Selling Your Book Before It’s in Your Hands


When is the best time to sell your book? The second your book is in the printing process. Pre-selling your book is a must and an important marketing strategy, especially for self-published authors. If you’re not a New York Times best-selling author or celebrity, then the success of your book is a marathon, not a sprint. This means you must talk repeatedly and consistently about your book over a long period of time. 

Everyone gets the general concept behind marketing…Advertise. However, it does not do any good for a product to have a big “to-do” when it is released and then just drops off the face of the earth and out of the minds of the consumers. Your book is a product and in order for people to buy the product, they need to know it exists before its release date. So, how do you make your book sell even prior to its launch date?

1. With an email marketing campaign. An email campaign allows you to reach quickly and inexpensively a huge market—hundreds, thousands or even millions of people. Email advertisements work like a spider web. They can be boundless, giving you more possibilities and bigger sales. By personally broadcasting your email advertisement to your own list and on social networking sites, it can increase the popularity of your book and these virtual connections, just like word of mouth, forward your advertisements without hesitation, causing an increase to your book’s exposure to books lovers and reading enthusiasts across the internet, further expanding its popularity.

2. Link to your publisher's bookstore. Email advertisements can be talked about and attract discussions about your book, further expanding its popularity. But by increasing your book’s exposure with a link to your publisher's bookstore, you can vastly increase book sales and awareness about your published work. Furthermore, these email advertisements and links to an online bookstore help give consumers more information about the book. They can learn how they can purchase it—a highly effective tool that helps drive traffic to the book and you the author. 

3.Book reviews. Book reviews are another great way to gain exposure for a book. Amazon is a great place to build up your reviews. You should have all of your friends and loyal followers post a review of your book on Amazon and other book review sites. If you want to know how many reviews is enough -  Enough is never enough! Having over 100 reviews would be great, but if you look up some bestsellers, they will have even more than that.

One way to get reviews posted on Amazon and other review sites is to list your book on Dan Poynter's Publishing newsletter. You need to have free copies ready to mail prospective reviewers, and here is how you get your book listed:

Email Dan Poynter at danpoynter@parapublishing.com
Put "Review Wanted" on the subject line
Write a small description of your book - he requires LESS THAN 100 words
Include your contact information
Wait for people to contact you to get a copy of your book so they can post a review on Amazon.
It is that simple.

4. Have an Author's Page on Amazon, Linked In, Facebook and other review or social sites. You don't need to have an author page on every online social or review site, but you should have a couple on the sites you tend to visit often. This is a great way for fans, reviews and avid book readers to learn more about you, your books and events.

5. Do book reviews. Believe it or not, but by doing book reviews you help build your name as an expert. You also hone your own writing skills by reading others work. You may even get an idea for a book or even be inspired to write in a genre you never tried before. There are many reasons to do reviews and this is one area many writers over look.

6. Sell your books on Facebook. Facebook is an important place for publishers, authors, and books to have a presence. It is the number one social media site on the Internet. With more than 500 million active users and more than 50% of them logging on to Facebook on any given day, keeping your books and your brand in front of your fans is one way to improve your sales.

7. Offer autograph copies on your sites and blogs. Studies have shown that “ease of purchase” is an important factor in making sales. People are more likely to purchase a product that is easy for them to find and buy. Therefore, it follows that the next step, after engaging your fans offer your books for sale right on your sites and blogs, ensuring ease of purchase.

8. Start talking about your book to friends, family and co-workers. Let them know you are becoming an author! Be excited about your upcoming book and don't feel you're over doing it. A newly published book for an author is like becoming a parent to a new baby. Wouldn't you be telling everyone about your new baby? So why not do the same with your book? 

9. Send a news release and media kit to your local TV, Radio and Newspapers. Make sure your media kit has a copy of your book and how to order your book.  

10. Contact all local organizations and schools and ask to be a guest speaker.  

11. Network, network, and network some more. Networking working is key to the success of your book. Contact local retail stores including bookstores and specialty stores. Contact local craft fairs, city events and libraries. The list is endless.

