Reviews of Top 5 Books For Authors on Marketing

Posted on April 1, 2011 by admin

So I decided to create as list of the top 5 available on Amazon.

Now I know that this list is ever changing and due to that I will continue to update this list for you every year. I highly recommend purchasing these titles for your library for industry specific reading even if you are not a DIY marketer.

Top 5 reviews;

 

Plug Your Book! Online Marketing for Authors, Publicity through Social Networking – This is an excellent resource for new authors with little or no online experience. Its great to learn about the fundamentals of Amazon, Blogging, and Social Media.
Print-on-Demand Book Publishing: A New Approach To Printing And Marketing For Publishers And Self-Publishing Authors – This the industry reference guide when dealing with POD companies. If you have any questions about how the system works, discounts, remainders etc. this is for those looking for more advanced material.
1001 Ways to Market Your Books, Sixth Edition - This is another for those needing intermediate knowledge. It covers such subjects as subsidiary rights, selling to schools and libraries, international distribution and more.
How To Write a Book Proposal – This is an advanced collection of material for those seeking to submit proposals to traditional publishing houses. It breaks the process which can take 6 months down into a methodical step by step process.
Sell Your Book on Amazon: COACH, Dan Poynter Reveals Top-Secret “How-to” Tips Guaranteed to Increase Sales for Print-on-Demand and Self-Publishing Writers - Dan is one of the icons in this industry, here he writes about the inside of Amazon page by page and exactly how to take advantage of everything you can use to sell more.

 

In my opinion this is the best collection to read for any author looking to sell more.

 

If you’re ready to go to learn more about how to write your own book and scale it into a Highly Profitable Teaching, Training, Coaching, or Speaking business than go to; http://www.adaptonadime.com for your FREE “Fast Start Guide”

Paul Godines helps Authors with the Publishing Process, building the Authors Marketing Platforms (social media, products, coaching programs) Book Promotions (virtual book tours, amazon best seller campaigns, book award competitions) and receiving Publicity for your Book (Radio/TV and in Print.)

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Illustrating books is a tough sell

Posted on March 31, 2011 by admin

Writing illustrated childrens books is a pretty tough way to make a living.  A lot of people assume that it is an easy life because the books are so simple. In a sense it’s true. Anyone can write a children’s book. It takes a good author to write a good children’s book because it takes a good author to write a good book period, but writing for kids is still a lot less work than writing for adults. The industry, however, is cutthroat. There are so many people who can churn out kids books that the competition can be brutal and crushing. Having your books discovered by a good publisher is almost impossible. You need good contacts, a good agent, and most of all you need to get your books illustrated by an excellent artist.

Illustrating books is a tough sell. A lot of artists turn down requests by people wanting to have their books illustrated without even considering them. You see, the chance of “making it” from the work you do on a kids book is slim to none.  Thousands of authors out there want to get their books illustrated, and few of them are willing to part with the money it requires. Most writers wants to hire illustrators on spec. This means that the illustrator only gets a commission if the book gets picked up. Only a tiny proportion of children’s books get published, and of those very few are financially successful. It is no wonder there are so few book illustrators for hire.

Rather than looking for authors who wants to get a book illustrated, most artists will actually go to the company themselves. Many book publishers will hire artists and assign them to new authors. This is the best way for a book illustrator to make a living. Unfortunately, there is no similar offer for authors. Just because you are a good writer doesn’t mean that a company will want to hire you. Unless you can successfully pitch your idea, you will not be picked up. No one hires writers purely for their craft. Writers are hired for a marketable idea. Without that marketable idea and the right pitch, they will never get their books illustrated unless they want to part with a lot of money out of pocket. The only solution is to go to the book publishers who will assign you an artist if they like your book. These publishers, unfortunately, are very difficult to get picked up by.

