. Pay for professional editing (developmental, copy and proof reading—a different editor for each type of editing). If you can’t create professional quality covers, then hire someone to do it for you. The same goes for the other steps in the production process.

Use Your Prime Realty: How many of you include a list of your titles in your novels? I know numerous authors who do, but they put that list at the back of the book. Many readers do not continue reading to see what’s included after the novel ends. Move that list to the front matter. I experimented with this, and sells of my backlist drop when I place that list at the back of the book.

Same goes with your website. You should have a product page for each of your titles AND a page that list purchase information on all of your titles. I can’t tell you how many authors’ pages I’ve gone to that don’t have product pages or it’s hard to find the product pages for their older titles. Your website is your personal showroom.

Make It Easy For Readers To Buy Your Books: I make a few thousand in sells on Barnes & Noble a year. Nowhere near as much as I make on Amazon, but I’ll take it. One of the reasons I do okay on Barnes & Noble is I make it just as easy for readers to by my Nook titles as I do my Kindle titles. I’m shocked at how many authors only place their Amazon link or say “Available on Amazon” then forget about the other online sellers. I know numerous users of devices other than Kindle who ignore post that only say Amazon or Kindle because they figure the author must be a part of that KDP Select program where they have given Amazon exclusivity.

Work Smarter Not Harder: Direct your marketing/promo for readers in your target audience. I manage and belong to several genre specific, online readers groups. It amazes me how many authors come into the groups and post promos that do not belong to the groups’ genres. Many groups have begun blocking authors for continual promotion and promoting non-genre titles. You do not want to become a pain in the butt to readers.

Instead of joining every group that allows authors of your genre to promote, pick a few and actually participate in them. You’ll get a much higher return on your investment (more sells) than if you just pop in to promote your titles and it will take less time. That includes participating a few weeks before your book comes out, then promoting your book and disappearing. Yes, many readers pay attention to that type of thing.

Stop Spreading Yourself Too Thin: It seems like every few months there is a new type of social media out there you can use to promote. Do you know which is the best social media site to use? The one you utilize to its full extent. Each one has its own flavor. Pick the one that you like best, then focus your energy on building your fan base through that site. Once you are comfortable, if you have time, then expand to a second. Remember, each of the major social media hubs have millions of readers for you. You don’t have to be everywhere. Get the millions from the hub you find works best for you, then expand.

Cross Promote: Work with authors in your genre to cross promote. I don’t know of any reader who says they only read one author’s work, but I know many who say they only read one genre. Stop competing with each other. Readers read. Even if they don’t purchase your book today, if they want it, they will buy it.

Cross promotion is as simple as posting in social media when an author has a New Release. Have guest bloggers on your website. Do signings with other authors. Create online groups and web sites with other authors in your genre.

I’m all for cross promotion, but ensure the people you are promoting are interested in releasing as high of quality work as you do.

That’s It
There is no secret or magic behind increasing your sells. Just keep releasing quality products and building your audience. With each title, your base will grow, and you won’t have to work as hard promoting.

Deatri King-Bey

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Five Steps to Connecting with Your Niche Market by Barbara Joe Williams

Niche marketing is the process of concentrating all your marketing efforts on a minor but specific and well-defined segment of the population. In other words, your goal is to be a big fish in a small pond instead of being a small fish in a big pond. With new authors and publishers seeming to appear daily, the publishing industry has definitely turned into an ocean where it’s easy to drown if you’re not connecting with readers.

In this blog, I want to help you understand five important steps for connecting with your niche market by defining your genre, defining your audience, finding your audience, practicing effective ways to reach them, and building lasting relationships with them.

1. Define your genre. The first step in determining your niche market is by defining your specific genre. Knowing what category your writing falls into is the key. Are you a mystery writer or romance novelist? Are your books self-help, historical fiction, or erotica? There are a lot of categories in the publishing industry, it’s up you to decide where you want to fit in. I write African American romance and women’s fiction. However, some of my readers have defined my work as Christian fiction and Urban fiction, and I accept that. On Amazon, you can only list two classifications, so you should decide where you can reach the widest range of readers who match your genre and let them determine how they want to classify your work.

