Category Archives: Networking

Simple Summer Tips by Kisha Green

Summer is a great time of the year because as an author there are a lot of events that take place and depending on your budget you can make it to all of them.

I know someone reading is like “Yeah right, Kisha, I don’t have a Stephen King budget” and duh silly rabbit- I know that too.

This is where you become clever and make your book’s presence known even if you cannot physically be there. Meaning the only budget you need is for your promotional materials instead of travel and hotel accommodations.

This is when social media comes in and is indeed a blessing since you can utilize those Facebook friends. Talk and engage in conversations with your fellow author friends to see what events are happening in other states.

Build a rapport with other authors that will not mind having your promo items at their table/display. This is a win/win for both parties and most importantly this is great exposure.

Promotional materials are just not limited to bookmarks and post cards. In this day and age anything can be a promo item. These are some of the popular ones but not limited to.

Mints
Pens
Key chains
Post It’s
Water Bottles
Lip Balm

These items can be sent to your author friend and they can place your items on their table and you are there without having to physically be there, because let’s face everybody likes freebies.

Here are some sites that are great for getting cool items.

www.orientaltrading.com
www.vistaprint.com
www.cafepress.com
www.clubflyers.com
www.24hourflyers.com

Here are some literary events taking place this Summer.

June

Book Expo America
Manhattan,NY
www.bookexpoamerica.com

Nantucket Book Festival
Nantucket, MA
http://nantucketbookfestival.org/events

American Library Association Book Conference
Chicago, IL
http://ala13.ala.org/

July
3rd Trenton Festival
Trenton, NJ
http://3rdtrentonbookfestival.blogspot.com/

Harlem Book Fair
Harlem, NY
www.qbr.com

Romance Writer’s of America Conference
Atlanta, GA
http://www.rwa.org/conference

August

Dragon-Con
Atlanta, GA
http://www.dragoncon.org/

National Book Club Conference
Atlanta,GA
http://www.nationalbookclubconference.com/index1.html

New England Independent Booksellers Association Conference
Providence, RI
http://www.newenglandbooks.org/

September
Baltimore Book Festival
Baltimore, MD
http://www.baltimorebookfestival.com/

Best of luck and Happy Summer!

Kisha Green is a author 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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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

Rethinking Reader Events by Deatri King-Bey

I know authors who refuse to attend reader events where they will not sell enough books at the event to cover the majority of their costs. I have always thought they were being too narrow in their definition of a successful event, and with the popularity of eBooks ever increasing, they should rethink what they expect to gain from reading events.

Let me tell you about a conference I began attending many, many years ago when I was merely a reader of romance and women’s fiction, the Romance Slam Jam (RSJ). Back then there were no eReaders, no Facebook and no Amazon. I know that’s hard for many of you to imagine, but there you have it.

The first time I attended the RSJ, I was intimidated. There I was, little ol’ me, surrounded by authors whose books I couldn’t get enough of. That up close and personal time with authors and others who enjoyed reading what I was addicted to was AWSOME. So awesome that in the eighteen years of the conference’s history, I can count on one had the times I’ve missed it.

At the conference, there is a Mega Book Signing. Back in the day, readers would literally bring tote bags, roller bags, duffle bags of books with them that they had purchased over the years for the authors to sign. They would also bring books they’d purchased at the conference, but not nearly as many. Over the years as eBooks became more popular, the amount of books brought to the signing decreased drastically as did sells in the conference’s bookstore. The Mega “BOOK” Signing has turned into more of a “Mega Signing” where attendees collect autographs and such for their scrap books.

I told you this story to point out two items.

The main purpose I, as a reader, attended this event was not to purchase books at the event. I can purchase books any day of the week. I attended the event to mix and mingle with authors whose work I enjoy year around and other readers such as myself.
The main purpose I, as an author, attended this event was not to sell books at the event. I want readers to purchase my books all year around, even when I’m not in front of them. I attended to build relationships and make MEMORIES with readers and network with my peers. This is a key element in growing that loyal base who will spread the word about your high quality novels without you having to ask. They know YOU, sign up for your opt-in mailing list and will tell readers about you. It goes deeper than them seeing you at a book signing table. It’s a totally different level.

Attending in person events is very important for authors. But just like you shouldn’t jump onto every type of social media out there, you shouldn’t try to attend every reader event. Select the major event for your genre and attend every year or at least every other year. Get to know the attendees for that conference. You’ll bump into many of the same people year after year. This is a good thing. This is how you build relationships and memories.

Many authors forget to look locally for events and readers to build relationships with. Use sites such as http://www.meetup.com to find writing groups and reader events in your area. Become a member of the literary community locally and let the readers get to know you so your popularity can grow.

So am I saying that when you attend a reader event, you shouldn’t care if you don’t sell any books? Of course not. I’m just saying that selling books at the event shouldn’t be your only or main goal. With the increase in popularity of eBooks, it’s time to rethink why you attend reader events and what you should expect from them.

On a side note. If you haven’t read the article Are Amazon and Facebook Your Publishing End All And Be All? I suggest you do.

Deatri King-Bey

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How To Overcome Rejection: One Author’s Journey by Trice Hickman

I’ll never forget the day I started writing my first novel. It was a chilly morning in March 2004, and after many years of suffering from writer’s block, I had a breakthrough! I sat in front of my computer and smiled in amazement as words began to pour out of me like sweet water. I wrote all day and all night and by the next morning, 30 pages later, the beginnings of my debut novel, Unexpected Interruptions, was born.

I was energized with a feeling I’d never had before. I continued to write nearly every day, and a little over four months later my novel was complete. What a great feeling that was! But little did I know that as difficult as I’d thought it was at the time, writing my book turned out to be the easy part. I soon discovered that the hard part was getting my book published. And harder still…selling it!

I conducted diligent research and then submitted my manuscript to every agent, publisher, and editor whom I thought might be interested in my well-written, wonderfully engaging story. Who could turn down my masterpiece, right? Well, imagine my dismay when the rejection letters started trickling in. Everyone I’d submitted my manuscript to turned it down. EVERYONE!

“Did they really read my story?” I’d questioned, “because if they had, how could they turn me down?” I’d asked, over and over, month after month.

Let me tell you, rejection is a hard pill to swallow, but it can also serve as a wake up call. There’s a saying, you haven’t loved until you’ve had your heart broken. Well, you’re not a writer until you get your first rejection letter. But I had some great things on my side that beats rejection every time: Belief, Determination, Perseverance, and Faith.