Click Here To Read This Intersting Article On Ideas To Make Money

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Selecting to Right Christian Book Company

Posted on March 29, 2011 by admin

To some, writing has become the perfect medium where they can share to the world their thoughts and emotiongs. This has been one of the oldest ways that people use in order to communicate to one another. It’s no doubt why even the Lord, the Supreme and the Highest of all being choose writing as the His medium in reaching His beloved children. This scheme is still in use not just by Christians but by different kind of people from different denominations and faith group today. This method has been proven to be one of the most effective in keeping records of history and in keeping words that will unfold and change a person’s life. This may also be the reason why a good number of Christians has aspired into writing books that tackle about Christianity, faith, religion and inspiration and experiences.

To those who spent their time writing these kinds of books and dreamed of publishing their masterpiece, it is now their time to reach the world. They must choose the best Christian book company that will help them in sharing the Word of GOD to the people. But what are the things that they must do in selecting the right Christian book company? It is important to believe that the book will be published by one of the best book company. The very first thing that they must do is to search and browse through the internet the companies that publish Christian books. They must also check the credibility of the company in order not to waste their time, finances and most of all, their masterpiece. These companies may also have their contact information available so that Authors can contact them. After considering and getting in touch with the company, authors can join forums that tackled about Christian book publishing. Through this they can get the chance of meeting some Authors that may give them bit of advices in selecting the right book company. It is also advisable to check the accessibility of the company and the reputation that it has in the Christian World.

Another thing that they must consider in selecting is the marketing scheme of the company. These include, the marketability of their books, their connections to other book companies and book publishers and the locations of their market. This will likely affect the impact of the book to the world. Some Authors choose companies that already have a name in the Christian world and has its own bookstore. Because of this, they will be assured that their books can reach their target market.

However, they must be very cautious in making decisions. It might also be very helpful to spend some time for prayer, since this is the most powerful tool that Christians have. Getting answers from Heaven and wisdom from the Lord will help them in making the right decision.

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Trafford Publishing Releases Author Judy Flohr’s Simple Shorts

Posted on March 28, 2011 by admin

June 10 2010 (Bloomington, IN) – Trafford Publishing, the world’s first “on-demand publishing service,” releases Simple Shorts. A self published book of short stories and poems that is chock full of simple, quirky and offbeat themes whose characters  are set to take the children’s book publishing world by storm. Debut author, Judy Flohr, introduces a parachute jumper gobbling chicken sandwiches, a Mexican man pining for his property that has been developed into a golf course and a hilarious satire on Adam and Eve. Follow their adventures which will undoubtedly have readers chuckling over these unusual and imaginative “Shorts”.

Simple Shorts’ is a fun read that entertains with its free-spirited and refreshingly simple voice. Every story contained within the pages of self published author, Judy Flohr’s, unusual, insightful collection of Simple Shorts will regale you with ironic and hilarious insights into a comedienne’s soul.

About the Author

Judy Flohr writes short stories for fun. Although Simple Shorts is her first official publication, she is currently working on a trilogy for young readers with installments entitled Upside Down Eyes, The Tick Not Clock, and EZ Dragon. She lives in Richmond, Va., with her husband and has four adult children. Flohr has a bachelor’s degree in English from St. Andrews Presbyterian College, and she spends several months a year in Todos Santos, BCS, Mexico.

 

About Trafford Publishing

Trafford Publishing was the first company in the world to offer an “on-demand publishing service,” and has led the independent publishing revolution since its establishment in 1995. Trafford was also one of the earliest publishers to utilize the Internet for selling books. More than 10,000 authors from over 120 countries have utilized Trafford’s experience for self-publishing their books.

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How to Read a Publishing Contract

Posted on March 26, 2011 by admin

So you finally got your brilliant novel published.  Congratulations!  You might be so happy about this accomplishment that you’re willing to sign anything.  However, this is a mistake.  Never sign anything when drinking celebratory champagne.  You will need your mind in tact to thoroughly examine the contract and make sure that the publishing company is being fair to you.  A contract is legally binding!  No matter your grievances, if you signed a contract then according to the United States of America you are 100% satisfied with your publishing company. 