2. Define your audience. Every book will certainly not appeal to every reader. Therefore, knowing exactly who your audience is makes it easier to reach them. If you try marketing to everyone just because they’re a reader, you probably won’t get your books into the hands of those most likely to read them. My first novel, Forgive Us This Day, was about a long-term married African American couple having some problems, but they were determined to stay together or get back together in their case. So I knew that my primary audience would be middle aged, African American women, married or divorced, with children, and mainly southerners since my novel was set in Florida. Did some African American men and Caucasians buy the book? Yes, but my target was AA women.

3. Find your audience. If you think all you have to do is publish a good book and people will automatically buy it, then you should think again. Realistically, it’s up to you to find your readers by putting in the time and effort to see where they spend their quality time. What other websites do they visit? What other interests do they have? This information will help you when you’re ready to advertise your work. Think about it, they can’t find you because they don’t know about you, yet. After my first book was published, I made a list of all the women I knew who fit my criteria and made contact with them (co-workers, former co-workers, friends, close family, distant relatives, etc.) via email or telephone. My goal was simple, if they didn’t buy my book, it would be because they didn’t want to read it, not because they didn’t know about it.

4. Practice effective ways to reach your audience. Now that you have defined your audience and know how to find them, the next step is figure out how to reach them. I visited all the local bookstores/libraries and introduced myself to the store managers/librarians and asked them about specific book clubs in the area. I joined online romance book clubs like SORMAG (Shades of Romance Magazine) and advertised with them. Please note this, if you write Science Fiction, you need to advertise in Sci-Fi magazines, not in romance magazines because you want to reach a wider audience.

Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter has revived many writing careers. It has also helped many new authors reach more readers by consistently maintaining an online presence and connection. Facebook has a variety of genre specific book clubs like mystery, romance, urban, women’s fiction, historical fiction, poetry, paranormal, and more. Blogging is another way of reaching a specific community that might be interested in your genre. Connecting with other bloggers and being guests on their sites will also help increase your visibility. Another key to being successful at blogging is to having a way of directing prospective readers to your website with intriguing topics. Yes, it’s important to have a website as a base where people can always find you. Be sure to include links to your Facebook and Twitter accounts from there.

5. Build a relationship with your readers. Building a relationship with your readers will sustain you as an author, build your credibility, increase reader loyalty, and ultimately boost your profits. Your readers want to see you as a person, so you’ll have to share some of your personal stories with them in order to create a lasting connection. Show them your uniqueness and what you bring to your genre that’s different from what everyone else is selling. What’s your philosophy of writing? Why do you write in a certain genre? Why should they read your novel? Let your readers know who you are, where you’ll be, and how they can find you and your books online or locally. My favorite way of connecting with local readers will always be through book signings. Not only can they meet me in person, they can buy autographed books, and sign up for my mailing list!

In addition to social media, there are several ways of connecting with potential readers by joining writing groups, attending book conferences, participating in book festivals, and by joining local and online book clubs or groups. The Internet and Facebook are loaded with special reading groups and genre-related book clubs. However, some of them are much livelier than others. You need to find the ones that are active and then become active in them. Don’t try to use the group as a daily billboard for promoting your work, but try posting about books you’ve read to pull in other readers. (This is why it’s importing for writers to be readers. You have to connect with them on their level first, then let them know that you’re an author). The more you participate in online discussions, the more you connect with readers who are actually interested in buying books. And maybe, just maybe, some of them will buy yours when they are published.

In closing, please remember that more than anything, it takes time to connect with your niche market. If you’re in the publishing business for the long haul, take your time, do it right, and readers will be talking about your classic books for years to come.

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

A Single Letter Makes A Difference by W. Terry Whalin

Do you ever get stuck on a project where it seems to drag on and never get handled?

Yes it happens to me. As an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. The bulk of my day is involved answering emails and spending time on the phone with authors about their book projects. I’m working with many different types of authors at different stages in the process for their books. It’s a lot of fun and interesting work on a wide variety of types of books for different audiences. If you want to know more detail, I encourage you to hear my recent radio interview where I spoke about the details.

In the middle of my acquisitions work, I have my own book projects and on-going effort to tell people about Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. Originally I released this book several years ago and published it through my small press, WTW Press.

While I have continued to promote my book and teach on the topic, the actual book needed updating in several areas:

—first, I changed companies and moved from Arizona almost two years ago. The Arizona information in the book was outdated.

—several of the resources in the book needed to be changed. Some websites that I wrote about years ago aren’t functioning any longer. Change is a constant part of the publishing world.