I believed in the story I’d written and the characters I’d created. I was determined to persevere and do what it took to get my book published, and I had faith that I could do it! Again, I did my research. I made it my mission to learn everything I could about how to publish a book. I attended literary conferences and networked with other authors. I developed a plan, created a timeline, and then I formed my own company, Platinum Books, and published Unexpected Interruptions myself.

The book that everyone rejected went on to win two literary awards, receive high praise from readers, and top a national book club’s bestsellers list. I went on to publish two additional novels that were equally well received. After the success of my books, a traditional publisher offered me a contract to re-release all three of my originally self- published books. The rest, as they say, is history! Oh, and did I mention that upon it’s re-release, Unexpected Interruptions, the little book that everyone initially rejected, received a starred review from Publishers Weekly!

As great as I think my personal triumph is, my story is not uncommon. There are many people just like me who’ve had a dream and didn’t give up until they achieved it. Every successful person I know has had to overcome some sort of obstacle or rejection. And like me, the thing we’ve all learned is that behind every no, there is a yes waiting for you, as long as you’re willing to put in the work!

Trice Hickman

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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

Author Etiquette 101: Mind Your Manners by J’son M. Lee

Desperate times call for desperate measures. All of us have heard this phrase at one time or another. In short, it means when people get into trouble, they feel forced to do things they wouldn’t normally do for survival. Authors are no exception. When it comes to our livelihood, most of us will do whatever it takes to sustain it. Many of us draw the line when it means sacrificing our reputation or integrity; however, there are a number of authors who choose to stand their ground no matter the cost. I am of the mindset that authors who want their books to be noticed will garner more fans and support by remembering their manners than by imploring tactics that may jeopardize their livelihood.

When an author spends months or even years developing a project, it stands to reason they want readers to take notice of their masterpiece. However, just as bad parenting can ruin a child’s chance at success, authors can do the same for their books if they forget common courtesy. It is important to respect those who impact your livelihood. This list includes readers, reviewers, editors, and yes, even other authors. Here are a few simple pointers for authors about proper etiquette:

Be Courteous to Your Readers

Everyone is not going to like your book, and as wonderful a person as you are, everyone is not going to like you. Let that sink in for just a moment. In most cases, those who fall in either category will be in the minority. If we embrace this fact, we would realize there is no need for public outrage when we feel attacked personally or when we receive less than favorable feedback on our work. It is not necessary to respond. Brush it off! This is easier said than done sometimes, but you must decide who you want to become and walk confidently in that path. Let your fans fight your battles. Remember that person who said how great you were? How brilliant and thought-provoking your narrative was? Yes, that person. Let them handle the minorities. Stick to what you do best – writing great prose. If you’re going to be a professional writer, act like one.

Be Creative and Strategic

Just because you have the capability to reach readers 24/7, it doesn’t mean you should. Talking about yourself or your book incessantly gets tiring. How many ways can you say, “Have you read (insert name of book)?” or “1 click (insert name of short story).” At some point, you must realize that readers tune out or simply ignore your post. It is human nature. Stop blasting timelines and groups with your book advertisements. Be a little more creative and strategic with the information you share. Book groups have voiced over and over how they hate being bombarded with book advertisements. So, why are you still doing it to the degree you are? If it’s arrogance, you need to check that – NOW! Your posts speak to your professionalism. I would venture to say that most readers want a little more from you than a book link. Share information that will spark conversation. Readers really like to get into your head. Give it a try!

Ultimately, if you fail to treat readers right, your work is in vain. The business (yes, we are running a business) of writing isn’t as complicated as many make it out to be. Remember the basic rules our parents taught us: 1) say please and thank you and 2) treat others the way you want to be treated. It is really quite simple. Treat your readers right and you will have the best, free marketing for life. Treat them badly, and you will have a public relations nightmare. When treated badly, readers will not tell others about the great book you wrote – no matter how great it is. Bottom line, mind your manners!

J’son M. Lee

For more information about the author, please visit his website at http://www.jmccoylee.com/ or http://www.sweetgeorgiapress.com/.

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Yes You Do Need Book Clubs! by Stacy-Deanne

I don’t care how talented you are. I don’t care what you write about. You could be the best darn writer on this planet but it wouldn’t mean jack if no one reads your books.

There are tons of articles and sites giving authors advice about how to get their work in the hands of readers. What a lot of them forget to mention is that readers get an author’s book in front of other readers. This is a powerful asset of book clubs.

I don’t care how much social networking you do or how many ads you buy on Facebook. Just like how the writing industry is changing, so has the world of promotion and publicity. Authors and publishers must rely on readers in order to move books. Oh yes. No more is it enough to market to readers but readers actually must help you sell a book for it to have a chance at success. Word of mouth is even more important in the age of ebooks.

So what exactly do book clubs do?

Book clubs open doors you cannot open yourself. They help to build your brand to a higher level, and they can put your name on readers’ lips. Do you realize how many book clubs there are? Do you realize how many clubs have hundreds of members? Some clubs span the entire nation! Can you imagine how powerful it would be if you got just one of the larger book clubs to pick up your book? Imagine your chances if you got many to pick up your book.

But it’s so hard to get a book club to pick up a book.

Stop whining. Some authors complain about how hard it is to get book clubs to pick up their books. Newsflash but the industry is competitive. That doesn’t change when you publish a book. Book clubs are picky because there are so many books fighting for attention. You’re not the only cowgirl or cowboy at this rodeo. It’s good for a book club to have standards. You want a club with a good reputation and one that has standing in the industry. That will help you in the end.

I practice what I preach. My latest novel, The Season of Sin has gotten some good exposure. I owe a lot of that to the book clubs that picked up the novel, enjoyed it, and passed the word. In addition, many book club members are members of several different clubs. That means if they read your book and liked it, they will spread the word to every one of their clubs.

That’s exposure, baby!

Book clubs are powerful because they are full of readers always hungry to find books. They are obsessed with the written word and love to support authors. If a book club picks you up then most likely they will again in the future if they enjoy your work. It’s a long-term advantage you can’t afford to miss.

Whether you feel the book club scene is for you or not, you’d better have some kind of plan on how to get your books in the hands of readers because without readers working alongside you to sell that book, it won’t stand half a chance.

Stacy-Deanne

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be 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

Content Marketing: Attracting Your Audience by J’son M. Lee

One of the biggest hurdles that self-published authors have to cross is marketing. An overwhelming number of indie authors are pretty forthright about the fact that most of their marketing is done via social media. While social media is highly effective, it has its limitations. As such, authors need to find ways that are creative, memorable, effective and respectful. Too many, the word “respectful” will seem out of place; however, given the rules of social etiquette as it relates to social media, it behooves each of us to be mindful and respectful of these spoken or unspoken rules.

