Book Marketing Tip of the Week
November 10, 2009: Forget-Me-Not Day, Festival of Reason, Marine Corps Birthday, Pay Up Your Credit Card Day, Motorcycle Birthday, The Cheerleader Effect DayDetails on these days — and 18,800 others! — can be found in
John Kremer's Celebrate Today Special Events Data Files.In this issue . . .
-- self-publishing success story
-- The Author Hour: Top 50 fiction authors
-- another way to get radio publicity
-- author looking for freelance writers
-- How to Work with Freelance Writers to Boost Free Publicity
-- Reading Library for Underprivileged Children
-- MyMediaInfo media database
-- Kindle, Sony Reader, and ebooks formatting: an updateself-publishing success story
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In 2002, Rosemary Thornton wrote and self-published a book about Sears homes, The Houses That Sears Built. Here is what she had to say about that experience:What a crazy bold move that was. At first, I feared I might end up giving those 1,000 copies away to friends and family for Christmas presents for the next 40 years. But then the New York Times called and they wanted to do a story on Sears homes, and they quoted my book.
Next came PBS History Detectives, A&E's Biography, CBS Sunday Morning
News and more.In Summer 2004, my book was a featured category on Jeopardy!
In 2006, I made it to the front page of the Wall Street Journal (above the fold).
Perhaps most importantly, this self-published book provided me with a
thoroughly delightful career and income for five years and continues to
sell well at Amazon.com.Note from John: For more inspiring stories about successful self-published authors, order John Kremer's Self-Publishing Hall of Fame ebook via http://www.bookmarket.com/orderform.htm. 254 pages of incredible stories and great tips from those who have sold millions of copies of their books. Only $20 for a quick downloadable Word ebook.
The Author Hour: Top 50 fiction authors
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Matthew Peterson, award-winning author of Paraworld Zero, is interviewing over 50 of the top fiction authors in the world for his online radio show, The Author Hour: Your Guide to Fantastic Fiction, which airs every Thursday at noon Eastern on VoiceAmerica.com (the world leader in live Internet talk radio).The guests on his next episode include Terry Brooks, Brandon Sanderson, Tracy Hickman, Margaret Weis, and R. A. Salvatore. Then the week after that, he's got Anne Rice, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kevin J. Anderson, Brian Herbert, and Orson Scott Card.
The interviews are transcribed and archived on his show website at http://www.TheAuthorHour.com for people who missed the live show, plus the interviews are syndicated through iTunes. Go to his website for the full list of guests and to listen to the previous interviews Matthew has done with international bestselling authors such as Terry Pratchett, Eoin Colfer, Piers Anthony, Diana Gabaldon, Meg Cabot, and Holly Black.
Two things to learn from what Matthew is doing:
1. You can do the same in your genre, whether fiction or nonfiction. If you have an online radio show, famous authors and other experts will be open to being interviewed by you. You don't have to take my word for that. Just check out the famous novelists who are being interviewed by Matthew.
2. If you are a novelist, you can suggest yourself as a guest by going to TheAuthorHour.com and submitting a proposal (via the contact link).
another way to get radio publicity
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Here's a tip from Tom Moore that shows how he got featured on a major
Dallas radio show:Here's a way I found to get some extra publicity for my two books locally. I had to go to Cannes, France on business and was staying over to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair to sell the foreign rights on my books. On Friday afternoon, as I was writing my weekly free newsletter that goes out all over the world, I was listening to the Jody Dean Show on KLUV in Dallas via the Internet.
In previous shows I had heard them mention people listening in from other parts of the world to their internet broadcast, so I emailed Jody and mentioned that I was in Cannes and would be heading to the Frankfurt Book Fair to promote my books--The Gentle Way: A Self-Help Guide For Those Who Believe In Angels books I and II. He did mention me and the books and said he was "going to have to check out my website." His show is the number two show in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area, so it was a nice mention. This could work for anyone that's on a book tour or away from their city for business or pleasure.
You can check out Tom's books at http://www.thegentlewaybook.com.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Nautilus Book Awards 2010 - Now Accepting Submissions
We seek Publishers & Authors with books about making our lives more
meaningful and/or the world a better place. We accept traditional and
self-published books, audio & spoken word, children & teens in 28
categories. For more information, including Guidelines & Entry Forms,
Enter Now & Save. For more info, email: marilyn@nautilusbookawards.com- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
author looking for freelance writers
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Jami Lin, author of several books on color alchemy and feng shui, has a great idea on how to get publicity. It's simple: Work with freelance authors who will get paid by magazines to write stories. As the book author, you provide the expertise while the freelance writer writes the stories and gets paid. Here's her pitch to freelance writers.SUBJECT: Freelancers: get paid for writing your passions
Looking for ONE freelancer-partner in each of the following genres. You keep 100% fee and byline. We'll co-create concepts, perhaps even a features column! I'll pitch the magazines.
Redundant: I want no money, just the press from well-written content!
What's the catch? None! I don't have time to write the articles myself.