The most important consideration is what the publisher expects from you as a writer.  Usually a publisher won’t even offer a contract unless the story generally fits into its requirements.  However, the company may still expect the writer to do some rewrites.  In the case of a writer-for-hire scenario, then the terms should be made clear as to what kind of material the writer is expected to write, what style it will be delivered in, any rewriting promises and how much payment is expected.

Other considerations include whether or not a byline is given, and if the author has the right to remove his or her byline if there is a disagreement.  Speaking of disagreements, how will they be handled?  Will the author get to have approval of the final copy?  Before the final copy is printed, usually authors are sent “galleys” to read over and request any changes.  However, you should ask if you have the right to request changes for substance as well as proofreading errors.  It’s not entirely impossible that the book publisher will want to change a part of the story line or certain points in the book that will alter your original vision.  In fact, it’s quite common in publishing.  Will you be able to work this way and rewrite the changes yourself?  If you insist on no changes at all then you might have to part ways with the company and start from scratch. 

You will be dealing with a variety of “rights” in contract negotiation.  The friendliest contract in publishing is probably “First North American Serial Rights.”  This type of contract guarantees only that the publisher is allowed to release the book exclusively and repeatedly for a limited period of time.  You might also be confronted with issues of the material being reproduced for serialization, television or even film.  Don’t be so generous with these rights.  You stand to make a lot of money as the copyright owner if the manuscript should be produced for the screen.  Some publishing companies may demand 50% or more of all profits in the event of a film adaptation.  Be weary about signing any contract that gives total power to the publisher.

The issue of Electronic Rights will also be of concern.  While the technology is currently growing, in the coming years, electronic publishing could well take off and transform the entire medium.  As a knowledgeable writer try to ensure that (a) e-publishing rights are limited to a reasonable time; (b) that you get a fair share of the revenue of all online sales (some have suggested as high as 50% of revenue is acceptable, as this is different from publishing royalties); and (c) that you get some profit out of total hits in addition to direct online sales.

Lastly, remember that you will be looking to license the use of your work in any medium, not sign all the rights away even if it’s for a handsome reward. 

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How Much Does it Really Cost to Write and Publish a Book?

Posted on March 25, 2011 by admin

When an aspiring author is thinking about writing and publishing their book, the question of cost inevitably comes up. All books are different, though, so asking how much it costs to publish a book is like asking how much a house or a car costs. The price depends on the book itself.

Longer books are more expensive, and so are full-color books and hard-cover books. Self-publishing the traditional way, meaning a print run of a couple thousand copies, requires more money up front than print-on-demand. But the cost per copy decreases when you print an inventory, meaning you can make more of your money back faster. Obviously hiring a ghostwriter to write your book significantly increases the cost of the writing–it’s free if you do it all on your own. And working with a one-stop shop for your publishing services, as opposed to finding suppliers on your own, will affect your production costs. All these factors, and more, play a role in your publishing expenses.

With that said, I’ve done some research to put together the following list of expenses you should budget for when writing and publishing your book.

Writing: As I mentioned before, writing your book is free if you do it all on your own. Working with a coach or taking a class to write your book will cost more. And hiring a ghostwriter will be the most expensive way to write your book. However, working with a coach or hiring a ghostwriter will help reduce your editing costs-something to keep in mind. And don’t be afraid to invest money in the writing process–well-written books sell better.

Editing/proofreading: Again, if you do it yourself, or find a friend or two to read your book for you, you can get the book edited for next to nothing. However, this approach isn’t recommended. The content of your book is the foundation of your publishing venture, so you can’t afford to skimp on expenses associated with creating a good, marketable manuscript. Every writer needs an editor, and at least a proofreader. A professional will help you create a professional product.