Having worked in Corporate America for over 15 years, I’ve seen the various marketing techniques that businesses implore. Authors may call it by a different name, but usually the concept and approach are the same. For example, businesses often utilize cold calling to generate business. Cold calling is the process of approaching prospective customers or clients who were not expecting such an interaction. The word “cold” is used because the person is not expecting to be contacted nor did they specifically ask to be contacted. Authors utilize the same technique, but call it pounding the pavement or frontline hustling. Whether a business executive or an author, the goals of cold calling are the same; you want to get the person’s permission to have a conversation with them and then engage them enough that they want to know more about your product or brand. Ultimately, you hope this approach will lead to a sale. As with social media, this is a highly effective approach, but can be limiting.

While many authors focus on ways to increase sales, I would encourage more authors to focus on methods that increase visibility. This is an approach known as content marketing. Content marketing involves the creation and sharing of content in order to attract, acquire and engage potential consumer bases with the objective of making them loyal to your brand and ultimately securing sales. Content marketing utilizes such methods as videos, blogs, photos, etc. The difference between content marketing and more direct marketing methods is that it stops short of a direct sales pitch.

Here are a few content marketing methods that I utilize to bring focus to my brand:

Reviews: When I began publishing, I found it difficult to find people who wrote quality reviews. From an author’s perspective, I found many reviews to be unclear, poorly written or simply too personal. I ultimately decided to be the type of reviewer that I was looking for. I researched and established a format for my reviews and present them in a way that provides constructive criticism for the author and feedback that is useful to potential readers looking to make a purchase. I recognize the type of credibility I am seeking to garner will take time, but I’m in this for the long haul.

Articles/Interviews: Many authors write for more than just reader entertainment. Some authors blog while others are featured on various media lending their expertise on various subject matters. Many of these platforms we have to create for ourselves. For example, as an author, I want to lend my voice to the plight of the gay community. In an effort to do this, I recently began writing for a grassroots newsmagazine connecting with members of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender sub-communities. This opportunity didn’t come to me, I went to it. Again, my goal was not to pitch my products, but build another platform for my brand.

Content marketing is nothing more than creating relevant content and distributing it to your target audience. While many authors flood reader pages and groups with their book links, I tend to be much more strategic in my marketing approach. While there is something to be said for social media and pounding the pavement, there is also something to be said for building an audience that respects your thoughts and opinions and is loyal to your brand. When people are loyal they are more likely to invest their hard-earned money into your products. Give it a try. You have nothing to lose, and nothing but a loyal reader base to gain.

J’son M. Lee

Four Keys to Your Conference Preparation By W. Terry Whalin

In February, I’m traveling to the Florida Christian Writers Conference and I look forward to it. I’ve been revising and updating my workshop on book proposal creation, Editors Read Proposals Not Manuscripts. I’ve been sorting through my 20+ years in publishing and preparing which stories to tell during my class.

I love writers’ conferences. It’s a grand idea haven to talk shop and learn from other writers. If you want to succeed in the writing business, I’ve got four keys to enhance your conference experience:

1. Take daily time to pray about the various people you will meet and the ideas you will discuss. Ask the Lord to guide you through each detail of the conference such as who you will sit with at the opening meeting or where you will sit at each meal and what will be discussed. Ask for God to give you divine appointments. These encounters will be far beyond anything that you could have orchestrated or planned. Be looking for the Lord’s handiwork at the conference.

Some people call those divine appointments or “a pack your bags experience.” That means if you had to leave the conference early for some reason, then you would have had such a great experience with the greatest personal benefit. Through prayer you will come to the conference full of expectation and a spiritual sensitivity that God will work while you are on the conference grounds.

2. The second way is to come prepared to meet others and start new relationships. As a part of your preparation, create some business cards and be prepared to give them out to everyone you meet—but don’t make it a one way exchange. When you give a business card, make sure you receive a business card. Double check your business card to see if it contains your complete information: name, mailing address, phone number and email address. It’s surprising how many participants do not create a simple business card—even if you buy blank cards at an office supply place and print your own. Bring plenty of copies of your business card. It is frustrating to the other person when someone says they only brought a few cards and have given them out. Writing is a solitary occupation and we need each other. You will form new and lasting friendships at the conference if you come prepared for it.

3. The third key for your conference experience is to study the background for the various faculty members and get familiar with their different roles. Publishing is constantly changing. You want to know who you are meeting and their role. For example, I changed roles last year and became an acquisitions editor at a New York based publisher. Your familiarity with the different faculty will help you form deeper relationships during the conference. I believe your time in preparation will be rewarded.

4. The final key for your conference experience is to come with the right heart attitude. Many writers come to their first conference expecting to sell their book manuscript or magazine article. Yes, there will be some selling during the conference. A much more central part of every writer’s conference is where individuals learn new aspects of publishing and take great strides of personal growth. Come with expectations and a willingness to learn and grow. With the right heart attitude, I’m convinced that you will not be disappointed but your expectations will actually be exceeded.

How can I say that expectations will be exceeded? Because I know each member of the faculty is a Christian and a person who is filled with the Spirit of the Living God. I love the verse in Ephesians 3:20 which says, “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us.”

Today God is preparing for you the people and lives that will be touched during the time we are together. I will be coming with high expectations and anticipations. I’ve not ever been disappointed in the past.

See you soon at the conference!

W. Terry Whalin understands both sides of the editorial desk–as an editor and a writer. He worked as a magazine editor and his magazine work has appeared in more than 50 publications and he’s written more than 60 books for traditional publishers. A book acquisitions editor for several publishers and a former literary agent, Terry is an acquisitions editor at Morgan James Publishing. Whether you are unsure how to start on the path to publication or want to take your publishing career to the next level, Terry’s newest book, JUMPSTART YOUR PUBLISHING DREAMS, INSIDER SECRETS TO SKYROCKET YOUR SUCCESS is packed with insight. Also Terry is the author of the bestselling book, BOOK PROPOSALS THAT SELL, 21 SECRETS TO SPEED YOUR SUCCESS. Plus he’s recently launched a 12 lesson online course on proposal creation, Write A Book Proposal. At the Florida Christian Writers, he will be teaching a one hour workshop, Editors Read Proposals Not Manuscripts.

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be 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

Are Amazon and Facebook Your Publishing End All And Be All? by Deatri King-Bey

Without a doubt, Amazon is the number one retailer of books, but what about the other retailers who have billions in annual sells? How are your sells going for you on Barnes & Noble and in the iStore? Are your sells so great on Amazon that you don’t care about other online retailers? You don’t care about expanding your audience?