Deadline: Once I find a few long-term relationships with a few passionate
journalists, this offer expires.If you'd like to know more about Jami's offer, check out her website at:
http://www.pr-promopro.com/Media/journalists.phpHow to Work with Freelance Writers to Boost Free Publicity
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The following article was written by M. Sharon Baker, a freelance writer
and commercial copywriter. It tells you how to implement the above strategy without offending professional freelancers.In your quest for free publicity, you may have learned working with a freelance writer could help you land media coverage in a coveted publication. Because freelance writers and freelance journalists write for several publications, your odds are great that establishing a relationship could land you and your book in several publications.
But you need to know how to approach a freelance writer or freelance journalist correctly. Doing it wrong could land you on their Black List and in the recycle bin.
Last week a book author sent out an email blast looking for freelance writers to develop story ideas about her book and products, offering that she would let the writers pitch her story to magazines she would suggest. She mentioned the writer could keep the money made from the articles, have the byline, and that she would maximize the exposure for articles written. Visiting her site, I learned she charges authors to send out these kinds of emails to writers and journalists, offering to help the authors with their free publicity.
Yuck. This approach turns freelance writers’ stomachs. Journalists and freelancers are trained to pitch good stories and be impartial, not pitch stories to promote a book or author. They don’t want to be your public relations firm. And they will run if you approach them this way.
Offer to be a Source
Here’s how to do it the right way. You have several options. One way would be to send a freelance writer or journalist a note letting them know that you are a subject matter expert in a particular area, have written a book, and can talk about several topics or trends. And that you’d love to be considered as a source for any upcoming stories they may be writing.
This approach signals that you understand how freelancers work, and that you are sophisticated enough to know not just to promote your book. It also is a great conversational starter, one that could lead to one or multiple stories that the freelancer initiates.
Pitch A Story Idea, Not Yourself
A second approach would be to pitch them a story idea about the trend or topic your book addresses, much like you would a publication, blog or magazine. Don’t just give your information, but include why the topic is newsworthy, include outside research that supports your trend or topic, and suggest other sources that could be consulted – even competitors. Before you make the pitch, research the writer and make sure he or she is interested in your topic. If you aren’t sure, ask them.
Reviewers aside, do not send freelance writers an email telling them why they should write about your book. It will be deleted or hit the recycle can. Instead, boost your chances by including statistics and other research, which makes the writer’s job easier, and name some of your competitors, which helps you earn a freelancer’s trust.
Freelance Pros Don’t Care About Pay and Bylines
Freelance writers and journalists do not operate the same as staff writers of a publication.
Freelancers don’t get paid until the story runs, if they are lucky, or several months after publication. It can take months to get a story accepted, depending upon the timeliness and the impact of your story. So dangling the carrot that freelancers get to keep the fees or any money generated from the publication isn’t very attractive. Professional journalists and writers don’t worry about bylines because they have hundreds or thousands of them.
-- M. Sharon Baker is a Seattle-based freelance journalist and corporate
writer who helps individuals and corporations with their public relations and marketing needs. Learn more at http://www.msharonbaker.com. Or email her at Sharon@msharonbaker.com.Reading Library for Underprivileged Children
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I received the following note from a woman in India. If you want to help her out, read the note below:I am Cathrin Grace Hazra from New Delhi, India. I have started a reading library for under privilged children near my residence with the books from my own personal collection.
As I do not have the money to buy new books for my library, I have been searching the net for free books/novels/comics etc and came across your website. If you think you might be able to send books free of cost to me for my library, then please send them to:
Cathrin Grace Hazra, G-12, 2nd Floor, Poorti Apartments, F-Block, Vikaspuri, New Delhi - 110 018; Res: 011-28539844; Mob: 98109 77748.
Email: cathrinhazra@gmail.com.MyMediaInfo media database
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I don't know much about this service and have not really checked it out, but it looks interesting. MyMediaInfo offers a media database of over 80,000 news outlets in North America. They also offer a large collection of editorial calendars and a simple email distribution system. You can check it out for yourself at http://www.mmiemails.com/register.html.Kindle, Sony Reader, and ebooks formatting: an update
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A reader was kind enough to share the person they used to format their
book for Kindle. If you don't want to figure out how to format your book
for the Kindle, check out the following person:Joshua Tallent: http://www.kindleformatting.com and
http://www.eBookArchitects.comAnother reader sent the following advice:
I read your reply to an email in which an author wanted to know about converting their book to an e-book format. You told them there are a number of companies that will format their book for e-readers. I studied the specs for both Kindle and Nook. They support PDF formats. This conversion is easily done by the author and at a cost far below the $500 you mentioned in your reply.
In addition, authors can sign up with Amazon and use their tools to convert their books into Kindle friendly formats. These books are then sold through Amazon.
Have I overlooked something? I thought I might have misunderstood the information posted on both Amazon's and B&N's websites.
John's answer: The free tools offered by Amazon.com and B&N.com aren't necessarily as easy to use as advertised. Some authors would find them hard to use (or might simply not find the time to use them). For such authors, a Kindle formatting service is still a value.
Quotable Books
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The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak
sleeps in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of
the soul, a waking angel stirs. — James Allen, author, As a Man Thinketh
More great quotes and quotable books at http://www.quotablebooks.com
Index: http://www.bookmarket.com/tipsindex.htm
Copyright © 2010 by book marketing expert John Kremer
Email: JohnKremer@bookmarket.com
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