These are just a few ways to get exposure. Talk to other authors who you feel have really made an impact on their book sales. Find out what marketing strategies they used and customize to fit your budget and marketing plan. 

Remember that what worked for one book might not work for another so try a couple at a time and stick to the ones that show results.   


About our Guest Blogger: Lisa Umina, owner of Halo Publishing International, not only publishes books but also enjoys a successful career as an award-winning author, motivational speaker and literary consultant. Umina´s publishing company continues to flourish by strengthening the movement of words across the international borders in order to benefit cultures and society as a whole. She has been interviewed by countless newspapers, radio and and television shows and has traveled the world to teach children about their purpose and important life lessons inside her books. 


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Writing for Young Children with Ronda Eden

Although I mainly illustrate, I find it easy to write for young children. I was an Early Childhood Elementary Teacher for many years and know what young children tend to respond to. There needs to be rhythm and repetition and it should be kept short and bold. Like a staff meeting!

It doesn’t necessarily have to be simple, but if it’s not, it should have some redeeming qualities such as sheer silliness. For example...Dr Seuss! Kids love things that are a little TABOO! Gross things like snot and poo work really well!

Having said that, we need to be aware that most of the time, we are not only writing for kids. It needs to clear customs first! Editors are seldom children, but more like security guards placed strategically to protect children from writers and illustrators that may lead them down the wrong path. Lucky for writer/illustrators like yours truly, ‘snot’ and ‘poo’ just scrape in these days as we all know there is so much worse out there for them to be protected from.

Choosing words carefully is very important. I believe the sound of the word is more important than the meaning. If the words sound inviting the child will seek out its meaning and use the word themselves repetitively in the process of gaining more knowledge.

Tips to Remember When Writing:

    Rhythm
    Repetition
    Keep it short
    Have fun and add some silliness
    Choose words carefully and make every one of them count
    Make the writing inviting to your reader/Hook

Here is a piece I wrote a couple of years ago. I put myself into the mood of a kid about 8-10 years old and wrote this as a synopsis for a story along the same lines.

Mutants in the Fridge

By: Ronda Eden

There’s mutants in the fridge and I don’t know what to do
Slimy bits of watermelon and all this yucky goo
Something green and furry, something all gone black
Some chips all dried and shriveled and what looks like a Big Mac!
No one likes to clean the fridge they’d rather let it be
They’re scared to take the lids off things
They’re scared of what they’ll see
The meat’s gone green and slimy and it’s really on the nose
The cheese has grown an overcoat and all the spuds have toes!
The veggies are quite clever; they take care of themselves
They turn themselves to liquid and move to other shelves
And if they’re left there long enough, they head toward the door
Then when you open up the fridge, they ooze onto the floor
Each day they’re growing bigger and changing shape and color
Some are getting brighter and some are getting duller
One day they might turn into, huge gigantic toads
And just keep getting bigger until the fridge explodes!
Whoa!
Then what a job will that be, to clean up that big mess
We’ll have to think of something
We’ll have to move I guess
Just thinking of this makes me tried
And makes me hungry too
But there mutants in the fridge and I don’t know what to do.

Ronda Eden’s been a teacher, storyteller, writer, touring art curator, gallery owner, horse trainer and artist A.O.T. (Among Other Things). Ronda’s hobbies include the joy of  hiking, climbing, wind surfing, belly dancing, jogging, traveling, swimming, daydreaming, listening to music and of course, horse riding. Ronda loves it right where she is, doing exactly what she is doing. Ronda manages to be an artist A.O.T (Among Other Things) in between feeding, riding and shoveling poop, but her horses come first. 

Steve Cormey has entertained the people of Grand County and Colorado for over thirty years. An award winning songwriter, he has written, produced and released six very successful CDs while playing an always full schedule of live performances. His background in Folk ,bluegrass, rock and traditional music is evident whether live or on CD. Colorado Blue, Somewhere with a Beach, Never Summer..forever home, Walking Stick and the all solo-acoustic Pure & Simple CDs offer a potpourri of musical styles, and his Old Fashioned Christmas is a Yule Tide favorite. Steve’s live performances show off a talented mix of danceable music, humor and fun!