Understanding what Amazon has done above and beyond other retailers to capture the overwhelming share of book sells is important. You have to think the same way about your business. What are you doing above and beyond to capture market share.

eBlast – My experience as a reader and author has shown me that Amazon is the best game in town when it comes to selling and buying books. As a reader, they send me alerts to books I may be interested in that actually interest me, and I can change my preferences at any time. As an author, they give effective free advertising, showcasing my books to people who may actually want to purchase it.
- When you are promoting your title, be sure to ask readers to “Like” your product and author pages. In my opinion, this is more important than reviews because the algorithm Amazon uses to send out email blast to readers for books they might be interested in use those “Likes” and the majority of readers I’ve asked say that reviews factor little to not at all if they will be purchasing a book.
- KDP Select – In this program, you give Amazon exclusive rights to sell your eBook for three months. You can’t even give your ebook away free. In exchange for exclusivity, Amazon adds your title to their Prime Library and when members check out your title, you are paid a certain amount that is determined quarterly. This program has pros and cons. There are tons of blog post out there revealing authors’ experiences so I won’t debate that here.
  - If you do the KDP Select program, I highly suggest you do not use it for your new title. Instead, release your title on ALL of the platforms available to you and give ALL of the readers a chance to purchase your book, then once sells slow, do KDP Select.
  - I do not suggest you permanently keep your titles on KDP Select. Why would you keep all of your eggs in the Amazon basket? That’s not good business. You want to expand your readership to as many platforms as possible.
  - KindleBoards – Amazon has done an excellent job of creating a Kindle user community of readers and authors. Consider becoming a part of the community, without becoming a walking billboard.

With the ease of selling and buying on Amazon, I understand why many authors don’t sell their titles on other platforms, I just don’t agree with them. Publishing is a business. As a self-published author, you are the CEO, CFO, and every other O of your company, and you have to look at more than short term gains. You have to plan for the long term success and expansion of your company.

A few paragraphs ago, I said you shouldn’t only use the KDP Select program to sell your eTitles. Let’s examine Amazon’s motivation behind the KDP Select program. Amazon works to dry up the self-publishing market from other eBook retailers so Amazon will be the only game in town. Amazon is a business and thus doing what is best for its interest. Is that good for your business as an author? Someone who sells eBooks using Amazon’s distribution? No. Amazon has already started testing out only allowing publishers to receive the 70% royalty if they have their titles in the KDP Select program in certain markets of the world. How much more market share do you think Amazon needs to capture in the U.S. before they start that here? Am I saying you shouldn’t use the KDP Select program or Amazon to distribute your eBooks? Heck no. I’m saying don’t ONLY use Amazon and the KDP Select program. Build your audience on other platforms also.

I can hear it now. I have “tried” to sell on other platforms, but I get nothing! Granted, Amazon sells the most, but from what I’ve seen time and time again from authors is them promoting their Amazon product page instead of maintaining a website (not Facebook wall) and having ALL of their purchase links for various vendors of their titles so readers can easily select their print or eReader preferences in purchasing. I see authors nurturing their relationships with Amazon customers, yet promoting to other retailers as an afterthought. Newsflash, your promos should be about your book, not Amazon. Authors give Amazon way more free advertisement than Amazon is giving them by sending out the occasional eBlast.

So what do you do? Upload your book to as many “legitimate” retailers and possible. If you don’t have a website, get one. You are in BUSINESS and should have a professional website that showcases your work. Create a separate page for each of your titles and ensure you have the purchase links on it. Then when you promote your title, send readers to that page instead of to Amazon.

So now that you’ve decided that it’s best to sell your titles on more than one platform and promote your website for purchasing links instead of sending customers to Amazon, let’s talk social media.

Facebook, like Amazon is by far the fastest way to reach a large audience. Facebook has created communities of authors and readers and has given authors a way to build their own following! Great stuff, huh? I can’t tell you how many authors have put all of their eggs into the Facebook basket when it comes to communicating with their readership. Now they have thousands of “Friends” who follow them. Who hooo!

Except, they seemed to forget that Facebook is a business and of course going to do what will make Facebook the most money. I’m not mad at them. My publishing company is also a business, and I do the same thing.

So let’s get back to your thousands of followers on Facebook. Let’s say you are not one of those authors who “friend” everyone and ask everyone to join your group. You are focused on quality instead of quantity. Quality being people who would actually be interested in purchasing your titles. It may have taken you a year or two to grow thousands of quality followers. Guess what happened a few months ago. Facebook changed their policy so posts from fan pages only show on 10% of your followers’ walls. If you want it to show on more of your followers walls, you have to pay a fee.

Oh, and let’s not forget, everyone is getting more followers (even the average person), yet many people, like me, do not scroll down to the bottom of their newsfeed to see what posts they have missed, so the chances of someone seeing your post have gotten much slimmer.

You’re not worried, because instead of creating a fan page, you have the regular user page that limits you to 5000 friends, but it’s all good. You tell people to “Subscribe” instead of befriend, and since subscribers don’t count, you’ll never reach 5000. You’ll just promote on your wall. HOLD UP! Facebook is starting to warn authors and delete accounts of those who fill up their walls with promos. That’s what fan pages are for.

Now what do you do?

Never, ever, ever have all of your eggs in one basket. Especially a basket someone else owns. Just as I said you should have purchase links on your website, you should also have an opt-in mailing list sign-up on your website. You should be building your opt-in mailing list so that when you need to reach your fan base, you can actually reach them.

Am I saying you should skip Amazon and Facebook or other social media? Of course not. But you need to maintain as much control over your product and contact with your customer base as you can. Now get out there and take over YOUR business.

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 will be 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

Some Things that I learned at NY Comic-Con by Cerece Murphy

After taking a week to recover from the whirlwind which was this year’s NY Comic-Con, I wanted to share with other authors some of the things I learned. I had a booth in the Small Press section of the event. This was my first time exhibiting anywhere as an author, so if some of the lessons here seem obvious, forgive me, but I didn’t want to leave anything out.

1) If you are a sci-fi/fantasy/paranormal/horror author, you should try it. This year’s Comic-Con brought out over 115,000 sci-fi book/movie/comic lovers. This is our target audience. There were very few exhibitors of color, and even fewer female exhibitors. I think I was the only one selling sci-fi novels in the ENTIRE small press section which included at least 90 exhibitors. I say I think because I didn’t get to walk around much, but my friend did and said she didn’t see anyone else selling my genre. If you present a visually interesting booth, you WILL get attention and an opportunity to pitch your book. These are folks who are looking for something new.

