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Gumbo Writers Interview
Book Marketing Expert John Kremer

You have been in the business for a long time. What changes have you seen in respect to self-publishing?

In the beginning, there were few printers capable of providing inexpensive printing of books. Eventually, a good number of great companies formed to serve the short-run book printing market. Now, of course, print-on-demand printers make it even less expensive to test the market for new self-published books. What used to cost several thousand dollars can now be tested for $60 or less.

Have you ever thought about publishing traditionally? What has stopped you?

I have published traditionally. Wiley published my Complete Direct Marketing Sourcebook (originally self-published as Mail Order Selling Made Easier). Prima Publishing, now part of Random House, published an edition of my Celebrate Today book as well as another title. None of these worked out that well for me. I've always made much more money self-publishing. But I still like the possibilities of publishing via some of the larger publishers, especially for a book that needs great bookstore distribution.

What motivated you to help so many people in the way that you have?

People asked me. It really was that simple. People asked me how to market their books successfully. I knew how to do that. So I began writing, speaking, and consulting about that topic.

Tell us about the Ten Million Eyeballs project? How is this different than anything else out there?

My Ten Million Eyeballs online marketing course teaches authors, publishers, and anyone else interested in selling products and services via the Internet. In the Ten Million Eyeballs course, I teach four simple, inexpensive, quick ways to market books, ideas, products, services, and more via the Internet.

How is it different? None of the four ways involve pay-per-click ads, social networks, or other costly or time-consuming ways. The key to implementing all four ways is knowing how to create relationships online. I teach people how to create relationships that really matter. While you can use social networks as a tool in implementing some of my four ways, you don't have to spend a lot of time.

Personally, I'm really lazy and cheap, so I don't like to spend a lot of money on marketing or a lot of time. When I teach people how to market online, I teach them the same inexpensive and quick methods I've used to put my BookMarket.com website in the top 10 on Google for more than 100 key words.

Your 1001 Ways Book has done extremely well, how many copies have sold?

90,000 copies. That's not a lot compared to many bestsellers, but within its category it's been a perennial bestseller.

How can an author use their book as a vehicle to make more money?

A book is the perfect introduction to any audience. If you write a book, you automatically become an expert in the topic you wrote about. Your expertise allows you to make money as a speaker, consultant, seminar leader, and developer of other products. Most authors actually make more money speaking, consulting, or selling other products than they do by selling their books.

Whether you write fiction or nonfiction, there are many possibilities to create additional income streams growing out of your book. Even a novelist can speak, consult, create additional products, sell all sorts of subsidiary rights, and make tons of money. Witness the first billionaire novelist: J.K. Rowling. Only a portion of her billion dollars came directly from book sales.

What are the top 3 ways an author can promote their book using zero cost techniques?

1. Marketing via the Internet. You can do tons of marketing via the Internet that doesn't have to cost much money.

 John Kremer's Ten Million Eyeballs Internet Marketing Events

2. Speaking. Start locally where you have no travel costs and where you can meet the decision makers who can set up bookstore appearances, paid speaking gigs, etc.

3. Publicity. You can generate a lot of publicity with a good letter, follow-up phone calls, and some persistence. Most authors give up way too soon when approaching media that reaches the audience for their books. Most don't even follow up once after sending out a review copy or news release. Without that follow up, you'll never book the major media that can make a huge difference in the sales of your books and your reputation as an author.

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