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Book Marketing Tip of the Week
January 16, 2007:
National Book Publishers Day

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In this issue . . .
-- Happy Birthday to Me
-- What You Have Control Over
-- Teleseminar with John Kremer: Thursday, January 18th
-- Search Engine Optimization
-- Website Feedback Thanks
-- Sharing Ideas Magazine

I'm trying out a new format for my newsletter. I hope you like it. I think it's more reader friendly. If you missed last week's issue, you can read it here: http://www.bookmarket.com/tip070110.html.

Happy Birthday to Me
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National Book Publishers Day is celebrated on January 16th for only one reason. Because I sponsor it. And I did so to celebrate my birthday. It's certainly better than National Nothing Day, which is also celebrated on the 16th, if you can call doing nothing, celebrating.

What You Have Control Over
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When you are writing a book, you have lots of control over the content, style, and format of your book, but once you start to market, you lose a lot of control. You can't force media to feature you. You can't force bookstores to put your book on their shelves. You can't force readers to read your book.

But there is one thing you do have control over: That's your persistence. The authors who get featured, the books that get placed on bookstore shelves, the authors who get read -- they all have one thing in common: The authors are persistent. They keep knocking on doors. They do something every day to promote their books. They pick up the phone and make calls. They do interviews. They create relationships.

What did you do today?

Teleseminar with John Kremer
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I'll be doing a free teleseminar on What I Have Learned in 20 Years of Book Marketing. The teleseminar will be on Thursday, January 18th at 9:00 p.m. Eastern or 7:00 p.m. Mountain. If you want to join me on this teleseminar interview, call 712-432-3000, access code 542646.

Search Engine Optimization
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Reader Question: Our ReaderViews.com website is way down in the search engine rankings for key terms such as "book review," "get book reviews," and "reviews of books." I can't even find us under those --
must be way, way down.

John's Answer: After talking more with Irene, I found out that ReaderViews.com does rate at #2 for "book reviews by readers" and #19 for "reader book reviews." Now that's what I would optimize on because "book reviews" you are competing with every newspaper, magazine, and blogger in the country. But, gosh, #2 for "book reviews by readers," that's significant. I'd let every newspaper in the country know. I'd highlight it at the top of my website -- every page. It would become the motto for my website: Book Reviews by Readers. Then I'd highlight how special those readers are, how wonderful and trustworthy their reviews are, etc.

As you build your website value for those search terms, you'll find that your website will also rise in value for the general terms. If done right, you could end up on the top 30 for "book reviews" as well. It will take time, but could easily be worth the attention and time it takes.

Thank You for the Website Feedback
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Last week I asked you for feedback on my new website design. Many of you responded. Thanks. Your feedback has helped me make my website better. I have put the new website design up at BookMarket.com, but I still have some tweaking and additional links to add, so it'll be a few days before the new site design is fully functional.

While some people didn't like the new design, most people liked it. They told me it was a lot easier to navigate, easier to read, easier to find the information they wanted to find. That was my goal.

Here is one person's comment: “The new design is much more appealing, inviting and warmer than the earlier one. It makes me feel welcome: I want to stay and browse awhile and indulge my love of all things books.”

Sharing Ideas Magazine
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Sharing Ideas, Dottie Walters, Editor-in-Chief, Royal Publishing, P O Box 398, Glendora CA 91740; 626-335-8069; Fax: 626-335-6127. Email: dottie@speakandgrowrich.com. Web: http://www.walters-intl.com or http://www.speakandgrowrich.com.

A monthly magazine for professional speakers, bureaus, agents, meeting planners, and consultants. This magazine feature author interviews, articles from book authors and speakers, plus mentions of any book written by their subscribers. This is a great magazine to read if you want to become a paid professional speaker. Send review copies, interview suggestions, and articles direct to Dottie. Email is fine.

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