2) Prepare! Exhibiting at NY Comic-Con is not cheap (the booth alone was $949). You want to make a visually stimulating impression. You can get a high quality banner from VistaPrint for $50. I did this and got a very large foam board poster of my book cover and it worked well. I also had smaller posters of my book cover that lined the curtain of my booth (I got these for free) and a TV/DVD combo on my table that I used to play my book trailer on loop. It got people’s attention.

3) Your entire book pitch needs to be 15 seconds or less. You probably already know this, but there is so much stimulation overload at the convention that people really can’t handle a lot of info. It is very loud. I tried to ask folks, if they were sci-fi novel fans. This worked for me. It allowed me to address passerbys personally and let them know what I was selling at the same time. Here is my entire pitch:

Me: Are you a sci-fi reader?

Reader: Yeah, I am. What’s Order of the Seers about?

Me: Well, the story is about a group of people who can see the future and are enslaved for that ability and the book is all about how they escape the organization that is trying to exploit their gift, reclaim their power and ultimately fight back. (I usually pause here to see if they have any questions. If they are staring at the cover and don’t ask any questions, I then add)

So there is lots of action, adventure and suspense with a little bit of romance too. If they didn’t ask any questions, I would then go on to mention the sale price of the book and offer to sign it for them if they are interested.

That’s it. I don’t like a “hard sell” approach, so I just tried to think of something I could say that I would be comfortable with. If someone said they weren’t a sci-fi reader, I usually asked them what kind of books they liked to read. Sometimes that discussion led to a sale. Other times, I recommended other authors that would suit them better. Either way, my goal was to create a positive experience for everyone who came in contact with my booth.

4) Free stuff. I had candy at my table and postcards that had my book cover on the front and a very short description of my book on the back with a QR code that linked to a free download of my first chapter. People seemed to like that. I also had “Order of the Seers” gift bags that I ordered on line for about $.75 cents a bag. I gave them out for free with a book purchase and sold them for $3 each alone. I can give the link to the companies I used for the postcards and the bags if anyone is interested.

5) The contacts that I made were very valuable. I met librarians, bloggers, press and an agent who took my information. I did 3 on the spot interviews and got a chance to submit my information for a free ad within a small NY based magazine. These were all people I never would have met if I hadn’t gone. We’ll see what this means in terms of actual exposure and book sales, but I also met some wonderful people in the industry that I look forward to working with on future projects

6) Book sales. In 4 days, I sold 5 ½ cases of books (32 books to a case). I am told this is good for a no-name author in the Small Press section with only 1 title (I’m not putting myself down. It’s just true). I think if you have more than one title, you could do even better. I more than paid for the cost of my booth and rentals (something I was told would not happen).

7) Cost controls. A big part of why I was able to make a small profit was that I stayed with a friend while in NY. I think this is essential. A complete breakdown of all my costs is listed below. If you are not local, you will probably have to rent a table. My raggedy 6 ft table cost me $70 to rent! Make that your one and only rental. Buy folding chairs at WalMart or Target. Get your own table skirt (They want $200 to rent a fully skirted table).

8) You need help. Get at least 3 people to rotate the days with you. No less than 2 on any given day. You are entitled to 5 exhibitor passes with your booth, so you can give them to your friends in exchange for help. I had at least 1 people with me every day and while it was enough, I still didn’t get much time to walk around and that makes a sci-fi chick a little sad….

9) Bring at least 150 books.

10) There was A LOT of diversity among the attendees. They would have LOVED to see more books and content with diverse characters. Although, I am sure that my bookcover, which has a white woman on it, shook up folks expectations of what I was selling, I think that a cool presentation of any race of characters could do well in this environment. Visual presentation is key here. If it looks good, you will have an opportunity to SELL.

11) Get them on the mailing list. Marketing guru, Seth Godin, has talked often about the publishing industries failure to capture the contact information of the people who buy their books, so that each time a new release comes out, they have to find those folks all over again. I offered a free exclusive preview of the Order of the Seers sequel as a way to entice people to sign-up for my mailing list. With this event alone, my mailing list has gone from 17 people to almost 200 folks that I now have permission to market my books to. The moral of the story is creating some incentive for having people sign-up for your mailing list can really help build your base.

12) Take the time to get to know the folks around you. You’re going to be with these folks for 4 days. These are the people who will watch your booth while you go to the bathroom. Be nice. I had two fellow exhibitioners refer me to helpful contacts (when they barely talked to other exhibitors) because I took the time to be courteous and helpful.

13) My budget – $1539

Booth rental: $949
TV rental: $150 (This was a mistake. I wish I had just bought one for around the same price.)
Table rental: $70
Banner: $50 (Vista Print has the cheapest price I found)
Table Cloth: $90 (I bought mine because I plan to do a lot of conferences)
Chairs: $30
Supplies and Incidentals: $100
Javits Wi-fi: $100 (you won’t be able to process a credit card sale w/o this. But most people had cash, so you could skip this and lose out on a small portion of sales. But I imagine this service would be critical for people with higher priced items. )

I have listed out all the items that I bought/rented here to give you the most honest snap shot of what it will cost you to go to NY Comic Con, but I do not consider some of these items (chairs, banner, tablecloth), to be just NY Comic Con expenses. I have and will use these items in other events that I plan to attend throughout the next 12 months and beyond.

I hope this is helpful to you. Please feel free to email me at cerecemurphy@gmail.com if you have any questions that I haven’t answered.

Order of the Seers ~ The Hunt is On
See the Book Trailer and Read Ch. 1 Here!
Follow me on Twitter @cerecermurphy

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be 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 Tale Of Four Reader Groups by Deatri King-Bey

I enjoy four reading groups on Facebook. I participate in them and have gotten to know the other participants well. Three of them focus on my favorite genres and one of them is for people who love their Nooks (Yes, I’m a proud Nookie). Do I promote in these groups? Not much. I’m mainly there because I’m a read-aholic and have always liked to talk book.

Of the four groups, two of them had restrictions on promoting and two didn’t. All four had great member participation until recently. A few months ago, the two groups that didn’t have restrictions gained a few members who loved to post promo after promo. A new trend in social media is authors hiring “readers” to promote their titles in reading groups, so the promos increased even more. Why do I bring this up?

Because the readers in both of those groups began complaining about… Guess what? Yep, you’ve got it, too much promoting in the readers’ groups. It didn’t matter if it was authors filling up the groups or surrogates of the authors filling up the groups, readers were turned off and slowly stopped participating. So about two months ago members of one of the groups that had become overrun with promos began posting threads complaining about too many promos and they contacted the admins. The admin listened to the members and set up limits on posting promos. Slowly the group began to come to life again.