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Revisions for Out of Print Books

I have the pleasure of featuring author and writing instructor Kelly McClymer today, and her topic is tweaking books for digital publishing. This is something many of us authors are thinking of doing and should do.

Revisions for Out of Print Books
By Kelly McClymer

I've been a writing instructor for over a decade now. One quote I offer students early on is "Writing is revising." This is an oft-repeated quote and I cannot find an original attribution for it. Nevertheless, I offer it because I believe it.

However, it used to be that there was an end to that revision. It was called publication. Sure, some famous authors like Stephen King could go back and release an uncut version of The Stand, after he had amassed a lot of clout. But the typical authors received their box of printed books with awe and joy for two reasons: cradling the finished book; and knowing they could not "fix just one more sentence."

E-publishing changed all that, as I discovered when I began to re-release my out-of-print historical romance series in e-book form. The books had to be scanned, edited, proofed, and formatted. And, oh, by the way, while I was fixing the scan errors, why didn't I just tweak a word or two here that sounded off to me. And hadn't a reviewer complained about this scene? Didn't I think she was right? Long story short: I've been working on these five backlist books for a year. Only two are out, although three more are shortly to follow and all five will be available by the end of May.

What took me so long? In short: Book Two of the five in the series. Readers and reviewers had pointed out that my hero was, well, wimpy.

I begged to differ, but when I read the book, I saw their point. As this was back when published meant "done." I had just suffered a bad case of "wish I had."

I happily tweaked the books that didn't need too much tweaking. The stories I loved, Miranda and her duke in The Fairy Tale Bride; Hero and Arthur in The Unintended Bride; Romeo and Juliet (yes, really) in The Infamous Bride; and especially my favorite, Helena and Rand in The Next-Best Bride. But when it came to Valentine and Emily, I did not know how to approach Valentine.

Then my daughter got engaged and I started a 50 day promotion to help pay for wedding costs. It became important not to have The Fairy Tale Bride up there all alone, looking forlorn. So I finally tackled Valentine and his wimpiness.

To be clear, he isn't wimpy. He's perfectly happy to put his life on the line for his Lady Emily. He just knows he can't provide a luxurious life for her, and that's a problem because he's seen what living hand-to-mouth has done to his mother.

How to show that, though, when I had an opening like this:

*********
Emily woke as the carriage slowed. "Must we stop?"

Valentine shook away the doubts that had assailed him in the gloom of their long night's run for the border. "The horses cannot go on much farther unless they are fed and watered‚ and I cannot let you starve."

She pressed her lips together a moment, then flashed him a brave smile. "I wish it were done."

"It will be soon enough." He kept his voice firm as he asked, for the hundredth time, "Are you certain of this, Emily? I am willing to wait until your father sees reason."

*******

Don't you just want to shake that wimpy ditherer? Right. Not a good way to start. However, it is also not a great idea to shovel a bunch of back story into the midst of an elopement. Explanation slows the story. The end.

What to do? I dithered for a year (yes, this is probably why I didn't notice that it was unwise to open with a hero in mid-dither). At last, I had an epiphany: change the point of view from Valentine to Emily. After all, she knows what he is worried about, and it is part of why she loves him -- he puts her welfare above his own. Gratifying, except when it keeps a couple apart, right?

So I made a relatively simple change in the opening (and in many other spots in the book, to be fair), and suddenly the hero's spine that I always saw became clearer on the page.

Can you see it better, through Emily's perspective?

******

He sat forward and looked into her eyes, as if he would look through to her very soul. "Are you certain you can bear the gossip you will suffer when society hears of our elopement?"

Silly man. How could he not see the truth in her eyes. She touched his cheek. "It will be for the briefest of times, as you well know. And once we have settled and begun our family, we shall become yesterday's news and quite too boring to gossip about."

*******

If it still seems unclear to readers, though, I can always go back and revise. After all, "writing is revising." Right? Oh dear.