—Morgan James offered to publish the book and get it out to a broader audience and in many different formats including all of the various types of Ebooks and an audio version of the book. Morgan James is selling their books into 98% of the bookstores in North America including the brick and mortar bookstores.

About a year ago, I signed a contract with Morgan James for this revision. It was exciting. My challenge was finding the time to make the necessary corrections. This sort of time crunch is what almost every writer faces. I went through one round of changes with the designer last March. Yes, it was almost a year ago. I printed my book and carried it to many different places around the country—but never got it handled—until the final portion of December.

Why did I find time during the holidays? Morgan James shuts their offices the last two weeks of the year. While I did answer some email during that time, my correspondence dwindled so I could focus on some other things—like my own writing.

I carefully read through each page of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams. Imagine my horror when I reached page 237 and this section, “Most people outside of the publishing community assume they will make money writing books, but the publishing numbers present a different story. Less than 90 percent of nonfiction books ever earn back their advance.”

OK, bear with me for a minute because the last sentence of that paragraph did not say what I wanted it to say. What the revised version says is “More than 90 percent of nonfiction books never earn back their advance.” Yes that is the reality that only 10% of nonfiction books earn their advance.

This change was just one of a number of important changes that happened in the revision process. Also the pagination for the book changed so the index for the book was completely overhauled in this updated version.

I’m excited about the information in this book and how it is helping writers. I continue to promote the material and speak on it. Also next month (March 21^st and 22^nd) I will be in Spokane, Washington teaching at the Inland Northwest Christian Writers Conference. I hope to see you at one of these events. I’m working on more speaking events later this year and you can always see my speaking schedule at this location.

And if you can’t get to a writers’ conference where we connect in person, then I encourage you to pick up a copy of Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and begin to study it and apply it to your writing life.

If you found this post helpful, please use the Share buttons to spread the word about it.

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or$9.99(print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

Ever Changing Publishing World by Deatri King-Bey

The publishing world is ever changing, and you need to change with it or be left behind. With so many moving pieces, it can be difficult to focus. The key is to pick one area at a time to follow.

This is a two-part article. Let’s Get Down To Publishing Business delves into the parts of the business that move, but not so much they are hard to keep track of as much such as taxes, earnings and proper planning. I find this stuff boring, but you have to learn about it, so don’t skip it.

Now back to the not so boring part. Let’s look at some of those moving parts of the publishing industry.

BARNES & NOBLE
In the past year, Barnes & Noble has changed quite a bit. To upload your ebook, instead of going to pubit.com you should now use http://www.NookPress.com. I have always liked the sales reports better on Barnes & Noble. You have a breakdown of what you sell each day and the royalty. So if I run a promo campaign on the 4th, 5th and 6th, I can see how many and what titles I sold on the 4th, 5th, and 6th.

The Nook Press platform for uploading the book isn’t much better than it was before. You can actually edit your manuscript in Nook Press, but I haven’t used that feature. I don’t like the idea of keeping my manuscript there. I’ll do it the old fashioned way. Write it on my computer and upload it.

It used to take around three days for my titles to show for sale after uploading. Lately, I’ve been averaging about a day. The Nook Press system is more touchy with the files. Follow their guidelines or the system will not accept your manuscript. When formatting, please note that using a “Page Break” no longer starts chapters on a new page. You must now use “Section Break.” They have also changed the cover dimensions and file size. Read their guidelines. They are ever changing.

Unfortunately, they don’t have any new promo opportunities, their customer service is still poor and the newsletters they send out to customers with recommended reads aren’t the best at introducing readers to books similar to those they’ve purchased in the past. Hopefully, things will improve.

Many authors have given up on Barnes & Noble, but I’m not one of them. I’ll take my little $200-$600 a month from them for now and be happy.

AMAZON

Amazon has so many changes. Where to begin? Where to begin?

Subgenres: There are additional subgenres that you need to pay attention to. For example Interracial Romance and Science Fiction Romance. If your book actually fits into one of the new subgenres, use the Contact option from the KDP site and ask them to add your title to that subgenre. Remember, Amazon only allows you to link your title to two genres, so you’ll only get to choose one genre when you are updating your product page information.