Let’s move on to the second group that had a drop in participation (non-promo participation). Again, the members began to complain. They missed how much fun they used to have in the group before it became overrun with promos. Calls to “Take Back Our Group” rang out loud and clear. Next thing you know, the admins decided it was time to start limiting promotions.

Seeing what was going on in the two groups that didn’t have promos limited, I decided to take a little tour of the numerous reader groups I belong to on Facebook but rarely enter and guess what I found. In the groups that didn’t limit promos, quite a few of them were having some form of the “too many promos” discussion.

I do not want any of you to be caught in the backlash that is coming. I know you have to promote, but readers are tiring from promos. They want interaction with authors without feeling bombarded by “buy my book,” “review my book,” “like my page,” “read my blog,” “listen to me on blog talk radio,” … and image after image after image of your cover.

Promotion is a necessity, but you must also be mindful of how your promotions are being received by the readers in the group. You know, the people you want to purchase and spread the word about your titles. Bad news spreads much faster than good news, and you do not want to be known as bad news.

So what to do, what to do? How do you promote in groups without becoming bad news.

When you join a group, read the guidelines and follow them. You’d think this was a given wouldn’t you? Unfortunately, it isn’t.
Look at the membership of the group and watch the group posts for a while. If the group is mostly authors, is this your target audience? Probably not. If the group feed has more promos than reader related posts, then if the readers haven’t pulled away yet, they probably will soon.
Know your genre and only join groups that fit your target audience. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard authors say, “My book is for all readers.” News flash, the majority of readers like certain genres and group together by those genres. Can you join a group with a focus on women’s fiction and find a few horror lovers in there. Of course you can, but why waste your time trying to find those few horror lovers or trying to convert the women’s fiction readers when you should be spending that time in a horror lover’s group?
When you join a group, actually join the group. I know we are all busy, so don’t join 100 groups. Instead join a few groups in your genre and actually participate in them. Get to know the readers and let them get to know you. Talk about more than yourself and your book(s). Join discussions and start them. That way when you release a title, the group members will be more willing to purchase your book and spread the word about it. You’ll get a lot more bang for your buck by joining a few groups you enjoy than doing drive by promos in numerous groups and you’ll save time.
- Don’t fake the funk (SMILE). I’ve read in a few groups that readers do not like it when authors come in with “fake” participation questions. It’s really bad when the authors use programs such as Hootsuite to post the questions and promos in groups.
- Though I write fiction, I’m realistic most of the time (SMILE). Even I have joined groups that I have no intention on participating in. When my new title is out, sometimes I do a promote by (that’s like a drive by shooting except you go from group to group and post your promo). This only takes a few minutes so you may get lucky and pick up a sell here and there. From speaking with readers in groups, they would rather an author do this than the fake participation questions and bombarding their groups with numerous promos.
- When it’s time to promote your title in the groups you’ve been participating, show restraint and don’t be redundant. Don’t continually post the same promo over and over (especially on the same day). One day maybe post a blurb and purchase links to your title. Another day a review, Another day a blog appearance. Another day an excerpt… There is also no need to put down someone else’s book to promote yours.

So there you have it. There’s no big secret. Now go join groups in your genre and have a good time.

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 will be 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

It’s Who Follows You, Not How Many by Stacy-Deanne

You know what I’m talking about. How many authors do you see scrambling to gather online supporters like their lives depend on it? It’s a waste of time to focus on “how many” and not “who”. The amount of followers you have mean jack squat when it comes to book sales. Instead authors should focus more on who they reach because word of mouth depends on it.

The truth is that it does not matter how many Facebook and Google Plus friends or Twitter followers you have. IT DOES NOT MATTER. Nine times out of ten the amount of people who follow or friend you will not buy your book. It might be hard to hear but it’s true.

Authors are confusing expanding their readership with expanding their FB and Twitter following. What is more important, gathering real fans who will read your book and follow your career or stacking up the names of strangers just to say you have 10,000 fans on your FB page? How many of those 10,000 fans even remember they are members of your page let alone visit it within the year?

I’m guessing not many.

Now it’s cool to add anyone you want if you just wanna be their friends and interact with them. But if you’re gathering people for the sake of selling books only, you are in for a rude awakening. It takes a lot more than sending out friend requests and Twitter invites to make someone interested in your book.

You: So who the heck do I target then?

Stacy: True followers and true friends.

Let me break it down.

So You Got 30,000 Twitter Followers? And?

So you got 30,000 followers on your Twitter! Good for you. That is an accomplishment. Yet you had a book signing last week and not one of your “followers” showed up.

Ouch. That one stung didn’t it? Don’t feel bad because it happens more often than you think.

You gotta accept the fact that whether you have 30 followers or 30,000 that does not mean that any of them will buy your book or care about it. Please. If only it was that easy. You think all those people actually go to your links or pay attention to your book tweets?

Sorry to bust your bubble but unless you’re famous or the latest Internet sensation I doubt that anything close to half of 30,000 people even pay your tweets any attention.

I know the truth hurts but that’s how the Krispy Kreme crumbles.

You’re Not the Twitter Rock Star You Think You Are:

You do realize Twitter is a melting pot of authors and literary professionals don’t you? There are gazillions of authors hocking their books on Twitter. You have to first make followers care about you before you expect them to care about your books. This takes interaction and participation on your part. And even then it won’t be 30,000 that care. You’re lucky if you can get 100 people on Twitter to pay your book tweets any real attention let alone actually buy the darn thing.

The little fish often gets lost in the big sea.

Wouldn’t you rather have a list of 100 people who will actually buy your books than a list of 30,000 who won’t?

Earth to Writer: People Are Lying to You:

Yep let that sink in for a minute. While social networking you might run into many who claim they will buy your book and can’t wait to read it. Most of these “supporters” will not buy it and neither do they intend to. That’s just the doggone truth. It’s something polite folks tell authors because they don’t wanna hurt our feelings when we’re slaving to promote our books.

Pay attention to folks who actually bought the book and read it. Anyone can say they will right? We all say a lot of things we don’t mean sometimes. I admit I’ve lied and told a few authors I would get their books and yes I had no intentions of getting them when I said that.

Sue me.

Too many authors bank on what folks say they are gonna do when they need to concentrate on readers who have actually proven their support by reading your book.

The Amount of Friends and Followers Mean More to You Than Anyone Else:

This touches on the insecurity of a lot of authors. This reminds me of the people back in high school who had to always be with the popular kids or else they didn’t feel important. Some authors treat social networking like a popularity contest. Well let me tell you that the amount of people on your lists does not make you popular nor does it impress anyone but you.

Let me share a secret. Most of the folks on your lists don’t even know who you are.