Kelly McClymer is hoping that fate is sending her a message by allowing her to release her out-of-print Once Upon a Wedding series in e-book form just in time to earn a little money to pay for her daughter's wedding. Read all 50 reasons she owes her daughter a nice wedding on her website in the "Confessions of a Turtle Mom" series. Not to mention, if her daughter hadn't gotten engaged, Kelly might still be revising "just one more thing."

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children's author and children’s ghostwriter as well as the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move. You can find out more about writing for children and her services at: Karen Cioffi Writing for Children.

Check out the DIY Page and don’t forget to sign up for The Writing World Newsletter - it has great monthly writing and book marketing tips and it's FREE.

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Querying Publishers and Agents: 3 Steps

3 Steps to Querying Publishers and Agents

You’ve been slaving for months, maybe years, on your manuscript. You’ve read about belonging to a critique group to help you hone your work and took the advice to heart. You have also listened to the advice about submitting your manuscript to an editor after your critique group is done with it, and after you’ve meticulously self-edited it. Now, you’re ready to begin submissions.

While some authors choose to send queries to a publisher or an agent, there is no reason to choose, send queries off to both. But, there are a few steps you need to be aware of before you actually start submitting:

1. First Impressions

Professionalism, professionalism, professionalism. Yes, be professional. As with any business correspondence, do not use colored stationary, colored text, elaborate font, scented paper or envelope, or any other unprofessional features. You get one shot at making a first impression; don’t blow it on silly additions. And, don’t try to be cute or send a gift. Again, be professional.

2. Research

So, you understand you need to appear professional, but you also need to send your query to the right recipients. You can have the most professional looking query letter, but if you send a query to a romance publisher and you have written a children’s picture book, guess what? You’ll be out of luck.

Research for publishers and agents who work within the genre you write. There are services, such as WritersMarket (http://www.writersmarket.com/) that provide information on where and how to sell your articles or manuscripts. While these services may charge for the service, it is a worthwhile investment.

There are also books that offer the same information, such as Writer’s Market, and Children’s Writers and Illustrator’s Market. If you choose this option, you will need to get the new versions each year. Agents and publishers are changing staff all the time, new companies are popping up and others are closing down, you will need up-to-date information for your query submissions.

3. Content

In the February 2011 issue of the Writer, agent Betsy Lerner explained, “Editors and agents alike enjoy nothing more than being startled awake by a witty or moving letter.” They want to see something special and unique; this is where your pitch comes in.

While you may have taken heed and had your manuscript critiqued and looked at by an editor, you can do the same with your query letter.

You want to give the impression that you are intelligent, so your query letter must reflect that. Get it in the best shape possible, with a great hook, and then send it off to be critiqued.

Publishers and agents receive more queries than they can comfortably handle, so don’t give them a reason to simply reject yours because of unprofessionalism. Give your query and manuscript every possible opportunity for success.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children's author and children’s ghostwriter as well as the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move. You can find out more about writing for children and her services at: Karen Cioffi Writing for Children.

Check out the DIY Page and don’t forget to sign up for The Writing World Newsletter - it has great monthly writing and book marketing tips and it's FREE.


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Characters or Story - Which Comes First?

A number of articles about writing for children, and other genres suggest knowing your characters inside and out before beginning the story. In fact, information suggests that the author build the story around the characters once they are fully developed. While this is good advice, and many experienced authors recommend this technique, there are some authors who occasionally watch their characters unveil themselves right before their eyes.

This is such an interesting method of writing. Your character introduces himself and gradually reveals bits and pieces, and blossoms as the story moves along. Sometimes a story doesn’t begin with this intent, it just happens. This is known as the seat-of-you-pants method of writing.

You do need to be careful with this method though, you may lose track of all the bits and pieces that make up the character. So, a good way to keep track of those quirky telltale marks, expressions, behavior patterns, and physical features is to note them on a separate page or character card as they become unveiled. You wouldn’t want your character to have brown eyes in one chapter and blue eyes in another - unless of course, it’s a science fiction or paranormal and part of the storyline.