One of my mentees had her title added to the appropriate subgenre and her sells took off. Since she changed in November, she’s gotten around 65 sells. Previous to that she’d only had 20 and her book had been out over a year. She also has not been promoting her book, so this is all from the change in genre.

Kindle Book Formatting: Amazon now wants you to have a Table Of Contents in your ebooks. They’ll let you upload the file without the table of contents, but eventually, you’ll get a nasty gram saying you need to update your book with a table of contents. They also have a “spell check” of sorts now that calls out errors in your book after it’s been uploaded. Don’t rely on it. Hire good editors and proof readers.

Review Removal: In an attempt to decrease phony reviews, Amazon added a new policy for not allowing reviews or “Sentiments by or on behalf of a person or company with a financial interest in the product or a directly competing product (including reviews by publishers, manufacturers, or third-party merchants selling the product)” –Amazon Policy

Technically, authors could not write reviews for other authors. You also couldn’t have your family and friends writing glowing reviews for you. At first numerous reviews were removed, but Amazon has pretty much backed off this.

Kindle MatchBook: If your eBook is also available in print, through your KDP dashboard, you can link the two, so that when someone purchases the print edition, they can also purchase the eBook version as a discounted price. I’ve done this with my eBooks that are available in print and haven’t seen a measurable increase in print sales. Here’s more information on Kindle MatchBook.

Be careful if the print version of your book was ever released by a different publisher. Ensure Amazon knows which book to link the MatchBook promotion to. Many authors have gotten their rights back, but their old publishers are still selling print copies of their titles.

KDP Reports: The reporting is greatly improved. You no longer have to wait until the 15th of the month to see the previous month’s sells. I like the at a glance look at how many of each title I sold for the month. Granted, you will not have the royalty report for the previous month until the 15th, but if you really wanted to know, you can always look at your previous six weeks report. You can also toggle between locations. For example how well are your titles selling in the UK or Germany? Take your time and go through the reports section. You’ll find lots of goodies.

KDP Payday: There is no longer a minimum royalty payout. So if you sell one copy of your .99 title in February, you’ll receive your royalty check for that .99 sell at the end of April.

Release Date: Numerous authors found out that the release date on their product page had been updated to a current date without their knowledge. What happened? A few months ago, Amazon changed the programming in the background. Before this change, if you didn’t select a publishing date when you uploaded your title, it used the date that the file was uploaded and that was the end. You could go in and change your product information and have no issues. After the change, if you have not selected a publication date, the system can automatically update your publication date.

Yep. You can end up having a publishing date YEARS after review dates if this happens. Have no fear. Just go into the KDP dashboard then to the titled product page information and update the release date to the proper date. On the KDP dashboard, it will list the original release date.

GOODREADS
Amazon purchased Goodreads. Many were worried that would be the end of Goodreads, but the site is still thriving. One of the biggest changes on Goodreads is now authors can “own” their profile. It’s a way of keeping information up to date on your titles. Read more about the Goodreads Author Program

One thing I really like about Goodreads is the quotes. Readers can post quotes from books they’ve read. I’ve found this is a great conversation starter. Soooo, be sure to encourage your readers to showcase their favorite quotes from your titles. Here are a few from one of my titles.

Goodreads quotes: https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/25520642-the-only-option

FACEBOOK
I know you don’t want to hear this, but your opt-in mailing list is your most powerful weapon in your marketing arsenal (outside of releasing outstanding books). Building a high quality opt-in list is time consuming, but worth it. What does this have to do with Facebook? Well, those of you who follow my teachings have heard me say several times that your social media friends and likes are not YOURS. They belong to the social media site.

I think Facebook, Twitter and such are great for promotion, but don’t only rely on them. Keep growing your opt-in mailing list. So let’s look at what has happened over at Facebook since this time last year.

Actually, we need to go back a little over a year when Facebook began warning users not to promote on their personal pages. They encouraged users to create fan pages, which were for business and had just as far of a reach of a personal page AND the added bonus of your being allowed more than 5,000 followers.

So people started following the rules and creating Fan pages. In came a Facebook business model change. They decided to start charging you for you to post to more than 10% of your list of your fan pages. In came another change on your personal pages. Your statuses are no longer posted to all of your “friends” newsfeeds. They are only posted to “friends” who you have interacted with recently.