This is why it’s so hard to attract readers on social networks. You’re competing against so many other things for someone’s attention.

How many of these people on your list actually look at your profile page? Do you ever wonder if any of them ever check out your website? Do they like the type of books you write? Heck do they even read?

If you don’t know the answers to these questions than most likely your friends don’t know the answers when it comes to you as well. Nor do they care.

You have to make them care and honey it’s easier shooting a bumble bee with a rifle.

That’s the hard part. A chimpanzee can send out friend requests but can he be engaging enough to make someone wanna look into him further or buy his book?

Better yet, what would make someone be interested in the chimp compared to the giraffe? The giraffe is out there pumping her book as hard as the chimp. But does either of them spark interest within the jungle of all the other animals who are hocking their books?

The one who does will walk away with readers.

Recognize and Value True Supporters:

Actions speak louder than words. When someone takes the time to help you spread the word about your book without you asking, you know they are a true supporter.

They do things to help you because they enjoy your work and want you to succeed. They aren’t the ones expecting favors in return or kissing up to you in hopes they can get a free copy of your book or writing advice. They aren’t the ones making an excuse as to why they can’t get your book every time you see them. Supporters are those that truly care and it’s a blessing for any author to have them.

So stop looking at people as objects to collect. Believe me you don’t wanna collect everybody.

It’s about quality, not quantity.

Stacy-Deanne

Website, Facebook, Twitter

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for?Become A Successful Author will be 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

Writer Jealousy: Mind Your Own Business!

On Facebook the subject of writer/author jealousy came up. Some people were saying how they couldn’t let go of the green-eyed monster. They just couldn’t stop fixating on other authors and what they were accomplishing.

I think we all know that jealousy is the doorway to self-destruction. It’s a human trait we all experience but it can be incredibly damaging to one’s self if they allow jealousy to overtake them.

I remember what it was like to be unpublished and let me tell you newbies something, writer jealousy does not stop when you have a contract. Oh no. Even published authors are jealous of each other sometimes. There’s always someone you feel gets the better deals, the bigger advances, more acclaim. So don’t think that you can escape the demon once you release a book. No. It’s about getting your head straight. That’s where it starts.

You wanna put that energy into bettering your own writing so that one day you’re so super that you’re the recipient of one’s jealousy, not the jealous person. It’s not always easy to face being jealousy. It makes you feel even more inadequate.

You have to work at it and change how you approach yourself and your goals.

I’ve outlined some steps to help you go from being jealous to having superstar confidence.

Stop Watching other Writers:

Stop paying so much attention to other writers’ business. What another writer accomplishes or does has nothing to do with you or your career. Their book deals, their publishing company, their advance is none of your business! Concentrate on your work and being the best you can be and you won’t have time to “hate on” someone else.

Reevaluate Your Expectations:

Yep that’s right. Writing is not the type of career where having high expectations helps. If your expectations are too high you can end up losing your drive because most writers cannot live up to their unbelievable expectations. When things go wrong it’s natural to believe we’ve failed and that feeling of inadequacy opens the door to jealousy simply because someone else’s career seems to be going perfectly and yours is stagnant. Writers should have goals of course but if your expectations exceed the normal realm of possibility you’re setting yourself up for developing career jealousy when things don’t turn out as you expect. And most times they won’t.

Figure out Why You’re Jealous:

The misconception is that jealousy means we wanna be someone else or have their lives. Jealousy stems from us being depressed and unhappy about ourselves. A lot of jealous writers have things going wrong in their lives that have nothing to do with writing but the jealousy might be leveled to someone in our field because that’s who we’re around the most. If you’re unhappy, try to figure out why. Left ignored, depression can cause jealousy among other destructive thoughts to fester.

Write:

Maybe you just aren’t busy enough. If you’re sitting there worrying about other writers then you should take that wasted energy and write your book! Poor the emotions you feel in your writing. Turn it from negative energy to a positive result. Sometimes writers are just lazy. They want the rewards but don’t want to put in the work then wonder why things might be going better for others. The only way to stop being jealous is to accomplish something of your own and that starts with writing.

Separate Yourself from Other Writers:

Sometimes you can’t fight jealousy no matter what you do. Separate yourself from other writers if you can’t escape their “good” news. Some days it’s like you get online and everything is going great for every writer except you. When things aren’t going as well for you then hearing loads of good news at every turn can be very depressing. Step back for a while. Stop going to writing forums, Facebook writing groups or anywhere that makes you uncomfortable for a while. You’ll come back with a better out look and realize that another writer’s success does not affect yours.

Stacy-Deanne

http://www.stacy-deanne.net

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be 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

Sharing Is Caring

SHARING IS CARING….RIGHT???????

If that were true then we would have a world of shiny happy people who walked around all cheery. The real word exists so we can’t really do that …

Here on this wonderful social networking site there is a button titled SHARE, and what this means is if you feel that the information you have viewed is of benefit to others, you can share it with others.

This is an easy and cool concept, right? Yes, I too agree, but what happens is that we do not utilize this FREE service because…. Yeah, exactly, no reason, we just don’t want to…

I believe if you want support, you have to actually support others, and trust me, there are ways you can support someone without spending money.

A lot of us are in the literary business so we are constantly promoting our books. So if you cannot afford to buy that authors book, why not promote the book on your site or page for them.

Why? Because you support them and only want the best for he/she right? You would want someone to do the same for you right?

SUPPORT SHARING

No, this commentary isn’t the cure all for all those in the world needing support, but sometimes you need to read something to understand it clearly. Here is my thing. If you do not want to support the person and not at all concerned with seeing him/her grow and become a success, why do you have them on your friends list, follow them, visit their blog… if you aren’t willing to support them?

If you are doing this to keep tabs on a person, that is lame… EXTRA lame and what should be done immediately is you should delete yourself and keep it moving.

WHY CARING IS SHARING

I am not jealous or envious of anyone in this literary world because we all are striving for success and it will come. I am a success in my own right. I have accomplished a lot that many will not accomplish in their lifetime, that isn’t me being cocky or arrogant, but it’s my true feeling and as being a firm believer of everything can be obtained if you seek success can only come into fruition if you are focused and determined.

We are here to network, and if you are serious about it, pressing the SHARE button should not be such a hard obstacle. This isn’t high school, even though some people do carry on online like it is indeed Facebook High where a few corny few think a high friend count means they are suddenly “cool.”

Anyhoo- What I am ultimately trying to convey is EACH ONE TEACH ONE

Just don’t think you can get support from the very same people you aren’t willing to support.

If you cannot help someone, then tell them just that you can’t help them. but if you can help-

THEN JUST DO IT!

We are all on here to network, so if that is true shouldn’t that networking be EFFECTIVE???