So, is there a right or wrong answer to the question of which comes first, characters or story? That depends on the writer.

While it may be important to know your characters, and even have a family and background established for them, even if every bit and piece of that information is not used in the story, you can also become acquainted as you go along. As your story develops you may find out if the character is fearful in certain situations, or if he is heroic. Sometimes it’s impossible to know this about a person, let alone a character, until circumstances create the possibility of the question.

It is one’s environment and circumstances that help develop his or her characteristics, fears, hopes, and so on. The same holds true for your character.

Using an example: How would a child who never saw a mouse before react to one? There’s no way to answer that question until it happens. Even the setting itself would lend to the possible various reactions of the child. If the mouse was in a field and the child wasn’t too close, you’d get one reaction. If the mouse was in the child’s closet, and the child stuck his hand in the closet to get his sneakers and touched the mouse, there’d be quite a different reaction.

So if you’re so inclined, having the story help develop the character can be a useful tool. But, again, be sure to keep track of all the new features your character unveils along the way.

Karen Cioffi is an award-winning children's author and children’s ghostwriter as well as the founder and editor-in-chief of Writers on the Move. You can find out more about writing for children and her services at: Karen Cioffi Writing for Children.

Check out the DIY Page and don’t forget to sign up for The Writing World Newsletter that has great monthly writing and book marketing tips and it's FREE.



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Writer’s Block, or The Editor Within? by Barbara Chepaitis

Today we have the pleasure of featuring Barbara Chepaitis, the author of 8 published books, as well as founder of the storytelling trio The Snickering Witches, and faculty coordinator for the fiction component of Western Colorado’s MFA program in creative writing.

It seems every writer hits a bump in the manuscript road - is it writer's block, or something else? Barbara shares her thoughts with us.

Writer’s Block, or The Editor Within? 

by Barbara Chepaitis 
 
I’ve never had writer’s block.  In fact, I don’t believe it exists.  What others call writer’s block I believe is the interference of an internal voice you could call the Editor Within, a piece of your ego that fears being a fool.

I also believe every writer has a certain point at which their faith and energy in what they’re writing wavers.  Suddenly, it all seems like garbage and you have no idea whatever made you think you could write anything worthwhile, anything anyone would want to read.   That moment seems to arrive at different points in the writing process for each writer.  For some, it shows up at the beginning, when you’re staring at a blank page.  For others, it occurs at the midpoint, when energy flags.  For others – and my husband is one of these – it shows up just before the piece is completed.

My moment of dread appears just after I’ve sent a completed project to an agent or editor.  Then, the Editor Within leaps up and tells me I’ve done it all wrong and have to rewrite everything because, well, it’s garbage, etc.   Fortunately, by then it’s too late. 

Of course, no matter when your Editor Within starts yammering at you, the trick is to figure out how to make it go away until your work is done. Since the editor speaks from your ego and is mostly worried about appearing  foolish, a good defense is to embrace your folly consciously and  remember writing isn’t really about your ego, it’s about the story.  When the Editor Within begins its litany, simply agree.   Reply yes, I am a fool, and I’m not here to please you.  I’m here to serve the stories, which want to be written. 
 
Say it once, twice, as many times as necessary.  I am a fool, and I’m here to serve the stories.   And remember it well, because if you are a writer, it’s absolutely true.


BIO: Barbara Chepaitis is the author of 8 published books, including The Fear Principle featuring Jaguar Addams, and the critically acclaimed Feeding Christine and These Dreams. Her first nonfiction book, Feathers of Hope, is about Berkshire Bird Paradise and the human connection with birds.   She’s writing a sequel about Eagle Mitch, a bird she helped our US troops rescue from Afghanistan.  Barbara is founder of the storytelling trio The Snickering Witches, and faculty coordinator for the fiction component of Western Colorado’s MFA program in creative writing.

You can find Barbara at:

Facebook site for Barbara - http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=615302442

Barbara’s website:   http://www.wildreads.com

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