So now authors who only relied on Facebook are having difficulty reaching their followers unless they are willing to pay. How much does it cost? Here’s an article that breaks it down nicely: Facebook I Want My Friends Back

Expensive, huh? Soooo, get to working on your opt-in mailing list. Again, social media is great. Use it, but don’t put all your eggs into a basket you don’t even own. You do not control what business model those social media sites will follow. You do control your mailing list though.

Before I change the subject form Facebook, I came across an interesting article about why you should Like Your Own Facebook Post.

TWITTER

Twitter now allows you to post images! I love that feature, but still don’t get Twitter. Every year I try some new marketing technique. Last year was the year of Twitter for me. I actively participated. I set up my Hootsuite tool to repost blog post and promos. I retweeted and was retweeted. I gained followers and followed…. All that good stuff. I usually send people from social media over to my website so I can see where my promo traffic is coming from and guess what? I barely saw anything from Twitter. For me, it wasn’t worth my time. I still go on Twitter from time to time, but it’s just not my thing. If it works for you, GO FOR IT!

YOUR TURN
Okay, there are more changes. What have you noticed has changed over the last year? Enlighten us.

Deatri King-Bey

If you found this post helpful, please use the Share buttons to spread the word about it.

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author is used in the “How To Write That Novel” course at Chicago State because it covers everything from branding to writing to editing to formatting and uploading electronic and print books to marketing and so much more. Your time is money. Look at all the time, thus money, you’ll save by ending your search for answers: Purchase Become A Successful Author for only $4.99 (eBook) or $9.99 (print) from: Amazon (US), Amazon (UK), Barnes & Noble

10 Rules for Social Networking by Barbara Joe Williams

I believe in guerilla marketing techniques, but some authors go too far when it comes to social media. There’s a thin line between promoting and spamming that authors need to be aware of as well as a few guidelines to follow. You will have to decide for yourself how far you’re willing to go for a book sale. Your reputation is the most valuable thing you can have as an author and a publisher, you don’t want to do anything to tarnish it.

The top ten rules for social networking for authors are:

(1) Authenticity. You don’t have to share all of your personal business on social media, but let readers know that you’re human, too. Be yourself and enjoy yourself. Letting them know who and what you’re reading can be beneficial. If they see you as a reader, too, they’re more likely to support you as an author.

(2) Connection. You want to connect as well as interact with people. Constantly asking followers to “buy, buy, buy” is a “lose, lose, lose” situation. Writing and sharing useful information is a win. It only takes a minute to update your Facebook/Twitter feed while you’re on the move.

(3) Consistency. If you’re trying to promote a business on one page and you have inappropriate photos (i.e. topless poses or booty shots) on your personal page, it could give an interested client or reader the wrong impression about you. Remember, once they search for your name, both sites can be viewed.

(4) Permission. A lot of authors/readers are starting their own groups (and conversations) on Facebook. However, make sure you ask for permission before adding anyone to yours. I like being involved in various activities, but it’s irritating when I start receiving messages from groups I’ve been added to without my knowledge.

(5) Positive. Keeping it positive will keep you in the spotlight and keep your friends coming back for more. People are looking for positive affirmations on a daily basis not negativity. Readers will be drawn to your page once you are identified as a peaceful positive person (PPP).

(6) Profanity. Using profanity is very unprofessional on all social media outlets and could be considered offensive to some of your followers. If you want to be taken seriously as an author and publisher, you should refrain from using any form of profanity, even on your personal page.

(7) Spamming. Posting an advertisement for your published product on someone’s page without prior consent is considered spamming. This could be a fast way to “turn-off’” future readers. Regardless of how good you think your book is, no one likes to be spammed.

(8) Tagging. Be careful about tagging people in pictures in which they don’t even appear just to promote your product. If you have them mentioned in an article or somewhere in your book, they shouldn’t mind. But just tagging for publicity is unacceptable in most cases.

(9) Targeting. Using social media is an excellent way to target your likely readers. For example, if you’re a romance author, you should join romance book clubs (and groups) and start interacting with other lovers of this genre. Once they realize you’re a published author, they will be even more interested.

(10) Videos. Most people are very visual and enjoy seeing pictures and videos of their favorite authors. You should consider posting video clips from appearances on your personal or fan page, but remember to keep them timed at a minimum for maximum appeal.

Keep all of these in mind, and you’re on your way to becoming a social media ninja. You will be amazed at how your book sales will soar.

Barbara Joe Williams

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