Design (both cover and interior): Although I know many self-publishers do their own interior design in Microsoft Word, you probably don’t want to design your own book cover unless you’re a graphics designer. Covers can range in price, depending on the level of customization and amount of illustration required. And many self-publishing companies offer stock templates you can choose from to save money. The same goes for interior page design. Some companies offer stock templates, or you could do it yourself. But if you have lots of graphics or illustrations, or you want a custom job, the cost will be higher.

Miscellaneous production costs: In addition to the design expenses, producing your book also includes securing an ISBN number, copyright fees, and shipping from the printer to you (or your warehouse). You may also need to pay someone for order fulfillment.

Printing: As I mentioned before, it costs less to get your book set up with a print-on-demand publishing company, and then you don’t have to worry about warehousing the books and fulfilling the orders. But the cost per copy is significantly higher than if you printed one or two thousand copies. I recommend looking at both options very carefully, and if you know you can sell a thousand copies through your existing marketing channels, then bite the bullet and have them printed. You’ll make your money back faster.

Your Book Investment
Regardless of the cost, keep in mind that your book is an investment in yourself and in your business that will pay off. Don’t be afraid to spend a little money to do it the right way and create a quality, professional product.

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Publishing Made Easy – Tips on How to Get Your Manuscript Published

Posted on March 23, 2011 by admin

Publishing is an extremely competitive business. There are three main ways to go about getting your manuscript published; through an agent, directly through a publishing company, or by taking the increasingly popular self-publishing option.

 

The best way to improve your chances of getting your book published by a traditional publisher is to find an agent who will ‘take you under their wing’ and add you to their list of clients. Publishing companies very rarely read or pay any attention to unsolicited manuscripts (i.e. a manuscript submitted by an author NOT by an agent). Therefore, you are in a much more likely to get your manuscript published if you have an agent.

Unfortunately, getting an agent to agree to take you on as a client is almost as hard as it is to get a publisher to read your work. Agents give your work approximately 20 seconds of time before making a decision to either pursue you or reject you.., and 90-99% get rejected. It is tough!

So getting an agent…

- There are hundreds of Literary Agents in the UK. You need to target those agencies that handle the kind of writing that you do. So, get a copy of the ‘Writers Market UK 2008’, or the ‘Writers and Artists Yearbook 2008’. These list literary agents, telling you what genre of writing each agency deals with.

- You can contact the Association of Author’s Agents (www.agentsassoc.co.uk) or the Society of Authors (www.societyofauthors.net) who should be able to point you in the right direction, and provide a list of suggested agencies that would suit your novel.

- Call or email the appropriate agencies to enquire about their procedure for submitting manuscripts. If you don’t follow procedure you will automatically be rejected.

- Write a well-written, succinct letter, briefly outlining your work and include a synopsis, together with three polished chapters and a brief CV. Make sure each letter is tailored to each individual agency – do not send generic covering letters, and make sure you address them to an appropriate individual at the agency, not a ‘Dear Sir / Madam’

- Submit and wait. If the agency is interested they will make contact with you and ask for more information. If they aren’t interested you will either receive a rejection letter / email, or unfortunately you won’t hear back from them.

Getting a publisher without an agent…

If you are unsuccessful in securing an agent, or you want to try targeting the publishers direct, without using an agent, the process is basically exactly the same as it is for trying to ascertain an agent;

- You need to target publishers that handle the kind of writing that you do. So, get a copy of the ‘Writers Market UK 2008’, or the ‘Writers and Artists Yearbook 2008’. These list publishing companies, telling you what genre of writing each publisher deals with.

- Call or email the appropriate publishers to enquire about their procedure for submitting manuscripts. If you don’t follow procedure you will automatically be rejected.