Kisha Green

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Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be 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

If You Build It & They Don’t Come

Years ago when I launched my first website, I worked hard at all of the details of this site—the functionality, the appearance and the contents. I was convinced this website would sell tons of books and generate terrific amounts of new writing business. I was stuck in fantasy and not reality because it did not happen.

I often meet unpublished authors who are convinced a website or lots of activity on Facebook is the single answer to sell many books. They have fallen into this trap of believing the line from the movie Field of Dreams, that if they build it, the people will come.

Today I’m wiser and have written more than 60 books for traditional publishers. As a book publisher, I’ve helped more than 150 authors launch their own book. From my years in publishing I want to give you five critical actions to take with your book marketing.

Decide to take 100% responsibility for your book marketing. Many authors have told me about their dismal book sales whether they have been published from a recognized publisher or a self-published. They always want to blame someone or some event. Anything and everything is responsible except their own actions. Your attitude is critical and yes others will help you but you have to lead the charge for telling others about your book.
Be willing to try a limited number of new things. You must focus your book marketing efforts to be successful. I encourage you to be reading books and online materials of others. As you learn about something new, try it and add it to your book marketing strategies. I understand you have to limit the new things or you will run in a million different directions and be completely ineffective at anything. It is important to be open to new opportunities.
Always be learning something new. It is a book marketing attitude killer to feel like you know everything there is to know about selling books. No one knows everything. Look for new ideas through blogs and online reading and reading books. With this open attitude, you will find new opportunities to sell your books to others.
Meet new people. Whether you go to a local Chamber of Commerce meeting or a conference, get out of your office and interact with others. Listen to their ideas and tell them about your own efforts. The cooperation and networking will increase potential for your own book sales. Many authors spend too much time at their keyboard or computer and not enough face to face time with others.
Decide to never give up on your book. Some books are slow starters in the market and take a while to begin selling. Persistence will be your friend when it comes to selling your book. I’ve read an individual has to hear about your book seven times before they actually make a buying decision. Whether it is five or seven times, these readers have to hear about the value of your book repeatedly to make a purchase decision. Your persistence in telling others and reaching new audiences will pay off for you. Never give up.

Finally I want to give you two free resources to help your book marketing efforts. First is a free traffic newsletter from my friend Jimmy D. Brown. His success in Internet Marketing is legendary. Pick up the first issue of his Traffic Jam Newsletter and 10 Ways to Get Other People to Send You Free Traffic. His newsletter will stir ideas.

The second resource is my free Ebook, Platform Building Ideas for Every Author. Get it free at: http://terrylinks.com/pb Next read this book and take action on the ideas.

You can build it and they will come but only if you continue to promote your book.

W. Terry Whalin

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________________________________________

W. Terry Whalin understands both sides of the editorial desk. A former acquisitions editor and a former literary agent, Terry is a Vice President and Publisher at Intermedia Publishing Group. He has written more than 60 books for traditional publishers including Jumpstart Your Publishing Dreams and several of Terry’s books have sold over 100,000 copies. He has authored an innovative training for writers, Write A Book Proposal. Terry is an active member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors.

Upcoming Free Workshop: Character Cake (Character Development) Facilitator: Deatri King-Bey Date: May, 19 2012 Time: 4-5 p.m. Central Location: Become A Successful Author Website (link and password will be given the day before the event). Sign up for the newsletter to participate.

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be 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

Ramblings Of A Literary Nobody

I LOVE literary—literally. I have sacrificed a lot of time and energy into this, and often sit on my bed or couch wondering What for? I neglected family and friends for what I believed I was destined to do. I wrote my first book “And Even if I Did” to simply rid my brain of these characters that were often there. I didn’t want to call myself crazy, so I simply assumed it was best that I wrote a book; that or go talk to licensed professional. *smile*

It has been a lot of work. I have met a lot of people; some of them are still here and some of them couldn’t take the heat and decided to keep their day job and leave literary to Judy Blume, James Patterson, or even Terry McMillan for that matter.

After making some mistakes of my own in the pursuit to being a literary superstar, I had to sit down and just chill. I made a list of reasons why I wanted to write my first book and why I wanted to publish others on my anthologies. Mainly, that what was my goal period.

It was rough because during that time friends became foes and foes became friends. I saw that association with the wrong type can be a very tragic thing. I was guilty by association. We must remember that we live in a very judgmental society; and even though you might have your own brain and thoughts, it really doesn’t matter since you spend a lot of your online presence around the wrong people. Who are those wrong people? Those posing as concerned colleagues so eager to help you because they simply “know it all”. At least that’s the way they appeared. They often had suggestions on how to take my career to the next level; but after it was all said and done, I was the one doing all the work and they were taking all of the credit.

After this happening several times, (and I do mean several), I just decided to do me; and that meant keeping to myself and turning into “Anti- Social Annie.” I was comfortable with this because I had to learn my lesson that everyone doesn’t have my best interest in their heart. During this time, I researched the literary business and decided it was time for me to take control of my goals and stop depending on everyone for everything.

I decided if I was going to be successful, I had to get my feet wet and network—and I had to be effectively networking. I wasn’t going to go for the okey doke any more. Enter social networking; this was a good place to start, BUT there are some “special” types that frequent social networking sites.

There are three popular types-

-The deaf, dumb, and blind: They are so eager, wanting information and very thirsty for knowledge; but no matter how much you assist them, they still end up doing the complete opposite of what you advise them to do, only to come back saying they should have listened to you.

-The “know-it-alls”: Those that think they know the answer to any and every question. Those types of people are starved for attention, so you have to be careful. No matter the subject, they have to comment and, even if they have nothing to say, they will disagree just for the sake of argument.

-The sideline watches: Those that are like sponges. They will absorb everything you and every other person says regarding jumpstarting his or her career, but can’t ever offer any help—ALWAYS having their hand out for assistance.

So, at times, attempting to network was indeed a full-time job since I was dealing with all types of people, but what I did was simple. I closed my mouth and opened my ears. This is very simple to do, but we, as humans, get it confused. *smile* So I say this to say, do what works for you and only YOU. There is only going to be one person looking back at you in the mirror, so make sure you can face the reflection that appear before you. I will leave this with you—when you learn better, you do better.

Kisha Green

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Kisha Green is no stranger to the literary world. She is the well-informed, knowledgeable publisher of DivaBooksInc.(www.divabooksinconline.com). Green is a senior writer and founder of the Writer’s Vibe (www.writers-vibe.com) a literary site to help promote artists.

Don’t have a copy of Become A Successful Author? What are you waiting for? Become A Successful Author will be 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