- Write a well-written, succinct letter, briefly outlining your work and include a synopsis, together with three polished chapters and a brief CV. Make sure each letter is tailored to each individual publishing company – do not send generic covering letters, and make sure you address them to an appropriate individual at the agency, not a ‘Dear Sir / Madam’

- Submit and wait. If the publisher is interested they will make contact with you and ask for more information. If they aren’t interested you will either receive a rejection letter / email, or unfortunately you won’t hear back from them.

It is really very hard to get published nowadays because agencies and publishers will only ever give your submission a 20 second read before making a decision on its worth. Furthermore, most agencies and publishers’ client lists are already full, so they aren’t looking to take on new writers. On the other hand, without writers, agencies and publishing companies wouldn’t exist – so they do need fresh new talent to keep their businesses alive!

Self Publishing

If you find that you aren’t getting anywhere with securing an agent or a traditional publishing company, you can try ‘Self-Publishing’. This is where you pay a publishing company to publish and print your book for you. They can register it for an ISBN and will often make it available for purchase over the internet.

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Getting the Most in Self-marketing

Posted on March 22, 2011 by admin

Due to technology’s rapid advancements, there’s no task quite impossible these days.  According to New York Times article which dated June 16, 2007, “Sales on the Internet are expected to reach 6 billion this year, or 5 percent of all retail sales…. Analysts project that by 2011, online sales will account for nearly 7 percent of overall retail sales, though categories like computer hardware and software generate more than 40 percent of their sales on the Internet.” No wonder why the World Wide Web has been the favorite venue of every self-published author who aims to generate great market for their books. One third of the planet is glued to the cyber world – that’s a lot of prospective readers to catch.

There are numerous online book marketing companies that offer services to self-published authors. These online book marketing companies offer a line up of tools to equip self-published authors in getting their books on to the marketing play, primary services like web design, e-mail advertisement, media release, video marketing, and a whole lot more. Self-published authors can very well make use of these efficient tools to jumpstart marketing their books. However, self-published authors must understand that marketing tools and services works hand in hand with personal efforts too.

Acquiring a splendid website design service is a big step in marketing one’s book. Owning a corner on the web gives every author the opportunity to showcase a lot of details regarding their book and about the author himself but as that famous comic book cliché goes, “with great power, comes great responsibility”. Maintenance and updates are vital. Readers are always eager for fresh and new details. Comments and hints of appreciation are always helpful to generate proactive relationships among the visitors of the site and the readers. Participation and connection to social networking sites will surely sustain web traffic to the site. The power of online relationships can never be underestimated.

Email advertisements are also one of the many efficient ways to disseminate information about a book. It directly penetrates the email inboxes of prospective readers. One may send from a hundred to millions of email advertisments. A small budget will not stop an author generate multiple e-mail advertisements. Apart from the acquired service, authors can forward e-mail ads to their own list of personal contacts. The author can also ask the personal list of contacts to forward it too. Through this, it can generate information dissemination at no extra cost, just extra effort. Email advertisements can also be posted on author’s social networking sites, especially on the blog page section. “A third of the population has reviewed something online, and any of those reviews can be read by millions of people” according to Andy Sernovts, CEO of Word of Mouth Marketing Association. Written reviews about an email advertisement campaign can gather ideas and suggestions that are helpful for upcoming book marketing campaigns. It leads to a room for improvement. Complete.com shares its top five social networking sites. These are namely: Facebook.com, Myspace.com, Twitter.com, Flixter.com, and Linkedin.com. It is also important to use suitable and appropriate social marketing sites for book marketing campaigns.

Press releases are powerful and it can generate major “buzz” for marketing books. But again, personal efforts and initiative makes a lot of difference. Apart from acquiring a press release with a limited number of recipients, authors can personally send press releases to more publishing firms. The internet has lists of PR firm directories which authors can use to send out more copies of their press releases. Examples of these are: gebbieinc.com, pr.com and publicrelations.uk.com. The press is always busy that’s why consistent follow-ups are always an extra plus for press releases to be printed.

Book trailers can easily capture the reader’s attention through audio and visual impact. It makes books stand out in a crowd. However, productions of book trailers are quite expensive. That is why personally re-producing copies of book trailers is a clever move. There are sites that upload videos for no charge; examples are YouTube.com, DailyMotion.com, VideoWebTown.com, Veoh.com, and PhotoBucket.com. Video uploads will eat much time, so a better way to broadcast book trailers is posting its embedded codes on social networking sites. This can generate comments and discussions which add more buzz to the marketing campaign.

The success of self-marketing books does not merely rely upon the perfect mix of marketing tools and services that have been used. Authors must be actively involved in the game. Authors must make efforts and have the initiative in molding their books market into a victory. Extra little efforts will help pump up every book’s marketing proficiency.

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A New Paradigm In Self E-Publishing

Posted on March 20, 2011 by admin

e-Publishing…is that even a word yet? It soon will be.

While there are plenty of self publishing sites out there today (lulu.com, iUniverse.com) that will happily take your money and send you 1000 copies of your cherished work all hard bound and lovely (in a 50lb box!), the self e-Publishing industry is now on the rise. No more heavy lifting. No more “now what do I do with all these books?”. Sites like BackMyBook.com are the latest in a new wave of e-Book “publishers” that are soon to set a new trend.

I use the word “publishers” in quotes, because technically sites like BackMyBook.com are not playing the traditional publisher’s role. Instead, they are enabling authors to do it themselves, bypassing the traditional route and getting their work straight to readers online, in an instant. Much the way YouTube allows amateur movie makers to post their creations, and MySpace has worked to allow independent musicians to present their music to the world.

Not only are authors empowered to put their creativity out there, these new sites are poised to offer them a plethora of highly effective online e-Book marketing tools – far more help than a traditional publisher typically offers their new and burgeoning authors. And with the mysteries of social networking tools cracked open to the non-technical, sites like BackMyBook.com may actually succeed in launching a whole new wave of authors that may never have had their valuable literary work see the light of day.

Of course, if the writing stinks, there is no saving it. That is why it is so important that these sites are also introducing the same kinds of ratings driven popularity systems that you see in use on YouTube, Digg and other social networks. No one wants the job of reading drivel, but putting millions of eyeballs to use in filtering and finding the gems will no doubt result in finding many more diamonds in the rough than book agents and publishers are capable of finding themselves today.

I am excited to see what sites like this will eventually bring to the table for authors, and convinced this is going to be the beginning of a new era in the publishing world – one where e-Book readers like Amazon Kindle, Apple iPad and Barnes & Noble Nook are the targets of underground and previously inaccessible great works by authors who didn’t have to make it past the grumpy publisher’s messy desk, but rather were empowered to reach out to readers themselves.

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Ebook Publishing Made Easy – How to Make a Fast Fortune From Ebook Publishing

Posted on March 19, 2011 by admin

There is no denying that it is very hard to take a book you have written and to find an agent and a publishing house willing to hard print your book and distribute it through the world. Only one out of every one-hundred writers ever get their book published by a major publisher and is one of the main reasons why so many people are turning to eBook publishing, which allows them to market their books and to distribute them on their own.

With the numerous eBook publishing houses found on the World Wide Web it has become incredibly easy to self-publish your own book. You can now turn your completed manuscript over to one of these companies and they will format your book, create a cover and will actually work for you to market your book.

When working with an E-publishing house you will have complete control over the content of your novel and will never have to worry about an editor trying to get you to cut out scenes that don’t work for them! You will have complete control over how many novels you release a year! Control is completely yours with this type of publishing.

Most online publishing houses also have very low rates. In fact, the majority of them will not even charge you a thing to get started. They simply take a percentage of each copy of your book that is sold. However, this percentage is so small that you won’t even notice it!

So if you have a completed novel and want to get it out there and into the hands of readers, then perhaps it time you seriously considered eBook publishing.

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